Ruth Scofield - In God's Own Time

Instead, she walked into the kitchen and dialed Kelsey.

It rang five times. Six. He wasn’t there, and neither were the children. Seven. No answering machine, even. She chewed her lip with unreasonable disappointment.

But she shouldn’t feel so, she chastised herself. Kelsey was a busy man. He had a life of his own, and his children—

“Hello.”

The receiver was an inch from the disconnect button when she heard his voice. She yanked it back to her ear.

“Kelsey?”

“Yeah?” He sounded preoccupied. Almost short-tempered. Maybe she shouldn’t have called.

“It’s Meg.”

“Meg?” A curious relief entered his tone. “Oh, hello.”

She relaxed “I called because…” Why had she? She couldn’t very well say she’d phoned simply because she wanted to hear his voice. “I’m sorry, Kels, about earlier. About rushing you off the phone.”

“That’s okay, Meg. I understand. Sometimes things are in total chaos here, too. I should’ve picked a better time to call than suppertime, myself.”

“No, you’re welcome to call anytime.” In the background she heard laughter and what sounded like a bleat. “Now it sounds as if you’re the one who’s busy.”

“Not really. We’re out in the barn. Thad and Phillip have a young Hereford bull they’ve been raising for two-year-old class in 4-H this year. Fair’s coming up, and they’re counting their chances at winning the Grand Champion.”

“Oh. Do they really have one?”

“Mmm. They might.”

“Well, I wish them luck. Did the girls raise anything?”

“Lissa didn’t seem to want to do it this year. Aimee has a lamb she’s babying, but I don’t think she’s put her best into the effort. Too impatient, I guess.” His voice suddenly grew quiet.

Too impatient. Like Dee Dee. Quick, vivacious, passionate-about-life Dee Dee.

Nostalgia waved over Meg, and she wondered if Kelsey’s thoughts centered on remembering, too.

It was almost her undoing.

“I guess I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Yeah. I was about to shoo the kids to bed.”

“No, Daddy,” she heard Heather in the background. “I don’t wanna.”

“Lissa,” she heard Kelsey order in a muffled aside. Lissa answered, but Meg couldn’t hear what was said.

“I’m keeping you,” she said apologetically.

“No, it’s okay. I shouldn’t have let them stay out this late, anyway, since tomorrow’s a big day for ‘em. Lissa can get Heather to bed, and the rest of the kids are on their own.”

Meg frowned. It seemed to her that Lissa was doing a lot of mothering. Did Kelsey depend on her too much? Who did Lissa have to turn to?

“Kelsey, was there something else you wanted when you called earlier? I had the feeling you were about to ask me something when we had to end our conversation.”

“Um, as a matter of fact, I wanted to ask a favor.”

“Ask,” she prompted, when she heard the hesitation in his voice. “I can only bite your head off through the phone lines if I don’t like it. Tearing you limb from limb would have to wait for personal contact. And then again, I might just say yes.”

His rich, deep chuckle shot through her like a sugar high. Oh, how she’d missed hearing it. She craved more.

“You’ve taken to biting off heads while out in the big bad world, have you Meg? Like the Queen of Hearts?”

His amusement delighted her. “That’s it. Cross me, buddy, and I’ll send out my black knights. Now what’s the favor?”

She heard his sigh. Kelsey didn’t like to ask for anything, she recalled.

“Would it be possible for you to take Heather with you tomorrow? I know it’s a lot to ask.”

“No, it’s not. I intended the invitation to include Heather, anyway. I’m sorry if I didn’t make myself clear.”

“Great!” The relief in his voice was substantial. “Really great. I have to run up to K. C. to pick up new tractor parts. I’ll take the boys with me, but it’s not the kind of thing the girls—well, you know. Anyway, there’s no need for you to run all the way out here. I’ll drop the girls off on my way, if that’s all right with you?”

“Sure, Kels, that’ll be fine. At ten.”

They said good-night, as longtime friends would, neatly and with the warmth of long association.

She wouldn’t wish for more. No…it would be foolish.

“Boys, stay in the car,” Kelsey instructed as they pulled up in front of the Lawrences’ white two-story house. “We’ll only be a minute.”

Aimee was out of the car before he’d opened his own door, and Lissa quickly followed.

“C’mon, Heather,” Lissa urged.

“I wanna go with Daddy.”

Kelsey held his impatience down. Heather, even though excited to be going on the shopping trip just five minutes before, liked to indulge in possessive streaks. This one had been brewing all morning. He didn’t always know what to do about them; he didn’t remember the other kids acting so dependently. But the other four’d had their mother, too.

“No games this morning, little sprout,” Kelsey said, holding her door wide, insistently. Heather reluctantly unbuckled her seat belt and slid out of the car.

“Why can’t I go with you?”

“You’d be bored in two min—”

Meg stepped out onto the front porch dressed in a black-and-white swingy-skirted outfit that stopped inches above her knees. Kelsey couldn’t help himself. His attention was caught in how attractive her long legs looked—and he looked all the way down her well-shaped calves to her feet, elegantly encased in black sandals, and back up again. The sight of those long limbs hit him squarely in the middle and with a force to equal a tightfisted punch.

It surprised him. A lot.

He yanked his gaze back to her face. Meg’s skirt wasn’t any shorter than most women’s shorts, so it must be the sophisticated combination of garments, he guessed. Meg always did have pretty legs—he just hadn’t imagined those curves would ever cause him such a disturbance.

“All ready?” Meg sang out, aiming her comment toward the girls as she came toward them.

“Oh, yes,” Lissa said, enraptured.

“Uh-huh,” Aimee agreed, already three steps up the drive.

“I wanna go with Daddy,” Heather began again, her eyes tearing.

“Don’t be such a baby,” Lissa said with a long sigh.

“I’m not a baby,” Heather protested, the pooling in her eyes growing by the second. She edged against Kelsey’s leg, locking her knees as though she didn’t plan to budge.

“Heather, we don’t have time for this.” Kelsey held his impatience under a tight lid. He gave in to his youngest child too often, according to Linda, but it was easier sometimes to make life run smoother. “If you don’t want to go with the girls, then just get back into the car. But I don’t want any gripes later. Understand?”

“Troubles?” Meg asked as she came up to them

“Only the usual kind,” he told her in a resigned tone.

“Hmm,” she acknowledged in sympathy.

As Meg crouched down to look into the little girl’s face, her chin-length hair swung forward. Kelsey noticed the honey streaks mingling with the sunny gold and light brown, all shiny like a shampoo ad.

“I’m sorry you don’t want to go with us today, Heather,” Meg said with sincerity. “We’re going to shop and have lunch and shop some more. Who knows, maybe we’ll find the latest Disney video somewhere to bring home.”

Meg glanced up at him, gave him a lightning grin, then pushed a strand of hair behind an ear as she turned back to his youngest child. He thought her actions were designed to lift Heather’s mood. Her smile certainly lightened his own.

“But that’s okay,” Meg continued. “We can pick it out without you.”