Season of Hope Page 14

  After a quick shower, he skipped the food and collapsed on his bed.

  He’d barely closed his eyes—or so it seemed—when his alarm went off, dragging him from the dregs of sleep.

  After throwing on jeans and a T-shirt, Jake padded quietly down the stairs and through the kitchen to stuff his feet in his barn boots. He stepped onto the back deck and inhaled a lungful of fresh, cool air.

  As he crossed the yard, his steps slowed as he glanced across the barnyard.

  Something seemed different. Out of place.

  But he couldn’t figure out what.

  Wait a minute...

  He strode to the road and headed past the new barn until his feet froze next to the fence.

  Goose bumps pebbled his skin as his jaw dropped and his eyes widened. His chest stuttered as he tried to catch a breath that seemed to be lodged in his throat. A chill slicked his skin as his empty stomach rolled.

  Gripping each side of his head, he dropped to his knees on the wet grass and stared across the pasture to where the old red barn had collapsed to a pile of splintered, weathered boards around their equipment with the remains of the roof staggered off to the side. Pieces of wood littered the road, pasture and field like firewood.

  Destroyed.

  Shattered.

  Nothing but shambles.

  Like his dreams.

  His hope.

  His heartbeat pounded in his ears as he headed back to the house and stopped outside Dad’s bedroom door.

  He paused a moment. Was it necessary to wake up Dad at four in the morning? Or could it wait?

  What had Dad said? They carried burdens together.

  This was one burden he simply couldn’t manage on his own. Not even for a couple of hours.

  He rapped his knuckles against the panel before turning the handle. “Dad, wake up.”

  Dad sat up and flicked on the lamp by his bed. “Jake? What’s going on? What time is it?”

  “A little after four. We’ve got a problem.” Jake crossed his father’s bedroom and threw up the pull-down shade.

  Rubbing a hand over his face, Dad eased out of bed and headed for the window. He eyes widened as he pressed a hand against the frame.

  Jake put a hand on his shoulder. “You okay, Pops?”

  Dad nodded, his shoulders sagging as he released a sigh. “Go wake up your brother.”

  “No need. I’m right here. What’s going on?” Tucker stood in the doorway rubbing a fist in his eye.

  Jake waved him over to the window and pointed. “Look.”

  Tucker stood between Jake and Dad, slack-jawed, and groaned. “Not again. When are we going to catch a break?”

  Jake stared out the second-story window across the rooftop of the new barn to the destroyed barn. “I got home at midnight and the barn was fine but the wind had started picking up, too. I never heard a thing after that.”

  “Neither did I.” Dad opened the window and leaned on the sill. Rain droplets clung to the screen as the cool air whisked over them.

  “Your wedding’s in three days and the fund-raiser’s a week later. The auction and barn dance were the main attractions. We’re going to have to cancel.”

  “We’re not canceling anything yet. God’s not surprised by this, and He’s in control. Let’s pray first, then figure out where to go from there.” Dad put a hand on his and Tucker’s shoulders and prayed.

  Even though Jake bowed his head, he listened to Dad’s words with half an ear. What was the point? Like God was really listening...or even caring about what Dad had to say.

  Across the yard, cows bawled from the milk barn.

  “The girls are calling, Jake. Do the milking, then we’ll figure this out over breakfast.” Dad closed the window and reached for his worn Bible resting on his nightstand. “I’m going downstairs to read.”

  Jake followed Dad out of the room and trudged downstairs. An ache gripped his chest for the hours of planning that had gone into creating an event that would benefit others. And now he just didn’t want to think about it.

  He dreaded making the call to Tori.

  Last night, she’d been excited as she shared how she planned to decorate for the dance. If she wasn’t still recovering from strep throat, she would’ve been alongside him yesterday cleaning the barn.

  Now, that was one partnership he could get behind.

  A different kind of cleanup would be needed now.

  He didn’t want to think about the hours of work that needed to be done in only a few days.

  He went through the motions of milking. And for a couple of hours, his attention was diverted, but the minute he stepped outside after cleaning the milk barn, the burden of the storm damage weighed on his shoulders.

  Outside the farmhouse, he toed off his boots by the back door and headed into the kitchen, only to find Tori at the stove with her back to him. Laughter sounded from the other room.

  She turned and smiled, sending a shot of electricity straight to his chest. “Hungry?”

  “Famished.” He crossed the room and kissed her on the forehead. “What are you doing here?”

  She wrapped her arms around him, pressing her cheek to his chest. “Chuck called Claudia and told her about the barn. We came over to see what we could do. I’m so sorry.”

  “Thanks. You should be resting.”

  “I’m tired of resting. I’m feeling better than I have in days.” She turned and reached for a plate loaded with scrambled eggs and sausage links and handed it to him.

  “Thanks.” He set it on the table, then filled two cups with coffee. Handing one to her, he nodded toward the table. “Join me?”

  She took the cup and smiled. “Sure. Looks like we have to readjust our plans for the fund-raiser.”

  “More like cancel, don’t you think?”

  “One little setback and you’re ready to give up? Where’s your fight, Jake?”

