Shelter of Hope (New Beginnings Book 8) Read online

  Hannah answered on the first ring. “Am I glad you called!”

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Everything. Where are you? I thought you would be at your apartment.”

  “At my apartment? Where are you?”

  “Outside your door, getting funny looks from your neighbors.”

  Chapter Two

  “What do you mean you’re outside my door? You’re here in Hope?” Cody’s hand tightened around his cell. Hannah had never done something like this. They’d talked over the phone and worked out her problems.

  “Yes, I’m here. What else would standing outside your door mean?” Hannah’s exasperation matched his.

  “I’ll be there in about ten minutes.”

  “Hurry. The mosquitoes are feasting on me.”

  Cody went back inside to say good-night and found Maggie standing with her uncle, Ruth and Kim near the cake table.

  Maggie smiled as he came up to them. “Do you want a slice?”

  “Can’t. I have to leave and wanted to thank you all for the invite.”

  “Is everything all right?” Ruth Sommerfield asked, taking hold of her husband’s arm.

  “My sister has shown up at my apartment without telling me she was coming.”

  “Where does she live?” Kim turned toward the table and cut two slices of the cake.

  “Los Angeles.”

  Keith whistled. “She came a fair piece to see you, and you didn’t know about it?”

  “No. That’s my sister.”

  Kim handed him the paper plate with the cake on it. “Take this and enjoy it. Both of you.”

  Cody smiled his thanks. “Hannah has a sweet tooth. She’ll appreciate this. Good night and congratulations again, Keith and Ruth.”

  “I’ll walk you out,” Maggie said and fell into step beside him.

  “You don’t need to do that.”

  “No, I don’t, but I want to.” She peered over her shoulder as they walked toward the staircase leading down to the first floor of the antebellum house. “It’s so nice not to have large sheets of plastic cordoning off the areas that needed renovating. It’s looking more and more like home again.”

  “That’s so much a part of the problem with disasters. Seeing the effects for months later. Rebuilding takes time, but sometimes people need immediate results or depression sets in.”

  “I know that was part of Uncle Keith’s problem. I’ve seen it with so many others. There are still people who are homeless, a lot thankfully living in trailers they received from the government.”

  “But it isn’t the same. They don’t look at the trailer as their home.”

  “Then we could get into a discussion about what makes a home.”

  He grinned. “We better avoid that this time. My sister is expecting me this evening.” He didn’t think his definition would be what Maggie’s was. She saw it as a physical place; he thought of it as a mental one.

  “You’re right. Home means different things to different people.” Maggie stopped at the front entrance. “I wanted to thank you again for helping me on the elevator and understanding about me freaking out.”

  “I’ve seen it before. It takes a lot more than that to get to me.”

  “I’m glad to hear that. Good night.”

  Cody left Bienville, his steps light, thanks to Maggie’s warm smile. It hadn’t been a bad evening after all, especially out in the garden. At times like that, when he was with someone intriguing like Maggie, he wanted to reconsider his plans. But he was doing what he was supposed to. He couldn’t turn his back on the people he helped. Still, thoughts of Maggie stayed with him until he pulled into the parking space in front of his apartment and saw his sister on his doorstep.

  Pregnant.

  * * *

  Maggie leaned against one of the opened double doors after Cody drove away. Sounds of the party—laughter and voices—floated down to her, but she wasn’t in any hurry to return. The smile Cody gave her when he had left caused flutters in her stomach like the wings of the hummingbirds that visited her garden every day.

  She sighed. Too bad he would be leaving Hope in a few months. It would be interesting to get to know him better.

  She shut the door and ascended the staircase to the second floor. But instead of rejoining the party, she went to look for her son. She hadn’t seen Brady for a while. Was he in his room?

  Maggie made a detour toward her son’s bedroom. When he said, “Come in,” she found him on his bed, staring up at the ceiling.

  “You okay?”

  With his gaze still fixed on a spot above him, he murmured, “Yeah.”

