Laura considered his words. ‘People tend to stick around.’ She hadn’t. Was that a jab aimed her way? She couldn’t be sure. Had he sounded just the littlest bit accusatory? But then, why would he?
She shook herself. She was being silly. Dalton Jance probably hadn’t and didn’t care an iota that she had left Battle Ground.
“We sure missed you when you left,” he said, prompting her to gasp.
“What?” he asked, smiling questioningly.
“Uh … nothing.” She wasn’t about to tell him what she’d been thinking. She glanced off toward the buffet. “You’d better get a plate while you can. I’ll stay here and do a surveillance, to assure no one drops anything untoward onto your plate.”
He laughed as he stood from the table and extended a hand to her. “Come on. We’ll risk it together.”
Chapter Eight
“…And then Thomas came running up behind me, as if he had a bull on his tail.” Dalton laughed. “And, it turns out, he did.”
Laura chuckled at another recounting of one of Dalton and Thomas’ childhood—and arguably, childish—antics.
Dalton shook his head. “It’s a wonder we didn’t get arrested.”
“For trespassing?”
“That, and trying to tip the bull, that we had somehow mistaken for a cow.”
“I’m not even going to ask why you couldn’t discern the difference,” Laura murmured with a wince. “But I am glad you’re alive to tell the tale.”
Dalton took a deep breath and stared intently at Laura’s face. “Funny, but you were the only one of the lot of us who ever had any sense.”
Laura was taken aback at the remark, which, it she wasn’t mistaken, had been said with a definite hint of admiration in his voice.
“You always knew where you were headed and how to get there,” Dalton mused.
She colored at the compliment, and asked, “You’re happy here, aren’t you?”
He hesitated before answering her. Finally, he nodded. “Yes, I’m happy living here.” He learned forward, bracing his upper torso on folded arms, as his eyes locked onto her face. “That reminds me of… There’s something I’ve been meaning to…” he began again, but was interrupted by a woman, who appeared beside their table.
Short, with medium-length blonde hair, the woman stared at Laura with a big smile on her face. “Laura Landers, that is you!” she declared. “It’s so wonderful to see you.”
Laura studied the woman’s face briefly, and then broke into an equally big smile. “Stephanie!” She leapt out of the booth. “How are you?”
The young woman threw her arms around Laura’s neck, and then pulled back, and watched Laura through eyes that had grown moist with tears. “Laura, it’s so good to see you. I think about you every day.”
Laura smiled. “You do?”
The woman nodded. “I really do. Hey, are you living in the area again?” She clasped her hands together, as if eagerly awaiting an affirmative answer from her old friend.
Laura shook her head. “Just visiting. I take it you still live in Battle Ground?”
She nodded. “I do. I’m married and have a boy—as you know—and two little girls.”
Laura smiled fondly. “How is Drake? He has to be, what?—fifteen?”
“You’re right. He’s a great kid. I wish he was here so you could see him again. He’s off spending the night at a friend’s house.” She turned and pointed to a table, where a dark-haired man sat with two tow-headed little girls. Stephanie gave a wave in their direction, and the threesome waved back.
“Oh, Stephanie, your girls are gorgeous,” Laura gushed. “You must be so proud.” She turned to Dalton and smiled. Her eyes abruptly widened as she realized she’d failed to introduce him. “I’m sorry! Dalton, this is…”
“Hi, Stephanie,” he said, and then waved at her family across the restaurant. They waved in return. “David,” he called, pointing a finger at Stephanie’s husband, “I want a rematch next week.”
“They play basketball together at church,” Stephanie explained. “Well, I’ll let you two get back to your dinner,” she said, but embraced Laura again, holding on tightly for a long moment. When she released her, Laura saw that tears threatened to flow again.
Laura squeezed her hand, and they nodded at one another, as if sharing a silent communication.
“You were always my angel. I don’t know what I would have done without you,” Stephanie whispered. “I really don’t.”
Laura watched as she hurried off to join her family. She smiled wistfully and uttered a silent prayer of gratitude to God, on behalf of her old friend.
When she sat back down on the booth, she said simply, “We were good friends a long time ago.”
Dalton eased back against the padded booth and caught her gaze. “You were her only friend.” He shook his head sadly. “Thank God you were there for her.”
Laura shook her head uncertainly. What was Dalton talking about? Nobody, but her, had known the hell Stephanie had gone through as a young girl new to the high school.
“Stephanie is a rape counselor now,” he told her. “She speaks at different police and sheriff’s departments, as well as at high schools, about her own personal experience, and also, gives attendees insight as to how to best treat the victims of violent crime.”
Laura’s eyes widened in surprise. “She does?”
“Yes.” He watched her intently again, and she shifted under his scrutiny. He ran a hand through his hair. “I’ll never forget when she arrived at the high school—what? Seven months pregnant and looking terrified. I understand she’d been forced to leave her old school because she’d been the object of speculation and ridicule.”
He sighed and she saw the pain in his eyes when he spoke again. “And, she comes to our school, and it began all over again for her—the name calling, the rumors…”
Laura nodded. She remembered. She was suddenly transported back in time. She saw Stephanie in her mind’s eyes—a beautiful, petite girl, all belly—standing in the cafeteria and holding a tray, glancing around as if trying to decide where to sit. She’d finally selected a seat, only to have the kids there tell her the seat was taken.
