Walking Away (The Walking Together Series Book 2)

by T. E. Killian

  As Sheila stepped into the room, the two men stood. She took one look at Michelle and rushed to her. Then kneeling down in front of her, she pulled her into a hug. “Michelle, oh Baby, we’ve missed you so much. I’m simply thrilled to see you back where you belong.”

  Kent was watching Michelle for any sign and was surprised to see the little girl smiling. Smiling? The best he and Hal had been able to do was get her to stop frowning a couple of times. Well, that settled it. It had been a good idea to bring Sheila down here.

  He looked at his sister and his daughter and marveled at how much they looked alike. In fact, if Sheila had had a daughter instead of two sons, her daughter would probably have looked just like Michelle.

  His sister was three years older than he and Larry were and she had always tried to be like a mother hen to them while they were growing up. Right now, he just smiled as that mother hen mode began to kick in big time. For once, Kent was extremely grateful for his big sister.

  * * *

  Just as Grace and Brianna were finishing supper and about to start clearing the table, the doorbell rang. Grace dried her hands and quickly went to the door. After looking out through the peephole, she smiled and opened the door for her brother and Betty Sue.

  It sure was going to be nice to be able to drop in on each other like this. She had missed that so much. In fact, she hadn’t realized just how much she had missed so many things about living in her hometown.

  After hugs all around, Betty Sue pointed at the apron that Grace was wearing. “It looks like you haven’t finished supper yet.”

  Grace shook her head. “No, we have and we were cleaning up but the rest can wait.”

  Betty Sue shook her head and headed for the kitchen. “No way. Matt and Brianna can play in here while I help you finish. With the two of us working at it, it won’t take long at all.”

  As soon as they were alone in the kitchen, Betty Sue turned to Grace. “Matt told me all about that awful thing he did to keep you and Kent apart when you were in college.”

  Grace knew what she was talking about but tried to act as if she didn’t. But she had a feeling that she wasn’t fooling her sister-in-law at all.

  Betty Sue looked into her eyes and shook her head. “I’m sure you know what I’m talking about. He had no right to do that to someone who loved you and probably would have been good to you.”

  Grace tried to smile back at Betty Sue but she’d been thinking the same thing and just couldn’t pass it off anymore.

  “Yes, I was shocked to find out that Kent had loved me back then. I had no idea. Sure, I knew that he liked me and I liked him too. But love? I really had no clue.”

  She frowned. “And when Matt told me what he did, I became very angry at first.”

  She blew out a sigh. “But later, after I thought about it, I realized how it must have looked to Matt. After all, Kent was his best friend all through school. What guy would want their best friend going out with their little sister?”

  Betty Sue laughed and looked closely into Grace’s eyes. “Grace, your family has become so special to me. All of you are the only family I’ve had for over ten years now and even before that, all I had was Granny.”

  She paused to wipe a tear from her eye. “One thing that I’ve found out about families is that families take care of their own. And so far your family has done so much for me that now I’m ready to start doing something for you.”

  Grace was genuinely puzzled now. What could Betty Sue be talking about? What could her new sister-in-law do for her?

  Betty Sue giggled and said, “If you could get a good look at your face lately, you’d know what I’m talking about.”

  When Grace remained silent, Betty Sue continued. “I know that all of this about Kent is still bothering you.” She snorted. “I was watching him when we were all helping you move in the other day. Why if you could have seen the way that boy was looking at you when he didn’t think anyone else was watching. Wow. Let me tell you, sparks sure were flying from his eyes.”

  Grace closed the dishwasher and almost fell into one of the kitchen chairs. Was Betty Sue right? Hadn’t she, in fact, seen the same thing in Kent’s eyes when he sat with her and Joanne at lunch today?

  Betty Sue laughed again. “I’ll bet you’re wondering exactly what you can do about all this, aren’t you?”

  Grace nodded. “Yes, not only that, but I’m wondering if I even want to do anything about it.” She frowned. “You know that I’ve already had one very bad relationship and I’m sure you also know that Kent is not a Christian. And as you said last December, I’m not about to go there again, ever.”

  Betty Sue stepped up next to Grace and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “It’s okay, Grace. No one is asking you to marry him. But from what Matt has told me about Kent, I don’t really think he’d be opposed to changing his life for you, the way Matt did for me.”

  Grace didn’t get an opportunity to respond since her cell phone began ringing. She looked down at it and groaned. It was Randy’s parents. What could they want?

  Well, she’d have to answer it because if she didn’t they’d just keep calling until she did.

  Meredith Donaldson started in on Grace, as she’d known the overbearing woman would do.

  “Grace, you didn’t have to move all the way over to the other side of the state did you? Are you trying to deny us time with our granddaughter?”

  Grace didn’t say anything. She knew that her former mother-in-law never had acknowledged the fact that Grace grew up in Strawberry. No, they didn’t accept anything as existing anywhere outside of their social circle in St. Louis. Most of all, Grace moving here had been an insult to them that she had heard about repeatedly since last December when she’d told them she was moving back home.

  When Grace didn’t answer, Meredith started in from another angle. “You knew when you moved down to that Godforsaken place, that we wouldn’t be able to see our precious little Brianna as much as we’d like to.”

