A Delivered Heart Read online

  It was just an added bonus that Morris would be the one to teach her.

  "I'm surprised you were mucking stalls in that outfit," Eleanor said, bringing Allie out of her spiraling thoughts.

  Allie shrugged. "I didn't know quite what to bring out here," she said. "And my closet doesn't have a lot of animal friendly materials in it, I suppose."

  "Well, maybe Paige can take you shopping after church tomorrow," Eleanor said. Allie heard her set the knife down and turned.

  "Church?" Allie hadn't been to church in a very long time. Her grandmother had taken her to church throughout her childhood, fostering her faith in God. But being an adult herself, there were always so many excuses to not go. And with the passing of her grandmother, it seemed even harder to step back into the church.

  "We all go as a family every Sunday, whoever is in town. Of course," Eleanor walked up to the kitchen sink and looked at Allie, face serious. "You're invited, but you don't have to come with. It's always a bad idea to force somebody to go to church in my mind."

  Allie smiled at Eleanor. "I have to admit, it's been a long time since I've been to church. I'd love to go."

  Eleanor beamed. "Wonderful. We usually have breakfast here, then head off. Now, how are you doing on those potatoes?"

  They finished up the potatoes, Eleanor showing Allie just how to stack them inside the casserole dish. They covered them up and slid them inside the oven just as the back door swung open.

  "I swear, summer comes earlier and earlier each year," Paige said, swiping her hair from her forehead.

  "That is not what you said last year," Eleanor said with a smirk.

  "Last year was an exception," Paige said, making a beeline straight for the dinner roles she spotted on the kitchen table. "It rained and rained, right up until July second," she explained. "We thought we were going to have to cancel our Fourth plans."

  "Don't you dare touch those, young lady," Eleanor barked. Paige looked guilty for all of a second before she lowered her hand. "Dinner will be ready soon."

  "Sorry I didn't get a chance to make fresh desserts," Paige said, shifting course and grabbing a glass out of the drying rack. She stepped over to the sink to fill it with cold water.

  "We have plenty left over from last night, don't you worry," Eleanor said. "What you should worry about is getting Allie some decent clothing to wear around the farm."

  Allie smiled at Paige. "If it's not too much hassle."

  Paige grinned. "Not a hassle at all! I didn't know if you'd want to spend the money while you were only out here for a short visit, but if you'd like, let's do it. Tomorrow would probably be best. Shops will be open in the afternoon."

  "That's what your mom suggested," Allie said. "I'll, um, need something to help me learn how to ride a horse, too," she added, feeling a flush start up her neck. "Morris offered to teach me how to ride."

  "Did he now?" Paige drawled, a twinkle in her eye. She folded her arms in front of her, one hand holding the glass of water off to the side. "We'll get you all squared away. When are you planning on doing that?"

  Allie shrugged. "Not sure. He just offered. Told me to call him when I was free and able."

  "You'll be free Monday," Paige declared, then lifted her glass to drain the rest of her water.

  "Paige," Eleanor said, warning in her voice.

  "I, um." Allie cleared her suddenly dry throat. "I'm sure Morris has plenty of other things to do on a Monday than babysit me."

  "Oh, is that what they're calling it these days?" Paige asked, an eyebrow raised. Allie flushed further.

  "Paige, enough," Eleanor said. "Allie will figure it out when she's ready. Now, both of you out of my kitchen. Go wash up for dinner."

  Allie wondered what Eleanor meant by "when she's ready." Ready for riding the horses? Ready for Morris?

  At this rate, Allie was going to pass out from all the blushing.

  Paige started up the stairs first, taking them two at a time. Allie followed at a more sedate pace, grateful for the little bit of distance between her and Paige.

  She didn't know how much more teasing she could take.

  "So, we can probably head out to shop right after church," Paige said, already halfway down the hallway. "Can grab some lunch and do our shopping in Bonney Lake."

  "That sounds good," Allie said, wondering if this whole shopping spree with Paige wouldn't turn out to be a bad idea. Then she shook her head. Paige was nice. Helpful. Her heart was in the right place, even if she was a bit mischievous every now and then. And they were sisters. Allie needed to take this opportunity to get to know her sister more.

  Paige stopped outside of a door, which Allie assumed was hers. The Sunset Room was further up the hall. When Allie caught up to Paige, Paige's cheerful face faded into a more somber expression.

  "I hope I wasn't teasing too much back there," she said. "I'm used to brothers, I suppose. Whatever is happening between you and Morris isn't any of my business."

  Allie shook her head quickly, giving Paige a smile. "There's nothing happening between Morris and me. Don't worry about it."

  "I don't believe that, but okay," Paige said, giving that knowing grin again. Paige opened her bedroom door and stepped inside. "See you at dinner!"

  Back in her bedroom, Allie stared at the setting sun, wondering just what she had gotten herself into.

