Heart of Hope Read online

  “I’m really sorry. I thought we caught all the snakes. Evidently, one is quite an escape artist. I’ll go over tomorrow and make sure it is taken care of. I’m so sorry, man.” Josh walked Jake into the living room. “Why don’t you sleep in one of the upstairs bedrooms tonight? Take your pick.”

  “What do you mean you thought you caught all of them?” Jake asked, suddenly curious how many had been in his house.

  “There were, um… a few in there when the girls went to clean. Clay and I sealed all the holes so it shouldn’t be a problem,” Josh said, turning on the stair light, illuminating the steps up to the second floor. “Sleep tight.”

  The next morning, when the two of them went to the house, a thumping noise greeted them as they walked in the door. Caught in one of the traps, the snake let them know how much it didn’t like the arrangement. Josh took great pleasure in removing it from the premises.

  Just in case any more snakes decided to take up residence, Josh left the other traps in place. While they didn’t have any more problems, Jake developed an acute fear of snakes.

  Chapter Four

  Josh settled into his recliner, picked up the evening’s paper and prepared to enjoy the quiet of day’s end when the phone rang. Jenna was outside watering her flowers, so he picked it up on the third ring.

  “Hello.” Josh barely contained his anger as he recognized the name on the caller ID.

  “I want to talk to Jenna,” a male voice that was becoming all too familiar demanded.

  “I don’t think so. What do you want?” Josh stewed with barely repressed anger.

  “Tell her Dennis called. I need to speak with her.” With that, the line went dead.

  Josh felt like throwing the phone into the fireplace. Dennis Gillman had called Jenna every evening for the past week and a half. Sometimes on her cell, other times on their home phone. She never answered and never said anything about the calls. The whole situation made him irate, frustrated, and suspicious.

  Anytime he asked her about Dennis or his calls, she seemed nervous and defensive. Josh wondered what, exactly, was going on.

  Jenna would be traveling again the following week and he didn’t want to think about Dennis calling her every evening while she was gone. He looked outside and watched his wife water her flowers. He had no idea what to make of Dennis Gillman’s sudden obsession with her.

  By refusing to talk about the problem, she certainly didn’t alleviate his concerns.

  Outside, Jenna savored the last rays of sunshine as she watered the flowers around the house. As she held the hose above a big planter at the corner of the porch, her cell phone rang. She pulled it out of her pocket and sighed before turning it off. Gillman, again.

  Dennis Gillman was a new hire at the office. He, along with Jenna and two others, traveled together to Washington D.C. for training. When they weren’t in classes, he seemed to think she was his personal escort.

  Well into his forties, Dennis Gillman appeared to possess the maturity of a hormone-ridden teenager. With a pretty-boy face and a suave manner, he operated under the assumption that no woman could resist him. When Jenna completely ignored him, he took it as a personal challenge and had been in relentless pursuit of her affections ever since. It only spurred him on when she pointed out she was married and uninterested.

  Jenna hoped returning from the training and settling into a work routine would calm him down, but if anything, his behavior worsened. She knew Josh was irritated with the phone calls. Good thing he never saw her emails, or he’d come unhinged by some of the suggestive messages Dennis had sent.

  Not wanting to get her coworker in trouble, or possibly fired, Jenna thought she could handle the situation. Unfortunately, Gillman proved to be more difficult than Jenna imagined. She planned to try one last time to set him straight. If that didn’t work, she would go to her supervisor with a copy of the emails and a record of the phone calls.

  She turned off the hose and decided tomorrow would be soon enough to worry about Mr. Gillman.

  Down on her knees pulling weeds out of the flowerbed in her front yard, Callan glanced up as Josh parked in her driveway. Surprised to see him when she knew he was busy haying, she thought it odd that he would show up at her house mid-morning on a Friday. He normally called if he planned to come over and he never came when there was fieldwork waiting for him at home.

  Quickly standing, she brushed dirt from her jeans, pulled off her gloves and walked over to meet him at the front door.

  “What brings you by today?” Callan asked, giving him a hug. “Is this a social call or is something going on?”

