Creighton's Hideaway Page 10

  She appreciated how much Creighton loved Rita. That observation solidified what a decent man Creighton was. His respect for women came out in the way he opened doors for her and treated her as an equal.

  She stared through the window. Buoyant birds sang with joy.

  What was Creighton doing at the moment?

  If she wanted to get close to him, she had to find out more about his God. She had a feeling Creighton’s God was as important to him as breathing.

  Drying her face, she caught a strange scent. An odd smell, like those strong perfume samples stuck in magazines. She washed her hands again and reached for the towel. And caught the smell again. The towel smelled different, not at all like the mild-scented laundry detergent or dish soap she used. She tossed it in by the washer and went through the cleansing ritual again.

  Someone has been in my home. The thought shattered her peace. With shaking fingers, she finally dialed 9-1-1.

  While she waited for an officer, Shana poured a mug of coffee. Her hand shook when she raised the coffee to her mouth. She set it down again and the hot drink cooled while she leaned against the sink, focused again on the carefree songbirds.

  Officer Young introduced himself at her door. He looks old enough to drive, not old enough to take a report. She methodically took him through the apartment, showing and explaining everything she noticed the night before and that morning.

  The officer scribbled on a notepad and said in parting, “I’ll turn this in, Ms. Arnold. But since you found nothing missing, I’m afraid to say we’ll just put the information on file.” On the way to his cruiser, he stopped and turned. “Have you checked the garage?”

  “I drove my car last night, but didn’t look around.”

  “Why don’t you open her up and you can take a look. I’ll wait.”

  She retrieved her key, then without looking, hit the overhead door button.

  “Ms. Arnold, where’s your vehicle now?”

  Her car was gone.

  ****

  After the policeman left, Shana called her father with the news of the stolen car.

  “I’ll call the insurance company. I’ll also stop at the hardware store and get some new doorknobs, too. You need to change all the locks.” He paused, as if aware of her unease. “I’ll take care of it, Shana. You get that thesis done. Mom and I will see you later. Love you, bye.”

  Shana longed for the quiet of the cabin’s front porch, the leaves fluttering in the breeze and the birds twittering in the trees. She decided to check in at work and picked up the phone. A coworker caught her up on all the latest news. When she hung up, uneasiness stirred concerning the details of visiting board members and possible audits.

  What on earth had happened while she was gone? Her city world had spun completely out of control. Shana had to take a few deep breaths and absorb the shocks. She longed to be leaning against the wooden railing at the cabin. She picked up the phone again.

  “Mornin’, Sunshine.” Creighton’s deep voice answered before the first ring finished its tone.

  She gave a light laugh. “Is that in the sky or is that supposed to be me?”

  “You. Caller ID.” He paused. “Did you sleep OK?”

  “I should ask you that. I thought it was noisy and I woke up a lot.”

  His low chuckle warmed her heart and lessened her troubles.

  “I know what you mean.” His voice turned to teasing, “Are you turning into a country girl?”

  “You never can tell. How’s Rita?”

  “She’s doing fine, far as I can tell. That lap tray really does the trick. Ray took her tea and toast and gave her instructions to stay put until he gets home. I just served her up an omelet.”

  “Great. Does she have a phone in their room?”

  “Yep. I’ll give her a holler.”

  He did just that. When Rita answered with a soft hello, Shana heard the click from Creighton’s extension.

  “Sounds like you’re doing what the doctor ordered, girlfriend.”

  “More like what the husband ordered,” Rita replied with a laugh.

  Shana valued the lilt of laughter in her friend’s voice. And even though she was tempted, Shana stifled the urge to give an account of her encounter with the police. She wouldn’t mention car theft. “I called in to work. Kurt said there’s talk of an audit, and the powers-that-be have been in attendance.”

  “Yeah. They’ve been around all week. One of the reasons I alerted you.”

  “Strange.” Shana went down the list with Rita and they agreed that all was in order on their end of the job. “Too bad Dad doesn’t know any of the directors,” Shana concluded, “he could put out some feelers. Then again, this isn’t the university.”

  “Speaking of your dad, how is he? And your mom?”

  “Super. We had a nice visit last night. They don’t want me to go back to the isolation of the ranch. If they had their way they’d move me lock, stock, and barrel back to Doane Street and keep me a little girl.”

  And safe.

  “Come on, now. They just love ya.” Rita’s voice left and came back. “Wait a second, Creigh wants to say something.”

  He came back on the line. “I know eight is a bit too early to leave in the morning, how about ten?”

  “I’ll be more than ready.”

  Back to where I have a say in what’s going on around me. Dad can take care of the house.

  11

  When Creighton knocked on her door, the day brightened.

  She gave him what she hoped was a dazzling smile and put a lilt in her voice. “I hope you don’t mind if I take back more than I brought down?” She grabbed the wide strap on a large piece of soft navy luggage.

  “I think I can handle it.” He slid the strap from her hand.

  “Thanks.” She swung a canvas tote behind her back as she locked the door and pulled her sunglasses over her eyes. “Ready if you are.”

  “I’m always ready to leave the city,” he responded.

