He paused and took a breath. “Candace, you need to know too, that when I looked at Kenny, I never thought about…” He ran a hand through his hair. “I saw a precious, innocent little baby.”
She nodded with understanding. She had never placed blame where it didn’t belong either. Kenny was and had always been her beloved boy.
“So much was running though my mind,” Dan continued. “What if the guy wanted custody? At that point, several months had passed, and frankly, well, it would have been your word against his, and I feared what would happen to you if your rape went public. I didn’t think you could handle it, and I couldn’t bear the thought of you reliving the horror of that time…”
“So what happened?” she repeated, her voice barely a whisper.
“His mother answered the door. She told me he and his friends had gone to the beach for the week and… Do you remember?” he prompted. “Four boys had gone and they were…”
“…Killed in that awful car crash,” she said, her eyes widening.
He nodded. “Yes, and I have to tell you, I had mixed feelings about that too—for many years. On one hand, my heart broke for the others, but him…” He shook his head. “I was glad he was gone.” He glanced heavenward, as if apologizing to God. “But it is what it is.”
He spread his hands. “I couldn’t hardly bear that he’d been out there, walking around, potentially harming other girls. And what if he had shown up and demanded time with Kenny?” He pressed his eyelids shut, as if the possibility was too painful to endure. “Kenny is nothing like his father,” he said and turned to Laura. “He’s a lot like you,” he remarked with a smile. “Compassionate, caring… God knows, I love that boy. He’s my son,” he finished, his voice breaking with emotion.
Laura smiled softly at the compliment. She viewed those traits in her nephew with pride, and felt her heart swell thinking that Dan attributed his son’s fine qualities in some part to her.
“You can forgive me, Dan?” Candace asked, her voice barely a whisper. “After losing your child? Your son?”
“Honey, the miscarriage wasn’t your fault. And yes, losing our baby boy was horrible. My heart still breaks, but we’ll get through it with God’s help.” He took a step closer to her. “I don’t see Kenny as any less my son because of our loss. You have to understand that.”
She nodded, her eyes gleaming with hope for the first time in months.
“But honey, I beg of you…” Dan continued. “Please don’t tell Kenny I’m not his biological father. He’s only eleven. But even if he were older, some secrets are better kept,” he added adamantly. “Very few,” he acknowledged, “but some.”
Laura knew what he meant. Kenny, so gentle and sweet, would be destroyed if he knew how he’d come into the world.
“He would blame himself,” Dan said. “I can’t live with that. He couldn’t live with that.” He stepped forward and reached for Candace’s hand. “Please, baby, don’t ever tell him.” Tears formed in his eyes. “I love that boy. I couldn’t love him more if he was my own flesh and blood. Please. We could lose him over this. Not now maybe, but later…”
Candace nodded and he tugged her toward him. She stood and he wrapped her in his arms. Laura knew it was time to leave them alone. They needed time to talk. But they were going to be okay. Thank the good Lord, they were going to be okay.
Chapter Seventeen
Laura walked into the old farmhouse, her heart swelling at the reality that Candace and Dan were on the road to mending their marriage. She could leave Battle Ground knowing that she’d actually won a battle while here.
She may not have won the war—the one in which her heart was warring with itself—over her love for Dalton, but, her sister and brother-in-law were going to be all right.
She sat down in the old recliner and eased it back, waiting for the couple to return. She suspected it might be awhile, but as she glanced out at the glistening son, the beautiful orb that would soon be taking a plunge in the sky, she smiled gratefully, heavenward. God was so good.
When the kids came into the room along with Thomas, bickering good-naturedly, she smiled. Kenny, who had been asking a question of his uncle, stopped and peered at her, as if sensing something was on the horizon.
His mouth tugged at the corners, as if he knew something wonderful had happened. She nodded at him, and the smile on his face widened, so bright, it rivaled the sun.
“What?” Thomas asked, but Laura only nodded toward the front door, which abruptly opened to reveal Dan and Candace.
Dan had his arm around his wife, and the two had their heads together, as they entered the house.
“Mommy! Daddy!” Krissy cried. “Is everything … okay?”
“Everything is okay,” Dan told her, smiling.
“You … love each other again?” Kenny asked, wanting to hear the words from their mouths.
