Sunset

by Karen Kingsbury

  “I’m not sure.” He looked deep at her, his eyes glistening. “God knew. . . . He always knows.” He swallowed, struggling to keep his voice. “He knew you needed a daughter.”

  Ashley thought of all the moms who wanted a daughter and never got one. For that matter, the women who wanted any kids at all but couldn’t have them. “No, Landon.” She smiled at him through her tears. “I didn’t need a daughter. I’ll never deserve her or you. But since God has given me the people in my life . . . I’ll spend the rest of my days being grateful.” Her voice fell to an emotional whisper. “Thankful with every breath.”

  He moved closer, and he kissed their daughter on her forehead. Then he kissed Ashley, and the feel of him, this wonderful man and all he’d brought to her life, moved her to a level of love she’d never felt before. “God is so gracious.”

  Landon’s eyes grew wide. “That’s it . . . her name!”

  The baby let out a few soft cries and turned toward Ashley. She was hungry, and Ashley could hardly wait to feed her, to feel the connection that only existed between a mom and her newborn baby. But first she giggled at Landon. “Gracious? That’s what you want to call her?”

  “No.” He laughed, but it faded as a new depth came into his tone. “Janessa Belle. I looked it up when you first told me you were pregnant. Janessa means gracious. And Belle—” he grinned—“means beautiful. Like her mother.”

  Janessa Belle Blake. Ashley let the name play in her mind for a few seconds. It was beautiful and lyrical and strong all at once. “I like it.” She was touched to the core that he would’ve thought up a name for a girl and that he would’ve kept the idea to himself until they knew more. Just in case the Lord had different plans for the outcome of this little one. “Gracious.” Ashley was brimming with joy. “What could describe her presence in our lives better than that?”

  Landon nodded, and in his eyes Ashley saw the man she almost walked away from. “Thank you, Landon, for putting up with me . . . for waiting until I came to my senses.”

  His smile held an ocean of meaning. “I never could’ve loved anyone else.”

  They stayed that way, sharing the magic of the moment, not wanting to let it go, until finally Janessa’s cries grew louder. “I’ll feed her. You go tell everyone and get the boys.”

  He hesitated long enough to study their daughter once more. Then he left and Ashley had no trouble coaxing her baby to eat. Janessa was sure and determined, and Ashley had a feeling she would be strong-willed, that she would stand up for the weak and less fortunate, and that her life would make a difference in the world. A difference for God.

  Landon stayed away for several minutes, long enough for Ashley to finish feeding. All the while she couldn’t help but think of the plans God had for the little girl in her arms. These thoughts were still filling her mind when the sound of voices came from the hallway. Trailing Landon were Cole, Devin, Ashley’s father, and Elaine, all of them talking at once.

  Cole pushed his way ahead and ran to the side of her bed. “Is it true? We have a sister?” He couldn’t possibly have looked more excited.

  “It’s true.” She smiled at Landon. “This is Janessa Belle.”

  “Janessa! I love that name.” Cole looked at Devin. “Whadya think? Isn’t Janessa a pretty name?”

  Devin had his fingers in his month, and he was clinging to Ashley’s father’s pant leg.

  “She’s beautiful, Ashley.” Her dad touched her shoulder and stared at Janessa. “What an amazing surprise.”

  “She looks just like you.” Elaine smiled at Ashley. “Congratulations.”

  “I still can’t believe it.” Ashley thought for a moment how much this would’ve meant to her mother, knowing that Ashley had survived the loss of Sarah and that now she would indeed have a daughter. “A boy would’ve been wonderful, but . . . I don’t know, I guess I just can’t believe she’s really here.”

  Devin had taken a few steps back, and now he bent his chubby legs and his head way down to look under the hospital bed. When he straightened, he held up his hands and turned to Ashley. “Where he?”

  She reached out for her younger son. “Who, buddy?”

  “Baby Isaac.” Devin shrugged and looked over one shoulder and then the other. “Where?”

