by Beth Wiseman
“That was Julie’s greenhouse,” he said as he pointed to the structure. “I don’t have a green thumb to save my life.” He nodded toward the flowers filling the flower beds around the house. “I paid Bargas Landscaping to put those flowers in.”
“How many acres do you have?”
“Four hundred and sixty, but most of it is leased to Bill Walsh to run his cattle on. Taking care of me and Cara is about all I can handle.” He pointed to his left. “All those Longhorns are Bill’s.”
Darlene stepped out of the car, feeling even more underdressed than she did before. Dave was perfectly put together, as always, in his tan khaki shorts and a white button-down polo shirt. Does the man ever even sweat? Darlene dabbed at her forehead as she followed him up to the front door.
The entryway was gorgeous, a large chandelier hanging overhead, and to the left was a large granite hutch with a display of pictures. Darlene picked up one of the pictures. “Is this Julie?”
Dave flipped a light on, then walked closer. “Yes.”
“She’s beautiful.” Darlene studied the women’s exquisite features, her long dark hair, stunning blue eyes.
Dave’s hand landed on Darlene’s as he reached for the picture and looked at it for a moment. “Yes, she is.” He gazed at the photo for a few moments before giving his head a quick shake. “Come on in. Make yourself at home. I’ll get us something cold to drink.”
Darlene looked around the massive living room and wondered why he and Cara needed all this space, but the property was in a prime location and beautiful. If he could afford it, why not?
Dave returned a minute later and handed her a glass of iced tea. She took several large gulps before she asked, “So what did you want to show me?”
“Oh. Cara’s paintings.”
“Paintings?”
Dave motioned for her to follow him down a long hallway. He walked into a room on the left that reminded Darlene of Grace’s room. Lots of pink. Hanging on the wall was a picture of a chicken, not painted in traditional colors, but in unusual shades of red and blue speckled with white dots. Darlene knew nothing about art, but if someone had told her the piece was worth fifty thousand at an art gallery, she would have believed them. It wasn’t just the vivid colors, but the expression on the chicken’s face, almost as if the bird was staring right through her. “Dave, that’s amazing. When did she do that?”
“Last week. She still brings home pictures that she’s drawn at school, and some of them are really good. So I bought her a starter set of acrylics, and this is what she came up with.” He smiled. “I couldn’t believe it. So I bought her more paints.” He waved with his hand. “Follow me. I’ve got one in my study and one in my bedroom too.”
They walked into a large room with an oak desk, a large bookcase, and a sliding glass door that led out into a garden with another small fountain. Dave pointed to a framed painting of a house that hung on the wall. It was in the same color scheme as the chicken, but this was almost abstract. Darlene studied the painting, surprised at Cara’s abilities. Cara’s pencil drawings at school had been good, but nothing like this. She’d often heard that autistic children sometimes possessed a special talent, but most did not. Perhaps Cara was just now discovering her hidden passion for art.
“And the last one is in my room.”
Darlene followed Dave into his bedroom, which felt a little strange, a little too intimate, like the way she felt at the gala when they were dancing. But she looked where he was pointing. Hanging above his dresser was another framed painting.
She edged closer, unable to take her eyes off it. “Dave . . .” She reached up to touch it, then stopped and just stared in disbelief. She turned to face him. “It’s you.”
He walked up beside her. “Yeah. Isn’t it amazing?”
“Cara has real talent,” Darlene said as she looked at the intricate details of Dave’s face set against a background of various shades of green. “How did she . . . I mean, wow.” She smiled. “Her drawings were always good, but who would have thought she could paint something like this? It’s beautiful. Truly amazing.”
When he didn’t answer, Darlene turned to face him. He was staring at the painting also. “Yeah, I just couldn’t believe it.” After a while, he snapped out of the trance he was in and turned to face her. “Come on. I’ll show you the rest of the house.”
Darlene waited until he was closing the door behind them before she glanced at her watch. Brad had asked her to sign for a package today, but she knew UPS always came between four and five. It was just three o’clock.