  “Curled up in bed, I think.” Instead of picking up his fork, he rested his head in his hand. “I’m tired just thinking of the work that needs to be done.”

  “Well, good for you, then, because you don’t have to do it alone.”

  He frowned. “What do you mean?”

  “Aunt Claudia’s been on the phone for the past hour rounding up friends to pitch in and help.”

  “She can’t do that.” Jake pushed away from the table, leaving his food untouched.

  “Why not?”

  “Because—”

  “Because you look at asking for help as a sign of weakness. Let me tell you something, Jake—we’re all weak. It comes with being human. You can’t continue doing everything on your own. Otherwise, you’re going to end up broken and worn out. Then what good will you be to your family? You have friends who want to help. Allow them that blessing and stop being so stubborn.”

  “Hey, I totally get weakness. You think I like doing everything myself? Stopping to ask for help—it’s just one more thing to do when I’m trying to take care of everything else that needs to be done. I’m just not used to doing it.”

  “Now there’s a newsflash. Finish your breakfast, pull that fabulous smile you use once in a while out of your pocket and then get ready to lead a crew of people who have no clue what they’re doing, but they want to help. And you’re going to let them.”

  Tori moved behind him and rested her hands on his shoulders. “Accept this gift as it’s being given and realize there’s a lot of strength in working as a team. Stop carrying this farm’s burdens on your shoulders, Jake. I have an idea for the fund-raiser, but I can’t share it yet. I’m asking you to trust me. Can you do that?”

  “Yes, I trust you.” He reached for her hand and pressed a kiss into her palm.

  “Good. Finish your breakfast. I’m going to work on my idea a bit more.”

  Instead of picking up his
fork, Jake reached for his coffee. He needed the caffeine to keep him going.

  Man, he was tired.

  His eyes strayed across the table to where Tori had sat briefly in his dad’s chair.

  Dad’s worn black Bible with its cracked leather cover lay open on the table. Jake stretched across the table and picked it up to where it stayed open to Matthew chapter eleven. A familiar verse leaped out at him.

  Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

  He wanted rest for his soul. Longed for someone to share his burdens with. So why did it feel like it was just out of reach?

  What would it take to grab hold of that promise? To partner with God, to be yoked with him, to find that rest he longed for?

  * * *

  Tori didn’t know if her idea would work but she had to try.

  She guided a blindfolded Jake across the barnyard and stopped in front of the closed doors to the new barn. “Wait here a minute. You still trust me?”

  “Do I have a choice?”

  “Sure you do—you could’ve removed that blindfold at any time.”

  “Now you tell me.” He shot her that half grin that caused her heart rate to spike.

  Tori opened the sliding doors, then hurried back to Jake, taking his hand again, and then led him to the doorway.

  “Can I take off this blindfold yet?”

  “In a minute.” She pressed her hands against his chest. “Listen, I’m going to show you something. If you don’t like it, we’ll go with plan B. Okay?”

  Jake shrugged. “Yeah, sure. Okay.”

  “Take off your blindfold, but keep an open mind.”

  Jake snatched the folded blue bandanna off his head and scanned the barn. His jaw dropped as he looked around. “You did this?”

  Biting her bottom lip and clasping her hands in front of her, she nodded, still a little uncertain of his reaction.

  Jake walked slowly as his eyes scanned the walls and ceiling before settling on her. “This looks...wow.”

  “Is that a good ‘wow’?”

  He grinned. “Yes, it’s a very good wow. I can’t believe the transformation.”

  Tori released a breath and relaxed her tense body. “This is only a mock-up. The real event will look much better. I just wanted to give you a general idea of what could be done.” She pointed to the ceiling. “Instead of those plastic tablecloths I picked up at the dollar store, we’ll drape swags of blue and red table rolls from the center beams to the walls. White paper lanterns will hang from the ceiling instead of those cheap balloons. We’ll wrap small white Christmassy-type lights around each of the vertical posts going down the center of the room.”

  She moved to the middle of the room and twirled with her arms outstretched. “We’ll keep half of the space for a dance floor, but we’ll add round tables covered with white cloths and chairs. We’ll add burlap runners and Mason jar centerpieces done in red, white and blue. Even though the fund-raiser will take place after the Fourth, we can still focus on a patriotic theme.”

  She grabbed his hand and dragged him over by the door where a pile of weathered boards had been stacked. “Tucker saved these boards from the cleanup crew. I know how much you wanted to use the barn your grandfather had built for the dance, but we can incorporate these boards into the decor along with a couple of old wagon wheels he recovered under the rubble. With strategically placed bales of hay, I think we can still provide that same kind of rustic look you wanted.”

  “Kind of like mixing the old with the new, huh?”

  “Exactly.”

  She started to share a new thought, but instead she closed her mouth. She needed to stop talking, to allow him time to absorb the proposed changes and respond to her ideas. Maybe even share some of his own.

  But the silence made her nervous.

