A Hero for Her Heart (Truly Yours Digital Editions Book 885)

by Candice Miller Speare

  Lord, I feel so lost. I’m not in control. I can’t do this anymore.

  As she scooped a pile of manure from Pip’s stall, she heard the barn door squeak. She turned. Derrick’s outline was silhouetted in the setting sun.

  Twenty-one

  The second he met Allie’s scorching gaze, Derrick’s greeting died on his lips.

  “What do you want?” She heaved a load of manure into a wheelbarrow, and he could just imagine where she really wanted it flung.

  “I talked to your mother. I know my father was here.” Derrick slipped his hands into his trouser pockets, heart constricting, remembering the cool greeting he’d gotten from Betsy and the disappointment in her eyes. He’d never felt so shut out in his entire life.

  “Yes, he was.”

  “I’m sorry.” He uttered the words, but knew they couldn’t begin to express his regret.

  “So am I,” Allie said.

  Derrick took a couple of steps farther into the barn. “Please hear me out.”

  “No.” Allie shook her head. “I don’t want to hear you out. I’ve had enough listening. I want to ask questions.”

  “Can we sit, then?” Derrick dropped his gaze. He couldn’t bear to see the wounded look in her eyes.

  With a wave Allie indicated the bales of straw. Once they were seated, she faced him.

  She flicked back her long auburn hair, then clasped her hands in her lap. “The only reason we’re talking now is so I can get closure. Don’t take it as another opportunity to lie.”

  Sorrow like a dagger stabbed Derrick’s heart. He’d honored Sandy’s desires, despite his reservations. Now he’d lost everything. But looking back, could he have done anything differently? He spread his hands. “Ask me anything.”

  “You came to Walla Walla looking for your nephew, right?”

  “Yes,” Derrick said.

  “Was everything a lie? All of it?”

  He wagged his head slowly. “I didn’t lie to you, Allie. I just never told you my original reason for coming to Walla Walla.”

  “Did you come to town in search of your nephew and pretend to befriend me and Ma—worst of all Danny—just to get your foot in the door and investigate us?”

  “At my sister’s request, I came to town in search of my nephew, to make sure he was okay. But I didn’t set out to befriend you or deceive you. You fell into my life, so to speak. The befriending was real.” He leaned toward her. “When I felt myself becoming attached to Danny and Betsy and attracted to you, I made the decision to stay out of your lives. I couldn’t allow any of you to become more attached to me. That’s why I didn’t call you. But when I suspected my father found out, I came to talk to you. I knew how he would react. I can only imagine what that was like.”

  “You don’t have to imagine. I’ll tell you.” Allie backed away from him, the conviction in her green eyes sure and strong. “He wants joint custody. He said he’d have no problem dragging us through a legal battle to get his grandson. He knew, thanks to you, that Danny’s adoptive parents were dead.”

  “Stop,” Derrick said. “I know how he came across. I’ve lived with the man all my life. But you have to believe me. I told him nothing.”

  Allie stared at him, tears in her eyes.

  “I had a good reason for doing what I did,” Derrick said.

  “I really don’t care.” Her voice was so small and sad. “I have just one more question. If you hadn’t met me the way you did, snatching me off Chester, would you have inserted yourself into our lives?”

  “Probably not. I would have tried to find out what I needed to know without bothering you at all.” He swallowed. “But if I had met you in other circumstances some other way, some other time, I would have ended up kissing you just like I did.”

  A long silence stretched between them, and he searched his mind for the right words, but the wall Allie built around her kept him silent. He knew unless God intervened and a miracle happened, the possibility of a relationship with Allie was gone.

  “I’m sorry you lost your sister,” Allie finally said. “I’m also sorry things turned out the way they did. I don’t know what’s going to happen now, but I do know that our friendship is broken. I don’t think I can trust you.”

  Derrick’s hopes died. He’d lost her.

  She shrugged and got to her feet. “I think you’d better leave now.”

  He stood and stared down at her, remembering their kiss and how she felt in his arms.

  “Mr. Derrick?” Danny’s voice came from the barn door.

