The Cowboy Next Door & Jenna's Cowboy Hero: The Cowboy Next Door / Jenna's Cowboy Hero. Brenda Minton

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      Jay looked across the room and caught the gaze of Lacey Gould. She sat next to an older woman with snow-white hair and hands that shook. They were flipping through the pages of a hymnal and talking in low tones that didn’t carry.

      But from time to time Lacey looked up at him. This time he caught her staring, and he hadn’t expected the look in her eyes to be wariness. She didn’t trust him.

      Distracted, he dropped his guitar pick. He leaned to pick it up and Bailey kicked his shin. He nearly said something, but the way she was smiling, he couldn’t. She’d been teasing him for twenty-some years. She probably wasn’t going to stop now.

      For years she’d been the little girl on the bus that he looked out for, and sometimes wanted to escape. She’d sent him a love note once. She’d been thirteen, he was sixteen. When he told her it wouldn’t work, she cried and told her dad on him.

      “She’s a good person, Jay,” Bailey whispered.

      “I’m sure she is.” He remembered that Bailey also had a good left hook and he didn’t want to make her mad.

      He didn’t doubt that Lacey was a good person. He had watched her at church, making the rounds and speaking to everyone before the service began. As soon as church ended, she said her good-byes and drove to the nursing home.

      He had questions about her community service, but it wasn’t any of his business. It should be up to Pastor Dan, or even Bailey, to explain to Lacey Gould that God wasn’t expecting her to earn forgiveness through good works.

      “What song do we sing first?” Lacey asked from across the room. The sweet-faced older lady had her arm through Lacey’s.

      Jay lifted his guitar and shrugged. He grimaced at the jab of pain in his lower back and Lacey grinned, because she knew that a bull had dumped him hard the night before.

      “‘In the Garden’?” He didn’t need music for that one.

      Lacey knew it; she was nodding and turning the pages of the hymnal. Her elderly friend clapped and smiled, saying it was one of her favorites, and then her eyes grew misty.

      “My husband is there waiting for me in that garden.” She said it in such a soft and wavering voice that Jay barely heard. He did see tears shimmering in Lacey’s eyes, from compassion, always compassion. He wondered if she felt the emotions of everyone she met.

      Lacey held the woman’s hand and as Jay started to play, Lacey led the song, her voice alto and clear, the meaning of the words clearly written on her face. The wavering voice of her friend joined in, sweet and soprano.

      Jay stumbled over the chords and caught up. Next to him, Bailey giggled, the way she’d done on the bus years ago. He was glad she was still getting enjoyment out of his life. He’d been gone nearly eight years, working on the Springfield PD, and it felt as if he’d never left.

      Over the next thirty minutes, he found firm footing again. He forgot Lacey and concentrated on the music as the people gathered in the circle around them. He had missed Gibson. He had missed these people, some of whom he had known all of his life. The gentleman to his left had been his high school principal. One of the ladies had lived down the road from his family.

      Most of the kids from Gibson had moved to the city or left the state. So many of the people in the nursing home were without close family these days, and this touch from their church made the difference.

      Lacey made the difference, he realized. With her flashy smile and soft laughter, her teasing comments and warm hugs, she made a difference that he hadn’t expected.

      In the lives of these people.

      “Not interested, huh?” Bailey teased as they finished up and he was putting his guitar away.

      “Interested in what? Helping with this ministry? Of course I am.”

      “In Lacey.”

      “Go away, Bailey. You’re starting to be a fifth-grade pest.”

      “Write her a note and ask her out.”

      “You stink at matchmaking. Matchmakers are supposed to be sneaky, a little underhanded.”

      Bailey laughed, her eyes watering. “Oh, thank you, now that I know the finer points of the art, I’ll do better next time. Maybe you should learn the fine art of realizing when a woman is perfect for you.”

      “That’s obviously a lesson I never learned.” He closed the case on his guitar. He saw Lacey walk out as if she had somewhere to be. “Bailey, I’m not interested. I really thought I’d found the right woman, and I dated her for three years only to find out she wasn’t interested in a cowboy. So if you don’t mind, I’m on vacation from romance and I’m boycotting matchmakers.”

      Bailey’s laughter faded, so did her smile. “She didn’t hurt you, Jay. You’re still thinking about Jamie. Maybe it’s time to let her go?”

      Gut-stomped in the worst way, by a woman with a soft smile. He smiled down at Bailey, happy for her, and sorry that she knew all of his secrets.

      “I’m СКАЧАТЬ