Laura, two years younger, but only a year behind in school, had stood up from her chair and crossed the cafeteria. She had invited her to join her at her table. Stephanie had smiled gratefully, and they had sat together, along with Laura’s other friends, for the duration of Laura’s sophomore year.
“Stephanie told us what you did for her,” Dalton said, interrupting her thoughts.
Laura met his gaze.
“She told us how you interceded on her behalf anytime anyone said anything cruel to her. She told us how you prayed with her when she was feeling at her lowest. She also told us her story.”
Tears sprung to Laura’s eyes as she remembered Stephanie confiding in her the truth behind her pregnancy. She had been raped by the friend of her older brother. Her parents had been out one evening, and she’d been home alone with her brother. He’d invited several friends over to play video games. One of the boys had excused himself from the group and entered Stephanie’s bedroom. She was only fifteen at the time.
When her pregnancy had become evident, Stephanie’s schoolmates had taunted her, calling her horrible names, and suggesting she’d been promiscuous, when she’d been anything but. She was a good girl who had been victimized and the ordeal had nearly been the end of her.
Thanks to Stephanie, and others like her, Laura had realized as a young person that people were not always who they seemed to be. She’d learned that peoples’ perceptions were often wrong, that misconceptions could destroy, and she had refused to judge anyone until she’d gotten to know them. As such, she had an assortment of friends at school that, well, her sister Candace would have looked down upon—and did. Many of them had borne the brunt of her cruelty, and that of her friends. Laura had stood by them, nonetheless.
She remembered a young man to whom Candace had been p
articularly cruel. He’d also arrived at her school from another school, and like Stephanie, had worn the scars from a horrific trauma—the difference being—his scars were visible.
His stepfather had beaten him so badly, he’d spent weeks in a hospital. After his release, his mother had been unwilling to leave her husband, choosing him over her child. He’d been placed in foster care, and forced to attend a new high school.
He’d worn his hair long, dyed jet black, and he’d dressed similarly in all-black. The kids had much to say about the new boy, speculating that he’d done jail time. Like Stephanie, when he had tried to join other students at a lunch table, he’d been turned away.
Laura had witnessed the incident and had promptly risen and run after him. She had tapped him on the arm and invited him to sit with her and her friends. She would never forget the relief that had flooded his features.
The boy, Dane, had been a sophomore like her, and like her, had also skipped a year of school. He had become one of her dearest friends, and the two had actually carpooled together to the local community college when they both had tested high enough to leave high school behind.
She suddenly wondered what had become of him. They’d kept in touch for awhile, but as often happened, they’d lost contact.
“Do you have any idea what happened to Dane Montgomery?” she asked.
Dalton nodded. “I do. I understand he’s a high school teacher in Vancouver.”
Laura’s jaw dropped. “Really?” She smiled brightly. “I’ll have to look him up. It’s been so long. I know he’s married with a couple kids, but I didn’t know he’d settled so close to Battle Ground.
She continued. “That’s such good news. And I’m so glad Stephanie is doing well. She deserves every bit of happiness God has blessed her with.”
“So do you,” Dalton said, watching her with admiration.
She colored under his gaze. “Well, it’s nice of you to say so.”
Suddenly, Dalton’s radio crackled, and he hurriedly pulled it off its belt clip. He listened intently as a dispatcher began talking in police ten-codes.
He finally returned it to his belt with a sigh. “I guess dinner is over,” he said regretfully. “I’m going to have to get you home. I wish…”
She gave a dismissive wave. “Don’t worry about it. I understand completely. You’re on the job.”
“Yeah, well, I wish I wasn’t,” he murmured.
Laura watched him speculatively out of the corner of her eye. What exactly did that mean? Did it mean he wanted to spend more time with her?
She dismissed the thought as quickly as it had come to mind. It was ridiculous to read more into the situation than was warranted.
***
“I’ll drop you by the house and be on my way,” Dalton said, as he drove out of Battle Ground proper and into the countryside.
“I appreciate it.”
He gave his head a swift shake. “I still cannot believe Candace left you high and dry like that.”
“I’m sure she had a good reason,” Laura said, though, in truth, she doubted it. She suspected Candace was simply being … Candace.
Dalton sighed. “We’re really worried about that sister of yours. She just isn’t herself.”
Laura shifted in her seat. “Is there something you’re not telling me? Something Thomas isn’t telling me?”
He turned toward her briefly and she read the concern in his eyes. “We know Candace is working during the day now, but we have no idea how she spends her evenings, other than…”
His words trailed off and he raked a hand through his hair. It appeared he was about to say more, but he only shook his head.
“Dalton, please. Tell me.”
He appeared to be grappling with his conscience. “I haven’t even told Thomas, but a month or so ago, I responded to a call at the local watering hole—west of town. Anyway, when I arrived, I saw your sister. She was at a table with friends, and clearly…”
“What?” she asked, bracing for his answer.
