Love Inspired June 2021--Box Set 1 of 2

by Patricia Johns

  “You’re right,” she conceded.

  “I usually am. That’s a bonus to living a long time. Go ahead, pull the bandage off. It’ll only sting for a bit.”

  “Proud of yourself, aren’t you?” Avery asked and then she kissed her foster mom on the cheek.

  “I am, somewhat. Tell him. It will be easier than having him find out on his own. Nothing stays secret in a small town, and the only thing worse than the secret is the pain it’s going to cause.”

  “I don’t know...” She knew it would happen. Sooner or later he would find out. After all, this was Pleasant, and gossip spread faster than the chicken pox.

  “I’ll be praying for you,” Nan called out as Avery left. The words were more than a salutation; they were a promise and it mattered.

  Avery would need Nan’s prayers to get through this day.

  Leaving the workshop, she crossed the large expanse of freshly mowed lawn to her car. The grass sparkled with dew and in the distance, fog hung over the river. Fifteen years ago, Nan’s farm had been a haven after Avery’s nightmare of a childhood. Now it was home. It had made sense to come back here, to Nan and to Pleasant.

  Nan’s big craftsman home sat on the south side of Pleasant. The fifty acres of rolling farmland and big oak trees had been in Nan’s family for over one hundred years. One section of the property was along the river, and from Nan’s sprawling back deck you could sit with a cup of coffee and watch the river meander through the valley below.

  It was a short drive from the farm to Pleasant, a river town that had seen its heyday years ago, but seemed to be making a comeback as people returned to enjoy water activities like canoeing, camping and fishing. Pleasant had fortunately never lost its charm. The town was a combination of valley and hills. Old Victorian homes sat alongside newer brick homes on narrow paved streets.

  The downtown area was a mishmash of buildings. Pleasant Avenue was a quiet little street just off the highway where businesses sat side by side down the one-way street. The century-old brick-fronted buildings had been well-maintained. Tilly’s Diner, the Clip Art Beauty Salon, next to it, the barber shop, Bob the Barber. There were several empty buildings, too. Down the street was the Pleasant Grocery and Dry Goods, and next to that, the post office.

  Across the street from the row of stores with their brick-and-metal facades was the Grain and Farm, and next to it a garage and tractor repair shop.

  Pleasant was the town that time had forgotten. There was an occasional horse tied to a post in front of the Grain and Farm, sometimes a tractor parked in front of Tilly’s. In the way of all small towns, everyone knew everyone else. And if you hadn’t been born in Pleasant but merely lived there most of your life, you were probably considered a newcomer.

  At the end of Pleasant Avenue was Commercial Street. Commercial Street boasted newer buildings. A small strip mall with a sandwich shop, a boutique clothing store and an insurance agent. On the corner was the gas station, and that was where Avery made a right turn to cross the bridge over the river. A few minutes later she pulled into the parking lot of the Pleasant Residential Care, also known as PRC. The facility was located a couple of miles out of town and was surrounded by green fields with a view of rolling hills, grazing cattle and distant tree-covered hills.

  Grayson would be there soon, and she needed to prepare.

  Yesterday she might have had a breakdown after he left, going to the laundry room and crying for a solid five minutes until she could pull herself together.

  That was yesterday. Today was a new day. She pulled on her confidence like a new coat and headed to the front door. As she entered the facility, the staff and residents greeted her with warm smiles.

  Laura waved and gave her a questioning look. She was probably worried because yesterday hadn’t been a good day.

  “Hey, Avery, are we still running away together next week?” Dallas Parson asked from his chair by the nurses’ station.

  “Maybe not next week, Dallas.” She touched his shoulder and he smiled up at her, his crooked grin the sign of the stroke he was still recovering from. “Did you eat breakfast this morning?”

  “Always after me to eat my breakfast.” He made a face, complete with a wrinkled nose. “That wife of mine keeps at me, too.”

  “And that, Dallas, is why we can’t run away together.”

  “Because of the wife?” He rolled his eyes a bit. “She’s been a ball and chain for fifty years.”

  “And you love her more than life itself. That’s why you have to eat breakfast. We want you to stay strong so you can complete your physical therapy and go home.”

  He made a completely dramatic sigh. “I suppose you’re right. I guess I have a woman that I’ve trained. Starting over with a younger one would take too much time for an old man like me.”

  “You’re not old,” she told him.

  “Just seasoned,” he finished. He reached for her hand and gave it a squeeze. “Don’t let Grayson Stone get under your skin.”

  Too late. But she smiled.

  Grayson’s return could unhinge her life. Completely and irreversibly.

  She was going to try not to let that happen.

  * * *

  “Where do you think you’re going?” Mathias Stone asked from his chair by the window in the living room.

  He was pale and weathered, and resembled nothing of his former tall and imposing self. Grayson paused in the doorway and studied the man who had once been a frightening figure of a human being. Now he just looked frightened. As if Grayson was his security.

  “I have to do community service, remember?”

  “I took care of that.” Mathias growled the words. “I’m a judge.”

  “You were a judge. You’re retired now and I have to pay for my crimes.”