  Again, Grace knew from experience to wait. Her former mother-in-law always liked to be in control and would only get angry at any interruptions on Grace’s part. She also knew that Meredith had something to say and that she felt it was important.

  “So, Howard has made arrangements through a fellow attorney down there to purchase a house down there in Raspberry so we can see Brianna whenever we want.”

  Her first thought was to laugh at Meredith’s obviously intentional misnaming of her hometown. Then when she realized what else the woman had just said, a cold chill went down Grace’s back. From the look of concern on Betty Sue’s face, she knew that her friend saw the pain in her own expression.

  All Grace could think of to say was, “I’m sure Brianna will enjoy having both sets of grandparents close by.”

  After that bomb, she couldn’t get off the phone quick enough. But Meredith didn’t end the call until she’d told Grace that they would be down there this coming weekend so they could furnish their home away from home.

  Grace had been pacing back and forth in the kitchen while on the phone, but when she disconnected, she was near the kitchen table and almost fell into a chair. All she could think about was that her life had just become even more complicated. Her in-laws, especially Meredith, were going to come down here and try to run her and Brianna’s lives all over again. She’d thought she was away from all that now.

  * * *

  It hadn’t taken Sheila long to take over the entire situation in Hal’s office. They were soon headed to Kent’s house. Sheila was following him and Michelle was with her since Sheila had a booster seat in her car for her own seven-year-old.

  As Kent pulled into his garage, he realized that he was grinning. He had to stop that. He didn’t want to scare Michelle any more than she must already be. It had to be quite frightening for a seven-year-old to just be dropped off the way she had been, especially to a father she didn’t remember. The poor kid. He had to remember to be gentle with her.

  He
snorted. What did he know about how to treat a seven-year-old girl anyway? All he knew were fourteen-year-old freshmen. At that age, even the girls tended to be rather coarse and independent.

  Once they were all in Kent’s kitchen, his Beagle, Snoopy, bounded into the room, and came skidding to a halt on the vinyl floor when he saw Michelle.

  The little girl let out a whoop. “You have a dog. Oh boy! Can I pet him? What’s his name?”

  Michelle’s outburst surprised Kent but pleased him too. “His name is Snoopy and sure you can pet him. He loves to be petted and he’s used to Sheila’s boys playing with him. They’re the ones who named him.”

  Michelle plopped down in the middle of the floor and pulled Snoopy into her arms.

  Kent smiled down at the two of them and was grateful that Snoopy was able to do what neither he nor Sheila had been able to do yet. His daughter was grinning down at the dog and petting him excitedly.

  “Can I go outside and play with him?”

  Sheila answered for Kent this time. “You can play with Snoopy a little later Sweetie. Right now, why don’t you and I go in the back and I’ll show you which bedroom will be your very own.”

  Michelle started to follow Sheila but stopped behind her in the doorway into the living room. “You mean I don’t have to sleep on the couch anymore?”

  Sheila gave Kent a questioning look and he just shrugged his shoulders. She stepped up to Michelle and placed her hand on the little girl’s shoulder.

  “Of course you don’t have to sleep on the couch Sweetheart. Your daddy has two bedrooms besides the one he sleeps in. Since our parents, your grandparents, live in Arizona now, they stay here when they come to visit. So both bedrooms have beds and dressers in them.”

  Kent felt that he needed to add something here but wasn’t sure what it could be, so he just blurted out, “Once you get settled in your new bedroom, Michelle, then we’ll go to the store and you can get whatever you want to decorate it so you can make it your special room. Okay?”

  Michelle turned around to gape at Kent. “For real?”

  He smiled. “Of course, it’s for real Michelle. You’re my daughter and I want you to have everything you want, within reason.”

  Kent thought that had been the perfect thing to say but was shocked when Michelle’s face fell and she turned to walk away from him with her shoulders drooping.

  “Yeah, that’s what my mom always says when she really means that she isn’t going to get me anything.”

  Kent was glad when Sheila stepped in front of Michelle, kneeled down again, and looked into her eyes. “Oh no Sweetie. What your dad meant is that unless it costs lots of money, you can have whatever you want.”

  Michelle didn’t seem totally convinced as she looked back at Kent. The frown was back and Kent decided right then that he was going to do everything he could to keep that frown away.

  After that, Sheila took Michelle down the hall to her bedroom. A few minutes later, Sheila stuck her head out of the room. “Kent, she likes this one well enough but we’re going to need to repaint it.”

  “Okay Sis. That’s fine as long as it isn’t some weird color.”

  He heard a little giggle coming from the bedroom and it made his heart warm to think that maybe his daughter was beginning to get at least a little comfortable with them.

  He decided that he’d let Sheila continue getting Michelle settled in her new room without him. After all, that wasn’t something he was very well equipped to do. Michelle wouldn’t want him helping her with her clothes and other personal things. So he went into the living room and sank down into his recliner.

  He’d barely gotten situated when the doorbell rang. When he opened the door, he wasn’t surprised to see his brother-in-law, Aaron, with the two boys.

