Walking Away (The Walking Together Series Book 2)

by T. E. Killian

  When they entered hand in hand, the room grew silent as if expecting an announcement. She didn’t want to disappoint them but she also felt that Kent should be the one making the announcement.

  She turned to him and nodded. She knew when he figured out what she wanted. His face lit up and he cleared his throat.

  “Hey everyone. Just in case you might not have figured it out yet, I’ve asked Grace to marry me and she said yes.”

  The cheering and catcalls came again but he tried to talk over them and they quieted again. “And after checking with my parents and Grace’s parents, especially her dad since he’s going to marry us, we’ve decided to get married on Saturday, November 8.”

  This time when the cheering and clapping came, they sneaked off to the family room thinking they’d be alone there but they were wrong. Michelle and Brianna followed them in and both started talking at once.

  Kent stepped forward, kneeled down, and placed an arm around each of the girls. “Girls, all we’ve done so far is pick a day. Now, it’s up to the two of you to help us plan the actual wedding.”

  Both girls jumped up and down crying out in glee. Grace watched her fiancé as he talked to their daughters and loved him just a little bit more for including the girls that way and making them both so happy.

  While the girls were still celebrating, she pulled Kent to her and drew his head down for a kiss. He laughed and said, “Well, whatever I did to deserve that, I sure hope I do it again real soon.”

  She laughed along with him then the girls both leaped onto a sofa and Brianna said, “We’re ready Mommy.”

  She knew what her little girl meant so she turned to Kent and said, “Is it okay with you if the girls decide exactly what part they want to play in the wedding.”

  He grinned over at the girls and said, “Sure.”

  They shouted and giggled some more then Michelle spoke up this time. “We want to be twin flower girls.”

  Somehow, Grace wasn’t surprised by that request and she could see that Kent wasn’t either. She turned back to them and said, “Of course you may be twin flower girls. After all, you’re soon going to be sisters.”

  That set them off again and they raced out of the room to go tell the others in the living room.

  Kent turned to Grace again and this time he pulled her into a kiss.

  By the time they were able to make their way back into the living room, the others were beginning to leave but Grace called out quickly.

  “Oh, Trish, Betty Sue, and Joanne, I would like to talk to you three for a moment.” She turned to Kent who just smiled back at her. Then she said, “Matt, Larry, and Wally, Kent would like to speak to you three too.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  Grace didn’t know what had happened to Friday and Saturday. The two days had seemed to just fly by now that she was meeting with her mom, Trish, Betty Sue and Joanne every afternoon to start planning her wedding. Her wedding! Just the thought of it gave her goose bumps.

  She kept reminding herself that she’d been married before. But she knew that this wedding wasn’t going to be anything at all like her first one, that was for sure.

  No, her first wedding had been so strange in several ways. Looking back, she could now see why. The biggest thing was that she now believed that Randy hadn’t really wanted to marry her. She was certain of that fact now. He’d married her to rebel against his mother who had always picked out every important thing in his life since he was a baby.

  Another reason that wedding had been strange was that she’d felt like an outsider at her own wedding. Her parents and Matt were about the only people there who really seemed to care about her at all. That was so sad.

  Well, she was going to make sure that this wedding was not going to be like that first one. It was already so much different. She knew that Kent loved her and wanted more than anything to marry her. She had more than her own eyes, ears and emotions to tell her that. Practically everyone in Strawberry kept telling her that they sure were glad to see that Kent was finally getting to marry her. Oh my!

  Now, it was Sunday morning and it wasn’t just any Sunday morning either. No, today something special was going to happen in her father’s church that very seldom ever happened. Yes, a father and daughter were both going to be baptized today. Kent and Michelle. She could barely sit or stand still long enough to finish dressing for church.

  If she was this excited, how much more excited must Kent and Michelle be, especially Michelle.

  Just as Grace was about to leave her bedroom, Brianna raced in calling out excitedly. “Are we ready yet Mommy” She was jumping up and down in her excitement. “I can’t wait to see Michelle baptized. Won’t it be great Mommy?”

  “It sure will Honey.” Grace couldn’t help picking up more than a little of Brianna’s excitement, especially considering she was already excited.

  “I’m going to go watch for them. Okay Mommy?” Brianna called out as she raced back out of the room.

  Grace laughed to herself. She didn’t think Brianna had even heard her. Oh well, it did her little girl good to be this excited. It certainly did Grace good to see it.

  Soon, the four of them were on their way to church in Kent’s car with the girls chattering away excitedly in the back seat, as usual.

  Grace reached out and placed a hand gently on Kent’s shoulder. “How do you feel Kent?”

  He shook his head and she didn’t think he was going to answer her at first. Then he frowned and said, “I’m not sure how I feel, since my parents are here today. When I left just now, they were arguing because my mom was trying to get my dad to go to the church today.”

  She had forgotten that Kent’s dad seldom went to church. But his mother was a stanch member of another church in town and was usually there every Sunday they were in Strawberry.

  “What about your mom?”

  He chuckled at that. “Oh, she’ll be there all right. She kidded me about it not being the right church. But she finally said that it was okay after all.”

