When We Found Home

by Susan Mallery

  She wanted to tell him he was wrong, that once he found out, everything would change. Before she could gather the courage to tell him the truth, he leaned in and kissed her.

  His lips barely brushed hers before he straightened, but he might as well have branded her. She felt the heat all the way down to her toes. The sweet, gentle kiss got through to her far more than any tongue action would have.

  He got out of the car and walked her to the door, then cupped her face in his hands and kissed her again. He lingered this time, for a single heartbeat, before drawing back.

  “I want to see you again,” he told her. “Say yes.”

  She shouldn’t. She couldn’t. She was setting them both up. It was only, how could she resist?

  She put her hands on his chest, raised herself up on tiptoe, then kissed him before opening the door.

  “Yes,” she whispered and closed the door behind her.

  There would be a reckoning and it was going to be ugly. She was making a huge mistake handling things this way. But telling herself that didn’t seem to do any good. Which was a shame—she would think she’d already learned the price of consequences.

  * * *

  “You’re quiet. Are you nervous?” Delaney asked.

  Malcolm considered the question. “No, more contemplative.” He glanced at her as he drove down the street. “I’m looking forward to meeting your dad, if that’s what you’re asking. If I looked uncomfortable it’s because I was thinking about the fact that my half sister is on a date with my best friend. That’s a level of weird I’m not used to.”

  Delaney smiled. “At least you don’t have to worry about Callie meeting Santiago’s family. It’s a first date.”

  “Good point.”

  He wasn’t sure how he felt about his sister and best friend going out. On the one hand, he knew Santiago could take care of himself. On the other hand, he was less sure about Callie. Yes, she was an adult and she’d had experiences most people couldn’t begin to relate to, but had she dated much since getting out of prison? Should he have tried to talk to her?

  He held in a groan at the thought. No way. That was not a conversation that would go well.

  He followed Delaney’s directions and pulled up in front of a modest house on a street of similar homes. There were bikes on porches and not a BMW in sight.

  “Anything I should know before we go in?” he asked.

  “They’re going to totally adore you,” she told him.

  “And you?”

  She smiled. “I kind of adore you, too.”

  Her words were like a jolt of electricity. They woke him up and got his attention in a big way. Things had happened so naturally with her, he hadn’t noticed that they’d gotten serious. Well, damn.

  He poked around for regret or apprehension or any kind of worry and found only a happy sense of possibility.

  “Delaney,” he began, then realized he had no idea what he was going to say. Or wanted to say. Or should say. “The adoration is returned,” he told her, taking the easy way out.

  She laughed and got out of the car. Malcolm circled around to join her. As they walked up to the front door, he saw the ramp that would allow a wheelchair easy access.

  She knocked once and then let them in. “We’re here,” she called.

  “In the kitchen.”

  She smiled. “Where else?” she asked in a low voice.

  They walked down a short hallway and went through a larger-than-normal doorway into a comfortable kitchen. Malcolm had a brief impression of slightly lower than usual cabinets, new appliances and an older couple smiling at them.

  Delaney’s father had her dark red hair and green eyes. He sat straight in his wheelchair, looking confident and in control. Beside him was a slight blonde woman with a warm smile.

  “You must be Malcolm,” she said, holding out her hand as she approached. “I’m Beryl and this is Delaney’s father, Phil.”

  The two men shook hands, then Phil invited him to join him in the family room. Malcolm followed the other man into an open, comfortable-looking room with a big TV, lots of windows and a brick fireplace. Malcolm would guess the house had been built in the 1950s when the city had been growing.

  Malcolm took a seat on the sofa. Delaney appeared a few seconds later, a beer in each hand. She handed them each one before giving Malcolm a look of regret.

  “Beryl needs my help in the kitchen,” she said. “Call if you need anything.”

  “He’ll be fine,” Phil said easily.

  Malcolm smiled. “I’ll be fine.”

  When Delaney had left, Phil eyed him. “So, you’re dating my little girl.”

  “I am.”

  “Tell me about yourself.”

  Malcolm thought about asking what the other man would like to know, then figured he could guess the basics.

  “I’m single, never married. My family owns a company that offers mail-order food all over the country. We’ve been expanding into the international market, but slowly so we don’t screw up. I’m the third generation in the business. I have two half sisters.” He decided not to go into detail on that. There was no way to keep the story short.

  Phil eyed him over his beer. “You’re what? Thirty-three or thirty-four. Why aren’t you married? In my day, you got married or people knew why.”

  “I was engaged a few years back. She cheated and we broke up. I’ve been more careful since then.”

  “Any convictions?”

  Malcolm chuckled. “No. No arrests, either.”

  Phil grinned. “All right then. She’s my little girl. I have to be sure.”

  “I respect that.”

  Delaney appeared with a plate of stuffed mushrooms and set them on the coffee table. She sat down next to Malcolm.

  “Everything all right?” she asked anxiously.

  “It’s fine,” he told her. “Your dad’s looking out for you. I like that.”

  She groaned. “Dad, what did you say? Or ask? You weren’t inappropriate, were you?”

