Gold in the Fire and Light in the Storm (26 page)

“We can go out. I don’t want you to go to any trouble.”

“I know we could go out, but I like to cook and I would like to cook for you.” What in the world had she
just admitted to him? The ground she was standing on seemed to tremble.

His smile this time was full-fledged. “Then I can’t say no. What time?”

“Let’s say seven. We can go to the later movie.”

“You’ve got yourself a date.”

That was what she was afraid of, she thought, staring at his heart-melting look, the dimple in his left cheek. If she stayed any longer, she would end up a pool of liquid at his feet. She backed away.

“I’d better go. Even though I’m officially on spring break, I have tons of papers to grade. The exciting life of an English teacher.” She heard herself rambling and winced inwardly.

She spun about to leave.

“Beth.”

His voice called back to her. She glanced over her shoulder, steeling herself.

“Thanks for everything.”

Her resolve not to fall for him was fast crumbling about her. “You’re welcome. You would do the same for me.” She hurried away before she decided to stay…Something she
knew
was dangerous.

“Would you like to come inside for a cup of decaf coffee?” Beth asked as Samuel escorted her to her front porch Saturday night after the movie.

He took her key from her and inserted it into her lock, then opened the door. “That sounds like a nice way to
end this evening. Besides, I want to help you clean up the dishes from the dinner.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

“I know. But I want to.”

“You’re a keeper. A man who wants to do dishes.”

“And I do windows, too.”

“How about bathrooms? That’s the room I hate to clean the most.” Inside her house Beth shut the front door and slipped out of her heavy sweater, draping it over a chair in the foyer.

“I can’t say I’m too fond of doing the bathroom either, especially after the children use it. Thankfully Aunt Mae takes care of the housework. She has managed to get my children to help, which was something I wasn’t very successful at.”

“I have to admit I found it easier to do the work than plead with and prod my brothers and sister into doing their chores.” She walked through the living room and dining room into the kitchen, heading for the coffeemaker. “Have a seat. This shouldn’t take long.”

“What about those dishes?”

“They can wait a little while longer.”

“You won’t get an argument out of me. What did you think of the movie?”

Beth filled the glass carafe with water and poured it into the coffee machine, then switched it on. “I liked it. It was light and funny. I wasn’t in the mood for anything heavy this evening. It’s nice to see two older people falling in love. So many movies are about young
people, as though anyone over forty doesn’t have a love life.”

“I think Jane feels that way about anyone over thirty. By the way, speaking of my oldest daughter, thank you.”

“What for?”

“We got her report card right after spring break and she passed all her subjects. I don’t think that would have happened if you hadn’t intervened.”

Beth sat across from Samuel at her kitchen table. “This next nine weeks will be even better. I haven’t quite convinced her to use the resource room, but I’m making headway. Hopefully by the end of the semester she will use it for the end-of-semester tests. I think it will help her to take them in a quiet environment with few distractions.”

He leaned forward, clasping her hand. “What am I going to do without you next year? What’s Jane going to do?”

Beth’s heart thudded in her chest, its beating thundering against her eardrums. “You two will be fine.” A sadness at the thought of leaving her hometown encased Beth in an icy shroud. She shivered.

“Cold?”

“No—yes. Truthfully, I am a little afraid of striking out on my own. I’ve never been very adventurous and I certainly haven’t had a chance to travel much. I’ve only been to a few places, the farthest being Chicago, which isn’t that far. I haven’t been able to learn much of the language. What if I can’t and no one understands me?”

He squeezed her hand, a gleam twinkling in his eyes. “You’ll do just fine. Gesturing and body language can go a long way until you get the hang of Portuguese. I have confidence in you. You can do anything you set your mind to.”

The scent of coffee brewing saturated the kitchen, adding an extra warmth to the atmosphere between them. Beth relaxed against the back of the chair, listening for the dripping to stop. “You sure know how to make a woman feel special.”

“That’s easy. You are special.”