  Before they left her driveway, Shana laid her hand on his forearm. “Creighton, I’ve been putting this off. I need to stop at the bank.”

  He looked at her, raising his brows.

  “I know you want to get back, but it’s on the way out of town.”

  “Now that Rita and the baby are OK, I’m all yours.”

  Oh, how I wish…wait until I tell you about my house and car.

  ****

  “I thought we put a hold on the account. When I spoke to the bank manager last week, only $2,400 had been taken out.”

  “I’m sorry, ma’am, there’s nothing in the account.”

  Shana’s hands trembled as she pulled her checkbook from its blue leather case. This can’t be happening! “Look, my last statement balance was over $4,900. And I’ve written only a couple small checks. There must be some mistake. Could you check again?”

  The teller apologized and stepped off his perch behind the high counter.

  The manager left her office, and the security guard approached from behind Shana.

  Creighton’s hand at the small of her back felt like a lifeline, her only connection to reality.

  “Ms. Arnold, I’m Nancy Tompkins. Sorry to meet under these circumstances.” The branch manager extended her hand. She indicated for Shana to precede her into the office.

  Creighton stepped in behind.

  I don’t understand. I was ready to buy my first house. “There has to be a mistake.” Shana dissolved onto the vinyl-covered guest chair while the guard set a cup of water in front of her.

  “Ms. Arnold, when you called earlier in the week we put a freeze on the account, as you asked. However, before I could place a hold on it, someone withdrew the remaining funds. We are investigating. But it will take time to find out what happened. “

  Shana’s hand trembled as she reached for a sip of water.

  “I’m sure we’ll get to the bottom of this in no time,” the manager’s voice sounded muffled against the drumming in Shana’s ears.
Nancy Tompkins clicked fingernails over the keyboard. “You not only have your checking account with us, but I see you have your car loan with us, too.”

  “Yes.” Shana’s voice sounded faint, even to her. “But my car appears to be missing, too.”

  Creighton planted his feet flat on the floor, at military attention.

  “Did you report it?” Ms. Tompkins asked, revealing concern.

  “Yes. The policeman came to the house this morning.” Shana didn’t know if she should disclose that her house had been broken into, too.

  Creighton spoke for the first time. “Do you call the police now, or does Ms. Arnold?”

  A half hour later, Investigator Brian Shelbourne took a report from both Shana and Nancy. His phrasing and questions all rolled together. “Happens all the time…fraud alert on your credit report…privacy rights involved.”

  When they parted company and headed for Creighton’s pickup, Shana leaned her forehead against his upper arm. “Take me away. I’m about to get good and mad.”

  ****

  Creighton scanned the open landscape as they hummed west on the interstate. Taking in the gifts of creation, Creighton searched for words of comfort. He guarded his time alone, but he was thankful that he hadn’t refused Rita when she asked him to help her best friend. What to do? There was only one answer as far as he was concerned. “Shana, I’ve been wondering.”

  “Hmmm?” She sounded as though her thoughts were far away. “What’s that?”

  “Now that you’ve had a few days in God’s country, exposed to the beauty of His creation, have you changed how you feel about the Lord? Seems to me that you need Him.”

  “I don’t think so.”

  He had no idea how he’d react in her shoes, except pray.

  “I’m sitting here, pretty much penniless, and you expect me to respond with warm and fuzzy words?” She turned back to the window. “I guess He’s there for some people. If they want to believe.”

  “I’m convinced from studying the Old Testament that Adam and Eve were created just as written, by God’s spoken word. The movement of His hands, and His breath.” How could he get through to her? “No unrecorded event happened. No life form changed into something else. No ape first, no early form of people, or whatever.” He went on talking. “Just man and woman. Adam and Eve looked like you and me.” You and me. What am I thinking? A “you and me,” could only happen if Shana believed.

  “Yet, isn’t there more to religion than God’s creation of the world?”

  “Sure. And to clear the record. Christianity is more than religion.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “Christianity is Christ-in-you-i-ty. Which means, Jesus lives within a person. It means sin is real. And sin separates us from God.”

  “But what if we don’t believe in sin? I mean, I’ve never taken a life. Certainly never ruined someone else’s life by stealing every dime they own. I’m a good employee. And a loving daughter.” She jerked sideways to face him, fighting the safety restraint. “I’ve always dreamed of a house to call my own. I may have lost it before I had it.”

  “How about looking at it differently? You can’t lose what you never had.”

  At her blanched look, he knew he’d blown it big time. Why not go deeper?

  She stared out the windshield.

  “When God created man, and woman, He gave us a choice. And, when Adam and Eve chose to sin in the Garden, that disobedience has come through all generations of history. We’re all born sinners.” Wow, did I mess up.

  He sounded like a preacher even to himself. And his timing couldn’t have been worse. Sorry, Lord. Show me how to make You real to her and to make up for my clumsiness.

  Shana was staring out the side window, shoulders slumped.

  “I guess what I’m saying is that those of us who have committed our lives to Christ believe that any sin can be forgiven. We’re also conscientious that what can be sinful for us is not a sin for others. For instance, you can probably drink a glass of wine and it’s no big deal. If I take a first drink, I’m consumed by the desire to take another. And that addiction is a sin because it takes my eyes off Jesus.”

