Darrin sat, looking deep into her eyes. “Are you saying. . .”
“Yes, Darrin, I still love you. I want to help you through your pain and your guilt. But I need to know that you didn’t just befriend me because of your guilty conscience.”
For the first time that evening, Leslie saw a smile play at his lips. “No, no, Ms. Heyward. I have a great many other reasons for befriending you.”
Leslie was glad to feel the weight of the conversation lighten considerably. She allowed herself to counter his playful grin with one of her own. “And, pray tell, Mr. Malone, what are these great many reasons you speak of?”
“Well, Ms. Heyward, I love you and fully intend to make you my bride.”
The weight was immediately back in place, and Leslie felt as though he had knocked the wind from her. “Marriage? You’re talking marriage? Oh, Darrin, I need to think. . .to pray. . .to –”
“To hush.” He rose to his feet and held out his arms to her. She took hold of his hand and stood as well. He encircled her with his broad arms and turned his eyes down to meet hers. Gently, he kissed her, and Leslie felt all her cares melt away. When he drew away, she wanted to pull him back, but she refrained.
“Now, Ms. Heyward, that seems to have quieted you for a bit. I think I will take you home now and allow you to consider the prospect of being my wife.”
Leslie nodded, wondering if her legs would support her all the way out to the car. Why had he chosen a table so far back? “That would probably be best, Mr. Malone.”
EIGHTEEN
Leslie spent the rest of the day praying about Darrin and the proposal. She told Margie that there were major decisions to be made and that she needed to pray in private. Margie understood and offered to go to the hospital and keep Travis company, while Leslie secluded herself.
Leslie was grateful for Margie’s love and understanding. She had always been able to count on her aunt, and this time was no exception. Even when she heard Margie return that evening, Leslie remained in her room, fasting and praying that she might seek only God’s will. It would be easy to taint her actions by relying on emotions, and Leslie was determined that this wouldn’t be the case.
Yet even as she sent her prayers heavenward, she knew a peace and rightness about it that gave her confidence. She loved Darrin, and for the first time in her life, she knew what it was to desire to spend the rest of her life with a man.
The next morning, Leslie knew it was time to confide in Margie. She had been so closed-mouth on the situation that no doubt Margie had stewed and fretted throughout the night. She had just finished putting breakfast together when a sleepy-eyed Margie entered the kitchen. “Good morning,” Leslie called cheerily.
“Well, something certainly seems to agree with you,” Margie said, stifling a yawn. “I take it you worked through your problems.”
“That and more. Aunt Margie, we need to talk,” Leslie said, pulling out a chair for her aunt. “I have breakfast on the table and thought we might share it and discuss the future.”
“The future?”
“Exactly,” Leslie said with a grin.
After they prayed, Margie looked up at Leslie with hopeful expectation. She said nothing, but Leslie could tell she wanted to.
“I have a great ideal to confide in you. The first thing is that Darrin has already seen to paying off Travis’ hospital bill, and he wants to help us keep the shop.” Margie said nothing, and Leslie continued. “Secondly, Darrin and I are in love, and he has asked me to marry him.”
“Are you serious? When did this happen?”
Leslie picked up a piece of bacon and nibbled at it. “I’m very serious, and I suppose I should start back at the beginning. It all started when I went to Dallas. . .”
Leslie told Margie everything, and when she was finished, she sat back and offered one single question. “Can you forgive Darrin’s connection to Mom and Dad’s death?”
Margie’s brows knit together, and her face contorted into several looks before settling on a stern, authoritative expression. “That young man has nothing to be forgiven of,” she said sternly.
“Oh, but he feels he does,” Leslie replied. “He feels like he should have been able to do something before it all came to this. I have to admit, when he first told me, I wasn’t too inclined to remain in the same room with him. Not because I blamed him, but because I kept thinking, ‘This is the son of the man who killed my parents.’”
“You obviously don’t feel that way now,” Margie replied.
