Terri Reed - Love Comes Home and A Sheltering Love - Love Comes Home / A Sheltering Love

Rachel smiled tightly.

“I’m so glad to see you here,” Jennifer said with a bright smile. “You’ll have to come for dinner and spend time with my family. I can’t wait for you to meet Paul and the kids.”

“That would be nice,” Rachel replied politely, feeling a pang of guilt. She wouldn’t be in town long enough to make it to her friend’s house, but now was not the time to say so.

“Good. Tonight then.”

Before Rachel could protest, Jennifer turned to Josh. “You two come along.”

“Sure, we’d love to,” Josh replied.

“Great. It’s settled then.” Jennifer beamed. “Why don’t you pick up Rachel and you can all come together?”

“We can do that.”

“Hey, wait,” Rachel interjected, hating the maddening way they were arranging her life. “I have things to do. I’ve got to organize Mom G.’s house, pack things up. I don’t have time for dinner. I…” Her protest faded as disappointment clouded Jennifer’s eyes.

Josh nudged her with his elbow and the look he gave her was a clear signal that she was blowing it and about to hurt Jennifer’s feelings. “I suppose I can take care of everything tomorrow. Dinner would be great. Thank you.”

The sparkle returned to Jennifer’s eyes. “I’ll see you all about five.”

“Can we go now?” Griff asked, and gave Rachel’s hand another tug.

Swallowing back the trepidation that she was getting in too deep, Rachel nodded and allowed Griff to pull her along.

The local ice-cream parlor was packed. The old-fashioned decor with its mahogany tables and soda fountain counter always gave Josh the impression of stepping back in time. He waved at several people and endured the assessing glances as he herded Griff and Rachel toward the back where he spotted a table being vacated by two teens. His gaze strayed over Rachel’s long floral skirt, appreciating the curves and the way the hem flirted with her trim ankles.

“I want strawberry with caramel sauce on a waffle cone,” Griff said as soon as his bottom hit the chair.

Josh raised a brow, not sure overloading his son on sugar was such a good idea.

“Awww.” A fleeting expression of disappointment crossed Griff’s face. “Okay, no sauce.”

“What? No sauce? Outrageous.” Rachel’s light laughter captured Josh’s gaze. She blinked up at him, her blue eyes full of merriment. “We gotta have caramel sauce on strawberry waffle cones.”

“Yeah, that’s right,” Griff chimed in eagerly.

She raised her dark winged brows, daring Josh to say no. He didn’t want to spoil the air of fun surrounding them. “All right, caramel sauce it is.” So much for any semblance of nutrition.

Griff’s exuberance exploded in a loud “Yeah!”

Rachel’s pleased smile sent ripples of pleasure down Josh’s spine. Right now there wasn’t anything remotely cold in her gaze. Her eyes were alive and warm, drawing him in, making him wish for the impossible, wish for a way to be enough for this woman. And wish the three of them could be a family. His stomach dropped. Abruptly he stood and headed to the counter. What was he doing having Rachel join them as if they were a family?

She’s a friend, Josh admonished himself. Friends could have ice cream together. Friends could sit and have a decent conversation without their emotions being strung out to dry. Friends could laugh and enjoy each other’s company without risking heartbreak.

His mouth twisted wryly. He was going to have to find a different category in which to place Rachel, because “friend” wasn’t the correct one.

He paid and walked back to the table with three cones in hand.

At Rachel’s appraising look he muttered, “It sounded good.”

She laughed again. Josh liked her laugh. He’d forgotten how lyrical the sound could be, how her laugh wrapped around his senses. When they were in high school, Rachel’s laugh was what had gained his attention.

As they ate their cones, Josh saw a side of Rachel he’d thought long gone. Here was the girl he’d been so crazy about in high school but there was so much more to her now. She’d seen things, experienced things that had changed her, given her depths that hadn’t been there before.

Yet she was capable of an easy wit and gentle nature that made the time fly by. And Griff hung on every story coming from her lovely lips. How could his son help but fall for Rachel who at turns made Josh crazy with frustration and longing?

“Wow.” Rachel sighed. “That was delicious. I haven’t had ice cream in ages.”

“Why not?” asked Griff.

“You know, I don’t know.”

She looked genuinely puzzled. Like the thought of enjoying something as simple as ice cream was foreign to her. What was her life like in the big city of Chicago? Did she have many friends? What did she do for fun? Was there a man in her life?

That last thought stopped him cold. He had no business even caring, let alone being tempted to ask if she had someone waiting for her return. Even so, curiosity about every facet of Rachel’s life hounded him, made him want to know why the woman she’d become drew him to her despite his resistance.

They left the parlor and stepped into the sunshine. The parking lot hummed with the rumble of cars on the highway as well as the many entering and leaving the parking lot. The newly developed strip mall with the drugstore, bookstore, several specialty stores and two restaurants buzzed with activity as people meandered about, busy shopping and such on Sunday afternoon.

At the curb, Rachel touched his arm. “Thank you. I really enjoyed this morning.”

He stared into those crystal-blue eyes and found he couldn’t speak. The softness he saw spoke of caring and affection.

Her touch remained icy hot on his arm. An innocent touch that shouldn’t cause such a riot inside.

He shouldn’t let this get too personal, let the easy companionship of the morning cloud reality with wanting more from her. Yet he couldn’t stop himself from covering her hand with his.

He told himself she needed comfort whether she wanted to admit to the need or not. She’d lost Mrs. G. The least he could do was offer some solace. Her eyes widened, and he was gratified to see a bit of the same chaos he felt reflected in her gaze.

She slipped her hand away. He wasn’t surprised.

“We’ll take you back to the hotel.”

She drew herself up. The composed politeness he was beginning to detest settled over her lovely face and her petite form stiffened. Gone was the congenial woman of moments before. Now he was faced with the Rachel she’d become, the one he didn’t understand or know how to deal with.

“That would be fine. I have things that need to be taken care of before we go to Jennifer’s,” she said stiffly.

And he would be there to help her take care of things, because of his promise, not because he wanted to. At least that’s what he tried to convince himself of as he headed them out of the parking lot and drove them to the hotel.

When they arrived at the gray motel lodge consisting of ten single units, Rachel slid from the truck.

“Can I stay with you?” asked Griff, his little face full of eager anticipation.

Josh swallowed past the lump in his throat. His son’s eagerness to be with Rachel was touching.

Rachel smiled, her blue eyes twinkling. “You’re going to get sick of me if we spend too much time together.”

“Naw, couldn’t happen,” Griff scoffed.

Josh ruffled Griff’s hair. “We’ll be seeing Rachel tonight, buddy.” He turned his attention to her. “I’ll be back in a while to help you with things.”

Her brows drew together. “You don’t need to.”

“But I will,” he insisted.

“Josh, I’m going to rest for a while. Please don’t come back until it’s time to leave for Jennifer’s.”