  Cole’s expression said he wasn’t sure whether to lecture Devin on the academics of what had happened here or to wonder about the issue himself. After a few beats, he turned to Landon. “Yeah, what happened to him, Dad?”

  “He never was.” Landon was clearly touched by the boys’ confusion. “The doctor thought Mommy was carrying a baby boy, but they were wrong.”

  “Oh.” Cole gave a knowing nod, and then he turned to Devin. “So it was always Janessa all along. Understand?”

  Devin put his fingers back in his mouth and turned his attention to the baby in Ashley’s arms. He was still confused, but in time they would all get used to the idea. There was no third son, at least not for now.

  Her dad and Elaine and Landon began talking, Landon recounting every detail of the delivery.

  Cole leaned over the bed and patted Janessa’s head. “Know what?” he whispered to Ashley.

  “What?”

  “I really wanted a baby sister.” He looked very serious. “After my last sister went home to Jesus, I asked God if He could give me another one. I wanted a baby brother really bad. But I wanted a sister more.”

  Ashley felt her happiness swell. Cole had shared his thoughts so succinctly, so simply. She put her free arm around her oldest son’s shoulders. “That’s exactly how I feel, Coley.”

  “Katy and Sophie are doing well,” her dad announced. “Dayne wanted me to be sure and tell you.”

  A new reality hit Ashley. All during her pregnancy with Sarah, she had longed for the relationship her daughter would have with Kari’s girl—the way they would grow up together and be best friends and attend the same school, the same class. They would get ready for kindergarten and middle school and high school together, and in a blink of an eye they’d be getting ready for prom. Every season in between would be one they would share. And now that very scenario would be true, but not with Kari’s daughter. With Dayne’s.

  Which made the miracle of Janessa’s birth even more dramatic and the presence of her mother all the more real. Without her mother’s desperate prayer that she might meet her firstborn son, none of them might’ve ever known Dayne. So their mom’s faith and God’s goodness hadn’t only brought about the gift of Dayne in their lives. But now this . . .

  A best friend for Janessa Belle.

  By now everyone knew about the surprise. Everyone but Ashley.

  The Baxter family was putting final touches on the pink decorations and waiting anxiously for the guests of honor to arrive. John and Dayne were out back flipping burgers. Elaine was inside slicing tomatoes and lettuce with Brooke and Kari, while Erin and Katy were on the front porch watching Cole, Tommy, RJ, and Devin catch toads. The rest of the men were playing horseshoes in the side yard, and the other kids were playing tag out back.

  John closed the lid on his barbecue. “We’re just about ready.” He brushed away a curl of smoke and smiled at Dayne. “You getting any sleep?”

  “Not a lot.” Dayne chuckled. The faint circles under his eyes were a telltale sign of the newborn at his house. “But you know what? I love those late nights more than anything. Katy can feed her, but then it’s my turn. Me and Sophie, sitting in the rocking chair while the rest of the world sleeps.”

  “Yes, I remember those days.” John felt the decades melt away and his smile become more nostalgic. “You’re right. There was nothing quite like that.”

  “I know how quickly it’ll be over.” He shrugged and handed John the plate of sliced cheese. “I guess I’m determined to drink in every minute of it.”

  They talked a few more minutes about how well Katy and Sophie were doing.

  “Katy told me that being a mom is the role of a lifetime.” Dayne grinned. “The role she was bor
n for.”

  John opened the grill and placed a slice of cheese on each burger. Any minute now he was bound to hear from Landon. Five days had passed since the babies were born, and finally this afternoon Ashley and Janessa were being released from the hospital. John wasn’t sure he could wait another day. Not with the surprise baby shower they had planned.

  He turned the gas burners off and went back in the house for the tray of sesame seed buns, Ashley’s favorite. He and Dayne were arranging them on the platter when his cell phone rang, and in record time he had it open. The caller ID said it was Landon. “You’re on your way?”

