A Gift of Love (New Beginnings Book 5) Read online

  As he turned into a parking lot at a strip mall, his grip on the steering wheel tightened until pain streaked up his arms. Tracy had left him for another man and obviously didn’t even care about her own daughter. What kind of God would do that to a little girl whose world used to revolve around her mother?

  Half an hour later Ian returned home after finishing his two errands. His daughter stood at the door to the garage waiting for him. After each interview, Jana had given her opinion of the candidate and none of them had pleased her. She wasn’t happy with him having to work more. She craved his attention and was wary of strangers. He certainly understood why after her mother abandoned her—and him—for a man Jana had never met.

  “Hey, pumpkin.” Ian entered the house, the scent of dinner teasing his senses. “Ah, Madge is making her lasagna for us. I love Tuesdays and Thursdays when she’s here to cook dinner.”

  “Yep, your cooking isn’t exactly up to her standards.”

  “I’d have to take classes for years to be up to her standards.” Another job he’d had to take over when his wife left. At least he’d graduated from putting prepared dinners in the oven to heat up to actually following a simple recipe.

  “I asked her for lasagna because nothing is going right. Well, except the rocket launch.” His daughter’s mouth twisted into a pout. “I don’t want anyone else to teach me.”

  “I can’t do it all right now. It’s only until the end of April. Not a life sentence.”

  “I’ll work on my own when you need me to. I promise.”

  “Your education is too important to me to leave it to random chance.” Sighing, he made his way to the family room and sat on the couch. He might be sorry, but he asked, “Which one of the five women do you like the best?”

  “None.”

  “That’s a first. You not wanting to give me your input.”

  Jana huffed. “Oh, all right, the last one. At least she’s young. The others are old.”

  “I beg your pardon. Most of them are in their thirties.” At least he thought so since he hadn’t asked their age. “I’m thirty-six and don’t consider myself old.”

  “How about the first one? No way she’s even thirty-nine. Probably more like fifty. Maybe even sixty. She had gray hair. Lots of gray hair.”

  “There’s nothing wrong with gray hair.” Touching the side of his head, he’d remembered finding a few gray strands yesterday morning.

  “I need someone who can keep up with me. Please not her.”

  “I’ll consider your suggestion. Why did you like the last one?” He recalled Alexa Michaels’s pert features. She was pleasing to look at, which wasn’t necessarily a good thing. His wife had been a beauty, and she’d run off with another man. And besides, Ms. Michaels’s choice of clothes would keep anyone up at night or at the very least be a beacon in a dark room. And she was too young. He wanted someone with more experience.

  Jana shrugged. “Besides not being ancient, she has red hair like me.”

  “In other words, you don’t want anyone.”

  “Bingo.”

  He thought of the work piled up on his desk in his office and knew that wasn’t going to be an option. He’d been staying up late just to get some of that work done and wasn’t sleeping much. That lack was catching up with him.

  His daughter wasn’t ready to go back to school. She rarely left the yard, and when she did, she was wound so tight he thought she would snap. Going to her therapist’s office once a week or on errands with him was about all she could handle and that only lately because of her counseling.

  But most of all, the past few months he’d actually enjoyed teaching her. They had grown closer. Jana was doing so much better in her academics from last year. Homeschooling had been good for her. If only he could find someone to keep her on track while he was swamped with work.

  He rose. “I’ll be in my office. Remember, you have that book to finish reading then write a report on it.”

  Jana groaned but flopped into the most comfortable chair in the house in front of the bay window and opened her book. As he left the family room, he glanced back at Jana, an intense look of concentration on her face—a face that reminded him of his ex-wife.

  Ian clenched his hands and made his way through the kitchen and living room to his home office. Although folders were stacked high on his desk, the first thing he had to do was call the initial woman he’d interviewed and see if she would take the job. Alexa Michaels wouldn’t fit in.

  Chapter Two

  Finally, the lunch crowd thinned enough that Alexa could take a few moments to rest her weary feet before she headed home. She still wasn’t used to standing for long hours. Being a waitress definitely wasn’t her preferred job. Besides, she hated the “uniform” they had to wear—a pale blue dress with a white apron and ugly white shoes. She felt as if she was stuck in an old fifties sitcom. All she needed was a little cap on her head.

  She eased into a booth with her hot tea and stretched her legs out, flexing her feet. “Ah,” she sighed the word and contemplated never getting up. She wished she’d gotten the job with Ian Ferguson, but he’d called last weekend and told her he went with someone else.

  She’d thought the Lord had brought her to the Fergusons. She’d only known about the job because Dr. Baker was a friend of his and had insisted that he talk with Alexa when Dr. Baker found out he was interviewing others to help him with Jana. Alexa had been wrong, which meant she was stuck with this job unless another one worked out. She had an interview tomorrow, but she just couldn’t seem to get excited about it as she had with the Fergusons. There was something about Jana and her situation that pulled at her. The wariness mixed with a touch of sadness made her yearn to help the child. She knew what it was like to lose someone special. At least being a waitress would pay the bills, and she could go to school the spring semester. But her student loans were mounting up. It would be years until she paid them off, and there were so many places she wanted to see.

