Route 66 Reunions

by Mildred Colvin

  But there was no bond special enough to erase all the years of love and sacrifice from his adoptive family. She listened to his parents brag on their son and his accomplishments, and she knew. They were Trey’s real family. While he’d inherited physical traits, personality, and temperament from her and Kevin, his mannerisms, lifestyle, beliefs, and memories came from his parents. She understood now what the Millers had known all along. Trey Miller was a product of all four adults who loved him so much. Trey was a very fortunate boy indeed. Or as her mother would say, Trey had been blessed mightily.

  Sarah fell into step with Mavis, while Kevin walked behind with Tom. Trey ran to meet them from the confusion of his classmates calling out greetings and congratulations to others.

  “Hey, are you coming to my party?” He threw out the invitation, taking them by surprise.

  Sarah tried to convey with a quick glance at Kevin that she didn’t want to stay. Trey would be with his friends and family tonight. They had no business imposing on his special time.

  Kevin shook his head. “I wish we could, Trey, but it’s getting pretty late, and we’ve got a long drive ahead. Before we go though we’d like to give you your gift. Would you all have time to walk us out to the parking lot? We didn’t want to hold on to it during your graduation.”

  Sarah stifled a smile. They didn’t want to hold it? She noticed the older Millers exchanged a smile.

  “Sure,” Trey said. “We need to get to the church for the party anyway. It’s actually for another guy, too. But, hey, you didn’t have to get me anything. I’m just glad you both came.”

  “I’m glad, too.” Kevin clapped a hand on Trey’s shoulder, and they led the way to the parking lot. Sarah hurried to catch up and fell into step beside Trey with his parents following.

  When they neared the Mustang, Sarah watched Trey. She knew he saw it, but he didn’t say anything. Kevin led them to the driver’s side. Trey’s head turned as he looked the car over. The ribbon in back had come loose and flapped in the breeze like a red flag. Kevin and Sarah stopped, facing the Mustang.

  Trey swung with wide eyes toward Kevin first and then Sarah. He turned to his smiling parents then looked back at Kevin. “Why’d you stop here?”

  Before Kevin could answer, a group of kids walking by from several feet away called out, “Hey Trey. Is that yours?”

  “Is it?” Trey almost whispered.

  “Yes.” Sarah touched his arm.

  “It’s from Sarah and me.” Kevin held out a set of keys. “Why don’t you start it up? See if you like it.”

  “Oh, I like it.” Trey blinked at the keys as if he didn’t see them and turned to his folks. “Dad, Mom. It’s a car. A Mustang.”

  “I can see that.” His mother laughed. “Just what you’ve always wanted.”

  “Yeah.” Trey seemed to be in a daze. Or maybe he didn’t really like the car. Sarah held her breath and watched.

  His dad pointed to the keys Kevin still held. “Try it out, son. See how well it runs.”

  “It’s okay?” Trey looked at Kevin. “I mean, a car? I expected a book or, I don’t know, maybe a shirt. But a Mustang?”

  He took the keys and touched the door handle as if he still couldn’t believe the car was his. Then, as if reality hit him all at once, he pulled the door open and let out a whoop of delight that pierced their ears and eased Sarah’s concern. She laughed when he turned to his classmates who had formed a semicircle of curiosity and speculation around them. “Hey, the Mustang’s mine.”

  In a lower voice, while his friends cheered and called out congratulations, he said, “We saw it sitting here when we walked past from the auditorium where we put our gowns on. I mean, you can’t miss it with that bow on top. Everyone tried to figure out who the lucky guy was. Man, I never figured it’d be me.”

  He started to sit down and stopped, moving forward instead to take Sarah and Kevin into a group hug. Sarah soaked up the feel of his strong young arm around her, and she squeezed him tight. When he let go much too soon for her, she looked up through a mist of tears to see Kevin’s eyes were also moist. He smiled at her, and she stepped into the circle of his arm as Trey moved back.

  “Thank you.” Trey shook his head. “I don’t know what else to say, but just thank you doesn’t seem enough.”

