by Delia Latham
Well, she’d survived it. And it felt good. It felt right. “Thank you for listening.” She gnawed at her bottom lip for half a second, and then managed a rather shaky smile. “I’m sure you’ve had more cheerful dates.”
“Maybe. But never one I enjoyed quite so much.”
A little laugh burst from her lips. “Well, you’re every inch the gentleman to say so, and make it sound absolutely true.”
“It is true.” He tucked a finger beneath her chin and lifted her face, so she had no choice but to meet his gaze. “You’re a strong woman. I admire your determination. To have managed emancipation at sixteen, and achieve what you have in the years since…you’re amazing.”
“I’m not amazing, trust me. I was just a desperate kid who wanted out of the system—at any cost.”
“But you made it happen. Lots of orphan kids want out of the system. Very few manage to accomplish what you did and make it work. You should be proud of yourself.”
“Well…”
“And really, really grateful. God’s been good to you.”
She stiffened. “God left me in an orphanage and put me in foster situations that weren’t…safe.”
“No. No, sweetheart.” His voice dropped to a low rumble. He took her by the shoulders and pulled her close to his chest.
Dawni stiffened for a second or two, until she realized she didn’t mind the closeness.
Gavin stroked her hair while he talked. “God didn’t do that. People did. People—to whom God gave free will and the power of choice. They made the wrong decisions, behaved inappropriately, and that impacted your life in a real bad way. I’m sorry, honey. You shouldn’t have had to deal with all that.”
Dawni found herself relaxing against him, enjoying the vibration of his voice…his warm breath against her hair. Under his gentle touch, her shoulders relaxed, and she allowed her head to rest on his chest.
“It was God who gave you the strength of will to claw your way out of that life. He loves you.”
She wasn’t so sure, but elected to make no reply. This nice cowboy had some strange ideas, but she found no fault with his broad chest and strong shoulders. A woman could get used to having them around to lean on. Easily. In a heartbeat.
After a moment, he gave her a gentle squeeze, touched his lips briefly to her forehead, and then climbed into his truck and drove away.
Dawni watched him park in his own driveway before turning to go inside. Something at the edge of the forest caught her attention, and she looked up, her hand on the doorknob.
A glowing shape hovered beside the trees. Just for a bare instant.
She drew a sharp breath and took one step toward the form…and it was gone. Of course it was. Perhaps it hadn’t been there at all, and maybe she should see a doctor about these illusions.
She let herself into the house and booted up the computer, and then changed into pajamas and made herself a cup of tea. By the time she sat at her desk and took the mouse in hand, she’d relived the entire evening, one word, one glance at a time.
The angels might be illusions, but Gavin Sampson was real. Real and kind, incredibly handsome…and he liked her. She knew, because he didn’t play games. He’d been completely transparent with her, which of course prompted her own surprising revelation of things she usually kept under emotional lock and key.
But she wasn’t sorry she’d shared. Not even a little.
8
Dawni picked up the huge bowl of honey-spinach salad she’d thrown together and walked to the door—where she stood, stiff and rigid, and hauled in a couple of deep breaths.
Laughter and happy voices drifted in through the closed door. From the sound of things, Viv Hart would be pleased—the barbecue was well attended.
Which only made Dawni more reluctant to step outside and join the crowd. Ridiculous. The big turn-out was a good thing. Her presence would most likely go completely unnoticed—except for maybe Gavin.
All right. You can do this. Just open the door and…go. Don’t be such an idiot. Despite that little lecture to herself, a full three minutes passed before she found the courage to turn the knob and step out onto her porch.
Sure enough, the common area was packed with people dressed in cool, comfortable clothing. Smiles were everywhere. Lots of joking banter. Everyone out there knew everyone else.
Everyone except her.
“Hey, there you are!” To her intense relief, Gavin met her at the gate and held it open. When she joined him outside the comfort of her own yard, he closed the gate and relieved her of the bowl of salad. “I was just getting ready to come knockin’ on your door.”