In that moment she felt very feminine and even pretty with Samuel’s gaze trained on her, his total attention focused on her as though she was the only woman alive for him. How could a woman not feel special under those circumstances? How was she going to walk away from such a wonderful man, who made her experience things she never had?

The coffee finished perking, and Beth rose to withdraw two mugs from the cabinet above the machine. After pouring the dark brew into the cups, she asked, “Milk? Sugar?”

“Three heaping spoonfuls of sugar, please.”

Surprise widened her eyes. “I can just give you the bowl of sugar and you can have it straight.”

“In the army some of the coffee I had to drink was so bad that I’m not sure it was really coffee. I had to do something to make it drinkable. Now I can’t have coffee without lots of sugar.”

“I have my coffee blended for me. It’s a shame you have to mask its rich flavor with sugar.”

“Okay. Two spoonfuls. I can compromise when I have to.”

Beth added the sugar to his mug, then brought it over to the table and set it in front of him. She sat catercorner to him and took a tentative sip of her coffee. She loved this blend with a hint of vanilla in it.

Samuel curled his fingers around the handle and drank his doctored brew. “Mmm. This is good. We could have used you in the army.”

“Maybe before I leave I can wean you off so much sugar in your coffee.”

A cloud descended over his expression. “Anything is possible. How’s Crystal’s birthday party coming along?”

“Great. Everything’s in place. Planning this has really helped Tanya take her mind off the divorce. That and your help.”

“My help?”

“Don’t play innocent with me. Tanya’s told me about the couple of times you’ve stopped by her house to check up on her and talk to her. Your counseling means a lot to her. She’s gone through a great deal in the past few years.”

“She’s lucky to have friends like you.”

“I’ve seen Craig paying a lot of attention to Crystal during Sunday-school class lately. I think he likes her.”

“He called someone last night and had a fit when Allie tried to listen. I got the feeling he was talking to a girl. Maybe it was Crystal or Susie.”

“It’s spring. Love is in the air.”

“Is that it?” Merriment flashed in his gaze as it locked with hers. “She’s an older woman. Do you think that could work?”

“Possibly,” Beth answered, thinking of the few years’ age difference between her and Samuel.

Silence stretched between them—visually connected but separated by a table. His look dropped to her mouth and her lips tingled. Cradling the mug between her hands, she sipped her coffee, her gaze on Samuel the whole time.

He reached across the table and took her mug, putting it down. Then he feathered his finger along her jawline before tracing the outline of her mouth. She inhaled a sharp breath. The roughened texture of his fingertip sent chills down her body.

“I don’t know how you ever thought of yourself as plain. You aren’t plain at all.”

His words washed over her, making her care even more for this man sitting in her kitchen as though he belonged there. “With you I never have.”

“Good.” His hand delved into the curls of her hair and cupped the back of her head.

Tension coiled in her stomach. She was falling in love with a man who still loved his deceased wife, who wasn’t over her death.

Samuel rose and drew her to her feet, his hand still in her hair. He moved so close she was sure he could feel and hear her heart pounding. His scent surrounded her
as though wrapping her in a protective cocoon. He tilted her head and angled his, slanting his lips over hers.

His kiss rocked her to her core. She felt as if she were floating in the air, her heart soaring. It wouldn’t take much to want to center her whole life around this man.

Panic began to eat at her composure. How could she fall in love now of all times? Samuel Morgan, and especially his family of three children, did not fit into her plans for the future—plans she’d had for years.

B
eth stiffened in his arms. Samuel pulled away, dazed by the reaction that had taken hold of him when his mouth had covered hers. He felt as though he had come home. That wasn’t possible. Quickly he stepped back, dropping his arms to his sides. Guilt began to gnaw at his insides. How could he forget Ruth so easily? He shouldn’t have kissed Beth. They were only friends.

From the expression in her eyes, he realized her conflicting emotions raged inside as his did. She touched her mouth, rubbing her fingertips across her lips as he had done only a moment before. As he wanted to do again. He took another step back, shocked at the direction his thoughts were taking him—away from Ruth, his high school sweetheart.

