“Mommy makes the bestest pancakes, Eddy.” Mandy took the teen’s hand and led him to the sink. “We always hafta wash our hands before we eat. Ya go first.”
Dazed, Eddy did as the five-year-old commanded. Dane suppressed his laugh at the way his daughter had taken over.
* * *
“He was the one you were with the other night?” Zoey asked when the kitchen was finally cleared of their children and Eddy, who had gone home.
Dane lifted his mug to his lips and took a long sip. When he put it on the table, he looked at her. “Yes.”
“What’s going on? He has a black eye and a bandage over the other, and I noticed he was limping. What happened the other night? Did he get into a fight?”
Dane studied the contents of his mug. “Honestly, I’m not sure what went on. I don’t think there really was a fight. I think it was totally one-sided, with Eddy on the wrong side.”
“Who did that to him?”
“I believe Clark Norton and a few of his buddies.”
Zoey sucked in her breath. “Clark? He can be a bit reckless, but all the kids seem to like him. As I said earlier, he’s an A student.”
“I know what I saw. I saw Eddy being pushed from a moving truck—Clark’s moving truck.”
Shock rendered Zoey speechless. She couldn’t rid her mind of the picture of Eddy tumbling from Clark’s red truck. “Why?”
“I’m working on that. Eddy isn’t too forthcoming.” Dane started to say something, stopped and glanced away.
“Is there more?”
“It isn’t my place to tell you. It’s Eddy’s story.”
“You promised him you wouldn’t say anything?”
Dane nodded, cradled his mug in his hands and sipped at his coffee.
“What’s going on in Sweetwater, Dane?”
“Have the Nortons lived here long?”
“About a year. Clark’s father was transferred to the bank and promoted to president. They’ve been active at the church and prominent in community activities.”
“Well, I think they have a son who is trouble.”
“Is he why you want to come to church?”
“Yep. I want to meet this Clark Norton. Size him up.”
“You sound like you’re going to war.”
Dane rose and leaned forward, his fists resting on the table. “I’m gonna fight for Eddy.”
“Fight?”
“I don’t mean physically. Eddy needs a friend who’ll stand up for him, help him.”
“Eddy has a father.”
Dane snorted and made his way toward the sink to put his mug in it.
“Dane, what’s wrong with Eddy’s father?” Zoey stood and faced her husband.
“Let’s just say the man has his own problems.”
“Yes, I know about his wife running out on him. That has to be tough.” She’d had a taste of what it felt like to be abandoned, even though Dane hadn’t chosen to leave them.
“He has a son who’s hurting, too. He should…” Dane’s voice faded into the silence. “Listen to me.” He closed his eyes, lowering his head. “We could be talking about Blake.”
“Yes.”
Dane pivoted toward the counter, pressing into it as though it were the only thing holding him up. “I’m as guilty as Eddy’s dad. I’ve torn this family apart and done nothing to put it back together.” He scrubbed his hands down his face as though trying to wipe something from his mind.
The agony in Dane’s voice conveyed the emotions swamping her. Trembling, she clasped his shoulder. “Let me in. Let me help you, Dane. What happened in the Amazon?”
“I don’t remember. That’s the problem. I know something bad happened and I can’t remember it.”
“Yes, something bad happened. Your plane went down.”
He shook his head. “No, before that.” He turned toward her. “I just don’t know what and it’s eating at me.”
She laid her palm over his heart, feeling it pound beneath her touch. “Don’t try so hard. It doesn’t make any difference now. You’re home safe.”
“A chunk of my life is gone. For a man who likes to be in control, I feel helpless.”
She’d always known control was important to him. “Control is an illusion.”
“I don’t accept that we don’t have choices in our life.”
“I’m not saying that. I’ve seen too many times I thought I had things under control, and I never really did. But when you turn your life over to the Lord, you put control in His hands. Your choices are guided by Him.”
He covered her hand on his chest. “I don’t know how to turn my life over to anyone.”
She wanted to make him see how easy it could be if only he would trust the Lord. Then control wouldn’t be what was so important to him. “It isn’t easy. You have to allow Christ into your heart. Put your faith totally in Him.”
“I’ve seen so much evil in this world, Zoey.”
The fact that Dane was discussing God with her, sharing his feelings some, spurred her to say, “All the more reason to believe in God. There’s good all around us.”
“And bad.”
“You always did say the glass was half empty rather than half full. We’d better get ready for church. You’re still coming, aren’t you?” For a few seconds her breath caught in her lungs as she waited for his answer, hopeful he still was going with them.
“Yes, but first I want to have a few words with Blake. I’ve left him alone too long. I know that now.”
“I’ll get Mandy and Tara ready to go. We need to leave in forty-five minutes.”
“I’ll be ready.”
“Do you think Eddy will be at church? He used to come a lot when his mother did. Now he only comes occasionally.”
“I don’t know, Zoey.” Dane headed for the stairs and his necessary conversation with his son.
He knocked once on Blake’s door, paused a few heartbeats, then entered his room. His son sat at his computer playing a game. He glanced toward him, frowned and continued to move his man through a maze.