  But the way he said that one word told her he was far from all right. “What happened?”

  Finally, Brady looked at her. “Nothin’. I’m tired.”

  She crossed to his bed and sat. “Hon, you’ve been tired a lot lately. Sleeping all the time. Are you feeling okay?”

  “Mom! Don’t get on my case about sleeping. It’s not like I’m out doing anything I shouldn’t.” He rolled away from her.

  “After church tomorrow we’re going to Nathan’s. He needs help painting the last few rooms in his house. He’ll finally be through with all the repairs after Hurricane Naomi. I’m sure there will be time for you to ride Jersey.”

  “I don’t wanna go.”

  “You don’t?” This was a first. He always loved going to his cousin’s farm just north of Hope, especially riding the gelding. He even tolerated Carly, Nathan’s daughter, following him around even though she was only six years old.

  “I said I didn’t.”

  “Has something happened?”

  He didn’t say anything.

  “Brady, what’s wrong?”

  He turned back to her. “What’s wrong is that you keep asking me that. I’m fine. I just want to be left alone.”

  Having her son lash out at her hurt. They had always been so close until the past few months. Was this what it was like to have a teenage boy? She really didn’t have anyone to talk to about this. Uncle Keith had already told her that, when he was a teenager, life had been different.

  Brady turned on his side away from her. “I’m tired, Mom. Good night.”

  She started to say, “But it’s only nine o’clock.” Biting her bottom lip, she rose and left the room.

  Something was wrong. Yes, it could be Brady’s age, but she didn’t really think that was it. He usually spent most of his free time with his best friends, Adam and Jesse, but lately he wasn’t doing that. More and more she would find him here in his room, alone. Scrubbing her hands down her face, she wished she had a man to turn to. Being a single mom was getting harder and harder. Her son needed a father. And his was dead. Killed in action while serving his country.

  Thirteen years ago, she’d been marking off the days on the calendar for when her fiancé, Robbie, would return from serving overseas and they could finally marry. His unit had been deployed unexpectedly to reinforce a troubled area off the coast of Africa. They hadn’t wanted to elope or have a quickie marriage, so they were going to wait until he came home. In the meantime, she had been planning the wedding—a wedding that never occurred. Instead, she went to a funeral. Only a couple weeks after that, she discovered she was pregnant.

  Pregnant and mourning the death of her fiancé had left her devastated and full of anger. She’d made some mistakes, but later, as she’d learned when she’d become a Christian, God didn’t care. He loved her no matter what. It was Kim who had insisted Maggie go to church with her a couple Sundays after Maggie had discovered she was going to have Robbie’s child. That had been the beginning. As she’d learned to be a Christian, she’d learned to be a mother, too, with a lot of trials and errors because her mother had never been a good role model.

  If it hadn’t been for the Lord, she would have fallen apart when her mother had turned her back on her, embarrassed that she was going to have a baby out of wedlock and even worse, she was going to keep her child. In the depth of Maggie’s despai
r, God’s words reached her. When Brady had been born, she welcomed him into this world as part of Robbie that lived on. She vowed she would do what she could to love and protect their son.

  Now something wasn’t right, and she didn’t know what to do. Lord, I need You. What’s going on with Brady? You’ve always been here for me. Help me again now.

  * * *

  “Who’s the father, Hannah?” Cody paced from one end of his living room to the other.

  “Aaron, of course.”

  “Then why did he leave you?”

  “He told me he didn’t want to be a father, packed his bags, and walked out the door. He left me to pay the rent. I couldn’t afford it by myself. I didn’t know what else to do, so I came to see you. I’m broke. Seeing the doctor took all my money. I want to do what’s best for the baby, but I don’t even have enough to see the doctor again.” His twenty-two-year-old sister rattled off her reply, barely taking a breath between sentences. Standing by the kitchen bar that opened into the living room, she clutched one of the tall stools with her left hand while the right rubbed her large stomach.

  “How many months are you? Eight? Why didn’t you tell me this before now?”