“No, I don’t. I’ve prayed through every aspect of this situation, and while I will forever mourn the premature passing of my parents, I know that Darrin had nothing but goodness in his heart when he came to us. He didn’t want to deceive; us, but he knew we wouldn’t take well to his offering help when the hurt was so raw and fresh. And Margie, he was right to do it the way he did. I’d have never given him the time of day if he’d walked into Crossroads and announced that he was Michael Malone’s son.”
“But neither would you have held him responsible for what happened. I know you too well to believe otherwise.”
“You’re right, but I wouldn’t have wanted to associate with him. I would have politely accepted the apology, told him we absolved him of any responsibility, and bye-bye, Mr. Malone.”
“So, you’re going to marry him?”
“Would that bother you?” Leslie asked quite seriously.
Margie’s face lit up in a grin. “Bother me? It’ll only bother me if you don’t allow me to help plan the wedding. Darrin’s too good to let get away, and if you don’t snatch him up, some more fortunate woman will.”
Leslie beamed. “I’m glad you feel that way, because I intend to reel Mr. Malone in, hook, line, and sinker.”
“And maybe in doing so, the past will be laid to rest once and for all,” Margie commented. “Maybe Darrin will finally realize that you love him more than the memories he might invoke, memories that relate to his father.”
“I hope so, Margie,” Leslie said. “I hope so.”
At the hospital, Leslie found Travis intent on the Lego time machine Darrin had brought him. “Hey, buddy,” she said, coming into the room, “the doctor tells me that you can go home tomorrow.”
“Shhh,” Travis said, without so much as looking up. “This is a real hard part, and I have to. . .Ahh!” he exclaimed in disgust as a big piece broke away from the others. “Break, break, break. It always has to break.”
Leslie put her hand to the small boy’s shoulder. “Trav, stop acting that way. Just rest for a minute and listen to me tell you something else. Then, after you’ve rested, you’ll probably be able to make it work the very first time you try.”
Travis didn’t appear to believe her, but nevertheless he waited. “Tell me what?”
Leslie smiled. “I know you don’t know Darrin very well –”
“I like Darrin. He brought me these Legos and some books, and he talked to me,” Travis interrupted.
Leslie smiled. “I’m glad you like him, because I like him a lot, too. In fact, I love him, and he wants to marry me.”
“Marry? Like Mommy and Daddy were married?” Travis asked, suddenly frowning.
“That’s right. What would you think of that?” Leslie was stunned when Travis’s face puckered into a tearful expression. “What’s wrong, Trav?”
“Where will I go when you go away with him?” Travis asked, trying hard not to cry.
“Oh, baby, I would never go live anywhere without you. You’re part of the package.” But suddenly it dawned on her that maybe Darrin didn’t realize this. What if Darrin presumed that Margie would take Travis?
“I’d get to live with you and Darrin?” Travis asked, all traces of his frown disappearing.
“Of course,” Leslie muttered, still contemplating the situation. Why hadn’t she thought to talk to Darrin about all of this first? She shook the discouraging thoughts away. “Travis, believe me, I would never ask you to live with anyone who didn’t lo
ve you as much as I do. Will you trust me on this one?”
“Okay.”
She embraced him in a tight squeeze, then tousled his hair and kissed his cheek. “I love you, Travis. You will always be my sweet baby guy.”
He smiled at her, then seemed to forget the crisis of a few moments earlier and began to take up his Lego work again. “I’ve got to build this before Darrin comes to see me.”
Leslie nodded. And I have to talk to Darrin before he comes up here, she thought. A call placed from Leslie to Darrin sent him to the Heyward house, where she was waiting for him. “I’m sorry if I interrupted something important,” Leslie said, meeting him on the porch, “but I have something we should discuss.”
The gravity of her tone made him wince. “Am I not going to like this discussion?”
Leslie smiled. “I suppose it all depends.”
“On what?”
“On whether you kiss me hello and come sit with me on the porch and enjoy the sunshine of this glorious day.”