  “Creighton, I’m confused about a lot of things right now. I’m not so obtuse as to fail to see that you and Valerie are different than other people I know. Rita and Ray, too. But I’m not sure that I’m ready to see all of this your way. So”—she hesitated—“can you just back off a little?”

  “I can do that. But I need you to try to understand a couple things. First, being a Christian doesn’t mean we have less trouble in life. In fact, we often have more. But faith can give us hope and assurance and power and peace.” He gave a sheepish shrug. “I know that I sound a little preachy. But the second thing is, and I’ll be blunt. I’m attracted to you, in much more than a friendship sort of way. And that conviction I mentioned? For me to consider involvement in any kind of relationship, I can only move closer to a woman who believes the same way I do.”

  They were near the York exchange already.

  Creighton flicked on his turn signal and slowed for the upcoming stop. He wished he could erase the thick tension in the air between them. “Are you hungry now, or do you want to wait?”

  “Either way. I’m easy.”

  Well, she’s not that easy because she doesn’t look at life the way I do. And I can’t let thoughts of her interfere with God’s work. “We’ll see if we can hit a family restaurant down the line.”

  “I don’t mean to pry, but I’m curious—”

  “About what?”

  “Maybe due to my lack of a car right now. Creighton, how can you have this nice new truck? Dually, is it called? I mean, it doesn’t seem that Roger Mills has enough cattle to enable you to pay for a new vehicle. And those cabins, you didn’t purchase them with your good looks, did you?”

  A surprised laugh burst out. Creighton had expected a question about Jesus, or faith. Maybe identity theft.

  She did know how to change the subject.

  “You know, something I’m really beginning to like about you is that you come up with things out of the blue. Maybe I should start to worry when you’re quiet. That means your wheels are turning.” He grazed her face with his thumb and returned his hand to the steering wheel. “No, this is not a dually, which has an extra set of tires. It’s called a club cab. And it’s not new.”

  She nodded.

  “As for the other side of your curiosity. I sell real estate from time to time. It seems I have a knack for the right buyers and the right sellers to get together.”

  Just the way God has the knack for the right time for men and women to get together, when the people involved see only the impossible. Maybe this wasn’t an impossible situation…from God’s point of view.

  ****

  Creighton has the knack for keeping me off balance. The word “balance” brought checking and savings to mind. What was she going to do? Not much she could do, here in the truck. She’d have to sit tight, on the ranch, until the investigator got back to her. She paid little attention to the route Creighton took, but soon didn’t recognize where they were. She looked left, forward, right, back.

  “You’re right,” Creighton answered as though she had voiced her question. “I don’t like to always go the same way. We’re in no hurry. I enjoy the change of scenery along this highway.”

  “No GPS?” Shana grabbed the Nebraska state map. “I like to get my bearings.”

  “Find York. See where 39 veers off to the northwest?”

  She traced the thick red line of the interstate. “Got it. Thanks.”

  Did he find her as easy to read as this map? If so, he could probably tell how much he meant to her. She could easily fall for him. She had already fallen for him.

  He carried the invisible scars of his past as nonchalantly as those on his hands from working horses and repairing fences. Yet for the most part, Creighton appeared content in the present.

  Good grief, was this really love sneaking up on
her? What kind of future could they have? She might be able to live on the ranch—it was her reality right now. But would that be enough? Not according to Creighton. He claimed she needed to share his faith.

  Her sense of loss and security—could she leave it in Lincoln? Concentrate on one issue at a time? What about the career she’d invested in, with so much time and schooling?

  Shana took in the passing view again. This highway route was less traveled, full of scenic curves. Green pastures, idle fields, some golden brown with corn and beans waiting for harvest, farmsteads, and wildlife. Her gaze roamed. “What in the world were those?”

  “What?” Creighton asked as he pulled his concentration from the road to her face.

  “Those cattle. They looked like some hogs that I’ve seen. Black with a white stripe around the middle.”

  “Oh. They’re Belted Galloways.” He chuckled. “I admit they take some getting used to. They look like a chocolate sandwich cookie to me. But they remind me of Angus cows.”

  “The black ones, right?”

  He belonged in his environment, an environment so different from what she was used to.

  They rounded a curve where trees filled the ditch. A thick cloud of noisy blackbirds took flight.

  “Goodness, they startled me.” Shana gasped. The squawks and flaps carried through the open windows as they passed.

  “That’s a sure sign of fall, when those birds congregate like that,” Creighton commented.

  They each became lost in their separate contemplations. Somewhere along the line they’d agreed to snack on the trail mix Rita had sent along and not stop for lunch.

  Shana drifted off on the thought of the two of them agreeing on the big things in life as well as simple fare. She jerked to full alertness when the truck slowed. “What’s up?”

  “I thought I’d give you a little tour.” Creighton turned off the highway instead of continuing north out of Neligh. “We’ll go into the park.” He drove slowly. “And, downtown? It might be kind of fun.”