Abound in Love (18 page)

“We’re
selling the house,” Dan told her.  “We have to, whether we manage to work out
or not.  We never needed that house in the first place,” he said, almost
angrily.

Laura
remembered her mother had told her that her sister and brother-in-law had
purchased a grand home, which she feared would ultimately prove to be beyond
their means.

“Did
Candace insist on buying the home?” Laura asked softly.

He shook
his head.  “No.  It was me.  I wanted to give her the world.”  He sighed.  “She
told me at the time that she didn’t ‘need’ it, but I forged ahead.”  He glanced
off into the distance, but pulled back to meet her eyes again.  He didn’t break
eye contact when he declared, with a humorless, self-deprecating laugh, “No,
that was all me.”

Once
again, she squeezed his arm.  “Dan, don’t give up, and…”

“What
is it, Laura?”

“May I
ask you a question?  It is personal, and you don’t have to answer if you don’t
want to.  I’ll understand.”

“Go
ahead,” he said.

“How
much debt do you have right now?  Credit card debt, that is.  I may be able
to…”

He
hesitated, but sighed.  “We started out with sixteen thousand, but we’ve
whittled it down to ten.  We’re going to pay it off,” he said adamantly.  “I
always pay my debts.”

“I
can…” she began.

“No,
no, we’ll find a way.  I’m hoping the house will sell, and then we’ll be all
right.  In the meantime, it’s my responsibility.  I am grateful to you for
offering though.”

It was
a positive sigh, and a testament to his character, and love for Candace, that
he owned her debt as his own.  It made Laura all the more determined to help
them.

“Thank
you for telling me,” she said. 

“Yeah,
well, my pride went by the wayside about the time I planted the ‘for sale’ sign
in the yard, and watched my wife drive off to work.”  He gave a humorless
laugh.  “And every time I drop my kids off here, with the expectation that
Thomas is going to raise them in my absence.   Yeah, my pride has definitely taken
a hit.  I may never recover,” he added drolly.

“Dan,
keep the faith.  Keep praying.  I’m going to talk to Candace.  Don’t lose hope
just yet.”

He
shook his head.  “Laura, I’m afraid my hope went along with my pride.”  He
returned the cap to his head, gave her a sad salute, and walked slowly to his
car.  He moved like an utterly broken man.

Laura’s
heart went out to him, but she resolved to try to help him.  For him, for
Candace, for the kids—for Thomas and Macy.  For Dalton, who cared so much about
her family.  She was determined to help.

As she
stepped into the living room, Dalton was waiting by the front door.  He caught
her gaze.  “How is he?”

“Not
good,” she told him.  “But, with a little faith, and some honest-to-goodness
communication, I’m hoping we can fix that.”

He
acknowledged her resolve with a smile.  “Well, with you on the job, I’m sure
things are going to work out fine.”

She
shook her head.  “Like the songs says, ‘let Jesus take the wheel.’  I’m going
to do that, but—I am going to ride shotgun.”

Dalton
laughed and pulled her into a hug.  “Man, I’ve missed you.”

“But
I’m right here,” she told him, pulling away to see his face.

“And
you’ll be leaving soon,” he said sadly.  “And then what will the whole,
wretched lot of us do then?”

“Like
you’ve always done,” she said, forcing herself to sound cheerful.  “You’re
going to do just fine.”

T
he
weekend arrived and Laura urged Thomas to leave his house and tend to his
fiancée.  He didn’t object, since even he now realized that his relationship
with Macy needed some tender loving care. 

That
left Laura and Dalton to entertain the kids, which took some doing, considering
they were shut up in the house.  Rain was pouring outside, and there was little
to do inside, from the kids’ point of view.

By
mid-afternoon, even Laura was champing at the bit to get out.  “Let’s go to a
movie,” she suggested.

Dalton
shot her a surprised look, and appeared to brace for the outcry he expected
from the kids as they made their movie-choice demands, but Laura raised a
clarifying hand.  “There’s a new Disney movie out, and
I’d
like to see
it,” she declared.

