Forever

by Karen Kingsbury

  Now all they had to do was wait.

  The muscles in Dayne’s stomach tightened as he and Katy neared the Bloomington airport. A part of him wanted to stay on the plane and beg the pilot to take them back to Los Angeles. The whole thing felt like the final scene in a movie, the kind so heartrending, so gut-wrenching, that the sadness takes the wind out of people and afterwards they sit in the dark theater watching the credits because they don’t want anyone to see their tears.

  Bloomington lay spread out below as the plane circled low. The university and downtown area, the neighborhoods and sprawling farmlands. The lake.

  The flight attendant approached them. “We’ll be on the ground in a few minutes. Can I get you anything before we land?”

  Katy shook her head. “We’re fine, thanks.”

  “Very well.” She smiled. “Let me know if you need anything.” She returned to the back of the plane.

  Next to him, Dayne felt Katy reach over and take his hand. “It’ll be okay,” she whispered.

  Dayne didn’t answer, but he ran his thumb against her hand, drawing strength from her touch. He looked out the window. Every other time he’d arrived in Bloomington, it had been with a sense of hope and belonging, a feeling that this town, with its rolling green hills and lakeside picnics and close-knit people, was where he would spend forever if he had a chance. Not anymore. This time he saw it as a place he was letting go, a dream that never quite found a way to work itself out.

  Dayne turned to Katy and searched her eyes. “I need you. Have I told you that today?”

  She smiled. “You’re worrying about nothing.”

  Since they were alone in the cabin, he leaned in and kissed her, the slow, sensual sort of kiss they could only take in small doses. At least until after the wedding. Then, with a lingering look at her, he turned back to the window.

  A few years ago he’d starred in a movie based on a best-selling novel. The author showed up on the set during filming, and she and Dayne had shared several fascinating conversations. The whole writing process was beyond his understanding—how a person could sit at a computer, start typing, and create a story as long and complex as a novel.

  “Do you ever struggle?” he asked her. “Is there a time when you try to write and the words won’t come?”

  Her eyes grew distant. “At the end of a book.” A hint of sorrow colored her smile. “When it’s a story I really love, one I’ve poured my heart and soul into, I’ll sit down to write the last chapter and for a long time I’ll just stare at the empty screen. Because deep inside me I don’t really want it to end.”

  That’s how Dayne felt now.

  He sighed, and Katy leaned her head on his shoulder. That he was even here, with her by his side, was more than he could fully fathom, more than he could get his mind around. By God’s mercy alone, Dayne had cut his recovery time in half and come out stronger in the end.

  “Listen, man,” the therapist had told him on their last day, when Dayne checked out of the facility, “you’re the toughest person I know. I mean that. I’ve never seen anyone work so hard.”

  Dayne thanked the guy, but the therapist was wrong. Katy had worked harder than he had. Katy—his friend, his future, his love. He rested his head on hers. She had always believed they would reach this moment. She’d put her own life on hold and had believed with every breath that he would wake up. Even when conventional wisdom said it was time to let go. She pushed him and encouraged him, no matter his mood or frustration. And when he closed her out entirely, she found a way to bring down the walls.

  He loved her with his whole life, and nothing could change that. No matter what happened over the next few days.

  The plane landed, then came to a stop. Lately he’d been reading the Gospels. He discovered that even with faith the size of a mustard seed, it was possible to say to a mountain, “Move,” and the mountain would move. It had been that way with his pursuit of Katy, and certainly it had been that way with his recovery from near death. Though his faith was sometimes less than anything he could see or feel, for the past few months mountains had crumbled to the ground.

  But not this mountain.

  Coming to Bloomington for Thanksgiving, proving to Katy that his presence really was too much of a disruption for his family, was only his way of keeping a promise. Otherwise he would’ve avoided the heartache and stayed in Malibu—the place where he and Katy would most likely live once they were married, at least until he was finished with his current movie contract. Then maybe they’d find something along the West Coast—Oregon perhaps. Some small town like Medford, where they could raise a family and be close enough to Hollywood for Dayne to be involved in an occasional picture.

