by Jillian Hart
Jonas laughed. “There’s Mr. Paco’s Tacos. How about we pick up a celebration lunch?”
“Sure.” The ham-and-cheese sandwiches she’d planned for lunch sounded a little drab.
When they swung through the drive-through, Tyler insisted on an extra taco for Lucky—who knew what would be the consequence of that? And the dog’s tail thumped continuously from the moment he smelled the bagged food.
“Homeward,” Jonas said, as he pulled out into traffic. “Unless there is anywhere else the lady wants to go?”
“Oh, I can think of a few places,” she quipped. “Some place really quiet. Maybe Fiji. I could see Aubrey and William.”
“You’d miss the kids before the plane got off the ground.” Jonas smiled at her, impossibly handsome even with his lopsided grin.
“True. There’s no other place I’d rather be.”
“Me, either.”
He stopped for a red light and for a long moment, his gaze met hers with unashamed intensity. Sweetness filled her. It was good to be with her husband with the kids in the back—a real family again.
When she glanced over her shoulder at the little ones, they both looked like the happiest children on earth. But not as happy as the Dalmatian, who drooled all over the upholstery.
“You lucked out, you know that,” she said to the dog and couldn’t help patting his head. His short hair was warm and velvety, and he pressed ardently against her touch. It was impossible not to adore him.
“When we get home, Mom,” Tyler began, talking a mile a minute over Madison’s squealing and the dog’s vocalizing, “can I take Lucky and show him my room? It’s his room now, too, and he’s gonna sleep with me so he should see it. We’re best friends, you know. Do you think he’ll like tacos? I hope so, cuz I do. And Tater Tots. And cookies. Then after lunch, I’m gonna show him—”
And so it went all the way home.
Why was it that whatever you were seeking was always in the very last place you looked? Danielle snatched the camera out of the back of her craft closet, not even remembering how it had gotten there. When was the last time she’d used it? Oh, for Madison’s second birthday in early December. Christmas last year had been spent in Seattle, and she had forgotten to bring it. That had been a tough holiday, with her family so far away and Jonas in a wheelchair. They had only stayed with him a few hours between the kids’ exhaustion from traveling and the clinic’s visiting hours. The upside had been that the kids never had the chance to figure out their father didn’t know them.
Maybe it had been best she didn’t have any pictures from that time in their lives, she thought, overcome with pain for them all. The shouts and squeals from the backyard drifting through the open window reminded her that better times had come back to them. God was gracious, indeed.
With camera in hand, she went to check the battery—and hoped it wasn’t dead—it was very low. Great. She went back through the closet looking for the plug-in and what did she find sitting next to it on the shelf? The stacks of pictures and half-done scrapbook pages she kept meaning to finish. She brought them out onto her work desk.
The phone rang, echoing through the upstairs, and the downstairs phone jingled in unison. She went to the desk, camera and charger in hand, and picked up the receiver. “Hello?”
“Dani?” Katherine’s voice came across the line, sounding much better. “You called me twice, and I’m finally getting back to you.”
“You’ve been on my mind and in my prayers, but first Mom called during breakfast with a report on how you were doing. Lauren called when I was finishing up the breakfast dishes and then Ava called around ten, caught me on my cell when we were on the road.”
“Glad everyone kept you informed. Then you know I’m doing better. Were you on your way to another one of Jonas’s appointments?”
“No. Guess what we got?” Danielle plugged in the camera. “Something Tyler has been begging for for a while now.”
“A dog. That must mean things are getting back to normal for you guys. You and Jonas deserve to be happy again. It wasn’t fair what happened to him. It wasn’t right.”
“No, but sometimes life is like that. No one is immune to it. And Jonas is going to be fine.” Maybe not the same, but fine. Danielle’s gaze found him automatically. He was in sight of the window, outside with the kids, throwing a tennis ball for Lucky. The kids clapped and hopped in place with excitement. Their blissful sounds drifted in like the sunlight and made her soul ache with gratitude. “I know it will be all right. God is in charge.”
