A Very Special Delivery

does?”
    He laughed, surprised at the simple logic. “How did you get so smart?”
    She patted his arm. “Life’s a good teacher. I’ve learned a few things through my own blunders.”
    “Not you,” he said, gently teasing.
    She swatted his arm. “Get going, you big lug. People want their stuff delivered on time.”
    He pulled her to him for a quick kiss on the cheek. “Thanks, Miss Patsy.”
    Face flushed with pleasure, she flapped her hands. “Go on now. And bring that baby by sometime soon.”
    Ethan executed a smart salute. “Yes, ma’am.”
    As he jogged to his truck, Miss Patsy’s cleansing words circled inside his head and took root. God never looks back. And he shouldn’t either. He was doing his best to walk in God’s will, and he had to believe Molly was a part of that.
    Time would tell if Molly could overcome her fears, and learn to trust.
    And if there was one thing Ethan had, it was time.

Chapter Fourteen
    M olly spotted Ethan and Laney the moment she arrived at the church picnic. Her traitorous heart leaped to see how handsome Ethan looked in a plaid shirt hanging open over a white T-shirt and a pair of ordinary jeans. His wide white smile flashed at something Pastor Cliff said when he placed Laney in the outstretched arms of the pastor’s wife.
    Molly’s arms ached to be the ones holding Laney. And she wanted to talk to Ethan so badly her throat hurt.
    Not for the first time, she questioned the wisdom of attending this annual event. For a week after the break-up with Ethan she’d confined herself to home and work. Then Aunt Patsy had gotten hold of her. This time she hadn’t been gentle. Worse still, Aunt Patsy had cried, and Molly couldn’t stand to see her beloved aunt upset. Not if she could do something to prevent it. So she’d gone back to church again.
    Chloe hadn’t been happy, but Molly had kept
her distance and soldiered on. If she’d learned anything, it was that she needed her church family and she needed God. Ethan said she’d stopped trusting God, but he was wrong. She trusted God. It was herself she didn’t trust.
    Strangely, glimpsing Ethan across the churchyard or in the foyer had proven harder than dealing with Chloe’s silent stares. Sometimes he said hello, his blue eyes full of hurt. Those days she’d go home and cry.
    She’d known he would be here today and thought she was prepared to see him. Now she wasn’t so sure she could get through an afternoon with Ethan so close—and yet so far away. Keeping her commitment to let him go was the hardest thing she’d done in a long time. And she had done some difficult things.
    The day after Easter he’d sent flowers. Yellow tulips. She’d cried that day, too. His phone calls, every day for a while, had dwindled away to none at all now. Perhaps he’d given up on her. Maybe he’d even found someone else.
    Molly ran nervous palms down the side of her jeans and considered getting back into the Jeep.
    “Don’t even think about it.”
    Molly swiveled around to find Lindsey Slater coming across the dirt road, her pregnancy noticeable beneath a big T-shirt advertising her Christmas-tree farm.
    “Come on. We need some help getting all the food organized. Church folks do love to eat.”
    A horde of people surrounded the concrete tables beneath a huge pavilion complete with outdoor
grill. Pastor Cliff manned the grill, his booming laugh as pleasant as the scent of burgers. Ice chests filled with pop and water would be put to good use throughout the afternoon.
    Two men were setting up a volleyball net while some of the older folks pitched horseshoes and the kids chased each other in circles, yelling at the top of their lungs.
    The lake, about a hundred yards away, was still too cold for swimming, but the late-spring day was warm and sunny enough for a potluck picnic.
    “I brought cake,” she said, reaching into the back seat to withdraw a rectangular pan.
    “What kind?”
    “Turtle cake.”
    Lindsey’s tawny eyes went dreamy. “With caramel and nuts?”
    “That’s the one.”
    “Now I know you’re staying even if I have to tie you up.”
    Molly managed a smile, some of her nerves settling.
    Falling in step beside Lindsey, she walked up the grassy knoll to the pavilion.
    Aunt Patsy bustled around near the food table, poking spoons into casseroles and salads. When she saw Molly, her face lit up.
    “There’s my girl.” She rushed forward, wrapped Molly in a motherly hug and whispered, “Thank you,