  "Nothing," she murmured to herself. "You're just here to meet your father. You'll be going back to New York soon enough."

  As though on cue, her cell phone gave a soft ping from its position on the nightstand. She had it set to give those reminders every five minutes due to her hectic work schedule. Since she had arrived yesterday, she didn't even bother to take her cell out of the bedroom with her.

  Walking over to the nightstand, Allie hoped it wasn't a client who hadn't known she was on vacation. She thought she had notified all of them that she would be on vacation, and her email gave an "out of office" response, asking them to forward all communication to the people covering for her. But still, the possibility that a client would bypass all that was a real one.

  Allie woke up the screen of her cell, entering the passcode. Seeing Gary's name in the notification window made her stomach swoop. She wanted to delete the message without reading it. Instead, she clicked on it and watched it pull up.

  Gary C. (2:14 P.M.): It's unlike you to ignore messages. Just let me know if you're OK.

  Allie winced. Even though she knew she was under no obligation to talk to her ex-husband, he had always been a master at getting her to respond to him. She felt guilty worrying him, even though he clearly hadn't cared enough to keep their marriage in tact.

  With that in mind, Allie typed out a quick, short sentence and hit send before she thought twice.

  Allie (5:23 P.M.): I'm fine.

  After the message cleared, Allie powered off her phone completely. She knew Gary wouldn't be satisfied with such an ambiguous answer, but that was all she was willing to give.

  And wasn't it about time she stood up for herself?

  Allie shook her head in disbelief. Maybe it was the clean, crisp air of Washington. Maybe it was seeing a whole new side of family she hadn't even known existed three days ago. Maybe it was Morris. But something about Washington was beginning to grow on her, beginning to give her a strength she hardly even recognized in herself.

  Allie grinned as she realized something else. She felt good.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Sunday morning dawned just as bright as the day before, with the rooster, whose name turned out to be Hank, heralding the sun's presence. Allie woke easily, appreciating the comfort and warmth of the bed once again.

  Last night's dinner had been more comfortable than the one before. Allie now knew the dynamics of the family and where she stood with each of them. She wished she could get a little friendlier with Rhett, but she wouldn't push it. Not right now.

  Max had praised her au gratin, despite Allie explaining Eleanor helped put it all together and baked it. />
  Allie slid out of bed, padding to the bathroom to get ready for breakfast. And church.

  Thinking of church brought back memories of her grandmother. It was their time together, though Allie's mother had always been invited. Julianne usually begged off, saying she had prior commitments. It wasn't until Allie was older that she realized her mother took advantage of her time away from Allie to do more adult things. But by then, Allie didn't care. She had come to cherish her time with her grandmother.

  They would start their day with tea and a light breakfast, then attend church. Allie always sat next to her grandmother, though she had been young enough to run off with the other children during the service. They would sing, pray, laugh and cry together. Then they would say hello and goodbye to all the people they knew, before heading to their favorite little café for lunch.

  It had been their weekly ritual right up until her grandmother passed away.

  It still ached, thinking about all those Sundays they spent together. And Allie was grateful for them. But the thought of going to a new church, with a new family, made Allie's chest tighten in fear of the unknown.

  "You made it to Washington, what's a little church service?" she muttered.

  The morning rushed by in a flurry of coffee, breakfast, and the car ride to church in what turned out to be Paige’s little white hatchback. The building was modest, an old gym building converted into a large worship hall and numerous classrooms. At least, Paige said it used to be a gym. Allie couldn't see it aside from the boxy shape of the building. The inside was painted neutral gray colors and had clean, dark carpet. Even the pews weren't pews, they were comfortably padded chairs that linked together. It even boasted of a café stuffed to the brim with pastries and books. Allie smiled at the sight, watching people catch up with each other before church.

  Everything about this church seemed so much different than the one she had gone to with her grandmother. They even had a rock band set up on the stage, not the traditional organs and pianos. Allie wondered what worship services were like to need all that equipment.

  "We usually all sit over here," Paige said, linking her arm through Allie's. Allie let herself be guided, too distracted by all the sights to think twice about where they sat.

  Paige stopped a few times, introducing Allie to people in the congregation. At first, Allie was nervous to be introduced as Paige's half-sister, thinking that the label would reflect poorly on Max and Eleanor, but the only person that asked was told, "Before Max met Eleanor." And that was that.

  When they arrived at their seats, Allie saw Max and Eleanor had already staked claim to the entire row of chairs with various articles of clothing, bags, and a couple of bulletins. Allie smiled at the sight. She couldn't help but feel gratitude overwhelm her at the thoughtful gesture. Though she knew there would be plenty of room for her to sit somewhere else if it came to that.

  Allie took a seat near the end of the row, letting Rhett and Paige sit next to their parents. Paige demanded to sit next to Allie, which Allie picked up was an anomaly, leaving Rhett to sit next to Eleanor. Allie would be lying if she said she wasn't a little relieved at the seating arrangements.

