Seeking Home, page 24
part #1 of Family Bonds Series
He drew her close, tucking her head into his shoulder. "I know money will be an issue for you, but you need to know, whatever I have is yours. I want to participate in this, and I want to be a part of this."
"Oh, so you’re really angling for a partnership," Sabine said, curling her fingers against his broad chest, enjoying the feeling of being held by a strong, capable man.
"In more ways than one," Tanner said.
"I have to talk to my accountant. I'm sure we can figure something out."
She could feel the light rumble of his laugh in his chest.
"You truly are an amazing woman, Sabine. And I'm hoping, that after a suitable courtship, we can get married."
"Do we have to have a suitable courtship?"
Tanner chuckled again, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "A little bit suitable. After all, I got Nana right here."
Sabine smiled, feeling secure, protected, and cared for.
“And there’s another thing,” Tanner said. “I do come with some family. They're not all around here, but I'm sure they'll want to come back at times to visit the ranch.”
"When we move into the house, they can stay in the cabin," Sabine said.
“Just like old times,” Tanner said.
“Just like old times,” Sabine repeated.
Tanner gave her another kiss, and as they stood there, the rumble of another diesel engine echoed down the driveway.
"Well, I guess we got our work cut out for us," Tanner said, straightening and gently pushing her away. "Sounds like the cows are here."
Over the noise of the vehicle Sabine heard the bawling of cows. Things just got real.
"Are you helping me with these cows?" she asked.
"That's what partners are for, isn’t it?" Tanner said with a grin.
And together they walked toward the trucks, ready to start on this new part of their journey together.
Chapter 16
“Are those the flowers?” Olivia asked as she clambered into the truck, glancing at the bouquets lying on the seat between them.
Sabine had stopped at Mia Verbeek’s florist shop before coming to pick Olivia up from school as instructed by her daughter this morning.
"I have three of them. One for you, one for me, and one for Tanner."
Olivia looked them over then nodded. "They look perfect."
“I’m glad you approve.”
"Where is Tanner?" Olivia asked.
"He had to do a few things in town, but he said he would meet us at the park.”
Olivia settled in the truck, her hands folded over her knapsack. She looked around, suddenly solemn. "I hope this won’t be to be too hard for him."
"It'll probably be sad. But I think Tanner has lots more reasons to be happy now," Sabine said.
"I'm glad that you're getting married," Olivia said. "Do I really get to be the flower girl?”
Sabine touched her daughter on the nose, then tweaked it lightly. "You keep asking me. Do you think I'm going to change my mind? Of course you'll be the flower girl."
“And Miss Shannon will be one of your bridesmaids?"
"Yes, Miss Shannon will be one of my bridesmaids."
In the past few weeks Shannon and Sabine had gotten to know each other better. They connected on many levels even though Shannon was a nurse and Sabine, well, a rancher. Sabine regretted the fact that Shannon would be leaving, but she also fully understood her future cousin-in-law's reasons for doing so. After all, shame was one of the reasons that Sabine had come back to Rockyview. To erase that shame and start over again.
Sabine started her truck, and they drove through town. Sabine smiled as they drove past the buildings on Main Street, a feeling of coming home seeping through her heart.
"Look, there's Miss Hailey just outside the hardware store," Olivia said, pointing and turning as they approached her. "Honk your horn at her."
"No, I don't think so," Sabine said. “I don’t like doing that in town.”
But Olivia wasn't so shy, so she pressed the button to roll the window down and leaned out. "Hi, Miss Hailey," she called out, waving, her hair floating out of the window. “We’re going to the river.”
Hailey waved back, grinning, then returned to sweeping the sidewalk in front of the store.
Olivia sat back, looking at her mother. "You know she’s teaching school next year," she said. "I think she might be teaching my grade."
"That'll be nice."
"Yes, it will be, because she's already familiar to me. And I like Natasha. I think we can be friends."