  “I’m almost five months.”

  “Are you sure?” She looked much farther along than that, but then he wasn’t an expert on pregnant women.

  “Yes, as sure as you can be.” Her gaze dropped to the floor. “I was hoping Aaron would want to get married before the baby came. Instead he ran away as fast as he could.”

  “When did that happen?”

  She lifted her face, tears glistening in her eyes. “Two months ago. I knew how disappointed you would be with me. I was trying to make a go of it alone. But I can’t.” Tears ran down her cheeks. “I’m a failure, and I don’t know what to do.”

  He came to her and drew her into his arms, her sobs punching a hole in his heart. “I’ll help. You know I will. You’re all the family I have.” As he said those words in the calmest voice he could muster, panic zipped through him. He could counsel others, but he’d always had a hard time with his little sister. When their parents died, first their mother then five years later their father, Hannah had turned more and more to him. And the one time she should have come to him right away, she hadn’t.

  “I let you down.” She tightened her hold on him.

  As he stroked her back, trying to give her all the support he could, he listened to her sobs. What do I do, Lord? Suddenly all those times he’d helped others didn’t mean anything if he couldn’t help his own sister.

  Finally, she pulled away, wiping her tears from her cheeks. “All I do anymore is cry. I’m big as a house. I guess that’s what happens when you’re gonna have twins.”

  Cody felt the color drain from his face as he stared at Hannah. “Twins?” Maybe he hadn’t heard correctly.

  “Yeah, what did you think? I look like I’m seven or eight months along.”

  Cody sank onto his couch, his head ringing as though he’d been a punching bag for a boxer. “Is that why Aaron left?”

  “No, I didn’t even get a chance to tell him that. When he heard I was going to have a baby, he disconnected my call.”

  “You told him that news over the phone?”

  “Yeah, I was upset. I thought I had indigestion or heartburn or both. Then when I went to the doctor and found out I was going to have a baby, I had to talk to him right away. I can’t do this alone. I can’t.”

  “You’re not alone. I’ll think of something.” But the panic that had gripped him earlier still had a firm hold on him. He was so out of his element.

  * * *

  “Do I hafta go?” Brady asked for the second time as he lugged the cooler of food down the pier early the Fourth of July morning. “I can walk home from here.”

  “And what are you gonna do when you get there?” Maggie stepped onto Zane’s sixty-foot boat.

  Her son shrugged. “Nothin’.”

  “You can do nothing here and maybe, just maybe, you’ll have some fun.”

  Brady frowned and passed the cooler to her, then hopped onto the deck. “You can’t make someone have fun.”

  “Sure I can.” She forced a smile to her lips. “Your mother has spoken.”

  He looked at her as though she were crazy and stomped into the cabin.

  “Not a bad technique. I’m gonna have to try that with Anna,” Kim said as she came aboard the Blue Runner.

  “You wait. Anna only has a few more years, and then she’ll be a teenager.”

  “Technically Brady isn’t one for a few weeks.”

  “Tell that to his raging hormones. At least I hope that’s what it is. Otherwise, I don’t know what to do.”

  “And you know what to do about raging hormones?”

  “Good point.”

  “I’m sure that’s all it is. I wish some parent would come up with a way our kids can skip the teenage years.”

  Maggie scanned the dock. “Where’s Zane and Anna?”

  “They’re coming with half the kitchen.”

  “Who else is coming?”

  “Well, Dad and Ruth—”

  Maggie’s gaze strayed to the end of the pier. “Ah, I see them with—Cody. I didn’t realize Zane had asked him.” She’d glimpsed him a couple of times at City Hall earlier in the week but hadn’t had a chance to say anything to him. She’d noticed he looked tired and wondered why. His job should be getting easier as people put their lives back together.

  Kim’s voice broke into her thoughts. “Zane and Cody need to talk about the housing project, and they are both so busy they decided to combine business and pleasure. They don’t know I’m declaring a day of no work.”