Hearing
that their beloved aunt wanted to see the movie, neither kid objected.

“Would
you care to join us, Dalton?”

“Sure. 
Why not?”

Soon,
the group was ensconced in Laura’s rental car, since she insisted on driving. 
The car’s fuel economy was far better than that of Dalton’s big truck.

As she
drove, she glanced over at him.  He seemed uncomfortable in the passenger seat. 
“I’d offer to let you drive, but the contract I signed precludes it,” she said
with a grin.

“I
don’t want to drive,” he said crisply.  “Why?  Do I look like I want to drive?”

“You’re
clutching the side of the seat.  Am I scaring you?”

“No,
no, of course not,” he assured her.  “It’s just, you haven’t driven on roads as
wet as these for awhile.”

“Hey,
it rains in Georgia too, you know.”

“Aunt
Laura,” Kenny called from the back seat.  “Is it true you have poisonous snakes
in Georgia?”

“We
sure do.”

“Have you
ever seen one?” Krissy asked, and then shuddered at the prospect.

“I
have.”

“You
have?” Dalton asked, seemingly alarmed.

“Sure. 
Just this past summer, I went out quadding with friends—just outside of
Carrollton.  That’s a small town not too far outside of Atlanta.  Anyway, I
rode right through what I thought was a shallow puddle…”  She paused for
effect.

“Yeah? 
What happened?” Kenny demanded.

“Yeah,
what happened?” Dalton asked fearfully.

“Well,
it was actually pretty deep, and when I hit the puddle, a great, big copperhead
literally jumped out of the water and hit my leg.”

“Did it
bite you?” Krissy screamed in horror.

“No,
honey, it didn’t.  I guess it could have, but I was lucky.”

“Uh,
uh,” Kenny said resolutely.  “It wasn’t just luck.  God was watching out for
you.”

“You
are so right,” Laura told him, glancing at him through the rearview mirror.

Laura
sensed when Dalton stiffened beside her.  She turned his way and smiled.  He
smiled wanly in return.

“So…”
he began, “I guess you won’t be going quadding again—in Georgia, I mean.”

“Why
wouldn’t I?”  She sent him a puzzle glance.

“Oh, I
don’t know,” he said in measured tones.  “Maybe because you could have been
bitten
by a copperhead.”

“Well,
fortunately, I wasn’t,” she said calmly, and directed her attention to the
road.  The rain was really coming down, and she had precious cargo in the back
seat.

Soon,
they arrived at the movie theater.  Dalton surprised Laura when he quickly got
out of the car and pulled out his wallet.  “It’s on me,” he said, and she read
the steely resolve in his eyes.  She also read that he seemed upset, and she
couldn’t fathom why.

Inside
the theater, and in their seats, Laura found herself beside Dalton.  Kenny was
left of her, and Krissy was right of Dalton.

Laura
glanced over at Krissy.  “Hey, you okay all the way down there?”

“Of
course, she’s okay,” Dalton told her, in a surly tone.  “It’s not as if a
copperhead is going to leap out and bite her.”

When he
saw the little girl’s startled face, he quickly realized he’d said too much. 
He pulled her onto his lap.  “I’m sorry, honey.  We don’t have copperheads
around here.  And if we did, they wouldn’t be inside a movie theater.”

“Oh,
okay,” she said.  “I’m fine.”

He gave
her a quick hug and helped her back to her seat.

“Does
anyone want any popcorn?” Laura asked.

Kenny
was first to speak.  “No, it costs way too much.  We usually get a treat after
the movie.”

“You
do?”

Krissy
leaned forward, an attempt to catch her aunt’s gaze in the darkened theater. 
“We get ice cream or something,” she said, and even in the muted light, Laura
didn’t miss the hopeful gleam in her niece’s eye.

“Well,
that sounds good.”  She checked her watch.  “If we get out of here too late, we
can always pick up some ice cream to enjoy after dinner.”