Four bedrooms, three and a half bathrooms, a sunroom, media room, and game room later, the tour was complete.
“It’s gorgeous,” she said as they walked back into the living room.
“Thanks. I thought about selling it after Julie died, but this is the only home Cara has ever known, so it just makes sense to keep her where she’s comfortable.” He motioned for Darlene to sit. “So when does school start?”
“Monday.” She took a deep breath. “I’m always glad for summer so I can have time with the kids, then I’m always ready for them to go back to school. But I’m—” She stopped, brought a finger to her lips.
“You’re worried about Grace.” Dave sat down beside her on the couch, turned to face her.
“Yeah. I am. And I know I’ve got to quit hovering over her so much.” Darlene grinned. “She told me to quit doing that. But it’s hard. I want to be with her every second now just to make sure that she doesn’t . . .” She raised one shoulder, forced a smile. “I’m sure she’ll be fine.”
“What about Brad? Things better?”
“Well, it’s not any worse.” The moment the words slipped from her mouth, she regretted them. Her relationship with Brad was none of Dave’s business, yet she was already guilty of involving him in it. “I mean, we’re okay.”
Dave crossed one leg over the other and rubbed his chin for a few moments. “Marriage is hard, no doubt. But I’d do anything to have one more day to be with Julie, even if we spent the entire day fighting.”
His comment put things in perspective. She couldn’t imagine her life without Brad.
They were quiet for a few moments, then Dave sat taller. “Hey, I have a proposition for you.”
“What?” She blinked her eyes a few times as she felt her cheeks warm.
“Relax, Darlene.” He chuckled. “Maybe proposition wasn’t the right word. I was going to ask you the next time I saw you if I could bring Cara to see the chickens. She mentioned them for the first time recently, and I thought it would be a nice treat for her. And I think enough time has gone by that she won’t cry when she sees you.” He paused when Darlene dropped her chin. “I didn’t say that to make you feel bad. You know what I mean.”
“You can bring Cara to see the chickens anytime.” She looked up at him and smiled, relieved to hear that the proposition involved Cara.
“That would be great. Otherwise, I’ll be forced to buy some chickens, and I’m not excited about that idea.”
Darlene looked at her watch, then stood up. “Oops. I’ve gotta go. Brad is expecting something from UPS, and maybe I won’t miss the delivery guy if we hurry. It’s the last few days of summer, and I have a feeling my children might be running around enjoying it and not home to accept the package.”
“Sure.” Dave rose also, reached into his pocket for his keys, and motioned her toward the door.
Neither Chad’s nor Grace’s car was in the driveway when Darlene got home, so she hurried inside to the designated note spot on the counter. Went to Skylar’s. Love, Grace. And Riding horses at Layla’s. Love, Chad and Ansley. The second note was in Ansley’s handwriting, and Darlene cringed at the thought of either of her kids on a horse. To her knowledge, they’d never ridden before, but surely they were riding under Layla’s supervision.
But she was glad Grace was at Skylar’s. She’d looked by the front door and in the mailbox and hadn’t seen anything from UPS. She wondered if she
’d missed it. When she’d asked Brad what he was expecting, he’d just said, “Something I ordered online.” She suspected it was the gift he’d mentioned when they went to dinner to celebrate her new job.
As she sat down on the couch, she couldn’t shake the feeling deep in her gut, and she finally allowed herself to admit it: Dave Schroeder was hitting on her. It had been so long that she almost didn’t recognize the signs, but the way he looked at her, talked with her . . . the way he’d held her at the gala.
Guilt wrapped around her so tightly she couldn’t breathe. She put her hand on her chest as she stood up and walked across the living room, resolved that she would never allow herself to be alone with him again. If he brought Cara to see the chickens, that was fine, but that was it.
Hurry home, Brad.
She wanted to wrap her arms around him, tell him she was sorry about the words they’d had and the distance between them lately, then spend the rest of the evening together.
But no sooner had the thought crossed her mind than Brad burst through the door. And he began yelling. Loudly. At her.