  “How about you promise to always drive within the law?” Kevin smiled to soften his words. “We want you to enjoy your time behind the wheel and never take foolish chances. That will be thanks enough.”

  “Now you sound like my dad.” Trey laughed, and everyone ignored the double meaning of his words. “Don’t worry. Mom and Dad have both drilled that into me already. I drive like a granny.”

  “Good, I’m glad to hear it. Grannies live to be old.”

  Sarah handed her keys to Kevin and let him drive home. She relived the short time they’d spent with Trey and his reaction to the car. “He liked it, didn’t he?”

  Kevin grinned across the car at her. “He loved it. He’s a good kid. He’ll take care of it and appreciate what he has.”

  “Yeah.” Would he have been such a good kid if they’d raised him? What about now? If they had another child, would they do as good a job as Mavis and Tom had?

  Sarah straightened and glanced at Kevin. Warmth filled her cheeks. But Kevin wasn’t looking at her, and thankfully, he couldn’t read her mind.

  She relaxed again and accepted the fact that she loved Kevin. She always had. The hate she’d fostered had been hurt and a cover for the pain of his rejection. But looking back from an adult viewpoint, she realized he’d done the only thing he could. His parents had threatened to turn away from him if he continued seeing her. He couldn’t have married her without their permission, and her parents wouldn’t have let her marry so young either. They were all better off the way things had turned out. Trey and them, too.

  They drove in companionable silence for several miles. Sarah closed her eyes and leaned her head back, trying to clear her mind of the new feelings of love that were so familiar yet even more intense now. Maybe if she ignored her feelings she wouldn’t be hurt again, and she could keep Kevin’s friendship.

  She must have dozed off because when she opened her eyes, Kevin had already turned down her street.

  “Hey sleepyhead, did you enjoy the trip?” He grinned at her.

  She laughed. “I’m sorry. Too much excitement, I guess.”

  “Worn out, huh?” The tenderness in his eyes brought a rush of love for him.

  “Not now.” She straightened, turning slightly toward him, and wished the evening would never end. “I’ve had my nap. Would you like to come in?”

  He pulled into the driveway, expertly squeezing in beside his car. He opened the door and stepped out. “Come on. I’ll walk you to your door.”

  By the time she had her purse in hand, he opened her door.

  “Are you coming in?” she repeated, afraid to tell him the truth, that she didn’t want him to leave.

  He held her hand as they walked to the porch. “Would you be upset if I don’t? I want to go to church with you in the morning, but tonight I think you’re as tired as I am. Let’s plan on spending the whole day together. We’ll talk then.”

  He cupped his hand around the back of her neck and drew her closer as they stood in front of her door. “Right now, this is what I want.”

  Any remaining brick from the wall she’d built against him crumbled into fine dust and blew away with his kiss. Her heart soared, and love for Kevin filled every part of her mind and emotions. If he’d ask her to marry him, she’d say yes without hesitation. How she wished he would ask. They’d wasted far too many years.

  Sunday after church Kevin followed Sarah into her house and closed the door. She stopped with her hand on the banister leading upstairs and smiled at Kevin. “Make yourself at home while I change. I won’t be long.”

  “Better not be.” He grinned at her and headed toward the living room. Nervous energy carried him around the spacious room. He stop
ped in front of the fireplace and stared at a photo of Sarah’s parents. Must be a recent one. There was one of her brother and Rachel Hawthorne. He remembered them, but he hadn’t known they’d married. According to the picture, they had a couple of kids, too. He turned away from the obvious happiness on their faces, not wanting a reminder of his and Sarah’s wasted years to spoil his plans for today and the future.

  He sat on the couch and picked up a small red velvet box from the coffee table. A jeweler’s box. He tossed it into the air a couple of times, catching it, then set it down. He stared at the box. Why would Sarah leave an old ring box on the coffee table in an otherwise immaculate room? He reached for it again and, with no expectations, opened it.