“We love each other,” Dan said. “And we love you both too.”
Kenny ran to his father and threw his arms around him. “I’ve been praying, Dad. Just like Aunt Laura told me to do.”
Dan bent and kissed the top of his head. “You did good, son. But you’ve always been the best son a man could ask for.” He reached for Krissy and tugged her close. “And you are the best daughter.”
“We’re blessed,” Candace said with a soft smile at her husband.
Dalton suddenly appeared in the room. He immediately registered the shift in the mood of the room, and a definite change in the dynamics of the group. There was a renewed cohesiveness in the formerly fractured family group. Candace and Dan were standing side-by-side, their children nestled close. He glanced at Laura, and she nodded.
He broke into a smile. His frustration with her was apparently forgotten, as he viewed the family with relief.
“Kids, get your things,” Candace told them. “We’re going home.”
Dan winced. “Well, I’m going to work. But I’ll be home late tonight.” He caught his wife’s gaze. “By the way, we sold the house.”
She gasped. “You wouldn’t kid a girl?”
“No way. It’s sold.”
“Oh, thank God. I can quit my night job,” she uttered with relief.
“You have a night job?” Thomas cried.
“Yes.” She gave him a bewildered look. “Where did you think I was going all those nights you were watching the kids?”
He gave a shrug and glanced at Laura. She shook her head, wondering why one of them hadn’t simply asked her where she’d been going at night.
“You’re really all right selling the house?” Dan asked.
“Honey, I love you for wanting me to have something so beautiful, but I never wanted that house,” she whispered. “I never needed it to be happy.” She stared intently into his eyes. “All I ever needed was you, and our children.”
“And God,” Kenny piped in.
“And Uncle Thomas, and Uncle Dalton, and Aunt Laura,” Krissy added.
“You’re so right,” Candace told them both.
Dan still looked sheepish about the house. “Are you sure about the house? I wanted to give you the world.”
“Honey, you have,” she assured him, her eyes locking on his. She nodded. “You have.”
He smiled in return, and appeared to stand taller, as if his load had been lightened. He turned his attention to the kids again. “Kids, scoot. Get your things. Uncle Thomas needs a break from children.”
Candace clapped her hands. “Hurry!”
They scurried off. The adults in the room offered the couple congratulations all around.
When the children returned, the family headed for the door.
“Oh, Uncle Dalton,” Krissy said, coming to a pause. “I found this upstairs. It belongs to you, I think. Do you want me to read it?”
“Sure, honey,” he said distractedly, barely registering the paper in the little girl’s hand.
She began reading:
Dear Dalton,
As I write this, I can’t help but
think that in a few short days, I’ll be gone. College is over, and real life awaits in Georgia, but… If you ask me to stay, I won’t go.
I love you, Dalton. I always have.
I wish I had had the courage to tell you before, but, I’m afraid I’m a coward. I’m afraid you’ll reject me.
Who am I kidding? Of course, you’ll reject me.
Anyway, I—
Krissy’s eyes widened as she understood the implication of those written words. She stared first at Dalton and then at her aunt. Even the eight-year-old knew she’d opened a can of worms, but she was determined to see it through, even as her mother made a grab for the letter. She raced to the top of the stairs and continued in a rush—
Anyway, I wrote this letter, in the off chance—the impossible, ridiculous chance—you might love me too.
I love you, Dalton. God knows I do. If you love me too, ask me to stay.
Yours forever,
Laura
Krissy lowered the letter, shoved it at Dalton, and then ran full-out toward her bedroom upstairs. She wisely locked the door behind her, since she knew her mother would soon be climbing the stairs behind her. And she did.
The remaining adults, and Kenny, stared at Laura in stunned surprise. No one was more stunned than her, however.
So that’s what was in that nondescript, white envelope. She recalled writing it all those years ago, however, shortly after penning it, her courage had fizzled out. She hadn’t been able to bring herself to give it to Dalton. She’d tossed it in the trash receptacle she’d kept beside the old desk, but, apparently, she’d missed.
She remained frozen in the living room of Thomas’ old farmhouse. She really couldn’t move. She was afraid to look up, lest her eyes connect with Dalton’s.