  “I sent you away to get you out of this town and away from that woman.”

  “That woman?” Grayson asked. “Do you mean Avery?”

  “That’s the one. Go discover her secrets. That’s what you’re after, isn’t it?”

  “What secrets?” Grayson moved a little closer to his father and as he did, he saw the way Mathias clamped down on whatever he’d meant to say. His jaw, fleshy and slack, firmed up and he looked away.

  Mathias had been stronger, more himself, when Grayson visited his parents in Springfield, the few times he’d returned to Missouri since being sent to California. The last time he’d been home had been for his mother’s funeral. Even then, his dad had been tough as nails.

  “Go on, I’ve got to take a nap.”

  Grayson brushed a hand over his face. “Everyone in this town is keeping her secrets.”

  “Well, you’ve got your own, don’t you?”

  Grayson glanced away, unable to look his father in the eyes. He didn’t want to talk about his past. He was only here for a month or two, just long enough to figure out the best way to care for his father. At the end of the summer he would go back to his life in California.

  “I don’t have secrets,” Grayson denied.

  “We all do,” his father spoke softly. Soft-spoken was not how Grayson would ever describe the man in the wheelchair. Hard. Demanding. Mean. A man who had expected perfection and had been sadly disappointed in his offspring. Grayson and his older sister had never lived up to Mathias Stone’s expectations.

  June, Grayson’s sister, had left home at seventeen. She’d married young, had a son and a daughter. She was happy, married to her preacher husband and living in Oklahoma. Some people were like that, he realized. Some people found their forever loves and lived a happy life. Not that trouble didn’t find them from time to time, because life always included hard times. But all in all, they lived a white-picket-fence kind of life.

  “It’s high time you have your reckoning.” Mathias taunted him with the slightest edge of humor to his voice.

  “What does that me
an?” Grayson asked.

  “Not my place to say.”

  Grayson shook his head, unable to continue the argument. “Your aide just arrived. I’ll let her in and then I’ll head out.”

  “I don’t need any help.”

  “Yes, you do,” Grayson countered. “When I’m not here, you need help. I can’t give you a shower or help you change clothes.”

  “I don’t need either of those things,” Mathias argued.

  “Yes, you do.”

  “Yeah, well, don’t forget to feed Tony before you leave.”

  “I won’t forget Tony.” Grayson smiled his first real smile of the day. His father had named a llama Tony. That was the livestock on the Stone farm. A llama named Tony, a miniature horse named Dolly and a miniature donkey named Jack. The three had come together, a package deal. He thought the animals said a lot about the person Mathias Stone had become in the years since his family deserted him.

  Grayson started for the front door.

  “Son,” his father called out.

  “Yes?” Grayson stopped, waited, hoping his father would tell him something. He felt it, deep down felt it, that he needed to be prepared.

  “I’m glad you’re here.”

  The words took Grayson by surprise. So did his answer. “So am I.”

  He left his father in the capable hands of Nina Rose, the home health-care worker. She was a no-nonsense woman, raised on the river. She had a strong back and a big heart, and the judge listened to her.

  When Grayson entered the residential facility, he was taken by the friendliness of the staff and the smiles of the residents. As he walked down the hall, an older woman in a wheelchair reached for his hand.

  “Did you bring Annie with you?” she asked.

  “I’m sorry?” He didn’t know how to answer.

  She had a toothless smile and gray hair piled up on her head in a bun. Her hand on his was cool, the skin papery but soft. “Annie said she would come today and I thought you would bring her. She said she’d bring the baby to see me.”

  “I...I...” he stammered. “I’ll try again tomorrow.”

  “No account son-in-law. I knew she should have married that other boy.” She released his hand.

  He pulled back, unsure of what to say or if he should say anything. A man seated nearby chuckled at him.

  “She’s a bit confused,” the older man said.

  “Oh, okay.” Grayson studied the man. “You look familiar, sir.”

  “I should. I was your neighbor for most of your young and misspent youth.”

  “Dallas Parson?”

  “The one and only. If you’re looking for Avery, she’s down the hall with Margie. The old gal is having dizzy spells again.”

  “Thank you. Is there...” Grayson paused, unsure. “Do you need anything?”

  Dallas laughed. “No, I’m going to be right as rain in a month or so. Don’t let them work you too hard. I have a feeling our Avery might use this as revenge.”

  “I have the same feeling.” He was in trouble and didn’t know why. That was the story of his life. He started to walk away but then stopped himself. “Dallas, do you know why she feels the need to get revenge?”

  Dallas shook his head. “Sorry, son, this is between the two of you. I wish you well but I’m not getting involved.”

  “I understand,” Grayson told the older gentleman. Yet, he didn’t understand. It was as if the entire world was speaking in code and he didn’t have the key.

  Possessing the knowledge that Avery was otherwise occupied, he headed for her office. It wasn’t his best moment, sneaking into the closet-size room, peeking around to make sure he wasn’t spotted. But he wanted her secrets and if she wasn’t going to reveal them, he’d have to find them himself. Had she been married? Was she still married? Did she have a family?

  Why would she feel the need to hide her life from him? They were adults. They’d moved on.