  Jake ran his hand over the filthy, beat-up wagon wheel and looked at her with eyes that dug deep into her soul. He brushed his hand on his jeans, then cupped her shoulders, keeping his gaze fixed on her. “When I saw the barn reduced to a pile of rubble, I was ready to give up. Ready to call this whole thing off. But not you. You saw the problem needed a solution, and you reacted, figuring one out. You didn’t allow me being a jerk to hold you back. You’ve been that way from the moment you stormed into the barn, kicked off your heels and offered me an ultimatum. You see what needs to be done, and you dig in to do the work—no matter how smelly or dirty it is. That’s a gift, Tori. A real gift. And I’m humbled and thankful to be a recipient of it. You are a real treasure.”

  To Jake, his words may have been a compliment spoken in the moment only to be forgotten later, but to Tori, his words flowed through her like melted gold, filling in all the cracks and crevices of her heart that had been wrecked and scarred, giving her confidence a foothold to climb toward bigger and better things.

  With Sophie’s offer in the back of her mind, she couldn’t help but wonder if her gift, as Jake called it, was going to be what kept them apart.

  The more she worked on the fund-raiser, realizing the depth of her potential—the ability to be the voice for those who lacked the hope or couldn’t speak up for themselves—the more she considered Sophie’s offer. She had an opportunity to champion others to find solutions, to empower them to rise to the challenges they’d been facing and help them to overcome.

  Making that choice could also cost Tori the second chance with Jake she’d desired for years. If she did nothing, though, she could risk losing everything, including herself.

  Chapter Twelve

  Despite the stormy weather, then three long, hard days of cleanup and repairs on the farm, the morning of Dad and Claudia’s wedding dawned clear.

  Sunshine turned the morning dew into little glass droplets hanging from freshly cut blades of grass.

  Jake stood barefoot on the back deck in shorts and a T-shirt drinking a hot cup of coffee and soaked in the solitude.

  In an hour the place would be bustling with activity once Claudia, Tori and Annabeth arrived along with the rest of Claudia’s family, even though everyone had stayed late last night to put the finishing touches on the decorations.

  Six round tables covered with white cloths and bright pink place mats and pots of flowers sat under a huge tent pitched between the two apple trees in the backyard. Strings of lights had been twined around the posts and paper lanterns in shades of pink hanging from the center of the canopy bounced in the morning breeze.

  Tori planned to bring the rest of the flowers with her.

  The thought of seeing her again...well, that warmed him faster than the coffee he’d been sipping.

  The back door opened behind him. He turned as Dad stepped onto the deck, holding his mug. “Good morning.”

  “Hey, Dad.”

  “It’s a great day to get married.” Dad clinked his mug against Jake’s. “Thank God for second chances.”

  “Nervous?”

  “Nah. More like excited.” Dad grinned like Landon did when offered a cookie.

  “You deserve it. I’m happy for you. It will be different to have a woman in the house again.”

  “But the change will be good...for all of us.” Dad took another sip of coffee, then set his mug on the deck railing. “What about you? You’ve been spending a lot more time with Tori lately. By choice, may I add.”

  “Considering the fund-raiser is next week, we’ve been working to get everything finished. She’s had a lot on her plate, especially with getting sick and the barn being destroyed, so I’m doing what I can to help out.”

  “Is that the only reason?”

  Jake considered his father’s question, not wanting to raise false hopes. “I think we’re heading into a better place with our relationship.”

  “It’s about time you took charge of your own happiness. She’s a sweet girl. Keep the past where it belongs and f
ocus on moving forward. You’re both young. Time has a way of granting wisdom, especially through tough life lessons.”

  He knew that to be true.

  “With everything going on, we haven’t had time to talk. Really talk.”

  “Life’s always going to be busy, son. Make the time. If she’s the one, make her a priority and do what it takes to keep her.” Dad clapped him on the shoulder and reached for his mug. “Time to make this old farmer presentable for his bride.”

  Jake followed Dad into the kitchen, rinsed their mugs and added them to the dishwasher. He headed upstairs to shower.

  With Claudia moving in, the farmhouse wouldn’t be a bachelor pad any longer. He needed to think about getting his own place so she and Dad could have their privacy.

  Problem was, short of building something, houses were in short supply on Holland Hill. And he had no intention of moving into town. He was meant for country living. Plus, there was the perk of rolling out of bed, throwing on clothes and heading to the barn. Leaving the hill wouldn’t allow that luxury.

  After a quick shower and getting dressed, Jake stood in front of the open window as he buttoned his dress shirt. His gaze traveled across the barnyard and the adjoining pasture and settled on the roof of Tori’s house.

  Having spent much of his childhood there when his grandparents were alive, Jake was very fond of the place. After Dennis and Claudia moved out, he should’ve placed an offer on the house. Then the mess of the past few months could’ve been avoided.

  But then he wouldn’t have Tori back in his life.

  Sure, seeing her at Claudia’s that first day had been a shock, but the more time they spent together, the less he liked being apart from her.

  And finally admitting the truth to himself had loosened the choke hold of anger that had gripped him since he received those stinkin’ divorce papers.

  She wasn’t the same girl he’d married. But he wasn’t the same guy either. Life had a way of maturing them into people who could face challenges together instead of running away when things got tough.