The Prodigal Comes Home (7 page)

“You love to read.”

“Only when I don’t have to.”

“I never knew you were such a rebel.” Matt adjusted one of the pillows before sitting down.

“It’s classified information.” Liz’s eyes twinkled.

“Your secrets are safe with me.” Matt settled back against the cushions and studied the color in the older woman’s cheeks, relieved to see that Liz appeared more well rested than she had in weeks.

Liz scooted a plate of cookies on the coffee table closer to him. “I know that.”

Matt regarded her steadily. “Then why didn’t you ever mention a granddaughter?”

The laughter in Liz’s eyes faded as if a curtain had been drawn over them.

“I might not have talked about Zoey, but I never stopped praying for her,” she said after a long pause. “Sometimes things happen that are too painful to talk about with anyone but the Lord. Some people we hold so close in our hearts that it becomes difficult to share them.

“You’re young,” she continued. The words were said with a hint of envy rather than condescension. “I know you might not understand that.”

Matt felt a hitch in his breathing as an image of his former girlfriend Kristen’s face rose in his mind.

Unfortunately, he understood all too well. No one but his college roommate knew what had happened between him and Kristen. Matt pushed the memory aside. This was about Liz, not him.

“But you’re all right with Zoey being here?” He had to ask.

“Zoey being here is an answer to prayer,” Liz said simply.

Matt couldn’t argue with that. He’d been praying for Liz, too. He just hadn’t expected a young woman with a captivating smile and eyes filled with secrets to be the answer.

“P
astor! Do you have a minute?” Kate Nichols leaned out the door of the Grapevine, waving a white dish towel to get Matt’s attention.

Matt glanced both ways before he crossed the street, more out of habit than concern for traffic. Once school let out for the day, a person could practically shoot a cannon down Main Street and not hit anything.

“Is everything all right?” Something told Matt that this time, the color in Kate’s cheeks hadn’t come from working over a hot griddle.

“Abby called a little while ago and it seems she’s having a bit of a family…situation,” Kate explained breathlessly.

Matt frowned. “What’s going on?”

Abby Porter, who had opened a bed and breakfast on Mirror Lake the summer before, was fairly new to his congregation, but Matt already counted her and her fiancé, Quinn O’Halloran, as good friends. Quinn owned a local security company and volunteered with the mentoring ministry Church of the Pines had started for boys from single-parent families.

“Abby is fine,” Kate huffed. “It’s the wedding plans that are the problem.”

“Planning a wedding can be stressful.”

“Especially if the wedding involves a bossy big brother.”

“Alex has been voicing his opinion again?”

“That’s a nice way of putting it.” Kate scowled. “I told Abby that I would stop over after work today to provide a little moral support, but then I remembered that I promised Liz Decker a piece of pecan pie today. I’ll throw in an extra one for you if you don’t mind playing delivery boy.”

“That’s not necessary.” Having an excuse to see Zoey again was incentive enough.

Not that he planned to share that bit of information with Kate.

Since his move to Mirror Lake, he’d become the target of more than one well-meaning matchmaker. Not only did the members of his congregation want to feed him, it appeared that they also wanted to see him happily married and settled down with a family.

There’d only been one woman Matt had asked to share his life.

For the second time in less than an hour, he thought about Kristen.

Matt drew in a careful breath, wondering if there would ever come a time when the memory of that brief college romance would no longer feel like a knife sliding between his ribs.

Not even his closest friends knew about his relationship with Kristen. It was a hurt Matt kept well hidden, but it was always there. Like a bruise just below the surface of the skin.

“If it’s a problem…”

Matt realized that Kate had misunderstood the reason for his lengthy silence. “No, it’s not a problem. And please let Abby know that I’m praying for her.”

“Pray for Alex Porter, too,” Kate suggested tartly, not disguising her dislike for Abby’s brother. “Because if our paths ever cross, he’s going to need it.”

Matt grinned, not doubting it for a minute.

He followed Kate into the café, and she disappeared through the swinging doors that separated the dining area from the kitchen.

The supper crowd hadn’t descended on the cafe yet. A group of teenagers huddled together in a corner booth, sharing an order of fries. At a table to Matt’s right, two women he didn’t recognize were involved in a heated discussion. Because they made no attempt to lower their voices, Matt couldn’t help but overhear the conversation.

“The Curtises had to move away from Mirror Lake. Their
home,
” one of the women was saying. “Because of her.”

“I know. It isn’t fair,” her companion agreed. “Especially since she went right along on her merry way.”