  Paige reached over Allie and placed an extra bulletin on the end of the row of chairs, then proceeded to ignore Allie's raised eyebrow in question.

  But the bulletin did its job. It deterred anybody else from sitting there, which Allie then assumed had been the point. Though that seemed a little less than friendly behavior at church.

  Allie was introduced to the people that sat around them. From the corner of her eye, Allie saw Cameron take a seat next to Max along with a pretty blonde girl, who Allie would bet was Cameron's sister. Paige turned to push Allie out of the row, saying she wanted to introduce them, but was interrupted mid-motion by the sound of an electric piano and guitar starting to play. They settled on a couple quick waves.

  "Good morning!" The piano player called into his microphone. He was young, perhaps mid-thirties, with his dark, nearly black hair trimmed and styled neatly. He wore glasses which glinted in the stage lights.

  "Good morning!" Everybody else called, including Paige. Allie had never heard such enthusiasm before.

  And with that, the worship team erupted into sound and motion. There was simply no other word for it. They rocked and rolled across the stage, taking everybody in the congregation with them. It was unlike anything Allie had ever seen before as a child. She didn't even know churches were allowed to have this much fun during worship.

  And even as they rocked, they still slowed down, still prayed, still offered everything they had up. Allie felt her heart pound in response, a yearning buried deep down inside her threatened to burst out. When the worship team began to sing an old hymn, one of her grandmother's favorites, Allie suddenly found herself too choked up to sing along. She figured God would understand.

  Toward the end of worship, Allie spotted from the corner of her eye a hand reach down and grab the bulletin from the seat next to her. Startled, Allie looked over at whoever grabbed the bulletin.

  And came face to face with Morris.

  He gave a cheeky grin, leaning in close to Allie's ear.

  "Sorry I’m late, princess. I would have been here sooner, but we had a little problem on the ranch," he said.

  Allie simply stared at him, her heart now pounding for a completely different reason. He took his place next to her, sending a quick wave past her to the rest of the Greene family and Cameron.

  For whatever reason, it never occurred to her that Morris would be attending church with them. She had assumed, like everybody else she had ever known, that he would be too busy with his life to think about setting time aside for church.

  When Morris sent her a questioning glance, Allie realized she was staring and quickly turned back to face the worship team.

  She could just hear Morris' voice, a solid baritone, next to her ear. She could almost imagine the heat from his body drifting over to her, warming her. She stiffened. She needed to get a hold of herself. The alternative would be to ask Paige to switch seats with her, but even she wouldn't be that rude.

  Worship ended and the sermon began. As they sat, Allie realized that the chairs were much closer together than she had realized. Either that or Morris’ shoulders were broader than she realized. There were barely a few inches between the two of them, enough for anybody to shift uncomfortably. Their upper arms rubbed against each other, and Morris' elbow knocked hers more than a couple of times. Finally, Morris solved the problem by lifting his arm and draping it across the back of her chair.

  Like that wouldn't raise any suspicions.

  Face warming, Allie continued to stare straight ahead at the pastor giving the sermon. She had no idea what he was talking about, distracted as she was by Morris, but she tried her best to focus.

  Soon, though, the sermon engulfed her with a story of forgiveness. She knew she needed to listen, with the recent argument she had had with her mother. Allie wondered what Max might be feeling, with Allie's presence in the here and now. Had he already forgiven Julianne? Would he? Allie knew it was foolish to think they would ever even talk to each other again. And Max was completely happy with his wife Eleanor. Allie wouldn't have wanted anything else for him. Still, what if Allie happened to get married again? Or what if Allie had a child? She already knew she would want Max and her mother involved.

  So lost in her thoughts, it took Morris gentle brush of the shoulder to clue her in that they were standing for one more song, the sermon over. Allie stood silently, hardly having the breath to sing, let alone pray. Instead, she took a moment to send her thoughts to the Lord, knowing he would listen. And it steadied her.

  "I'd take you to get a coffee at the café, but we have a lunch date," Paige said with a smile, looking ten times more relaxed and joyful about the world.

  "Lunch date?" Morris asked.

  "Yup. Allie let us know you'd offered to give her some horseback riding lessons, so we're going shopping for the occasion
." Allie wanted to disappear. It was as though everybody was conspiring against her. "Glad you could make it," Paige added with a wink.

  Morris nodded. "Just a minor thing at the ranch this morning. Already dealt with. Sorry for showing up late."

  Then Rhett joined the conversation, pushing Paige and Allie out of the way.

  "Well, let's get going then, shall we?" Paige asked. Allie nodded. She needed some fresh air.

  Paige and Allie waved their farewells to the rest of the family, Allie hardly making eye contact with Morris, before ducking through the throngs of people clogging the aisles.

  Paige sent Allie a wide grin as they shut themselves into Paige's car.