Sabine fought back a chuckle. Each day Olivia came up with some new saying, some new little quirky phrase that she had gleaned from either reading something or hearing something or, perhaps YouTube.
They drove in silence for a while, as if moving closer to the river made them realize what they were about to do.
Sabine pulled into the parking lot close to the river and stopped beside Tanner’s truck.
She turned her vehicle off, wondering how this would work for him. How he would feel.
As she and Olivia got out of the truck, she heard him calling out to them.
"I'm over here," he said, coming out from between the trees edging the river. When they got closer his deep smile made her heart flutter. How had she been so lucky? How had she been so fortunate and so blessed to have this man come into her life?
Olivia solemnly handed one bouquet to him. "We got one for each of us,” she said.
"Thanks so much," Tanner said. "I really appreciate you doing this."
Olivia looked around, frowning. "Is this where the accident happened?"
Tanner shook his head. “That’s a little ways downriver. It's along the road, and I don't want to stand there."
Sabine understood his need for a little bit of privacy.
"This is actually a much happier place,” she said.
Tanner shot her a grateful look.
"Well, I think we should do this," Olivia said, suddenly serious, leading the way, clutching her flowers.
"She's really taking this to heart, isn't she?" Tanner said, grasping Sabine’s hand.
"She has her moments," Sabine said. “Are you sure you’re okay with this?”
He nodded, slipping his arm around her shoulders, giving her a quick hug.
"I'm absolutely okay,” he said.
"I'm sure you’re a little bit sad.”
He seemed to hold that question then slowly nodded. “It’s a different kind of sad than I used to feel. It’s like all the harsh edges have been worn down. I feel like it's just sort of settled into me and become a part of me. But a good part of me. I don't mind having it around now.”
His words eased away a small concern she’d been holding ever since he broke down in her arms. “Dana and Paulette will always be a part of your life, and I want to acknowledge that.”
“Are you two going to talk, or can we do this?” Olivia called out.
“We’re coming,” Tanner said.
As they got closer to the river the sound of the water rushing over the rocks grew louder.
Olivia waited at the edge of the river until Sabine and Tanner joined them.
They stood there a moment, recognizing the solemnity of it.
"I hope you rest in peace, Paulette,“ Olivia said finally, looking at the river, tossing in her flowers one by one. “I hope you're happy now. I'm happy too. I really like the ranch and I really like Tanner. I hope that’s okay with you.”
After that little pronouncement she gave Tanner another quick look as if looking for affirmation.
"I'm sure Paulette doesn't mind," he said. He took his own flowers and threw them, one at a time, into the river. "Thank you for the memories," he said quietly, as they drifted away. "Thank you for being a part of my life."
Sabine threw her own flowers in the water. They bobbed and floated away from them. As the last one rounded the bend, Tanner fingered a few tears out of the corners of his eyes. He gave Sabine an apologetic look, and she came over and gave him a hug. "I'm thankful for those tears," she said. “It shows me that you have a heart full of love. It shows me that you connect to people and you care about them. So don't ever be afraid to shed them in front of me.”
“Good-bye, flowers,” Olivia said. “Good-bye, memories.”
Tanner walked over to Olivia, bent down and put his arms around her, and pulled her into a hug.
"You are a precious young girl," he said. His voice broke just a little. "I’m so thankful that you are letting me marry your mom. I'm so thankful that we’ll be a family."
Olivia returned his hug with gusto, then pulled back, looking at him, examining his face. "Are you going to be okay?" she asked.
He took her hand and stood, then reached out to Sabine, catching her hand as well.
"I’m going to be more than okay. I’m so thankful that God brought you two into my life. I’m so thankful for this opportunity to be a part of yours.”
It almost sounded like a wedding vow, Sabine thought.
“That’s good,” Olivia said. “So can we go back to the ranch now? I think Nana is making us cookies.“
“I think we can,” Tanner said.
Olivia grinned, then raced on ahead, her hair flying behind her like a bright flag in the sunshine.
