From The Ashes Read online

  She shook Henry’s hand and he stepped out of the room. If he was disappointed, it didn’t show in the straight set of his shoulders or the air of quiet dignity that radiated from him.

  “If you’d still like to go out to your grandfather’s place,” Jacob said, “I’ve got time.”

  Judith’s throat tightened with a familiar anxiety. She’d just been informed that her grandfather’s property was secluded. She wasn’t about to go there with a strange man. She focused on the lawyer. “Was there anything else you needed to tell me, Mr. Davidson?”

  “No, that’s it. Now that you’ve signed the papers, I’ll take care of the rest. The land is yours, free and clear. But keep my number handy. If there’s anything my wife or I can do for you, just give us a call.”

  Judith gathered her purse and shook Walter’s hand. “Thank you, Mr. Davidson. I’ll be in touch.”

  A minute later, Judith stepped into the misting rain and looked at Jacob. He seemed like a nice person, but one could never be sure. Accepting a ride from a man she’d just met was definitely on the list of stupid moves made by naïve women. Even if that man was handsome in an overgrown, clean-cut sort of way.

  She tried to clear the lump in her throat. “I appreciate your offer, Mr. Fraser, but I’d rather find my grandfather’s place on my own. I’ll be in touch when I decide what to do with the land.”

  Jacob smiled down at her and slid his hands into his back pockets. “It’s no problem for me to take you out there now.”

  “No, that’s OK. I’ll ask Mr. Davidson to write down the directions or I’ll use my GPS system to find it.”

  “There’s no way a GPS has your grandfather’s property in its memory. The last two miles are dirt roads. Is that your roadster?” He gestured with his head.

  “Why do you ask?”

  “The low clearance on that car is going to make it difficult to drive on our dirt roads. Plus, it’s been raining for the last two days. The road will be mostly mud.”

  Judith examined Jacob. If only she could see into a person’s soul and know if he was trustworthy. It was the only superpower she’d ever wanted. “Hold on just a minute.” She stepped back inside the lawyer’s office. “Mrs. Davidson?”

  The lawyer’s wife looked up from her desk. “Yes, Miss Robertson? Did you need something?”

  Judith’s heart pounded as she peered through the window to make sure Jacob couldn’t overhear, and then returned her attention to the lawyer’s wife. “I know this is awkward, Mrs. Davidson, but I don’t know who else to ask.”

  The older woman smiled encouragingly. “What can I do for you?”

  “Jacob Fraser has volunteered to take me to my grandfather’s place. Is it safe for me to do that? Can I trust him?”

  Mrs. Davidson nodded. “I’d trust any member of my family with Jacob. Not only is he a former police officer, I’ve known his family for most of my life. They don’t come any better than Jacob Fraser.”

  “OK,” Judith said, blowing out a breath. “Thanks.” Surely she could take the lawyer’s wife’s word. For the past year Judith had been praying for the courage to trust. Perhaps this was another opportunity to face her fears. At least she could take her own car. That way, if something did happen, she’d have a way to escape.

  She stepped outside to find Jacob patiently leaning against a muddy pickup truck. “OK,” she said with a confidence she didn’t feel. “I’ll follow you in my car.”

  “It’d be best if you rode with me. Like I said, the dirt roads are muddy and if that is your sports car, it’ll never make it. I’ll bring you back here when we’re finished.”

  Judith considered her next action. She couldn’t go through the rest of her life second guessing every decision. Mrs. Davidson had vouched for Jacob Fraser, and that would have to be good enough. “OK,” Judith said, inwardly wincing at the tremor in her voice.

  ****

  Jacob steered his truck onto the highway and glanced at Judith. He liked what he’d seen in the lawyer’s office. Tall and slender, with dark curls escaping from her ponytail, Judith had a type of careless beauty, as if she simply accepted her looks without worrying about the latest fashion. “I hear you’re from Dallas,” he said.

  Judith tucked a stray curl behind her ear. “That’s right. What about you?”

  “Born and raised in Piney Meadow.”