  Allie gasped, and Derrick’s muscles grew taut. How much had the boy heard?

  He strode toward them and looked up into Allie’s dazed face.

  “Danny.” Allie dropped to her knees in front of him. “I thought you were helping Granny make cookies.”

  “We finished. She thinks I’m in my room, but I wanted to see Mr. Derrick.”

  Derrick wanted to sink into the floor. Of all his regrets, the worst was hurting Danny.

  Danny shuffled his feet. “I heard you talking.” He looked up at Derrick, eyes watery. “I don’t understand. Why is your father going to take me away?”

  Allie glared at Derrick. He grasped Danny’s shoulder. “Nobody is going to take you away from your aunt or grandma. This is where you belong.”

  “But why does he want to?” Danny asked.

  “I’ll explain in a little while.” Allie met Derrick’s eyes and nodded toward the door, silently demanding that he leave.

  Derrick exited the barn, feeling like he was leaving his beating heart at Allie’s feet on the dirt floor. As he got into his truck, he wondered how he could keep his promise. Could he stop his father? The man was accustomed to getting his way. He’d even made sure Derrick was detained at the office so he wouldn’t interfere with his visit to the Vahns’.

  His mind turned over all his options. He had to have someone on his side. As he turned onto Frog Hollow Road, he headed for his final destination before he left Walla Walla.

  Twenty-two

  Allie and Danny walked to the house from the barn.

  “Is it true? Derrick’s father is my grandfather?” Danny frowned and pursed his lips. “Does that mean Mr. Derrick is my father?”

  “No, he isn’t.” Allie felt an urge to slug something. Now she was forced into telling Danny who his real mother was and that she was dead.

  “Why did you make Mr. Derrick leave?” Danny looked at her. “He’s my friend.”

  He’s more than that, Allie thought bitterly. “Let’s wait and talk with Granny, okay?” She walked into the mudroom with her arm wrapped around Danny. Let Derrick, his dad, or anybody else try to take Danny away from them. Over her dead body.

  Ma looked up from cleaning the last remnants of baking in the kitchen. “Danny? I thought you were in your room.”

  “I wanted to see Mr. Derrick.”

  “He overheard us talking in the barn. Now he wants to know why Derrick’s father is his grandfather and. . .” Allie swallowed. Where did she start?

  “I see.” Ma set down her dishrag and pointed at the kitchen chairs. “Let’s sit.” She looked across the table at Danny. “You’re nine years old now. I know you’ll be able to understand what we tell you. Are you ready?”

  Danny nodded solemnly, minus his usual rambunctiousness.

  As her mom began to talk, Allie’s body went rigid. Lord, please soften the blow. Give Danny peace.

  ❧

  Thirty minutes later Allie left the kitchen to make a phone call while Danny continued to hammer his grandmother with questions. Amazingly, he didn’t seem terribly disturbed. Perhaps because he’d never met Sandy—or maybe because the Lord had actually softened the blow. Danny had become animated, focusing on the fact that Derrick was his “real uncle.”

  Derrick. She’d begun to trust him. She’d put her faith in love again, but he’d left her faith in ruins. The irony of that thought struck her, and she could hear the Lord whispering, “Your faith should never be in a
man, but in Me. No man is perfect. No man ever will be.”

  That slowed her thoughts. It was true—no one was perfect, including her. She made plenty of mistakes. And wasn’t her anger and resentment and lack of trust in the Lord just as bad as Derrick’s sin of omission? He was right. He had never outright lied to her, and he had finally come to her to tell the truth. At least what he knew.

  But Allie had more questions. She needed to know if Danny’s adoption had really been coerced. And there was one person who probably knew most of the answers. Paige Maynard. She pulled her cell phone from her pocket and walked to the living room, her long strides fueled by anger. Paige—what had she really done? Yet without Paige, would they have Danny? She began to punch numbers into her cell with trembling fingers.

  Lord, I need answers.

  Allie hit the last digit of Paige’s number, held her breath, and listened to the first ring, then the second endless ring. “Lord, please,” she whispered, “let her pick up.”

