Taking the last picture from his hand, she went downstairs to look for a frame to put it in for her son. Tomorrow, she would start talking about her siblings to her son so he would know them too.
Since John Henry was in her bed, she decided to sleep on the couch and not disturb the boy. She fell asleep looking at her and her sister smiling into the camera, not knowing their time together was so short. Not realizing the futures they wanted were not guaranteed.
CHAPTER17
A faint poundingon his front door woke Ruston up from a deep sleep. Instinctively, he reached out for Hazel before remembering that she wasn’t beside him. After just two nights with her, he was already used to her being there and missed her when she wasn’t.
When the pounding came again, he got out of bed and realized what had woken him. Grabbing his phone from the bedside table, he checked it for missed calls. Since there was nothing, he had no idea what was going on. Who needed him enough to show up at his house? Walking to the door, he thought maybe he should change out of his sweatpants and T-shirt but dismissed the idea since they were at his door at 7:00 a.m. If someone needed to see him so early, they would have to take him as he was.
Swinging the door open, he saw Patrick Beckett and Sam Sullivan on his front step. Neither man looked happy to be there, and he had no idea what they could want so early. Patrick was Natalie’s dad, and Sam was her fiancé.
Instantly, he was worried about the young woman. “Is something wrong with Natalie?”
Patrick shook his head, then asked, “Can we come in? Do you have company?”
“Come on in,” he replied in confusion, but if the men needed to talk, he was there for them.
Stepping back, both men walked into the house, both looking around. Though he was sure neither had been to his house, he saw both their eyes looking into the other rooms they could see.
“Is Hazel here?” Patrick asked, his eyes coming back to rest on Ruston.
“No.” He wondered again what they were doing here.
“Her car is out front.” Sam indicated through the window at the yellow beetle.
It was still parked in front of his place; he hadn’t even looked at it after she left, deciding to wait until morning to even try. No use looking in the dark. But now, based on the men’s demeanor, they might be the talk of the town.
Angrily, he realized Hazel had been correct to be worried. He should have known that it would take just one night for the town to start talking, but he had naively thought they could remain in the bubble they had at the farm. A bubble he had hated to leave, hated to hide.
Crossing his arms, he didn’t like what they were saying. “I watched John Henry so she could go to book club. Then the car didn’t start, so she took mine home. She’s not here. If you need to search the house, you can.”
“No need for that,” Sam said, seeming embarrassed to even be there as he sat down on the couch.
“There are rumors going around that you and Hazel are having an inappropriate relationship,” Patrick stated and sat down in the armchair across from his future son-in-law.
“I don’t think that my relationship with Hazel is any of your business, or anyone else’s for that matter,” Ruston said, sitting up straighter.
Patrick shook his head. “Ruston, your relationship with Hazel is none of my business. In fact, I think you would make her happy. But as a preacher, you have a reputation to maintain.”
Ruston looked at the older man, who was currently living with his girlfriend and her kids, and Sam was living with his fiancé. Neither was married to the women they lived with. And they were here to talk to him about what was happening with Hazel? That they had spent one night together? Or that the entire town thought that they had spent one night together?
“So, because I am a preacher, I cannot date?” he asked. In the years he had lived in Landstad, he hadn’t dated much and never here in town. Mostly because he hadn’t met anyone he was that interested in. But he knew one day he would. Because he wanted to date Hazel, he wanted everything with Hazel.
“Of course, you can date. You just can’t stay the night. Or at least have people know you’re staying the night,” Patrick said with a wink.
“Does it bother you that I stayed the night?” he asked Patrick, who was a member of his church.
“No, but I’m not one who’s ever cared about that. There are others that will look at it differently than I do,” Patrick answered, not meeting his eyes.
“And you?” he asked Sam.
He didn’t know Sam very well; he had just started to attend services with Natalie. And though he knew Natalie fairly well, he hadn’t had more than a conversation or two with Sam.
“If I had an issue with it, I would have said something the other day when her grandpa ended up in the hospital.” Sam leaned back on the couch. He wasn’t there to chastise him; he had just been roped into being there. Though Ruston had no idea why.
“What do you expect me to do?” Ruston asked them.
“That depends on what you want,” Patrick said. “If she’s nothing but a good time, dump her and do not speak to her again. It’ll all be over soon when there’s nothing new happening. But if you love her, I suggest marrying her and marrying her quickly. The rumors are going to get worse before they go away.”