  As soon as they entered the church, the girls raced off to their class. That left Grace in a quandary. She had been in the young singles class since she came back home. But now, with Kent, shouldn’t they be in the young couples class?

  She turned to Kent and said, “We’re not married yet, but I don’t want to take you into my old singles class where all of those eligible women are.”

  He laughed and squeezed her tightly with his arm around her shoulder. She could tell that he wanted to do more but considered where they were and didn’t. She really wanted him to do more too.

  “Whatever you want Grace. But I’ve avoided all those women this long. Don’t you know by now that you’re the only woman for me?”

  She did kiss him then ... on the cheek. “Okay, but we’re still going to the young couples’ class.

  When they all came back out to the foyer after Sunday School, Grace’s dad grabbed Kent and took him back behind the platform, where the changing rooms were. Then Grace’s mom looked at her and said, “I suppose you’re going to be helping Michelle.”

  Grace was surprised. She hadn’t thought about that. She turned to where the two girls were standing and looking at her rather expectantly.

  “Michelle, do you want Brianna and me to help you back there?”

  Michelle jumped up and down and said, “Yes, Mommy, yes.”

  Brianna shouted out then. “I’ll go show her where to go.”

  With that, they were gone leaving Grace standing there with tears forming in her eyes. Her mom was looking at her with a big smile on her face.

  “Oh Grace, it does my heart good to hear that little girl call you mommy.”

  Grace turned back to her mom quickly. “You mean you don’t mind.”

  “Mind. Oh no, Dear. I think it’s great that she’s going to have a mother like you.” She giggled slightly. “And it gives me an equal number of granddaughters and grandsons now.”

  They both laughed at that as they entered th
e sanctuary together. Grace then made her way back to the changing rooms. She knew which one the girls were in long before she arrived. They were giggling loudly. She hated to calm them down but people could hear them out in the sanctuary.

  Being in the back by the baptistry the way she was, Grace had a close up view of both Michelle and Kent being baptized. That was when she realized that this was one more thing that Kent now had over Randy. Kent belonged to the Lord. Randy had never belonged to anyone but himself or his mother.

  * * *

  As soon as Henry showed him which room to change in, Kent began to get a little anxious about what he was about to do. Did he need to do this? Should he be doing this? Then he heard Grace’s voice in his mind, “You’re not doing this for me or for anyone else Kent. You’re doing it because Christ asked you to do it. You’re doing it for Him.”

  Then his mind settled and he even felt almost calm when he stepped down into the water with Henry. Michelle had insisted that he go first. So that was what he was doing. Right now, he’d do almost anything for his little girl who had been gone for five years and he now had her back ... for good.

  Once he was in the water, Henry turned him to face the congregation and that was when Kent saw him. His dad was standing in front of the closed double doors at the back of the sanctuary. Wow! What was going on here?

  Afterward, as Kent stepped out of the dressing room, he found all three of his girls standing in the narrow hallway waiting for him. That was the most overwhelming thing that had ever happened to him. His emotions almost blew him away and he knew he was close to tears. Wow!

  They all entered the sanctuary hand in hand and Henry who had just stepped into the pulpit to speak turned and clapped. Then the whole congregation stood and clapped too.

  As they made their way to seats next to Grace’s mom, Kent looked to the rear of the church. But, his dad was no longer there. He looked around and found his mom sitting across the aisle from him with Sheila and her family. She smiled at him and gave him a little finger wave. He smiled back at her.

  As soon as the service was over, Kent leaned over and whispered in Grace’s ear. “I need to talk to my mom right now. Can you three wait for me in the foyer?”

  She nodded and he quickly crossed the aisle to his mom and led her out to the foyer. He then headed down the hallway of the education wing and into an empty classroom.

  As soon as they were alone, his mom hugged him. “Oh Kent, I’m so proud of you and I’m also so happy for you. And I’m happy that you’re marrying Grace too. You two are going to have a wonderful family with those two darling little girls.”

  “Yes, Mom. We think so too. But I wanted to talk to you right now, especially before we get to the Livingstons’ house where the party is going to be.” She stopped smiling and looked up at him expectantly.

  “Dad was here this morning.” At her surprised expression, he added. “Yeah, when I was in the baptistry, I saw him standing at the back of the room. But he was gone when I came back out into the church.”

  “Oh my!”

  “Mom? I’ve always been afraid to ask you this question but right now I feel like I have to.”

  She found a chair and almost fell into it, as if she knew what was coming.

  “Mom. Why has Dad always been cool toward me and really warm and nice to both Sheila and Larry?”

  He knew she didn’t want to answer but if he had to, he was prepared to press her until she did.

  She took a deep breath and let out a long sigh. “Well, Son, when I was carrying Sheila we didn’t know what she was going to be but he said all along that it would be a girl and she’d be just like her mother. Well, when Sheila was born, she was just like me, and probably still is in many ways other than just looks.”

  She paused as if to collect her thoughts. “Well, Herb fell in love with her so much that she would hardly ever go to anyone else, even me.” She looked down at her clenched hands in her lap. “Then when you two boys were born, you seemed to come to me almost immediately, the same way Sheila did to your dad. So Herb took Larry.”