“He is,” Katherine agreed. “Do you want to know some scoop?”
“Ooh, do I.” Danielle slid into a nearby chair, keeping the window in sight. Jonas was calling advice to Lucky, who wasn’t sure he wanted to bring back the ball he’d run so far to catch. “Is this family scoop, or your news?”
“My news. Well, Jack’s and mine and Hayden’s. I had another ultrasound and this time I couldn’t resist. I had to know. We’re having a little boy.”
“A boy.” Danielle sighed the words. “Congratulations. That is good news.”
“The best. Jack’s about fit to burst, he’s so proud, and Hayden can’t wait for him to get here. I’ve been home in bed for only a few days and I’m going nuts. I miss work. I miss puttering in my roses. I miss fixing dinner with Jack now that he’s gone to day shift.”
“I can come over and keep you company whenever you want.”
“I’m counting on it. I’ll let you go back to your handsome husband and kids. This is time you don’t want to waste with them.”
“Yes. I know how quickly it can change.”
“It changes anyway. Time passes, there’s no stopping it. So, just enjoy your family. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
“That’s a promise. Call anytime if you need me.” After Katherine promised to, they said goodbye. Danielle hung up and unwound the knot in the cord. The kids were at the far side of the fenced yard, trying to convince Lucky to give up the tennis ball, but he was having none of it. His tail wagged furiously as he ran a few feet, then stopped so both kids would wrap their arms around him and squeeze him with hugs, laughing the whole while. Jonas limped a few feet closer, watching over them. Awash in sunlight with his dark hair tousled by the hot puff of wind, he looked like more than the man she’d fallen in love with—iron-strong and twice as good at heart.
She tried to tell herself it didn’t hurt that he couldn’t yet love her back, but it did hurt. Very much. She longed for him to sense her gaze, the way he used to. They were so in tune to one another, but that was mostly gone now. She was content watching her husband playing with the kids. Love and laughter shaped his chiseled, granite face.
At least he loves them. Lord, I am deeply grateful for that. They were good kids, and easy to love. Already the dog was smitten with them, too, as he finally dropped the ball to give Tyler a big kiss on the top of his head.
Madison squealed, “E-eeew!” but raced up, wanting the same treatment and laughed when Lucky obliged.
Jonas went down on his knees next to the kids and put his arms around the dog’s neck. The Dalmatian wiggled and pranced, as if happy beyond bearing.
Danielle lifted the camera, flipped off the lens cover and framed the shot. She saw raw emotion in Jonas’s face. She saw gratitude. She snapped and caught the image forever of the protective dad laughing with his kids, his heart in his eyes.
It wasn’t fair that her love went on. Every day growing a little bigger and deepening a little more. But love was like that—beyond all reason and more than what made a person feel safe.
Since there was enough juice in the battery to last for a little while, she took it with her on the way to the sliding door. Standing in the shadows beneath the overhead deck and watching her family, she felt alone. Tyler had turned on the water, and it arced from the sprinkler set in the middle of the lawn.
“Wroor! Wroor!” Lucky’s bark was one of sheer joy as he leaped headfirst into the spray, thereby winning Tyle
r’s heart forever. The little boy joined him. They stood in the middle of the sprinkler, battered by the sparkling rainbows of water until they were both drenched.
Madison watched on the sidelines, hanging on to her daddy’s hand, alternating between taking one step toward them and back, shouting, “Wait! Tyler!”
Tyler took off on the far side of the lawn. “Come on, Lucky. Follow me.”
Madison’s irritation flared. “Tyler! You wait!”
Jonas knelt to whisper something in his daughter’s ear, and she gazed up at him adoringly. The red temper eased from her face. Side by side, it was easy to see how much she resembled her daddy, too. She had his dimpled chin and cowlick at the crown of her head. She had his smile. Without thinking, Danielle lifted the camera to capture the image of father and daughter, hand in hand.
“Dani!” Jonas spotted her. He bent to say something else to Madison and put something in her hand.
