When Love Arrives

by Johnnie Alexander

  But what about the ache in her heart?

  Brett returned home after a detour to the hospital, where a clear green light shone from Jonah’s window. He took a glass of iced tea to his bedroom and set it on top of a mahogany nightstand along with his phone and wallet. He started to sit on the bed to take off his shoes, but something drew him to the ebony box on top of his dresser. The rings, the amethyst and the diamond solitaire, were nestled inside.

  He sat on the edge of the bed, opened the lid, and picked up Tracie’s ring.

  Or was it?

  She’d probably bought it with his money, impatient for him to buy a ring for her. But that had never been part of his plan.

  Still clutching the ring, he leaned against the headboard, stretching his legs along the comforter and crossing his ankles. Tonight’s events played in his mind, from the argument with Amy to the rare heart-to-heart with AJ. And in between, the refuge of Dani’s company. Until he lost control.

  How was he going to make things right with her?

  He stared at the ring, angling the diamond chips surrounding the stone to catch the light from the nearby lamp. AJ believed, actually believed, God told him to make things right with Meghan. But that was what Brett had been trying to do since he’d learned of Jonah’s existence.

  Anything he did for her, for Jonah, had to be done in secret because she refused to forgive him.

  Somehow, by staring into the depths of the amethyst stone, he confronted what was expected of him.

  He tried to resist the message pressing against his spirit. It demanded too much of him, and Tracie would never understand.

  But the impression persisted. He needed to apologize to Tracie, for his sake as much as hers.

  And then what? Apologize to every woman he’d ever dated? He couldn’t think about that right now.

  He put the amethyst ring back in the box and took the solitaire from its case, then angled the fine diamond in the lamplight. Dani had been intrigued with the ring and its story. Sully, the returning war veteran, had loved Aubrey then lost her. The anger he harbored found its revenge decades later when he took over the mortgage on Misty Willow. The grab had probably been illegal, but Aubrey’s husband had died in a horrible accident before he could save the farm. Stricken with grief, Aubrey died soon after.

  The repercussions from those long-ago events echoed through the years. Decisions made. Vengeance executed. Hearts broken.

  If only Sully could have foreseen the misery unleashed by his rage. Perhaps things would have been different.

  Even in the meager lamplight, the diamond—a symbol of lost love, of spurned love—sparked its mesmerizing fire.

  “Why did Sully hold on to you,” Brett murmured, “when all you meant to him was pain?”

  – 31 –

  The next day, Brett opted to eat lunch in the office as he worked through the numerous folders on his desk. The pile that faced him would have been even worse without Kimberly’s organizational expertise. Certain files he expected to read through now came with an abstract, a template she created that provided pertinent information in an accessible format. The corresponding paperwork was labeled and tabbed for easy reference.

  Still, he had several more projects to review before he could call it a day. Not that he minded. The heavy workload kept his thoughts from being consumed with Dani. Absorbed by work, now he thought of her every other minute instead of every one.

  He needed to do something to make amends for walking out on her. But neither a text nor a phone call seemed appropriate. Of course, there was always flowers.

  But what message would that send? What message did he want to send?

  After a sleepless night trying to figure it out, he still didn’t know.

  And what about their date tonight? With anyone else, he just wouldn’t show up. His conscience pricked him as he remembered doing exactly that with Shelby. She had discovered he and AJ were cousins—a relevant fact Brett had purposely kept from her—a few hours before their planned first date.

  But Shelby knew Brett would back out. And she wouldn’t have gone out with him if he’d shown up at her door.

  This situation wasn’t the same. If Dani was expecting him and he didn’t show up, she’d be hurt. If she expected him to back out and he showed up—well, at least he wouldn’t be a jerk. And maybe by then, he’d have figured out some way to explain his rude departure without sounding like the sleazeball she already thought him to be.

  He had to keep the date, that much was certain, no matter how awkward the circumstances. Time to call in reinforcements.