Chapter Sixteen
“Stop screaming!” Darlene yelled back at him after he’d unloaded on her. “I just got home and got Ansley’s note.”
“Well, I stopped when I saw her and Chad on my way home, and I told them to get their butts home.” He chucked his briefcase on the couch. “They’ve never ridden horses before, and Chad was running his horse like he was some sort of cowboy or something.”
“Was Layla with them?”
“Yeah, she was out there, but those kids shouldn’t be on horses. They have no idea what they’re doing.”
“Brad . . .” She spoke calmly as she followed him into the kitchen. “I’m sure Layla wouldn’t put them on a horse unless she felt it was safe.” Darlene had counted on that, and in her effort not to be so overprotective, she hadn’t felt the need to rush over to Layla’s and drag them home.
Brad picked up the note. “They didn’t even ask. They just went. Where were you?”
She flinched at his accusatory tone. “I went shopping. I haven’t even unloaded the car.” She touched his arm. “You heard Layla tell them at dinner the other night that they could ride the horses sometime.”
Brad loosened his tie, her hand slipping from his arm. “And did you not hear me tell them that they needed some training before they just jumped on the back of a horse?”
“Well, what better person to train them than Layla?” She made the mistake of smiling.
Brad glared at her. “I’m serious, Darlene. I can’t take it if one more thing happens to our children. After all Chad’s stuff in Houston, now Grace . . .” He shook his head. “I don’t want anything else happening to our kids.”
Despite the harsh words they’d exchanged, it was clear to Darlene that Brad was just overwhelmed with worry. Determined to get past the way he was talking to her, she put her arms around his waist and squeezed. “Grace is going to be fine, and nothing is going to happen.”
Brad eased her away, took a deep breath. “Where’s my package?”
“Oops.” Darlene frowned. “Sorry. I’m not sure if I got home in time. But I didn’t see a note from UPS or anything. What is it anyway?”
“Nothing important, apparently.”
She took a deep breath as her heart thudded a little too hard in her chest, a reminder about why she was late, fueled by the knowledge that the package was possibly a gift for her. “I’m sorry.”
When he didn’t say anything, Darlene pulled a package of chicken from the refrigerator, then turned when she heard the front door slam. “Someone’s home.”
Chad and Ansley scurried into the kitchen, and Ansley went straight to the refrigerator and pulled out the tea pitcher. “Want some, Chad?” Without waiting for an answer, Ansley pulled two glasses from the cabinet.
“Man, what a ride!” Chad walked to Ansley’s side and picked up one of the glasses she’d filled. “Thanks.” Then he turned to his father. “It’s cool, Dad. Really. The horses are super gentle.”
Brad’s face reddened. “I told you the other night not to get on the horses without me or your mom around, or until you had some training.”
Ansley stepped forward. “Layla told us exactly what to do, and it was a blast, Daddy!”
“Yeah, that’s the most fun I’ve had in a long time. The minute she opened the gate to the main pasture, the horses knew to run, and they just took off with us.” Chad gulped down the rest of his tea as Brad’s face turned a darker shade of red. He pointed a finger at Chad.
“No more riding the horses.”
Chad sighed. “Yes, sir.”
Then Brad turned to Darlene. “Can you please talk to Layla and tell her not to put my children on those horses again without our permission? I’m sure she heard me say that I didn’t want them on the horses yet.”
Darlene nodded before Brad walked out of the kitchen, and a few moments later, Grace walked in with Skylar.
“Hi, girls.” Darlene smiled. “How was your day?”
“Good,” Grace said. “We just hung out at Skylar’s and played cards with her dad.”
Darlene turned to Skylar. “How’s your dad been feeling, Skylar?”
“He’s better. And he loves to beat Grace at spades.” Skylar smiled, as did Darlene.
“Can you stay for dinner, Skylar?” Darlene rolled the chicken in seasoned bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese.
“No. But thank you. I followed Grace home in my truck. She’s—she’s loaning me some stuff.”
