When Love Returns

by Lorana Hoopes

  “Okay Dad, walker or no, let’s take a walk.”

  His father flashed one more pout before closing the footrest and pushing against the chair arms to stand up. His legs wobbled beneath him, and Brandon grabbed his waist before he could fall.

  “Dad, there’s nothing wrong with needing some help from the walker for a bit. You fell, and you are going to need time to recover.”

  He glared, but finally agreed and took the walker. It was hard to see him like this, his father who had always been so strong now feeble and needing assistance. That was probably part of his reluctance as well; he didn’t want to be weak.

  Using the walker, they slowly traversed the house. His father was tired before they had gone completely around the bottom floor. When Brandon deposited him back in the recliner, his breath was labored and his legs shook. Brandon saw his week-long trip turning a lot longer.

  His phone rang as soon as his father was situated. A quick glance at the caller ID confirmed it was his assistant. “Be right back, Dad.” He punched the answer call button and headed to his room.

  “Brandon, how much longer are you going to be gone?” Aubrey’s irritated voice filled the other end, and Brandon cringed. It was never a good idea to make Aubrey mad. Though usually even-keeled, Aubrey was part Irish with fiery red hair and a temper to match.

  “My father is worse off than I thought. I’m going to need at least another week, maybe a little longer. Why, what’s happening?”

  “Stewart is what’s happening. He wants to see the presentation. I’ve told him you need a few more days, but he’s getting antsy. He’s threatening to go elsewhere if he doesn’t see it by Friday.”

  Cursing the poor timing, Brandon raked a hand through his hair. He’d been working on this presentation for a month, and there was no way he was going to lose it. This could be his ticket to the big leagues and a secure future for Joy. “Okay, I’ll book a flight to come home to do the presentation. Just stall him a little longer.”

  “What do you think I’ve been doing for the last few days?”

  A sigh escaped his lips as he hung up the phone. He would have to get flowers or something for Aubrey to stay out of the dog house. Standing, he crossed to the desk that held his laptop and opened the screen. It was time to review the presentation and see if it was missing anything.

  He was completely immersed in the slides when his mother entered later, and he jumped at the sound of her voice. “Where’s Joy? It’s past lunchtime.”

  Brandon’s eyes jumped to the tiny clock in the bottom right of the computer. Crap. He should have picked her up an hour ago. “She’s with Presley.” Clicking the save button, he closed the screen again. He would have to finish it later.

  “Still?”

  “I know Mom, I lost track of time.”

  Her eyes narrowed, but before she could spout another lecture, Brandon squeezed past her and down the hall. His coat was on before she entered the living room, and while she said nothing, he could feel her accusing eyes boring into his back. He grabbed his hat and threw open the door.

  The cold blasted his face as he stepped onto the porch, and he pulled his coat tighter. He hadn’t even buttoned it up in his haste to exit the house, and he fumbled with the buttons now. His breath created tiny puffs of smoke as he picked up the pace.

  “I’m so sorry,” he said pushing open the door to Presley’s shop.

  “Daddy.” Joy ran to him, throwing her arms about his legs. “We made cookies, and I got to help serve people and then Presley made me lunch on this yummy bread.”

  As she rattled on, he looked to Presley. Her head was cocked, and her lips pursed, not exactly annoyed but he could tell something was on her mind. His luck with women was zero for two today.

  “Thank you,” he said, when Joy finished spilling every minute detail of her morning. Presley nodded. “See you tonight?”

  She took a breath as if she wanted to say something, but her eyes fell to Joy. “Sure. Seven?”

  Brandon nodded. He would have to pick up flowers for her too.

  Chapter 14

  As she stepped onto the porch at Brandon’s, Presley was still pondering how to tell him what she wanted to say. Trudy had recommended being blunt, but “Hey, Brandon, your daughter is scared of you because you work so much,” just didn’t seem like the right words to say. Nor did, “She stuffed her face with chocolate chips in a cry for attention.”

