years of safe existence hadn’t prepared her for someone like him, someone who made her question everything she’d ever known about herself and the very real need in the world around her.
Wasn’t that the point of her decision to become a missionary? To live out her faith among people? After all, what good did a formal education and countless Bible studies do if she didn’t put her knowledge to use in the real world?
And this man, the one pulling off a motorcycle helmet, was here to stop her from taking the next step in her Christian walk.
Fat chance.
Convicted all over again, she waited for Wolf to join her on the sidewalk that led to the front of the main church building.
They walked in silence.
Despite her best intentions, Hailey kept sending him covert glances from below her lashes. She was aware of the man with a sharp-edged clarity that was downright disturbing. “You won’t regret joining me this afternoon.”
He made a noncommittal sound deep in his throat.
Ho-kay, so he was going to play it that way?
“I thought you promised an open mind?” she said, failing to keep her annoyance out of her voice.
“It’s open.” He tapped his left temple. “Wide open.” He sounded sincere. But then he gave her a grin that could only be described as…wolfish. Oh, boy.
Thankfully, she caught sight of a familiar face heading their way. Relief spread through her. “Look, there’s J.T.” She lifted her hand in greeting.
“Who’s J.T.?” Wolf asked, his voice wary.
“Our mission’s pastor.”
“Right.”
Hailey wasn’t sure what she heard in Wolf’s voice, but he didn’t sound convinced.
His next words confirmed her suspicion. “He doesn’t look like any pastor I’ve met before.”
Hailey eyed J.T., trying to see him from a newcomer’s point of view. “That’s because he looks younger than he really is. Don’t be fooled, he’s in his thirties.”
“It’s not his age.” Wolf narrowed his eyes. “It’s something…else.”
There was such gravity in his voice that Hailey felt the need to reassure him. “J.T.’s a good guy. You’ll like him.” She played her ace. “Clay did. They were friends. Good friends.”
Before Wolf could respond J.T. pulled her into a tight hug. “Hellooooo, beautiful.”
Wolf had thought he’d seen everything. He’d survived fifteen brutal years with a mean, alcoholic father. He’d lived on his own for the next fifteen after that. He’d faced insurgents, enemy fire and an IED. But he’d never confronted anything—or anyone—like Hailey’s pastor.
Man of God or not, the guy was overly friendly with Clay’s sister. In fact, Pastor J.T. hugged Hailey a little too long, with far too much enthusiasm.
Inappropriate. That’s the word that came to mind as the two finally untangled from each other’s arms.
When J.T. kept his hands on Hailey’s shoulders, a white-hot ball of emotion roiled in Wolf’s stomach. He ignored the sensation and detached himself emotionally from the situation. He was a master at compartmentalizing. It was a gift.
Besides, what did it matter whether he approved of the relationship between Hailey and her pastor?
It was none of his business, emphasis on none.
“J.T.,” she said, “I have someone I’d like you to meet.” Hailey shifted out of the pastor’s reach—which was good—and turned those compelling green eyes onto Wolf. Not so good.
His breath tightened in his throat and that ball of emotion rolling around in his stomach tied into a tight knot.
So much for detachment.
“Wolf, this is J. T. Wagner, our mission’s pastor.”
Despite his instant dislike of the guy, Wolf shook J.T.’s hand. With his surfer-dude, spiky, sun-streaked hair, ratty cargo pants and rock-star T-shirt, J.T. looked like a grown man masquerading as a teenager.
Something wasn’t right.
Other than a diamond stud in his left earlobe, the pastor wore no jewelry. Not even a wedding ring.
Yeah, Wolf had checked.
After another moment of inspection, Wolf realized why the picture didn’t fit completely. Despite the civilian clothing, J.T. had military written all over him. It was in his stance and the way he moved.
A former soldier turned pastor. Talk about a walking, talking nightmare for a man who didn’t want to discuss the military or what had happened in Iraq or anything to do with the good Lord.
Wolf had to give the guy points, though. J.T. didn’t flinch under his scrutiny.
Hailey cleared her throat. “J.T., Wolf was a friend of Clay’s. They were together in Iraq.”
J.T. nodded at Wolf, and a moment of camaraderie passed between them. Wolf didn’t know what to do with that. He’d decided to dislike the man, on principle if nothing else. But he realized that wasn’t going to be as easy as he’d first thought.
“How long have you been home, soldier?”
“Since this morning.”
J.T. cocked his head. “Did they have a welcome-home parade at Cottrell Field?”
Wolf rolled his shoulders uncomfortably. “I chose not to attend.”
He’d told himself it was because he’d been focused on getting to Hailey and fulfilling his duty. But his reasons were more complicated than that.
Without Clay and the others marching by his side, Wolf didn’t deserve a welcome-home celebration.
Had he seen that bump in the road, had he paid more attention to that sick feeling in the pit of his stomach that day, all four of his fallen friends would be here today.
He—
Hailey touched his sleeve, her soft voice breaking through his thoughts. “You didn’t look for Clay’s tree?”
“No.” He hoped she’d leave it at that.
It wasn’t that he hadn’t tried to pay homage to his friend. But when he’d pulled alongside the long row of evergreens, one planted for each fallen soldier of the Third Infantry Division, Wolf had lost the stomach for it. Literally.
Disgusted with himself, for his self-indulgence as much as his weakness, he’d climbed back on his motorcycle and had headed straight to Savannah.
“You really are determined,” Hailey said, shaking her head in resignation.
Wolf
