Tabby imagined herself with her artist’s eye. She did look like Stoner. For the first time in her life, peace filled her, not borrowed peace, but peace of her own. She knew who she was. She had a place to belong. Time slipped away from her again….
“Tabby. Can you hear me? Come on, honey. Wake up for me.”
It was Christmas, and Tabby wasn’t sure which gift to open first. She had Joseph. She had a family. She had Jenny, and there were more people, but she couldn’t remember all of them. They were family. Why couldn’t she remember? It had all been so clear in her dream.
“Tabby! It’s Jenny. We need you to wake up now.”
She blinked in the dimly lit room. “Jenny.” Her voice sounded funny, and her throat hurt. “Did Daddy beat me?”
“No, honey. How old are you, Tabby?”
How old was she? Tabby had to think. She remembered high school. College. “Twenty-three.”
“Where are you?”
“In bed.” Tabby coughed when she tried to laugh.
Jenny sighed in disgust. “God help us.”
The red-haired surgeon scowled from beneath thick blond brows. “Is that supposed to mean something I’m missing, Doctor?”
Jenny looked over her shoulder. “Tabby, this is Dr. Jarrett Campbell, the orthopedic surgeon.” To the other doctor, she said, “It means she’s fine. She’s being a typical Richardson—smart asses, all of them.”
“Don’t cuss.”
Campbell’s brows rose. “And giving orders. Just like a woman.”
Jenny smirked. “Also just like a Richardson. Okay, sis. Dr. Campbell’s finished and I have a whole line of people outside waiting to see you. Who do you want first?”
No hesitation. “Joseph.”
“He’s a good man, Tabby.”
“I know.” She wished her voice sounded stronger.
She closed her eyes until she felt Joseph’s touch. Without opening them, she smiled. “Joseph,” she whispered.
He leaned his forehead against her hand and murmured a prayer of thanks.
“You were right,” Tabby said. “I didn’t trust you enough.”
She opened her eyes to find him searching her face.
“Do you now?” he asked.
“Yes.” She wanted to apologize, but Joseph laid his finger against her lips.
“We can talk about it more later. You have others to see.”
The surgeon touched her hand from the opposite side of the bed. “I’ll be staying a few days. We’ll talk. For now, take it easy.”
After he left the room, Tabby drank her fill of Joseph’s beautiful face.
“Are you sure you’re up to seeing everyone?” he asked.
“Just Stoner.”
“You scared me for a while there, Tabby. But it’s not your time. You have important things still to do.”
He motioned over his shoulder to someone beyond Tabby’s sight. As he backed from the room, soft footsteps brought Stoner to her bedside. His gray eyes were dark with concern as he looked her over, and Tabby realized he was trembling.
“Daddy,” she whispered and touched his hand with the fingers of her good right arm.
“You knew?” Her father’s expression showed an uncertainty it was difficult to reconcile with his reputation. However, Tabby had always seen a different side of him.
She shook her head. “I heard.”
“Oh, Tabby,” he groaned, sitting in the chair next to her. “I didn’t know, honey. Please believe me. I would never have given up trying to find her…you… I didn’t know.”
Tabby gazed at him steadily. “It doesn’t matter. I loved you before I knew. I still do.”
He stroked her hair and touched her face. His eyes were red-rimmed and his face pale. He had never looked dearer to her. “I was so afraid. When I saw the blood, and I couldn’t get the pressure to stop it.”
“But you did. Just because I was your friend,” she whispered to him. It was slow and halting, but she had to get it said. “I used to dream I had a different daddy. After he beat me, I would dream I’d be Cinderella, but my fairy godmother would bring me a new daddy. Then I met you. I told Evan I would give an arm and a leg to have a father like you. I guess I nearly did.”
He half laughed, half sobbed. “Oh Tabby. That’s not even funny.”
“It is. Admit it. Laugh.”
He held her hand against his face as his laughter built from an awkward chuckle into a deep rumble that shook his powerful frame.
