She blinked and studied him, as though digesting his words, and then offered him a small nod.
The gesture comforted him as he signaled and got back on the road.
After driving a quarter mile farther he turned right. He saw the house long before the GPS device announced their arrival. This was the house Anne had talked about all the time when they were together. The home she was raised in as an orphan by her aunt. He’d recognize the cookie-cutter-trimmed Victorian from her descriptions. Architecturally he could appreciate the amazing structure with its period corbels, fish-scale shingles and cedar shakes.
Matt regretted that he hadn’t actually looked at the house before this, instead relying only on the geographic maps to plan the construction.
Would he have changed his mind and found another way to the lake if he’d seen how unique it was? If he’d known it was Anne’s home?
He’d never know for sure. “That’s her house?” Claire breathed.
“Looks like it is.”
“It sort of looks like a castle,” she said, talkative for the first time ever.
“What makes you think that?”
“Look at that pointy room there with the long windows.”
“A turret.”
“Turret,” she repeated. “That’s a room where a princess lives. Like Rapunzel.”
“A princess,” Matt murmured. He shook his head, trying to see the big house from his daughter’s eyes.
“I never thought about it that way, Claire. But I can see you’re absolutely right.”
Yeah, it was a castle with a princess inside. A dark-haired princess with chocolate-brown eyes who apparently had no clue that her castle was under siege.
Chapter Four
“They’re here,” Aunt Lily called. Excitement bubbled over in her voice. “Oh, hurry, hurry.”
“I’m right behind you.” Anne smoothed her hair and took a deep breath as her aunt pulled back the heavy, paneled curtains for another peek.
“My, isn’t he handsome?” Lily said, cocking her head to the side. “He looks a little familiar. Do I know him?”
Anne swallowed and began a hasty prayer under her breath.
“Oh, look they brought their dog,” she announced.
“He’s a big fellow.”
“Yes. Six foot three.”
Lily laughed. “I meant the dog.” She turned to Anne and smiled. “My, you look lovely, dear.”
“Thank you.” Anne glanced down at her black slacks and rose-print blouse and removed a small thread. She tucked her hair behind her ear and fussed with her bangs.
She’d obsessed over what to wear this morning, finally deciding to go casual yet professional. However, confidence in her apparel and being fully prepared to instruct on Type 1 Diabetes still failed to take the edge off her churning stomach or to still her trembling hands.
When the doorbell rang Aunt Lily carefully maneuvered her walker down the short hall. She straightened her dress and pushed her shoulders back, ready to greet her guests. A huge grin lit up her elfin face as Anne opened the door.
“Hello, hello,” Lily brightly called.
Behind the screen stood Matt, bigger than life on crutches, with Claire by his side, her arms protectively crossed. A pink backpack with all her diabetic supplies hung from her wrist. Stanley panted eagerly, ready for action, though he obediently waited on the sidewalk, his tail slapping the cement.
“Ma’am.” Matt nodded and met Anne’s gaze. His was apologetic and revealed the depth of his nervousness. “I’m sorry for the inconvenience.”
“It’s not a problem.” She smiled at his daughter. “How are you feeling, Claire?”
“Better,” the little girl murmured.
“Aunt Lily, this is Mr. Clark and his daughter, Claire.”
“How wonderful to meet you,” Aunt Lily said with enough perky energy and enthusiasm to cover the potential awkwardness of the moment.
Confusion registered on Matt’s face as he stared at Lily. He quickly regrouped.
“Pleased to meet you, Ms. Gray.”
“Call me Lily. Oh, we’re going to be friends. I can see that.” She glanced at his ankle boot and crutches. “What happened?”
“A little accident.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry.”
Still looking perplexed, Matt held up a dog dish and a water bottle. “Would it be okay for Stanley to wait out here?”
“We can do better than that,” Lily said. “The backyard has a little gazebo. He could wait there and have some shade.”
“Thank you, ma’am.”
“I like your house,” Claire said, her gaze moving past Anne and Lily to peek down the long front hall.
“Well, thank you, dear. It is very special.”
“Claire says it reminds her of a castle,” Matt added.
“A castle?” Lily smiled at the girl. “You’re very right. That’s exactly what my grandmother had in mind when the house was built for her.”
Lily turned to Anne. “Why don’t you show Mr. Clark and his dog the way to the backyard? This young lady and I will meet you there. I’ll give her a little tour of our home along the way.”
Claire’s eyes widened with delight and Anne could only blink with pleasant surprise at her aunt’s take-charge attitude as she held open the door and ushered Claire in. Today Aunt Lily was very lucid and Anne couldn’t help but wonder if it was Claire who was responsible.
“Your aunt isn’t exactly what I remembered,” Matt said as he tucked his crutches beneath his arms.
“Ten years is a long time. And as I recall, you had about twenty minutes in her presence.”
“Yeah, well, as I recall, twenty minutes was pretty much all I needed.”