  Her fingers shook as she dug through her purse and fished out a small notebook and a pen. “I’m going to write down the directions so I can find the place on my own.”

  “Good idea. Not only are most of the back roads unmarked, it’s so dark at night you couldn’t read the signs if they were.” He drove a mile in silence, glancing over at Judith from time to time. She looked like a city girl in her black slacks and blue blouse, and those were probably real diamonds dangling from her ears. “I’m sorry I didn’t get a chance to talk to you at your grandfather’s funeral.”

  “You were there?”

  “My parents and I attended.”

  “I couldn’t believe how many friends Granddad had.”

  “He was a good man, and he’d lived here his whole life.”

  “I would’ve liked to have stayed longer and met more people, but my father had to get back to Dallas for work. Mr. Davidson told my dad that he’d handle Granddad’s estate and get in touch with us.” Judith crossed her legs, and then re-crossed them. She was as nervous as a fly in a spider’s web.

  Jacob tried more small talk to put her at ease. “I’m surprised you came by yourself today. Do you have family?”

  “Just my father.”

  “No husband?”

  “No, I’m not married.” She grasped the notebook in one hand and fingered the pen with the other. “And, by the way, Mr. Fraser, I charge by the question. So far, you owe me forty dollars.”

  Jacob smiled at the subtle way she’d told him to mind his own business. “Forty dollars, huh? Well, I can afford it. And my name’s Jacob.”

  She returned his smile, but it wasn’t a genuine one. More like the polite smile a woman gave him when he held a door open. Why was Judith so anxious?

  “It certainly is pretty country around here,” she said. “I guess you’re used to it.”

  “Never get used to it. Sometimes, when I’m out in the forest by myself, the beauty of God’s creation still catches my breath.” Jacob made the first turn off the highway.

  Judith scribbled a note on the paper. Then she licked her lips.

  He reached down to the floor of the pickup and retrieved a small ice chest. “I’ve got some water in here.” He set the chest on the seat between them and handed her a cold bottle. Maybe she’d relax if she had a drink.

  Judith drank deeply from the bottle. “Thanks.”

  If he knew why she was so nervous, he might be able to put her at ease. “I’ve been to Dallas a few times. What part of the city do you live in?”

  “Do you have family here?” That was the second time she’d changed the subject.

  “I’ve got so much family around this area it’s hard to stretch without hitting someone.”

  “That must be unpleasant.”

  Jacob grinned at her joke.

  Even though she was tense, Judith had a sense of humor to go with her good looks.

  He turned off the two-lane road and onto a gravel one.

  Judith wrote another note.

  “Do you work?” he asked.

  “I’m an illustrator.”

  “An artist?”

  “In a way,” she answered with a small shrug. “My latest project is illustrating children’s books.”

  “You should meet my niece, Chloe. She loves to read. My sister has to take her to the library twice a week just to keep her satisfied.”

  “How old is she?”

  “Seven. At least I think she’s seven. It’s hard to keep up with all my nephews, nieces, and cousins. But Chloe just finished second grade. At least I’m sure of that.”

  “How many brothers and sisters do y
ou have?”

  “Two of each. I’m the baby of the family.”

  “Awfully big baby.”

  Jacob grinned again. Judith Robertson definitely had a sense of humor. He’d had his fill of women who wore their troubles like chevrons on their sleeves and seemed to think he had the power to rescue them. And she was definitely more relaxed when she wasn’t talking about herself.

  He turned off the gravel road onto a dirt one. “Now here’s where you might run into trouble if you come out here by yourself. We’re lucky the rain has stopped, but as you can see, it’s left some big puddles. And the mud can be thick and slippery.”

  Not that she would be coming out here very often, Jacob thought. After a tour of her grandfather’s land to satisfy her curiosity, surely she’d be ready to listen to an offer. After following the muddy road for several minutes, Jacob turned into a shady drive and stopped in front of a small wooden cabin. “This is it.”

