by Delia Latham
“Clay knows I’m still willing to help out at the office whenever he needs me.”
“And he appreciates that, believe me, but somehow I think you’re going to find your hands very full without babysitting Clay. Oh, look who’s here!”
Dane and Dayna crossed the floor toward them, trailed by Eva Kate and Lea. The girls held hands, giggling and whispering. Lea had spent the night at the Patton home the night before, freeing Rick and Kylie to work in the complex until the wee hours, preparing for tonight’s big event.
Spotting Kylie, Lea dropped Eva Kate’s hand and ran ahead. “Kylie, Kylie! I missed you!”
“I missed you too, sweetie. The house is so empty without you. Did you have fun?”
“Uh-huh.” Lea nodded, and a happy grin spread clear across her face.
“These two are giggle monsters!” Dayna grinned and tousled both little heads.
“One man in a house with three females doesn’t stand a chance.” Dane rolled his eyes.
“You love it, and you know it.” Dayna kissed her husband’s cheek.
Rick showed up with Clay in tow and joined them. He picked Lea up with one arm and slid the other one around Kylie’s waist. “What do you think, sweetheart? When will you bring the girls in?”
She still had a hard time believing she was married to this perfect man. Rick Dale didn’t believe in long engagements, and she hadn’t argued. Within a month of his proposal, they were married in a simple ceremony, appropriately held in front of the massive doors at Solomon’s Gate.
“Now.” She raised her face for his kiss just as Shay showed up on the arm of Dr. Sean Connery.
“Do you two ever give it a rest?” Sean’s crooked grin never failed to make Kylie smile. What it did to Shay was another matter entirely. Kylie had never seen her beautiful sister so enamored. It seemed Solomon’s Gate had done it again.
“Never,” Rick responded. “Why don’t you fellas come help me settle this crowd down a bit before the girls come in.”
****
At the suggestion of the new staff psychologist, Kylie brought their young guests in as unobtrusively as possible. Most of them were opposed to public contact of any kind, due to an understandable aversion to rude stares and comments. Their signed agreements stated that contact with staff members and select invitees to the ranch would be a mandatory part of their visit.
Still, no one wanted this experience to be traumatic for them. Everyone in the room had attended a visitor’s orientation and been prepped for this night.
Kylie brought the guests in two at a time. At Rick’s signal, the visitors had broken up into five pre-arranged groups, each consisting of at least one staff member. Their job was to make the girls feel at ease, and to demonstrate that, despite their disfigurements, they could blend into a crowd and fit in a public setting.
The first group included Kylie’s parents. She’d been amazed at her mother’s interest in the ranch. The former beauty queen had seemingly undergone some kind of mental metamorphosis after Shay’s confrontation the night of Kylie’s wreck. Although she still presented an immaculate, glamorous persona, her demeanor had changed. She’d been one of the first volunteers, and would be helping Shay teach the girls the art of camouflage makeup.
Kylie slipped into the group with the two girls hard on her heels. Their discomfort in the crowded room was almost tangible, and Kylie longed to rush them to their rooms and allow them to hide. But her mother wasn’t the only person who’d made some changes.
“Hello, everyone.” She smiled and greeted her guests while drawing the two nervous teenagers into the circle. “I’d like you to meet Tina and Brianne. They’ll be spending the next month here at the ranch.”
A chorus of quiet hellos greeted the newcomers. Kylie watched the group, proud to note that not one of them stared at the girls, either covertly or otherwise. They welcomed the teens as if they noticed nothing unusual about their appearance. Tina’s face bore a deep scar diagonally from the outer corner of her left eye through the center of her top lip. Brianne’s face had been malformed since birth, leaving her facial bone structure just slightly askew. Though not extreme, the abnormality drew an enormous amount of attention from people trying to figure out exactly what was off about the girl’s face.
Kylie waited only long enough to see that they were responding, timidly and mostly without eye contact, but at least they weren’t running away.
She repeated the trip four more times, scattering all ten guests throughout the room. As she brought the last two in, she saw that Rick was doing his part in moving them along from group to group. Within a half hour, they would have met everyone in the room without being paraded in as if they were on display.