  He’d just hung up from talking with AJ when his phone rang. The jeweler, returning his call. After a brief chat, he clicked the end button, then swirled around to gaze at the Columbus skyline. He tapped his phone against the chair arm.

  Before going to bed last night, he’d gone online and searched his credit card statements. A four-figure amount had been spent at a local jewelry store only a week after he and Tracie began dating.

  The jeweler remembered Tracie. No surprise there. Heads turned wherever they’d gone together, and Brett’s chest had puffed with pride at the obvious jealousy of every other man in the vicinity. The shallowness he’d indulged in now made him sick.

  But at least he had the answer. Tracie had purchased the ring with his credit card. Whether or not she’d left it behind on purpose, he didn’t know. But since it was purchased with his money, he had no obligation to return it to her. If that had been her ploy, to have an excuse to see him again, it wasn’t going to work.

  Though he supposed if that had been her plan, she would have contacted him by now. Perhaps she accidentally left it behind.

  The jeweler had offered, albeit reluctantly, to take the ring back. Brett almost agreed, but the same sensation he’d felt when examining the ring last night pressed upon him again.

  But how could saying “I’m sorry” make any difference?

  He couldn’t fathom an answer, but the feeling wouldn’t let him go.

  Taking a deep breath, he dialed Tracie’s number. The phone rang, then went to voicemail. He ended the call and typed out a text. We need to talk.

  He hesitated before sending it.

  Chances were, she wouldn’t respond. Unless he piqued her curiosity. Or she thought there was a possibility of them getting back together. She might not miss him, but she undoubtedly missed his money.

  He deleted the message and typed a new one. Any chance of seeing you this weekend? I’d like to talk.

  That should do it. She’d make him wait for an answer till at least tomorrow. But in the end, she’d agree to meet. She wouldn’t be able to help herself.

  Tracie thought she was clever and irresistible. But actually she was only predictable.

  Not at all like Dani. He never knew what she was going to say or do. Like that first night, telling him her name was Regina Lampert.

  It had happened again.

  Without meaning to, his thoughts had seesawed back and forth, then returned to the naïve waif who never seemed far from his mind.

  He ran his fingers over his mouth as the memory of their kiss lingered around him. Gaining control of his thoughts before they wandered down the road he didn’t dare travel, he swiveled back to his desk and grabbed the next folder on the pile.

  Concentrating on work was the only way to keep Dani out of his thoughts.

  Dani’s phone only rang a few times during the day, but each time, her heart seized in her throat. She both hoped and feared it’d be Brett. But it never was. So did that mean they still had a date for this evening? What if she got ready and he didn’t come? What if she didn’t get ready, and he did?

  Either way, this was going to be awkward.

  “Is something wrong?” Shelby’s voice broke into her thoughts. “You look like you’re a million miles away.”

  “I’m sorry. I guess I was.” Dani glanced at her notes. “Let’s see, I have interviews set up with the archaeology crew for next week. Dr. Kess
ler arranged for the film department to help out with that. While they’re here, perhaps they could shoot footage in the secret room.”

  Shelby had shown Dani the trapdoor in the hallway closet that accessed the room one Sunday afternoon while AJ had the girls preoccupied outside. Though Elizabeth knew the room existed, Shelby didn’t want her knowing where it was.

  Descending the ladder had been like stepping back into the past. Plywood covered most of the dirt floor, and wooden bunks formed an L against two of the brick-lined walls. The only other furniture was a ramshackle table.

  Part of their renovation plan included placing straw-filled mattresses covered in ticking and antique quilts on the bunk beds. But Dani wanted before footage too.

  “Elizabeth will probably be in school when the film crew is here,” Shelby said. “I’ll ask Cassie Owens to watch Tabby so she won’t be underfoot.”

  “We also need to videotape you talking about your family and the history of this place.”

  “Will you give me a script?”

  “More like an outline. That way, you’ll be more natural.”

