Heart of Hope Read online

  “I appreciate it, so much. You’ll come have dinner with us, won’t you?”

  “You couldn’t keep me away. I heard Callan mention berry pie and Jenna said something about chocolate sheet cake. You don’t think I’d miss that, do you?”

  “Nope.” Josh chuckled and turned back to his combine.

  By the time they arrived at the house, Callan had washed up, changed her clothes, and helped Jenna put food on the table. Tyler went home since Laken was working the closing shift at her store and he needed to be home with their kids.

  Clay and Jake soon arrived and laughed good-naturedly as they strolled in the door. Apparently, hunger chased away the imminent threat of the snake war.

  After giving thanks for the meal and the blessings of the day, Josh thanked everyone again for their help. The conversation moved onto the final cutting of hay, school starting, Jake’s new job, and, of course, the upcoming arrival of the twins.

  “Have you started thinking of names?” Callan asked Jenna.

  “I hadn’t really got around to it yet.” Picking out names hadn’t occurred to Jenna. She needed to start a list of things to accomplish before the arrival of the babies.

  Jake laughed. “You only need to pick out boy names. I already told you, we’re having boys.”

  Clay slapped Jake on the back and gave him a devilish smile. “We? What’s this we business? I’m pretty sure you weren’t involved, at all, in any part of these babies coming to be.”

  Jake turned an annoyed glare at Clay. “Josh and Jenna said the babies could call me Uncle Jake so that makes it my business.”

  “Oh, I see.” Clay attempted to look and sound serious as he considered Jake’s statement. “And I suppose you have grand plans of teaching them all about farming and ranching and how to be expert snake handlers.”

  Jake let out a long-suffering sigh and leaned around Clay, turning a pleading look to Callan. “Tell me again why you wouldn’t wait to marry me and instead spend your days having to tolerate this joker? Please, tell me why, Callan?”

  When Callan and Clay wed, Jake served as their ring bearer. He thought she was marrying him and his little six-year-old heart was broken when he found out she was, in fact, marrying his cousin Clay. It had been a running joke for years between them that she should have waited for Jake to grow up.

  Callan let out a wonderful, warm laugh, and winked at Jake. “I couldn’t help myself. This cowboy swept me off my feet and captured my heart completely. What’s a girl to do?”

  “Wait for me, that’s what.” Jake feigned an indignant look. He smiled when Callan leaned over and kissed Clay’s cheek, gazing at him with her heart in her eyes. He hoped to find someone to love as completely as Clay and Callan loved each other. Until then, he’d keep himself entertained by trading jokes and barbed comments with Clay.

  Josh turned his attention to his sister. “So, Cal, if you ever decide you want to give up your event planning business, I’m still looking for a hired hand.” Josh raised an eyebrow her direction and nodded his head encouragingly.

  “Thanks for the offer, but I’ll pass. One day in the trenches is more than plenty to suit me.”

  “You did a really good job.” Josh’s admiration carried through in his voice. “I appreciate your help.”

  “I will deny it if anyone sitting here brings it up again, but it was kind of fun,” Callan said with a pleased smile. “For one day.”

  The group laughed and continued eating their meal flavored with animated conversation.

  When the dishes were finished and everything put away, Steve drove the combine back to the ranch followed by Clay, Jake, and Josh, each driving a truck. Callan would drive over her car to pick up the girls and Clay while Jenna would take her car to bring back Jake and Josh.

  When the other men drove down the lane, Big Jim gave both Callan and Jenna a kiss ready to return to his retirement center in Tenacity.

  “Thanks for a great day, girls. Call anytime you need help or someone to liven up the place,” Big Jim teased as he sauntered out to his car.

  “Will do, Daddy,” Callan called, waving to him.

  “Drive safe, Pop,” Jenna said, watching as he climbed behind the wheel. “Thanks for keeping me company.”

  Callan put her arm through Jenna’s and they retreated to Jenna’s sitting area, decorated in soft blue tones with chocolate accents. Josh called it her girlie room, which was fine with her. It meant all things greasy, smelly, and remotely resembling manly men stuff stayed out of her room.