  Kevin stared at the engagement ring in the box for a full ten seconds before he allowed his mind to accept what he saw. The white gold ring held a cluster of small diamonds set together in such a way to blend into one, creating the illusion of a huge solitaire with a small diamond on either side. This wasn’t costume jewelry. No doubt Sarah’s doctor friend knew exactly how much it cost.

  Sarah’s gasp from the doorway alerted Kevin to her presence. He stood with the open box still in his hand. His heart broke at the look of guilt on her face. He had his answer. He threw the box back on the table and walked toward her.

  Chapter 13

  K evin stopped within three feet of Sarah. “I kissed you, Sarah. You kissed me back. I’ve spent the last two months being jerked through every emotional hoop you held while you accepted house calls from the doctor.”

  “No,” Sarah cried out, but the twin pools of blue in her eyes didn’t sway him.

  “Yes.” He kept his voice quiet, emotionless, while a hammer shattered his heart with repeated blows of wrenching pain. He had to walk past her without touching. He had to leave before he broke down and begged her to let him stay. “I loved you once, Sarah. I shed more tears over losing you back then than I did all together the first years of my life. I haven’t cried since, and I won’t cry now. Fools who repeat their mistakes—”

  He gave a snort of derision. “Let’s just say, I won’t be a fool a third time.”

  He ignored the tears running down Sarah’s face and stepped past her, brushing so close, her warmth reached out to him.

  “Good-bye, Sarah.” Five long strides took him outside. He let the door close between them.

  Kevin started his car and backed out of Sarah’s driveway. At the stop sign he waited for another car to turn in front of him. The driver was beside him before his mind focused enough to recognize Harold Jenson. Sarah’s doctor making another house call. But of course.

  He almost felt sorry for the doctor. Sarah had played both of them for fools. Last night she’d kissed him as if she meant it while the doctor’s ring waited on her coffee table. No doubt she enjoyed stringing two men along, playing some sadistic female game. She was a good actress. He’d give her that. She’d learned more playing Sadie the clown than how to help children relax and have fun. Obviously the light of love he’d seen in her eyes had been as fake as Sadie’s red nose. Maybe she truly loved her doctor. Maybe not. He didn’t care anymore. Doctor Jenson would have to figure out truth from fiction now.

  The click of the door closing behind Kevin broke Sarah’s disbelief. She ran after him, jerking the door open to see his car door close, sealing him away from her. On the porch, she clutched the railing and watched him leave. He drove away without a backward glance. He hadn’t given her a chance to explain.

  She’d lost him. Sobs shook her shoulders, and tears streamed from her eyes as she went back inside and sat on the sofa where he had been only moments before. She held the offending ring box in her hand and fell over against the sofa releasing a flood of tears against a pain so intense she felt as if she might die. After a few moments, the deep pain lost its edge, and the sobs stopped shaking her body. She’d survived the first time he walked away and she would again. Still, tears seeped from her eyes, and her heart ached as if a giant hand held it in an iron grip. This time she couldn’t fall back on hate to ease the pain, because she didn’t hate Kevin. She loved him, and she always would.

  A quick knock sounded at her door before it opened and Harold stepped in. “Sarah, where are you?”

  She sniffled and swiped a sleeve across her eyes.

  He appeared at the door, took in her disheveled appearance, and crossed the room to sit beside her and hold her wrist in his fingers. “What did he do to you? Where are you hurt?”

  She pulled away from him. “I’m fine.”

  “You’re not fine. What happened here?” Harold touched her forehead then grasped her shoulders and slid his hands down her arms, looking from one to the other.

  She jumped up and stepped out of his reach. “Will you stop examining me? I’m not hurt physically. I just—”

  Lost the man I love.

  “I got my feelings hurt. That’s all.”

  “Do you want to talk about it?”

  “No.”

  “Why don’t we go get something to eat?” Harold stood and reached for her hand.

  She pulled away before he could touch her. “I’m not hungry. I’d like to spend some time alone. I have things I need to do here.”

  The jeweler’s box lay on the floor where it had fallen. She bent to pick it up and handed it to Harold. “I shouldn’t keep this any longer.”

