Georgia Sweethearts

Lilly parked but left the car running. He hopped out and walked around to the driver’s side. Opened her door and held out his hand, hoping she’d join him under the beautiful blanket of stars.

She hesitated but ultimately turned off the car and stepped out.

“Thanks again for offering to bring dinner tonight. The Quincys were grateful.”

“No biggie.” She glanced away as if embarrassed.

“Seems you’re good at being thoughtful, taking care of others.”

With a shrug, she proved she had trouble accepting praise.

“I’ve just always stepped in when needed.” Her quiet laugh hinted at hurt.

“No, it’s more than that. I suspect it was in your nature all along.”

Cold, brisk wind whipped her hair into her face. She cinched it with her hand into a ponytail and held on. She looked into his eyes, and he felt the same connection he’d felt when he’d first met her, as if something simmered below the surface. Something neither of them was willing to examine.

“Thanks for bringing me home,” he said.

“No problem.”

“Come on, Lilly. Try accepting my thanks and saying, ‘You’re welcome, Daniel.’” As he grinned at her, a piece of her hair escaped her grasp. He brushed it behind her ear.

A thrill jolted through him at the contact. Then fear followed the same route.

She laughed but stepped out of touching range. She bowed with a flourish. “You’re welcome, Daniel. And now I have something that’ll make your day even better.”

He stuffed his hands into the pockets of his jacket, a reminder not to touch. “What’s that?”

“After a little...uh, prompting from Ann, Jenna and I talked this afternoon. We need the income from rent, and you made a tempting offer to renovate the place.”

He shook his head, incredulous. Leave it to Gran to fix a situation he couldn’t fix. Then again, she probably had ulterior motives. “You’re accepting the offer?”

“Yep. We’d like you to move in and renovate the space.”

“It’s a deal.” He reached out quickly to shake on it before she changed her mind.

With a laugh, she hesitated, staring at his outstretched hand. When she tentatively took his hand, his heart thumped in his chest, as if the moment were momentous, more than a business deal. Silly, of course, but no less jarring.

The temptation to pull her into his arms nearly overwhelmed his good sense. He ground his teeth and jammed his hand in his pocket. “We’ll be good tenants. And I’ll do a good job with the work, keeping costs low.”

“We can talk details and contracts later, after this crisis with Cricket is over.”

“I think we’re past the immediate crisis.” He shook his head and glanced skyward, praying once again for her and the baby. “But she has a long way to go.”

“You didn’t let her down, you know. She needed medical help, not a pastor.”

Spoken by a woman who didn’t think she needed God. “I appreciate your take on the situation. But I feel like I need to do more, though I’m just not sure how.”

“You’ll figure it out. You have a good heart, and Cricket is lucky to have you on her side.” She slid into the driver’s seat.

He leaned inside. “Thanks again for the ride. Your support today meant a lot to me.”

“No pr—” She gave a sweet laugh. “I was glad to help.”

Her laugh wrapped around his heart like a balm. Which terrified him. He couldn’t afford to be attracted to someone, especially someone who didn’t believe as he did, didn’t have faith in God. When the stray hair blew in her face once again, he forced himself to ignore it.

He put his hand on the door, preparing to close it. “You won’t regret allowing the church to meet in your basement. We’ll move on when we find a permanent location. And actually, I’ll move on before that.”

“What do you mean?”

“My calling is to start churches. Once this one is running smoothly, I’ll move on and start another.”

As if he’d pushed a button, her expression chilled. Gone was the teasing laughter, the warm camaraderie.

“I see,” she said. “So you’re here temporarily, as well.”

“Yes. In fact, I’ve already had a congregation in South Georgia ask me to move down there to start an inner-city mission church.”

“How soon will you go?”

For the second time, he had a flicker of doubt. Wondered if he could’ve misread his calling. “Hard to say. We have a couple more projects to get off the ground here.”

She clutched the door handle. “Well, good luck to you.”

“I’ll be in touch about a rental contract.”

“Come by on Monday if you’d like.” The invitation was in her most businesslike voice.

At least Daniel had secured the church’s location for the near future. He didn’t plan to tell the congregation about it until he had the contract in writing, though. Too many variables, including the fact that Lilly could back out at any moment.

Yes, they had a business relationship. Short-term. Then why the attraction? Why the worry over her reaction to the fact he would eventually head south? Moving on was what he did, what he was good at.

Lilly Barnes was a distraction he couldn’t afford.

* * *

Lights and the sound of the television in the family room drew Daniel. GranAnn sat in her chair watching her favorite news channel. His dad read the paper.

“I’m home.” Daniel kissed his grandmother’s cheek. “Cricket’s going to be okay.”

Ann clasped her hands together at her chest. “Oh, thank You, Lord.”

“Hello, Dad.”

“Daniel.” He nodded a greeting. No hug. No handshake. “So what happened with the girl? I thought you said you’d been counseling her. Now I hear she tried to kill herself?”

Daniel clenched his jaw, chomping down on the words that nearly flew out of his mouth. “I’m surprised to see you here this late. Were you waiting to see me?” He despised how pathetically hopeful he sounded, as if he hadn’t had the same smack down over and over.