He grinned. “I suppose I can bear that.” He wrapped her in his arms and sighed against her ear before kissing her cheek, then her nose, then each of her eyes, and finally her mouth. “How’s that for a hello?” he asked with a mischievous twinkle in his eye.
“Ummm,” she said and put her head against his shoulder. “Hello. Hello. Hello,” she murmured.
“So does this mean you have good news for me?” Darrin asked, pulling away to catch the dreamy expression on her face before she covered it with a more sober one.
“I want to have good news for you, but we need to cover a few bases first.”
Darrin’s grin broadened. “I’ve heard about making it to different bases, I just never thought –”
Leslie elbowed his ribs and pushed away. “Now, Darrin Malone, you know very well that that’s not the kind of bases I’m talking about. Come on and sit down with me.”
He followed her to a set of wicker porch chairs and waited until she’d chosen the settee before motioning her to scoot over and allow him to sit beside her. Leslie did as he wanted but held up her hand.
“I brought you here to talk, not neck.”
“Can’t we do both?”
She laughed, and it seemed to lighten the moment. “Maybe later. But first, you listen.”
“Okay, I’m all ears.” Darrin leaned back and held his breath. What could she possibly need to cover that required a special meeting like this?
“First of all, I’ve given the whole matter of us over to God. I prayed and fasted and felt very confident in the answers and peace that came because of those payers.”
“But?” Darrin said, finally daring to exhale.
Leslie’s expression softened and her blue-green eyes sought his with great love. “As far as I’m concerned there are no buts, however you may feel differently once I explain.”
“I doubt that quite seriously, but please explain so we can move on to second base,” he said with a roguish grin.
“Now stop that. This is really very serious.” Her tone told him that she was exasperated with his teasing.
“Okay, Les, tell me what has you so troubled and worried.”
She folded her hands and stared at her fingers for a moment. Darrin longed to reach out and brush back the blond hair that had fallen forward across her shoulder, but instead he sat back and remained silent. Whatever she wanted to say, he needed to let her know he understood the importance of the moment.
“Darrin, I went to tell Travis about us, and he started to cry,” she said, then paused to look up. “He wanted to know where he’d have to go when we got married and went away.”
Darrin suddenly understood Leslie’s apprehension. They’d never discussed the boy, but Darrin thought it was a given – that he and Leslie would raise him. “And what did you say?” he asked softly.
Leslie bit at her lower lip and then let out a tremendous sigh. “I told him that I loved him, and that I would never ask him to live with someone who didn’t love him as much as I did.”
Darrin took hold of her hand. “Then it should work out just fine, because I do love him, and I wouldn’t tolerate you sending him anywhere else.”
Leslie’s eyes widened. “You mean it? After all this is a big deal. Raising a child isn’t going to be easy.”
“Never figured it would be, but I like the idea of having a great many of our own, so Travis can just start us out in style, and we’ll practice on him until we get it right. Then he can play big brother to the others.”
Leslie fell into Darrin’s arms. “I love you so much. I just knew this was how you’d feel.”
“Then why did you become so scared a minute ago?” he asked, gently stroking her arm with his finger.
“I guess because I wanted this so much. I want to marry you. I want us to be a family. Oh, Darrin, I just want you.”
He chuckled and felt a warmth of satisfaction spread through him like a wash of pride. She doesn’t care about the past, he thought. She cares more about the future than anything laying back there. It was exactly what he had hoped for. Prayed for.
“And I want you – and I want Travis, too,” he finally said and pulled her even tighter against him. “For all time – no matter what.”
“I felt like I was standing at a crossroad,” Leslie whispered, placing her hand atop his arm. “One way led me down a dark and lonely path.”
“And the other?”
She pulled away and turned to see his face. Her hand reached up to touch his cheek. “The other led me to you.”
EPILOGUE
“Flight attendants prepare the cabin for landing,” the voice of the airline captain sounded over the intercom.
Leslie rechecked her seat belt and looked up to find a nicely tanned Darrin smiling at her. “What?” she asked, glancing back down at her Hawaiian print blouse. “Did I spill something?”
