Walking Away (The Walking Together Series Book 2)

by T. E. Killian

  But all of a sudden, a determination came over his dad’s face and he quickly covered the distance between them. Kent noticed out of the corner of his eye that his mom had pulled a light armchair over to where it was directly in front of Kent.

  His dad noticed this maneuver and quickly sat down in the chair. Once he sat down, he just sat there looking down at his hands, which were gripping his knees tightly.

  When he finally started talking, Kent hardly recognized his voice. It was low, soft and had pain in it. Whoa! What was going on here?

  “Kent, I guess I owe you an apology.” He snorted. “Probably more than one but who’s counting.”

  He leaned back and finally looked Kent in the eye. “I knew from my friends here in town that you’d been gambling too much and were deeply in debt.”

  He ran his hand across his face the way Kent had seen him do thousands of times before when he was trying to think and put his thoughts into words.

  “But I didn’t say anything to you like most fathers would have done. Then when Jake was trying to get you fired, I still didn’t say anything.”

  Kent did a double take on who Jake was until he remembered that his principal’s name was Jacob but had never heard anyone call him that, and especially not Jake.

  “Well, I’m sorry for all of that.” He looked at Kent’s mom who was still sitting next to Kent on the loveseat. “I have a feeling that you’ve been telling Kent about when he was a baby.”

  She only nodded and so did he. “Yeah, well, I guess you could say that that conversation was long overdue.”

  Neither Kent nor his mom said anything. They just continued to watch Kent’s dad, knowing that there was more coming.

  “Kent, I’ve watched you with Michelle and Brianna and you treat them both the same. Even though Brianna isn’t your own daughter, you treat her just like she is your daughter.”

  He wiped his hand across his face again.

  “You are my own son and I’ve treated you like you weren’t all these years, simply because you turned away from me when you were little. Of course, I’m ashamed to admit that part of it was that you didn’t look like your mom or Larry and Sheila.”

  All three looked up at a sound behind Kent’s dad. There stood Grace with a blush on her face and she turned around quickly to leave them alone.

  Kent jumped up and said, “No, Grace. Don’t leave. I would like for you to be in on this, anything that affects me.”

  * * *

  Grace didn’t know what to do. It was obvious to her that she’d just interrupted an intense family conversation and wanted nothing but to get away and let them resume. But then Kent had called out to her to come back.

  She turned back around and when Rachel Jackson motioned for her to come over, she started that way. Meanwhile, Rachel pulled a chair like the one that her husband was sitting in, up next to his.

  Once Grace was sitting next to Kent on the loveseat, he reached out, clasped her hand, and let them settle on his knee.

  She could tell that Rachel was going to say something but Herb held up a hand and said, “As Kent said, Rachel, Grace is going to be part of our family now and she needs to know what’s going on here.”

  Grace looked from one to the other but when she saw the look on Kent’s face, she knew that something of great importance was going on. So she simply nodded at Herb and he continued.

  He looked directly at Kent. “You see, Son, as I was saying before. After watching you with Michelle and Brianna, I became ashamed of myself that I have always treated Sheila and Larry better than you.”

  Grace had been watching Kent’s face the whole time Herb had been talking. There had been nothing at first, no emotion of any kind showing on his face. But then slowly, his facial features began to loosen and finally turned into a smile.

  Rachel jumped up from her chair and in the process, pulled Herb with her. Grace, guessing at what Rachel was up to, stood and pulled Kent up with her.

  The two men stood face to face for what seemed like a long time before Herb reached out a hand to Kent and suddenly they were hugging each other tightly.

  Grace looked at Rachel through her tears and saw that the older woman also had tears streaming down her face.

  Just then, Michelle and Brianna came racing into the room laughing and giggling. Sheila’s boys, A. Ray and Roger, were in close pursuit. Then Sheila and Aaron came into the room apparently trying to capture their boys.

  Everyone stopped at once when they saw all the tears and the two men hugging.

  Sheila grabbed her sons and with Aaron left the room. But the girls just stood there staring at Kent and his dad.

  When Kent and his dad pulled apart, Kent motioned for the girls to come over. When they did, Rachel took one look at Grace and then pulled her husband with her.

  “Come on Herb, you and Kent each need to do some thinking about how you go on from here. But, in the meantime, I think this new family needs a little private time together.”

  * * *

  Once the four of them were alone in the family room, Michelle looked up at Kent and said, “Were you and grandpa mad at each other?”

  Kent laughed and said, “No, Honey, just the opposite. I think we’re doing just fine now.”

  Michelle looked at Brianna and pushed her gently on the upper arm. “Go on. You tell them.”

  Grace wasn’t sure what to expect now. It was obvious that the two girls had been planning something, but what? She looked at Kent and he simply shrugged his shoulders.

