by King, Dean
“Mother, let her go. I want to hug her, too.” Nina laughed and reached out for her younger sister. They stood silently and studied one another.
Rafe cleared his throat and Nina looked over.
He nodded towards her father, sitting alone and as if in shock, staring out at nothing.
Nina swallowed hard. If he didn’t accept her, she didn’t know what she’d do. Tilting her head towards her father, she asked, “May I speak with him for a moment?”
Irene nodded and took Nina’s shaking hand in hers as they approached Billy. He sat as if in a trance, one hand covering his mouth as he stared off into the distance.
“Honey.” Irene knelt on the ground next to his chair. “Honey, she’s here. Our Melissa.” Irene kissed his stiff cheek. “Remember when we said we could still feel her? That we knew she was still alive? We were right.” Irene kissed Nina’s cheek, then looked at her husband. “Talk to her.”
Tortured green eyes rose to find Nina’s contented face. “It can’t be her. Don’t you understand, Irene? It can’t be.” Unnoticed by him, tears tracked down his cheeks. “If it’s her, it means I failed her. I failed you. I promised you when I took her to that orphanage that we would get her back. Remember?”
“Yes, I remember. But it wasn’t your fault Billy. That woman lied. But how were we to know? How could we know?”
“We’re supposed to know!” He growled. “It was my fault! I was supposed to know.” He thumped his chest hard and looked into the distance. “How can I look at her, knowing I failed her? Knowing what I cost us all, what I did to you.”
Nina knelt down beside him and placed a hand on his knee. He flinched but she didn’t move. She tried to look into his face, but he turned from her. “You didn’t fail me. I swear you didn’t. I had a wonderful childhood.”
Not far away, she saw Rafe’s eyes snap to her face. She shook her head. “I had everything I could possibly want, except the love of my parents.”
Bright green eyes clashed as Bill looked at her. “Oh God, you always had that! Always.” He opened his arms to her.
Nina fell into them, crying hard. “Daddy, oh daddy.” Her breath shuddered as he squeezed her tight and his body jerked with the force of his tears.
Hours passed. Nina and Rafe remained at the red and white brick house. They sat around the dining table. Nina’s mother held onto her hand, her father sitting close beside her. They couldn't stop touching her.
Rafe knew they would be staying for quite a while. He telephoned Miranda to tell her how things were unfolding. He told her they’d have to cancel the honeymoon reservations.
“This is Sarah,” Bill pointed to the girl who’d answered the door. She looked a lot like Nina, only with her mother’s brown eyes. “She’s nineteen. That fellow over there is your brother William, he’s named after me, we call him Trent, his middle name. He’s seventeen.” Trent nodded in their direction. He seemed rather confused by the day’s events. He was tall and very dark skinned, with green eyes and black wavy hair. “And this is your other brother, Chad, who’s fifteen. Don’t mind him he’s just at that age where he needs to be a pest.” Bill ruffled the boy’s curly brown hair as he sat in the next chair.
“Stop, dad.” Chad batted at his father’s hand.
Bill turned to his children. “I know this is confusing to you all, so I’ll try to explain. As you know, this young lady is your sister.” Both boys stopped what they were doing and paid attention.
“Your sister and her husband. I'm ashamed to admit this, but Melissa, I mean Nina, was born when your mother and I were fifteen. We were young and in love, but no one understood it because she was black and I was white.”
“Aren’t you two still black and white?” Trent snickered.
“Shut up!” Sarah yelled at him.
“We were afraid of what would happen if our parents knew she was pregnant. So she hid her belly the whole time. One day she went into labor, so we went into the woods surrounding our neighborhood and I helped her deliver the baby. It was the hardest thing we ever did. I gave her four aspirin to help with the pain, and one of my mom’s valium.” He held up his hand at their gasps. “I know now that it was wrong, I could have killed them both, but we were children. My mom took them okay and I didn’t know any better. Irene wanted to keep the baby, but I knew we couldn’t. I wasn’t even old enough to get a job, let alone take care of a baby.” His tender expression found his wife. “We stayed in that field, just the three of us, for two days. We slept under the stars. She was born June 30, 1979. It was a full moon that night. Irene nursed you and how she cried.” His voice caught on a sob. Nina laid a hand on his arm, he clasped it in his. “She cried so hard the whole time I thought her heart was broken. She knew we couldn’t keep you, honey, but she didn’t want to face it. I thought I would spare her the pain and do what had to be done. On the third night, while Irene slept, I eased you away from under her arm. I'd written a note. I wrapped you in a blanket and took you to the nuns.” He hung his head for a moment, and then continued. “I talked to Sister Bethany-Ann. I told her of our problem and asked her to look after you. I told her I’d be back when I could take care of you. How your mother fought me when I told her what I’d done. But in the end, she trusted me. We went back to visit you often. The last time we saw you, we were in the eleventh grade. You were two years old. Walking, and you knew us on sight. No one ever knew. But Sister Bethany-Ann said we could no longer visit you. I enlisted in the Marines. By the time you were four, I came back and your mother had graduated from high school. We then married and that very night we went to get you. That was when they told us what happened.” His voice cracked as a sob threatened to burst forth, “I blamed myself. If I hadn’t…”
“It’s over Bill, she’s here.” Irene looked at all of her children. “We’re complete.”
“Those big green eyes are so like mine.” Bill caressed Nina's cheek. “You don’t know what we’ve been through over these long years. There isn't a day that goes by when you didn’t enter our minds. This ranch is named Rocking M, in your honor.”
“What is my name?” Nina quietly asked.
“Melissa Summer Angel Emery.”
Chad laughed. “Summer Angel? What kind of name is that?”
“It’s the kind of name a fifteen year old would think of, stupid,” Sarah snapped as she wiped her eyes. “You just keep your lips together. I have help against you two now. We’re two girls instead of me being alone.”
“What’s she gonna do? She’s married!” Trent chimed in.
“Oh, I can’t do too much until after your nephew is born,” Nina said, “then we’ll see what I can do.” All eyes turned to her. “You’ll be grandparents in about seven months,” she grinned towards Irene and Bill.
“Oh my god! Bill, did you hear that?” He nodded, his eyes glowing.
Rafe shook his head, laughing, as Nina found herself trapped in another wave of hugs.
Nina smiled at Rafe, her love shining bright as her family converged on her. No shadows lurked in her eyes. He would let them have her for now. But tonight, and for the rest of their lives, she would be all his.
Check out these other Caliente books:
By S.D. Valyan
Whispers from the Heart ISBN 0-9719751-7-5 $7.99
Hearts of Fire ISBN 0-5952016-8-7 $20.99
Promises Unspoken ISBN 1-4196-2869-0 $20.99
By Dean King
Forgive Me My Love ISBN 0-9719751-6-7 $20.99
Available at:
Amazon.com
www.rogueromance.net
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