Her stomach sank. “Oh?”
“It’s about your father.”
Amanda simply waited while he tried to find the words. She used the time to pray that whatever this revelation was, it wouldn’t change anything.
“He bought this land, Amanda.” He met her gaze, his expression earnest. “It was the only way he could bring himself to reach out to you.”
She stared at Caleb, stunned. “When?”
“Before he came to me about building the house. He was behind all of this. He wanted you and the kids to have a new home and a fresh start. He was afraid if you knew that, you’d turn it down.”
Amanda sat back, trying to take in the news. “If he was willing to do this, why couldn’t he just let me back into his life?”
Caleb smiled. “Because this is Max. He’s only now beginning to grasp that pride is a sorry replacement for love.” He touched her cheek. “I’m sorry I kept it from you.”
“I’m glad you did. He was right. I probably would have refused.”
“Then it won’t stand between us?”
“No, Caleb. I still want to marry you. I think we’ve both learned our lessons about pride and secrets.”
He nodded, then regarded her curiously. “Did Max tell you the latest?”
“About my mother coming back to spend some time with him?”
Caleb nodded. “How do you feel about that?”
“Honestly, I’m not sure. I thought I’d have him to myself for whatever good days he has left, but if this is what he wants, I’m hardly in a position to deny it to him.”
“Will you be able to deal with her and give her a chance?”
Amanda didn’t answer at once. It was a question she’d been struggling with ever since she’d found out her mother was alive. “I’ll try to keep an open mind,” she said at last.
“No one could expect more than that.”
She looked into Caleb’s eyes and saw everything she’d ever need in life. “Love’s a funny thing, isn’t it?”
“How so?”
“It’s unexpected and unpredictable, but once the real thing comes along, it really is strong enough and powerful enough to last forever.”
“Ours will,” he said. “I believe that with all my heart. And oddly enough, I think maybe your parents’ love has, too.”
Amanda felt at peace, even knowing how many struggles lay ahead. With Caleb by her side, she would get through them all.
“I love you,” she told him. “You have no idea how much.”
“Given how much you’re overlooking to marry me, I think I do,” he said. “All I can tell you is that I’m grateful and I will spend every day of my life making sure you don’t regret it.”
“No regrets,” she assured him. “Not ever.”
After all, he was the man who’d made her believe in herself again and made her believe in love.
Epilogue
The baptism of Daniel Marshall Jr. and Mariah Dorothy Beaufort was a bittersweet moment for Caleb. Mary Louise had insisted on waiting to hold the service for her son until after Dinah’s baby was born.
“Besides, it’s bad enough that everyone in the congregation knows that Danny and I barely got married before the baby was born without having them back for the baptism a couple of months later. I don’t think our son’s soul will be in jeopardy if we wait till Dinah has her baby,” she’d told Caleb with that stubborn jut of her chin that he’d come to respect.
Mary Louise might be barely nineteen, but she was a woman to be reckoned with. Danny was going to have his hands full, but judging from the contented expression on his face as he held his son, he was ready for whatever came their way.
Caleb turned his attention to Cord, who looked as if he were terrified that the tiny girl in his arms might break. Dinah was regarding her husband with amusement. She glanced at Caleb and winked.
“You’d think a big strong man like my husband wouldn’t be scared to death of a tiny little baby,” she said.
Cord scowled at her. “You can take over anytime.”
Dinah laughed at that. “Since when? Ever since we brought Mariah home from the hospital, the only time she’s in my arms is when I’m breast-feeding.”
“Are you sure we ought to be discussing this in church?” Cord asked.
“Nothing more natural,” Caleb assured him. “But maybe we ought to leave the topic till after the service.”
He glanced over the congregation to see that everyone was settled, then paused when his gaze met Amanda’s. He saw the wistful expression on her face and regretted for an instant that there would be no baby for them. Then he looked at the troubled ten-year-old foster child they’d taken in the week before and knew that their lives would be fulfilled in other ways. The world was full of children who needed protecting and loving, even for a short time. He and Amanda had decided their home would be a safe haven, a stop-over for these kids.
“Everybody ready?” he asked as the designated godparents stepped forward. Maggie and Josh were there for Mariah. And Dinah and Willie Ron would be promising to keep young Daniel on the right path in life. Willie Ron nervously ran a finger around the collar of his shirt, but his awed gaze never left the little boy Danny carefully handed to him.
“Let’s get started before these two forget about being on good behavior and decide it’s time for lunch,” Caleb said, and began the service.
As he made the sign of the cross on their foreheads, Daniel smiled as if he knew just what it meant to be so blessed. Mariah, in the fine tradition of her rebellious mama, screamed her head off until she was safely back in the arms of her doting daddy.
“No question she’s her daddy’s little girl,” Dinah commented.
Cord laughed. “And I was just thinking she’s an awful lot like her mama, carrying on till she gets her way.”
Dinah tucked an arm through his. “Either way, you’re the center of both our universes.”
Caleb’s gaze went back to Amanda, who was the center of his. He knew it might not be entirely appropriate, but he winked at her just the same. And, as always, a blush stained her cheeks.
Beside her, their temporary foster daughter smiled, something she’d done far too rarely since coming into their lives. Caleb winked at her, too.
He knew he would remember that wide smile long after she’d moved on to a permanent home and the next child had come into their lives. Sometimes the best parts of life were made up of small moments, of precious memories like the baptism of these two new lives today.
If he had any regret at all, it was that as he was accumulating a lifetime of these moments, Max was losing touch with the memories that he’d once held precious. The man was slowly slipping away from them, still strong in body, but losing ground daily in mind. And it was breaking Amanda’s heart.
“Who’s this?” Max asked Amanda later that afternoon, pointing to a picture with a shaky finger.
“The caterer, Daddy. You didn’t know her.”
Relief flickered in her father’s eyes. “Didn’t think so,” he said, a triumphant note in his voice.
It had been only a few months since Amanda’s wedding to Caleb, and each day of it brought a new torment in the progress of Max’s disease. He seldom left the house anymore. At Max’s insistence, she and Caleb had moved in with the kids, forcing an awkward truce with her mother, who was there on a regular basis. The time she spent with her father was precious to her, because she knew it was finite.
Her father plucked another picture from the pile, and a smile spread across his face. “I know this one,” he said, beaming. “No one’s ever been prettier than your mama.”
“No one,” Amanda agreed, battling tears as she stared into her own face in the photograph.
She gave her father a fierce hug, then gathered up the remaining pictures and put them back in the box. Looking through the pictures had become her father’s favorite pastime lately.
When he nodded off, still clutching the last snapshot in his hand, she took it
from him and put it in the box on top, then touched a finger to the image as her tears fell unchecked. It saddened her now that she hadn’t forgiven her mother and asked her to attend her wedding. She recognized that it had been petty revenge for a lifetime of neglect. And she knew she needed to put the resentment behind her if she was ever to find peace.
“I wish you had been there that day, Mama,” she whispered with one last glance at the picture. “I really did look as beautiful as you.”
ISBN: 978-1-4268-5381-4
WAKING UP IN CHARLESTON
Copyright © 2006 by Sherryl Woods.
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