He could not place his heart in jeopardy again. Beth was leaving in a few months—she had made that very clear from the beginning. He still loved his wife, even
if she was gone. He couldn’t betray those feelings so easily. Easily? He laughed silently at that thought. There was nothing easy about the war waging inside him. Beth made him feel like a man again. She made him feel whole, as though the fragmented parts that had split with Ruth’s death were coming together.

He wouldn’t apologize for the kiss, but he did say, “I shouldn’t have done that. I—I’d better go.”

She didn’t stop him when he turned to leave. Her gaze pierced him as he headed toward the door. Outside on her porch the cool spring air flowed over him, carrying on its breeze the scent of newly blooming hyacinths from the bed in front of her house.

Why had he kissed her?

He didn’t want to ruin their friendship. What if he had? He thought of their talks over the past few months and didn’t know what he would do if she avoided him because of the kiss.

But too quickly summer would be here and she would be gone. Maybe it was for the best they kept their distance. As he walked toward his car he turned to the Lord, as he was doing more and more of late for guidance.

“Are you mad at Samuel?” Zoey asked while standing back and watching the children pour into the rec hall right after choir practice Wednesday evening.

Beth glanced at her friend. “Mad? What gave you that idea?”

“Usually you two are talking constantly with each other. Tonight you haven’t exchanged one word and only one look that I could tell. Something’s going on.”

Beth stepped away from the children gathering to surprise Crystal. Tanya was going to wheel her daughter into the room on the pretext she had forgotten something at the piano. Beth leaned toward Zoey and whispered, “He kissed me the other night.”

“That’s great!”

“Shh.” Beth glanced about, making sure no one heard Zoey’s remark. Thankfully everyone’s attention, even Darcy’s and Jesse’s was on the door into the rec hall. “No, it isn’t a good thing. I’m leaving in a few months. Everything’s settled except getting my passport in the mail, getting my physical and shots and packing.”

“Beth, it’s okay to do something spontaneous. You always have your life planned down to the last detail. Falling in love doesn’t work that way.”

“He kissed me. That’s all. Who said anything about falling in love?” Beth could hear the panic in her voice and knew by the arched eyebrow that Zoey had, too. Again Beth looked around, hoping no one was listening. She was having a tough time explaining this to Zoey, let alone anyone else.

The children searched for hiding places while Jesse turned off the lights and told everyone to be quiet.

Zoey sidled closer to Beth and brought her hand up to
shield her lips while she whispered, “I’ve seen you two together. You’re perfect. That’s why when you didn’t speak to him on Sunday after the church service as you usually do, I knew something was up. You two actually avoided each other. Then tonight the same thing happened.”

“Shh. You don’t want to spoil the surprise for Crystal.”

“I’m not through discussing this, Beth Coleman.”

“Yeah. That’s what I’m afraid of.”

Tanya opened the door to the rec hall and wheeled Crystal in. Someone snickered.

“Gee, Crystal, it’s sure dark in here. I’d better turn on the light or I’m bound to run you into something.” Tanya flipped the switch.

The children jumped up from behind chairs and the couch and yelled, “Surprise!”

Crystal’s features lit with a big grin. She moved herself into the center of the room, scanning the group converging on her.

Craig playfully slugged Sean. “You almost blew the surprise.”

Sean’s face turned beet-red. “I couldn’t help it. Cindy bet me I couldn’t keep quiet.”

“And you didn’t. You lose.” Cindy stepped around Sean and handed Crystal her present.

All the other kids began stacking gifts onto Crystal’s lap until she giggled and said, “Uncle! No more. I can’t see over the presents.” One slid off her lap and thudded to the tile floor.

Jesse ran over to the fourteen-year-old, picked up the
dropped gift and relieved her of some of the other wrapped boxes.