  Josh removed his ball cap and toyed with the brim, looking tired and worried. “Can we go inside and talk?”

  Immediately, Callan knew something was wrong and bothering her brother. Rarely serious, the fact that he wanted to go inside to talk set off her inner alarms.

  Callan led the way inside the house to the kitchen. She motioned Josh to sit at the table while she washed her hands and poured glasses of cold sweet tea.

  “What’s up? Something is wrong.” Callan placed a glass in front of Josh and sat down across from him. “Let’s hear it.”

  “I think Jenna may be having an affair,” Josh finally said, tracing circles on the tabletop with his finger, unable to look Callan in the eye.

  Shocked, Callan fixed him with a disbelieving glare. “What? Are you insane? What in the world would make you think that?”

  “This guy, Dennis Gillman, keeps calling for her. It started the day after she came back from D.C. He calls every evening. If I answer, he hangs up or is extremely rude. Last night he called and hung up. Right before bed he called back and Jenna answered. She didn’t know it, but I picked up the phone. Their conversation was very interesting, to say the least.”

  “What did Jenna say?” Callan asked.

  “I didn’t actually hear her on the phone, but I heard Gillman tell her he missed her and couldn’t wait to lay his eyes on her ‘luscious bod.’” Josh made quotes in the air with his fingers and released a disgusted sigh. “I hung up after that. I’m about ready to let Gillman know exactly what I think of him.”

  Callan tried to look at the situation from a different angle. She placed a gentle hand on Josh’s where it rested on the table. “Don’t do anything you’ll later regret. Did you talk to Jenna? Did you ask her about it? Maybe it isn’t what it seems.”

  Josh shook his head. “I’ve tried talking to her about it multiple times, but she gets defensive and clams up. What am I supposed to think?”

  “I agree it sounds incriminating, but Jenna would never cheat on you. She loves you,” Callan tried to reassure him.

  “Would you talk to her, Cal? Please?” Josh pleaded. He looked dejected and wounded, uncertain what to do, and entirely unlike himself. “Would you see if you can find out what’s going on? Even if she isn’t having an affair, there’s definitely something not right about the whole situation.”

  “I agree. There is something peculiar about it all. I’m happy to talk to her. Maybe you could come over for dinner this weekend,” Callan suggested, trying to think of a way to broach such a delicate subject with her sister-in-law.

  “Could you please talk to her today? Please?” Josh begged. “I can’t take not knowing, Cal. I need to know what’s going on now. You could go out to lunch and talk to her.”

  Callan wasn’t sure what to say. This was so unlike Josh. He rarely asked her for favors and she’d never seen him look so upset and discouraged.

  “Let me see if she’ll meet for lunch. If so, I’ll go talk to her. If not, we’ll have to think of a different plan,” Callan said, dialing Jenna’s number.

  Josh could tell from the one-sided conversation that Jenna agreed to lunch and Callan would meet her at the office at noon.

  “All right. I’m going to have to hustle to get cleaned up and to her office before noon,” Callan said, standing from the table and punching in another phone number. When she hung up from speaking
with the school secretary, she turned to Josh.

  “You’re going to have to take care of the girls today. Clay has classes all day, so you need to pick up Emma at school at a quarter to noon on the dot. You can’t be late or she gets upset. I called to let the school know it’s fine for Emma to leave with you. You need to be here at a quarter past three to meet Audrey when the bus drops her off in case I’m not back yet. I planned to run into Portland early next week to pick up some things for an event next weekend, but I’ll pick them up today since I’ll be in the city.”

  “Okay. I got it. Emma before noon, Audrey after school. No problem. I can take care of it.” Josh stepped over to the sink and set his empty glass in it.

  “Emma will need lunch and Audrey likes to have an afterschool snack. You can either stay here with the girls or take them back to your house. I’ll call you as soon as I’m almost home,” Callan said, walking Josh out to his pickup.

  She pulled Emma’s booster seat out of her car and fastened it into the backseat of Josh’s pickup. “Now, get going so I can get ready.”