  “We’ve got a few minutes to sit and rest before we need to head to the ranch. It’ll take Steve a while to get the combine there and the trucks will stay with him on the drive over,” Callan said as she sat down with two glasses of cold sweet tea.

  “I can’t believe Pop set the field on fire.” Jenna couldn’t hide her look of astonishment. “That could have gone so badly. I’m feeling rather blessed, not only by our family and friends, but that things turned out so well.”

  “I know what you mean. I really think Daddy is starting to show his age. How did he do in here this afternoon?”

  “Oh, fine, I think. I slept for a couple hours after lunch and he must have slept most of that time, too. He helped with dinner and was his usual talkative self. When I hugged him, though, he seemed kind of frail.” Jenna put her feet up on the couch and held the tea glass against her throat. Sometimes she got so hot she thought she might melt.

  Callan held up a magazine and fanned her. “I thought the same thing. I guess we’ll have to keep a closer eye on him. He does so well on his own, I forget to pay enough attention to him. It’s so easy to get caught up in the rush of our lives.”

  “You aren’t the only one. Maybe we all can take turns checking on him or taking him out to eat, that kind of thing.” Jenna closed her eyes and enjoyed the breeze Callan created with the magazine. They were quiet for a few minutes, then Jenna opened her eyes and smiled. “Your arm will fall off if you don’t stop and you worked as hard as the men today.”

  Callan returned the magazine to the coffee table and leaned back with a sigh. “Don’t tell the guys, but I wouldn’t want to do that every day for anything. I don’t think I’m ever going to stop itching, my arms are rubbery from trying to steer that old truck, and my hindquarters feel permanently bruised from bouncing around in the field. Driving the truck was kind of fun, but not enough I’d do it every day.”

  Jenna laughed. “Cal, you are something else. Josh said you worked just as hard and did as well as any man would have done.”

  “That is quite a compliment, coming from my little brother,” Callan said, unable to hide her pleasure at Josh’s praise.

  “I don’t think there’s anything you can’t do if you set your mind to it,” Jenna said thoughtfully.

  “There are one or two things.” Callan grew somber and quiet, thinking of the babies she would never have and the one she lost. There were definitely some things she could never do, which is why she didn’t let her thoughts linger there and moved on to a different topic. “There are two things I would really like to do for you, if you’d allow me.”

  “What’s that?” Jenna sat up, gazing with curiosity at her friend. Callan had that intense look on her face she got whenever she was in the middle of planning something amazing.

  “I’d like to help you decorate a nursery for the babies and I want to host a baby shower.” Callan made mental lists of the things they’d need to accomplish before the arrival of the twins.

  “Really?” Jenna grabbed Callan’s hand in her own, unable to contain her excitement. “You’d really help me decorate the nursery and throw my baby shower?”

  “I’d absolutely love to.”

  “Then yes, please!” Jenna beamed, thrilled with Callan’s offers.

  “Let me get the girls back in school and then we can start talking about details.” Callan stood and gave a hand to Jenna as she got to her feet. They slowly walked to the back door. “Are you going to find out if you ar
e having boys or girls or one of each?”

  “We haven’t decided yet. On one hand, I want to know. On the other hand, I’d like to be surprised. What do you think?” Jenna asked as she opened her car door.

  “I think you and Josh should talk about it and decide together,” Callan said with a grin.

  “That’s a very diplomatic and not at all helpful answer.” Jenna rolled her eyes and laughed. “See you at the ranch.”

  When they arrived at the Matthews’ ranch, Jenna and Callan found the men at the house enjoying a glass of cold lemonade. Emma bounced around between Josh, Clay, and Jake while Audrey sat next to Steve, telling him all about her day spent with Grammy.

  “Mama!” Emma yelled as Callan stepped out on the patio, launching herself into her mother’s arms. Callan swung her up and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “How’s my Sweet Pea? Were you good for Grammy today?”