  A black Pathfinder SUV from a local rental company was waiting for them as they exited the plane. Once their bags were loaded in the back, Dayne took the wheel. When Katy was buckled in beside him, he started the engine and was about to slip the car into gear when he stopped. He turned to her. “Tell me again. Why are we going by our house first?”

  “Dayne—” her eyes filled with a gentle patience—“you’re doing it again.”

  “What?” He pretended to be in the dark.

  “Worrying.” She put her hand on his knee and gave him a crooked grin. “Everything’s going to be fine. I know it.”

  “Okay, you’re right.”

  It was hard to hear over the sound of jet engines coming from a commuter plane forty yards away. She leaned closer, surprised. “I am?”

  “Yes. You got me.” He covered her hand with his. “I am worried.” He searched her soul. “About you.” He put the vehicle in gear and drove through the parking lot and onto the main road.

  “Me?” She turned her back to the door so she could see him better.

  “Yes.” They were coming up on a red light. He waited until they were at a complete stop. They’d been trying hard to keep the mood light. But there were no lighthearted words for what he was about to say. He felt the teasing leave his eyes. “I’m worried you’ll never forgive me if it doesn’t work out. If this is the last time we do this.”

  For an instant, a ripple of fear passed over her face. But immediately she found her confidence again. Her unrelenting, limitless joy. “It’s not the last.” She looked straight ahead as the light turned green. “It’s only the beginning.”

  “What if it’s not?”

  She smiled at him, her brows slightly raised. “Please. You promised.”

  She was right. As his rehab had progressed he promised not only to go to Bloomington if his therapist gave him clearance but to believe one more time that it was possible—that finding a place in the Baxter family really might work. Only here was the problem: the more he believed, the greater he would hurt when he felt Luke’s coolness, sensed the resentment in his other siblings for the embarrassment they’d suffered merely by being related to him.

  Still, Katy was right. He glanced at her. “I did, didn’t I?”

  “Yes.” She faced the windshield. “God hasn’t brought you this far only to have you lose it all.”

  They drove in silence. But when they were a few minutes from the house, Dayne remembered his original question. “You didn’t answer me.”

  “About what?”

  “The lake house. Why do we have to go there first?”

  “Oh, that.” Katy folded her arms and studied him. “I guess because it’s on the way.” She shrugged. “Ashley said it worked better for her schedule. She wants to point out the places the contractor thought needed the most work.”

  The knots in his stomach were tighter than before. But it wasn’t fair to Katy to let them show. Not when she seemed so optimistic about what lay ahead. “That shouldn’t take long. The whole place needs work. She can pretty much wave her hand in the general direction of the house and that should cover it.”

  “True. But we owe it to Ashley to meet her here. She’s put in a lot of time making phone calls.” She hesitated. “Even if nothing’s actually finished yet.” />
  Dayne was about to say something about that, about whether Ashley would be willing to oversee the process of remodeling once he returned to LA. But he stopped himself. He’d rained enough on Katy’s parade for one day. Time would show them what lay ahead, even if once in a while he had to close his eyes to bear it.

  “We’re almost there.” Katy put on lip gloss and checked her look in the mirror. “It’ll be good to see Ashley again.”

  Dayne tried not to feel cut to the heart by her blithe comment. Later that week, when things didn’t work out and they said their final good-byes, he would miss Ashley and John most of all. Ashley was the one who had fought for his place in their family, the one who had called him on her own that day. He kept his eyes on the road; the house was just ahead.

  They saw cars and trucks as they rounded the final bend. In front of the lake house, along the road, and in a nearby field were thirty or so vehicles.

  “What in the world?” Katy leaned forward and looked at the surrounding fields.

  Dayne felt the same way. That many cars meant that many people. And where was the run-down old lake house?

  He was about to pass the driveway of a stunning new home when he brought the vehicle to a screeching stop. “Wait.”

