Her Wedding Wish (9 page)

“Love does not demand its own way. It keeps no record of when it has been wronged. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance…”

She heard what he did not say; what only could be felt with the heart. Tears filled her eyes and she turned away so he couldn’t see them.

The blinker ticked, and he swung the minivan into a fast-food place’s drive-through lane.

“Chicken?” he asked while she laughed with delight.

He was reenacting their second date.

“There was a lot that Spence couldn’t tell me,” Jonas explained as he packed the leftover bucket of chicken and offered her the contents of a small bakery box from Ava’s bakery. “Your sister swung by when you were in the shower with more information and these. She says they are your favorite.”

“Are they ever. Fudge peanut butter brownies. These weren’t on the second date menu, but this is a good improvement.”

He was sure glad she thought so. He took one for himself and recovered the box. He set it down so he could sidle a little closer to his wife on the blanket he’d put down in the grass for their picnic. “She said this was a monumental date for us.”

“Spence wouldn’t know the details, so I wasn’t sure if you knew.” She blushed prettily, looking at the gurgle of the swiftly moving river in front of them. “You are a good investigator. I wouldn’t have thought you would have gone to so much trouble.”

“It’s for you, Dani. Why wouldn’t I?” He ached to brush the worry from her face and all the fears she hadn’t told him about. He could see how it was, how well she’d held things together while he’d been fighting that coma. How she had kept the kids’ world as normal as possible while he’d been far away in rehabilitation. How she had faithfully supported him with all of her heart when he returned to her, unable to remember a single thing about the life they had built together. “I wanted you to know that I’m in this all the way. I’m not going to leave you alone shouldering everything. That’s why I’m working so hard to get back.”

“I know. For me and the kids.”

The kids. They were sure something, too. God had richly blessed him. Jonas might not remember much, but he knew what a rare gift he had. He eyed the bag Danielle had put into the van that morning, the one she had brought with her now. “You brought the pictures?”

“Every one.”

“I thought we might want to look at them instead of going kayaking. I’m not up to that yet.” But there were things he could do; he could listen to his wife.

“I was never as outdoorsy as you, so I don’t mind that we’re skipping the water sports.” She finished her brownie and, after licking her fingers, reached for the bag with the pictures in it.

Every little thing she did captivated him. He wondered if after being married for so long, he had stopped noticing the way she bit her bottom lip when she was thinking, or watched him through her lashes to see what he was up to. Had he taken her for granted? These were things he could not ask her.

Her movements were like poetry as she pulled the book from the bag, each movement graceful and deliberate. The sweet scent of the wild grasses, the whisper of the overhead leaves, the music of the river and the blue sky framing her were things he might forget, but not her. He memorized the slope of her cute nose, her wide-set eyes with long lashes, the cut of her cheekbones and her generous mouth, so ready to smile and offer a kind word.

Hers was the first face he’d seen when he’d opened his eyes. Even when he hadn’t been able to recognize his own wife, he’d been rendered speechless by the sight of her. She’d made his heart start beating again.

Now, watching her in the simple act of opening the photo album and brushing her fingertips across the plastic-covered pages, he was fascinated by her. By the small smile on her lips, by the glitter of secret happiness in her eyes, by her posture so fluid and straight and her kind goodness that he could not get enough of.

“Here’s the first picture I took when we were driving away from Gran’s house.” She stretched out on the blanket and laid the white album in front of her. “See? There’s the family waving to us. You’d left the window open since you had been hanging out of it as we drove away.”

“Me? Hanging out of a window? That doesn’t seem too dignified.”

“Welcome to your life, Jonas. I hate to break it to you, but you are far from dignified.”

He stretched out beside her. “That’s a hard blow. Here I was hoping to find out I was this really cool, sophisticated guy.”

“Sorry to disappointment you, but had you been, I doubt I would have been interested enough to marry you.”

He saw himself, young and whole and fit, suntanned and looking like the happiest man in the world in that limo. “Then I’m glad I’m just an unsophisticated, undignified guy.”

She shook her head, amusement making her eyes a deep cinnamon. “I liked you that way. Right after I snapped this picture you put your arm around me and gave me a big kiss.”

“That sounds like me.” He grinned and leaned closer as she turned the page.

There were more pictures of them arriving at the Bozeman airport and waiting at the gate. It was late; the airport had that overly bright look to the lights against black windows. She must have had a timer and squeezed in beside him at the last second. He looked at the image of his younger self, so tall and straight, with both arms around his bride and how he gazed at his new bride with complete adoration and one hundred percent pure love.