  “Paige here.”

  “This is Allie.” She drew in a breath. “I had a visitor today. He told us that Danny’s adoption had been coerced.”

  A long silence ensued. “Paige? Are you there? Hello?”

  “I don’t understand.” She spoke in a clipped tone. “Who told you such a lie?”

  Allie hesitated a beat. Paige had admitted to the affair with Luke, and what could be worse than that? Yet something in her gut told her to press on. “This person has evidence to the contrary.”

  “What type of evidence? And who is this person?”

  “Richard Owens. The biological mother’s father.” Allie paced. She wasn’t about to show her cards, not without knowledge of all the facts. Her thoughts returned to Luke, the money. She just couldn’t accept that her brother had carried on an affair with the likes of Paige—the woman who’d chased him through high school and beyond.

  “That money Luke gave you. . .” Her thoughts were a swirl of confusion. Too much had happened today. Allie sent up another silent prayer and started again. “You persuaded a drug-addicted young woman to give up her baby.”

  “Oh, wait just a second. That’s right. Cindy was working in the rehab clinic when Sandra Owens came in pregnant, desperate, and begging for help. Cindy did all the talking and made the arrangements. Fine, I drew up the papers, but I’m not going to take the rap for this.” Her breath hissed through the phone. “I’m talking to Michael. You’ll see. I did nothing wrong. I was helping three people achieve what they wanted.”

  “Are you trying to tell me you put your reputation on the line for Cindy? I thought you hated her for marrying my brother.”

  “Well, the adoption was helping him, really. I would’ve done anything for Luke.”

  Allie’s heart thudded with a sickening thought. “And the money? What was that for? Were you telling the truth when you said Luke had an affair with you?”

  “Why would I lie? It’s embarrassing enough.”

  ❧

  Through the front window of The Quaint Shop, Derrick saw Shannon unpacking a cardboard box. The CLOSED sign hung in the window, but he banged on the front door.

  Shannon looked up, dusted off her hands, and smiled warmly while she ran to unlock the door.

  “Derrick, nice to see you,” she said breathlessly. “I’m so sorry about your sister.”

  Allie must not have phoned her yet. “Thank you.” He didn’t know where to start. “Would you have a couple of minutes to talk?”

  “Of course! It’s been quiet today.” With a wave, she summoned him to the back of the store. “How about I make us some tea?”

  “That would be nice.” Derrick followed her through the tie-dyed curtains and took the same chair that he’d sat in when he’d last drunk tea with Shannon. When he’d stayed and played Scrabble, sitting next to Allie.

  Shannon busied herself filling the pot at the sink.

  “I won’t beat around the bush. I had an agenda the day of the parade when I walked in here for the first time.”

  “I knew that.” Shannon didn’t miss a beat. She set the pot on the burner, lit the pilot light with a strike of a match, then came to sit across from him. “Does Allie know?”

  Derrick nodded. “I just left her. She has every right to loathe and distrust me, but I wasn’t able to tell her everything. She shut down on me. Wouldn’t let me tell her everything.”

  “She does that,” Shannon said.

  “I thought maybe if you’ll give me a chance to explain, you could talk to Allie. At the very least, it might take some of the pain away.”

  Shannon took a deep breath and sat back in her chair, studying him with her clear gaze. “I told you I liked you when we first met. I have instincts about people, and how I feel about you hasn’t changed. But I can’t promise I’ll talk to Allie until I hear what you’ve got to say. I won’t manipulate her. She’s gone through too much emotional pain already.”

  “Fair enough.” He clamped his hands together on the tabletop and looked into her compassionate hazel eyes. “I’m grateful she has you to lean on because I’ve added to that pain. For that reason I wish I’d never come to Walla Walla.”

  “Then you never would’ve met Allie and Danny.” She pointed in the direction over her shoulder. “Never tasted my tea.” She smiled good-naturedly. “God brought you here for a reason, Derrick. His ways are far above our ways.”

  “Yes, but I’m not sure He can condone what I’ve done, yet I didn’t feel I had a choice.”