Beth watched the exchange, so glad the party was a success. She noticed tears gathering in Tanya’s eyes as she looked on the scene. A lump lodged in Beth’s throat, and she turned away before she, too, started to cry. Her gaze found Samuel in the doorway with Allie in front of him, his hand on her shoulder. Allie held a present, but hadn’t made a move toward Crystal yet. Samuel said something to Allie, then looked directly at Beth.

Across the room she felt the connection as though it were a physical link that bound them. She experienced their kiss all over again, an awareness shivering down her spine, her pulse racing, her lips tingling. All this from a mere look!

She was in deeper than she had originally thought. He affected her on so many different levels—all dangerous to her carefully made plans and dreams of the future.

“Are you going to stand there and ignore our minister all night?” Zoey whispered, giving her a gentle shove toward him.

“I have a job to do. I have to dish up the ice cream in a few minutes and you have to cut the cake to serve with the ice cream.”

“Oh, yeah. Thanks for reminding me.” Zoey scurried across the room toward Samuel.

Beth shook her head. Sometimes her friends could be so annoying. Usually it was Jesse who tried to fix people up, not Zoey. Well, she would be gone soon and then she
wouldn’t have to worry about that. But for some reason the thought of traveling and seeing some of the world didn’t perk her up as it should have.

While Crystal opened her presents Beth made her way toward the kitchen to get the ice cream from the freezer. She heard the child’s laughter and it filled her heart with joy. She would miss the chance to teach Crystal in a few years. For that matter, she wouldn’t be instructing
any
of her friends’ children. She hadn’t really thought about that until now.

In the kitchen Beth paused, thinking that her mind was in turmoil too much lately. Change was good—she needed change. Her life had become so predictable and dull. She could serve the Lord and see the world. Great solution. Great plan.

With her resolve firmed, she walked to the counter. Rummaging in the drawer, she found the ice cream scoop and withdrew it.

She started to shut the drawer when she heard Samuel say, “Hold it. I need the cake slicer.”

Zoey! She should have figured her friend was up to something when she hurried over to Samuel. Beth rolled her eyes toward the ceiling, then grabbed the utensil for him, berating Zoey the whole time. She was definitely getting as bad as Jesse. If she was going to be around long enough, she would love to give Zoey a taste of her own medicine. She could think of a few men she could fix Zoey up with.

With the cake slicer in hand, Beth spun about to give
it to Samuel and almost stabbed him in the chest because of his proximity. She jerked back, murmuring, “I’m sorry.” The utensil clanged to the kitchen counter next to Beth. “I didn’t know you were there.”

He grinned. “I thought you heard me approach. I meant to reach around you and get the cake slicer.”

She’d been so lost in thought about what Zoey had done that she hadn’t heard a thing. Her friends were making her crazy. No, that wasn’t quite right. Her seesawing emotions concerning Samuel were making her crazy. She needed to get a handle on things. Their relationship needed to get back to the way it was last month or even last week before “the kiss.”

“Thankfully no harm was done.” Her breathing shallow, Beth pushed the drawer closed and placed several feet between them.

He stared at her, his gaze roaming over her features in a leisurely examination that only made her more self-conscious. The silence in the kitchen, which lengthened uncomfortably, was broken only by an occasional loud laugh from the rec hall.

Not taking her gaze from him, she shifted from one foot to the other, her mouth so parched she was afraid a gallon of water wouldn’t satisfy her. “Are you slicing the cake?” She asked the first thing that popped into her mind.
Duh, Beth, of course he was, or why else would he be getting the cake slicer?

“Yes. Zoey said something about retrieving some items from her car for the party.”

Yeah, she just bet her friend had “some items” in her car. She would be curious to see what Zoey managed to scrounge up. “Then I guess we’d better get out there before the natives get restless.”

Crystal finished opening her last present as Beth and Samuel emerged from the kitchen. Jesse, Darcy and Tanya all smiled toward Beth as though they knew a secret no one else did.

“It’s time for cake and ice cream,” Tanya announced.

“Let’s sing happy birthday to Crystal first.” Jesse waved the group of children toward the table where the cake was.

