When There is Love: A Christian Romance (The McKinleys Book 3) Read online

  “We don’t need to rush into dates or stuff like that because right now your healing is the most important thing. But we can do stuff like this, which I suppose could be considered a date.” Trent paused, feeling a bit like he was bumbling his words. He couldn’t believe she’d actually agreed. “And I want to be able to tell your brother we’re dating as well as those guys at work when they ask me what’s going on with you and me. Is that okay with you?”

  A smile spread across her face and her eyes sparkled as she nodded. “That’s just fine.”

  “You ready to go home?” Trent asked.

  Victoria shook her head. No, she didn’t want to go home. This was where she wanted to be. Sitting together as the breeze cooled the warm day. Watching the day shift from afternoon to evening and listening to the ducks on the pond. “Not unless there’s some place you have to go.”

  His gaze warmed her as he said, “I’m exactly where I want to be.”

  They stayed at the park for the next hour. After Trent had gotten up to throw away their ice cream cups, he’d settled back onto the bench, and they’d just talked. He told her more about his family, including the fact that his sister had been in town a couple of weekends earlier. Since he knew pretty much everything about her family, Victoria shared a bit of what it was like growing up as a little person.

  Looking out across the pond, Victoria saw that the sky was beginning to darken as the breeze picked up a little force. “Was there rain in the forecast?”

  “No clue,” Trent said. “But it kinda looks like there might be. Guess we’d better head back to the house.”

  Though it wasn’t what Victoria wanted, she knew getting caught in the rain wouldn’t be the best thing for her. One day she could dance in the rain, but it wouldn’t be quite yet.

  Trent pushed the wheelchair back along the path to where he’d parked the car. This time when he picked her up to put her into the car, he didn’t release her quite as quickly. He grabbed the seatbelt and leaned across her to slip it into the buckle. She inhaled the subtle scent of him, noticing that this close up, the bit of stubble on his cheeks was more apparent.

  He glanced at her as he moved back, and she could see the flecks of dark blue in his eyes. His gaze dropped briefly to her mouth, but he straightened and gave her a smile. She saw a raindrop land on his shirt, darkening the fabric.

  Trent looked up at the sky. “Guess we timed that right.”

  By the time he was behind the wheel, the raindrops were splattering more frequently on the windshield. Over the course of the drive to her house, the rain came down in a torrent. Trent turned up the speed of the wipers to keep the windshield clear as he guided the car through the traffic.

  When he pulled to a stop in her driveway, he stared out the front window and then glanced over at her. “Well, we could make a run for it or sit and see if the rain eases up a bit.”

  Since she was in no condition to run anywhere, Victoria said, “Let’s wait it out.”

  He shut the car off then reached over and took her hand in his, intertwining their fingers. Victoria looked down at their hands. Hers looked so small in his larger, stronger one. But sitting there in the car, side by side, their difference in height didn’t seem as apparent. His thumb stroked across the back of her hand, but he didn’t say anything, just let the sound of the rain beating down on the car fill the silence between them.

  Victoria closed her eyes and rested her head back against the seat. She wanted to seal every moment of this afternoon with Trent in her memory, in her heart. It had been so perfectly them. Part of her was almost afraid that she’d fallen asleep after her PT session and that it had all been a dream.

  “Hey. What’s wrong?” Trent’s voice interrupted her thoughts. When she opened her eyes and turned to look at him, he said, “You’ve got a small hand, but that grip just about broke my fingers.”

  Immediately, she relaxed her hold on him. She’d been totally unaware that she’d been squeezing his hand so tightly. “Sorry about that.”

  “Hey, I can take it.” He tilted his head as his gaze remained on her. “But it does make me curious what was going through your head to cause such a reaction.”

  Victoria stared at him, wondering if she should tell him. His eyes were soft with an expectation she couldn’t deny. “I was just wondering if maybe this was a dream. That I’d wake up and be in my bed.”

  His eyebrows rose slightly then he leaned toward her. “It’s no dream, sweetheart. Or if it is, I’m having the same one.”

  He was so close that Victoria could see the subtle shift in his expression, and her breath caught in her lungs. She’d been kissed before, but something told her that sharing a kiss with Trent would be completely different. Because of the friendship they had, they were already closer than she’d been with any of the other guys she’d dated.

  “Maybe a kiss would make it seem more real,” Trent said, his voice so low that had they been further apart, she might not have heard him.

  But she did hear him. “Yes.”

  And clearly he heard her because he leaned across the last couple inches between them and pressed his lips to hers. Victoria’s eyelids fluttered then closed as she felt his hand slip along the side of her neck, his thumb grazing her jawline. And there, with the soundtrack of rain around them, the emotional tendrils that had been reaching out and dancing around each other for so long slowly intertwined and pulled their hearts closer together.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  TRENT was gentle and loving in his kiss, and Victoria felt as if every bone in her body had melted when he moved back. He gazed down at her, his eyes a deeper blue than she’d ever seen.

  His thumb moved back and forth along her cheek. “You’re so beautiful, sweetheart.”