  “Thanks, Cal.” Josh gave her a warm hug, “You’re the best.”

  “Don’t forget it,” she teased as she ran back inside the house, convinced Josh was wrong about his suspicions.

  In the mood to celebrate, Jenna looked forward to lunch with Callan, deciding her sister-in-law had perfect timing in her request to meet for lunch.

  First thing that morning, Jenna walked up to Dennis Gillman and demanded he leave her alone or she would take the issue to her supervisor. His response was to ask her what color underwear she wore and attempt to kiss her.

  Fed up with his inappropriate shenanigans, she marched back to her office, printed off his offensive emails, retrieved a list of her incoming cell phone calls, and took the evidence to her supervisor. After a brief discussion, Gillman was relieved of his duties, given a few minutes to clean out his desk, and escorted out of the building with a dire warning should he ever darken the doorstep again.

  With a heavy weight lifted from her shoulders, Jenna couldn’t wait for Callan to arrive. A few minutes before noon, the receptionist called to let her know she had a visitor. Jenna snatched her up her purse, hurried out to the reception area, and gave Callan a warm hug.

  “This is such a pleasant surprise, Callan. Your timing is perfect.” Jenna looped her arm through her sister-in-law’s as they walked out the door and onto the busy sidewalk. “What are you in the mood for?”

  “A big green salad and a nice quiet place to talk,” Callan said, giving Jenna a pointed look.

  Not sure what Callan wanted to discuss, Jenna suggested they go to a nearby restaurant that offered private outdoor seating areas. They soon found themselves sitting outside in the pleasant afternoon, enjoying the sunshine and good food.

  “You might as well get to the point, Cal,” Jenna said, taking a sip of her iced tea. “You didn’t just happen to be in the city today and want to have lunch. We’ve been friends long enough, I can tell something’s on your mind. Spit it out.”

  Callan occasionally forgot Jenna’s gift for being plain spoken and driving right to the point.

  “Josh came to see me this morning, quite concerned about you.” Callan set her fork down on her plate and focused her attention on Jenna. She still couldn’t imagine the woman ever cheating on Josh. She loved him too much. “Jenna, Josh… well, he thinks… Josh thinks you might be having an affair.”

  Jenna choked on the bite she swallowed. The tea she gulped to help wash it down made her cough even more. Callan thumped her on the back, uncertain what else to do. When Jenna could finally speak, sparks flew from her brown eyes.

  “Josh thinks what? That idiot! How could he think that?” Jenna slumped against her chair, thoroughly incensed that Josh would ever question her commitment to him. “I would never, ever do such a thing.”

  Relieved by Jenna’s declaration, Callan let her tense shoulders relax. “He said some guy named Dennis Gillman keeps calling. Josh heard him say something rather inappropriate to you on the phone last night.”

  Jenna’s mouth flattened into a tight seam. She knew she should have taken care of the problem sooner rather than ignoring it and hoping it would go away. With a frustrated sigh, she explained to Callan what happened, including discussing the problem with her supervisor and the termination of Gillman’s position that morning.

  “Well, merciful stars, Jenna! Why didn’t you say something? Why didn’t you tell Josh?” Callan was incredulous that Jenna wouldn’t tell someone, anyone, about the unacceptable circumstances.

  “I didn’t want to seem weak for not being able to handle the problem. I’m a business professional and I should be able to take care of situations without involving anyone else. I train employees how to deal with problems exactly like this. It was embarrassing that I couldn’t handle Gillman,” Jenna quietly explained. “Besides, you know Josh. He would have flipped a gear and done something he shouldn’t have.”

  “I can see why you didn’t tell Josh. I probably would have done the same thing with Clay,” Callan agreed, knowing her husband would have been infuriated if someone harassed her like Gillman had done to Jenna. “But you should have let someone at work know when it first started. You had no reason to be embarrassed, Jenna. He was the one who did something wrong, not you. It isn’t a sign of weakness. It’s a sign of being human.”

  Callan reached across the table and squeezed Jenna’s hand. “I told Josh there was more to this than he knew. I’m glad that, once again, I can prove my little brother wrong.”

