Holiday Homecoming (7 page)

“Getting out and having fun would do both of you good. You could drive down to the Adirondack Folk School Holiday Fair in Lake Luzerne on Saturday. How about I treat for the lunch? Andie's been picking up as many extra hours as she can at the store to make up for the pay she lost when she was out sick, but I think they still may be a little strapped for the holidays.”

Something we have in common
. Natalie wished she could tell her mother that she would treat, but the credit she had left on her credit card would barely buy her own lunch.

The front door flew open, and Paul and Claire walked through, stomping the snow off their boots on the doormat.

“I could sure use something hot to drink and some of those cookies you made, Mom,” Paul said. “Claire dragged me all over the place, and we ended up going back to the first store for Renee's gift.”

Claire slipped her coat off. “Yeah, I dragged him all over. We went to a grand total of three stores.”

“What did you get?” Natalie asked.

“A chicken charm for her bracelet that comes with a matching donation of a hen to a family in a developing nation,” Claire answered.

“Perfect,” Natalie said, feeling a little left out that they hadn't asked her to come along, even though she would have had to turn them down. She and Connor had already made plans to practice.

“So, who else is in for those cookies and tea?” Paul asked.

“There aren't any cookies left. I gave them to Connor,” Natalie said.

“So it worked,” Claire said.

From the glee in Claire's voice, Natalie half expected her sister to start clapping.

“What worked?” Paul asked.

Natalie wasn't sure whether the irritation in her brother's voice was because he wasn't in the know or because the cookies were gone. “Mom and Claire's attempt to set Connor and me up.”

“Oh, yeah?” Paul's voice perked up. “Connor's all right.”

Natalie closed her eyes and counted to three. “No, it didn't work. Connor and I are just friends.”

“And Natalie may have a job offer back in Chicago,” her mother added as if their plot's failure needed a justification.

“Congrats, sis,” Paul said to the twin frowns that creased their mother's and Claire's faces.

“I may have an interview for a job.”

“Then you and Connor aren't...?” Claire said.

“No, we're not.”

“Too bad,” Paul said.

The pain of what couldn't be warred with the frustration of wanting to shout “This is my life, stay out of it.”

“You'd be okay if I tell Karen Hill to go ahead and try to fix Connor up with her daughter-in-law's sister?” her mother asked. “She said to ask you before she did.”

Natalie stifled a groan. How did Connor put up with it? She wrapped her arms around herself. “He's a free agent. I have no hold on Connor.”

* * *

The dark house that greeted him when he got home fit right in with Connor's mood. He glared at the structure. He always left the porch lights on, and he was sure he'd put the kitchen one on as well. He pulled down the garage door and made his way toward the door between the garage and the house. His toe kicked a box or something right before he reached the steps. Flashing his cell phone down at his foot, he saw it was one of the Christmas ornament boxes. The stray cat that had been hanging around, but he hadn't been able to catch, must have gotten in and knocked it out of the recycle bin. He juggled the container of cookies Natalie had given him, then scooped up the box and chucked it under his arm. It shouldn't have been out here anyway. He'd need it to store the ornaments when he took the tree down.

Connor let himself in, placed the cookie container on the kitchen counter and hit the light switch, which he found already flicked on. He tried the garage light. No go there, either. The power must be out. He looked across the backyard at the church building. The front light there was out, too. The ornament box rattled when he pulled it out from under his arm and placed it next to the cookie container. He should go out and fire up the generator so the well pump would work and he'd have some lights. And, if he wanted to stay warm, he needed to bring in some more wood for the woodstove insert in the living room fireplace. But his curiosity about what was in the box got the best of him.

He flipped it open and shined his cell phone on the contents. His breath hitched. Natalie had thrown out the star he'd bought for her tree in Syracuse—in his trash. No, anyone could have put it out there. But how did it get here in the first place? Didn't matter. He stepped on the pedal to open the kitchen trash can but couldn't let go of the ornament. Like he couldn't seem to let go of Natalie, despite the fact that she obviously wanted only friendship from him. He placed the star back in the box to give to the church consignment shop. Closing the lid, he prayed,
Lord, give me the strength to be professional enough and man enough to honor Natalie's wishes and get back on track with the life I had before she came back
.

A noise in the garage startled him from his prayer. The cat?

“Hey, bro, up for some company and pizza?” His brother Josh stepped into the kitchen.

The pungent scent of the flat box he held churned Connor's stomach.
Not really
. “Sure, come on in.”

“Power's out at my apartment, too. I heard at the pizzeria that a transformer is down. The power company's not sure when they'll have it back up.” Josh walked by him and placed the pizza on the table. “I thought you'd have the generator going. Something wrong with it? I'll take a look.”