  Once the three newcomers settled themselves on the sofa, Sheila came out with Michelle directly behind her. It didn’t take Kent long to realize that Michelle was trying to hide behind Sheila’s skirts. As he glanced at his two nephews, he had to grin for they were giving Michelle curious looks too.

  Sheila was well aware of all of that so she took Michelle by the hand and led her up to the couch. “Michelle, this is my husband, your Uncle Aaron.”

  She pointed to her sons and said, “These are our sons, your cousins. A. Ray is nine and Roger is seven like you.”

  Michelle frowned at A. Ray. “That’s a silly name.”

  Sheila laughed. “Well, his real name is Aaron Ray Travis II but we call him A. Ray so we don’t get him mixed up with his daddy who everyone else calls Aaron.”

  Michelle’s face lit up then. “Oh.” She frowned then she grinned. “But I still think it’s a silly name.”

  Kent knew he couldn’t correct Michelle much yet even if she was being a little rude. Sheila came to his rescue though.

  “I think that once you get to know them, you’ll like A. Ray and Roger too.”

  The two boys seemed to be as much in awe of suddenly having a cousin as Michelle was in having two.

  Sheila stood, walked over to stand in front of Kent’s recliner, and placed her hands on her hips. “Don’t you think we should call Mom and Dad to tell them about Michelle? Do you want me to do it?”

  At first, Kent was ready to let Sheila do it but then he thought about how his mom might be hurt if he didn’t tell her himself. But what if his dad answered the phone? Should he ask for his mom or just tell his dad?

  While the phone was ringing on the other end, he came up with an idea and as it turned out, it was a good thing that he had for his dad answered.

  “Dad, I’ve got something important to tell you and Mom both. Can you get her on the phone so I can tell both of you at the same time?”

  He thought his dad was going to refuse since it took him so long to answer. “Okay.”

  He could tell that his dad held the phone away from him and called Kent’s mom to the phone.

  Once she was on the line, Kent decided that the best thing to do was just to drop the bomb on them right away. “Mom, Dad, Michelle is at my house right now and she’s going to be staying with me from now on.”

  It was strangely silent on the other end of the line for a long moment then his mom shrieked. “Oh Kent, that’s simply wonderful. But how did it happen?”

  Kent proceeded to tell them how Michelle had come back into his life.

  As soon as he finished, his mom said, “Herbert, as soon as we get off this phone we’re calling the airport. I want to go see my granddaughter tomorrow. I simply can’t wait another day.”

  As soon as Kent disconnected, Sheila said, “They’re coming aren’t they?”

  Kent could only nod his head. Too much was happening too quickly. He couldn’t quite get his mind wrapped around all of it.

  Chapter Six

  Tuesday morning Grace was pleased to see that Brianna was just as excited about her second day in her new school as she had been for the first day. As they walked over to Brianna’s school from the high school parking lot, the little girl chattered non-stop about her teacher and practically every child in her class.

  As they entered the office to sign Brianna in, Grace noticed that Kent and his sister Sheila were sitting in the waiting area. She looked again and saw a little girl with long blond hair with them. That was strange. Grace was sure that Sheila had two boys and no girls.

  Sheila saw her and waved her over to where they were all sitting. Grace had always liked Kent’s older sister but had not really been around her very much since Sheila was three years older than she was and had been a senior when Grace was a freshman.

  Sheila smiled at Grace and then looked down at Brianna. “Brianna, this is Kent’s daughter Michelle and she’s going to be in the same class as you and my son, Roger.”

  Brianna looked at Michelle then back to Sheila with a puzzled look on her face. “You’re Roger’s Mommy?”

  “Yes I am. Do you think you could help Michelle get used to her new school?”

  Brianna looked back at Michelle and
that was when Grace realized that the two girls looked so much alike that they could have been sisters. They had the same shade of long blond hair and blue eyes, plus they even had similar facial features.

  Brianna giggled and pointed at Michelle’s hair. “You have my hair.”

  Michelle glared back at her. “No, you have mine and you have my eyes too.”

  The adults all laughed but the two girls didn’t. Grace knew that something needed to be said and quickly. She kneeled down between the little girls.

  “Girls, you know what?” When they both looked at her, she continued, “Michelle, when your daddy was in second grade and I was in first grade, we became very good friends and we’re still good friends now.”

  Grace looked up at Kent then and realized that he was giving her a strange look. She sent him a meaningful look trying to appeal to him for some help and she was relieved when he picked it up immediately.

  “That’s right girls. Even though she was a girl, we did lots of things together. So since both of you are girls, then you should be able to do even more things together.”

  He laughed. “She used to get mad at me when I wouldn’t play dolls with her and I used to get mad at her when she wouldn’t play football with me.”

  Both girls had been watching him carefully while he talked and when he finished, they looked back at each other. After a long moment, Brianna spoke first.

  “I will if you will.”

  Grace was afraid that Michelle was going to argue with Brianna but then she finally grinned back at Brianna and said, “I will if you will.”

  Just then, the principal, Doris Green, came out of her office and stepped up to the group. The matronly older lady said, “Well Michelle, I see that you’ve already met one of your classmates.” She turned to Brianna. “Brianna, why don’t you and I go show Michelle to your class?”