“No consequences whatsoever.”

“She’s only going to stir up more trouble. Wait and see.”

A disdainful snort followed the observation. “From what I’ve heard, trouble is what she excelled at…”

The women fell silent as Kate bounded out of the kitchen.

“Here you go. It’s still too warm to cut, so you’ll just have to take the whole thing.” She transferred a whole pie into Matt’s hands. “I’m sure Liz will share.”

“Thanks, Kate.”

Matt’s smile faded as he stepped outside. Fragments of the conversation he’d overheard began to cycle through his mind.

Caused enough damage.

No consequences.

He had no idea who they had been gossiping about, but he did know one thing. Some of what the woman had said wasn’t true.

A person’s mistakes always resulted in consequences, even if no one could see them on the outside.

That was another thing Matt’s relationship with Kristen had taught him.

Zoey blinked back the tears that blurred her vision. She tried to think of an excuse—any excuse—she could give Gran as to why she couldn’t stop by the church. But because she couldn’t think of a single one, she had no choice but to move forward.

What she really wanted to do was jump into her car and drive back to Lake Delton.

The conversation Zoey overheard in the variety store had left her shaken. The women’s open animosity allowing doubt and discouragement to seep in again.

As a teenager, her arrival had been cause for gossip and speculation. Now, it was happening all over again. All she’d wanted to do was help her grandmother but not if her presence was going to do more harm than good.

Even if she left earlier than she’d planned, Liz would be well taken care of. She had the knitting group. And her church family.

And Matt.

“You are a wise woman, Zoey Decker.”

He had sounded so certain of it that, for a moment, Zoey had felt a tiny flicker of hope. Hope that Matt would see her as more than the sum of her past mistakes…

Don’t even think about it. Don’t think about him.

She would stay through the weekend, accompany Gran to her appointment with Dr. Parish on Monday and then go back to Lake Delton, where she belonged.

Because she didn’t belong in Mirror Lake. She never had.

As Zoey stepped into the church, the scent of lemon polish and sunshine rolled over her, stirring up another batch of bittersweet memories.

“Hello?” Zoey peeked into the first office at the end of the hall. The lights were on, but there was no sign of the church secretary. The one adjacent to it was also dark. Matt must have gone out for the day.

At least now she could honestly tell Gran that she’d tried.

Zoey paused as she reached the doors leading to the sanctuary.

Late-afternoon sunshine streamed through the stained glass windows, creating jewel-like stencils on the gleaming hardwood floor. The old-fashioned pews were arranged in neat rows, just the way she remembered.

As a teenager, Zoey had resisted going to church, certain that everyone was watching her—waiting for her to make a mistake. She hadn’t realized that by keeping people at arm’s length to protect herself, she had distanced herself from God, too. The only one who had the power to heal the damaged places in her heart.

And because her heart felt as if it had been stomped on again, Zoey nudged the door open and took refuge inside.

On his way back to church, Matt took a shortcut through the park. The old-fashioned steeple rising above the maple trees guided him like a compass. The sun felt warmer today, and the breeze that ruffled his hair carried the earthy scent of spring.

Some people complained about the long winters, but they only made Matt appreciate spring even more. The changes were so small, so subtle, that it sometimes seemed as if winter would never relax its grip. But they were there. A lot like the hand of God working behind the scenes of his own life.

Two years in Mirror Lake had strengthened Matt’s faith in astonishing ways.

While attending seminary, Matt had heard some of his fellow classmates express their desire to pastor large churches. Ones that had the space, and members, to offer a wide variety of ministries.

Matt hadn’t cared about any of that. He’d reached a point in his life where his plans no longer mattered. The best place to be was the place where God put him.

Not that he hadn’t been a little taken aback when he’d arrived in Mirror Lake and saw his new church for the first time.

It looked like one of the country churches a person might see on the front of a Christmas card, right down to the wide double doors, white clapboard siding and stained glass windows.

But what the building lacked in size, the people more than made up for in warmth.

It was one of the reasons why Delia’s reaction to the news of Zoey’s arrival had been a little unsettling.

Balancing the pie in the crook of one arm, Matt pushed his shoulder against the door. Cheryl left early on Friday afternoons, so the building was quiet except for the soft, uneven purr of the furnace.

Matt set the pie down on a bench in the foyer and padded down the hall to make sure everything was locked up. As he walked past the doors leading to the sanctuary, something caught his eye.

Or rather, someone.