“Can we talk?” Dane asked, sitting on the messy bed behind Blake.
His son battled a monster, lost and died.
Dane waited.
Blake swung around in his chair, hugging its back.
“First, I wanted to thank you for helping to paint the playhouse yesterday. We were able to finish it in time so it could dry before the rain started.”
“I did it for Mandy.”
“I know. But I still appreciated the help.”
“Sure.” Blake started to turn back to his computer.
“Second, I think we should talk about my disappearance and reappearance.”
His son’s grip on the back of the latticed chair tightened. He shifted his gaze back to Dane. “You were in the jungle. What’s there to talk about?”
“How you felt. How you feel now. You’re angry with me. You think I let you down, but son, I would have done anything to get back here if I had remembered you all.”
Blake veiled his eyes. “How could you forget us?”
“I had suffered severe injuries, including a head injury, from the plane crash. I was lucky to even be alive, but I couldn’t remember much for a long time. Slowly memories started coming back to me—more like flashes, but still I couldn’t seem to put it all together until the National Geographic team came into the village. Then things started to fall into place. I didn’t forget on purpose. I had amnesia. You know what amnesia is?”
Blake didn’t say anything. He hunched his shoulders as though he were curling in on himself.
Dane’s heartbeat slowed, a great pressure bearing down on his chest. “It’s when you don’t remember parts or all of your previous life. Traumas to the head can cause your brain to swell, to block part of your life from your memory. Sometimes your memories come back quickly, all at once. Sometimes slowly in bits and pieces. Sometimes not at all.” He thought of the few remaining gaps in his memory and wondered if they would ever be
filled in.
Blake sniffed, rubbing his hand across his nose. But Dane saw the tears leak out of his son’s eyes. Dane knelt in front of Blake, compelling his son to look at him.
“I love you, Blake.”
His son’s tears continued to pour from him. “You don’t hate me for telling you I didn’t care if you ever returned?”
Dane recalled the fight they’d had that last night before he’d gone to South America. He wasn’t going to see his son perform the lead in his class’s music program in two days. Blake had angrily shouted those words at him as he’d come to tell his son good-night and wish him good luck in the program. He would be gone before Blake got up the next morning. Dane had left knowing Blake was upset. He’d been determined to make it up to his son when he returned. He’d never gotten the chance—until now.
Dane leaned up and took Blake into his embrace. “I love you. I could never hate you. We all say things we don’t mean from time to time, especially me.”
With tears flowing down his cheeks, his son flung his arms around Dane’s neck. “Dad, I thought I had made you go away, that you weren’t coming back because of me.”
His own tears choked Dane’s throat, making it impossible to say anything for a moment. “You couldn’t keep me away.” He gave his son a squeeze then moved back. “Never.”
Blake drew in deep breaths, blinking several times. “I didn’t mean the words.”
“I know.” Dane wiped the last of the tears from his son’s cheeks. “Now if we don’t get dressed for church, your mother won’t be too happy with us.”
“You’re really going to church with us?”
Dane shoved himself to his feet. “You bet. It’s about time I got more involved in what’s going on around here.” As he declared that to his son, he realized he meant every word. He’d been licking his wounds too long—the past five weeks—and he did need to get a better handle on his life.
* * *
After the service in the rec hall at Sweetwater Community Church, Dane refilled his mug with coffee, then stepped away to allow Samuel to do the same. “I’m glad things are falling into place concerning the youth center.”
“Faster than I imagined. It seems a lot of people had been thinking about doing something like that, but it took you to bring it out into the open.” Samuel moved toward the far wall where it wasn’t as crowded. “I’m going to take a look at the building on Tuesday. Want to come along?”
“Sure. I’m not doing anything else.” And that was the problem. He needed to make some decisions about what he wanted to do. He was feeling much better, his strength almost totally returned. He needed to call Carl this week. He needed to talk to Zoey about it.
“Good. I’d like your opinion on what needs to be done.”
“I would like to talk to you about my nightmares. Mandy got scared when she heard me this morning. I don’t want to frighten my children, but I don’t seem to have much control over when they occur.” Dane didn’t know what else to do. The memory of Mandy’s fear earlier when he’d awakened from his nightmare impaled him with urgency. He would do anything not to have a repeat of that—even talk to someone about the dream.
“I’m always available if you’d like to talk. How about after we look at the building?”
“That would be great. Maybe then I could get a handle on these dilemmas plaguing me.”
“We all have problems.”
Dane saw Zoey threading her way through the crowd. She smiled and headed toward them. Seeing her caused his heart to beat faster. She was a beautiful woman inside and out. He was lucky to be married to her, and yet there was so much that was wrong with their marriage. How could he fix it? How could he recapture the closeness they’d had once?
“You two look like you’re conspiring.” Zoey stopped next to Dane.
“Making plans for the youth center. I’m going with Samuel to inspect the building on Tuesday.”
“I’d better have a word with Mr. Norton before he leaves. See you on Tuesday, Dane.” Samuel walked toward a tall, distinguished-looking man standing with several others, gesturing with his hands as he talked.