  “Wow, that’s quite an introduction.” Shannon lounged with her back against the chair like she had all day to listen, and he sensed no judgment from her.

  “I originally came here on my younger sister’s behalf. Her name was Sandy. She had cancer. When she knew she was dying, she confessed to me about her past—the extent of her drug use and that she’d given birth to a son.”

  Shannon’s eyes grew wide. “Danny,” she whispered.

  Derrick nodded. “All Sandy had left of the memory of her son was a worn photo and a couple of names in Walla Walla that I could follow up on.”

  “Wow.” Shannon rose to tend to the whistling kettle. “I wondered if it was my wild imagination.” She poured tea into two mugs. “But you and Danny. . .it’s not just your physical resemblance.” She set the cups on the table and sat. “It’s something intangible, like your passion for life and magnetic personalities.”

  Derrick smiled. “You should have met my sister.”

  “She must’ve loved having a big, protective brother like you. I’m an only child.” She shrugged, then refocused on him. “Why didn’t you come right out and tell Allie when you discovered Danny was your nephew? It wasn’t like you’d come to town to steal him from the Vahns.”

  “I couldn’t tell her. Sandy made me promise. She wanted me to check on Danny, make sure he was with a good family, and leave town without revealing her identity or mine. She didn’t want to disturb his life in any way. We were worried about what my father would do if he discovered he had a grandson. Turns out our fears were well-grounded.” He took a swallow of tea. “Anyway, everything was going well enough until I—”

  “Started to fall in love with Allie?” Shannon pressed her hand over her heart, and he would have laughed if not for the bitter ending.

  “Yes, I started to fall in love with Allie. I also loved my nephew as though I’d known him all my life. And Betsy felt like a second mom to me. I didn’t have that kind of warm upbringing.” He sighed. “I was selfish for spending the time with them that I did. I should have gone home as soon as I saw Danny was fine.”

  “I understand why you did it.” Shannon played with the handle of her mug. “So Sandy finally gave you permission to tell Allie?”

  “Yes, right before she died.”

  Shannon sat back in the chair. “So you went to Allie after your sister’s passing? Confessed everything? And she wouldn’t forgive you?”

  Derrick snorted a humorless laugh. “No, it gets much, much worse.” He felt
the pain anew and drew a breath. “My father found out about Danny.”

  Shannon’s eyes widened. “Oh no. And he got to Allie first?”

  “Exactly. He went to the Vahns’ house and informed them the adoption was coerced. He demanded joint custody and threatened Allie and Betsy with a legal battle if they refused.”

  Shannon blew out a breath of air. “I know what Allie’s reaction was. She came up angry, hurt, and fighting.” She frowned. “Was it true? Was the adoption coerced?”

  He nodded. “Yes, in a manner of speaking. By law the adoptive parents should have been investigated and approved. Sandy should have been given time to reconsider before signing papers. Instead she signed as soon as Danny was born, and he was whisked away.”

  “Man oh man. And Paige handled the adoption, right?”

  Derrick nodded. “Keep in mind that my sister had no regrets. She was living on the street at the time and couldn’t have cared for him. But she wanted to make sure he was okay. That’s where I came in. I wanted her to go home with a peaceful heart.”

  Shannon frowned in thought. “Do you remember the story of Rahab in the Bible?”

  That came out of left field. Derrick just nodded.

  “How she hid the Israelite spies from the local authorities and got protection for her family?”

  “Yes.”

  “Well, in a way, you were doing the same thing. You were hiding Danny from being hurt while you got information for your sister. You were protecting everyone. And you never outright lied.” Shannon slapped her hands on the table. “We’ve got to straighten this out.” She stood, went to the counter, and picked up her cell phone. “The Bible says if we know the truth, the truth will set us free.”

  “I don’t see Allie ever trusting me again. She’s been deceived too many times.” Derrick’s shoulders sagged with defeat. “But if you’re willing to try.”

  Shannon tossed her phone on the counter. “I won’t call. I’ll close the store and go pay Allie a visit instead.” She picked up a big ring of keys. “I hate cell phones. You may as well stick your head in the microwave.”