“If you had, I might’ve been out here a little sooner.” She bit at her lip, her eyes fixed on the teeming common area. “Hearing all this chatter and laughter made me want to hide under my bed.”
“Seriously?” His brows took a dive toward each other, and he took her cold hand in his. How could that simple gesture—the warmth of his fingers around hers—put the butterflies in her stomach to sleep so quickly? “I’m sorry. I would’ve come earlier if I’d known. Come on…I want you to meet Dex.”
All those trips out to the ranch to see the baby, and she had yet to meet Gavin’s boss, who turned out to be a tall, soft-spoken Texas gentleman.
Dawni was pleased to see Layne with him. That made two people who knew her.
Layne pulled her into a quick hug. “How’re you liking Heart’s Haven, hon?”
“It’s nice. I still haven’t met a lot of—”
“Mommy, I know her!” A little girl barreled into Layne. Long pigtails hung over her shoulders. She hopped from one foot to the other, clearly unable to stand still. In her round, slant-eyed, smiling face, Dawni recognized the familiar attributes of a Down’s syndrome child. “Hi, Dawni!”
“Oh! Uhm…hello.” Confused, Dawni sought Layne’s gaze. She’d never seen this child before.
Layne’s daughter must be one of Beckett Ranch’s “angel kids.” Perhaps the child had seen her during one of her visits with little Guy.
“Calm down, sweetie.” Layne knelt and slid an arm around her daughter’s waist. “How do you know this pretty lady?” She sent Dawni a curious glance and a low chuckle. “This is my daughter, Chloe, but apparently you two have already met.”
“I don’t think—”
“Nope.” Chloe’s pigtails swung with a vehement shake of her head. “We have not.”
“Then how do you—? Oh.” Layne patted the little girl’s shoulder and stood. “I think I know what’s going on here.”
Chloe’s grin revealed a wide gap in her teeth, where one new tooth was making its way in right next to another open space. “She’s the new baby’s mommy. Nonna likes her, I think. And guess what? Dawni has two angels!”
“Angels?” A chill slithered its way from the top of Dawni’s head all the way to her toes. “I don’t understand.”
“Chloe sees them…angels. I know it’s hard to believe—it sure took me awhile to take it in. But it’s true.” Layne drew in a deep breath, released it, and then patted Dawni’s arm. “If she says you have two angels, then…well, my truly blessed friend, you have two angels.”
“But I don’t!”
“Uh-huh.” Chloe took Dawni’s hand—the one Gavin wasn’t holding—and held it against her cheek. “Protection is taking care of you. And Comfort will help your baby.” Her smile could have illuminated a pitch-dark cellar. “Mommy, little Guy is so cute!”
“I’m sorry, I—” Panic fluttered in Dawni’s chest like a moth trapped in a jar.
Gavin gave her hand a gentle tug. “Come on. You need to meet a few of these other folks.”
She sent him a desperate glance. His smile and slow wink went a long way toward calming her frantic spirit.
As they walked away, she cast a quick look back at the Becketts. Chloe clung to one of Dex’s long legs, her little face lifted to his. She clearly adored him. But what was all that about angels?
“Gavin, that little girl.
What was she—?”
He leaned in and spoke into her ear. “Just relax. I’ll explain later, OK? In the meantime…” He stopped next to an attractive woman with olive skin, smoky green eyes, and a baby bump that, in Dawni’s uninformed opinion, seemed just about ready to yield its contents to the world. “I want you to meet Pia Myers.”
The woman struggled to her feet and extended a friendly hand. Her open smile warmed Dawni’s heart and she found her own lips curving upward in response.
“Oh, my…you are a pretty one! How long have you been here? How come I haven’t seen you before?” She scanned the little homes on their side of the big lawn. “Which cottage do you live in?”
Laughing, Gavin tugged Dawni a little closer and slid an arm around her waist. “Pia, darlin’, you’re cute as a button, but you ask a whole lot of questions. Dawni can get back to you on some of that after she’s met a few of the others.” He offered one of those crooked grins that Dawni thought would surely render Pia incapable of objecting. “That work for you?”
