Lang, this is my cousin, Brendan Flanagan. Come to scrounge some leftovers, no doubt.”
Brendan’s grin admitted the truth of that barb. “Only partly. I also wanted to meet Ms. Lang.”
“Nolie, please.” She extended her hand. “Are you another of the Flanagan firefighters?”
Brendan shook his head, probably used to explaining his story.
“I’m the one holdout—the only Flanagan who didn’t go into the family business. I’m the minister at Grace Church.”
Gabe couldn’t miss Nolie’s reaction to that. She snatched her hand back as if she’d touched hot metal, and her skin went pale under her tan.
Now what, exactly, was going on with the woman?
“Brendan keeps us in line,” Gabe said with deliberate casualness, watching her. “If all the Flanagans aren’t sitting in a row on Sunday morning, he wants to know why.”
“And I’m also the fire department chaplain, so they can’t get away from me at work, either,” Brendan added. “Which I guess means I didn’t completely reject the family business.”
He could tell by the way Brendan studied Nolie’s face that he’d noted her intense reaction, too.
“I see.” She gave a meaningless smile, and he sensed that only strong control kept her from bolting out the door. She fumbled in her pocket and pulled out a card. “Here’s my address,” she said, handing it to Gabe. “I’d like to meet at the farm tomorrow, if that’s possible for you.”
His jaw clenched. “I don’t think I can make it.”
Their gazes clashed, and he saw a determination in hers that matched his own. “I think you’d better find a way.”
The implication was clear. He’d show up, or she’d sic the chief on him.
“Fine.” He ground out the word. “What time?”
“About one o’clock would be good for me.”
She waited long enough for his curt nod, and then turned toward the door. “Please thank your parents for me. I really have to leave.”
She didn’t wait for a response, just bolted toward the exit with barely concealed relief.
Gabe let the door close behind her before he looked at his cousin, eyebrows lifting.
“Okay, let me in on the secret. Exactly what did you do to the woman to send her running?”
Brendan shrugged, his eyes troubled. “I don’t know. She seems to have a problem with ministers, doesn’t she?”
“Obviously. You don’t usually send strange women screaming for the exit.”
That didn’t bring the smile he expected from Brendan. “I’d like to talk with her further. Maybe when you’re working with her, you can mention that I’d enjoy getting to know her better.”
“I don’t intend to be working with her, remember?”
“So I’ve heard.” Brendan’s gaze probed beneath the surface. “You want to talk about that?”
No. He didn’t. He didn’t want to talk about any of it. “Thanks anyway, Brendan. Save the pastoral advice for somebody who needs it. I’m fine.”
Fine. He certainly didn’t want to talk to his cousin about the fact that he seemed to be going through the motions spiritually these days. Or that God had been silent just when he needed Him most.
And he also didn’t intend to discuss his vulnerabilities with Nolie Lang. Determination tensed every muscle. This little encounter hadn’t worked out as well as he’d hoped. Even the Flanagan crew hadn’t been able to convince her he didn’t need her services.
But the next day they’d be alone together, without his loving, interfering family around. They’d have it out.
He wasn’t going to be Nolie’s test case. Tomorrow he’d make sure she accepted that fact.
Gabe hadn’t shown up. One o’clock had come and gone, and he hadn’t even called. Nolie couldn’t say she was surprised.
She tried to concentrate on getting Danny Trent and his wheelchair through the obstacle course she’d set up in the renovated garage that was now her training center. She’d left the big doors open, and May sunshine warmed the concrete floor.
One might expect that the eight-year-old, with his multiple birth defects and his feuding parents, would be tough to work with, but he wasn’t. Danny’s indomitable spirit shone through no matter what struggle he faced.
At the moment he was adjusting to training with Lady, the German shepherd she’d chosen for him. Both took to their challenges eagerly, and her heart warmed with the joy of a successful pairing.
“Great job, Danny.”
Danny rewarded her with the smile that seemed too big for his small face. “Thanks.”
“Now tell Lady what a good girl she is and give her a treat.”
She watched as he struggled to make his hand cooperate in giving Lady the doggie nugget. It was hard not to jump in and help when he had difficulty, but Danny could do this himself. Every little triumph gave him energy for the next challenge.
The boy beamed when he succeeded. Lady licked his cheek, making him giggle.
“Can we do it again, Nolie? Please?”
“Sure, give it another try.”
He’d do it faster this time, with more confidence. Gabe ought to see this. Maybe Danny’s efforts would help him to understand what her program was all about.
She couldn’t say she’d done a very good job of dealing with the man. She’d like to blame it on being knocked off balance by the unexpected condition Henley had put on her grant, but that wasn’t all that had gone wrong.
She’d found Flanagan himself intimidating, although she’d certainly never let him know it. His fierce anger at what had happened to him was almost palpable. He couldn’t admit that. He was in complete denial about the entire situation.
As for that visit to his house—well, she’d been grateful to escape back to the solitude of her own little world. The Flanagan brood was a little overwhelming.
Unfortunately, escape was the right word. She’d basically run like a deer after that unexpected encounter with Gabe’s cousin. The minister.
The very word left a sour taste in her mouth. That was what Brother Joshua had called himself, although certainly no divinity school had ever claimed him. And she doubted that God had given any sort of blessing to the man.
None of that had mattered to the great-aunt who’d reluctantly taken her in after everyone else had abandoned her. To put it in the most charitable light, Aunt Mariah hadn’t known what to do with a thrown-away eight-year-old.