  “I don’t know, Dani. I get nervous just thinking about it.”

  “The trick is to tell the stories as if you’re talking to a good friend. Like you’ve told them to me. And it doesn’t matter if you flub something up. We’ll work all that out in editing.”

  Shelby released a pent-up sigh, then smiled. “I’m so glad Brett found you. God has answered all my prayers. Even the ones I didn’t know to pray.”

  Dani’s eyes narrowed in confusion. “Does that happen often?”

  “What?”

  “What you just said. God answers prayers you didn’t know to pray.”

  “Fairly often, yes.”

  The concept seemed strange, even mysterious. Dani hadn’t prayed since she was a child, but throughout her life she experienced unexplained times when she’d felt oddly protected. A foster home placement that got canceled at the last minute when the dad was arrested for selling drugs. A family stopping to help her when she had a flat tire on a lonely road. Could it have been God? Was he paying attention to her when no one else did? Did he answer the unprayed prayers of her heart?

  “Why do you suppose God answers prayers you don’t pray and then doesn’t answer prayers that you do?” Dani asked. “I know people say he always answers prayer. The whole ‘yes, no, wait’ thing.” A minister who came to one of the group homes she’d stayed in for a while had stressed those three responses to every prayer.

  “I can’t explain it,” Shelby said. “I’m not sure anyone can. Sometimes awful things happen to the best people, and we don’t know why. When my grandparents died, I was devastated. It still hurts. But I believe with all my heart that God’s love is steadfast. No matter what happens.”

  “Did you blame God?”

  “I was angry with him.” Shelby gestured around the room. “I came back here to reclaim my grandparents’ home, a heritage that was rightly mine.”

  “Then why are you giving it up?”

  “It’s complicated. I’d like to live the rest of my life in this house, but the foundation protects the land from developers. That’s the best way for me to protect the Lassiter heritage. Besides, I realized my grandparents’ legacy wasn’t just a house or a farm. It was their godly examples, their standing in the community. The people who loved them.”

  Dani sunk in her seat, her body suddenly tired, as if bowing under the weight of a heavy burden. She didn’t have a heritage to protect, only one to hide. Her deepest, darkest secret was her private relief that her mom had married. As much as she grew to loathe her stepdad, she’d been grateful not to share Mom’s last name.

  When the plane crashed, all of Dani’s classmates seemed to know about it. Even before the blame had been placed at Mom’s feet, Dani had been ashamed—and ashamed of her shame. It was as if her mom had done something awful simply by dying. The other students stared and whispered, and Dani had retreated into a dark and lonesome place.

  She changed schools almost as often as she changed homes. Being the new girl meant not fitting in, and she stopped trying. She was in college before she trusted anyone with the truth about the plane crash. Only Jeanie, her friend in Boise who was once her roommate, knew that Leslie Mercer, the pilot responsible for the deaths of four prominent members of Columbus society, was Dani’s mom.

  At Shelby’s touch on her hand, Dani practically jumped out of her seat. She laughed self-consciously and apologized. “I guess I was somewhere else.”

  “I won’t pry,” Shelby said. “But if you need someone to talk to, well, I know what it’s like to need a friend.”

  Dani sucked in her lip to bite back the secret her heart wanted to spill. Shelby knew what it was like to lose family she loved. She’d understand Dani’s sorrow at losing her mom. But AJ wouldn’t. Dani didn’t want him to know the truth, and she couldn’t burden Shelby with keeping the secret from her fiancé.

  Nor could she find the courage to tell Shelby what happened last night. Her face warmed at the memory of Brett’s arms around her, his kiss overwhelming her senses.

  His quick departure.

  Confessing her stupid attempt at playing detective was completely out of the question. In the perfect vision of hindsight, the scheme to somehow humiliate Brett sounded like the farfetched plot of a third-rate movie even to her. Shelby would be appalled.

