Twice Upon a Time

“Are we getting punished?”

“Yes, Brett, you are. After Auntie Sara’s party, when we’re at home. Right now I want you to put on your shoes, take your brother’s hand and get back up the hill. Your backpacks are in the house. You can change clothes. Emily will help you.” He pointed to the teenage girl who stood at the crest of the hill, watching. “Understand?”

“Yes, Daddy.”

They began gathering their belongings.

“Boys?”

They turned, studied Reese with question marks in their eyes.

“Do you have something to say to Olivia?”

“Thank you for helping my brother,” Brady said. He gave her a shy hug.

“Yeah. Thanks.” Brett offered his hand. Once she’d shaken it, he backed away. “I’m sorry you got wet and your dress got wrecked.”

“I’m glad you’re okay, Brett.”

“No more disobeying,” Reese ordered. “You either behave yourselves or we’ll go home right now.”

“And miss seeing the horsies?” Brady’s eyes swelled.

“And miss seeing them,” Reese confirmed.

“Come on, Brett.” Brady shoved his brother’s shoes at him, then nudged him upward. “We gotta be good.”

Olivia smiled as she watched the adorable pair scurry uphill. Then her attention returned to Reese.

“Are you all right?”

“I’m not sure I’ll ever be all right again,” he muttered half under his breath. Then he shook his head at her, smiled. “I’m fine. I lost about five years when I saw you dragging him out. He could have drowned.”

“But he didn’t. They’re all right, thank the Lord.”

“The Lord. Yeah.” Reese didn’t sound as if he was giving God any of the credit for the twins’ safety as he tracked their progress uphill.

“They really are all right,” Olivia whispered.

“Yeah. I know.” But he didn’t look away until the young girl, Emily, had them by the hand.

Olivia tried to hide the shiver that rippled over her, but Reese’s moody gaze had registered her discomfort.

“I’m sorry. I should have done this earlier.” He slid out of his tuxedo jacket and draped it over her shoulders. “Better?”

“Thanks.” She sighed as his warmth caressed her goose-pimpled skin.

“It’s I who should thank you. When I saw Brett floating on that water, I thought my heart would stop. I couldn’t have wished for a better rescuer.” His hands fisted at his sides, but when Reese noticed her glance he shoved them in his pockets. “You know your first aid.”

“I took a course—the basics, nothing extra. It came in handy.”

“Yeah.” A half smile lifted his lips. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” She strove for levity to break the tension. “You didn’t step on my bouquet on your way down, did you?”

“Ha! Very funny.” His broad white-covered shoulders lifted with his sigh. “What a day.”

“A wedding here, a swim there.” Olivia shrugged. “Pretty ordinary.”

“I’d like to know what kind of life you lead.”

“A boring one,” she said quickly before he could ask more.

“You have a great rapport with my sons. Of course, Sara told me that when the boys were in that theater project of yours. I must have blocked it.”

“Ah.” Blocked it or didn’t notice?

“Life with those two—” he raked a hand through his hair before jerking a thumb over one shoulder “—doesn’t allow a lot of time for thinking. I’m always in protect or prevent mode. They’re so little and I couldn’t bear it if—”

“I understand.” Too well. Losing a child was the nightmare every parent feared most, the thing she’d never thought she’d live through.

Olivia’s admiration for Reese grew. Sara’s comments about her overprotective brother had painted a very different picture of the man who now looked shaken and disturbed by the incident that had just occurred.

Reese Woodward was actually quite charming.

“We should go.” He glanced at her feet. “Your feet must feel horrible. And you seem to have lost your shoes.”

“No. I kicked them off before I went in the water. There.” She pointed to the edge where her dyed satin slippers looked a lot worse for their trek downhill.

Reese walked over, picked them up and let them dangle from his fingers, chagrin tipping down his wide, generous mouth as he studied her.

“My kids are murder on your wardrobe.”

“Yes, but on the bright side,” she said after a glance at her bedraggled dress, “at least the wedding pictures have been taken. And it’s not like I’m going to wear these clothes again. They have served their purpose. We got Sara and Cade married.”

“Yes, we did.” He laughed. The sound of relief echoed down the riverbed, a deep-throated burst of pure relief. “Tough lady. I like that. Let’s go see if my sister has something you can wear.” He bent down, slid the slippers on her feet, then rose and held out a hand.

Olivia took it, allowing him to pull her upright. She held on, borrowing his strength as he helped her climb past the rougher spots, enjoying the sensation of being supported. It had been so long since she’d felt protected, cared for.

“We probably should have gotten to know each other better earlier, but I was trying to make sure a certain pair of ring bearers didn’t mess up the whole wedding.” He grimaced. “This is really bad timing, but I have been meaning to talk to you about something for the past week and never had the chance.”

“Oh?” A tiny coil of fear wound tight inside.

The past was always there, waiting to snag her back into that misery.

“You’re a child psychologist.”

“Yes, I am.” Relief washed through her at the simplicity of that. “But please don’t ask me to explain why they decided to go fishing today.” She hoped humor would ease his tension while redirecting his questions. “I don’t understand the lure of fishing at the best of times.”