  Sighing, she pressed the doorbell, hoping inspiration would strike or that God would send the right words to say. Brandon opened the door and held out a small bouquet of flowers.

  Presley’s forehead wrinkled. “What are these for?”

  “For helping with Joy today, and for the favor I’m about to ask of you. Can we walk before dinner?”

  The air was still cold. Another snow was expected for tonight, but as she was already bundled up, she agreed. She was curious as to what this favor entailed anyway.

  He held out his arm, and she placed hers in his feeling a little like Ginger Rogers with Fred Astaire. “How was the rest of your day?”

  “Fine.” Presley’s answer was slow and cautious as she had no idea what this favor might be.

  He chuckled at her hesitation. “Don’t worry, this favor isn’t about your job. Well, not really anyway.”

  Her curiosity was piqued more than ever, but she didn’t ask. He would tell her when he was ready. “How was your day?” She bantered the question back to him in hopes of eliciting more information.

  “It was . . . challenging.” He rubbed his free hand over his beard. She didn’t remember him making the gesture when his face had been clean shaven in high school, but it seemed to have become a trademark nervous gesture for him. “My dad is still really weak, and he got tired just walking around the house, so I’ll probably be staying a little longer than I originally thought.”

  “Well, that doesn’t sound so bad.” She nuzzled into him. It sounded a little like heaven to her, though she had no idea why she was allowing herself to fall for him knowing he planned to leave soon. Did she really think she could get him to stay?

  “Yeah, that part’s not so bad, but my assistant called and the buyer for this presentation I’m working on wants to see the presentation by Friday.”

  He paused as if this should mean something to her, but Presley had little knowledge of his job and none of this presentation.

  “Anyway, it means I need to head back to Dallas for a few days to finish it up, and I know it’s a lot to ask, but I was hoping you could help Mom and Anna with Joy. She seems to really like and relate to you.”

  There it was. Her opening. She couldn’t have asked for a better lead in. “Of course I will, Brandon, but are you sure you need to do this? I think Joy would benefit more from having you around. She seemed terrified of disappointing you today.”

  His body stiffened, and he dropped her arm. “I’m trying to make the best life I can for Joy, and right now, that means this presentation. Once I get established, then I can worry about spending more time at home.”

  “But Brandon, what if that takes longer than you think? You remember how hard it was for my brother and me with my mother never around? She only has you, and she needs you.”

  “Presley, no offense, but you don’t know what it’s like. Morgan left because we didn’t have a stable life, and I don’t want Joy to feel the same.”

  His words hit like a slap in the face. “I may not know your situation exactly, but I know what it’s like to be Joy, and I’m telling you she doesn’t care about the money; she just wants her daddy home more.”

  His hand raked across his beard again. “Let’s agree to disagree on this. I don’t want to ruin what little time we have left.”

  Too late. Presley was irritated he wouldn’t listen and annoyed he couldn’t see what he was doing to Joy. The walk back was quiet, strained. Even when the snow began falling again, it didn’t lighten the mood. Instead, it seemed to melt before it hit either one of them, as if their tensi
on was creating an unseen heat force.

  “Don’t say anything about my trip yet,” Brandon said as they returned to his house. “I haven’t told anyone else.”

  Presley nodded. As much as she didn’t agree, it was not her place to say anything.

  As they stepped inside, the heat rolled over her, and she gratefully peeled off her coat and hat. After hanging them on the hat rack, she followed Brandon to the kitchen where everyone was sitting down for dinner.

  “Ooh, pretty flowers.” Anna winked at Brandon and smiled at Presley. If only she knew they were more of a bribe than a token of affection. “Do you want to put them in water?”

  Presley nodded, and Anna rifled through a few cabinets until she found a glass vase. She filled it with water from the tap and placed it on the bar. As Presley unwrapped the flowers, her anger dissipated a little. The bright colors of the flowers really were pretty, a combination of red roses, pink carnations, baby’s breath, and some purple flower she didn’t know. He didn’t have to buy them for her. He knew she would have helped without the bribe.