A slight figure sat motionless at the piano. Even though Matt couldn’t see the person’s face, he recognized the shoulder-length hair with its cherry-cola highlights.

Zoey.

What was she doing here?

Matt hesitated, not wanting to intrude. People generally retreated to the sanctuary when they wanted to be alone, but something in the forlorn slump of her shoulders propelled him to her side.

“Hey.”

Zoey’s head jerked up. Matt was stunned to see the diamond-bright sheen of tears in her eyes before she looked away.

The sudden urge to put his arms around her—to shelter her from hurt—was so strong that he jammed his hands into his pockets so he wouldn’t act on it. Zoey was skittish around him already.

He slid onto the bench beside her instead. “This is great. I always hoped that one day I would get a chance to impress someone with my skills. Are you ready?” He didn’t wait for her to respond but flexed his fingers and attacked the ivory keys.

By the time the song ended, Zoey was staring at him in amazement. And trying not to smile.

“Well?” Matt leaned back. “What did you think?”

“That was…Chopsticks.”

He gave her a look. “I’ll have you know it was more than Chopsticks. What you just witnessed was the culmination of six months of piano lessons.”

“Six
months?
” Zoey echoed.

Matt leaned closer, and the scent of her perfume stirred his senses. A tantalizing floral blend as sweet—and complex—as the woman who wore it. “That’s how long it took for my dad to pull me aside and offer me twenty-five dollars if I’d never play again.”

Zoey’s laughter rippled through the room.

Mission accomplished.

“Would you like to try?” Matt smiled down at her.

“No,” Zoey said promptly. “I’m pretty sure that I can’t do what you just did.”

“It’s easy,” he persisted. “Put your fingers here.” Matt tapped the ivory keys.

“Those who can’t do, teach?” she ventured.

He pressed a hand against his broad chest and reeled back. “Ouch.”

A smile played at the corners of Zoey’s lips as she rested her fingers on the keys. “Like this?”

“Very good.” Matt’s serious expression belied the gleam of laughter in his eyes. “You’ll have it down in no time.”

Zoey didn’t have the heart to admit that she’d been playing the piano since the age of seven. “That’s true. Look what you accomplished in six months.”

He grinned. “Maybe I missed my calling.”

His calling.

The reminder of who he was—and what he did for a living—washed over her like a spray of ice water. At the same time, the sound of a door opening registered.

Zoey surged to her feet. “Did you hear that? I think someone is here.”

“Whoever it is will find us,” Matt said mildly.

She shot him a look that was half frustrated, half pleading.

That’s what Zoey was afraid of.

Matt had no idea what kind of situation he was placing himself in by being seen with her. Alone. It would only add to the rumors that were probably already spreading through town. She’d damaged her own reputation—the last thing she wanted to do was cast a shadow on his.

“I should go,” she murmured. “I don’t want to leave Gran alone for very long.”

Matt put his hand on her arm. “I’m sure you didn’t stop by for a piano lesson…”

Zoey blushed. A few minutes in his company and she’d totally forgotten the reason she’d stopped by the church in the first place.

“Gran asked if I would pick up your sermon notes along with the music for Sunday’s service.”

Something—it couldn’t have been disappointment?—flashed in Matt’s eyes. He didn’t think she had stopped by to see…him?

Like a crocus pushing its way out of the frozen ground, hope slipped through a crack in Zoey’s defenses.

Did he enjoy spending time with her?

Or was he simply being kind? Doing what he was paid to do?

“The notes are in my office,” Matt was saying. “And if you don’t mind hanging around for a few minutes, I’ll walk you home.”

Home.

For a split second, Zoey savored the word like a piece of dark chocolate.

“Is anyone here?” A voice drifted down the hallway. Jerked her back to reality.

“You should see who it is.” Zoey inched further away from Matt. “I’ll wait for you.”

For a moment, she was afraid he would argue with her.

“All right.” He unfolded his lean frame from the piano bench. Paused. “You won’t run out on me as soon as my back is turned, will you?”

He knew her too well. Which was crazy because he barely knew her at all.

“No.” Zoey didn’t sound too convincing. Matt must have thought so, too.

“Promise?”

“Promise,” she muttered.

The doors swished closed behind him and Zoey stared down at the piano keys, tempted to make a break for the exit door behind the altar.

It wouldn’t have been the first time she’d used it.

Would Matt still smile at her if he knew the truth?

Not for the first time, Zoey wished she could live the two years she’d spent in Mirror Lake all over again. She wouldn’t have caused her grandparents so much pain.