  The rush of emotion caught Victoria off-guard. That was one word she’d never used to describe herself or heard others use. Her size seemed to bring on descriptions like adorable and cute, but never beautiful. And yet as she looked into Trent’s eyes, she didn’t doubt that he meant it. That in his eyes, she was beautiful. It was almost too good to be true.

  “Why are you crying?” Trent asked as he swept his thumb beneath her eye.

  Victoria gave a choked laugh. She hadn’t even realized she was crying. Lifting her free hand, she swiped at the tears on her cheeks. “Emotional overload, I think. I really don’t cry often. You’ve just caught me at some weak moments lately.”

  “As long as they’re happy tears. I never want to be the reason you cry sad ones.” He pressed his forehead to hers. “Thank you.”

  “For what?”

  “I know you’ve had your reservations about me. About us. So I’m thanking you for giving us a chance. You won’t regret it, I promise.”

  Before Victoria could say anything, her phone rang. With a sigh, she moved away from Trent and pulled it from her pocket. “It’s my mom.”

  “Hi, darling. Are you doing okay?” her mom asked when Victoria answered.

  “We’re doing fine, Mom. We left the park just as it started to rain, and now we’re in the driveway waiting for it to stop.”

  “I’m still out with your dad, but we should be there in a couple of minutes.”

  “Okay. It looks like the rain is letting up so we might try and make a dash for it.”

  “You better not be dashing anywhere,” her mother scolded.

  “No worries, I think Trent will be the only one dashing.” Victoria looked over at him and saw him nodding with a grin on his face. “See you in a bit.”

  “So we’re going to make a dash for it?” Trent asked as she slid the phone back into her pocket. “It does look like the rain has let up.”

  Victoria bit her lip as she stared out the window. “Yeah, I should be able to make it on my crutches now.”

  “Uh. No. Not gonna take the chance of them slipping on the wet cement. I’m going to carry you.” When Victoria looked at him with lifted eyebrows, he added, “You’re light as a feather, and it will mean less chance of yo
u injuring yourself this way. Plus, like I said before, I like holding you in my arms.”

  “Well, in that case…”

  Trent gave her a wink before pushing open his door. As she waited for him to come around to her side, she fished her keys out so they’d be ready when they got to the door. There was still a bit of a drizzle, but nothing like the deluge of earlier. She undid her seatbelt as he opened her door.

  As he leaned in to slide his arm under her knees and around her back, he pressed a quick kiss to her lips. “Sorry. Couldn’t resist.”

  “You don’t hear me complaining, do you?” Victoria said as she leaned her head against his shoulder.

  He shut the door with his foot and then moved quickly toward the house. Once they were under the protection of the porch roof, he went to the door and stooped down so she could slide her key into the lock. As the door swung open, he stepped across the threshold and carried her to a chair in the living room.

  “I’m going to go get your crutches and wheelchair. I’ll be right back.”

  Victoria nodded and watched as he walked to the front door, still somewhat amazed at what the afternoon had held. But when Trent walked back in with her parents following him, she knew that part of the day was over. She felt a pang of disappointment, and the look Trent gave her seemed to indicate he felt the same way.

  “I should probably get going,” Trent said as he set her crutches next to her. “Tomorrow is meeting day at work. Always fun.”

  She moved to grab her crutches, but Trent touched her shoulder.

  “Don’t get up.” He briefly brushed his fingertips across her cheek, his gaze warm. “I’ll give you a call.”

  “Thank you for the time at the park,” Victoria said.

  His smile was gentle and loving. “Anytime, sweetheart.”

  She watched him walk to the door, her dad behind him. When her dad came back into the room, he settled beside her mom on the couch and said, “So, anything you want to tell us?”

  “Doug,” her mom admonished as she patted his knee, but she made no effort to keep the curiosity from her gaze.

  “It’s okay, Mom.” She looked at her parents, hoping that they’d support her relationship with Trent. “Trent and I had a chance to talk this afternoon, and we’ve decided we’d like to…uh…spend some more time together.”

  “You’re dating,” her dad said bluntly, his expression unreadable.

  Victoria smiled. “Yeah. We’re dating.”

  Her mom clasped her hands to her chest. “Oh, I’m so happy for you, darling. Trent is a wonderful young man.”

  “Yes, he is,” her dad said gruffly. “I just hope he treats you right.”

  “He will, Dad. I think he already knows that Eric would come after him if he didn’t.”

  Her dad nodded, a twinkle showing in his eyes now. “It’s certainly taken you long enough to figure this all out.”

  She couldn’t argue with him there, but something deep inside told her that now was the perfect time. At least it felt that way to her. Trent, however, might feel differently since he’d waited a long time for her to get on the same page as him.

  Over the next few weeks, they fell into a pattern of sorts. Most nights of the week, Trent would come by after work for dinner with her and her parents. Any night that he didn’t make it, they would talk at length on the phone before falling asleep.

  If the weather was nice, they’d go for a walk around the neighborhood or at the park. She needed her wheelchair less and less as the days passed. By the end of the month after her surgery, it was rare that Victoria used the wheelchair at all. She’d been working hard to strengthen her hip with the exercises the physical therapist had given her to do. It was a relief to finally be free of pain, to not have to fight to hide it from those around her.