What was going on? Danielle could tell by the mischief on the little girl’s face as she ran around the spray of water on her pretty new pink sandals—perhaps the reason she wasn’t running circles through the sprinkler.
“Mommy.” She held out a small white envelope. “Here.”
“Is this from Daddy?”
“Yip. Tyler was s’posed to give it to you, but I git to.” She preened, adorable.
“Thank you. You are the best girl ever.”
“Yip.” As if she’d heard that one too many times, Madison gave a beleaguered sigh. It was hard being the best girl ever, apparently. “Mommy, I wanna sprinkle, too!”
“All right.” She set the camera aside and unbuckled the new shoes. The straps were still a little too stiff for Madison’s fingers, so she helped her out of them.
Madison raced off, bare feet pattering against the cement patio and then muffled in the lush grass. She shouted after Tyler. Lucky leaped and frolicked when she joined them.
Jonas was watching her over the heads of the children and the sparkling sprinkler water. His gaze was steady and watchful and tender—impossibly tender.
Her hands trembled as she opened the flap and pulled out the note written on lined notebook paper.
Jonas had written, Six o’clock Friday. Prepare to be lifted off your feet.
She had to read it twice, her heart pounding. Friday. Their anniversary. He’d remembered. She only had to look up and see the answer on his face. He was coming her way, the metal of his cane glinting in the sunlight and his step more sure. His nearness was a blessing that bridged the emotional distance between them.
“Who told you this time?” she asked, unable to hide her pleasure or, she supposed, her excitement.
“Between your mom, Katherine and Ava, I think I got the real scoop.” He gave her his full-fledged, all-out-dimpled grin, the one that had always charmed her.
Oh, he had her, heart and soul. She did her best to hide it. He was under enough pressure as it was. “You mean you grilled Katherine, when she was just home from the hospital?”
“Guilty. She seemed awfully happy to tell me what she knew about our third date. So did your mom.”
“Mom? Poor Mom. I don’t know what she could contribute, since I kept her in the dark a lot. You know, I was afraid it wouldn’t work out.”
“You mean you were afraid because you doubted me?”
“Doubt you?” Her heart would stop beating before that ever happened. “No. I doubted myself. I was afraid to believe that this could work out. You were so w-wonderful. You are.”
How could she be flustered like this after almost eight years of marriage? How could it feel the same as it did when they were dating? Her palms were damp, her skin itchy with nerves, her pulse quivering, and beneath all that hope was a terrible dark well of fear. Love, she knew, didn’t always work out.
Sometimes, even happy marriages failed.
Jonas took her hand, the paper she held crinkled, but it was his soul she saw in the dark intensity of his eyes. “I’m not the wonderful one. You blow me away, Dani. I’m not the man you married. I’m not taking care of you or providing for my family—”
“You did those things when you were well, Jonas.”
“I know. And I will do them again. What I’m saying is a lot of women would be resentful or angry. Some women might take a look at their husband leaning on a cane with his hand gnarled up and bail. But not you.”
“You are making me into something I’m not. I love you. That’s what love is.”
“I see that.” He reached out with his hand, his fingertips grazing her cheek. It was not only tenderness in his touch as he caressed her skin. “Do you remember when I first came out of the coma? When I opened my eyes?”
“Do I. That was everything I had been praying for.”
“I was thinking, wow, who is that gorgeous woman and how did I get so blessed to have her sitting at my side?”
“You, sir, are fibbing.”
“No, I’m telling the honest truth.”
“I was a mess. I sat day and night with you. Who knows the last time I had brushed my hair. I had horrible bruises beneath my eyes. It was a wonder that I didn’t scare you back into that coma.”
She doesn’t know, Jonas realized, dumbfounded and touched all at once. After all their years together, she did not know exactly what he saw when he looked at her. His chest tightened with regret. With disappointment in himself. What had been wrong with him that he had hadn’t made sure she knew that every single day of their marriage? “You are my wife. You are the most beautiful sight in the world to me.”
“Oh, Jonas.” She waved away his compliment, blushing, uncomfortable.