Connor gritted his teeth. He didn't need Josh to look at his generator. If something was wrong with it, he was perfectly capable of assessing the problem himself. Just because he hadn't worked as a mechanic like Jared or studied mechanical drawing like Josh didn't mean Connor couldn't repair things.

“I just got here myself. Natalie and I were practicing our solos.” Connor dug in the counter drawer for a flashlight.

“Uh-huh, alone at the conference center? Hazard Cove Road doesn't have power, either.”

“No, at her parents' house, and you can lose the innuendoes. Natalie and I are nothing more than friends, and that's all we'll ever be. She's made that perfectly clear,” Connor added under his breath.

“Shot you down again, eh?”

Not enough under his breath. “I'm going out to turn on the generator and get some wood. You can give me a hand.”

Josh opened the door and let Connor go first, which only served to increase his irritation. He grabbed the log carrier he kept in the garage next to the steps and led the way out the door with the flashlight.

“If Natalie is out of the picture, you might be interested to know that Jack Hill's sister-in-law, Brianne, is also back in town. She had a huge crush on you back when you were in school. There's no accounting for taste.”

Connor plowed through the snow toward the generator. He remembered. It was about the time he and Natalie had started dating. Brianne had been a pain, following him around and giggling with her friends. “She was in seventh or eighth grade, and I was a junior.”

Josh whistled. “I saw her at the pizzeria. She doesn't look anything like a seventh or eighth grader anymore.”

Connor shoved the wood carrier at Josh. “Make yourself useful.”

“What? If you're not interested, maybe I'll ask her out. Sounds like she's planning to stick around. She's taken a long-term substitute teaching job at the elementary school.”

Unlike Natalie, who sounded like she was getting antsy to leave already. Connor turned the generator on and the house lit up. “What about Tessa?”

“What about her? We're friends. She knows I like to keep my options open.”

Classic Josh. Connor swallowed his disgust and walked over to the woodpile to help him.

As they reentered the kitchen, Connor caught the final ring of the house phone in the dining room. “Put the wood in the living room and start the fire, if you would. I need to check that call.”

He punched in the number and got his voice mail. “Connor, it's Jack. Mom is making me do this. I owe her one. She wants me to set up a double date with Suzi and me, and her sister and you. Some craft thing in Lake Luzerne on Saturday. The women want to go. I'm good if you don't. Let me know.”

Connor replaced the receiver. Maybe he should be like Josh, explore other options, actual options. It might loosen the hold Natalie had on him.

Chapter Seven

N
atalie pulled her mother's car into a parking space in front of the Adirondack Folk School. “Wasn't this a great idea?” she asked, glancing at Andie in the passenger seat. She couldn't read her. Andie had accepted Natalie's invitation readily enough and had chatted about the kids and her job and her family's Christmas plans for the first few minutes of the drive. But she'd gotten more and more quiet the farther they drove from Paradox Lake.

“It was your idea,” Andie said flatly.

“My idea was lunch. Mom suggested the fair. She said you and Claire had talked about going other years, but hadn't. Too bad Claire had to work today.” Natalie shut off the car. It would have been good to have Claire as a bridge between her and Andie.

“I hope it's not too much for Mom having Robbie and the twins there,” Andie said, making no motion to open her door.

Was that what was bothering Andie? “She'll be fine. She has Dad to help, and Paul said he'd take them sledding out back.”

Andie clutched her purse. “He wouldn't let Robbie go down the hill by himself, would he? Robbie might beg him to. He seems to think he can do anything the twins can do.”

“I'm sure he wouldn't.” Or, at least she hoped he wouldn't. She remembered Paul and Renee at the same age wanting to do everything she and her older siblings did.

Natalie got out of the car and waited for her sister in front of the white clapboard building. When Andie finally emerged from the vehicle, Natalie pressed the car lock.

“I've got this,” Natalie said when they stepped up to the reception counter to pay their admissions. She palmed her mother's debit card so Andie wouldn't see it wasn't hers and tried to ignore her guilt about letting her sister think she was treating. She'd let Andie know that Mom was buying their lunch. Looking at the colorful festival flyer the woman at the counter had given her, Natalie asked, “Where do you want to start?”

Andie shrugged. “You pick.”

“The jewelry might be fun. Maybe I'll find something for Aimee and Amelia.”

Andie returned her smile with a pained look. Why couldn't she keep her mouth shut? Mom had said she thought Andie and Rob were short on cash for Christmas, and Andie was picking up extra work hours at the store. Andie probably thought she was rubbing it in that she could afford custom jewelry for the twins. Not that she could, unless she found something small, like earrings. What bothered her more, though, was that Andie wasn't responding like Andie.

Natalie glanced at the flyer again. “The blacksmith is giving a demonstration in about fifteen minutes, and after that we could check out the woodworkers. I thought I might be able to find a train or truck for Robbie.”