  He set it on the coffee table. “You’re upset right now. Wait until tomorrow and you’ll feel better. Am I still taking you to the open house Thursday for Marilee’s Home?”

  She hugged her arms, trying to bring warmth and feeling back into her body while she forced a smile for Harold’s benefit. “Of course, I can’t imagine anyone I’d rather go with.”

  That brought a smile to his face and guilt to her heart. She didn’t want to encourage him. She didn’t want to hurt him, because she knew how that felt. She moved toward the door, hoping he would take the hint.

  He soon left with promises to return Thursday evening and to check on her tomorrow at work. She watched him drive away and breathed a sigh of relief. Until she turned and saw the ring box on the table.

  At Marilee’s Home, Sarah stood in the parlor between Darlene and Harold, watching the girls escort other board members and benefactors through their new home. Their eyes sparkled above wide smiles as they explained how the house had come to be theirs. Seven girls. Already they had an addition, and thanks to Kevin, they had room for more. They’d all worked hard selecting used furniture and arranging each room. There’d been little repair or finishing work required on the house itself, so most of their efforts had gone to cleaning and furnishing. Kevin couldn’t have given her a better gift.

  As if her thoughts brought him to life, the door opened, and he stepped into the front hall. From her position, she watched him speak to the girl who’d let him in. He looked past her to small groups of two or three, then moved on as if searching for someone. He stopped and stared without expression as his eyes met Sarah’s. She broke the contact when Darlene spoke to and left with someone else. When she glanced back he was escorting a young woman into the parlor.

  “Are you all right?” Harold’s low voice reminded her to breathe, although she hadn’t known she’d stopped.

  “Of course.” Sarah spread her lips into what she hoped would pass for a smile.

  The woman with Kevin was beautiful. Her dark hair, cut to touch her shoulders, moved as strands of silk with each toss of her head. She smiled easily, her blue eyes laughing and admiring Kevin in a familiar way that burned a hole through Sarah’s heart. Kevin’s possessive touch on the woman’s arm, as they moved across the room, hurt more than Sarah could have imagined.

  “Good evening, Dr. Jenson. Sarah.” Kevin and his date stood in front of them. “The place looks good.”

  “Thank you. We’ve all worked hard the last couple of weeks.” Sarah smiled at Harold. “Even Dr. Jenson got in on some heavy moving one night.”

  “How nice.” Kevin let his gaze slide
past Harold to Sarah while he spoke to the woman at his side. “Valerie, this is Sarah Maddox and Dr. Jenson. Sarah is chairman of the board for Marilee’s Home. She’s actively involved with the girls and the running of this outreach. Sarah, I’d like you to meet Valerie Parker. She’s a top-notch accountant and a good friend.”

  He gave the young woman a teasing smile. “She’s also my boss’s daughter.”

  Valerie laughed, took his arm, and leaned her head against his shoulder in a quick hug before straightening. “Kevin’s a dear. He’s always coming to my rescue. I don’t know what I’d do without him.”

  He just smiled at her without comment. Sarah’s stomach churned as she murmured the required niceties to a woman she’d rather throw out the door.

  “There’s a table in the kitchen set up with punch, cookies, a cheese ball, crackers, just about anything you might want.” Harold motioned toward the door leading that way. “Help yourself, we’re informal and too lazy to serve.”

  Sarah appreciated his attempt at humor, but she didn’t feel like laughing. Valerie did though and she pulled Kevin toward the kitchen.

  “I want to see this old house. It’s beautiful, Kevin. However did they find such a wonderful place?” Valerie’s voice drifted back as Kevin followed her out of the room.

  So he hadn’t told her everything. Had he told her about Trey? And her? Somehow the idea Valerie didn’t know Kevin’s dearest secrets brought balm to Sarah’s hurting heart.

  She turned her attention to welcoming more potential donors as others came in, and the evening moved on until she realized she hadn’t thanked Kevin publicly for the house. When she couldn’t find him, she assumed he and his girlfriend had already gone. It was just as well. She didn’t know if she could hold a smile much longer anyway.