When Love Arrives

by Johnnie Alexander

But mostly, he’d told her things about himself he’d never revealed to anyone else.

  “Tell me something,” AJ said. “Are you mad because she left you before you could leave her? Or are you, in fact, head over heels in love with her?”

  “I don’t fall in love.”

  “You don’t like kids either. Unless, of course, their names are Jonah or Elizabeth or Tabby. And you don’t like picnics or fishing or history. Though it seems like you’ve been having a good time at Misty Willow lately. And the Lassiter Foundation wouldn’t be nearly as strong as it is without your leadership.”

  “What are you trying to say, AJ?”

  “Only that you’re not the same guy you were a few months ago.”

  “That doesn’t mean I’m going on a wild goose chase clear across the country to get down on one knee and propose to a little snoop who wants to be Audrey Hepburn.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “It doesn’t matter.”

  “No one asked you to propose to her. Just bring her back.”

  “What if she won’t come?”

  “Use the infamous Somers charm.”

  “I’m not sure that works on Dani.”

  “Maybe that’s why her charm works on you.”

  “Maybe.” He thought a moment. The trip to Richmond would take two or three days, depending on how long they stayed. “How long do you think it takes to drive to Boise?”

  “At least a couple of days.”

  “If I leave here Friday, I’ll only a few days behind her.”

  “A few days where she puts a deposit on an apartment. Starts a new job.” AJ shook his head. “You should fly out there. As soon as we get back.”

  Brett stiffened and his head spun. “You know I can’t do that.”

  “I’ll go with you.”

  “You’re going to fly?”

  “I don’t want to, but I will. Besides nothing says ‘I love you’ like facing your deepest fear.”

  “What fear did you face before telling Shelby you loved her?”

  “Finding Meghan.”

  Brett smirked. All AJ had to do was a little bit of internet research and drive to Michigan. But he wanted Brett to board an airplane and fly across the country. In the air. Without touching the ground.

  He couldn’t do it. Not even for Dani.

  The very thought of flying churned his stomach and turned his skin green.

  But the thought of being without Dani, of living his life without her, churned his stomach too. She might not come back, but he had to know why she’d left. Why she’d followed him to the hospital.

  And the real reason she’d taken those photographs.

  Dani pulled off the interstate somewhere in southwestern Iowa. After a long day’s driving, she was still less than halfway to Boise, but her eyes refused to stay open much longer. She peered through the windshield at the motel and took a deep breath. Brett wouldn’t approve of the motor inn, but then Brett wasn’t paying the bill. It’d probably be a couple of weeks or more before she got another paycheck, so she had to stretch the money in her bank account as far as possible.

  About a half hour later, she was settled on the bed, freshly showered and towel-drying her hair. Her car was parked right outside the room, and she had pushed a chair in front of the locked door. The TV was turned on, more for the company than the entertainment.

  Her phone buzzed, and she looked at the screen.

  Brett.

  Again.

  She reached for the phone, staring at his name, but resisted the temptation to answer. There was nothing to say. Not anymore.

  She waited for the buzzing to cease, then waited for the voicemail tone to ring. But it didn’t. He hadn’t left a message. Despising herself for her weakness, she clicked on the only voicemail message she had saved on her phone. His voice came through the tiny speaker.

  “It’s me, Brett.” A pause. “Just call me, okay. Please. Call me.”

  Tears trickled down her cheeks as she played the message again and again.

  Images played through her mind. His muffled laughter when she confessed to snooping. The lasagna he was so proud of though he hadn’t made it. Their conversation on his high-rise patio about the diamond his grandfather had bought in Seoul and brought home after the war to give to the woman he loved.

  A woman who loved someone else.

  The conversation seemed stuck in her mind.

  If only Sully and Aubrey had married. They’d have had other children. And perhaps those children wouldn’t have cared about flying to a charity event. Perhaps they would still be alive.

  Perhaps her mom would still be alive.

  Did all her grief trace back to Aubrey’s fickle heart?

  Those thoughts had chased themselves around her mind as she cleared up the dishes after their lasagna dinner. Thoughts she’d hidden from Brett’s probing eyes because he often seemed to know when she was keeping something from him. It was eerie, how often their thoughts were in sync with one another.

  But it didn’t mean anything.

  Because anything he’d felt for her had been destroyed when he saw his images on her camera’s screen. And anything she’d felt for him had been destroyed when he broke her camera.

  So why did she miss him so much?

  – 41 –

  Brett called Dani before picking up Amy from her apartment, again after getting settled in a Richmond hotel room that night, and a few more times as he and AJ traveled home on Wednesday. But she didn’t return his calls.

  On Thursday, he went to the office and tried losing himself in paperwork. He had a huge pile to get through since he promised to visit Amy over the weekend. But his mind wouldn’t concentrate on the plans and dollar amounts and contractual terms.

  Finally he swiveled his chair and stared through the window at the city’s skyline. Absentmindedly he reached for his phone and tapped the end on the chair arm.

  Everything he wanted was his. All his problems were being resolved.

  Jonah visibly improved every day.

  Amy was getting the professional help she needed.

  Business thrived and his portfolio fattened.