  On the Saturday before the two-month mark since her surgery, her doorbell rang. Victoria went to open it, pleasantly surprised to see Trent standing there, one hand braced on the door jamb. He wore a black leather jacket in deference to the cooler days now that they’d moved into fall. Under the jacket was a black T-shirt tucked into a pair of tan cargo pants. He looked handsome, but it was the smile on his face that took her breath away.

  “This is a surprise. What are you doing here?” When she’d talked to him the night before, Victoria had thought the plan had been for him to go out to the compound for his weekly pounding by Justin. “I thought you were off to shoot and spar.”

  “I am.” He stepped inside and shut the door then bent to give her a lingering kiss. “But I wanted to know if you wanted to come, too.”

  “Me? I don’t know.” She did want to go, but the thought of not being able to shoot was depressing. And though she probably could get away without her crutches for a bit, she was nervous about doing too much too soon and jeopardizing the progress she’d made so far. It was just one more month until her final appointment with the doctor, and hopefully the green light to leave the crutches behind.

  “Well, last night I did a little research. If you’re willing to sit in the wheelchair while you shoot, you should be able to do it without taking the chance of straining your hip.” He tilted his head, a smile curving up one side of his mouth. “I’ve missed shooting with you.”

  Warmth spread through Victoria. Not just because of the smile that she found so attractive, but that he’d thought about her and looked into what would work for her so they could do this together again. She grinned at him. “Sold. Let me go get changed. The wheelchair is in the closet there.”

  Moving quickly, Victoria went to her room and pulled on a pair of loose jeans, a T-shirt, and a jean jacket. She took a few minutes to brush her hair and add a little bit of makeup. What had started out as a rather quiet and blah Saturday had changed, and she was excited to spend the rest of it with Trent doing something they enjoyed.

  When she came out, Trent was standing in her living room staring down at his phone. He must have sensed her presence because he looked up right away.

  Sliding the phone into his pocket, he said, “The wheelchair is in the car. You ready to go?”

  The walk to the car reminded Victoria of another thing she was looking forward to when she was finally crutch-free—holding hands with Trent as they walked. Though Trent kept a step stool in his car now, he rarely got it out anymore. Usually, he put her crutches in the back and then lifted her onto the front seat. At first, Victoria had protested but when he’d made it clear that he enjoyed doing that for her, she had given up and accepted it. After all, she enjoyed it, too.

  And she really appreciated how Trent always picked her up like a lady. Even when she was wearing shorts or pants, he never picked her up under the arms like someone might pick up a kid. He always slid one arm around her back and the other under her knees. And he always buckled her in, sneaking a kiss as he did it.

  “I can’t tell you how excited I am for this,” Victoria said as Trent guided the car onto the highway.

  He glanced at her and smiled. “That makes two of us, sweetheart.”

  As he talked about the research he’d done about shooting from a wheelchair, Victoria realized that aside from her mom and dad, she’d never had anyone spend as much time figuring out how to make things work for her as Trent had. A couple of weeks earlier he’d expressed concern for her safety in his car. After researching he’d taken steps to make sure that she was safely restrained when she traveled with him.

  The man made her feel like she was the most cherished thing in his life. It was a totally unexpected feeling. One she really enjoyed. And she tried her best to let him know that he was the most cherished thing in her life, too. At times, it was frustrating because she felt there were far fewer ways for her to show him because he was so totally self-sufficient. Mostly it came down to her cooking and baking for him.

  After he had pulled into a parking spot in the lot at the compound, Trent came around and lifted her out and then got her crutches for her. She was relieved that he didn’t plan to make her ride in the
wheelchair even though she’d need it for shooting.

  The last time she’d moved through the hallways of the building, the pain had been almost debilitating. She’d been living on pain killers and a prayer that God would help her to walk without falling since she hadn’t wanted to use the crutches around Trent. But then there had come the point where she hadn’t had a choice. Thankfully, the end was in sight, and she couldn’t wait.

  “Good to see you again, Victoria,” Justin said when they walked in. The smile he gave her was bigger than any she’d seen on his face before. “Trent told me you’d had some pretty major surgery recently.”

  “Yes. Hip replacement.”

  “And your recovery has gone well?” Justin asked.

  “Yep. Having lots of physical therapy to strengthen it. I should be free of my crutches in another month or so.”

  “That is fantastic. I’m sure it hasn’t been an easy process.” He gave her a warm smile. “You’re a strong woman.”

  Victoria felt a rush of pleasure at his words. “Well, Trent has helped me a lot.” She glanced over to find him smiling at her. “And I couldn’t believe it when he said it would be possible for me to shoot now.”

  “When he called me last night to see if I’d approve it, I didn’t hesitate,” Justin said. “Some of the wounded warriors we work with shoot from wheelchairs. It gives them the feeling of still being able to do something they’re good at while they’re struggling to come to terms with their situations.”

  “I never would have thought about it, so I’m glad he did.”

  “Well, let’s get your stuff together so you can get out there.”