  “It’s all good,” her father told her.

  Beryl joined them and handed Delaney a glass of wine. She sat in the wing chair opposite the sofa and Phil moved his wheelchair next to her. The movements were familiar, Malcolm thought. Connected. They were obviously happy together.

  “Delaney told you I was a cop?” Phil asked.

  “Yes. She told me about the shooting, as well. I remember when it happened.”

  “That was a dark time,” Beryl said with a sigh. “Phil in the hospital, my Tim taken from us.” She reached for Phil’s hand.

  Malcolm felt Delaney tense, but she didn’t speak.

  “It was so hard,” Beryl continued. “The funeral, the weeks of worry.” She smiled sadly at Delaney. “Tim and Delaney were only four weeks from their wedding. Everything had to be canceled. She donated her beautiful wedding dress to a young woman in Kansas who lost everything in a tornado. We still have the pictures from her wedding.”

  She patted Phil’s hand. “Then he started to get better and we began to heal.” She looked at Delaney. “I think about Tim every day. I know you do, too. But he’d want us both to be happy.”

  Delaney sipped her wine without speaking. Malcolm wondered what she was thinking. If she was half as uncomfortable as she looked, she was desperate for a change in topic.

  “I understand you two are taking a cruise later this year,” Malcolm said. “Where to?”

  Phil grinned. “It’s a first for both of us. I have the itinerary in my desk.”

  “He doesn’t want to see that,” Beryl said with a laugh.

  “I would like to very much,” Malcolm told her. “I’ve never been on a cruise.”

  Phil went to get the information while Beryl excused herself to check on dinner. When they were alone, Delaney squeezed his hand.

&
nbsp; “Thank you,” she murmured.

  “Anytime.”

  chapter eighteen

  While Delaney was grateful that everyone seemed to have a good time, to her the evening felt endless. Every topic brought them back to Tim. Baseball—Tim had always loved the Dodgers. The cruise—what places had Tim wanted to visit. Her former career at Boeing—Tim had been so proud of her but ready for her to be a stay-at-home mom.

  As Malcolm drove the short distance to her place, she wondered if it was always like that and she no longer noticed or if all the Tim talk had another purpose. If it was the latter, she honestly didn’t know how much of that was directed at her and how much was directed at Malcolm.

  When he parked by her condo building, he turned off the engine and looked at her.

  “You okay?”

  “Not really. I’m sorry about tonight.”

  “What? Why? I had a great time. I like them both very much.”

  She groaned. “And Tim. Did you like him, too?”

  He touched her cheek. “Tim was a big part of your life before the shooting. Beryl’s his mom. It’s okay they wanted to talk about him.”

  “Really? Because I can’t figure out if they always do this or if they’re warning you off.”

  “I don’t think they’re warning me off. It’s just something you all have in common. He was a big deal, Delaney. You were going to marry him.”

  “I know. It’s just...” She looked out the window. “They make him sound like a saint and he wasn’t. He was a regular person with good and bad sides. We fought sometimes, just like everyone else.” She turned back to Malcolm. “I don’t know how I feel about my past. Isn’t that strange? But I really don’t. Sometimes I think I will never get over Tim and other times I wonder if I really could have gone through with the wedding. We were so different and I wanted more than we were going to have, which he could never understand. But we’d been together for so long and everyone expected us to get married. I just don’t know.”

  He leaned in and kissed her forehead. “You don’t have to know. Life kicked you in the gut and you’ve had to move on. Of course you wonder about what could have been. That’s normal.”

  He was so calm, she thought. Strong and solid. She could depend on him.

  “Sometimes I don’t know if I made the right decision quitting my job,” she admitted. “I miss my corporate life. I don’t know if I want to be a doctor. And if I don’t, I ruined my future by walking away from a career I loved.”

  She squeezed her eyes shut. “I can’t believe I said that out loud.”

  “It’s probably good that you did because it sounds like you’ve been keeping it inside for a long time. Delaney, you’re twenty-nine years old. Whatever you decide, you didn’t screw up your future. You had a great job and a skill set you can take anywhere. If you want to get back into corporate life, you can. If you want to be a naturopath, you’re going to do that. If you want to start making birdhouses from gourds, I know you’ll be incredibly successful.”

  “Birdhouses from gourds?” she asked, so taken aback by the concept that she started to laugh. “Where did that come from?”

  “I have no idea, but you get my point.”

  She giggled. “Gourds? Not wood or even cardboard?”

  “Cardboard wouldn’t survive in the rain.”

  “Oh, right. Well, gourds are waterproof.” She continued laughing until the last of her tension eased. The confusion and pain were still there, as always, but somehow they seemed more manageable.

  She turned to him. “You’ve given me perspective. Thank you.”

  “I live to serve.”

  “Good to know. Now did time with my family terrify you or would you like to come up to my place?”

  He leaned in and kissed her. “I thought you’d never ask.”

  * * *

  Callie arrived home from work to find Keira waiting for her in the foyer. Her sister had Lizzy with her and immediately jumped to her feet when Callie walked in.