* * * *
What Joe really wanted was to be out of the hallway and inside the room where Tabby was. Instead, he was practicing the patience he had spent years cultivating as Jenny explained to Evan and him that Tabby’s recovery could be a lengthy process. She would have to rehab both her shoulder and her leg. “It will be difficult for her to stay in her house. She will need someone who can give her almost constant care.”
From behind the slightly cracked door of Tabby’s room, Joe heard Stoner Richardson laugh. Tabby laughed, too, but it was followed by a groan.
Jenny pushed open the door so they could see inside. Stoner held Tabby’s hand against his cheek as he murmured, “I love you.”
Jenny pulled the door quietly shut again and looked first at Joe, then at her husband. “Have we entered the Twilight Zone or an alternate universe? That cannot be the same man who is serving a sentence for conspiracy in my gang rape and another for conspiracy to commit murder…again mine. Please tell me I am hallucinating.”
Catherine Richardson stepped forward with the sleeping Peter in her arms and smiled. “No,” she said softly. “You’ve entered Tabby’s world.”
Evan looked at his mother. “Does this mean we’ve found our solution to Tabby’s living situation while she recovers?”
Catherine smiled. “Of course. I’ve already called the decorators to redo your room. It will make a splendid studio with its northern light and with the connecting bathroom into Erin’s room.”
Evan raised his brows. “Throwing both of us out?”
Catherine arched one brow. “You’ve both been gone for years. I’m not keeping shrines.”
Jenny laughed.
The door opened, and Stoner looked at them all huddled outside, but his gaze rested on Joe before moving to Jenny. “Tabby wanted to know if it would be okay if the preacher sang to her?”
“Are you asking me?” Jenny put a hand on her heart. She closed her eyes briefly. “It is the Twilight Zone.” She looked at Joe. “Are you up to it?”
“Sure.”
Jenny glanced around the darkened hallway of the ICU. “This is so against regulations. Everybody go in. And Joseph? Don’t sing too loudly.”
Tabby smiled tiredly as she saw everyone, but her eyes were for Joe alone. He leaned over to kiss her gently on the forehead. He’d come so close to losing her, yet now he felt as though he’d been given an incredible gift.
“What do you want me to sing, Tabby?”
“‘Thankful,’” she whispered. “Sing ‘Thankful’, Joseph.”
He smiled. “It’s perfect.”
His eyes never left hers as he sang, but he still saw what was happening around him. Evan had his arm around Jenny as they cradled their son. Stoner stood behind Catherine and smiled down at her as she looked up at his face with a renewed tenderness. As the lyrics flowed from Joseph’s throat with the added depth of his own immense gratitude that Tabby was still there, still loving him, Evan exchanged a long look with Stoner. While it wasn’t exactly loving, there did seem to be an offering on both ends to open the door to communication.
Tabby smiled and closed her eyes. Joseph bent and kissed her forehead when he finished, thanking God with every breath he took that they had a second chance.
They left quietly. Stoner stared at Joe as if he’d never seen him before. “Son, that voice is truly a gift from God,” he said quietly.
Joe smiled softly. “It’s the first song I ever sang to
her. The day she asked me to pose for her.”
Evan chuckled, drawing everyone’s attention. “The painting’s done. It’s on your porch, but you could very well be the last person to see it.”
Joe laughed. “What makes you say that?”
“I talked to Jake a little while ago, and he said there’s been a steady stream of church ladies sneaking a look at it all day long. Well, I did too.”
Joe swallowed nervously. “Please tell me I’m decently clothed.”
Evan and Stoner both looked at him expressionlessly, but it was Stoner who finally asked, “Is there some reason you would wonder, Preacher?”
“Uh…”
Jenny glared at father and son. “Stop it. There is none so pious as…”
“…a reformed whore,” Catherine finished.
Evan grinned. “Don’t worry, Pastor. You’re fully clothed and angelic enough that no one would ever think you could be anything but fully clothed.”
Jenny looked at her in-laws. “On to more important things for the moment.” She paused for a heartbeat. “Stoner and Catherine, please stay with us until Tabby can go home with you. You’ll be closer to her, and—and Evan and I both insist.”