  When neither girl said anything, Grace said, “Okay, girls, what is it you want to ask us?”

  Brianna blushed and turned to Kent. “You said we would all be living in your house after we get married.”

  Grace bit her lip to keep from laughing at Brianna’s implication that all of them were getting married.

  “Yes.”

  She could tell that Kent was also having a difficult time not laughing.

  “Well, since Michelle has one bedroom and my newest grandma and grandpa stay in the other bedroom, we want bunk beds so we’ll have more room to play.”

  Kent smiled down at her and said, “You don’t have to do that. Grandma told me a little while ago that they won’t be staying with us when they’re here anymore. They’ll be staying with friends.”

  He spread his arms out. “So, now you have two rooms and you can do whatever you want with both of them.”

  Brianna turned to Michelle and they both jumped up and down shouting and giggling.

  Grace hugged Kent. “I would say that you handled that little crisis very well, wouldn’t you?”

  He laughed and said, “Yes, but I’ve heard that any time you combine two families the way we are, there’s bound to be quite a few more little crises like this one down the road.”

  Grace leaned over to kiss him while the girls left the room still giggling. “All I can say is bring them on.”

  After that, Grace and Kent joined the rest of the family out in the backyard where the picnic celebration was just beginning.

  Grace was thoroughly enjoying herself as she and Kent stood in a group of couples, her parents, Kent’s parents, Matt and Betty Sue and also Sheila and Aaron. It simply thrilled her to see how well the two families were coming together and even blending quite well.

  Matt had said something funny and Grace was laughing when she happened to glance toward the gate at the side of the house. Three people had just stepped through that gate into the backyard. The Donaldson’s! Oh no! Now what? She looked closer and recognized Randy’s younger brother Neal. Great! They were really going to gang up on her now.

  She had vainly hoped that the Donaldson’s would go back to St. Louis and Meredith would back off for a while. But no, one look at the determination on the older woman’s face and Grace knew she was in for another fight.

  Then her next thought was, where was Brianna. She quickly looked around and found her and Michelle with a few other kids in the large playhouse that Grace’s parents ha
d built for her.

  Grace quickly headed toward the playhouse. She heard Kent calling out to her as she went. But she didn’t want to take time to explain anything to him. She was relieved, though, when she noticed that he was almost running to catch up with her.

  As soon as Grace reached the playhouse, she decided to stay outside of it so the kids wouldn’t know she was upset. Once in position, she looked back and saw that the Donaldson’s were indeed headed straight toward her.

  Kent leaned close to her and said, “I’m right beside you all the way Honey. I won’t let them do anything to you or Brianna.”

  In spite of what she knew was about to happen, a warm feeling spread across Grace’s whole being. She nodded. “Thank you. That’s Randy’s brother with them.”

  Grace could see Kent tense up as if readying for some sort of action. She quickly looked around but didn’t see Matt anywhere. But she did see her parents and they were both hurrying her way. From the looks of it, everyone would arrive at the same time. Oh no! What could she do now?

  She was surprised and rather pleased when she felt Kent take her hand in his between them as trouble continued to approach them.

  The Donaldson’s stopped in front of Grace first and Meredith appeared to be in her normal bulldozing mode.

  “Grace, I want to see my granddaughter.” She turned her head briefly toward Neal. “And her uncle would like to see her too.”

  Grace could feel her legs trembling and her knees threatened to give way. But when Kent squeezed her hand, she found the courage that had always failed her when confronted by Meredith Donaldson.

  “Meredith, I’ve told repeatedly that since it always upsets Brianna terribly to be with you, you can’t be with her unless I’m there too.”

  Grace could tell that Meredith was about to argue with that, but she cut her off with a wave of her hand.

  “Furthermore, this is my parents’ home, this is a private party, and you weren’t invited.”

  Meredith grew redder in the face and seemed to puff up. But as soon as the woman started talking, Grace knew she hadn’t heard most of what Grace had just told her.

  “Well! If you would be reasonable about us seeing our own flesh and blood, we wouldn’t have to resort to such drastic measures to see her.”

  Just as Grace was about to remind her that she wasn’t invited, Neal spoke up. She’d never been around Neal very much and his parents had never talked about him the way they had Randy. She had assumed that Randy’s little brother had probably been a black sheep of the family.

  “Mom. You said it was all right for us to come to this party.”

  Meredith didn’t even turn her head when she spoke to her son. “Stay out of this Neal. I said that we could come see our little Brianna and that is exactly what I meant.”

  Grace was shocked when David stepped between his wife and Grace. When he spoke, his tone of voice surprised her even more.