  Katy was staring at the place. “No way. There’s no possible way.”

  Magically and completely, their lake house had been transformed. Dayne pulled into the drive and stopped again. The grass and shrubs, the landscaping and trees. None of it had been there before.

  “How did she do it?” The color drained from Katy’s face. She sounded as if she didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “Ashley said the subcontractors were booked until spring.”

  “I can’t believe it.” Dayne drove slowly up the driveway. “It isn’t just the yard.” He nodded to the house. “Look at that.”

  “It’s gorgeous.”

  The outside of the house looked brand-new. If Dayne wasn’t sure of the location, he would never have believed it was the same building. When he reached the house, he parked and looked at Katy. “You knew about this.”

  “No!” She laughed. “Ashley told me she couldn’t get a single person out here to start working. I had absolutely no idea.”

  Dayne studied the place, the planted gardens and refurbished front porch, the stained logs and the striking windows. “She obviously found the best in the business. It looks amazing.”

  They climbed out of the car, and Katy came around to his side. As he took her hand, he remembered the vehicles parked along the road. One of them had to belong to Ashley, since she planned to meet them here. But what about the rest? The house was too quiet to have that many people inside.

  They reached the side of the house and followed it around to the backyard. From every angle the home was breathtaking, and Dayne felt overwhelmed. How kind of Ashley to see that the work got done. It must’ve taken hours to call builders and keep searching until she could find the right people. He chuckled. “Ashley never gives up, does she?”

  Katy smiled. She couldn’t take her eyes off the house. “No. Not since I’ve known her.”

  They kept walking, the lake spread out before them like a glistening blanket of blue. Then, in what felt like slow motion, the backyard came into view and with it a sea of people, all of them grinning.

  “Welcome home!” A chorus of voices broke the silence. And then all at once, a round of hoots and cheers and laughter burst from the group.

  Dayne and Katy stopped and leaned on each other so they wouldn’t fall flat on their backs from the shock.

  Ashley pulled away from the crowd and ran up to them. She hugged Dayne first and then Katy, and by the time she drew back they could both see she had tears on her cheeks. “Well . . . what do you think?”

  The pieces spun like fragments in Dayne’s mind. It was like a scene from a reality TV show, only this was so far beyond reality he could hardly breathe. In as much time as it took him to blink, he surveyed the people, made a note of the faces around them. The Baxters were front and center, their kids bouncing up and down around them. To one side were the Flanigans along with bunches of CKT kids and their families. On the other side were football players with Clear Creek High emblazoned on their jerseys and beyond them a dozen people he didn’t recognize.

  Before Dayne’s world could right itself, Luke stepped up. He stared at Dayne, his eyes bright with something like regret. He kept his voice low, between the two of them. “Can we talk later, just us?”

  Dayne nodded. This was the most difficult part: facing Luke.

  Luke put his hands in his pockets. “I said those words. But I never . . .” He coughed and looked down for a moment. When he lifted his gaze, his sincerity came straight from the center of his heart. “I never meant any of it. I’m sorry, Dayne.”

  Dayne felt flooded by love for his brother. Was this what he’d been dreading? Was it really happening? He put his hand on Luke’s shoulder. “We’ll talk later.”

  The onlookers were still hooting and shouting and celebrating the surprise. Dayne looked at the back of the house before he met Ashley’s eyes and tried to recover enough to speak. “You . . . you had all these people come just to welcome us?”

  “They all—” Ashley’s voice cut out, drowned by the noise of the crowd.

  Dayne saw Landon in the background, but he seemed willing to give her this moment.

  Ashley came to Dayne again, hugged him, and held on tight. “I thought we’d lost you . . . but look at you. Like it never happened.” She let go and turned her attention to Katy. “It’s a miracle.”

  “Definitely.” Katy took Ashley’s hand. The others were still loud, still celebrating. They moved in closer, making a half circle around them. Katy looked as baffled as he felt. “It’s beautiful, Ash. I thought you couldn’t get subs out until spring.”

