Gift of Wonder (11 page)

Because of Alice.

He was falling for her and he'd tried to deny that. But tonight, holding her in his arms and kissing her had broken all the barriers he'd tried to put between them.
This wasn't about building houses or putting a good spin on a story. This was about building a relationship with a woman who could make all of his dreams come true.

If he could get through to the real Alice. He knew she was hiding behind her scars and her wounds. He knew she still didn't completely trust him. But he wanted her to, so much. He wanted to see a change in her—a change of heart, so he could enjoy these feelings coursing inside him with the same swift current as the bayou's waters.

Because now, tonight, he finally understood what Aunt Nancy had tried to show him all those years ago. He saw that some gifts truly were wondrous and amazing. The gift of falling in love should be a cherished thing, a fragile, shining, cherished thing. Not something to be taken lightly. Not something he'd regret. For so long now, he'd fought against getting close to anyone. He'd fought against the need to find out the truth about himself, even when the need burned through him with every breath. And he'd held his secrets deeply locked inside his heart, guarding them with pride and humiliation. Maybe it was time to let go of all his shame and let both God and Alice into his life.

Could he do that? Did he dare let Alice continue searching for the truth about him?

He was ready for some sort of change, even if it did scare him with its intensity.

“How do I win her over, Lord? How do I make her see?”

And how did he find the courage to let her in?

Jonah had no answers, and maybe for now that would have to do. Maybe he'd just have to do as he'd always done and rely on himself to make things happen.

He clutched the copy of his mother's newspaper picture in his hand as he made his way toward his room. And he wondered again what had happened to her.

“Where are you?” he asked the wind. “And…where is my father?”

The wind lifted, rustling the paper against his hand.

God, the Father, is with you,
he thought. That is a constant.

And that thought did bring Jonah a sense of peace, at least. But he knew that could be short-lived, too. So he didn't hold out much hope for his dreams. Or for Alice's change of heart, either.

Because sometimes, things changed for the worse, not for the better.

“I
'm waiting on that story.”

Alice clicked her pen while she stared up at Dotty and wondered what to tell her boss. “I'm almost done.”

“Almost don't cut it around here, suga'.”

Alice gritted her teeth. She sure knew that, didn't she? And that sense of
almost
was what had her all in a tizzy. “I'll have it in a couple of days, I promise.”

Dotty slid down in the chair next to Alice's desk, her brown silk tunic rustling over her winter-white knit pants. “You're acting weird, you know that? I think you have a thing for Jonah.”

“How can you even say that?” Alice said, shuffling papers to avoid eye contact with Dotty.

But Dotty's jeweled fingers on her arm stopped her. “Look at me, Alice Bryson.”

Alice glanced up, giving Dotty her best blank expression. “What?”

“Don't ‘what' me,” Dotty replied. She grabbed a piece of wrapped dark chocolate off Alice's desk, un
peeled the paper and popped the candy in her mouth. After she'd savored the chocolate, she said, “I've seen this before, remember? You got all quiet like this when you got involved with Ned Jackson. You get quiet and you get confused. And a confused reporter does not make for a good, solid story. Do I need to hold your hand on this one?”

Alice groaned, then dropped her head into her hands. “I did get that way with Ned, didn't I?” Glancing up through two fingers, she said, “Dotty, I think it's happening again. I…I really like Jonah. And it is like with Ned, but this time, it's different, too.”

“Different, how?”

“He's
not
Ned. I can see that. He's really a nice man and he's not hiding anything illegal. He talks to me. This is not as fast and furious as what happened with Ned and I think that's good. It's kind of slow and steady and…special. Jonah is willing to let me in. I mean, he does now that—” She stopped, popping a hand over her mouth. “Never mind.”

Dotty sat straight up. Alice wondered if the woman had an antenna on her head. “Go on. Now that…?”

“I can't explain. Jonah and I have had some personal talks, off the record. It's not for public scrutiny.”

“Uh-huh.” Dotty got up then leaned down. “I need an article, Alice, and soon. I don't mind one bit that you and Jonah are getting to know each other. I like the man and I think he's kinda cute. But…you've never been one to let anything get in the way of a good story. I'm just concerned that you're holding back on this piece for personal reasons.”