“This is in the Seattle hotel’s lobby.” She tapped the ribbon-framed image. He was still grinning, as if he considered himself the luckiest man in the world. “We had this beautiful room. We were so exhausted that after you ordered room service for us, since neither of us had hardly eaten all day even with tons of food at the reception and at Gran’s house, we fell asleep.”

He leaned closer to study the well-appointed suite. He hardly noticed the rich colors and textures of the room because Danielle was in the picture. He must have taken it of her. She looked so bubbly and carefree in a pretty cotton summer dress and sandals. Her hair was a soft fall of curls around her face, different from the Danielle he knew now.

It didn’t take a genius to know why. For her face, as she studied these images and remembered the better times of their marriage, had changed, looked less like a woman who was worried, strained and fighting to hide her fears. He could see the woman from the pictures, alight with hope, made even more beautiful with love.

“Here’s where we were waiting for our shuttle to the airport. At five-thirty in the morning. See how grumpy I look.” The breeze from the river ruffled through her hair and she pushed a lock of curls behind her ear, an innocent gesture.

“You don’t look grumpy.” Not at all. “You look pretty amazing for five-thirty in the morning.”

“I’m glad you still think so. I don’t think I photograph well at all. Unlike you. There you are, grinning at me.”

He saw more than the picture showed. He saw a young strapping man holding out his hand to his beloved wife. The tenderness in his eyes had changed. Deepened with their love.

He quietly studied the snapshots of their private cottage on the beach in Maui. Somehow she was even more beautiful than ever, translucent with life and love.

He had been the man who had loved her like that, and it was impossible to remember. Impossible to feel now. He groped in his mind and searched deeper in his brain but there was nothing. No hint of a memory. No trace of an image. No whisper of what was past.

“This is when we first went snorkeling.” Danielle tapped a plastic-covered image of him smiling at her, feet flippers on, waving one of them at her. “You’d been before, but I hadn’t. I was not too sure I wanted to go into the water where all those fish and slimy things were. Oh, and sharks.”

“I already knew how to snorkel?”

“And to scuba dive, which we did—” she turned several colorful pages “—here.”

Page after page, in one picture after another, he learned more than the sequence of events that had happened on their honeymoon trip. He saw how with every day there were tiny changes between them. The way they looked at one another. The happiness they radiated. The quiet unspoken tie that bound them together increased in strength and was as unmistakable as the spectacular Maui shore.

Love had done this, changing them, improving them, polishing them day by day. Love that he was going to find again, Jonas vowed, reaching out to brush a stray curl behind his wife’s ear.

T
hey couldn’t have had a nicer time, Danielle thought, relaxing in the passenger seat. How nice to have her husband driving again. He was right, he was doing just fine. For a while they drove in companionable silence. She could almost pretend everything hadn’t changed between them. That the bullet had never struck Jonas. That their family and their marriage were whole.

“I turn here?” he asked, picking up the city streets well. He’d always had an excellent sense of direction.

“Yes.”

The complex had been shining new in the fifties, and had a dated look, but that was about to change. She watched Jonas navigate around orange cones in the parking lot and they waved to her brother-in-law Brice, whose company was starting the renovation. She spotted Spence through the long row of front windows in the bookstore. As usual, he appeared dark and glowering. Poor Spence.

Jonas turned off the engine. “It’s good to be back in the saddle again.”

“It
is
good,” she agreed. “We’ll have to get your truck back from Spence. It’s not good for a vehicle to sit without being driven, so he took it not long after you were injured. He’s been maintaining it for you.”

“Yep, I’m going to need that back,” Jonas agreed. “You’ve been doing too much, Dani. Running me from appointment to appointment. Keeping up with the kids. I can run myself now, and help out with the other stuff.”

“I’m not going to argue with that, handsome. I can use the help.” That was an understatement if there ever was one, she thought as she gathered up the bundle of papers from the backseat and led the way into the bookstore.

As expected, Spence’s frown hardened into a grimace. “I’m dreading looking at the profit-and-loss statement. I’ve got a bank meeting in the morning and I don’t want bad news.”

She wished Spence wouldn’t worry so much. She wished a lot of things when it came to her big brother. He had been an incredible support over the past year, always there when she needed him, always pitching in without her having to ask. But he was unhappy in his personal life and growing colder with each passing year. She loved him and so she tried not to let his scowl bother her. “It’s not bad at all.”

“Thank heavens.”

He took his responsibilities toward their family seriously, she knew, shouldering all of their worries. She handed him the binders. “Here. I have two copies. One for the loan person, and one for you.”

“Thanks, Dani.” His scowl faded. “This is a big relief. I know you’re busy, but with the complex’s construction loans—”

“I know.” She squeezed his hand, wishing she could help him the way he helped her. “Let me know if you need anything else, okay? Where’s Katherine? I thought she had her reading group today.”