  Taking a sip of her tea, she leaned back and closed her eyes, relishing the rest before she left the café.

  Someone cleared his throat. “Ms. Michaels?”

  Alexa’s eyes flew open to stare up into Ian Ferguson’s handsome face—the same face that had plagued a few nights’ dreams. For a brief moment, no words came to her mind.

  “Are you all right?”

  “What are you doing here, Mr. Ferguson?”

  He grinned. “I could say I stopped by for lunch.”

  “It’s two-thirty. A little late for lunch. Besides, I’m off the clock now. You’ll have to get another waitress.”

  “I came to see you.”

  Her heart fluttered, but she squashed that fast. Had he reconsidered about giving her the job? No, it didn’t make any difference. There was a reason she didn’t get the job. She got the impression they would butt heads over what to do, and he was smart enough to have figured that out. Learning didn’t have to happen on a strict schedule, and she wasn’t going to change her philosophy because he thought it should. “Why, Mr. Ferguson?”

  He slipped into the booth across from her. “Ian, please. My daughter has already reminded me lately I’m old in her eyes. Mr. Ferguson only reinforces that.”

  “Old? What are you? Forty?”

  He grimaced. “Thirty-six.” He paused a moment, then leaned toward her. “Are you still interested in the job?”

  “Why? What happened to the woman you hired?”

  “According to Jana she was Attila the Hun going through menopause. I didn’t even know my daughter knew what menopause was.”

  For a few seconds she suppressed the urge to chuckle, but his perplexed expression coaxed it from her. “You’d be surprised what young girls know today.”

  “I’m discovering that a lot lately. My little girl is starting to disappear. She’ll be eleven in a couple of months, and I’m not ready for her to grow up.”

  “Before you know it, she’ll be a teenager.”

  “Which really s
ends a chill through my body.”

  “Don’t let her know. A teen can smell fear and use it to her advantage. It wasn’t that long ago that I was one of those creatures.” She gave him a smile and a wink.

  “Just how old are you?”

  “Don’t you know that you’re not supposed to ask a woman that? Or for that matter, a job applicant,” she said in a teasing tone.

  He swallowed hard and averted his gaze for a moment, staring across the café as though trying to decide what to say next.

  “I’m twenty-three.”

  “You’re right. It hasn’t been that long since you were a teen,” he said almost to himself.

  “Long enough. So, what do you want?”

  “I’d like to try you out as Jana’s nanny/tutor.”

  Her hand around her cup of tea tightened. “I have a job interview tomorrow with a couple who have three boys. They’re friends of the people I worked for as a nanny.”

  “I understand.” Ian leaned back in the booth, but there was nothing relaxing about his ramrod posture.

  Alexa folded her arms on the table. “Let’s be honest with each other. I got the distinct impression you didn’t want me for the job. I think our approaches to life clash.” Boy, did they. He was wound too tightly for her. “From what you said, there were others you interviewed. Did you go through the whole list before coming here?”

  “No. You’re the only other one I asked.”

  “Why?”

  “Because Jana preferred you over the others, especially Attila the Hun. She let me know that this morning, and frankly, after watching my daughter and the woman interact together, I agreed.”

  “Why did she prefer me? We didn’t interact much.”

  “You’re young and have red hair,” he said with a grin.

  She lifted some strands. “This isn’t exactly red.”

  “What can I say? She’s doesn’t always think logically or make sense.”

  Logic would be important to him. Which sent up a red flag. She wasn’t known for her logic. Control was important to him also, and long ago she’d given over control to the Lord. Was this His desire? Was that why it hadn’t worked out for Attila the Hun? Was that why she hadn’t been able to get excited about the other job? “If you don’t mind, can I give you an answer tomorrow after my interview?” For a brief moment she was amazed she had said those words as if she would consider working for him rather than the couple she knew. Every logical reason told her to run from him and his job offer.

  “Okay.”

  “And if I decide to work for you, I don’t want a trial run. I’ll be quitting this job, and I need one that will last.”

  “It will only last until the end of April.”

  “That’ll be fine. Who knows? You may decide to extend my employment, that is if I take the job.”

  “Thanks, Ms. Michaels.” He slipped from the café’s booth.

  “Please, I don’t usually go by Ms. Michaels. It makes me sound too old.” She smiled, remembering his earlier comment. “Call me Alexa, and I’ll want Jana to use my first name, too. Will that be a problem?”

  He sighed. “No, Alexa. I’ll wait for your call before I contact someone else.”

  As he strode toward the entrance, she prayed the Lord showed her His direction.

  * * *

  “Can I have a word with you, Dr. Baker?” Alexa stuck her head into the office doorway of her adviser at Tallgrass Community College.

  “Sure. Come in.” Sitting at her desk, the older woman, with short blond hair and a tall, reed-thin body, waved her inside.