“I told you, I'm fine. I've started the article and it'll be ready by Friday's deadline. Maybe it's different this time because I wasn't doing an article on Ned. I just fell for him and that was not work related, although I wish I had investigated him before I let him put that ring on my finger. But with Jonah, it was professional curiosity that made me go after him. Now our relationship is changing into something else. I've never had to deal with the two merging before, but with Jonah, I have to be careful. I want the article to be fair but I don't want to hurt him, either.”

“Wouldn't getting to the truth be better than worrying about Jonah's feelings?”

“He can take the truth and the truth is he's doing a good thing here. I didn't believe that at first, but now I do. I just don't want him to think I'm judging him, but I don't want the article to sound as if I've turned into an old softy, either.”

“You're not making sense,” Dotty said. She toyed with the pendant watch she wore on a long gold chain. “Time's a-ticking, honey. Get the job done, then you can enjoy your time with Jonah all the more.”

“Good idea.”

Alice watched as Dotty went on to torment the receptionist with questions about a supply order that hadn't come in. Good. Maybe she'd leave Alice alone for the rest of the day, at least.

Alice couldn't tell Dotty that she'd been splitting her time between the final edits on the article and doing research about the name Sheridan. And she didn't know how to tell Jonah what she had found so far.

It didn't look good. Not for him or the woman who had given birth to him. While no Sheridans had lived in Bayou Rosette, there had been a Sheridan in a town a few miles up the road. Alice had stumbled on this while doing a regional search. Could this Sheridan be related to Jonah's dad?

She didn't know. She only had a name and an address. Should she tell Jonah? Or should she stay out of it? She had promised Jonah she wouldn't go behind his back, but he hadn't gotten angry with her for finding the picture of his mother. Maybe he could handle this, too.

But first, she could just ride over and see for herself. That way, Jonah wouldn't have to know if this lead didn't pan out. What could that hurt?

She grabbed her tote, turned off her computer and headed for the door, calling to the busy receptionist.

“I'm off to do some legwork.”

The girl behind the desk waved a hand to her, then went back to her typing. And Dotty was nowhere to be seen, thankfully.

 

Jonah watched as the construction crew worked on the park. He inhaled the smell of freshly turned dirt and grass mingling with the decay of the swamp and the last of the summer and fall blossoms. The park was taking shape, at least. The ground had been cleared and new grass was growing around the winding stone paths leading to the bayou bridge. He planned to rebuild the old bridge, keeping it the same but with new materials that would last a lot longer than the weathered, splin
tered wood holding it together now. Maybe he'd use stone there, too, and some sturdy cypress boards.

His construction foreman, Burt Holland, came up to him. “Hey, Jonah. You wanted to see me?”

“Yeah, Burt. Just wanted to check in. The park looks great. When will you be able to get back to the model house?”

“Probably tomorrow morning,” Burt said, wiping the sweat from his leathery brow. “I know you want a rush on that one, boss, but we have to do things right or we'll get shut down.”

“Yes, I want it right. We go by the book, no shortcuts. Just work as efficiently as you can. This house will be the showcase to draw buyers in.”

“Got it. You can count on the crew. You know that.”

“I sure do. And if this keeps up, I'll be putting you in charge of a lot more around here.”

“I could use a pay raise,” Burt said, grinning as he extended his hand.

“You'll get one, don't worry.”

Jonah shook Burt's hand, and when the men left, Jonah turned to where the foundation for the model house had already been laid. The square slab of cement looked solid.

“A good foundation,” he said to himself. Then he remembered something Aunt Nancy had told him once about the parable of the sower. Jesus had explained that some seeds fell on good ground and yielded a good crop, while others went into stony ground or fell by the wayside and produced nothing. He hoped the seeds he'd planted here would produce a vibrant new community.

I want this to be a solid foundation,
Jonah thought.
I want that in my heart, Lord.

Standing there, seeing that solid concrete simmering in the early-morning air, Jonah felt a sense of understanding at last. Aunt Nancy had always encouraged him to turn to God in all things. But he'd never actually forgiven God for seeming to turn away from him. He had blamed God, thinking both his mother and God had abandoned him. Why had he never asked God to show him the reasoning behind his life? And why had he never considered that God was his one true Father?

Maybe all of that early suffering brought me to this point, he thought. Maybe I was meant to be standing right here, today.