"That girl and her cookies,” Tanner said with a chuckle. “I think we’ll have to watch out for that.”
It was such a simple thing to say. We.
They walked arm in arm back to the vehicles. Sabine knew that whatever happened, she would have this amazing man at her side.
This man who was going to be her husband and partner in so many ways.
This man who had helped her find the home she’d been seeking for so long and now had found.
* * * *
Here’s a sneak peek from the next book in the Family Bonds series, Choosing Home. This book belongs to Shannon, Tanner’s cousin.
“Really, Nana? This is the house you want to buy?” Shannon Deacon wrapped her arms around her midsection, frowning at the older Craftsman house tucked against tall fir trees. Its low-pitched roof, wide eaves and heavy beams supporting the spacious deck created an air both welcoming and solid, a feeling Shannon knew her Nana treasured.
“I’m tired of looking around,” Jennie Bond said as she got out of Shannon’s car. “This house and yard are big enough for all my grandchildren and future great-grandchildren. Now that you’ve let your lease run out on your apartment, there’s lots of room for you to stay with me until you…until after Tanner and Sabine’s wedding.”
Shannon didn’t miss the hesitation in her grandmother’s last sentence. They both knew that a few weeks after Shannon’s last duty as bridesmaid for Sabine was done, she was taking a holiday and after that, starting a new job in a large Chicago hospital almost two thousand miles from Nana, her cousins and Rockyview.
“But why here? In this neighborhood?” Shannon continued. And why a house beside Sophie Brouwer’s?
Shannon’s gaze drifted unwillingly to the starkly modern home sitting a few hundred feet away on an unbroken expanse of lawn. Almost two years ago, Sophie Brouwer had been on the verge of becoming her mother-in-law. Then her son Arthur had dumped Shannon one week before their wedding and now the sight of that house was a painful and embarrassing reminder of the past.
Nana patted her shoulder. “Honey, I didn’t move next door to Arthur’s mother on purpose. This house really was the only one I wanted. Besides, you should be well over Arthur by now and you’re better off without him.”
“So you keep saying.”
“Don’t worry, honey. You’ll find someone else,” Nana consoled her.
“I don’t want to find anyone else,” Shannon said, unable to keep the sharpness out of her voice. “I have no intention of making myself that vulnerable again. Ever.”
“You sound like your mother,” Nana said, suddenly quiet, standing by the car.
“Maybe I’ve learned some hard lessons from her as well.”
Thankfully Nana said nothing to this. She knew Shannon’s history with her biological father. How she had been standing in the hallway of their apartment, listening to her parents fighting.
She had run into the living room to stop them. To plead with them to be nice. Then she noticed the suitcase at her father’s feet. Saw him stab his arms into the sleeves of his jacket. She pleaded with him not to leave. But he ignored her, picked up his suitcase and strode down the hallway. She had run after him, but to no avail.
He had left.
“Your father wasn’t a good man,” Nana said.
Her nana’s hurt look made Shannon regret her angry tone. Shannon dragged her hands over her face, feeling the heavy funk of sleep deprivation. She knew it had as much to do with her mood as her nana’s choice to live next door to her ex-fiancé’s mother. Shannon had just come off a hectic twelve-hour shift in the emergency department of Rockyview Hospital and her head still buzzed. She didn’t get a break until her shift ended.
Shannon held the door open for her grandmother just as her cell phone sent out its happy chimes. She glanced at the number and her heart sank. The hospital. “I’ll just be a minute,” she said. “I’ll meet you inside.”
“Don’t be too long,” Nana warned. “I want to go downtown after this to put in an offer on the house.”
Shannon nodded, then pushed a button to connect the call. “Shannon here,” she said into the phone, just as a large diesel truck pulled up behind her grandmother’s car. The driver stopped, stretched his arms out in front of him, then pulled his hands over his face. He looked as tired as Shannon felt.