  Before Jacob could open her door, Judith slid out of the truck and stood in front of the unpainted cabin. Jacob studied her reaction as she took in the simple structure. What would Miss Judith Robertson of Dallas think of her grandfather’s three-room cabin? “Have you ever been here before?”

  “No. The last time I came to visit, my grandfather was still living in a house in town. I didn’t know he owned all this land.” She stepped onto the small porch and nudged one of the two rocking chairs, setting it into motion. A sad smile whispered around the edge of her mouth. Then she seemed to catch herself. When she turned to face Jacob, her demeanor was all-business. “Mr. Davidson didn’t give me the keys.”

  “Probably not locked.” Jacob opened the screen door and turned the knob of the inner door. When it swung open with ease, he smiled down at her.

  Judith took two steps back. “Don’t tell me people around here don’t lock their doors.”

  “People in town probably do, but out here…well, the nearest neighbor is a quarter mile away.”

  Judith stepped through the doorway. She trailed a hand over the worn leather couch, walked into the small kitchen, and then turned the handle on the faucet. “The water’s still on.”

  “That’s not city water,” Jacob explained. “There’s a well out back.”

  “I didn’t think about that,” Judith said, cupping her hand and filling it with water. She certainly was out of place. Never lived in a house with a well, drove a car designed for city streets, and had probably never seen a forest except from an airplane window.

  Judith walked into the bedroom, leaving Jacob in the small kitchen. “Did my grandfather die in this cabin?” she called.

  Jacob took four steps from the kitchen and leaned against the frame of the bedroom door. “Yes, but not in bed. I came out to visit and found him in one of the rocking chairs on the porch.”

  Her gaze swung to him. “You found my grandfather?”

  “That’s right.”

  Judith looked at him expectantly.

  Jacob realized she wanted details. “Mr. Isaiah had a morning routine. He got up, made himself a cup of coffee, and then went to the porch to study his Bible. I dropped by around ten o’clock. At first, I thought he’d fallen asleep. But…he wasn’t sleeping.”

  “Mr. Davidson told me my grandfather sold his house in town. Do you have any idea why he moved out here?”

  “Sorry, but I can’t answer that. I met him for the first time two months ago.”

  “Were you trying to talk him into selling his land to you?”

  The question felt like an accusation. Jacob rubbed a hand across the back of his neck and considered his answer. “My father asked me to find out if Mr. Isaiah might be interested in selling some land. But don’t get the idea that was the only reason I visited.”

  Judith’s posture hadn’t relaxed one bit. She looked as though she was questioning a witness in a courtroom. “What other reason was there?”

  “I admit I probably wouldn’t have gotten to know him if I hadn’t been interested in the land, but I enjoyed talking to him. He knew a lot about the history of this area, and he taught me quite a bit about the forest that I never learned in college.”

  Jacob waited for Judith to challenge his statement, but instead she walked past him and made her way to the fireplace. She picked up one of the framed photographs on the mantel. Jacob craned his neck to look at the picture. “Cute baby.”

  “It’s a photo of my mother and me. I was about a year old when this was taken.”

  “Your mother had dark hair and dark eyes like you.”

  “Yeah, but her hair was straight. Nobody knows where my curls came from.”

  An urge to touch one of those curls, to twine it around his finger and feel its softness against his skin, came over him. He stuck his hands in his pockets.

  Judith returned the photo to its place on the mantel. “May I see the rest of the buildings, now?”

  “Sure. There’s a barn in the back.”

  Judith followed him off the porch and around the cabin where an unpainted barn on the verge of collapse sat under a canopy of pine boughs. “Did my grandfather keep animals?”

  “No. He mostly used this as a garage. His truck is still in there.” Jacob pushed open the wide barn doors to reveal an old blue pickup. “I guess it’s yours now.”

  Judith walked ahead of him and peered through the driver’s side window. Her nerves seemed to have calmed since their arrival at the cabin, but she was far from being relaxed and friendly.

  “The keys are in the ignition,” Judith said. “Think it still runs?”