And the thought of looking at either Thomas or her brother-in-law wasn’t her idea of a picnic either. Remembering the words Krissy had read aloud, those personal, heart-wrenching words, caused her heart to begin thudding in her chest. She actually broke out in a sweat.
She desperately hoped her fight or flight instincts would kick in—emphasis on the ‘flight.’ And she was going to fly—if only her feet would cooperate—out of the house and back to Georgia, where she’d never have to look into the eyes of Dalton Jance again. For she was certain, he was as mortified as her. The girl he had always considered like a sister had spilled her guts on paper. And it hadn’t been pretty. Sure, the letter had been written eight years earlier, but unfortunately, the woman she was today felt the same way about him.
The humiliation she’d just suffered seared her like a brand to her tender skin. If Kenny hadn’t moved to stand beside her and taken her hand, she might have given herself a slap to her own face.
She was trembling and knew it. Finally mustering the strength, she looked directly into Kenny’s eyes.
“It’s okay,” he mouthed.
She smiled. It wasn’t okay, but she squeezed his hand anyway. He was so precious, her eleven-year-old nephew. When he gave her hand a shoring squeeze in return, it was enough to compel her into action.
She spun on her heel and ran out of the house and into the chilly dusk awaiting her. The sun no longer shone, and she wondered, would it ever again?
The humiliation…
She began walking briskly down the lane, when she heard someone behind her. “Oh, God. Please no,” she prayed.
She stopped and pressed her eyelids together to avoid seeing who had followed. It was probably Thomas, coming to her aide. She turned and forced her eyes open. It … wasn’t Thomas.
“I would have asked you to stay then,” Dalton said, without preamble. “I would have, because I was selfish, and I wouldn’t have thought about what you needed at the time. I would have thought about myself—about how much I loved you and had always loved you—and how much I admired you, and…”
She gasped. Dalton had loved her?
He took her shoulders and stared intently into her eyes. “But, Laura, I won’t ask you to stay now.”
He had loved her, but no longer felt that way about her. She felt as if someone had shoved a knife into her heart.
Despite the pain, she nodded and forced herself to make eye contact. “I understand.” She held her head high as she started to move away from him.
To her surprise, he took her arm and gently pulled her toward him. “No, Laura, I won’t ask you to stay, because it wouldn’t be fair for me to ask you to give up your life in Georgia. I know how much you love it there, so…” He gave a shrug. “I’m going back with you, provided you still … love me.”
Laura’s jaw dropped.
He smiled into her eyes. “You see, Laura, I loved you back then, and I love you today. I’m praying you still have feelings for me, because I can’t bear the thought of losing you again. I have to tell you, my biggest fear is that you’re about to tell me you now see me as a brother…”
Laura gasped again. “But… I was sure you thought of me as a sister.”
“Uh, no,” he said crisply. “I haven’t thought of you in those terms for a very long time.”
He stared into her eyes, smiled, and then took her in his arms. He pressed his lips against hers. The kiss was every bit as heavenly as she imagined it would be.
When he pulled back, he met her eyes again, and gently smoothed her hair away from her face. “I guess I need to pack.”
“Why?” she asked, as he brought his lips against hers again.
“Because if I’m moving to Georgia, I need a few things...”
“More than a few,” she mused. “Dalton?”
“Hmmm?” he murmured, as he kissed her lips again.
“Uh, I don’t want to go back to Georgia. It turns out I miss the old hometown, and well, it also seems I’m rather attached to my family.”
“I don’t know, Laura. They’re awfully demanding,” he teased loudly, as he wrapped an arm around her waist and began leading her back to the house, where the family was waiting for them on the porch. “After we’re married, I refuse to live with your brother,” he informed.
“Hey, I heard that,” Thomas called from the porch. “You’re moving out? I’m doing a happy dance over here just thinking about it.”
“You’ll miss me,” he called back. “And don’t expect me to mow the lawn after I move.”
“You’d better watch yourself, Dalton, or you’ll be cooking Thanksgiving dinner next year,” Thomas threatened.
“Uh, uh,” Dalton said, smiling into Laura’s eyes. “Next year is…”
“Candace’s turn,” they said in unison.
The End
Abound in Love Page 16