“Let’s go upstairs.” Grace motioned for Skylar to follow her out of the kitchen. Darlene wondered what Grace was loaning her, but Ansley caught her attention at the refrigerator. She stood with the door open, counting her eggs.
“Fourteen dozen,” she said proudly.
Darlene walked to her daughter’s side. “Ansley Marie, we are going to eat those eggs. Do you hear me?” Darlene had already been using them secretly to cook with. With four laying hens, they were getting four eggs per day, and Ansley’s refusal to eat them was causing a huge backup in the refrigerator.
“That’s so stupid, Ansley,” Chad said, shaking his head. “Why are you saving those eggs?” Then he walked closer to her. “I boiled a dozen of them just last week, and Mom uses them all the time for cooking.”
Ansley narrowed her eyes at him. “You know what, Chad? You’re just mean.” She walked out of the kitchen.
“Why do you do that to her?” Darlene asked after Ansley was out of the room.
Chad shrugged. “Because it’s retarded the way she saves them.”
Darlene spun around. “Don’t use that word, Chad.” Then she frowned. “You need a haircut before school starts.”
“Yeah, I know.” He grabbed a banana from the counter, peeled it, and took a big bite.
Darlene put the chicken in the oven. “I wonder what Grace is loaning to Skylar.” From the little Darlene had gathered from Grace, Skylar and her father lived modestly. Darlene suspected they struggled due to his health problems and not being able to work much.
“I hope it’s some clothes,” Chad said, chuckling as he left the kitchen.
Brad fluffed his pillow, then flipped channels on the TV, finally settling on a documentary about space, one of his favorite subjects. Something to keep his mind off of life and the way he’d been acting lately. He’d been so irritable around Darlene, his kids, and his coworkers.
But even as he tried to listen to the show, his mind kept drifting. He wanted to be a better man, and all this worry was just causing him to act like a jerk. Plus, he’d never kept a secret from Darlene the way he was now. Guilt filled his days, and it definitely carried over into his interactions with his family.
All he wanted to do was to take his wife in his arms and love her the way she deserved to be loved, but he doubted she even wanted to be around him after the way he’d been behaving. He repositioned himself and tuned back in to the show. The narrator was discussing a new black
hole found in a far-off galaxy. That’s how he felt. Like he was in a black hole in a far-off galaxy, and there was no light, no escape.
He looked up when Darlene walked out of the bathroom and toward the bed in a short white nightgown. As she edged toward the bed, her blond hair flowing to her shoulders and still damp from her shower, he could smell her long before she reached him. He breathed in the scent of lavender as she sat down on the bed beside him, and he just stared at her for a moment. How was it possible that she was even more beautiful than the day he married her? He knew he was a lucky man. She climbed into bed, pressed her body next to his, then leaned up and kissed him tenderly on the mouth.
She smiled. “Who do you love?”
Brad swallowed hard, a knot the size of a golf ball in his throat. “You, baby,” he managed to croak out in a raspy voice.
She kissed him again, and Brad pulled her closer. He could feel her heart beating against his chest, and he wondered if she could feel his accelerated pulse. As much as he could, he shifted his attention to his wife, but in the back of his mind, he couldn’t stop thinking about the secret he was keeping from her.
Friday morning, the kids were still sleeping at nine o’clock in the morning, but Darlene could see Layla from her front porch, riding her horse in a far pasture. She slipped on her tennis shoes, then grabbed her keys. A few minutes later, she was turning into Layla’s driveway.
“You look like you just crawled out of bed,” Layla said as she dismounted from her horse.
“Leave it to you to always make me feel my best, Layla.” Darlene sipped from a cup of coffee she’d brought with her. “Got a minute?”
“Uh-oh. What’s wrong?” Layla frowned, one hand on her hip. “You have that look.”
“What look?”
“That serious look you get sometimes.” Layla sighed. “Let’s go in. It’s hot out here already.”
Darlene followed Layla in, all the way to the kitchen. She waited while Layla drank some water, then they both sat down at the kitchen table.