The Hearts We Mend (28 page)
Yeah, that would have been a really good question to ask before he'd let her grab hold of the rope.
Jack started after Evie, almost hoping she would lose her nerve and stop when she reached the spot where the bank ended and the river began.
“Evieâ”
Too late.
Her feet left the ground and she sailed over the water without a sound. The only thing Jack could hear was the thump of his heart. And the creak of protest from the branch as it bore Evie's weight.
The rope went taut when she was in the middle of the river. For a moment, Jack thought she was going to hang on. End up back in his arms.
But she let go.
Pride swelled up, overriding Jack's initial panic. He lifted his phone and snapped Evie's picture a split second before she disappeared under the surface of the water.
And then he dove in after her.
Evie scooped a handful of wet hair from her cheek and blinked away the water streaming into her eyes. Her nose burned, she'd swallowed a mouthful of river water on the way down, and her palms still stung from gripping the rope . . . and she was laughing.
The current tugged at her, beckoning her to follow.
A strong arm suddenly slipped around her waist, holding her in place. She braced her hands on Jack's bare shoulders. Tiny beads of water glistened on his face and divided his lashes into small spikes.
“I did it! Did you see me?”
“I had my eyes closed the whole time.”
“Jack.”
“You did good.”
“I was terrified.”
“And yet here you are.”
Yes. Here she was.
Without thinking, Evie closed the distance between them and brushed a kiss against Jack's forehead.
The flash of heat in his eyes sent a shiver running through her. Raised goose bumps on her arms.
“Time to go back.” Jack's voice wasn't quite steady, and then he ducked underneath the water. When he surfaced a few seconds later, he was ten feet away.
And Evie felt closer to him than ever.
She rolled onto her side and swam leisurely back to shore.
Jack was waiting in the shallow water, holding out a beach towel. Neat rows of penguins wearing pink tutus.
He caught her smile as he draped the towel around her shoulders. “Lily let me borrow it.”
“She knew about this?”
“Are you kidding? Lily made me tell her everything I had planned for the evening.”
“There's more?” Evie couldn't resist teasing him a little.
“I haven't gone on a date for a long time, but I am aware that food is usually part of it.” Jack picked up another towelâa more masculine green-and-blue plaidâand rubbed it against his bare torso. “What do you think about dinner at the bistro?”
What did she think about dinner at the bistro?
In her mind's eye Evie saw white linen tablecloths, candles, and fresh flowers. The perfect place for a romantic first date.
If that was your idea of perfect.
“You're not saying anything.” Jack looked a little uncertain now. “Is there somewhere else you'd rather go?”
“Actually . . . I'm more in the mood for spaghetti.”
P
auline intercepted Evie as she walked into the church foyer the next morning.
“Gertrude is waiting in your office, and Pastor wants to see you. He promised it would only take a minute.”
“Thanks, Pauline.” Evie stifled a yawn.
The secretary tipped her head. “I was just going down to the kitchen to get Gertrude a cup of coffee. Looks like you could use one too.”
“That sounds great. I stayed up a little late last night.”
“What were you watching?”
Evie smiled. “A baby.”
She'd been at Jack's apartment until almost midnight, wearing a path around the living room with Amber Lynn.
Andy's wife, Serena, had shown up shortly after dinner, crying almost as hard as the baby cradled in her arms. Evie sent her back upstairs with orders to take a long soak in the tub. When two hours went by and Serena hadn't returned, Evie handed Amber Lynn over to Jack for a few minutes while she ran upstairs to check on her. She'd found Serena curled up in a threadbare recliner, sound asleep. Evie left her that way.
She and Jack took turns rocking Amber Lynn, singing and even
telling her knock-knock jokes, but the baby hadn't stopped crying until Jackâin a moment of what was either sheer desperation or pure geniusâhad taken out his saxophone. Amber Lynn had drifted off to sleep as Jack played the last note of “Summertime.”
“A baby.” Pauline's eyes twinkled. “Practicing for being a grandma? I'll make the coffee high octane.”
“That would be great.” Evie turned down the hallway and heard muffled voices on the other side of Keith's door. She knocked once and waited.
“Come on in, Evie!”
Evie pushed open the door, her gaze cutting from Pastor Keith to the man standing by the window.
“Harvey.”
“Good morning, Evie!” The custodian grinned. “What's going on around here? I walked into my room a few minutes ago, and there's not a Post-it note in sight.”
“Youâyou're back.”
Early.
“My sister decided to take a shift.” Harvey tucked his hands in the front pockets of his tan Dockers. “She talked to her boss, and he agreed to give her two weeks off. So here I am.”
“That's great.” Evie injected the necessary amount of enthusiasm into her voice before she looked at Keith. “Does Jack know?”
Keith shook his head. “He hasn't come into work yet, but he knew the job was temporary going in . . . and under the circumstances, I don't think he'll mind.”
What circumstances, Evie wanted to ask. Had Keith seen the story in the newspaper about Jack's brother too? Or had Dan or Ryan said something?
She glanced at Harvey. “I'm sure you're going to want a day or two to unpack. Get settled in at home before you dive back into work.”
“That's not necessary.” Harvey flexed his fingers. “I'm looking forward to putting things back the way they were.”
“We won't keep you any longer, Evie.” Keith looked a little confused, as if he was wondering why she didn't look happier about the idea. “Pauline said Gertrude is waiting for you in your office.”
“And I have to straighten up mine.” Harvey's voice dropped a notch. “The building looks good, but the guy you hired turned it into a
lounge.
Radio
and
a coffeepot . . .”