  More tears filled Ashley’s eyes. “I couldn’t.” She massaged her throat. Then she made a wide sweeping gesture toward the crowd of people.

  Luke, still close by, gave Dayne a humble, crooked smile. “What she’s trying to say is, we did the work.” He gestured toward the group. “All of us.”

  “What?” After a few heartbeats, Katy gasped. “You mean . . .”

  “Yes.” Ashley was crying openly now. “Everyone helped. Peter and Jim hung doors and replaced windows and Brooke painted and Luke worked on the roof and the football team sanded and stained the exterior and—” she laughed and tried to breathe at the same time—“Erin watched the kids and the CKT kids cleaned up the yard and Dad and Elaine helped the kids plant bushes and . . . I don’t know . . . just come in and see it.”

  Dayne felt his heart bursting. The realization of what had happened was hitting him slowly, like a dream. He searched Ashley’s teary eyes. “Why? Why would you do this?”

  “Because . . . you’re a Baxter.” She wiped her cheeks. “That’s what we do.”

  And there it was . . . the answer he’d been waiting for. Waiting for and dreading.

  He stared at Ashley and tried to believe that she had really said the words You’re a Baxter. That’s what we do. With every grueling hour of rehab, every weight he struggled to lift, and every afternoon perfecting the once-ordinary skills of writing and eating and brushing his teeth, he had feared this moment. Going to Bloomington for Thanksgiving meant that for the first time in his life he would be with his entire birth family. No matter what he had promised Katy, he knew—he just knew—he would feel like an outcast, the one upsetting the balance for the rest of them. Every night when he lay in bed at the rehab center he had feared this reunion, dreaded it with his whole heart, because this would be the moment of reckoning.

  The time for good-byes.

  But maybe . . . just maybe he was wrong.

  He stared at the ground and closed his eyes. God, You knew this all along.

  My son, My precious son . . . welcome home!

  The words echoed loudly in his heart. He opened his eyes and there was John. Suddenly Dayne wasn’t sure
if the response had come from God or from the man standing before him.

  “We prayed for this moment.” John’s eyes were watery too. He wrapped Dayne in a hearty embrace; then he stepped back and put his hand on Dayne’s shoulder. “Welcome home, Son.”

  That was the breaking point. Tears fell from Dayne’s eyes, and he put his arm around his father’s shoulders. “Let’s go see the place.” The biggest smile he’d had in a long time filled his face, and he hoped with every heartbeat that this wasn’t a dream.

  Katy walked beside him as they headed, with the crowd, to the back door. She slipped her arm around his waist, and that’s when he noticed that she was crying too. She stopped for a moment, rose on her toes, and whispered near his ear, “Told you so.”

  Dayne wasn’t sure whether to laugh or break down. He gave her a quick kiss and held her eyes, hoping she could read all that he couldn’t find the words to say.

  Then they made their way inside. It was as spectacular as the outside. As they reached the dining room table, Dayne and Katy stopped at the same time.

  “What’s . . . ?” Katy put one hand over her mouth and pointed with the other.

  The entire table was filled with cards and flowers and gifts to welcome Dayne to Bloomington. But it wasn’t until they turned as a group and went into the oversize kitchen, where the Baxters were, that Dayne realized how fully, how completely his prayers and questions about today had been answered.

  “Dayne.” Ashley squeezed her way in beside them. She had a young woman with her who looked familiar. Ashley’s cheeks were still tearstained, but she glowed from the inside out. She motioned to the woman beside her. “This is Erin, our youngest sister.”

  Dayne smiled at Erin, and the last bit of his awkwardness faded entirely. He hugged her. “Hi, Erin.” He took Katy’s hand. “This is my fiancée, Katy.”

  “Hi, Erin.” Two more tears slid down Katy’s cheeks. She sniffed and laughed at the same time. “I can’t wait to meet the rest of your family.”