  “Hey, we were just driving by. Thought maybe you’d like to see Janessa for a few minutes.” Landon’s response didn’t really make sense, but that was to be expected because Ashley was sitting next to him.

  John laughed, then explained how the details of the party had fallen into place, giving Landon time so that his next words were believable.

  “Well . . .” Landon sounded hesitant. “We were just going to stop by for a few minutes, but if you’ve got dinner . . . I guess. I mean, we can’t stay out too late.”

  John chuckled again. “Okay. We’ll be ready.”

  Dayne waited until John had clicked the phone off before shaking his head. “Ashley has no idea, does she?”

  “Not at all.” John’s head was still spinning from the way everything had come together. “I worked out all the details with Landon.”

  Dayne looked out over the backyard toward the stream behind the Baxter house. “It reminds me of the surprise she gave to me and Katy when she got everyone together to give our lake house a makeover.” His laugh was quiet, lost in the memories of that time. “You and Landon pulling this off . . . it might be even better. Summer will be over before Ashley believes it.”

  Dayne held the tray while John slid one burger after another onto an open bun. When the tops were in place, he carried the towering pile into the house. More than half the furniture remained, but the house no longer felt like his. He and Elaine were happy in their new home, and a few days ago when the title to the Baxter house changed hands, John had felt a sense of closure.

  Several of the pieces of remaining furniture were going home with his kids today, and a few things would remain. The two dining room tables, for instance, the main one and the one he and Elizabeth had bought six years ago to accommodate their growing family. Both tables fit in the dining room and were set up for the big surprise party. John surveyed the dining room, decorated in pink streamers and balloons, pink plates and cups.

  Yes, the tables would stay. And though John wouldn’t host another family party in this house, every inch of table space would be needed for future parties here. The parties he and Elaine would attend as guests, with full hearts for how God had worked out the details. The way only God could have.

  John walked slowly from the dining room to the family room, where he had gathered so often with his kids and, in the last decade, with his grandkids. How wonderful that the old walls would see another generation of love and laughter.

  Elaine came up beside him and slid her arm around his waist. “You’re glad, aren’t you?”

  “About the house?” He turned to smile at her and felt the subtle thrill from the truth that was still working its way through his conscience, the fact that Elaine was his wife now. “It’s all I can think about.” He looked through the front windows to where the kids were playing near the pond. “It’s like something from a dream.”

  “Hmm.” Her voice was gentle against his soul. “You’re not sorry you sold it?”

  John put his arm around her shoulders and drew her close. “Not for a minute. Whether we spend time here or not, we needed our own place.” He gave her a tender kiss. “A new start.”

  Elaine’s smile told him she wasn’t surprised by his answer. “I love our house.”

  “Me too.” He led her slowly toward the front door, and together they stepped out on the porch. The girls had wrapped pink streamers around the railing and the posts, so there was no mistaking that the house was the site of a baby shower.

  Together they watched as Maddie and a group of the girl cousins came running over to the pond. “Let’s see what you caught, Cole!”

  Elaine leaned her head on John’s shoulder. “I love your kids.”

  “They feel the same about you.” John breathed in deep the smell of summer in the air. “Ashley and Landon should be here any minute.”

  “It’ll be the best surprise ever.” They watched Cole hold a softball-size toad up high over his head.

  “This one’s king of the pond!” Cole crouched back down at the water’s edge. “That’s why we have to let him go. No one else is big enough to be king.” He released his catch just as a van pulled into the driveway. Cole noticed his parents’ arrival instantly. “Hey! They’re here! Everyone get on the porch for the surprise!”

  As Landon steered the van up the drive, a slight pang stung at John’s heart, a mix of bittersweet loss and the excitement of newness and change. Elaine was perceptive, asking him about the sale, because of course it was on his mind. This was where he and Elizabeth had raised their children, the rooms and yard where their kids had run and played and grown into adults. They had staged weddings and wakes on the property, and they had used this house to welcome one grandbaby after another.