  He glanced over her desk. The picture was still hidden away from his prying eyes. With cautious steps he moved to the diploma and reached behind it to pull out the framed photograph. Slowly, he turned it and he studied the two faces that peered up at him from behind the glass.

  Everyone had their secrets, but this one changed everything.

  He shook his head as he studied the photo. Numbness took over and his heart stopped beating for a moment. He rubbed his chest as he sucked in air, desperately trying to fill his lungs.

  “What are you doing in here?” Avery’s voice from the door shook him out of his frozen state, and he looked up, meeting her gaze, seeing her fear.

  He didn’t know what to say to her. Even if he had the words, he didn’t know if he could speak at that moment.

  “Give me the picture.” She reached out to take it from him.

  He pulled back, keeping the frame away from her grasp. Her eyes widened as she realized he knew the truth. The color drained from her face. She reached again, her hand trembling as she grasped at the photo he held in his hand.

  “Please, Grayson,” she said, her voice trembling. “Please give me the picture.”

  “Give me my daughter,” he countered.

  “She isn’t...”

  He cut her off with a shake of his head. He held on to the photo. A photo of Avery and a little girl. A little girl with dark eyes and dark hair, the light catching flecks of auburn. A little girl with his dimples.

  “She obviously is, Avery. You kept her from me. Don’t make it worse by lying.”

  “I didn’t keep her from you.” She paused, swiping at a tear that trickled down her cheek. “You left.”

  He almost felt sympathetic toward her. Almost. But the little girl in the picture, the one with the dark hair and flashing eyes, was definitely his. He could see it in her smile, in the sassy tilt of her head, in a million little details.

  “What’s her name?” The question made the ache in his chest double and triple.

  “Quinn,” she whispered. “Her name is Quinn Anne.”

  But not Quinn Stone. Quinn Anne Hammons. He knew without a doubt that Avery hadn’t given their daughter his last name.

  “Is she ten?” he asked, after doing the math.

  Avery nodded. “She just turned ten in April.”

  “Ten years. I have missed knowing her for ten years. I can’t even...” He shook his head. “I thought you needed to forgive me. Now I realize that maybe I’m going to have to find a way to forgive you.”

  “Forgive me? Did you ever, even once, think about calling?”

  “Do you think that makes us even? This isn’t a game to me, one where we rack up points to see who gets ahead. I have a child I just found out about and I never would have known her if I hadn’t come back. Isn’t that right?” The enormity of that weighed down on him. He felt angry, sick, heartbroken and some other emotions he couldn’t identify.

  Avery didn’t respond. She just stood there, pale, sad, beautiful and guilty as charged.

  “I want to meet her,” he said as he took a step closer to the woman who had betrayed him. Betrayed was a strong word. But his feelings at the moment were pretty strong. He couldn’t do anything other than be angry with her.

  Another tear trickled down her cheek. This one traced a path to her chin and dripped off without her catching it. “I don’t know how to do this.”

  “Because you never considered that at some point, someday, I might show up? Or because you never thought about searching for me? The internet is an amazing thing.”

  She shook her head as more tears raced down her face. He reached past her and closed the office door.

  “I should have tried harder.”

  He agreed with that. “Yes, you should have.”

  “You make my life complicated, Grayson,” she said. “We were never ever going to be right for each other. We came from di
fferent worlds, you and me. I was never in your life, not really. I never fit in your circle. I was your little secret, not good enough for you to bring me around your friends or even to be seen with in public.”

  The words stunned him. Had he really been that person?

  “We’re no longer those two kids, Avery. None of that matters now. What matters is today.”

  “You think it will be that simple?” she asked, her voice breaking.

  “No, it won’t be simple, but I will be in my daughter’s life,” he assured her. “Either you choose a way to handle this or I’ll do it for you.”

  “I’ll figure it out.”

  “Good choice.”

  He opened the door and walked out of her office, reeling with the knowledge that he had a daughter. While he’d been living his life in California, she’d been living hers here in Pleasant. And he hadn’t known.

  He should have called Avery. He’d known it eleven years ago and he knew it now. He’d let his parents make decisions for him because his life had been spiraling out of control and he’d run out of options.

  None of that mattered now. What mattered was a girl named Quinn. His daughter. That connected him to Avery in a way he never would have imagined.

  He left the facility and walked to his truck. As he got behind the wheel, he saw that Avery had followed him to the door. She stood on the other side of the glass, the barrier making her image waver and fade in and out of focus.

  The girl he’d known all of those years ago was gone, and in her place was a woman, a mother who knew herself and how to be strong. He realized he’d never truly known her. She’d always been in his life, a little girl with dirty clothes and bruises on her arms. As a teenager she’d gone from a towheaded blond with freckles and dirt smudges on her cheek to a beauty who was overlooked because she grew up in the wrong area of town. She’d worn hand-me-down clothes, studied furiously and ignored the taunts of the kids who had assumed they were her betters.

  He hadn’t overlooked her. He’d just underestimated her. He’d hurt her. Truth be told, he’d played games with her, with her heart, with her life. He’d been selfish. He’d done everything wrong and not much right.