“No, not that anyone could notice against that wild print,” he said grinning. “I was just thinking of how much I love you and how happy I am that you’re my wife.”
“And I am very happy to be your wife, Mr. Malone. Hawaii seems to have agreed with you. You should take honeymoons more often.”
“Perhaps I will,” he said, leaning close, “but only if you’re included in the trip.”
“But of course,” she replied and reached over to squeeze his hand. “I’m afraid you’re stuck with me.”
“When I’m afraid,” Darrin quoted the Psalmist, “I will trust in You.” He looked heavenward. “There’s not much we can’t face if we put God at the helm, eh?”
“You’re right,” Leslie agreed. “I’m so excited about seeing Travis. I hope he likes his birthday present. Margie said she has the party all set up for us to celebrate when we get home. It’s going to be such a surprise for him.”
“Six years old and in two weeks, school starts,” Darrin replied. “He’s got a busy year ahead of him.”
“So do we,” Leslie said, glancing out the window as the plane finally touched ground. She sighed. It was good to be home.
Darrin interlaced his fingers with hers. “We can handle it. So long as we work together. Remember what the counselor said? Every family has to work together as a unit. Doesn’t matter if it’s a blended family or one that comes together under the loving union of one man and woman. We’ll work together. Even Travis recognizes that.”
“Yeah, especially after the counselor used Legos to make his point,” Leslie laughed.
The flight attendant announced their arrival, and the minute the seat belt sign was turned off, Leslie jumped to her feet and motioned Darrin into the aisle. “Hurry,” she said. “We don’t want to keep him waiting!”
They grabbed up their carry-on bags and moved out of the plane and up the terminal ramp. Leslie could scarcely contain herself and ran the final ten or fifteen feet, edging around other people and prying herself through a narrow opening where an empty wheelchair blocked one side of the hall and a backpacking youth sauntered up the other side.
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Then she saw him standing beside Margie. The look of expectation causing his eyes to be wide and searching.
“Travis!” she squealed and practically flew out of the security area to where her little brother waited. “Travis!”
She picked him up and whirled around to catch the loving expression of her husband. It was still so amazing to see how God had turned the sad and tragic death of her parents into something so positive and right.
Margie laughed and greeted Darrin. “Good to have you back. How was your flight?”
Leslie didn’t hear her husband’s answer because Travis had wrapped his arms around her and was squeezing her neck in a bearlike grip. “Now, we’re a real family, aren’t we, Sissy?”
She looked up to see that Darrin, too, had heard the question. His nod reassured her. “You bet we are, Travis. You and me and Darrin, and Aunt Margie, too. We’re a family, and together with God, there isn’t anything we can’t face.”
And in her heart, she knew it was true. Life would be filled with crossroads, but with God leading the way, the path would always be certain – the choice would always be right.
About the Author
Tracie Peterson, bestselling, award-winning author of over ninety fiction titles and three non-fiction books, lives and writes in Belgrade, Montana. As a Christian, wife, mother, writer, editor and speaker (in that order), Tracie finds her slate quite full.
Voted favorite author for 1995, 1996, and 1997 by the Heartsong Presents’ readership, and awarded Affaire de Coeur’s Inspirational Romance of the Year 1994, Romantic Times 2007 Career Achievement, American Christian Fiction Writers Lifetime Achievement 2011 and other awards, Tracie enjoys the pleasure of spinning stories for readers and thanks God for the imagination He’s given. She desires that the books would Entertain, Educate, and Encourage—Tracie’s three E’s.
Tracie was the managing editor of Heartsong Presents for Barbour Publishing for over three years and helped with acquisitions prior to that. She co-founded the American Christian Fiction Writer’s organization in 2000 and continues to work with new authors, teaching at a variety of conferences, giving workshops on inspirational romance, historical research, and anything else that offers assistance to fellow writers. She often speaks at women’s retreats and church functions. Her website is www.traciepeterson.com
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