“She does. Everyone is here, but I couldn’t call them in time to cancel.” There was his scowl, returning full force. “She said she wasn’t feeling well, so I made her go home. I put in a call to Jack, too, but I got his voice mail.”

“She’s probably just tired.” At least, she hoped that’s all it was. She fished the phone out of her purse pocket. “I’ll check on her. Does Mom know this?”

Spence shook his head, scattering his short brown hair. “She took Madison to her lesson, right?”

“And out to lunch and ice cream, but I suspect not in that order. She was going to pick up Tyler from church, too, and make a day of it with them.”

“I didn’t want to disrupt that. I saw Jonas is back behind the wheel.” Spence nodded toward the front of the store.

Danielle glanced up after hitting the speed dial. Jonas had been stopped at the front of the store by a member of their church and a patron of the bookstore, Lucy Chapin. They were talking, and as their voices carried, she could tell that Lucy was explaining how she and Jonas knew one another.

While Katherine’s phone began to ring, Danielle watched her brother carefully. He seemed to be eyeing the front of the store very intently, and it wasn’t Jonas he watched. Could it be that their loner of a brother hid a secret interest in pretty and funny Lucy?

“H-hello?” said a strained, tired-sounding voice on the other end of the connection.

“Katherine?” Danielle hardly recognized her own sister’s voice. “Kath, are you all right?”

“I don’t want you to worry. I’m resting, and I’m waiting for the doctor to call me b-back.” There was the faintest hint of fear in her seemingly calm voice.

Katherine was like that, so strong even in crisis. Danielle’s pulse kicked with worry. “I’m coming over. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

“No, you don’t have to. You have enough on your plate with Jonas. I have this under control. I have my feet up and I’m staying quiet until—” There was a bump in the line. “Oh, can you hold on, Dani? That’s the doctor.”

“Sure.” Danielle heard a click and waited, praying that everything was going to be fine. Katherine had wanted a baby for a long time now. She deserved to have this pregnancy go smoothly. She deserved to be a mom.

Worry hooked her and automatically she turned to Jonas, her gaze fastening on his across the top of the new-arrivals display. Unlike old times, Jonas didn’t instantly know what she meant without words. He no longer understood her more than she did herself. But he did head toward her, moving swiftly with his cane. Before she knew it, his free hand enfolded hers and he towered above her, all concern.

Spence rubbed the back of his neck. “What’s wrong? What did she say?”

“I’m on hold while she talks with the doctor.”

“The doctor?”

She was glad for Jonas’s hand, comforting in hers.

The phone clicked, and Katherine spoke. “Dani? I need to get to the hospital, but I’m not supposed to drive. I can’t reach Jack.”

“One of us will be there in a few minutes. You hang tight, okay?” She kept her voice calm; it sure made a difference having Jonas with her. Clear and calm through the worry, she glanced at Spence, who nodded once and took off for the parking lot, pulling his keys out of his trouser pocket as he ran. “Katherine? Spence is on his way. He’ll be there in less than two minutes. You just stay calm.”

“I’m trying to.” Katherine did sound steadier than she had. “I’m trusting the Lord with this, that the baby will be okay.”

“I trust Him, too.” Danielle knew firsthand that things didn’t always turn out right, even if you did everything possible. She prayed that this would not be one of those times. “Are you in any pain?”

“I have a terrible headache. I would feel better if I could reach Jack, but I think he’s in some sort of a meeting.”

Jonas chose that moment to pull away from her, giving her a reassuring look as he made his way to the front desk. He spoke to the cashier, and she handed him the phone receiver.

Who was he calling? Danielle wondered, and then she knew. He was calling his old office. The number was probably still on the list of emergency numbers Spence always kept taped to the counter.

“Don’t worry,” she told her sister. “Jonas will find Jack for you.”

“Bless him. He’s one of the good guys.”

“I know.” Danielle’s voice faltered. So much had changed. So much had gone wrong. And yet none of it, not even the unfairness of that single bullet nor the painful fight through his physical rehabilitation had changed the good in Jonas.

“Wait, that’s him calling in.” Katherine sounded relieved. “Thank Jonas for me.”

With a click, the connection ended. Danielle closed her phone and dropped it into her purse, hardly aware of anything except the man watching her from the counter. His gaze was steady, his stance solid, and his heart right there for her to see.

“Thank you.” Her voice failed, so she had to mouth the words, but she knew he heard them just the same.

“My pleasure.” He came her way, always her hero. “You might want to call your mom.”

“Right.” Her brain wasn’t working, but she fished her phone back out of her purse anyway. Jonas had always been able to do that to her, even after seven, no, nearly eight years of marriage—their anniversary was coming up soon. “Spence must be at her door by now. I’ll have Mom meet them. Oh, wait. I have to get the kids from her.”