Stoner studied Evan’s serious expression. “Can you swing that with the state?”
“Yes. You’re in my custody.”
Stoner nodded at Evan and Jenny. “Thank you.”
Joe wondered exactly what it had cost Jenny to extend that invitation to Evan’s father. As far as everyone knew, Stoner had masterminded a vendetta against Jenny that had kept her and Evan apart for more than a decade.
When Joe arrived at the parsonage a quarter hour later, the first thing he saw was the cloth-covered frame. She had set the frame here. His eyes drifted to her third floor window. Something had happened. Something besides her accident. She had needed to get her emotions out, deal with something that had upset her enough she felt she had to completely remove his portrait from the house. It must have been bad, but Tabby was a survivor. The scars on her back were proof of that.
Joe carried the painting inside. When he came back out for his duffel bag, Katie was on his porch, rubbing between his legs and crying pitifully. As soon as he opened the door again, she darted inside his house. He started to shoo her back out, but found a can of tuna for her instead. “Think of it as comfort food, but don’t get too used to it.”
The cat meowed, then purred while she sniffed the can.
Restless, he made himself a sandwich and poured a glass of tea before he sat down to listen to his messages. The sheer number of them was not a good sign.
“Pastor, this is John Gatewood. It’s Thursday evening. Just got off the phone with Dennis Underwood. He’s getting ready to fire Miss MacVie for violation of the morals clause in her contract. He saw you coming out of her house early last Friday morning. You and I have already talked about this, but Underwood isn’t willing to let it go. I tried to talk him out of it but couldn’t. We need to discuss possible ramifications for you and the church.”
Heaven help them. This was going from bad to worse.
Beep.
“Pastor.” Joe started at the obviously disguised woman’s voice. “The Lord has seen fit to cast that harlot from our schools. Now you must cast her from your bed!”
Oh for heaven’s sake. Beep.
“Joe—It’s Jake. If you get this message before you get home, you need to head this way. Dennis Underwood’s gotten Tabby suspended for a violation of her morals clause. She’s going to need our support. Maybe you should talk to Evan too.”
Beep.
“Pastor—It’s John Gatewood again. The church council called an emergency meeting for Sunday evening. We’ll need you there.”
Joe hit the pause button. This was worse and worse. What had happened to the peace and unity he and Reverend Calloway from the Presbyterian Church had helped foster at Christmas? Was it all evaporating simply because he had fallen in love with Tabitha MacVie? He’d marry her tomorrow to make it all go away, but there were other considerations.
Like finding her father…and brother, giving her a chance to get to know her family before they formed their own.
He had a feeling both Stoner and Tabby would want to change her name to Richardson before he asked her to change it to Taylor. Joe wouldn’t deny them that opportunity no matter how long he had to delay their marriage for it to happen. She deserved a chance to have a real daddy and a last name that didn’t belong to someone who’d abused her, and Stoner deserved a chance to enjoy a daughter who was so obviously a kindred spirit.
Joe hit the play button again to hear the same disguised voice. “God has seen fit to punish that jezebel. Beware his wrath before it turns on you!”
This time anger stirred. Joe was tempted to erase her messages, but decided to leave them. They were disturbing, but he was still vaguely hopeful they were simply a childish prank. If not, someone sick was out there.
“Pastor.” It was his final message, and he was relieved to hear Holly Allred’s voice. “Jake told Tyler and me about Tabby’s accident. Ty is beside himself. If you can…that is if you’re up to it…if you could call and reassure him, I know he’d appreciate it.”
Joe looked at his watch. It was nine, not all that late for a Friday evening, and the walk might clear his head. He’d visit instead of call. His eyes went to Tabby’s portrait of him. Now he understood why she’d left it on his porch. She had to have done it this morning after she was put on leave. He remembered the last time she had been upset and moved the painting to keep it safe. He glanced at her house again. He would look later. For now, he’d check on Tyler.
While he knew she would never deliberately try to hurt herself—and never involve anyone else—he wondered if everything she’d had to face on her own today had distracted her. Joe’s mouth thinned. If only he’d been here… But he couldn’t live his life on if onlys. No one could.