  Exhausted from tossing and turning the night before, Alexa sank into a chair. “I just had an interview with a couple that offered me a dream job, but when I left the house after talking with Mrs. David, I didn’t tell her I would take it. I couldn’t say the word yes. I kept thinking about Jana Ferguson and what the little girl has been going through with her anxiety.” And what the child’s dad was going through. Behind his austere countenance she’d glimpsed a vulnerability, especially at the café. He seemed lost—grasping to make sense of what was happening to him.

  “I thought Ian employed a retired teacher to work with Jana.”

  “It didn’t work out. He’s asked me to take over, but I don’t think he’s totally convinced I’m the right one for the job. I’m not sure I am, either. He wanted to hire me on a trial basis.”

  “Then take the other one. You need a job.” Nancy Baker studied Alexa. “But that’s not really what you want to do, is it?”

  “No. When I met Jana, I couldn’t shake the idea the job was meant for me, but then Ian didn’t hire me, so I thought I was wrong. Now I’m not so sure.”

  “You think the Lord is leading you to the Fergusons?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then you have your answer and everything else will fall into place.”

  Alexa grasped the arms of her chair and bent forward. “Can you tell me about Jana and her father?”

  “I haven’t known him for long. We became friends last fall when he started attending Helping Hands Homeschooling meetings for support with teaching his daughter. Ian and I hit it off right away when we discovered he only lived a few blocks from me.”

  “That’s the organization you started for homeschooling parents in this area?”

  Nancy nodded. “There was no local support for those parents. I used to get a lot of calls about what they should do for their children. I’ve never said anything in my classes, but years ago I homeschooled my youngest and struggled at first. There wasn’t much around about it then. There is more now, but for these parents in Tallgrass I decided to form the group so they wouldn’t go through what I did. It’s really grown over the past three years.”

  The more she got to know Nancy Baker, the more interesting the woman became. She was a widow with two grown sons, and she worked tirelessly for others at the college and their church. And now, Alexa realized, also with Helping Hands Homeschooling. “I’d love to come to one of your meetings. Would that be all right?”

  “Sure. Have Ian bring you. He hasn’t been able to persuade Jana to attend any of the children’s activities we have yet, but he thinks she’s close. A couple of times he almost got her to go to the ranch we use for riding lessons. Jana loves animals.”

  “So, you’ve been around her?”

  “Yes, he holds some activities at his house. Last fall we had a fishing rodeo at the lake behind his house, another time a picnic with fun games.”

  “Do you know what has caused Jana’s anxiety?”

  “Ian hasn’t come out and said anything to me, but it’s known that his wife left them. I don’t think they have much contact with her. Jana rarely talks about her mother. It’s the same with Ian.”

  “How long has he been a single dad?” She told herself that question was purely for professional reasons, but deep down she couldn’t shake a connection that had sprang up between them in his living room. Did it have to do with the young girl or something else? Again, the sense he was hurting assailed her, and she was a sucker for wounded people and animals. And when she thought of Jana, she felt the child’s pain. Alexa and her father had a troubled relationship. Was that why she felt such a connection with Jana?

  “Over a year.” Nancy checked her watch. “Oh, dear. I’d better get a move on, or I’ll be late for my next class. There’s never enough time in the day for all I do.” She pushed to her feet and skirted her desk. “Jana’s very bright, but last year at school she didn’t do well. When she started having similar troubles at the first of this year and giving Ian problems about going to school, he decided to take her out even though all the literature says to try to keep the child with separation anxiety in school if possible. He thought his daughter needed more than what her present situation was offering.”

  “Do you agree?”

  “I’m not the parent. Ian is a smart man who loves his daughter very much. He’ll do what’s best for Jana. Be warned, I’m not sure Ian will be too eas
y to deal with at times.” She smiled. “But I think you can handle it. I also think this teaching experience will be very rewarding. After this semester, you only have a handful of classes left before you start your student teaching. You’re ready for this.”

  Am I? “Hard work doesn’t scare me.” But that brief bond she’d experienced with Ian that day he’d interviewed her did. There were too many things concerning Ian Ferguson that reminded her of her father. Control of any situation had always been so important to her dad.

  “I know, and that’s why I think you’d be perfect to shake up their lives.” Nancy started for the door with Alexa next to her.

  Later, as Alexa left the Education Building on campus, she thought about what her adviser had said. Shake up their lives? Why does she think they need to be shaken up?

  * * *

  After parking her repaired car in the driveway on the following Monday, Alexa rang the bell at the Ferguson residence. While she waited, she tapped her booted foot to a country song she’d heard on the way over here. The tune continued to play in her mind.

  When the door swung open, she sucked in a deep breath at the disheveled sight of Ian Ferguson standing in the doorway, minus his wire-rimmed glasses, which only highlighted his startlingly blue eyes. His hair was still wet and messy as though he’d just finished towel drying it. He was barefoot but wore black slacks and a gray long-sleeve shirt, hanging out of his pants and buttoned wrong. What stunned her the most, however, was his unsettled expression.

  “You’re early. Do you always arrive half an hour early?” He combed his fingers through his short hair, trying to bring order to it.