“He'd like that. I'll have to check anything you pick to make sure it doesn't have any small parts that could come off or sharp edges that could hurt him.”

“Okay.” Natalie couldn't remember Andie being as hovering with the twins as she seemed to be with Robbie, and she'd still been home when the twins were four.

At the jewelers' exhibit, Natalie and Andie ran in to a high school friend of Andie's whom she hadn't seen since the woman had moved to Glens Falls several years ago.

“Go ahead to the blacksmith demonstration without me,” Andie said with more animation than Natalie had seen since they'd arrived. “I'd like to stay and catch up with Sarah. You can meet me back here after the demonstration.”

So much for sister bonding. The kink in her shoulders she'd thought was from the long drive down melted away as she walked to the back room where the smithy was set up. She stopped short at the doorway. Connor was standing on the other side of the room with Jack Hill, looking like an ad for the L.L. Bean man in his plaid wool shirt, jeans and work boots. He glanced over at her and his lips turned up in the start of a smile that he seemed to catch before it became a full smile. She rubbed the back of her neck. Was he happy to see her or not? She wasn't up to trying to read anyone else's signals today.

“Natalie.” Jack waved her over.

She skirted around the people milling in front of the smithy's anvil waiting for the demonstration to begin.

“Mom said you were back,” Jack said.

“For a while.”

Connor drew his lips into a thin line, and her heart stuttered. Was he unhappy about her possible job at the station in Chicago, that she might be leaving? More likely, he was concerned she wouldn't hold up her commitment to the pageant. She'd set him straight on that at their next practice. Friends didn't let down friends. She'd learned that lesson the hard way.

Jack opened up his arms for a friendly hug that Natalie couldn't refuse without making a fuss.

“What's going on here?”

Natalie jumped back at the woman's words, her foot landing on the toe of Connor's steel-toed boot. His arms went around her waist to keep her from falling, pulling her back against his solid chest. Her mouth went dry at the contrast between Jack's friendly hug and Connor holding her in his arms.

“Natalie, I'm sorry.” Jack's wife touched her arm. “I was teasing.”

“Suzi, you startled me.” Natalie reluctantly untangled herself from Connor. “Are the three of you here together?” She circled her pointer finger around.

“Yep, and my sister, Brianne.”

Suzi and Jack, and Brianne and Connor.
Two couples.
This was a date
. Natalie's cheeks warmed as she edged farther away from Connor and looked for Brianne.

“Did I see Andie over at the jewelry exhibit?” Suzi asked.

Natalie nodded. “She ran into a friend she hasn't seen in a while and told me to come ahead and watch the blacksmith demonstration by myself.”

“The same with Brianne,” Suzi said, “only for her it was about fifteen friends.” She gave Connor an apologetic look.

An arranged date
. She was surprised Connor hadn't said anything about it the other night at her house during her mother's matchmaking fiasco. How did he put up with it? He was far more patient than she was.

“The missing returns.” Connor smiled, looking over her head toward the doorway.

Brianne was standing there with a reciprocal smile. Natalie tensed. Maybe this wasn't a fix-up. She should go find Andie. The prospect of being a fifth wheel had dimmed the appeal of the blacksmith demonstration.

Brianne made her way across the room tugging a guy Natalie hadn't noticed before behind her.

“Great,” Suzi said, frowning.

The tension in the air thickened as the couple drew closer. Natalie glanced at Connor out of the side of her eye. He was still smiling, maybe even more so, adding to her confusion.

“Look who I ran in to.” Brianne introduced the man as a high school friend of hers. “He drove his grandmother and her friend here and was sitting in the other room kind of bored. I told him about the blacksmith demonstration.” Still gripping the man's hand, she asked, “You don't mind, Connor, do you?”

“Not at all,” Connor said.

Natalie flexed her fingers. If she was reading Connor right, and she was pretty sure she was, his earlier smile had been one of relief.

The demonstration began with Natalie sandwiched comfortably between Suzi and Connor.

“Cool,” Connor said as the smith bent the molten iron into shape. “I should sign up for a class.”

“And, what, set up your own smithy in the old horse barn behind the parsonage?” she teased.

“It never hurts to keep one's work options open.”

Natalie couldn't help thinking Connor's words had a double meaning for her.

His gaze traveled to a parishioner standing on the other side of the room. “Of course, if I weren't pastor of Hazardtown Community Church, I wouldn't have access to the barn.”

Natalie stared at the man for a moment. One of his detractors? He lifted a hand in greeting to Connor and her. She waved back. Was that a possibility, the church not renewing Connor's contract? Mom had said not to worry. Natalie furtively searched Connor's profile. His jaw was set. Fixation on the show, or in concern about his pastorate?

“Hey,” Connor said when the blacksmith finished, “I'm going to go up and ask a couple of questions. Where can I meet up with you guys after?”