  Maggie chuckled. “Oh, this will be entertaining.”

  “Anna wants to go deep-sea fishing.”

  “Who’s that woman with Cody? His sister?” She didn’t like how her stomach clenched at the sight of the beautiful blonde who could be no more than twenty-three. Surely it was his sister.

  “Yes. She came to stay with him, so naturally Zane invited her, too.”

  The young woman moved the bag she was carrying, and Maggie saw her rounded stomach. “She’s pregnant.”

  “Yes, and that’s all I know. Cody hasn’t said much about why she’s here. He wasn’t going to join us today because of her, but Zane talked him into it.” Kim mounted the steps to the enclosed cabin, taking her straw purse and stack of towels inside.

  Maggie peered from brother to sister. Other than the blue eyes, they didn’t look like family. But then her younger brother didn’t look anything like her. Or, at least he hadn’t ten years ago when he’d left Hope to see the world not long after her parents had retired in Sedona. Occasionally she’d get an email from Eli, letting her know he was still alive but not much more than that. She wished Brady had a chance to know his uncle Eli. But to her brother, family didn’t mean much.

  When Cody boarded the Blue Runner, his gaze caught Maggie’s. A smile reached his eyes, then he murmured something to his sister who glanced at Maggie. The heat of a blush touched her cheeks. What had he said? And why did she care?

  Maggie shifted around to help Zane with the provisions, taking a box from him and heading for the cabin. As she balanced the box on her hip to open the door, Cody scooted around her and pushed it open.

  “Thanks.” Warmth still blazed her cheeks as she entered the cabin. Inside she found Kim as she placed the box on the counter. “Did you clean out your kitchen or something?”

  “Or something,” Kim said as she brought out doughnuts.

  Maggie plucked one up, her mouth watering at the delight she was about to enjoy. “The best doughnuts on the Gulf Coast are from Rhonda’s Bakery.” She took a bite. “Mmm.”

  “You’re drooling,” Cody whispered close to her ear and reached around her to snatch a doughnut. “I can’t let you do it alone.”

  She watched him bring Rhonda’s signature pastry to his lips.

  He sank his teeth into the sweet t
reat, his eyes closing. “I’m going to miss this when I leave.”

  The reminder of Hope being only a temporary stop for Cody sobered Maggie. She quickly began shoring up her defenses. He’s just a friend. No, an acquaintance only. Remember that. Too many people she’d loved in her life had left her—Robbie, her parents, and her brother. “That’s one of many things this town has to offer.” She swiveled around and went back outside to see if there was anything else she could bring into the cabin.

  Don’t get involved. I’ve got everything I need here. I’ve been through one life-changing relationship that left me brokenhearted. That’s enough.

  Chapter Three

  Cody didn’t have to be versed in reading people’s emotions to know that Maggie was upset about something. Since he was a young child, he’d learned to read others while keeping himself emotionally closed off. That was the only way he could survive moving from one place to another all the time, like early on when he had had to say goodbye to his best friend, a boy who lived two houses down from him on base. They had liked the same things, and they had played for hours every day. But he had to move. Before long he’d learned to cultivate lots of casual friends but never one who would hurt him to leave.

  “What did you say to her?” Hannah asked him as she eased down on a seat in the air-conditioned cabin.

  “How much I love Rhonda’s doughnuts.” He lifted his shoulder in a shrug, not sure what else he’d said.

  Hannah tried one of the sweets. “Oh, these are good. Too good. I may be eating for three, but I still have to watch what kind of foods I eat.”

  Kim opened a carton of orange juice and poured some into a paper cup. “I’m glad we only do this occasionally. These are like potato chips. I can’t just eat one.” Taking a doughnut, she slid in next to Hannah on the padded bench.

  With his sister occupied talking with Kim, Cody slipped outside just as Zane and Keith untied the ropes from the piling. He found Maggie sitting in one of the fishing chairs. Sunglasses perched on his nose, Cody went to stand against the railing near her.