  “Meredith, I think it is about time you learned that you can’t always have your way. I guess I’ve been somewhat remiss over the years for not speaking up and then allowing you to run roughshod over anyone who ever got in your way, including your husband and your two sons.”

  Meredith began turning brighter shades of red.

  He paused, took a breath, and continued. “Starting right now, Meredith, you are going to learn how to be a wife, a mother and a grandmother or you won’t have anyone around you to bully anymore.”

  She finally looked at him and said, “You can’t possibly mean that David.”

  “Oh yes I do.” He looked at Neal. “And I think that Neal might just spend a little more time around his parents if you learned how to be a mother instead of always comparing him to Randy.”

  By then, Meredith had lost most her bluff and bluster and Grace almost felt sorry for her. Almost! The woman was standing there huffing and puffing as if she’d just run a mile.

  Neal stepped up to his mother, placed an arm across her shoulders, and said, “Mom, I love you, but sometimes you make it awfully hard for me to do so.”

  Tears began to run down Meredith’s cheeks and she turned in Grace’s general direction.

  “But I don’t think I know how to be any different anymore.”

  Grace was so proud of her own mother just then. Linda Livingston stepped up to Meredith and said, “I’m Linda, Grace’s mother, and I would be happy to help you.” She paused meaningfully. “That is, if you want my help.”

  Grace, David, and Neal all stood there with their mouths open, gaping at Meredith as she allowed Grace’s mom to lead her toward the house.

  Once they disappeared through the kitchen doorway, where Grace knew her mom would sit Meredith down to a cup of coffee, she turned to Kent who was smiling down at her proudly. Wow! She sure could get used to seeing him look at her that way.

  Neal cleared his throat and broke the silence. “Grace, would it be okay with you if I could talk to Brianna?”

  Grace tried to smile back at Neal who looked like his older brother but she was beginning to see that he wasn’t anything like Randy after all.

  “Oh Neal, of course you may.”

  She turned around to see Brianna and Michelle standing behind her with their eyes open wide.

  An hour later, Grace looked up to see her mom leading Meredith back out to where they all were. She almost laughed when she realized how nice it had been to get to know David and Neal Donaldson. Neither one was like Meredith or even Randy for that matter.

  The two women joined the group and before anyone could say anything, Meredith stepped up to her husband and said, “David, I think it’s about time we went back to St. Louis and let these fine people enjoy their celebration.”

  Grace knew that she wasn’t the only one that a feather could have knocked over. Wow! Was that really the same woman she’d known for the last nine years?”

  * * *

  After the Donaldson’s left, Kent found himself sitting with just his new immediate family. He and Grace were sitting close to each other in matching lawn chairs and the girls were sitting on the ground at their feet playing scissors and rock.

  He turned to Grace and said, “Does it get any better than this?”

  She smiled and kissed him quickly. “Yes, Kent, it does. Ever since you walked away from your gambling, things have been getting better and better.”

  She looked down at the girls and Kent noticed that they had stopped playing their game and were watching their parents closely.

  Grace grinned at all of them and said, “But I have a feeling that things are just going to keep getting better.”

  He pulled his fiancée to him and kissed her soundly this time to the tune of giggles coming from the ground in front of them.

  About the Author

  T. E. Killian has been an Army Medic, high school English teacher, pastor, hospital chaplain, crisis counselor, police chaplain, and pastoral counselor.

  All of these occupations have helped him to understand how men and women build and keep relationships. He also knows how they repair or destroy those relationships. He has also observed how people interact in all kinds of situations.

  They also give him firsthand knowledge of how people live and act within each of those types of situations.

  Therefore, his characters take on the characteristics and personalities of people who work in all of the occupations he knows so well.

  Having been in many crisis situations over the past thirty plus years, he can write about them realistically.

  He and his wife, Ann, live in Black Canyon City, Arizona, where he writes fulltime.

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  Please take the time to give this book a review on Amazon.com. Other readers can only know about it if you tell them. Thank you very much and may God bless you.

  * * *

  He would love to hear from his readers. Each of his novels has a Christian message in it. If you have any questions or comments on those messages, he would love to discuss these with you via email.

>   If you would like to contact him or if you would like to be added to his mailing list which is only used to announce the publication of each new book, please send him an email at: tekillianbooks@hotmailcom.

  Also please check out his webpage at: www.tekillian.com

  Look for all the uplifting Christian novels

  By

  T. E. Killian

  The Sycamore P.D. Series

  Lost Memories

  Accepted Memories

  Resolved Memories

  Crowley County Series

  No Easy Solution

  A Better Solution

  The Only Solution

  Another Solution

  Clear Creek Series

  Ryan’s Ruin

  Chase’s Return

  Hunter’s Revenge

  Walking Together Series

  Walking Straight

  Walking Away

  Walking the Line