What Lies Within (32 page)

But Lord, how am I going to do this? If I had months, I could do it. But all we have left is weeks! How can I do all that needs to be done in that amount of time?

She waited, hoping for an answer. None was forthcoming.

What did stir, though, was a soul-deep certainty. One that, in the face of reality, made no sense. But Kyla knew it was right.

Knew it was God.

Drawing in a deep breath, she let that knowing fill her with purpose.
Okay, Lord. I have no idea how I’m going to pull this off. But here goes
. “Gentlemen, I believe my path is clear.”

Wayne looked up from his study of the tabletop. “What are you saying, Miss Justice?”

She stepped forward. “That God set me on this path, and until He—not the Blood Brotherhood, but God—directs me otherwise, I will continue.”

“How?”

She met Sheamus’s incredulous question with a shrug. “I have no idea. But you can count on this much. I’ll do everything I can to make it work.”

“What about the money?”

She turned to Wayne. “I’ll take care of it.”

“And the workers? You’ll need more than you have now to make up time.”

Sheamus was right, of course. She’d realized that. She just wasn’t sure how she was going to deal with it. Still, she forced a confidence she was far from feeling into her assurance. “I’ll take care of that, too.”

“No.”

Kyla’s head came up and she fixed Fredrik with a hard stare. “What?”

He inclined his head, eyes kind but firm. “No, bubele. You won’t take care of it. This is too much for you.” She started to protest, but his next words stopped her. “But for God?” He waved a hand. “
Psheh!
All of this? It’s nothing for God.” His gaze held hers. “So we seek Him together, yes?”

Kyla looked around the room, then gave a slow nod. “Yes.”

“
Gut!
Sit. We’ll take this to Him together and seek His guidance. His provision.”

Kyla did as her old friend asked, but even as she bowed her head, she knew. Prayer was fine, but it was going to take more than that to get this job done on time. It was going to take long hours of hard work. And while God would bless and guide them, He wasn’t going to step down from heaven to oversee what had to be done.

No, that little task rested squarely in one person’s lap.

Hers.

THIRTY-EIGHT   

H
er eyes had to be deceiving her.

Annie Justice stared at her computer screen, reading the e-mail again. True, she’d read it at least four times now, but it still didn’t make sense.

An e-mail from Kyla that was not only long and detailed, but actually emotional? Annie glanced out her window, cocking her head to listen. It had to be coming. The trumpet sound heralding the end of the world. That was the only explanation. Kylie didn’t emote in person, let alone in e-mail!

What
was going on with her sister?

A long snout pushed at her hands where they rested on the keyboard. “Kodi, knock it off. I’m busy.”

The snout landed in her lap this time.

“Kodi, come on.”

The black shepherd pulled back and circled next to Annie’s chair, wagging her head back and forth to show her displeasure. “Arrowww-row!”

Annie gave up. She hit the power button on the monitor and stood,
grabbing Kodi’s Frisbee as she walked out of her studio. Kodi danced along beside her, all delight now that she’d gotten her way.

Sending the Frisbee flying, Annie kept walking as Kodi raced after the disk.

“Hey, hon!” Jed waved at her from the doorway of her house. “Are you okay?”

Annie smiled. Amazing. He could read her so easily. “Not really, but how did you know?”

“Simple.” He nodded toward the yard. “Kodi just made a great catch and you didn’t even notice.”

She came to stand beside him, leaning against him. “I got an e-mail that bothered me, that’s all.”

“About your sister.”

“From her, actually.”

His brows arched. “She wrote you a real e-mail. Not just one or two words added to a forward?”

“Right again.”

“Look, why don’t you give her a call? You’ve been wanting to for days now. It’s time to just do it, even if she gets on your case for being worried about her again.”

He was right. She wouldn’t be happy until she talked with Kyla herself. She went up on tiptoe to plant a kiss on his cheek. “Thanks.”

Jed tugged at a short strand of hair. “Any time.”

It only took her a few seconds to dig her phone out and punch the speed dial. It barely rang twice before Kyla picked up.

“Annot, if you’re calling to ask if I’m all right, just do us both a favor and don’t.”

Well. There was a happy greeting. “Hello to you too.” Annie walked back outside, watching Jed, who’d taken over throwing the Frisbee for the inexhaustible Kodi.

The moment’s silence told Annie she’d made her point. As did Kyla’s apologetic tone. “You’re right, and I’m a grouch.”

Annie chuckled. “Agreed on both counts. Now tell me, what’s happening with you?”

“Well, at least you didn’t ask if I’m doing okay.”

“Hey, I can learn.”

“Hmm. As for what’s happening here …”

Annie straightened. Her sister really didn’t sound right. “Kylie?”

A heavy sigh drifted through the phone. “I don’t know. Things have just gotten so … complicated.”

Annie waited, and was glad she did. Because it was as if her normally reticent big sister had an emotional dam break. “We were making such great progress, you know? I told you about that last week?”

“Right—”

“And than wham! It’s like God is delighting in putting obstacles in my path. And now, even with this disaster, we’re supposed to move forward. I’m supposed to just keep on going, pushing myself and my workers to meet an absolutely impossible deadline—”

“Kylie.”