When he started connecting the dots and comparing the odd coincidences of his winding up here, he had to believe a higher power had helped in the planning. He wondered if building this new community would turn out to be worth all his angst.

Then he looked toward Rosette House and knew the answer. All of this had brought him to Alice. And she was worth his angst. But only if they could get past their hang-ups and get on with discovering each other.

That would become their foundation—learning to deal with past hurts so they could have a strong future. Wasn't that what love and forgiveness were all about? Could Alice forgive her con artist bridegroom enough to see that Jonah wasn't that way? And could he open up to her enough to show her everything inside his soul, good and bad?

“Penny for your thoughts.”

He looked around to find Jay Hobert grinning at him.

“Hey there,” Jonah said. “I guess I
was
lost in thought, huh?”

Jay looked bashful and nodded. “I get that way myself sometimes.”

“What brings you by?” Jonah asked, glad for the company.

“Oh, I saw y'all over here and thought I'd take a sneak peek at all the action going on around here.”

“Are we bothering Lorene? If we are, I can talk to the men.”

“No, no. She's as excited as anybody about seeing things happening on the bayou. She never complains. Besides, she sits at the window and watches. Helps to keep her mind off worrying about the baby.”

“Good. I know she needs her rest, but we have to stay on track. It gets noisy with all the big machines.”

Jay chuckled. “She's married to a farmer, remember. Even though I keep most of my equipment over on my daddy's land, sometimes I bring a mower or a tractor home to use around here. She's used to loud engines and hammering.”

“I guess so.” Jonah wondered how Lorene and Jay made things work. “How long you two been married?”

“Five years,” Jay offered. “But I've loved her most of my life.”

“Really? How'd you know she was the one?”

Jay grinned, then looked across the water at his home. “When she smiled at me in high school, I just knew.”

“And just like that, you two were together.”

His hoot of laughter threw Jonah. “No. It wasn't that easy, now. Lorene had these big dreams about living in New Orleans and becoming an interior designer. But…she gave all of that up after her parents were killed in a car wreck.”

Jonah nodded. “Alice told me a little bit about that. It must have been hard on them.”

“It was. Lorene gave up college to stay here with Alice. By the time Alice was out of high school, Lorene and I were getting married. So Alice went on to college, but Lorene never did. She gave it up a second time to become my wife. That's why I try to make her happy every day of my life.” He glanced up, his face turning red. “Sorry. I don't usually go on like that.”

“No, I'm glad you did. I mean, I can tell you two belong together.”

“I believe that,” Jay said. “What about you? Ever been in love?”

Jonah didn't know how to answer that. “No, not really. I was always too busy planning my life.”

“Better be careful there,” Jay said. “Some gal might sneak up on you and change your ways.”

Jonah looked toward Rosette House. “You mean some gal like Alice?”

“She's a sneaky one, all right,” Jay replied as he turned to eye the foundation. “Can drive you crazy, but somehow she's lovable all the same.”

“I hear that,” Jonah said. “And I'll consider myself forewarned.”

Jay walked the perimeter of the foundation. “This looks to be a nice-size house.”

“It'll be spacious and cozy,” Jonah replied. “It's sort of a replica of Rosette House. A smaller version.”

“Interesting.”

Jonah wasn't sure how to take that reaction. “What do you think about me being here, building this subdivision?”

Jay shook his head. “Me, I just want to be able to keep the land that's been in my family for several generations. I have no squabble with progress. We could use some new life on this bayou, that's for sure.”

Jonah laughed. “Is that your way of staying out of things?”

Jay nodded, then tossed up a hand as he started back toward Rosette House. “You got that. I've learned that lesson well living with the Bryson sisters. You might keep that in mind, my friend.”

“I will,” Jonah said, wondering why Jay had made it a point to come over for a man-to-man talk. Was he trying to give Jonah some subtle advice?

Jonah figured he could use all the advice he could get. He was a stranger in a strange land, searching for a mother who would always be a stranger to him, wondering about his absent father and falling for the pretty, aggravating descendant of a local legend. When did he get so brave?

“Maybe not so brave, but very foolish,” he said to himself. “We'll see soon enough.”

 

She probably shouldn't be doing this, Alice told herself as she stepped up onto the old porch. But she
had to know. For Jonah's sake. Did the man who lived here know anything about Jonah? Did she even have the right Sheridan?