  Jenna smiled at Callan as an idea formed in her head.

  “I agree the evidence gave him reason to think something was going on, but he should know me well enough to not jump to conclusions. Crazy man,” Jenna said, starting to grin in a way that meant she plotted something. “I think we need to teach him a lesson.”

  A wide, mischievous smile blossomed on Callan’s face. “I’m all ears, what have you got in mind?”

  Josh arrived at Emma’s school five minutes before she got out for the day. As he stood outside with other parents, he watched for her little blonde head to bob along with students rushing down the sidewalk.

  He spotted her as soon as she stepped outside. She happily chatted with two other little girls, dragging a bright purple backpack behind her.

  “Emma!” Josh called as she skipped his direction. “Emma Matthews.”

  Emma’s head came up and she looked around. When she spotted Josh, she bid a hasty “bye” to her friends and ran toward him, curls flying while the backpack slapped against her legs.

  Josh hunkered down and held out his arms to her. “Hey, Sweet Pea. You mind spending the afternoon with me?”

  Emma threw her arms around his neck and gave him a tight hug. “Really, Uncle Josh? I get to spend the day with you? Just me?”

  Josh stood with her still in his arms and carried her to his pickup. “Yep. It’s just the two of us until your sister gets home from school.”

  “Yippee!” Emma gave Josh another tight hug. She climbed into her booster seat in the back of the pickup and fastened her seat belt.

  Josh slid in the driver’s side, started the truck, and drove to a fast-food restaurant. “Can I interest you in some lunch, Sweet Pea?”

  “Yep. I’m starving.” Emma beamed as she gazed fondly at her uncle, excited to spend time with him.

  Josh smiled at her as they pulled into the parking lot then went inside. Emma wanted the kid’s meal with a hamburger. Rather than eating her lunch, she played with the toy that came in the meal.

  “Emma, eat first, then you can play. Okay?” Josh scooted her forgotten hamburger closer to her and took the toy away.

  “Okay, Uncle Josh.” Emma looked displeased, but she obeyed. She hurriedly ate her hamburger, took two bites of her fries then turned her attention back to her toy. Josh let her play for a few minutes while he finished his meal and her fries.

  “Are you ready to roll?” Josh cleaned
up their table and dumped the trash into the garbage.

  “Let’s roll,” Emma said, grabbing his hand and swinging on it.

  If he wasn’t careful, Josh could get used to the feel of a tiny hand in his big one. He smiled as he looked down at Emma’s curly head.

  Callan nicknamed her Sweet Pea when she was just a few weeks old and the name stuck. If anyone in their circle of family and friends mentioned Sweet Pea, everyone knew the name referred to little Emma.

  He picked her up and set her in the booster seat, waiting until she buckled her seatbelt to close the door. He had no idea how he was going to entertain her all afternoon, but supposed he could figure something out. Jenna kept a box of toys somewhere in the house because he’d seen the girls playing with it before. They also had some Disney movies that Emma might like to watch. How hard could it be to keep a six-year-old entertained?

  Two and a half hours later, Josh had exhausted his repertoire of child-appropriate stories, watched cartoons and, despite his heated protests, played with Barbie dolls. He made Emma promise not to tell anyone he sat on the floor and pretended to be Barbie’s friend Misty. She had finally fallen asleep on the couch so he left her there and sat down to take a break in his recliner.

  Although he knew he’d have to leave to pick up Audrey soon, he closed his eyes, for just a moment. Josh woke himself up when his chin hit his chest. Quickly opening both eyes, he looked at his watch and panicked.

  He had less than ten minutes to get to Callan’s house before Audrey would arrive. If he hustled, he could make it.

  Springing out of his chair, he scooped up a sleeping Emma, ran out to his truck, and belted her limp body into the booster seat. After speeding down the gravel road, he barely stopped at the stop sign, raced to the highway, and zoomed toward Callan and Clay’s.

  As he pulled into the driveway, he watched the school bus turn down the road. Perfect timing. When Audrey stepped off the bus, Josh stood at the end of the driveway waiting for her.