“Tell you what. Why don’t I take ’em, and you and your mom can go together to check on your sister.” Composed, problem-solving, that was Jonas.

“I should stay with you.” She sorted through the numbers on the phone’s electronic list. “I can visit Katherine later.”

“How many times did Katherine come to the hospital for your sake, when I was there?” His voice came rough with emotion. “How much did she do for you while I was in the hospital or away at the rehab clinic?”

“More than I could begin to count.” Her family had been her foundation when Jonas had been unconscious. Their love had held her up when she hadn’t been sure she could go on. All the thousand things they did without once being asked.

“Then you should go.” His hand found her shoulder and settled there. His touch reminded her of all the times he had been her comfort, her support, her foundation. “Come on, we’ll meet your mom, and I’ll take the kids home.”

More respect for this man glowed to life deep within her. For a moment—just one moment—she allowed herself to lean against his chest and savor the familiar beat of his heart.

“Daddy!” Madison jumped up from dressing her doll, and the kitchen lights reflected on her jeweled tiara. “I getta answer the phone! I getta!”

Jonas closed the freezer door, set the frozen box on the counter and lifted the cordless receiver from the cradle. Madison bounced up and down at his knee, her doll with her. His daughter’s little hands were already reaching up, the doll tucked in her elbow. Her fingers grasped the receiver, but he got a glance at the caller ID. He hit the button for her, but she was already talking.

“Hello! Hello! How are yew?”

He could hear Danielle’s gentle laughter and then her soft alto saying, “Hello, bubbles,” before Madison tucked the phone snugly against her ear, button-cute, and began chattering away to her mommy.

Emotion balled up in his throat. It was starting to sink in exactly what he’d lost. What that speeder with an outstanding warrant and a gun had taken away from him. Battling down darker emotions, he ripped open the end of the box and slid the frozen pizza onto the big cookie sheet.

In the other room, the door slid shut and footsteps pounded through the living room. Tyler burst into sight, breathless and sprinkled with water droplets. “Dad! Dad! I put out a four-alarm blaze. Me and my men had a tough time.”

The little boy looked up at him with excitement shining on his face and love in his eyes. Tyler’s warm wet hand grabbed his and held on so tight. “We coulda used some help, though. Dad, can you come, too? After supper? Can ya?”

“Sure, son.” Jonas’s chest fluttered with unstoppable affection. The hand in his felt so small, so fragile, and held on with such need. How many imaginary fires had Tyler been forced to put out alone, because his dad wasn’t here to help him? Unquenchable anger surged through him, but it wasn’t nearly as strong as his love for his boy. “I’ll report to duty for the evening shift, Captain.”

“Okay!” Tyler’s grin was instant and impossibly wide. He broke away and yanked open the refrigerator. “Me and my men could use a break. We’re gonna get some rest and some fuel and then hit the line again.”

Right there in the middle of the kitchen with the oven beeper signaling that the oven was up to heat, and with Madison telling her mommy all about the new fancy sandals from Grammy, Jonas felt the distance the last year had put between him and his children. He’d studied the photo albums. Evidence of what he lost was right in front of him and plastered in wooden frames on the walls surrounding him.

He’d lost the last year of helping Tyler play fireman in the backyard and of watching Madison grow from a gurgling toddler to a talking little girl. He’d lost snuggles and laughter and time with each of them, precious time that was lost forever. Time that was ticking away even now as he poured his son a cup of juice.

He felt like the stranger, the outsider, fighting so hard to get back what he’d lost; he was only now seeing how impossible that job was. He loved his kids—there was no doubt about that. Whether he remembered them or not, no matter what the future brought. But it was time to get to know them, time to stop trying to gather memories that were already gone—and time to enjoy them right now.

Unbearable anger spiked through him like the sharp edge of a fireman’s axe, anger at the man who’d done this to his family. To his children. As he slid the pizza into the oven, he realized how much he hated all the moments of all the days that he hadn’t been here to ruffle Tyler’s brown hair, as he was doing now. Or to swing Madison up into his arms and to feel her fine baby hair against his jaw. He wanted to crush the man who had stolen so much from his children. From him.

He blew out a breath, realizing he was shaking with unfamiliar feelings, which he did not know how to deal with. As he watched Tyler chug down a glass of juice, the emotion kept building. He felt helpless beneath the power of it, helpless to know what to do.

“Daddy! It’s for yew!” Madison held out the phone.

“Thank you, princess.” He gave her a smacking kiss to her cheek, took the phone and set her carefully on her feet. She ran away, screeching after her brother, who was headed for the cookie jar, taking her doll with her.