least this time, Shanna hadn’t set the woods on fire. Nor had she seen their elusive neighbor either. He was keeping his distance while his dog was enjoying new friends.
Brady kept his eyes on the dog. “Yep. He’s Rick’s dog but he gets in trouble in town and they don’t like to keep him cooped up in the house so he has to stay out here.”
With Mr. Personality.
Shanna grinned down at Shiloh. “I’d think a big old dog would love being out here in the country better anyway.”
“I sure like it,” Brady said, rubbing Shiloh’s throat.
“Do you?” Shanna’s heart surged with hope. “Are you enjoying things so far?”
He looked at the other kids, his gaze staying on Pamela for a while. “Yeah, I guess. I don’t get why I have to hang with all these losers, though.”
“Hey, I brought you to help out, remember? You’re the oldest one here and I need someone to keep an eye on the younger ones.”
“But they’re not old enough to be in the youth group at church.”
“No, but they’ll soon be eligible,” she explained. “I want them to be ready to handle that when the time comes.”
“Oh, I get it. You’re exposing them to a few of us—the few considered the black sheep, first?”
“No, it’s not like that,” Shanna said, wishing she could find the right words. “I just think it’s a good idea for kids of all ages to learn to get along. Unfortunately, each of you here has had issues of some sort at school and with your parents. We have a very diverse group at church so it’s important that everyone respects each other at an early age.”
“My mom says some of these kids don’t belong at our church,” he retorted. “She thinks they’re beneath us.”
Shanna couldn’t say what popped into her mind at that comment. But it sure went to show how a parent could influence a child. Did his mother see that her judgments and criticisms rubbed off on her son?
Shanna had seen this firsthand. Her own parents had never attended church and scoffed at Christianity. Thank goodness her aunt had started taking her to church when Shanna was in kindergarten. And thank goodness her Aunt Claire was still her mentor and closest ally in Savannah.
Turning back to Brady, she said, “No one is beneath God’s love, Brady. We all fall short but He loves us anyway.”
Brady looked serious then nodded. “I guess you’re right. I’ve done some bad stuff but Cari forgave me and invited me to church with her and Rick. She treats me better than my mom and sister, that’s for sure.”
“Cari is a special person,” Shanna replied. “And she loves you a lot.”
“But she and my mom still don’t get along.”
“Well, sometimes being a Christian means you have to let go and just get on with life, even if you can’t be best friends with certain people. I’m sure for your sake they’re both trying to reconcile.”
“At least they don’t get into fights anymore like they did when we were growing up.”
“That’s good and you’re the reason for that truce, I think. They both want what’s best for you.”
“Yeah, whatever.” He got up, bored again. “What’s next on our big adventure?”
“Well, speaking of Cari, she and Mrs. Adams are coming out tonight to make spaghetti and then we’re going to sing songs around the campfire again. We had fun last night doing that.”
“Wow, what a party.”
Looked like surly Brady had stepped back in. “I think you’ll have a good time. Miss Gayle loves working with the youth.”
Brady rolled his eyes. “I guess I can handle it, since I’m kinda stuck out here.”
He wandered off to sit with Pamela on a nearby bench, Shiloh following him. The other kids all loved the big dog, too. Checking to make sure everyone was content, Shanna got up to finish clearing their napkins and paper plates. The week had only just started and she was already exhausted. But she had high hopes for this week in the woods. They’d had a good lunch. The kids were comfortable with her and each other now. Some of the teens asked questions that showed they’d listened to her earlier devotional. She wanted these children to know God’s unconditional love and she hoped she could show them that she cared about them, too.
“Okay, people. Let’s get this cleared up and we’ll go for our next hike. There’s a pretty spot halfway up the mountain where you can see the whole town of Knotwood. Then we’ll come back and go inside to watch one of the movies we rented. After that, dinner and singing.”
Shiloh came running toward her but when the big dog almost knocked her down and kept going past her, Shanna turned to see what had caught his attention.
Simon stood at the open gate between their fences, his expression not quite a frown, but not anywhere near a smile, either. But he looked good in his old jeans and even older button-up shirt. He always looked good, even when he seemed so mad.
And just because she loved a challenge, Shanna tossed the rest of her trash in the nearby can and walked over to aggravate him a little bit.
“Come to fetch your dog?”
Simon saw the hint of dare in her pretty eyes. “He’s not my dog.”
“Is that why you let him roam around with us every afternoon?”
Not exactly sure why he’d let Shiloh stay out so long, he shifted his feet and glanced over at where the kids were playing ball.
“I forgot he was out,” he said, thinking it was the truth. He often let the dog roam around the gated yard but he had forgotten that he’d left the gate between the two properties open when he’d come over to put out the fire the other day. Or maybe he’d left it open on purpose so he’d have an excuse to come over.
She looked from him to his boot shop. “I guess it would be easy to get so caught up in your work you’d forget everything. Even all of us right next door.”
He hadn’t forgotten her, oh, no. He’d heard her laughing and calling out to the kids. He’d even heard her reading from the Bible and giving a lesson to go along with the Scriptures. But he wouldn’t tell her that. “I sure tried.”
“Were we too loud and noisy?”
“No. I just turned my music up.”
“Oh, right. I thought I heard a Toby Keith song playing earlier.”
He shot her his own daring look. “Got something against country music?”
“Not at all. I can dance the two-step with the best of them.”
That surprised him. “Really now?”
“Really. My uncle Doug grew up in East Texas and I still visit relatives there all the time.”
He
