That boy turned out to be her husband. She should clarify…ex-husband. The uncomfortable pokes in the back were nothing compared to the women he’d not-so-secretly poked over their entire marriage.
Even with the disdain she still held for him, Gibbs Nichols had given her the best thing in her entire life…Jewel. While sharing parental duties—and that was a stretch of her patience—she was grateful he still wanted to be in his daughter’s life.
Father-daughter relationships were important. They shaped how a girl thought of herself.
A banging at the door drew all their attention. “Girl! Let me in,” her dad shouted.
Aunt Mo gave her a sympathetic glance before scurrying to open the door. She wiped her hands on a towel and turned the knob. “Settle down, Clancy. We’re coming.”
Charlie Grace tossed the brush on the kitchen table and turned Jewel around for a brief inspection. “Okay, you’re good.”
She grabbed her daughter’s hand and pulled her toward the door, taking care to make a wide swath around her father.
“But, my money,” Jewel protested.
Aunt Mo hurried and slipped the envelope into Jewel’s waiting hands. “There you go, sweetheart.” She took the little girl’s chin in her hand. “Who’s Aunt Mo’s precious pudding gift of God?”
Her daughter’s face drew into a wide grin. “I am.” She reached and pulled at Aunt Mo’s hand until the older woman leaned down. Jewel planted a big kiss on Aunt Mo’s cheek, then moved for her grandfather and did the same.
While he grunted at the gesture, the corners of his lips lifted into a smile.
Charlie Grace and Jewel scrambled across the porch and down the stairs, then hurried for the long dirt drive. Before they could reach the end of the lane, the bus honked.
Charlie Grace waved frantically. “Wait, we’re coming!”
The door on the bus opened. “Take your time,” Donna Hatfield hollered. “I’m running early today.”
Despite the extended courtesy, Charlie Grace and Jewel both broke into a full sprint. At the bus, Charlie Grace bent and kissed the top of her little girl’s head. “Be good for your teacher today.”
“I always am, Mom,” Jewel assured her.
“And…be happy,” Charlie Grace added wistfully. She watched her daughter climb the stairs onto the bus and wave back at her. The bus door closed.
She drew a slow breath and closed her eyes. “It’s important that you be happy.”
3
With barely a greeting, Charlie Grace hurried past Carol Deegan at the reception desk inside the Thunder Mountain Bank and Trust office and headed directly for the conference room where her friend, Reva, and Mr. Cavendish were waiting.
Despite her best efforts to arrive on time, her drive into town had been delayed when a small black bear darted out from the trees and ran directly into the small car in front of her. She’d had no choice but to stop and jump out. The bear didn’t appear injured and shook off the stunned look on its face before it jumped up and darted back into the trees, not even limping.
The man and woman inside the car climbed slowly out in bewilderment. “What just happened?” the driver asked.
The woman stood with the passenger door open, her hand on her chest. “Did we just hit something?”
“A bear,” Charlie Grace told them. “It ran out of the pines and hit your back tire.”
The wide-eyed woman glanced around. “Where is it?”
Charlie Grace pointed to the tree-covered hillside. “Up there. Wasn’t bleeding or limping, so I don’t think the animal was injured significantly. Just a bit dazed.”
The driver raced to his back tire. “I hope there’s no damage. This is a rental.”
“I don’t see any,” the woman confirmed after inspecting the rear end of their car.
Charlie Grace checked her watch. “Look, I have a meeting and need to go. But you are both okay, right?”
They nodded.