  “Dinner is served.” Beverly turned from the stove with a giant pot of spaghetti. Her “kiss the cook” apron was splattered with old stains. Presley had gotten her the apron the first Christmas she spent with the family because Beverly was always complaining about staining her clothes. Presley couldn’t believe it had lasted this long.

  “Sit by me, Presley.” Joy grabbed her arm and pulled her to the chair next to hers. Brandon took her right and Anna took Brandon’s left. Bruce was already sitting at the table, but he folded his paper and put it away. Though improving every day, he still looked weak and frail.

  Beverly placed the pot in the middle of the table before taking her seat. Her spaghetti was the best. Presley wasn’t sure what she did differently, but something about the meat and sauce combination she used always made it taste better.

  As she scooted her chair in, the group joined hands and Bruce prayed over the food. Presley added a silent prayer for Bruce’s health and for Brandon to open his eyes.

  “So, I need to head back to Dallas for a few days,” Brandon said as he scooped spaghetti on his plate. Presley was surprised he would bring it up at dinner.

  “We’re leaving already?” Joy’s voice was laced with sadness as she turned her head up to Brandon.

  “No, you’re staying. Just me. I just need to do a presentation and then I’ll be back.”

  “But why can’t you stay?” she asked. “All you ever do is work, and I thought we’d get to spend some time together on this trip.”

  Presley shot a pointed look at Brandon; this was exactly what she had been trying to tell him. The rest of his family remained quiet, watching the exchange unfold. An air of tension settled on the table.

  “We will spend more time together, but this presentation could lead to a promotion that could set us up for life.”

  “That’s what you always say.” Her soft voice was aimed at her plate. Presley wasn’t even sure Brandon had heard it, but she had.

  “Hey, it’s snowing again. Maybe we can build another snowman tomorrow.” Presley nudged Joy’s arm and offered a smile, hoping to cheer the girl up.

  She shrugged her small shoulders and twirled her spaghetti. “Okay.”

  Presley didn’t dare look at Brandon again. She might be tempted to shout ‘I told you so’ at him. The rest of dinner was quiet, as if no one could think of anything to say. Only the sounds of chewing and forks scraping across porcelain plates filled the air.

  When dinner ended, Brandon’s cell rang and he excused himself. Joy’s eyes drooped as she watched him go. Presley tapped her shoulder. “Hey, do you want to work a puzzle?”

  She shook her head. “Nah, that’s okay. I’ll just go read.” Her posture was so dejected as she shuffled to the couch that Presley’s heart broke.

  “Why can’t he see what he’s doing to her?” Presley asked Beverly and Anna as they cleared the plates.

  “Because he’s stubborn and a man,” Anna answered.

  “Hey, I take offense to that,” Bruce spoke up from the end of the table. He’d been so quiet that Presley had forgotten he was even there.

  “You’re stubborn too,” Beverly said pointing her finger at Bruce, “or else you’d be using that walker more.”

  He crossed his arms and scowled at her.

  Beverly turned to Presley, her eyes sincere. “I know it doesn’t seem like it now, but he is better around you. I’m hopeful that your influence will show him what really matters.”

  Presley sighed. “I tried talking to him today before dinner, but he didn’t want to hear it. I’m afraid you might be putting too much stock in his feelings for me.”

  Beverly placed her hand on Presley’s arm. “His feelings are deeper than he knows. Give him time.”

  Presley glanced to Joy, slumped on the couch with a book in her lap. A vein of fear gripped her heart as she realized she was not only falling in love with Brandon, but also with Joy.

  Chapter 15

  “Thank goodness you’re here.” Aubrey accosted Brandon as he entered the office. “Stewart is getting antsy.” Her red hair was piled on her head though a few stray hairs escaped, and her jacket had been removed, displaying a white shell tucked into her blue pencil skirt.

  Brandon took a deep breath to keep from snapping at her. He hadn’t even been home, and he was sticky from the airplane ride. Plus, he was still recovering from Joy’s snub this morning. She wouldn’t say goodbye or look him in the eye, and her hug the night before had been apathetic as well.