Anne could hardly refute his words. Her aunt had been ruthless in her dismissal of Matt, forbidding Anne from contacting him in any way, shape or form.
The two of them were silent as Stanley led the way, trotting gingerly on the wide, shale paver path along the side of the house and pausing on occasion to wait for Matt to catch up on his crutches.
Were they both thinking of the past?
“Your aunt really doesn’t remember me?”
“Not today she doesn’t. She has some vascular dementia and was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Some days her personality, temperament and memory fluctuate like the weather.”
He frowned. “Claire will be okay with her?”
Anne stiffened. “Yes. Of course. She’s not dangerous.”
“Sorry. I’m not familiar... I didn’t mean to imply...” He shrugged.
She knew she should say something gracious to let him off the hook, but the words eluded her. The situation was becoming more awkward by the minute, just as she’d feared.
When they passed the corner of the house, the yard came into view. Stanley was desperate for freedom and made his needs clear as he tugged on the leash and whined in an effort to reach the expansive and lush lawn spread in front of them.
The sight was one Anne never took for granted. An acre of green grass that rivaled any golf course stretched all the way from the house to a border of dense trees.
“Wow, that’s quite a yard. How do you get the grass so green?” he asked.
“My aunt spent years cultivating just the right mixture of seed and fertilizer. She used to mow it with a riding mower herself. Now we pay a local kid to take care of it. But this yard is her pride and joy.”
“All this is your property?”
She nodded. “On the right we’re bordered by those apple trees and lilac bushes.” She pointed left and smiled. “That old barn is on the property line to the left.”
“No fence?”
She scoffed. “Would you fence in this beauty? We don’t have any close
neighbors on this side of the road, except an occasional family of deer, so why bother?”
“Good point,” he said, suddenly frowning in thought.
When he shifted his stance Anne glanced down at his walking boot. “How’s the ankle?”
“Annoying.”
“Then I imagine it would be a waste of time for me to mention you should be taking it easy for the first twenty-four to forty-eight hours until the swelling goes down.”
“You would be correct.”
Anne resisted a smile. Stubborn. That hadn’t changed, either.
Stanley’s whining became urgent and this time his tugs on the leash were accompanied by low groans of impatience. “Okay to let him run? He can barely stand being on this leash.”
“I don’t blame him. Of course. Let him have some fun.”
Matt held both crutches with one hand and knelt to release the leash. Immediately, Stanley shot forward, nearly knocking Matt off his feet. The crutches dropped to the ground and he pitched forward.
Anne grabbed the tail of Matt’s shirt, yanking him back from a certain fate with the ground, as he, too, struggled for his balance.
“Whoa. Thanks,” he said as he righted himself.
When she picked the crutches up from the ground and handed them to him their hands brushed. She nodded, her face warming at the brief touch.
For minutes they both stared quietly at Stanley, a diversion from the awkwardness of the moment. The Lab raced down to the woods, then ran in circles, barking as he chased a bird that soared across the clear blue summer sky overhead.
“That’s one happy dog,” Anne commented.
“We’re renting a house in town with only a small patch of grass.”
“I wish we had a dog to take advantage of this yard.”
“Why don’t you?” he asked. “There are plenty of animals waiting to be rescued and loved at local shelters. That’s where we got Stanley.”
“It’s not that simple. I have a challenging work schedule. I’m constantly on call to back up my team.”
“That’s the nice thing about a dog. Forces you to go home at the end of the day, because you know they’re depending on you.”
She mulled his words. “I’ll take that under consideration.”
“Good. I mean it,” he responded.
Stanley stopped running and began to roll over and over in the grass. Anne couldn’t help but laugh at his antics.
“Do you suppose it’s true that there aren’t any fleas at this elevation?” Matt asked.
“You grew up in Four Forks. Shouldn’t you know the answer to that?”
“I’ve never had a dog before.”
She shook her head. “There’s a new vet in town. Maybe you should ask.”
He nodded. “Good idea.”
Anne turned and pointed to the back of the house. “Aunt Lily and Claire will be on the sunporch or the deck. There’s a stone path behind the rose garden that leads to the gazebo. Plenty of shade if you take your dog there.”
“Thanks. I’ll do that.”
“Um, Matt, I suggest you take your time out here.”
He frowned in question.
“I think it would be best if my time with Claire is one-on-one for now.”
“My presence is a problem?” His eyes narrowed in challenge.
“What I’m saying is that I think your daughter has a lot going on in her head right now. It’s normal for her to be confused. And angry.”
“What? Angry? She hasn’t been angry. I only wish she’d show emotion.”
“I’ve been where Claire is. Trust me. She’s angry, all right. If she’s reaching out to a stranger for help when she’s hit rock bottom, then she’s very needy, as well. How long has it been since she lost her mother?”
“Six months. But her mother had been sick for almost a year. Claire was living with the local pastor’s family for some time. They tracked me down about six weeks ago.” Matt paused. “Fact is, I, um... I didn’t even know I had a daughter.”
Her head jerked back in surprise. “You just met Claire?”
