chapter FIVE

Barely halfway down the block, en route to his car, Brady met up with Sadie and Grace. "What are you gals up to?"

"Just looking," Grace answered.

"It's a pretty town," Sadie added. "You?"

"I just met Andy Evans, his mother, Hope, and his grandmother, Audrey. I invited Audrey to join us for the event."

Grace and Sadie exchanged a look, and Brady grumped. "Come on. It's nothing like that. She's a nice lady, but that kid is something else. And you have to walk down to their shop. Magic Threads. It really sort of is."

"Then walk with us," Sadie agreed, moved to one side of him, linked an arm with his, and all three fell in step.

"Oh my." Sadie stopped when she saw the sign above the shop door hanging from the metal support. "Magic Threads," she turned her head slightly to one side and regarded it.

"Magic threads," she said again, looking at Grace. "Do you remember?"

Grace's mouth opened as her eyes widened. "I haven't thought of that in years."

"Okay, what are you talking about?" Brady asked, feeling like he'd skipped a hunk of the conversation since he was totally lost.

Sadie let go of his arm and walked to the front window. "Grace, you have to see this!"

Grace hurried to join Sadie, and they both looked at the display. Curious, Brady followed. "It's almost like someone was there," Grace said in a low voice.

"There where?" Brady asked.

"The Tree House," Sadie said and turned to look at Brady. "When Grace and I were young, my grandmother taught us how to create and travel to our special place. We called it our Tree House because there was a Tree House there. But it was more than just that. It was a world. A magical world.

"We spent so much time there as kids. I remember my mother calling it imaginative nonsense."

"And your grandmother saying she didn't know what she was talking about," Grace added.

Sadie smiled and turned her eyes back to the window. "It was my favorite place."

"Remember the young Fae who came to play?" Grace asked. "And taught us to swing on the vines from one tree to another?"

"Yes," Sadie's smile brightened. "I do. Oh God, Grace. It was Audrey."

That gave Brady a jolt. "Andy's grandmother is named Audrey."

"Curious," Sadie commented and turned her head to share a look with Grace. "Let's go inside."

Brady moved to open the door for them, hearing the soft chime of a bell as the door swung inward. It struck him just then how odd it was for a store to have an entrance door that swung inward.

He dismissed that thought the moment they entered the shop. Sadie entered first, hanging on to Grace's hand. Brady also found that a bit curious, but not nearly as much as what happened next.

Sadie and Grace stopped, hand in hand, and as if possessed of one mind, they looked toward the rear of the shop. A split second later, the door to the residence opened, and Audrey stepped into the shop. Behind her was Hope.

Audrey took one look and stopped dead in her tracks. Hope nearly ran into her from behind. "Mom?" she asked softly. When Audrey didn't respond, Hope looked past her and locked her gaze on Brady.

Brady didn't know why the women were behaving in such a manner but was starting to think something utterly unnatural was happening. The women stared at one another a moment longer before Sadie spoke.

"By the stars, it is you, isn't it, Audrey Rose?"

Audrey's hand went to her mouth a fraction of a second after a gasp escaped her lips. Then she was in motion.

Sadie and Grace met her, and they all tangled in an embrace, crying, smiling, and dancing in their group hug. Brady looked at Hope to see an expression on her face that matched what he felt.

Mystified and mesmerized.

He shrugged when Hope raised her eyebrows, then motioned toward the door. She nodded and made her way silently to the door, stepped out onto the sidewalk behind him, and closed the door behind her.

"What the heck was that?" Brady asked.

"I have no clue. Who are those women?"

"Oh damn, sorry, I forgot you haven't met them. The one that looks like a boho throwback is Sadie and—"

"Sadie Three Rivers, the writer?" she interrupted excitedly.

"Yes."

"And the other?"

"My dad's wife and Sadie's best friend, Grace Whitebull. Until she and Dad married, she was sheriff for the reservation in Wyoming. Now she helps Dad with the foundation."

"Okay, so why are they dancing and giggling like—" Hope glanced at the glass insert of the door. "—like they are old friends who haven't seen each other for a long time."

She then looked at Brady. "How is that possible?"