“—with not enough men or supplies—”

“Kyla, hang on—”

“—or funds. It’s insane!”

“Kyla!”

“What!”

Annie let out a breath she hadn’t even realized she was holding. “You’ve lost me, Kylie. What obstacles? And what happened to your funds? I thought you had plenty for the job.”

“We had visitors last night.”

Annie didn’t like the sound of that. Any more than she liked what Kyla went on to tell her. But it was what Kyla didn’t say as much as what she did say that put Annie on alert.

Clearly, something was going on. Something beyond what Kyla was telling her.

“Anyway, I have an impossible amount of stuff to do in an impossibly short amount of time.”

Annie knew better than to question, but she couldn’t help herself. “You have to do it all?”

“No one else here can do it.”

“But isn’t there someone who can help—”

“Annot, please. I don’t have the energy to argue with you. Just trust me on this. Now, I’ve got to go. I have I don’t know how many more phone calls to make before I go for the day. I’ll talk to you later.”

Annie’s good-bye was still perched on her tongue when the dial tone sounded in her ear. She stared at the receiver for a moment, then hit the Off button to disconnect the call.

“Problems with Kyla?”

Annie let her fingers trail along the receiver as she turned to face Jed. This call to her sister ended as almost all of them had over the last few weeks. With Kyla just a tad too vague, and Annie a tad too unsettled. “No … maybe.” She tried to shrug her anxiety off. “I don’t know.”

“And that’s bothering you.”

She plopped down on the couch next to Jed. “Yes.” No point in denying it. He could read her emotions better than anyone. “You know, Rafe and I have been friends for a long time.” She managed a smile. “Kyla even said it was too bad he wasn’t a couple of years older.”

“Why?”

“So he could be my boyfriend. I informed her it would take more than a couple of years. When you’re seventeen, five years is forever. You know what Kyla said to me?”

He slid his arm behind her, letting his fingers massage the back of her neck. “Something terribly logical, I’m sure.”

Annie turned on her seat, facing him. “No, that’s just it. She said, ‘Love doesn’t see age. It sees the heart.’ ”

Jed’s mouth dropped.

Annie laughed. “I know, I know. Not the kind of thing you’d ever expect to hear from Sister-Mommy. But she was different back then. Softer. And then …”

Jed took her hand and gave it a gentle tug. “Then?”

Heart heavy, she settled back against the couch cushion. “That’s just it, I don’t know. Something happened. Something bad. But I haven’t a clue what. All I know is Kyla was Kyla one day, and then she wasn’t. She was harder. More controlled.”

“Sister-Mommy.”

Annie nodded. “Exactly. But lately, I’ve been getting glimpses of Kyla
from back then. The softer Kyla. What’s more, I think she’s been getting those same glimpses”—she met Jed’s tender gaze—“and it’s scaring her silly.”

Without a word, Jed rose and went to pluck the receiver from its cradle. He came back and held it out to Annie.

She looked from it to him. “What? I can’t call Kylie back—”

“Not Kyla. Call your brother.”

“My …?” Annie’s head tilted. “Why?”

Jed sat on the couch beside her. “Look, you’ve been anxious for weeks now. And you’ve shared those concerns with Dan, right?”

“Right.”

“You need to see your sister, hon, and I can’t get away right now. But I’m willing to bet your brother is as ready for a drive north as you are.” He held out her hand and dropped the phone receiver into her palm. “Call him.”

Her fingers curled around the phone even as the truth in Jed’s words curled around her heart. She hugged the phone to her chest.

“You call, I’ll go get us some coffee.”

Jed rose and headed for the kitchen as Annie settled into the corner of the couch. She dialed her brother’s number, then dropped a hand to Kodi’s broad head, her fingers scritching just behind the dog’s ears, as she waited for Dan to answer. “You ready for a visit to Auntie Kylie, Kode?”

The dog’s thumping tail was all the confirmation Annie needed.

Twenty minutes later, it was all arranged. Dan would pick her and Kodi up first thing tomorrow morning. Annie’s heart was lighter than it had been in weeks. Maybe even months.

“All set?”

Annie set the phone aside and accepted the hot mug of coffee Jed held out to her. She waited until he was situated beside her, then leaned into the curve of his arm, resting her head against his solid shoulder. “I’m so lucky I have you.”

His lips caressed the side of her face. “And don’t you forget it.”

As if she ever could.

THIRTY-NINE   

R
afe hadn’t heard a sound like this in a long time.

Not since the last time Olivia was furious with him.

But frequency didn’t matter. Once you’d heard that sound, you never forgot it. The clear, unmistakable tones of a woman in total meltdown.

“I don’t
care
if it’s impossible.”

The furious words scorched the air as he walked across the floor of the new gymnasium.

“I’m the customer; you are the supplier. If you want to continue doing business with Justice Construction, you will give me what I need when I need it!”

At the sound of a receiver being slammed back in the cradle, he stepped into the office. Kyla sat at the desk, head in her hands.

It took all his will to not cross the room and pull her into his arms.