He nodded. “Yeah.”
Anne swallowed, trying to fit all the pieces of the timeline together. There were too many questions that she didn’t have the courage to ask right now because the answers were something she wasn’t ready to deal with.
“For the record, all I want is what’s best for Claire,” Matt said. “Tell me what to do and I’ll do it. I’ll do anything I have to do to ensure she gets better.”
“Her world is chaos right now. If I can provide a safe place for her emotionally, then I’ll be able to encourage her to participate in her care.”
“Okay. Sure.” Matt cleared his throat. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to sound so defensive before.” He raised a hand in gesture. “Look, Anne, I want to apologize for all this.”
“This?”
“Inviting ourselves to your home. Barging into your life. It wasn’t my idea.”
“I realize that. But I like your daughter and, as I said, if this will encourage her to take an interest in her health, then it’s a win-win. Right?”
“It seems to me that I’m getting more out of the deal than you are.”
Anne nodded to the back of the house where her aunt and Claire now sat outside on the deck in oversize wicker rockers.
“Aunt Lily is thrilled to have company. I haven’t seen her so excited in a long time. Most of her friends have either passed away, are unable to drive or are in a residential care facility in Alamosa. She gets a monthly visit from the Paradise Women’s Auxiliary, and occasionally goes to Alamosa, but most of the time she’s bored. This is a real treat.”
“If you say so, but I can’t help but think that your arm was twisted.”
“I can assure you that it was my decision. I’m not easily persuaded to do what I don’t want to do, and I’m happy to do this for Claire.”
“Right. For Claire.” He cleared his throat. “So you don’t find this whole situation awkward?”
“Excuse me?”
He stopped walking. “Anne?”
She was forced to look him at him. The blue eyes were unwavering as they searched her face.
“How long are you going to continue to ignore the elephant in the room?” he asked quietly.
Releasing a breath, Anne stared straight out toward the faded wood of the old barn, imagining herself anywhere but here right now. “I’m hardly ignoring anything,” she said, her voice harsher than she’d planned.
She heard his sharp breath before he spoke.
“Shouldn’t I be the one harboring a resentful attitude?” he said.
“Is that how I sound? I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be short.” She, too, took a calming breath. “I want you to know that I find this just as awkward as you do, Matt, probably more so. I keep trying to remember that we were kids back then. We’re adults now. We’ve moved on.”
“Moved on. Is that what we grown-ups have done?”
“Yes. Of course.”
“No regrets, huh?”
She sighed, suddenly weary. “Is this really the time to discuss the past?”
“If not now, when?”
She faced him again. His jaw was set as if he was biting back words.
“What do you want from me, Matt?”
“Maybe a few answers. Closure.”
“All this time and you haven’t had closure?” She looked pointedly across the lawn to where Claire now stood on the steps, her gaze on them, waiting.
“Isn’t your daughter evidence that you closed the door on your past a long time ago?”
He winced. “Claire was conceived during a period when I was hurting and confused. Her mother and I were passing strangers. That wasn’t a time in my life I�
�m proud of.”
Anne looked away, not sure she wanted to hear any more and, at the same time, knowing she’d asked for this.
“All I’m saying is that I’d like some time to talk. Don’t you think maybe you owe me that much?”
“Owe you?” She shook her head. “I’m not keeping score. The only thing I know for certain is that we have the same goals right now. That’s your daughter’s health. You and I can talk if you insist. However, not until Claire is on the road to recovery.”
“Fair enough,” he returned. “I’ll hold you to that.”
Anne nodded. Of course he would, and maybe she did owe him that much, though she wasn’t brave enough to admit he was right just yet.
* * *
Anne’s words rang in Matt’s ears as he moved cautiously on his crutches to the farthest area of the yard where Stanley sat at the base of a tree, watching a squirrel.
Isn’t your daughter evidence that you closed the door on your past a long time ago?
She’d hit him right at his most vulnerable point. He shook his head. There was no way to adequately explain the pain he’d been in ten years ago without making his daughter’s conception sound like a mistake.
And she wasn’t a mistake.
Claire was a beautiful and unexpected blessing in his life. A gift he discovered much too late.
The only mistake was his turning from God in a moment of weakness. He’d thought that nothing else could sting worse than his own self-loathing. He was wrong. Anne had cut him to the core, making him forget for a minute that the Lord had long ago forgiven him for those particular sins.
He eased down onto one of the stone benches that had been placed strategically along the perimeter of the yard and next to overflowing urns of seasonal red and yellow flowers.
“Come on, buddy, leave the squirrel alone.”
Stanley whined and then turned away, only to bury his nose in a container of bright blossoms and nuzzle the blooms with his head.
“Yeah. Leave the flowers alone, too. Let’s try not to get Anne any more irritated than we have to right now.”
Matt stood and hooked the leash to the dog’s collar before gently urging the Lab toward the hard dirt path beyond the apple orchard.
Rocky Mountain Reunion Page 5