  “You’ll never guess,” Keira said, doing a little dance while holding on to her kitten. “Guess, but you never will. It’s cool, I think. Better than last time. I mean the flowers and the vase. That was dumb. Boys are so weird.”

  Callie laughed even as her heart gave a little flutter. “My guess is that Santiago sent me something.” More flowers? No, Keira had said it was better, which implied different.

  Since their date the previous Saturday, he’d been in touch every day. Little texts and emails. Funny shares or just a few words. Simple, easy communication that let her know he was thinking of her.

  “He did!”

  Keira led the way upstairs. Callie walked into her bedroom and saw a bouquet of flowers sitting in a large metal can—like a half-gallon coffee can. Only they weren’t flowers.

  She approached the table and saw the beautiful pastel blossoms were made of something else. Something that looked amazingly like...

  “Wood!” Keira spun in a circle. “I looked up the company online and that’s what they do. Each flower is hand carved. Aren’t they beautiful? They’re so pretty and delicate and the metal can totally contrasts with the flowers, which is great because otherwise it would be too sweet and who wants that.” She paused. “There’s a card.”

  “What does it say?”

  Keira put her free hand on her hip. “Excuse me. I didn’t read it. Looking at flowers is one thing, but reading your card is something else.”

  Callie grinned. “If you say so.”

  She opened the card and saw a scrawled message. Because I want this to last.

  She wasn’t sure if he meant them or the flowers or both, not that it mattered. If Santiago was trying to win her over, he was doing a very good job. She felt herself becoming more vulnerable by the day—but not in a scary I-have-to-run-now way. Being courted was actually really nice.

  “I have to call him and thank him,” she said, looking at Keira. “Give me two minutes to do that and then we’ll hang out.”

  Keira rolled her eyes, then made kissing sounds as she scampered from the room. Callie got out her phone.

  “What do you think?” Santiago said by way of greeting. “Too much?”

  “They’re beautiful. Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome. I saw them and I thought of you.”

  “I’m glad.”

  “Good. So Sunday morning. Come to church with me and my family, then stay to lunch. Once we’re done with that, we can spend the afternoon hanging out.”

  Church? The man wanted to take her to church for their second date and then spend time with his family? What was with that? She couldn’t decide if he was the most amazing man on the planet or if he’d been hit in the head one too many times.

  “Callie?”

  “That sounds great,” she said softly, taking an incredible leap of faith.

  “I’ll pick you up at nine thirty. Bring a change of clothes so once lunch is done we can walk around the city or something. The weather guy swears it’s not going to rain.”

  “I didn’t know it ever stopped raining in Seattle,” she teased.

  “Wait until summer. We have a sucky winter, but the summers are beautiful.” He lowered his voice. “I’m really looking forward to Sunday.”

  “Me, too. I’ll see you at nine thirty.”

  He chuckled. “Yes, but don’t worry. We’ll talk before then. Bye, Callie.”

  “Bye.”

  She hung up, then clutched the phone to her chest. She was excited and scared and nervous and wow, church with a guy. That was unexpected.

  She dropped the phone on her bed, then went next door to Keira’s room and hugged her sister.

  “What’s that for?”

  Callie hugged her again. “Santiago asked me to go to church and thanks to you, I have something to wear. Thank you for mak
ing me buy that wrap dress. It will be perfect.”

  Keira stared at her. “Your date is church?”

  “That’s not all of it. We’re having lunch with his family and then hanging out for the day.” She wrinkled her nose. “I’ll be gone all day. Will you be okay?”

  Keira sighed. “I’m going to be thirteen soon. I’ll be fine. Besides, I’m going out with friends.” She arched her eyebrows. “Grace’s mom is dropping us off at the movies, then we’re going shopping. Bella and Layla will be there, too.”

  Callie stared at her. “You’re making friends. That’s so great. I’m so proud of you.”

  “Oh, please. It’s no big deal.”

  “It’s a huge deal. Do you need money for the mall or the movies or food?”

  “I already asked Malcolm who grilled me for like five minutes on my plans. I think I liked it better when he was ignoring me.”

  “No, you didn’t.”

  Keira grinned. “No, I didn’t. Anyway, my Sunday is taken care of. Want to do something on Saturday?”

  “In the morning, I’m going to make a cheesecake. Actually I’ll make one for here and one to take with me for the lunch. The morning temperature should be cool enough that it’s okay in the car during church and it’s the kind of thing that travels pretty well. I’ll have to get some springform pans and—”

  She realized Keira was staring at her. “What?”

  “You know how to make cheesecake?”

  “Sure. It’s not hard. Want me to teach you?”

  “Yes. You never know when you’re going to need a new skill.”

  Callie laughed. “You’re on. Okay, let’s take Lizzy downstairs and play with the laser pointer. Then we’ll do homework.”

  Keira collected her kitten and kissed the top of her head. “We don’t actually do homework. I do homework and you read.”

  “I’m with you in spirit.”

  “Maybe you could be with me on my English paper.”

  Callie grinned. “That will never happen.”