  “Yep, we had a marvelous time.” Emma used her favorite new word. Everything for the last two weeks had been marvelous.

  Laughing, Callan set her down. “I’m glad to hear it.”

  After draining their glasses and setting them in the kitchen, Josh and Jake thanked Bobbi for the lemonade and walked out to Jenna’s car.

  “Babe, I’m beat. Do you mind driving?” Josh asked as he held open the driver’s side door for her.

  “I guess not. Are you two going to sit in the back and make me be the chauffeur?” Jenna teased as she slid behind the wheel.

  “What a great idea!” Jake hopped into the back seat, sitting as regally as possible in his dusty, sweat and soot streaked clothes.

  Josh jumped in on the other side then rapped on the back of the front passenger seat with his knuckles. “Home now, if you please, Jamesette.” Using an arrogant tone, he tipped his nose in the air with a feigned haughty look out the window.

  “Jamesette? What kind of a name is that?” Jenna laughed at their antics.

  “We can’t very well call you James. Isn’t that what they always say in the movies, ‘home now, James?’ Isn’t the chauffeur always named James?” Josh waved airily to Audrey and Emma as Jenna pulled away from the ranch house, making them break out in giggles as they waved goodbye.

  “Right you are, my good man.” Jake affected a British accent and nodded his head in agreement. “Hurry it up please, Jamesette. I’ve got an important engagement this evening. If I don’t make haste, I’ll be unforgivably tardy.”

  “And this engagement, for which you can’t be tardy, is her name Bambi, Roxy, or Trixi?” Jenna teased, glancing at Jake in the rear-view mirror.

  “None of the above.” Jake’s brows furrowed and he glared at Jenna with indignation. Just because he couldn’t remember his date’s name wasn’t important and beside the point. He didn’t appreciate Jenna’s insinuation about the type of girl he’d be seeing later that evening, even if she’d accurately pegged his date.

  “Let me guess - she’s blond and petite with a small vocabulary and large… assets.” Jenna couldn’t help goading Jake. She’d seen him out on dates a few times and it wasn’t hard to picture the type of girl he’d take out.

  Openly annoyed, Jake wondered how Jenna knew exactly the type of girl he liked to date. It wasn’t like he ever brought one of his dates to any family gathering. He refused to let her unsettle him with her taunting. “For your information, she is in her third year of college.”

  “Oh, that’s great. What school is she attending?” Jenna asked, sincerely interested.

  “The community college,” Jake answered, realizing too late the fodder that provided for Josh and Jenna’s tormenting.

  Josh laughed aloud. “Three years at a two-year college. That’s great Jake. Sounds like a real Einstein. What’d you say her name is?”

  “I… she… never mind,” Jake huffed. He squirmed in his seat, anxious to escape both the teasing and the scrutiny of his friends.

  Aware of his irritation, Josh nudged him with his elbow and wiggled his eyebrows, getting a small grin out of Jake.

  “If you can give me a minute of your time when we get back to the house before your date with Bambi, I’ll run in and write you a check for today,” Josh said as Jenna turned down their lane.

  “No can do, dude.” Jake shook his head. “You don’t owe me anything for today.”

  “Jake, we can’t let you do that. You worked too hard to not receive adequate compensation. Besides that, if it wasn’t for you, I might have lost my entire wheat field with Pop and the fire.” Josh didn’t know if Jake fully realized how close they came to the field going up in flames.

  “Really, Josh, I won’t take more of your money. The last check you gave me was more than generous. Seriously, dude. That bonus was incredible.” Jake grinned and playfully punched Josh in the arm. “How about if we call it even and the next time I have to run to the rescue, you can pay twice what I’m worth?”

  “Deal.” Josh shook Jake’s hand and gave him a grateful smile as Jenna pulled into the garage.

  “You’re welcome to come in if you want Jake, but if you hit the ground running for your date, we understand,” Jenna said, parking the car then turning around to glance at him.

  Jake leaned over the front seat and pecked her cheek. “Thanks, Jen. I’ll stay for a visit next time. You can give me a list of baby names for my nephews then.”