  John uttered a quiet sigh, even as the group gathered on the porch for the big surprise. The years would take them far from this time, from this transitional moment. But no matter who owned the Baxter house, this much was true—as long as he had breath in his lungs, a piece of John’s heart would remain here. The walls held a million memories because this was the place where they came together, where they became people of faith and loved God and each other, where they battled tragedies and handled trials and celebrated triumphs. John would hold on to all of that. For in this old house they had become who they were and would always be.

  The Baxter family.

  From the moment Landon made the phone call, Ashley had smelled something fishy. Her father wanted them to stop by the Baxter house because he happened to have dinner ready? Shouldn’t he have been with Elaine at their new house? And what was he doing cooking at the old place, anyway? What about the new buyer? Even after Landon explained that her dad had made some sort of arrangement not to vacate the Baxter house for a few more weeks so he could find a home for the old furniture, Ashley was still wary.

  “If we’re going for dinner, we should at least get the boys.” Ashley was confused. “I mean, they’re waiting for us with Kari and Ryan back at the house.”

  “Dinner won’t take long.” Landon kept his eyes on the road. “Besides, your dad wants you to look over some furniture.”

  That point had finally convinced her. Over the next few weeks, while finding a routine with the new baby, Ashley might not have time to make this one last trip to the house. But now, as they turned in to the driveway, Ashley saw half a dozen cars parked near the garage and her family spread across the length of the covered porch. She looked at Landon, adrenaline pushing its way through her. “What’s going on?”

  He grinned, his face masked in mock innocence. “Everyone wanted to see the baby. What can I say?”

  They reached the top of the driveway, and Ashley saw the pink streamers covering the porch railings. She looked along the porch at everyone standing there—Kari and Ryan, Brooke and Peter, Erin and Sam, Dayne and Katy and their baby, and Luke and Reagan. Near the porch steps all the kids were clustered together, grinning and jumping up and down, as if they were ready to run out to Ashley and Landon the moment their parents gave them permission.

  “A party? You knew about this?” She put her hand on Landon’s shoulder. The gathering touched her more than she could put into words. They had come together the last time she and Landon had a baby to help them grieve a too-early death. But now . . . they had gathered to help Ashley and Landon celebrate life. A final celebration at the Baxter house. She was choked up when she
turned her attention to him again. “You’re always like this. Surprising me in some crazy way or another.”

  Landon’s eyes sparkled, and he still looked like he was up to something. “Let’s get out.”

  Landon lifted the sleeping Janessa from her car seat and cradled her in his arm. He walked around to the passenger door, and with his free hand he opened Ashley’s door and gingerly helped her down onto the ground. She was healing faster than she had after Sarah’s birth. That, or maybe she was so happy she didn’t notice the pain as much. Even so, she held her stomach with one hand as Landon put his arm around her and led her back around the van.

  Then, when they were in full view of the others, he stopped and faced her, his back to the gathering twenty yards away. With Janessa tucked in close to his chest, he touched his fingers to Ashley’s face and searched her eyes. “You have the most beautiful hair.” He ran his hand along the back of her head. “Has anyone ever told you that?”

  Her heart melted. “Only you, love.” She was touched but a little bewildered. She looked beyond him to the crowd on the porch. “Everyone’s waiting. . . .”

  “Tell her, Dad!” Cole shouted from his place at the top of the porch steps. “I can’t wait another minute.”

  A chorus of laughter came from her family, and Ashley shifted her attention from Cole back to Landon. “Tell me what?” She was drawing a blank, but then all at once she realized what was happening. This wasn’t a simple gathering; it was a party. “Is it a surprise baby shower? Is that what this is?”

  Landon put his hand on her shoulder and studied her for a long moment. “After my grandpa died, I received a letter from him. Something he wrote to each of us grandkids.”

  The sounds beyond them faded, and she focused on Landon, on trying to make sense of the story he was telling. “You . . . never mentioned it.”

  Landon framed her face with his fingers. “Ash, the letter came with a check.”