His features created a thud in her chest, but as he adjusted his cap, she caught a glimpse of dark hair instead of blond. Brown eyes instead of blue.
Not Arthur, thank goodness, she thought as her heart slowed its heavy beat, but this man’s face, though obscured by a cap, still teased out a memory.
“You’ll be glad to know I got your shift covered for tomorrow,” her colleague Daphne was saying over the phone. “But I really need you to work the rest of the week.”
Shannon felt a heavy weariness fall on her at the thought of having to work again in thirty-six hours after six twelve-hour shifts in a row.
“You do realize I’m only supposed to work three shifts a week until I quit,” she said, glancing at the truck again, still trying to figure out why the driver looked familiar.
“If it’s any consolation Doc Henneson has been going steady for the past week and so has Doc Shuster as well as Dr. Martin. Sure wish we could find another doctor willing to work out here.”
“Poor guys. That is some consolation,” Shannon said. “I guess I’ll see you in thirty-six hours then. Take care.” Shannon ended the call and blew out an exhausted breath. The hospital had been running short-staffed for the past couple of months, which made Shannon feel even more guilty about quitting and moving away. But she had made her mind up. She would have left this town sooner, but her grandmother’s heart attack a couple of months ago made her postpone her plans. Then her cousin Tanner came back to the ranch and ended up engaged. Shannon had gotten to be good friends with his fiancée, Sabine, and agreed to stand up for Tanner.
So that created another delay.
But after that, she was out of here.
She dropped her phone in her pocket just as the driver of the truck, who now had his back to her, pulled a box out of the back. Then he turned.
Pain bloomed in her chest as vagrant memories clicked into place.
The dark hair worn short, the deep-set brown eyes, the eyebrows like two dark slashes across the bridge of his forehead, his unsmiling mouth and the cleft in his chin all combined to create a cruel twist in her heart.
From the first time she had met Ben Brouwer, Arthur’s older brother, she’d been struck by the differences between the two brothers. While Arthur was blond, blue-eyed and outgoing, Ben was dark, taciturn and, if she was honest, a bit intimidating. A curious trait for an emergency-room doctor.
Ben shifted the box he carried, then looked up. He pulled back, as if he’d been hit, taking a step backward. Obviously he recognized her as well.
Then he recovered and sauntered up the walk.
“Hello, Shannon,” he said, his deep voice reverberating in the quiet of the neighborhood.
The afternoon sun cast his face in shadow, making him look even more stern. As he came nearer she saw his eyes fringed with thick, dark lashes and in their brown depths she caught a glimpse of pain and regret.
The same pain and regret she’d seen in his eyes when he had come to her apartment to tell her that his brother, Arthur, Shannon’s fiancé, was calling off the wedding and had already left town.
She had only stared at him, unable to fathom what he was saying.
Ben had looked so uncomfortable she almost felt sorry for him.
Almost.
He had just turned her life upside down. He had, along with her sister Hailey, been a witness to the most humiliating and heart-wrenching event she’d ever had to deal with.
Shannon wondered if Ben had given her a second thought after throwing his horrible, life-changing news into her life, then leaving. She wondered if he regretted covering for his cowardly brother.
And then, as their gazes met and clung, in spite of her memories, a hint of attraction budded in her dormant heart.
No. This wasn’t happening. Not a chance. Hadn’t she learned her lesson?
She swallowed and gave him a tight nod, her arms wrapped around her midsection, as if protecting herself from her own renegade emotions.
“Visiting your mother?” she asked, pleased she could sound so casual around this man who had been the chief spectator of her total dishonor.
Ben looked down at the box he held and shook his head. “Actually, no. I’m moving in.”
Shannon blinked, surprised and confused at his words. “But I thought you worked…thought you were a doctor in Ottawa working in the emergency department.”
“I’m taking time away from work,” he said, the cold note in his voice creating an answering chill in Shannon. “Helping my mother do some much-needed work on her house and yard.”