"I reckon you'll have to ask them." He nodded toward the shop.

Hope moved to open the door, then stopped and looked back at Brady. "Would you like something to drink? Want to sit on the roof and have a beer?"

That was the last thing he expected and an invitation he had no desire to decline. There was something about Hope Evans and the idea of getting to know her carried some appeal.

Brady's concerns about a growing attraction and possible complications were minimal. He had six weeks. She had a little over two if she attended the camp with Andy. Chances were when this camp ended, she'd return to Cotton Creek and forget he existed, and he'd go back to doing what he was trained to do.

Still, something whispered he might need more intel before he made that determination. That was a plan that appealed to him, so he smiled. "That sounds good."

Two minutes later, they were seated in lawn chairs on the flat-roofed building, looking out over the town, feet propped up on tables that appeared to have been constructed from pallet wood.

"Here's to surprises." She raised her beer toward him in a toast.

"Amen to that," he clinked his bottle against hers. "It seems to be a theme when it comes to Cotton Creek."

"Well, that's as clear as mud, Mr. Brady Blackstone."

Brady grinned at the flirtatious tease. It surprised him a little. She'd been friendly since they met but hadn't revealed much about herself.

"Well." He paused and took a drink. "The contest. Andy was a surprise, and I mean a big one. I reckon you already know that essay was beyond what a typical eight-year-old could have done."

She smiled and nodded. "Andy's something, that's for sure."

"Indeed he is. And a big surprise."

"But that's just one surprise. Doesn't it take more to make it a theme?"

"Good point," Brady was enjoying the exchange and pleased to keep it going. "And there's more, baby. You just have to be patient while I give it to you."

For a split second, he thought he'd read the situation wrong. Surprise registered clear on her face, and he waited for her to go frosty or find an excuse to end the moment.

Then her expression changed, and suddenly, Hope Evans wasn't just the pretty mom of a special kid. She was temptation. Deliberate temptation.

"Take your time. I appreciate someone paying attention to the details. We can go as slow as you want."

Holy hell. Brady reached up and scratched the back left side of his neck. Hope Evans sure as heck counted in his list of surprises.

"All righty then." He leaned back and tilted his hat to shade his eyes. "Surprise number two is you."

"Me?" Her laugh carried a ring of sincere surprise. "Well, I can honestly say no one has ever called me a surprise. I'm the least surprising person I know."

"Nope." Brady stretched out, slinking in the chair for more comfort. "You know that's not true. And next—" he reached up to lift the brim of his hat. "I know you were going to say I had to have more than three to make it a trend, so here's number three. Your mother, Sadie, and Grace."

"I'm with you on that, and since I have no insight at all on what, when, who, or how, I'm going to let that lie until one of them tells us."

"You can be that patient?" He admired people who knew how to truly be patient. He could do it if pressed, but he found no pleasure in the wait. In his life, patience was a survival tool, not a state of being. More often than not, it was learned, not innate.

Hope turned away, leaning back and closing her eyes against the bright sunlight. "On my fifth birthday, my mom gave me this." She reached up and touched the small metal heart that hung from a leather cord around her neck.

"When she gave it to me, it was so bright and shiny. When sunlight touched it, it glowed like a little flame, and I could swear I felt the heat from it.

"She said that if I always wore it, my heart and I would go through life changes together. And one day, when we were all grown up, I could look at it and tell what kind of woman I grew up to be.

"I didn't understand that." Hope sat perfectly still, with her eyes closed and continued the story, letting the precious memories wash over her.

"What if it was old and ugly?" I asked her.

She laughed and hugged me. "Silly goose, old isn't ugly.

"Can't we just change it now?" I asked.

"Nope," She kissed my cheek. "It takes time for things to grow old."

"I don't want to wait." I was a bit irritable, I admit, but she didn't let it upset her."

"I know, sweet girl." She smiled at me. "But you have to. And the way to make it easier to wait is to learn patience."

"What's that?"

"The ability to wait even when you don't want to."

"Like Rusty does?" I asked, referring to their old dog.