He was still listing Jack's quirks when Evie closed the door behind her. Her feet felt heavy, like her shoes were still weighted down with sand, when she returned to her office.
“Evangeline.” Gertrude sat in the chair by the window, wearing a linen pantsuit the same shade of red as her hair. The ensemble reminded Evie of a poppy in full bloom. “I ran into Harvey a few minutes ago. You must be thrilled he's back.” Fortunately, she didn't wait for Evie to respond. “I wanted to give you something before I leave.”
“Leave?”
“For Texas. The movers will be here on Friday.”
“Already?” Evie dropped into the chair across from her. “What about your house?”
“Sold. God took care of that detail before I even got around to asking Him about it.” Gertrude took a dainty sip from the cup of coffee that Pauline had delivered and left a half moon of Dazzling in Crimson on the rim. “I called the realtor last week, and she offered to buy it right then and there. It turns out she'd been looking for a house with a lot of room.” Gert reached into her purse and withdrew an envelope. “I want to give a gift to women's ministries. It isn't much . . . loaves and fishes, really . . . but God loves to take the smallest things and multiply them.”
“Gertâ”
The envelope flapped in front of Evie's nose, waving away her protest. “I'm just doing what God told me to do, Evangeline. If you have a problem with that, I suggest you take it up with Him.”
“I don't know what to say, Gert. Thank you.”
“No, thank you.” Gertrude reached across the table and squeezed Evie's hand. “You're the one who gave me the courage to step out in faith.”
Evie couldn't tell her the truth. That it was so much easier to encourage others to step out in faith while she stayed put, cheering them on from the sidelines.
“I'm still going to miss you.” She wrapped her arms around Gertrude and gathered her close, breathing in the familiar, comforting scents of Final Net hairspray and Chanel N°5.
“I'll miss you too. Now”âGert patted Evie's backâ“I have a mani-pedi scheduled for nine o'clock, and if you get me going, I'm going to need my makeup touched up too.”
The statement was classic Gert, and Evie laughed
.
She slipped the envelope into her desk drawer and followed Gertrude into the hall.
The door to Pastor Keith's office was open a few inches. Keith stood at the window with his back to Evie, talking to someone on his cell phone. Talking to Jack? Letting him know that he didn't have to come into work?
On her way to the kitchen to refill her cup with Pauline's “high octane,” Evie peeked into the custodian's room.
Harvey spotted her and waved. “Come on in, Evie!”
There was no sign of Jack, but Harvey was in the process of filling a cardboard box with his things.
“I wonder how this got in here.” Harvey picked up Jack's yellow coffee mug. “Looks like it belongs to one of the Sunday school kids.”
“Jack's niece made it for him.” Evie was suddenly overtaken by an irresistible urge to snatch the box off the table and put everything back where it belonged.
“Not sure what he did to my table.” Evie jumped a little when Harvey thumped the wooden top. “Looked fine the way it was.”
Fine.
Evie's shoulders twitched. That word? It didn't sit so well anymore. “It's something Jack likes to do.”
Harvey folded Jack's denim shirt neatly in half and set it on top of the box. “Keith said he was going to call him. Do you suppose he'll be back to get his stuff sometime today?”
“I can take it to him.” Evie crossed the room and rescued Jack's possessions before they ended up next to the box marked Lost and Found.
“So . . . we've got the garden walk coming up on Saturday.” Harvey worked free the Mason jar that Jack had used to prop the window open, then closed it, sealing off the breeze. “Ice cream social afterward, same as usual?”
“Same as usual.” That didn't sit well either.
“Good. I'll let you get back to work. I'm sure you've got a hundred things to do.”
More than a hundred. And none of them as important as talking to Jack.
“I'll see you later.” Evie tucked her empty coffee cup into the corner of the box and carried it down the hall to the kitchen.
Jack was walking through the back door, talking into the cell phone pressed against his ear. He caught her eye and smiled.
“I'll stop by and pick it up about four thirty.”
Evie caught the tail end of the conversation before Jack ended the call and slipped the phone into his pocket. He glanced down at the box in Evie's arms. “I don't mind if you borrow my shirt, but I'm not sure it goes with the skirt you're wearing.”
He didn't know.
“Harvey's back.”
“Okay.” Jack blew out a sigh. “I guess I missed that memo.”
“So did I.” Evie wished Harvey would have called the church and told them he was on his way home. “I encouraged him to take a few more days off, but he's anxious to get back to work. I'm really sorry.”
“Not your fault. It's sooner than I expected, but the landlord is anxious for me to finish the first floor.” Jack's lips quirked in a half smile. “I'll have time for Andy now too.”
“Andy?”
“I ran into him when I was leaving. He asked me to explain a text he got from Serena when he was at work last night.”
“What did it say?”
“Take saxophone lessons.”
Evie was laughing when Dan walked in. He pulled up short at the sight of them, his eyes narrowing when they locked on Jack.
“Dan.” Evie stepped away from Jack, opening up a wider space between them. Jack's hand dropped to his side.
“Keith told Dad there's a section of fence missing, so I offered to drop off the lumber on my way to work.” Dan's gaze bounced from Evie to Jack. “Where do you want me to put it?”
“You'll have to ask Harvey.” Jack turned back to Evie. “I can take this now.”
The weight of the box lifted when Jack eased it from Evie's grip, but the one on her heart felt even heavier when he turned and walked away.
J
ack grabbed his toolbox and headed down to the first floor. Lily had skipped off with Bert for her next baking lesson after they'd finished eating supper, giving him a chance to spend a few hours with a crowbar.