  She looked up at him as if to say that was all there was to it.

  “But Mom, why has he always almost ignored me? I’m the only one who has brown hair and eyes like him.”

  She looked up at him then. “You see, Son. He was always very self-conscious about his looks. And he didn’t want any of his kids looking like him. He told me that almost from our first date”.

  Kent was so deep in thought, trying to digest all that his mom had just told him that he didn’t hear her when she started talking again.

  “I’m sorry Mom. What did you say?”

  She tried to smile. “I just said that if Herb was here even for that little bit of time, then maybe there’s hope after all that you two can finally have a real relationship.”

  When Kent rejoined Grace and the girls, she took one look at his face and must have realized that he couldn’t talk about it right then for she just called the girls and they followed him out to his car.

  Kent was pleased that Grace was leaving him to his thoughts. Boy did he ever have the thoughts whirling around in his mind. Could his dad coming today possibly mean that he was reaching out to Kent, finally?

  It made him hopeful that his dad might actually be at the Livingstons’ house this afternoon. And if he was, Kent was going to try to get him off alone so they could finally talk. He was suddenly looking forward to getting there so he could see.

  Most everyone else was already there when Kent and his girls arrived. He eagerly looked around the crowded living room as soon as they entered it. His eyes roamed from face to face until he finally found his mom standing next to Trish and Judy. But his dad was nowhere to be found.

  * * *

  Grace knew that something was bothering Kent and he hadn’t said anything yet that would give her any indication as to what it may be. She didn’t think he was upset with her in any way. In fact, if anything, he was smiling and touching her more than ever before. So, it had to be something else.

  When his brother Larry came up and Kent was less than cordial to him, Grace thought that whatever had Kent upset maybe had something to do with Larry.

  She didn’t think any more about it as she went into the kitchen to help her mom and some of the other women with the large meal that was being prepared for the gathering of the two families. She mentally counted and came up with six of her family, nine of Kent’s family plus Judy, Hal and Joanne. That made eighteen all together. Oh my!

  Grace just smiled as she listened to the almost excited chatter of the other women, including her mom. They were all talking about her and Kent, and of course their two daughters. They all kept going on about what a beautiful family they all made. Then Kent’s mom said, “I’m afraid poor Kent is going to be out-numbered in more ways than one. He’s not only going to be the only male in that family but he’s the only one who isn’t blond.”

  Grace laughed and said, “But isn’t he used to that in your family. He and his dad are the only ones not blond.”

  Grace was surprised to see a shadow pass across Rachel Jackson’s face at that comment. That was strange. Then she remembered that Kent had told her that his dad had always treated Sheila and Larry much better than he did Kent. He said that he thought it had something to do with the fact that they were blond and he wasn’t.

  She decided that she’d ask Kent for more details about that situation later.

  * * *

  Kent was not in the mood to be in his brother’s presence. Larry kept trying to get Kent to talk about Grace and how long it had finally taken Kent to get her to marry him. But Kent didn’t want Larry or even Sheila or his mom nearby to remind him of all the dark thoughts he’d been having about his dad.

  Frankly, Kent just wanted to crawl off into a corner and sulk. Why was he letting his dad do this to him? He should be happy. He was finally marrying his childhood sweetheart after all of those frustrating years of knowing she was married to someone els
e.

  He did finally find an isolated corner in the family room. No one else was in there since most everyone had started drifting out to the back yard. He sat on a small loveseat on the far corner of the room. He hoped he could now be left alone to his thoughts. But no, that wasn’t about to happen. He saw his mom heading straight for him.

  When she sat on the loveseat next to him, he cringed when she simply drew him into a tight hug. She didn’t say anything for a couple of minutes for which he was glad.

  Then when she did speak, he was surprised at what she said.

  “Son, your father does love you.” She seemed to be letting that one settle for a moment. “He just doesn’t know how to show it after all these years.”

  He didn’t think he needed to answer in any way and also knew that she had more to say. So he waited silently for her to go on.

  “You see, Son, all the time from when you were almost a newborn until you were three or four, you always turned away from him and came to me. He seemed to take that personal and especially since both Sheila and Larry always turned to him first, he just simply got into the habit of spending time with them instead of you.”

  Kent was still processing all of that when he heard Sheila calling out for him. Quickly, he said, “Why haven’t you told me all this before Mom?”

  She shook her head sadly and said, “I guess I was afraid of having one of you or even both of you mad at me over it.” She frowned. “I love you both dearly and couldn’t stand it if either one of you was mad at me.”

  “Kent.” Sheila was now standing in the doorway from the dining room.

  Kent looked up just in time to see his dad step into the doorway next to Sheila.

  “Oh there you are. Hey, Kent, Dad’s here and he wants to talk to you.”

  Sheila disappeared from sight and Kent’s dad took a few tentative steps toward them. Kent didn’t know what to do. He was still trying to understand all that his mom had just told him. He wasn’t sure that he was ready for any kind of a confrontation with his dad just yet.