When they lived on the ranch, Rusty sat and waited on the porch every morning for her to come out and sit on the step with him. He'd sit there and wait on her until she showed up, no matter how long the wait was.

"Just like Rusty."

"And if I do, will the heart be magic?"

"Magic is like nature, sweetie. It takes time. We just appreciate the moments we have while we wait for the magic to grow."

"I don't know how to preciate, Mama," I admitted because I didn't want to disappoint her without her knowing that.

She just laughed and hugged me tighter. "You will one day. It just takes patience."

Hope opened her eyes and turned to look at him. For one split second, there was some kind of optical illusion from the sunlight and surroundings. It appeared as if light flared in her eyes, fast and not overtly obvious, but there.

Brady dismissed the thought. Light has remarkable properties, and everything changes when the light shifts. Nothing looks the same at night. Light plays tricks on the mind.

"And did you learn it?" he asked.

"I'm a work in progress." She gave him a little wink and turned her bottle up to her lips for a drink. "I want you to know I appreciate what you're doing for Andy. For all of us. I wish I could tell you why it means so much to him. Probably much more than it would to most."

"You mean because he wants to give his mom a dream come true?" Brady kept his eyes shadowed enough to keep him from having to squint. He could see well enough to recognize surprise when it registered on her face.

"Yeah, he told us. He wants to give you something he thinks you dream of."

"He's right." Hope swiped at her eyes. "I've always dreamed of lying on the ground with nothing but the sky above me. No buildings, towers, wind farms, solar farms, or anything. Just land and sky. A sky that makes you want to reach up and be pulled into it, to sail through the Milky Way and be part of the heavens."

Brady thought about her answer. He barely remembered his mother, but his dad was someone he'd walk through fire for, so he understood Andy better now. Hope was all Andy had, just like Brady and his father.

Andy, like Brady and his brothers, wanted their parents to have whatever they needed to be happy, and even more, he wanted to be the one who made it happen.

"He's an exceptional kid, Hope. And I understand how important it is to him."

She paused, and the smile that came on her face gave her a whole new look. It was love. Pure love. "That's my boy. Now I have another hero to be grateful for."

"Another? How many heroes do you have?"

Hope scrunched up her face slightly, and the tips of the fingers on her left hand started to move, like someone playing with some invisible substance between them.

While he watched the curious motion, she answered. "Well, I'm not entirely sure. There's you and your father and your brothers, but I don't know how many brothers you have. And you've mentioned your stepmother Grace, so count her in, along with Sadie Three Rivers and her daughter who is now your sister-in-law, and… oh wait, Grace's son and his wife and, and I don't know how many other people were part of the panel who decided to award this opportunity to Andy, but they're definitely on my hero list."

"I'd hardly call that a qualification," Brady protested. "None of us knew anything about him, not even the letter he wrote. The administrator of the contest, Leo, wouldn't let us see it until the judging was complete. We weren't taking any chances of being swayed by a sad or uplifting situation.

"The point is, Andy won this on his own, fair and square, and no one should be able to cash in on that in any manner. It's all his."

"Well, that settles it," she smiled. "I have two besides Andy."

"Well, that's a big cut. So, who made the cut?"

"My mother," she held up one index finger, paused, and looked directly into his eyes. "And you."

"Again, I didn't do—"

"But you did," she interrupted. "You gave your time and attention and listened to him. Not tolerated or endured, but listened and carried on an actual conversation with him. You treated him like he was somebody, and that's been something he's been looking for his whole life. So, yes, Mr. Brady Blackstone, you really are my hero. I hope you don't have a problem with that."

Brady was shocked and, for a moment, didn't know what to say, but he did know that the old saying about reading a book by its cover was true.

"I'd be hard-pressed to turn down such a compliment, so thank you, Hope. That means a lot."

Hope Evans was nothing like he'd expected and, to his great surprise, was somehow transforming into the kind of woman that made him wonder about things like his life after the military.

That was a first. Not the first to have the thought. But the first time, the thought had caused him discomfort. What if you only got so many chances? What if luck or fate or whatever you call it was like miracles?

What if there was just one per customer?

He was okay with that. The problem is how to identify the moment that became the miracle. What if you chose wrong?