  All through the plane ride, Presley’s words had haunted his mind. Was he pushing this promotion for the wrong reasons? Maybe he was, but Joy was only five. She didn’t understand the intricacies of life.

  He shook his head to clear the invading thoughts away. Once he got this promotion, he would be able to spend more time with Joy. It would all work out. “Okay.” He sighed and dropped his overnight bag on the plush tan carpet. “What do we need to do?”

  She smiled and motioned him to the conference table where she had a laptop set up. “Well, we’ve set up the preliminary on what the lodge should become, but we need to find pictures to represent what we want, and we need to finish the cost analysis.”

  His head swam with her onslaught of words, and he rubbed his hand across his forehead as he sank into one of the chairs. “Right, where are we on the cost analysis anyway?”

  “We’ve figured out how much the renovations will cost, but we need to estimate the return over the next few years.”

  As the time they would need added up in his head, Brandon wondered why he’d ever thought leaving in the middle of this proposal would be okay. He and Aubrey would have to work nearly non-stop to be ready for Friday. “I’ll take the money aspect. Why don’t you work on the visual aspect?”

  She nodded and pivoted back to her desk to begin working. Brandon stared at the screen, willing his mind to focus. Instead, Joy’s doe eyes filled his mind. The sight of her sitting on the couch, shoulders slumped flooded his vision. He rubbed his eyes to clear the image. If he could focus, perhaps he could present before Friday and return sooner.

  Two hours later, they called it a day. Brandon needed a shower and Aubrey needed to get home to her cat. As Brandon had left his car at his parents’ house in Star Lake, Aubrey offered to drive him home and pick him up the next morning.

  The apartment was quiet, tomblike, as he entered. It was odd, being there without Joy. Usually, she came bounding up to him, threw her arms around his legs, and rattled off everything that had happened in her day, from what she ate for breakfast to what the characters on her favorite show did.

  Brandon would nod, having no idea what she was talking about, but not wanting to let on, and then, when he could peel her off, he would get a rundown from the nanny, bid her goodnight, and sit Joy down for dinner.

  After dinner, they would play for a bit or read and then it was her bath and bed time. It wasn’t much time with he
r during the week, but he always tried to make up for the fact on weekends.

  Brandon shut the door and leaned against it, taking in the apartment. It was eclectic, decorated in whatever he could afford after Morgan left and he had to pay for a nanny and work. The couch was a faded brown squishy thing picked up from Goodwill and scrubbed thoroughly. The pictures on the wall were a mixture of pictures of Joy and odd landscape pictures he had picked up from thrift stores. Not exactly his style, but he couldn’t afford the van Gogh’s he would like to own. That was partly why he was working so hard.

  Beyond the living room lay the kitchen, still glaringly white and green. He had never bothered to paint the walls, but he was no longer sure if it was from lack of time or lack of caring.

  Dropping his bag onto the kitchen table, he flicked the light switch on and opened the fridge, hoping for something to jump out at him. He hadn’t eaten since lunch at the airport, and it hadn’t been very filling.

  Unfortunately, since they’d been gone, Amber, the nanny, hadn’t been making dinner, so there wasn’t much to choose from. He resorted to an old high school favorite and pulled out a few eggs, butter, and the bread.

  As he started the eggs cooking, he put the bread in the toaster and waited for it to pop up. A fried egg sandwich was going to feel like a pauper’s meal compared to the food his mother had been cooking, but it was better than starving.

  When the bread was buttered, and the egg was nestled securely inside, he took out his phone. It was nearly eight but surely Joy would still be awake. His fingers flew across the keys, inputting his mother’s number from memory.

  She answered on the second ring. “Hey, Mom, can you put Joy on? I want to wish her good night at least.” The pause was so long on the other side that Brandon looked at the phone display to make sure it was still connected. “Mom?”

  “Hang on. I’m trying to convince her to take your call.”

  “Daddy?” Joy’s voice was not full of the laughter he was used to. It was quiet and subdued, and it sounded more like a statement than a question.