He could see that, too. Humility was a good thing, but a wife should believe in her husband’s commitment to her. “The next best are those kids right there. You are, like they are, my world, Dani. Now, more than ever.”
There were no words to tell her she was the reason he stood before her, trying to bare his heart, trying to be the man she loved. Hoping there was a chance she could love the man he was now even more.
Her hand covered his, as soft as warm silk, as welcome as the rarest grace. His heart caught like an engine roaring to life. His soul filled with rare, powerful tenderness he could not quantify. He didn’t need to. Love was filling him up, and it was because of her. Danielle was doing this to him. She was bringing his heart to life.
“Hey!” a man’s voice called out over the sound of the kids and the running water.
The dog yapped with crazy excitement, racing over to the open gate where Spence stood in a grass-stained pair of shorts and a T-shirt. He reached out to rub the dog’s head. “You’re a good boy, aren’t you, buddy?”
The rare moment was broken, but not gone. Jonas twined his fingers with Dani’s and turned to welcome his brother-in-law, who was already surrounded by the dog and the kids.
“We’d better go rescue Spence,” Dani said, moving away from him, her hand leaving his.
It was amazing how she took his heart with her, as if she’d owned it all along.
Chapter Twelve
As it turned out, Spence wasn’t alone. Rebecca had come with him driving Jonas’s truck, which sat sparkling clean and waxed in the driveway. They had stayed for supper, and the men were outside with the kids and the dog, while she and Rebecca were doing the cleanup.
Now that she was finally alone with her little sister, Danielle rinsed the sponge at the sink and asked what had been troubling her. “Something is wrong. Spence hasn’t said anything and neither have you, but I can tell. It’s not like you spend a lot of time hanging with Spence.”
“He, ah, thought I shouldn’t sit home alone.” Rebecca was busy stacking the dishwasher and didn’t look up.
She seemed alone and somehow fragile. Danielle left the sponge on the counter and laid a hand on her sister’s shoulder. Something was definitely wrong. “More trouble with Chris?”
“Trouble? No. Not anymore.”
There was nothing but tension in the girl’s shoulder
. Nothing but misery in her voice. Danielle’s stomach bunched up tight. Something wasn’t just wrong; it was really wrong. “What happened, Becca?”
“I didn’t know how to tell anyone this, but Chris showed up again.”
Maybe it was the tremor in her little sister’s voice that kept her silent, and she waited, not daring to say a thing. She dearly hoped this didn’t mean things were back on with the boyfriend. “Did he want to get back together with you?”
“He did, but I d-didn’t. He got pretty angry. Real angry. I d-didn’t think he would take it so h-hard.”
There were a thousand things Danielle wanted to say—mostly that Rebecca deserved a great man, a perfect man, one who would see all the lovely qualities and gifts in her. But she again kept silent. She searched for the understanding her baby sister needed. “He seems like a man who has a lot of personal problems.”
The happy sounds from the backyard drifted through the open windows. The joyful Ruff! Ruff! of the dog. The kids’ high voices and musical giggles. The low rumble as Jonas laughed along with them.
Rebecca took a shaky breath. “It’s over now. Spence made sure of that for me.”
“Do you mean Chris got violent?”
“I don’t know if it would have come to that. He was pretty enraged. I called Spence and he came over and settled it. The next time he shows up, I’m pressing charges.”
“And why didn’t you do it this time?”
“Because everyone deserves a chance to put their lives together, and he didn’t hurt me. He just yelled.”
As if that wasn’t abusive enough. Danielle hated this. She hated what her sister was going through. “Are you safe?”
“I’m fine. See? This is why I shouldn’t have told you. You’re going to worry. You’re going to confide in everyone else in the family, and the next thing everyone will know what a f-fool I’d been. Believing in something I wanted so badly, and it wasn’t true.”
“Maybe it was what Chris wanted for himself, but wasn’t man enough to stand up for.” Danielle thought of Jonas. No matter what, he had always been the kind of man who stood for what was right, no matter how tough that was. He was a man she could put all her trust in—always had and always would.