“Oh, fine then.” Pia fluttered a slender hand at Gavin and reached out to touch Dawni’s arm. “Just don’t forget to come back. I want to hear all about you. Oh—” She pointed out a tall man standing near the grill. “That’s my husband, David. He’s the pastor of Angel Falls Tabernacle.” She grinned and squeezed her arms over her chest as if she could hug the man from across the lawn. “Isn’t he just the cutest thing?”
Dawni laughed outright, and the sound almost startled her. How long had it been since she’d laughed like that, and in public? Had she ever? “I’ll be back, Pia.”
Beginning to relax, she allowed herself to be led to the next table. She wouldn’t be telling Pia so, but David Myers wasn’t “the cutest thing” in attendance at this little Heart’s Haven hoedown. That honor belonged to the man at her side.
Gavin didn’t release her as they walked toward the next table. He held her close enough for comfort, but not so tight she found it hard to breathe.
Dawni bit back a grin. She could live with that for—well, a good, long while.
By the time the gathering started to break up a couple hours later, her head spun from trying to keep all the names properly matched to the jumble of faces.
Sweet Viv Hart, along with her brother Lance and his wife, Madison. Pia and David, and David’s youth pastor, Corbin Bishop, with his fiancée, Aria. Mitch and Lexi Gaynor. Mitch wrote Christian Western novels, and his wife was a pretty, quiet woman whose entire demeanor exuded an almost palpable peace.
Dawni was surprised to see Susanna and Gabe Peretti, whom she’d met at Wellsprings of Grace, until Gavin explained that they’d both lived in Heart’s Haven cottages until very recently. Dawni was surprised to learn that Gabe was Pia Myers’s brother.
And so many others. Many of the attendees blurred in Dawni’s mind. But everyone had proven kind and friendly—even a few folks who, like herself, had lived at the Haven only a short time.
She’d been particularly drawn to Jaci Meadows—a sweet young woman who kept leaving the barbecue to check on a huge malamute who made his owner’s front yard look no bigger than a large pet crate.
Amongst the confusing muddle of names she’d been fed along with the delicious food at the barbecue, Dawni particularly recalled Jaci’s name. The young woman’s warmth and quick wit had wrapped themselves around her heart and made her laugh until her jaws actually hurt. She’d never experienced that particularly oddity, probably because her life hadn’t offered much to laugh about.
Gavin walked her back to her cottage and she invited him in. He’d probably forgotten his promise to explain all that talk about little Chloe’s connection with angels, but Dawni had not.
And she wanted answers.
****
Gavin hesitated when Dawni asked him to stay a while. He didn’t want to push his luck with this woman…she seemed to enjoy his company, but at the same time, seemed a bit overwhelmed with their obvious attraction. Still, something in her expression said she wanted his company, and he couldn’t walk away.
A few moments later, both of them armed with a glass of Dawni’s sweet iced tea, they settled into opposite ends of her brightly colored sofa.
Like Dawni herself, the furniture in this cottage was surprising. The cheerful, modern colors and style seemed almost cold—certainly less than inviting—until one actually sank into the soft, welcoming cushions.
“What?” She narrowed her gaze, clearly suspicious of his kooky grin.
“Nothing. Really. Just surprised at how comfortable your sofa is. I didn’t expect it.”
“Are you saying my furniture looks uncomfortable?”
He laughed. “Never. But it does look modern, and most modern furniture lacks a certain warmth.” Boy, was he ever digging a deep hole.
“Hmm.” She studied him for a moment, and then sighed. “Well, I’m glad you’re comfortable, because you may be here a while.”
Well, he’d take all the time with her she wanted to offer.
“Yeah? What’s up?”
“Chloe.”
Of course. Dex and Layne’s little girl. On top of being a Down’s child, Chloe’s unapologetic claim to see angels—and speak with them—left some folks ill at ease. Gavin had been one of them…until he’d witnessed the result of Chloe’s communication with heavenly beings. More than once.
“You’re curious about what she said? That you have two angels?”
“Well, yes, of course I am. Especially since you and her parents seemed to take her seriously.”