“Furniture,” Suzi said, and Jack rolled his eyes. She slugged him in the shoulder. “I just want to look.”

“Right.” He grinned, and Connor and her sister laughed.

Obviously, some kind of inside joke. Natalie felt herself fading into the background. What had she expected? Connor to leave his friends and his date—arranged or not—to hang out with her and Andie?

“Nice seeing you all,” she said. “I'd better go find Andie.”

“Natalie.” Her sister's friend, Sarah, was rushing across the emptying room. “It's Andie. Something's wrong. She's having chest pains and trouble breathing.”

“Where is she? Is someone with her?”

“My sister. She's calling 911.”

* * *

Connor sensed Natalie's fear even before the bits of the woman's words he overheard registered with him. He turned heel and followed her. He was sure Brianne wouldn't mind him stepping out of the picture. And Jack and Suzi would understand. Considering his and Jack's history, maybe too well. It was his job, but more, it was
Natalie
. She'd need someone with her.

Connor touched Natalie's shoulder. She jerked. “Oh, Connor. It's Andie.”

“I heard.” He lengthened his stride to keep up with Natalie's run.

“Where is she?” Natalie asked the woman with her when they reached the jewelers' exhibit.

“I don't know. I left her here with my sister.”

Natalie's gaze darted around the room as if she might have somehow missed seeing Andie. Connor wrapped his hand around hers and squeezed. She looked up with a trembling smile.

“Are you Natalie?” one of the exhibitors asked.

“Yes,” he answered for her.

“They took your sister to an office off the reception area to lie down.”

“Thanks,” Natalie said, taking off at the same speedy pace.

As soon as they entered the reception area, a woman with an infant rushed from a room behind the counter. “I don't know what happened,” the woman babbled. “She was holding Ben, and all of a sudden she fell apart. I thought she was going to drop him.”

Natalie pushed by her, yanking her hand from his. “This is my fault,” she said, heading to the room the woman had come from.

Connor resisted his initial urge to race after her. “Thanks,” he said to the two women. “I'm her pastor. I'll take care of things now.”

“I called 911,” the woman with the baby said.

“Yes, I know.” His voice sounded brusque, but he wanted to be with Nat when she saw Andie.

“If I give you my cell phone number, would you call when you know how Andie is?” her friend asked.

“Of course.” He reined in his impatience and plugged the woman's number into his phone.

“Thanks. I'll say a prayer.”

Since he didn't remember Andie's friend from school, he didn't know if she was sincere or saying that because he was a pastor. While normally that would have bothered him, at the moment he didn't care. The thought was enough.

When he finally entered the office where Andie had been taken, he found Natalie sitting on the leather couch next to her sister, who was lying back with a cloth on her forehead. He didn't know which of them looked paler.
Andie's the one you need to tend to first
, he reminded himself.

“Connor, I'm glad you were here,” Andie said. “I'm scared.”

Natalie stood and let him take her place. She walked to the head of the couch.

He took Andie's hand. “The emergency squad will be here soon. What happened?”

“I don't know. I was holding the baby, Ben. He's such a cutie, just like Robbie was. I started crying for no reason.”

A motion from Natalie caught his attention. She signed him,
I'll tell you later.

A moment of melancholy overtook him. They'd each taken a short class in American Sign Language in college and had used it to share silent comments.

Andie sniffed as if she might cry again, bringing him back to the present.

“Then, my heart started pounding and I couldn't catch my breath. Little Ben's mother grabbed him from me as if I'd drop him. I'd never drop a baby.”

“I know you wouldn't,” he soothed her.

“I was afraid I was having a heart attack. Remember Mike Fuest? He's only a couple of years older than I am, and he had a heart attack.”

“And he's fine now,” Connor said of his parishioner. “How do you feel now?”

Andie rubbed the right side of her chest. “It still hurts.”

“Would you like me to pray with you?” He motioned Natalie to take her sister's other hand without waiting for Andie's affirmation, and he took hers. “Dear Lord, watch over Your daughter Andrea and, according to Your wishes, make her strong and well. In Your name, amen.”
And
, he added silently,
use me as You see fit to give Natalie whatever it is she needs to be whole again
.

“Excuse me.” An EMT from the Hadley-Luzerne Emergency Medical Services interrupted the silence following Connor's plea. “Is she the possible heart attack we got the call about?”

A panicked look passed over Andie's face when the EMT said “heart attack.” Connor couldn't tell if it was fear of that possibility, or fear the EMT might discover she was faking. God forgive him. That was harsh, but knowing her and Natalie's relationship, he wouldn't put it past Andie not to pull a stunt like this to make Nat feel bad, to get back at her for whatever it was that Andie held against Natalie.

Natalie dropped his hand and placed herself between the man and Andie like a lioness defending its young. “My sister is the person you were called about. She's had some kind of episode.”