After making that final introduction, she accepted a glass from a passing waiter and crossed the room for a moment’s reprieve. Within seconds, Destiny joined her.
“Come sit with me a moment, Ky.”
Kylie dropped wearily onto a modern, cheerily colored futon and kicked off her sandals—just for a moment. “Sitting sounds wonderful,” she sighed.
“You’re busy tonight. I’ve been watching.” Destiny reached out and gave her hand a squeeze. “I’m so proud of you, Kylie. You’ve come a long way since you first walked into Solomon’s Gate.”
“Have I?” She sipped at sparkling cider and eyed her friend over the rim of the glass. “Is that good or bad?”
“It’s a very positive change, and I think you know that.” Destiny nodded toward the buzzing conversation groups. “You wanted to know what I dreamed about you and Rick. This is it, Ky.”
Kylie lowered her glass. “I thought you’d forgotten.” She looked around them. “You dreamed we were at a party with a crowd of friends?”
“No, I haven’t forgotten. And what I saw wasn’t exactly what we’re looking at in this room, but the essence was the same. I saw you, Rick and Lea together. Rick was holding Lea in one arm, and had the other around your waist. The three of you were surrounded by a circle of young girls, all holding hands.” She held up a finger and quirked one auburn eyebrow. “Remember, I dreamed this before I knew anything about Rick’s plans for the ranch.”
“I know you did. But that doesn’t surprise me. Not anymore.”
“I knew the people surrounding the three of you were young girls, even though their faces were blurred out.”
Kylie laughed. “Blurred out?”
Destiny rolled her eyes. “OK, maybe I’m saying it wrong. You know how they do on television sometimes when they’re trying to protect someone’s identity? You can hear the voice, and you can see pretty much everything about them, except that the face is…well, blurred out. That’s the only way I know to describe it.”
“I know exactly what you mean. I wonder why the faces were blurred in your dream?”
“Probably because the girls I saw were representative of the many young women this ranch will host.”
“That makes sense.”
“Anyway, I knew you were happy, though you never spoke a word in that dream. I could sense the joy surrounding Rick and Lea, as well. And I knew I had to get the two of you together.”
“Thank you for that.” Kylie’s eyes sought out her husband in the milling crowd. “I am happy, Destiny. Happier than I ever dreamed possible.”
“I can tell.”
They sat in silence for a moment, before Kylie roused herself and slipped her feet back into her sandals. “I’d better get back out there, I guess.”
“Hey, before you go…about that kiss you told me you were waiting for…”
Kylie chuckled. “Yeah? What about it?”
“Well…?” Destiny’s impish smile made her look like a teenager intent on getting the latest school yard gossip.
“Well, what?”
“I want to know that you didn’t settle. Every woman needs that kind of kiss, Ky, at least once in her life.”
Kylie stood, grabbed Destiny’s hand and pulled her up too, then hugged her hard.
�
�You don’t need to worry about it anymore, Miss Matchmaker.” She caught Rick’s eye across the room. He winked, and she felt as if she’d been kissed under a full moon and a sky full of stars. “This woman got her kiss, and it won’t be the last. I’ve been promised at least one every day for the rest of my life.”
A loud whoosh of moving air filled the room just as they turned to join the crowd. Both women heard it, but a quick glance at the chattering guests told them no one else had. Kylie forgot to breathe for a moment. Finally, she clutched at Destiny’s arm and met her wide green gaze.
“Was that—?”
Destiny’s gaze darted here and there as if searching for something. “I think so.”
“Do you see him?”
“No. Do you?”
Kylie shook her head. But he’d been there. She still felt the kiss of his wings.
They stood quietly for a moment, basking in their own divine secret. “So long, Solomon,” Kylie whispered.
Destiny raised her gaze heavenward. “See you around.”
A quick squeeze of hands, and they parted, each to their own families, their own lives, their own loves.
Rick waited, hand outstretched. Kylie put hers into it and he drew her close to his side, taking advantage of the ongoing conversation to place his lips close to her ear. “You are so beautiful!”
Kylie blushed, loving that he still made her do that, even after the “I dos” were said and done. She leaned into him and raised her gaze to his, which held a promise for when they were alone.
A promise that curled her toes and lifted one foot off the ground.
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