“Yep. Serious as a heart attack.”
Dawni studied him over the rim of her glass, and then slowly lowered the iced tea onto a table at her end of the sofa. “You really think she sees angels.”
“And talks with them. Yes, ma’am, I do.”
She drew a breath, huffed it out, and then gave her head a shake. “You’re a smart man, Gavin. Why would you believe such a thing?”
“Because I’ve seen…things.”
“Enlighten me.”
He returned the thoughtful gaze under which she’d pinned him. “I can do that, if your reason for asking is right. But if you just want to know so you can laugh at Chloe, or ridicule her parents for ‘encouraging’ her in what you consider a ridiculous fantasy, then I’d rather not.”
Dawni blinked and drew back almost imperceptibly.
He’d shocked her. Good. He’d meant what he said.
“I would never do that…and it kind of bothers me that you’d think I might.” She sighed. “I’m asking because I’ve seen something too, and I wonder if it might have been—” She broke off and nibbled at her bottom lip, rendering Gavin darn near speechless. “Well, an angel.”
He sat up straighter and held out his hand. Without an instant’s hesitation, she gave him her own. Gavin closed his fingers around hers and gave a gentle squeeze. “Tell me what you saw.”
She searched his gaze and Gavin somehow knew she was looking for something…anything that might indicate he’d laugh at her. He made sure she saw only sincerity and concern.
Soon, she pulled in a bracing breath and started talking. She started by telling him about a dream, in which she’d followed a ‘glowing, gliding entity’ toward a baby’s cry. Barely stopping to sip at her tea, she launched from the dream directly into her early morning walk on the greenway, when she’d found little Guy.
“That’s incredible.” His gaze traveled her face and settled on her eyes, where he looked deep. “There’s more. Tell me.”
“How do you do that?”
Dawni’s low chuckle poured warm honey down the length of Gavin’s spine. He cleared his throat before attempting a reply.
“Uhm…it’s easy. You wear your heart in your eyes.”
A brief flash of…something. Panic? Yes, he’d frightened her with that comment. He offered another quick squeeze of her hand, hoping to remove the shadow from her gaze. “So, what else?”
“After we went to Angel Falls, when you broug
ht me home, I saw it again. At least, I think I did. It was only for a moment, and from a distance, but I’m pretty sure—no, I’m positive it was the same…whatever it was.”
“I think you know it was an angel.”
“Well, I—” She hesitated, clearly uncomfortable with admitting it out loud, but then sighed. “Yes, I believe it was. At least…I think I do.”
“Dawni…wow, what a blessing! Did the angel say anything to you?”
“Nothing. Just led me to the baby, the first time. The second time, it simply showed itself, and then it was gone.” She hesitated, and Gavin wasn’t sure she would continue, but she did. “Almost as if it was giving its approval of our evening together…or maybe just watching over me.”
Gavin’s heart let loose with a dance that nearly burst his chest, and he grinned, unable to hold it back. “I think it was both. Definitely both.”
9
“You’re growing so quickly.” Dawni held little Guy close, his tiny head on her shoulder while she tried to coax a burp from him.
Gavin made it look so easy. He had only to hold the baby—exactly as she was doing now—tap his back a couple of times…and voila! Burping accomplished.
Dawni’s efforts were rarely so quickly rewarded—and sometimes she never achieved the desired result. Gavin would take over, or Miss Elaine—who had quickly become ‘Nonna’ to Dawni—would haul the little one into her arms and make magic happen. Instantly. No fuss, no bother.
She pulled in a discouraged sigh. Probably a good thing she’d never planned to have children. Being a mother obviously wasn’t her forte.
The infant produced a gurgling sound—nothing whatsoever like a burp—and Dawni lowered him to her lap. “What was that, lovebug? Are you talking?”
As if he’d understood her questions, the baby answered with a series of adorable coos. One tiny hand waved wildly in the air for a few seconds, and then flapped against Dawni’s cheek. His eyes brightened and he bopped her face again with his uncoordinated fingers. Then he smiled.