* * * *
Surely the sky had fallen, Evan thought. He could scarcely believe Jenny had extended an invitation to his father. Her discomfort in leading Stoner and Catherine into their home was more than obvious. As they stood awkwardly in the front hall, her smile was just a bit off as she said, “I’m sure you would both like to freshen up. The guest room is upstairs on the right. There’s a bathroom attached to it. Fresh towels are there and a robe on the back of the door.” She looked at Catherine. “I’m afraid that’s all I have to offer in the way of clothing because of our height difference. Stoner, Evan should be able to loan you whatever you need, and Catherine, we can launder yours.”
His mother waved her hand. “Not to worry. I called Peterson while you were settling Peter into his car seat. He should be here shortly with bags for Stoner and me as well as sandwiches and potato salad.”
Evan wondered if Jenny would feel affronted at Catherine taking charge, but from the tension leaving her expression, all she apparently felt was relief and gratitude. She had to be dog-tired. “Thank you. That’s marvelous.”
“It’s the least we can do,” Stoner mumbled. “You saved Tabby’s life, and you’ve opened your home to us…to me.”
Jenny held up her hand. “I—I’m too tired for this. Can we… Can we keep it impersonal? I’m not ready for anything else.”
Catherine smiled. “We’ll go up.”
Evan moved forward. “I’ll get you some pants, Dad.”
Jenny carried Peter into the living room and stretched out on the couch to nurse. When Evan came down a few minutes later dressed in jeans and a lightweight cotton sweater, she had fallen asleep with the baby at her breast. He saw Peter was dozing, so he picked the infant up and burped him. He knelt next to Jenny and gently shifted her. “You need to switch sides, honey.”
“Mm. You do it, Ev…” she mumbled. He smiled at her tenderly and deftly rearranged things before helping the baby latch onto the opposite side. When he was sure they were both secure, he turned to pour himself a bourbon. Stoner
stood in the doorway.
“You’re a good man, Evan. A good husband and a good father.”
“Thanks. Jenny makes it easy. Would you like a drink?”
“Hell, yes. At this point, you could just hand me the decanter.”
Evan splashed the whisky into a heavy glass and handed it to his father, eyeing the older man with the feeling he’d never seen him before. “You know, I don’t know that I could have done what you did today. How did you know?”
Stoner shrugged his broad shoulders. “A short tour of duty in Vietnam. I saw a lot worse, but none that hit me as hard as what I saw today.” He closed his eyes at the memory. “That damn truck tossed her like a rag doll, and I couldn’t get the pressure in the right spot. Blood spurted like a damn hose. When I reached for the artery, all that idiot truck driver could do was stand behind me puking up his guts.” He paused to clear his throat, carried the whisky to his lips with a shaky hand, and swallowed. “Thank God your mother arrived. Katie was cool as a cucumber. She called 911, then knelt right there with me, holding Tabby when she came to for a moment and tried to move. I couldn’t have saved Tabby without her.”
Catherine, dressed in a terry cloth robe, slipped her arm through her husband’s, smiled at Evan, then Stoner. “Some people are worth the fight.”
The doorknocker rapped at that moment. Stoner smiled. “That will be Peterson. No one else would rap exactly two times with such precision. I’ll get it, Evan. You keep an eye on that wife and baby of yours.”
* * * *
A few minutes later, just next door, Joe rubbed the back of his neck before ringing the bell on Jake and Holly’s house. She opened the door, her face bursting into a big smile when she saw him standing there.
“Oh, Pastor Joe, come in. You must be tired. You could have called. How is Tabby? How are you? Someone phoned Jake and told him Jenny had performed surgery. Is it true Senator Richardson saved Tabby’s life?”
Joe held up his hands. “Whoa!”
Holly laughed as she shut the door. “Sorry. You know how I get. Jake says he could use me in interrogations because I could make a wall talk. Come to the kitchen. We have some leftover pot roast I could heat up. Would you like some?”
Lost & Found Love Page 17