Dane studied the banker, remembering when Zoey had pointed out his son earlier to him. Clark looked a lot like his father, tall for his age with brown hair, cut conservatively, and pleasing features that probably charmed the girls. But beneath the easy smile the teen used too much, Dane had seen a hardness in his expression.
“Dane, are you okay?”
Zoey’s words came to him, pulling him away from his thoughts. “Sorry, thinking about Clark. He’s trouble, Zoey.”
“I noticed Eddy didn’t come to church.”
“That I intend to change. I’m gonna invite him to come with us next week.”
“You’re coming next week?” Zoey’s smile grew.
“Yep. This weekend I made a decision to become involved. No more hiding out at home.”
“I noticed Blake was talking to you on the way to church.”
“We actually had a good conversation this morning. He thought I had stayed away because right before I had left for South America, he had told me he didn’t care if I returned.”
“He never said anything to me. So that’s what has been eating at him.”
“Yep. I reassured him that I loved him no matter what. I think it’s a new beginning for us.”
What about us? Zoey thought, mixed emotions twisting together to knot her stomach. She was happy Dane and Blake had mended their relationship, but sadness leaked through. Watching her husband scanning the rec hall for their son, she wished their problems could be solved with a simple clearing up of a misunderstanding. Life was rarely that easy. “I came over here to get you so we can leave. Mandy has been bugging me since church was over to go home. She wants to play in her new playhouse with Mrs. Giggles and Pepper. So are you ready to go?”
“Just say the word and we’re out of here.” Dane began to make his way toward his children with her next to him.
Mr. Norton stepped in his path. “Nick told me about the new youth center. I’d like to contribute to it.”
Zoey saw the tensing of her husband’s shoulders and the flattening of his mouth a few seconds before he smiled and shook the man’s hand in greeting.
“Samuel and Nick are handling that. Any donation is appreciated,” Dane replied in an even voice.
The tight thread that ran through her husband’s words prompted Zoey to say, “Thanks, James. This center will be important to the town. Honey, we’d better get going.” Then to the banker, she added, “We have a very full afternoon.” Taking Dane’s elbow, she steered him toward Blake and his group of friends.
“Dad, Craig was telling us about the youth center we’re gonna have.”
Dane clapped his hand on his son’s shoulder. “Yep, hopefully by the end of the summer. We’re gonna renovate the building next door to the church.”
“Can we help? Dad said he thought there would be some jobs we could do,” Craig said, nodding to his friends. “What do you all think?”
A couple of the boys murmured their agreement, which sparked Dane to say, “I think that’s a great idea. Since you’ll benefit the most, it seems appropriate you have a say in how the center is renovated.”
“Are you gonna head it up?” Blake asked, an eagerness in his expression.
“I—I don’t think so. It’ll be a full-time job for someone.”
Blake frowned. “But you’re not working right now.”
“I will be soon. I have to go back to my job. My leave is almost over.”
Listening to Dane’s announcement, Zoey stiffened. She’d known he would be returning to work but had hoped it wouldn’t be this soon. “When?”
Dane glanced at her, a shadow creeping into his eyes. “I need to call Carl this week. Set up a time to go to Dallas and discuss my future.”
When her husband returned to the DEA, everything would go back to the way it was before he’d left for South America. When Dane did a job, he pu
t his all into it. That was one of the things she loved about him, his passion and dedication, until it had almost destroyed their marriage. “I see. Well, let me know when you decide to leave.” Her tone chilly, she turned away to find Mandy.
Zoey located Mandy with Allie and Cindy. She left her son and husband to round up her middle child and get Tara from the nursery. Disappointment shook her body. When Dane had talked about becoming involved, she’d allowed herself to dream that he would stay in Sweetwater and find a job here, not one with the DEA. She should have known better. His whole life was his work and that wasn’t going to change even if other aspects of him did.
* * *
“We can gut this first floor to put in a gym, taking some of the second story over there.” Samuel pointed to the back of the building. “I have a member of the church who volunteered to go through the building and make sure it’s constructively sound before we get started.”
“Good. I would hate to start tearing out walls and have the place fall down around us.” Dane walked toward the set of double front doors.
“I’m getting a lot of people coming forward to volunteer their expertise, which will cut the cost some.”
“We can put what we save into the equipment and furniture for the center.”
“You keep saying ‘we.’ Have you reconsidered heading up the center?”
Dane stepped outside, the bright spring sunlight making him squint after being inside the darkened building. “I’ll do what I can when I’m not working, but I talked to my boss in Dallas this morning. I’m flying down there next week.”
“To start work?”
He took a deep breath, the air laced with the scent of mowed grass and flowers. “We’re going to discuss my options. He’s going to bring me up to speed concerning the drug operation I was investigating that sent me to South America. I spent three years working on that case. He didn’t tell me much when I first came back from the jungle.” Dane followed Samuel, who crossed the yard to the church. “I feel like I have unfinished business involved with my job.”
“So you don’t have a choice in going back?”
“Yeah.”
“How does Zoey feel about this?”
When Dreams Come True Page 13