The
children seemed receptive to the idea, and soon, the previews began on the big
screen in front of them.  Laura turned her attention to the movie.  She
couldn’t recall the last time she’d been to a movie.

She
glanced over at Dalton, who, to her surprise, was watching her.  “This is going
to be fun,” she commented.  “I haven’t been to a movie in so long.”

He
nodded.  “Uh, huh.”

“Is
there something wrong, Dalton?  You don’t seem like yourself?”  She turned back
to the screen when a preview began, brightening up the screen and filling the
theater with ear-splitting noise.  “Oh, look!” Laura pointed.

Dalton
finally turned away, but she still sensed he wasn’t happy about something.  She
couldn’t begin to imagine what it might be.  Maybe he was tired after the long
day before, she mused.

Too
soon, the movie came to an end.  Laura had loved it, and was delighted that the
children seemed to have enjoyed it too.  Only Dalton remained surly and
uncommunicative.

“Are
you all right?” she whispered, as they left the theater.

“Fine,”
he said crisply.

Back in
the car and driving away, he surprised her when he asked, “So, who do you go
quadding with?  Friends?”

“Well,
I don’t go with enemies,” she answered lightly, prompting the children to
chuckle from the back seat.  “Hey, guys, where do you suggest we go for ice
cream?”  After checking the time on the dash, she noted they could eat the
treat, without spoiling their dinner.

Krissy
was first to suggest a place, which turned out to be close.  Laura pulled into
the parking lot and soon they were seated in the ice cream parlor.  Laura
glanced around, taking in the bright, colorful décor and huge assortment of ice
cream treats.  “Wow, this place is great,” she said.  “And the selection …
amazing.”

She
focused on the menu, and turned to Dalton beside her.  “What looks good to
you?”

He only
eyed her in return, but didn’t answer.

“Uncle
Dalton’s in a bad mood,” Krissy uttered under her breath.

“And
he’s
never
in a bad mood,” Kenny said.

Laura
playfully nudged Dalton.  “Why are you in a bad mood?” she stage-whispered, for
the kids’ benefit.

He gave
an almost imperceptible shake of his head, and then appeared to shake himself
into a better mood.  He sent a smile in the kids’ direction.  “I don’t know
about you, but I want a sundae with three flavors of ice cream and three
different toppings.”

The
kids glanced at their aunt.  She discerned that three scoops equated to an
extravagance for them, and that they were hesitant.  “Order anything you want,”
she urged.  “It’s my treat.”

“I’m
paying,” Dalton said.

“No,”
she said, and patted his hand.  “You paid for the movie.  I’m paying for the
ice cream.  And you can order anything you want too.  Four scoops, even,” she
added with a chuckle.

Later,
back at the house and after a dinner cooked by Thomas, Dalton’s mood seemed
incrementally better, but he wasn’t his jovial self, by any stretch.  Laura was
worried, but she couldn’t focus on more than one problem at a time at this
point.  And she expected their most pressing problem to come through the door
at any moment.

She sat
on the couch, watching the door, and twisting her hands in anticipation.  She
was going to talk to her sister, or know the reason why.

Macy
stepped out of the kitchen, followed by Thomas.  She glanced at Laura and read
her face.  Laura nodded in affirmation that tonight was the night.

However,
when there was a light knocking on the front door, and Laura hurried to answer
it, she found Dan on the porch, rather than his wife.  Dan read the
disappointment on her face.

“Yeah,
I’m not especially happy to see me either these days,” he said with a humorless
laugh.

She
laughed and gave him a quick, shoring hug.  “I’m perfectly happy to see you,”
she assured him.  “But I’d worked up the courage to talk to Candace and was hoping
for the opportunity tonight.”

He
sighed with regret.  “Unfortunately, my wife has plans for the evening.”  She
read the fear and frustration in his eyes as he spoke the words. 

She
suspected he was so afraid of the possible reasons for his wife’s absences in
the evenings that he could scarcely deal with the fear.  She was terrified
herself at the many ‘what-ifs’ those absences might suggest.  She gave herself
a shake, and uttered a quick prayer.