“Well, it was obvious she’d been drinking. I hauled her out of there and took her home but…”
Laura pressed her eyelids closed and uttered a silent prayer for her sister. The idea that Candace was hanging out in bars, drinking away her troubles… The truth was, it wouldn’t surprise her a bit. Candace had never been one to face her difficulties head on. And she was too stubborn and prideful to ask for help.
But leaving her children, to drink herself into oblivion… Her sister ought to be ashamed of herself. Sadly, she’d had a miscarriage, but she still had two children at home who desperately needed her. And from what Laura could tell during her short time at home, she wasn’t being much of a mother to them.
“I’ll talk to her,” Laura said aloud. “Though it’s not as if she’s going to listen to me.”
“She might,” Dalton said. “She admires you a lot.”
Laura scoffed. “Admires … me?” She gave a brittle laugh. “I’m afraid you’re sadly mistaken. She never saw me as anything but her annoying little sister.”
“That’s not true. She was so envious of you, she could hardly stand it.” As he turned the patrol car down the curving lane to their house, he continued, “She’s realized she treated you horribly when you were kids. That night, when I picked her up at the bar, all she could manage to somewhat coherently talk about was how much she missed you and how much she wished she could go back in time.”
Laura remembered the e-mail she’d sent to her. Candace had said those things to her, as well.
“I wonder what precipitated this epiphany?” Laura wondered aloud. She couldn’t help the skeptical note in her voice. She took a deep breath and uttered a silent prayer for patience, and for God to show her what was happening with Candace in His time.
As Dalton pulled the patrol car to a stop, he turned to her and appeared to register her injured eye again. “Your eye is still swollen. I’m really sorry…” he said with a wince.
“Dalton, it’s fine. You were saying… About Candace…”
“Oh, yeah. I think the sentiment from her is genuine.”
“But why? Why now?”
He shrugged. “The miscarriage, I suppose. It forced her to face some harsh realities. It forced her to grow up. Up until then, things had always gone her way.” He laughed. “Candace always had a way of getting her way.”
“That’s the truth,” Laura mused. “Well, I appreciate the ride home. Be careful out there.”
He flashed a grin. “I will. But first, I’m going to walk you to your door.”
“No, no. That’s not necessary.”
“Maybe not, but I’m going to do it anyway.”
Dalton climbed out of the car and rounded the hood, in order to open her door. Always the gentleman, she thought, and felt her heart give a familiar jump.
As he walked her to the door, she was once again transported back in time. She remembered him as a teenager—the male counterpart to Candace at their high school. Well, absent the haughty disposition.
Laura had often wondered why he’d spent so much time with Candace, but in reality, he’d been Thomas’ friend first and foremost, and it wasn’t as if he could have avoided Candace. It was a given that if he spent a lot of time at his best friend’s house, he was going to see his sisters. But too, Candace and Thomas had many friends in common, so it was inevitable the two had seen one another often.
Unfortunately for Laura, however, being a few years younger than all of them, meant they had regarded her as a little kid. And it hadn’t helped that she’d been a quirky little girl who had rejected the status quo. She had always taken in strays, whether kittens and dogs that showed up at the farmhouse, as well as those kids at school who had been rejected by the ‘in’ crowd. She had refused to behave like her sister, who without fail, had ‘judged every book by its cover.’
“Hey, are you all right?” Dalton asked with concern. They had reached the door, and Laura remained locked in thought.
She shook her head, to ward off the thoughts. “Yes, I’m fine.” She smiled brightly. “Well, thanks for … everything.”
“You can call me anytime your sister leaves you out in the cold,” he told her, staring intently into her eyes.
“Good to know,” Laura laughed.
She turned to enter the house, when she felt Dalton’s warm hand on her arm. “Laura…”
“Yes.”
He hesitated, seeming about to say something of import, but thought better of it. He smiled. “Welcome home.”
“Thank you.”
As she stepped into the house and closed the door behind her, she wondered what Dalton had been about to say. She was certain he hadn’t meant to wish her a ‘welcome’ but that there was more on his mind.
Did it have to do with Candace? Was there even more to the story that he wasn’t telling her? Her heart twisted at the prospect. As often as she and her sister had had difficulties, she did want the best for her. Candace had two children Laura adored, and she certainly wanted the best for them. She uttered a silent prayer for her sister—that she’d come to terms with whatever was causing her so much grief, and with God’s help, deal with it, and become the mother she once had been.
Laura heard Dalton start up the patrol car. She pulled back a drape near the door and watched him drive away. It had been kind of him to come to her rescue, but then, Dalton had always been a good person.
Chapter Nine
Laura’s ears perked when she heard a car drive up to the house. She rose from the couch and peered out the window. It was Thomas, arriving home after his night out with Macy.
Laura checked the time. It was only a few minutes after eleven. He’d certainly cut his night short, considering he was free of responsibilities for the evening.
A moment later, when he entered the house, Laura had returned to her seat. “You’re home early,” she said, as he shed his coat at the door.
He nodded. “Tired,” he said, punctuating the word with a yawn. “I finally get a free night, without kids—kids that aren’t even mine, I might add—and I’m too tired to really enjoy it.”
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