  “Mr. Isaiah drove it all the time, but it’s been sitting in this barn for several months. Give it a try.”

  The truck door groaned as she opened it, but the motor roared to life when she turned the key. “That answers the question,” she yelled over the noise, and then turned it off.

  “If you’re interested in selling the truck, you’d best take it to my mechanic. He’d know of anyone who’d be interested in buying it.”

  “OK, thanks. Where’s the church Rev. Washington asked me about?”

  “It’s about a hundred yards up that path. Want to see it now?”

  “Might as well.”

  “We can either take my truck or cut through the woods. The dirt road curves around to the church, and then joins up with the paved road that leads to the highway.”

  “I’d rather take the path, if it’s OK with you.”

  “Fine with me.”

  Jacob led the way on the narrow, winding path through the dense forest. Judith’s curiosity was natural, he supposed, but there was no way he could show her all four hundred acres in one afternoon. He glanced back to check on her and noticed that she’d stopped, her head thrown back to look at the sky.

  “Something wrong?”

  “Perspective,” she called back to him.

  Jacob knew the word, but suspected she meant something else. “Perspective?” he repeated.

  “We have trees in Dallas, but nothing like this. How can so many tall trees grow so close together? And from this viewpoint, the tops look like one giant canopy. Drawing this one scene would take weeks. So many intricate details. And painting it…look,” she said, pointing upwards, “One step forward and I can see blue sky peeking through the cloud cover. Do you think there’s wildlife nearby?”

  “Oh, the animals are here, all right. No doubt looking at you with as much interest as you’re looking at the forest.”

  She dropped her head and caught up to him. “Just be glad I don’t have my sketchbook. Otherwise, I’d sit right here and start to draw.”

  “Be a shame to get those fancy clothes dirty.”

  “Never stopped me before.”

  He’d grown up with the forest and worked in it every day, but she had a different way of looking at things. “Ready to see the church, now?”

  “Lead the way.”

  A hundred feet farther, Jacob stepped into the circular clearing where the old church stood.

  Judith moved
towards the structure, her head cocked to one side as she studied the building. “It’s…”

  “Old? Abandoned?” Jacob volunteered.

  “Quaint,” Judith said.

  Jacob frowned at the plain wooden building. The flakes of white paint that clung to gray boards hinted of a time when the church had been lovingly tended, but now it suffered from decades of neglect. If she wanted to call that quaint, he wouldn’t argue.

  As if reading his mind, Judith continued. “It reminds me of a mother waiting patiently on a playground bench while her children are off having fun. Her children may have left, but she knows they’ll come back.”

  Jacob looked at the church again. Some of the foundation blocks had sunk into the soft earth, causing the building to list slightly to one side. He squinted, trying to picture the image Judith had seen.

  “And there’s a bell!” Judith pointed with delight.

  At last, she’d said something he could agree with. The small steeple did indeed hold a cast iron bell. “Mr. Isaiah told me that when the wind is strong enough, that bell will ring.”

  “I wonder what it sounds like.” Judith walked up the rickety wooden steps to the front door and turned the knob. “I think this door really is locked.”

  “More likely just stuck. Here, let me try.” Jacob put his shoulder against the door and pushed. When it gave way, he stumbled through the entryway.

  Sunlight streamed through uncovered windows, highlighting a dust-covered pulpit, a small choir loft and pews stationed on either side of a central aisle. A plain wooden cross hung in the center of the back wall.

  Judith walked softly, running her fingers along the edges of the worn pews. “Peaceful here,” she said in hushed tones. “Like it’s sleeping.”

  Jacob found a light switch near a side door and flicked it. “No electricity. Probably just a matter of getting the wires inspected and the power turned on.”

  At the altar, Judith turned. “It’s a beautiful little church. Obviously made with loving hands. Is it really big enough to hold Rev. Washington’s entire congregation?”

  Jacob walked slowly towards her. “I think so. You need to understand, Henry’s group isn’t part of some recognized church. They’re just a group of people who get together once or twice a week to worship.”