Baby Makes a Match

She gulped and mumbled, “I can’t tell you.”

“But it’s not Chandler?” Hypatia pressed.

Bethany shook her head, gaze averted.

“Satisfied?” Chandler asked, glaring at Garrett.

“How was I to know?” Garrett demanded. “She shows up, pregnant and unmarried, with you.” Bethany flinched, hearing it stated so baldly. “All she’ll say is that the father doesn’t want the kid,” he barreled on, “and you take off without even bothering to meet me!”

“I had important business! And why would I bother meeting you? I didn’t know you were her brother. All I knew was that you’re the gardener here, and I don’t report to the gardener!”

“Stop it!” Bethany cried, shocking even herself. “Just stop snarling at each other. Neither of you has any reason.”

“No reason?” Chandler demanded. “He hit me!”

“You hit me back,” Garrett grumbled, rubbing his ribs.

Bethany sighed. Her eyes filled, and she bit her lip, but then she managed to say softly, “I don’t want to talk about who the father of this baby is anymore.”

Garrett shifted. “But—”

“You heard her,” Chandler snapped. Bethany glanced up, straight into his warm brown gaze. “It’s her business,” he muttered, glancing away.

“Of course.” Hypatia said, as if that settled the matter.

“You’re right,” Magnolia agreed at the same time. Garrett looked like he might explode for a moment, but then he gave his head a sharp nod.

“Well, that’s that, then,” Odelia announced with some satisfaction. “And now we’re all friends.”

Bethany choked back a startled laugh. Then a weight seemed to descend on her shoulders. These were good people, every one of them. Her brother had offered her support when she needed it most. The Chatam triplets had taken her into their home without a moment’s hesitation. Chandler had offered her a ride when she was nothing more than a desperate stranger stranded beside the road. Good people, indeed, and good people deserved the truth.

But she couldn’t give it to them. Not now. Not ever.

She gulped and closed her eyes, remembering the look on Jay’s face when he’d learned that she was pregnant. He didn’t want this child, but he would take it from her if she ever told anyone what he’d done. With her family history and his resources, that would be too difficult.

Silence reigned for a long moment, then Garrett turned to face Chandler and squared his shoulders. They were both beginning to show a few scrapes and bruises but nothing that wouldn’t be gone by morning.

“I apologize,” he said. “I have a history of overreacting where the women in my family are concerned.”

Chandler shrugged, his gaze skimming over Bethany. “No real harm done, I guess.”

Garrett nodded curtly and moved to stand at her side, saying, “You have to admit that it’s a lulu of a coincidence, my sister stumbling into your path.”

“No kidding,” Bethany murmured. Even Chandler lifted his eyebrows and nodded in agreement. Not so the triplets.

Hypatia shared an amused look with her sisters and calmly said, “Oh, my dears, do you not realize that for God’s children, there are no coincidences? Only plans.”

Chapter Four

Straightening, Chandler felt an eerie feeling skitter up his spine.

No coincidences for God’s children.

Chandler knew that God had plans for the lives of believers, but he’d never before thought of it in quite that way. He suddenly remembered his father speaking from the pulpit.

“God allows nothing into our lives without a reason.”

As a teenager, Chandler hadn’t paid much attention, already at odds with his dad over his friendship with Kreger. Both he and Kreger had been horse-mad and dreaming of careers in rodeo. Pat’s grandfather had encouraged their interest, but Hub believed that sports were frivolous, mere hobbies, certainly not occupations fit for Chandler men. Only lately, since Chandler’s sister, Kaylie, had married a pro hockey goalie, had Hub rethought his prejudice somewhat.

Now, suddenly, Chandler heard his father’s long-ago words with a different ear and applied that new interpretation to his meeting Bethany.

If Kreger had flown in to compete as they’d planned, he’d have been riding with Chandler back to Buffalo Creek. They wouldn’t have left for home early that morning because Pat never hauled himself out of bed before he had to, which meant they’d have stopped for dinner long before they’d have reached that little diner. The only reasonable conclusion was that Chandler would have missed Bethany completely if things had gone as he had planned. No telling where she’d have wound up then.

A fresh chill ran up his spine, and he found himself wholly identifying with Garrett’s impulses. If Bethany was his sister… But she was not his sister. She was, instead, a very attractive, single woman. A single expectant mother, he reminded himself.

No, Chandler didn’t blame Garrett for wanting to pound someone.

His ears perked up when Magnolia asked Bethany if she still intended to look for a job. Putting aside his thoughts, he listened to Bethany reply, “As quickly as possible.”

“Sis, do you really think anyone is going to hire a woman as pregnant as you are?” Garrett asked, looking down at her.

Bethany sighed but otherwise did not answer.

“It is a problem,” Hypatia agreed gently.

“I can’t just live off your generosity and my brother’s until the baby comes,” Bethany pointed out.

Chandler surprised himself by speaking the instant the thought entered his mind.

“Dad might be willing to hire her.”

Five pairs of eyes turned to him. Well, it only seemed logical. In fact, he was surprised that his aunts hadn’t thought of it themselves. He cleared his throat and said, “Dad is about to open the new Single Parents Ministry to the public, isn’t he?”

Hypatia brightened. “That’s right. He’s been talking about hiring a receptionist.”

“That would be perfect,” Bethany said, sitting forward. “What do they do there?”

“Offer parenting classes, support groups, Bible studies,” Hypatia said. “They’ve also put together a panel of advisers, attorneys, mental health professionals, charities, anyone who can help lighten the load of a single parent.”

“It sounds wonderful!” Bethany gushed.

“It’s part-time, so the pay wouldn’t be much,” Magnolia warned.

“Still, it’s something,” Bethany pointed out.

“And of course you’ll stay here until after the baby comes and you’re on your feet again,” Odelia put in.

For the second time that morning, Chandler watched Bethany’s eyes fill with tears. She reached a hand up to her brother, who pressed her fingers with his, smiling.