Learning to Lean by Colvin Mildred

Author:Colvin, Mildred [Colvin, Mildred]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 2011-03-31T04:00:00+00:00

~*~*~*~

~Eleven~

Matt pedaled away from Heather’s without looking back. He hated the hurt in her eyes. A short laugh tore from his throat. Who was he kidding? He didn’t want a mere friendship with her any more than she did. Somehow he had fallen in love with Heather Conway. Not just Heather, either. He cared way too much for all three of her kids. Even Brad.

“Ricky, turn left here. We’ll go by the church and see if the kids are back.” Matt called to his son who kept a couple of lengths ahead of him.

When Ricky made the turn, Matt’s mind went back to his problem. He could ask Heather to marry him, but what if something happened to him? She’d already lost one husband. She was probably as gun-shy as he was.

“Hey, Dad, they’re back.” Ricky raced ahead and slid to a stop in the churchyard. He jumped from his bike and ran to the teens gathered in the parking lot.

Matt took Kristi from the child carrier before letting his bike fall beside Ricky’s. Claude Barnes, the youth pastor, waved and stepped away from the group as Matt headed toward the kids.

“Hi, got your own bike ride going, huh?”

The men shook hands. “Yeah, Ricky figured if Becka got to do something fun, he should too, so we took a picnic to the park.”

“Sounds fair to me. Maybe when he’s older, he’d like to be a puppeteer like his sister.” Claude glanced back toward the kids. “She’s a real asset to the puppeteers and to the church. Brad’s coming right along, too. He’s a good kid.”

Matt wondered how often the adults in Brad’s life saw potential buried under the sullen, touch-me-not attitude he often portrayed. He glanced at the kids and saw Brad laugh with the others over a shared memory. Maybe he hadn’t shown his sullen side today. Becka looked up and came running.

“Daddy, we had so much fun. Where’s Heather?” She lifted her sister from his arms. “Hey, did you miss me?”

Brad joined them. “I’m riding my bike home.”

“We can ride a ways with you.” Matt indicated his and Ricky’s bikes.

“Why don’t I give you this first?” Claude handed Matt a flyer. “We’ve got a campout coming up, hopefully before the weather gets too cold. This will tell you about it. If you have questions, my number’s at the bottom. For this outing, we could use some more chaperones, so I’d appreciate if you’d give it some thought and let me know tomorrow at church. Should be fun.”

Matt stuffed the flyer in his pocket and nodded. “All right, I’ll see what I can do. Camping sounds like fun, but I’d have to bring the two little ones along.”

“Not a problem.” The youth pastor grinned. “My wife and our two preschoolers will be there.”

Claude handed Brad a flyer for his mom and turned away to catch other parents. Matt and the kids rode with Brad until they reached their turn.

He waved as he took off toward home and they turned the other direction with Ricky taking the lead.

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