  Jake jumped out of the car and ran to his pickup, creating a cloud of dust as he tore down the driveway and headed back toward town.

  “There goes one great kid,” Jenna said as she and Josh watched Jake drive off.

  “Yep. One really great kid with terrible taste in women,” Josh observed as they walked inside the house. “But then again, not everyone has my excellent taste.”

  Jenna stood on her tiptoes and surprised Josh with a warm kiss. “You do taste pretty excellent.”

  He started to pull her into a hug but Jenna twisted free and ran giggling down the hallway, Josh hot on her heels.

  “Don’t get your itchy, nasty wheat chaff all over me, Josh Carver. You stay away until you’ve had a shower, or three.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Jenna settled into her new job and routine with relative ease. In her second trimester, she felt better even though she worried that she was getting too big too soon. Her doctor assured her it was normal considering the fact she carried twins.

  She wondered how much longer she could disguise the fact she was expecting before her supervisor said something. Following her friend Barb’s advice, she poured herself into her new job, at least during work hours. Once she left the building, she left her work behind and focused on the farm, Josh, and everything they needed to accomplish before the babies arrived.

  The previous afternoon, her supervisor gave her a quick sixty-day review and everything she shared was positive. After expressing her pleasure at how well Jenna fulfilled the duties of her position, Mrs. Gordon let her know how much she valued her expertise.

  Jenna prayed the woman would continue to value her once she found out she was expecting. She hoped to get through at least another month before she had to break the news around the office.

  At the rate her waistline expanded, though, she thought her condition had to be obvious to everyone. She was convinced she looked like she’d stuffed a basketball in her shirt. Josh teasingly assured her it looked more like a football.

  As the weather cooled down, she could hide some of her increasing girth with jackets, sweaters, and artfully draped scarves.

  Josh planned to finish the last custom haying job that week. He promised when he was done, he’d take an entire day to do anything she wanted. They needed to start looking at baby furniture, just to get some ideas. With the holidays approaching, she knew time would get away from them and the due date for the babies to arrive would be upon them before they had time to blink.

  Although she was still frightened and intimidated at the prospect of bringing home two newborns, thoughts of having Josh’s babies made Jenna happy. It had taken a lot of prayer
and meditation, but she finally arrived at the place of acceptance and anticipation. Anytime she started to feel overwhelmed by it all, she reminded herself they had many family members and good friends they could count on to provide a helping hand. Jenna knew she would be relying heavily on her sister-in-law.

  Callan was already doing so much to help her get ready for the arrival of the twins. True to her word, as soon as she had the girls back into the swing of school, she came over one Saturday morning with photos, catalogs, fabric, and paint swatches and they started talking about the nursery.

  As they wandered through the upstairs bedrooms, Callan and Jenna agreed the twins would likely share a room for their first few years. After discussing the good and bad points of each room, they finally decided on the bedroom that offered a fabulous view of the backyard, the barn, and a portion of the fields. Big windows let in plenty of light, yet the trees from the backyard provided welcome shade.

  When it was time for the twins to have their own rooms, the other two bedrooms upstairs were nearly identical in size and shape. Jenna hoped that would keep any fights from erupting over “my room is bigger than your room.” She could then return the nursery to a guest room.

  Jenna sighed as they stood at the window and looked down on the farm. “Can you picture them, Callan, looking out the window? Little girls will enjoy the view of the yard and flowers. Little boys can see the barn and the fields.”

  “And no matter if you have boys or girls, they’ll be excited to watch out the window for their daddy,” Callan said, putting her arm around Jenna and giving her a gentle squeeze. “It would be a lot easier to decorate if we knew what you’re having.”

  “I know,” Jenna said with a smile. “Josh and I agreed the next appointment we want to find out the sex. If it was just one baby, we might wait and be surprised. Two babies definitely require more pre-planning.”

  “As soon as you know, we can really start making plans for the nursery. When is your next ultrasound?” Callan whipped out a notepad and jotted notes as she walked around the room.