After everyone gathered around with Crystal in the center, the kids launched into the song, yelling and clapping at the end. The huge grin hadn’t left Crystal’s face the whole time.

“I think that’s our cue to cut and scoop.” Beth put some chocolate ice cream on the plate next to the first piece of chocolate cake with white frosting, then handed it to Crystal.

For the next ten minutes Beth scooped ice cream while Samuel stood next to her only a few inches away and sliced pieces of cake for all the children and grownups. The rec hall grew quiet as everyone found a place to sit and eat their treat.

“There are two pieces left. Do you want the one with a lot of frosting or the other one?” Samuel slid the cake with extra frosting, because it was a corner piece, onto one of the pink princess paper plates.

“I should say the one without much frosting, but I
won’t. I love the frosting the most.” Beth lifted the scoop filled with ice cream. “Want any?”

He nodded. “I can’t pass up chocolate.”

After she gave him what he had requested, she looked about for a chair to sit in. The only place available was the bench in the alcove or the floor. She headed for the alcove at the same time Samuel did. He glanced at her, then at the bench and shrugged.

After he eased onto the bench next to Beth, he said, “You know we need to talk about it.”

“‘It’ meaning…?” She knew very well what he was referring to, but she wasn’t going to be the one to say the word.

“The kiss. I’m not sorry I kissed you.”

When she allowed herself to think about it, she wasn’t either. But the kiss did complicate their relationship, which she was desperately trying to keep as simple as possible. “I’m not either, but where do we go from here?”

“I guess it’s hard to go back to the way things were before I kissed you.”

“Yes.”

“To tell you the truth, Beth, I don’t know the answer to that question. Maybe you should forget the kiss.”

Forget the kiss? That could possibly be one of the hardest things she’d had to do in a long time. But because he was acting so casual about the kiss, Beth said, “Sure. We’re friends, and friends kiss each other from time to time.”
Yeah, right, Beth. If you keep saying that,
you might convince yourself of the truth in that statement when the sun burns out.

Samuel murmured something that sounded like a yes. He stuffed the last bite of cake into his mouth and rose. “I need to see how the adult choir practice is coming along. Bye.”

He hurried away so quickly he didn’t hear her say goodbye. It was just as well. If they had talked any more about kissing, she was afraid sweat would have beaded her brow and rolled down her face. How would she have explained that, when the hall was cool?

Samuel escaped from the rec hall before he did something crazy like kiss Beth in front of his parishioners. How did he think he could calmly talk about the kiss and not want to do it again? Especially since the past few days that kiss had dominated his thoughts.

She was leaving soon. He couldn’t risk getting hurt—not again. He was just beginning to piece his life back together—partially due to the presence of Beth in his life as well as his family’s. He had recited those same reasons not to get involved with Beth so many times over the past few days he wanted to pound something in frustration.

With a groan Samuel leaned back against the hall’s wooden doors. He was in big trouble. He was afraid his heart was already involved with Beth to the point that he was going to be hurt when she left Sweetwater. Staying away from her was probably the best plan for
him. He walked toward the sanctuary. He needed to feel close to God. He needed His help.

“What do you mean you haven’t seen Samuel in several weeks except at church?”

Beth lifted the cup of coffee to her lips and took a drink. “Exactly that, Jesse. He’s never around when I go to tutor Jane and the couple of times I’ve been at the church other than Sunday he hasn’t been there, or at least I haven’t seen him there.”

Jesse shifted in the booth at Alice’s Café, glancing out the picture window at the main street of Sweetwater. “It sounds like he’s avoiding you.”

“You think?”

Her friend frowned. “And you said it began after he kissed you and then tried to talk to you about that kiss?”

“Correct.” Beth folded her arms and placed them on the table between her and Jesse.

“It’s obvious. He’s got cold feet.”

“I know that. Jesse, I might not date a lot, but I do know what’s going on here. And truthfully, Samuel’s doing the right thing. Our relationship was heading toward more than friendship, and that isn’t a good thing.”