  But somewhere out beyond the Mississippi was a young woman who’d left town in a broken-down junker. And she’d taken his heart with her.

  He’d given it a lot of thought while driving back and forth to Virginia. Dani had made her decision, and he had to forget her. To think instead about all the things that were right in his life. How God had answered his prayers for Jonah and for Amy. He couldn’t expect God to resolve this too. Especially considering his history with women.

  An eye for an eye.

  After the way he’d treated Tracie and those who’d been in his bed before her, he couldn’t blame God for teaching him a tough lesson. He just never expected to be on the receiving end of deceit and rejection.

  Or for his heart to ache with such intensity.

  He swiveled around to his desk and faced the dwindling mountain of folders. A slender blue corner poked out from the thick manila stack.

  The folder Kimberly had given him a couple of weeks ago. The one with Dani’s info.

  He slid it from the pile and flipped open the cover to the first page.

  Dannaleigh Christina Prescott.

  “That’s a mouthful,” he muttered. Unusual but lovely. Like Dani herself.

  The rest of the page covered routine information. Previous employment, college graduation date and degrees. Prior addresses.

  A lot of prior addresses.

  Two were group homes for foster children. She’d been at one several months and the other for over a year.

  His eyes scanned the page, then turned to the next. Kimberly’s interview notes with the references Dani had provided were neatly formatted. Her notes from the call with the station manager were on the third page.

  Here, neatly outlined in bullet points, was the information Brett had refused to hear. The stark black type provided no nuance against the whit
e paper. Only cold facts.

  If Dani hadn’t resigned, she would have been fired. The station manager didn’t want to let her go, and wouldn’t have if he hadn’t been under pressure from higher-ups at the station.

  With the folder in hand, Brett entered the outer office. “Are you busy?”

  Kimberly turned from her computer. “Just putting the final touches on the Van Tassel project.”

  “Tell me about your phone call with Gerald Greene. The station manager in Cincinnati.”

  “You know how it is with these executive types. They won’t give out much information that’s helpful.”

  “But he said she was forced to resign.”

  “After a little sweet-talking, yes. But he also said he wasn’t comfortable with that decision. He said something about ‘politics being everywhere.’”

  “Could you get him on the phone for me?”

  “Sure.”

  Brett wandered back to his desk and picked up his cell phone. Rotate, tap. Rotate, tap.

  Kimberly’s voice murmured through the open door. A moment later, she called to him. “Mr. Greene on line one.”

  “Thanks.”

  He reached for the desk phone and punched the button. “Hello, Mr. Greene. This is Brett Somers.”

  “What can I do for you, Mr. Somers?”

  “I wanted to talk to you about Dani Prescott.”

  “What about her? Is she okay?”

  Only Dani knew the answer to that question.

  “I understand there are laws about providing references and all that, but I’m not Dani’s employer. I’m a . . . friend.”

  “I know who you are, Mr. Somers.”

  “You do?”

  “I’ve seen the YouTube video. You had the ladies here in an uproar for a week or so.”

  “Dani saw that?”

  “She did.”

  Brett rubbed his forehead. Never again, no matter the reason, would he ever consent to an interview.

  “That whole thing got out of hand.”

  “Don’t apologize for being Ohio’s most eligible bachelor. Though if you’ve hurt Dani in any way . . .” He let his voice fade, but his meaning was clear.

  Brett inwardly sighed. Hopefully the direct approach would turn out to be the best approach. “Dani is in Boise. Or maybe on her way. I’m not sure.”

  “Why?”

  “To take a job at a radio station out there. By any chance have you heard from her?”

  “Not since she packed up and left.”

  “Why did she quit? What happened?”

  After a moment’s hesitation, Mr. Greene said, “Give me one reason why I should tell you that.”

  Brett hesitated a moment himself. Direct approach.

  “Because I . . . I want to convince her to come back.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I care about her.”

  Mr. Greene let out a breath. “Does she care about you?”

  “We had a fight.”

  “It must have been a doozy if she took off for Boise.”

  If only you knew. If he did, Greene might reach through the phone and grab Brett by the throat. “It was.”

  “And now you’re sorry.”

  “She won’t return my calls.”

  “I don’t understand why you’re calling me.”

  “It’s a little hard to explain.”

  “Try me.”

  “I met Dani outside a hospital.” Brett leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. “She was taking pictures of me. Secretly.”

  “I see.”

  “Do you? Because I don’t.”

  “Mr. Somers—”

  “Please. It’s Brett.”

  “Okay, then. Brett.” Greene hesitated, then heavily exhaled. “Do you know who Dani’s mother was?”

  “No.” Brett frowned in confusion. What would Dani’s mother have to do with her leaving?

  “So she didn’t tell you.”

  “Tell me what?”

  “After your secretary called for a reference, I did a little research. I wanted to know something about the people who’d hired one of my favorite assistant producers. That’s when I made the connection.”

  “What connection?”

  “Does the name Leslie Mercer mean anything to you?”

  Brett gasped as if he’d been sucker-punched. Cotton filled his mouth. “I don’t . . . what does she . . .” His grip on the phone tightened. When Dani had said her mom died in an accident, he had assumed a car accident. No wonder their conversation had upset her so much.