  Dani didn’t know whether to feel like a failure because she didn’t have the brains to come up with a solid plan or to feel like a doofus for even attempting one. She did know that leaving Cincinnati had turned out to be a good thing. Already she loved the cottage and Misty Willow.

  But how long would she be able to stay?

  “Did you and Brett have a fight?”

  “No,” Dani said slowly, but her cheeks flushed. “You make it sound like we’re a couple. We’re not.”

  “But we’re all going out tonight, right?”

  “What?”

  “AJ texted before you got here. He said Brett invited us to go to Boyd’s with you this evening.”

  So he wasn’t going to cancel. But he didn’t want to be alone with her either.

  “He hadn’t told me.”

  “If you’d rather we didn’t—”

  “No, I want you to come,” Dani said hurriedly. “Please do.”

  “Only if you’re sure.”

  “It’ll be fun.”

  “I think so too.” Shelby smiled, then gave an exasperated sigh. “But Brett should have asked you first before inviting us. Typical of him. He’s not the most thoughtful guy in the world.”

  Perhaps not from Shelby’s perspective. But he’d been more than thoughtful to Dani—creating a job for her, finding her a home. But Shelby obviously knew a different side to him. The one Dani had expected to find.

  “Too used to getting his own way, I suppose,” she said, trying to be flippant.

  “You suppose right.” Shelby chuckled. “Though he does surprise me sometimes. He dropped by once when I was trying to make the flower bed out front and having a horrible time with the tiller. He finished the job for me. Didn’t even care about getting his clothes dirty.”

  Dani hesitated, then spit out the question before she could change her mind. “Have you met any of the women he’s dated?”

  “Only Tracie. And only once.”

  “Did you like her?”

  “To be honest, I felt sorry for her.”

  “He broke her heart, didn’t he?”

  “She didn’t really love him, but, well, it doesn’t matter, does it? She’s out of his life, and you’re in it.”

  She was in it all right. More than Shelby or even Brett knew. Their lives had become entwined the day her mom had agreed to fly Brett’s parents to Martha’s Vineyard. Some fancy charity event they attended every year.

  “They think a private charter impresses that crowd,” Mom had said. “I doubt it does, but so what? We put up with their fancy airs and pocket their money.
”

  From anyone else, the words would have echoed with their own arrogance. But not from Mom. She didn’t merely say them—she acted them out. Strutting around the room with her nose in the air, then jamming her hands in her pockets with a smile and a laugh. Dani had laughed too.

  Less than twenty-four hours later, her secure world had been turned upside down, inside out, and set on a trajectory that zigzagged from her stepdad’s custody to foster care and back again.

  At least Brett had been spared that.

  “You’re far away again.” Shelby’s soft voice entered Dani’s thoughts. “We could take a break if you want.”

  “No, it’s fine. I was just thinking.”

  “About Brett?”

  Dani scrambled for a response. “And Amy. He’s worried about her.”

  “I know. AJ is too.”

  “Why won’t she let them help her?”

  “With Amy, one never knows.”

  “He’s a good man, isn’t he?”

  “Brett? Yes, I believe he is.” Shelby laid down her pen and rested her chin on her hands. “He’s changed in the past few weeks. Before, he and AJ were practically estranged, but now they’re in touch almost every day.”

  “What changed him?”

  “I can’t say for sure, but I think it started when he found out about Jonah. I wish Meghan would forgive him. I pray for that every day.”

  “What’s she like?”

  “She’s nice. I really like her. And she’s very talented.”

  “Oh?”

  “Mmmhmm. She’s an artist. Actually, she made that stained-glass piece in the cottage.”

  “She did?” Each morning, the sun’s rays set the red, yellow, purple, and green of the glass ablaze. “I’ve fallen in love with it.”

  “AJ bought it because it reminded him of Glade Creek,” Shelby continued. “Of course, Meghan doesn’t get to work much now, but she volunteers at the hospital. Does arts and crafts with the patients and their siblings.”