  “Leslie.” He choked on the name, then paused and cleared his throat. “Leslie Mercer is Dani’s mother?”

  “You talked about her during that interview.”

  Now it was his voice that pounded within his head. That incompetent pilot killed—no, murdered—my parents.

  “That part wasn’t in the YouTube clip.”

  “Not the one that went viral, but it was online.”

  “Dani watched it?”

  “Yes.” A sigh came through the phone. “It’s why she was forced to resign.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “She used company resources to do her own investigation of the plane crash. I’d have let it go, but a colleague with more ambition than sense caught her. Next thing I knew, Dani had moved to Columbus.”

  Brett buried his head in the palm of his hand. His voice had deserted him, and hot tears stung his eyes.

  He’d fallen for the daughter of the pilot responsible for his parents’ deaths.

  Was this God’s sense of humor?

  If so, he wanted none of it.

  “Brett? Mr. Somers? Are you still there?”

  “She should have told me.”

  “Could you tell me again how you met?”

  “Outside a hospital. I don’t think she meant for it to happen, but I saw her.” He shook his head. “I’m sorry. I need to go.”

  “Mr. Somers—”

  He laid the phone on the receiver, unable to listen to any more. To trust his voice not to break. The events of the last few weeks played like a movie in his mind. Dani on the street corner, the siren blaring around them. The painful expression in her eyes.

  Her initial refusal to tell him her name.

  Her wariness, the barriers she’d placed between them.

  Had it all been some crazy ploy? But to accomplish what?

  Only one person had the answer. And she wasn’t returning his calls.

  Heat shimmered outside the window, and a sudden wave of claustrophobia overwhelmed him. He loosened his tie, but when the wave didn’t recede, he yanked it from his neck. He had to get out of there.

  He strode past Kimberly’s desk with a curt, “I’ll be back later.”

  “What about your meeting with—”

  The door closed, shutting out her voice. The meeting didn’t matter. Nothing mattered except to drive.

  He headed out of the city, taking the familiar route to Misty Willow even though he didn’t plan to stop there. Shelby couldn’t help him sort through his tangled emotions. Besides, Misty Willow was too close to the cottage. He didn’t dare go there—not where memories of Dani lingered in the rooms.

  The verse Elizabeth taught him pressed into his mind. I trusted in the Lord when I said, “I am greatly afflicted.”

  Like Elizabeth, he thought he’d be afflicted forever. But Jonah had awakened, and Amy was in therapy. Brett hadn’t made any bargains or tried to negotiate with God; he’d only opened his eyes to the world he had created for himself and decided to leave it behind.

  Only one affliction remained.

  At a crossroads, he turned and headed toward Glade County High School.

  The final class bell rang shortly after Brett arrived. He sent AJ a text, then waited for him at the football bleachers. A few minutes later, AJ jogged toward him.

  “What are you doing here?” he asked. “Is Jonah okay?”

  “He’s doing fine. I stopped in this morning, and
he was eating Jell-O.” Brett smiled at the memory. “He likes strawberry, but he can’t have anything red right now.”

  “Why not?”

  “In case he gets sick. Red Jell-O looks too much like blood.”

  “Makes sense. How much longer will he be in the hospital?”

  “Don’t know. He tires easily, but Meghan said each day he’s doing a little better.”

  “That’s great news.”

  About forty or fifty teens, wearing pads and practice jerseys, dropped gear on a nearby bench. Two coaches followed them, and the team huddled around them.

  “You need to join that?” Brett asked.

  “Not till after they warm up. Then we do drills.” AJ adjusted his ball cap, his gaze focused on the team. “Any word from Dani?”

  “She hasn’t called me. And I’ve given up calling her.”

  “She isn’t answering Shelby’s calls either.”

  Brett lowered himself to a bleacher and set his feet on the metal seating in front of him. With his elbows propped on his knees, he focused on the players as they lined up on the field and went through their warm-ups. He needed to tell AJ the truth about Dani. This wasn’t the best time or place. But he’d get no relief from the burning in his gut until he spewed out her secret.

  “I talked to Dani’s station manager. From her last job.”

  AJ leaned against the railing as if he had all the time in the world. “Tell you anything interesting?”

  “Yeah.” Brett rolled the distasteful words around in his mouth. If he’d seen AJ immediately after talking to Greene, he’d have spit them out in all their hateful brutality. But the drive to the high school, along roads bordered by pastures and fields, had softened the claustrophobic grief that pushed him from his office. His stomach ached with anger, but he was no longer sure who he was mad at.

  Dani for deceiving him or himself for allowing her to?

  Or some other reason—like holding on so tight to his own childhood sorrows that he’d hidden his heart in a deep, dark place. Determined not to let anyone too close and unwilling to love.

  Until Dani showed up, with her own hidden heartaches. At least he’d had his grandparents, and Amy and AJ. She’d had no one.

  “What did he say?” AJ’s voice broke into his thoughts. “Must have been important for you to come all the way out here.”

  “Maybe I shouldn’t have. Except I thought you should know.”