Forever (39 page)

“I can’t believe it.” Dayne drove slowly up the driveway. “It isn’t just the yard.” He nodded to the house. “Look at that.” “It’s gorgeous.”

The outside of the house looked brand-new. If Dayne wasn’t sure of the location, he would never have believed it was the same building. When he reached the house, he parked and looked at Katy. “You knew about this.”

“No!” She laughed. “Ashley told me she couldn’t get a single person out here to start working. I had absolutely no idea.” Dayne studied the place, the planted gardens and refurbished

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front porch, the stained logs and the striking windows.it obviously found the best in the business. It looks amazing.”

They climbed out of the car, and Katy came around to his side. As he took her hand, he remembered the vehicles parked along the road. One of them had to belong to Ashley, since she planned to meet them here. But what about the rest?

The house was too quiet to have that many people inside.

They reached the side of the house and followed it around to the backyard. From every angle the home was breathtaking, and Dayne felt overwhelmed. How kind of Ashley to see that the work got done. It must’ve taken hours to call builders and keep searching until she could find the right people. He chuckled. “Ashley never gives up, does she?”

Katy smiled. She couldn’t take her eyes off the house. “No. Not since I’ve known her.”

They kept walking, the lake spread out before them like a glistening blanket of blue. Then, in what felt like slow motion, the backyard came into view and with it a sea of people, all of them grinning.

“Welcome home!” A chorus of voices broke the silence. And then all at once, a round of hoots and cheers and laughter burst from the group.

Dayne and Katy stopped and leaned on each other so they wouldn’t fall flat on their backs from the shock.

Ashley pulled away from the crowd and ran up to them. She hugged Dayne first and then Katy, and by the time she drew back they could both see she had tears on her cheeks. “Well … what do you think?”

The pieces spun like fragments in Dayne’s mind. It was like a scene from a reality TV show, only this was so far beyond reality he could hardly breathe. In as much time as it took him to blink, he surveyed the people, made a note of the faces around them. The Baxters were front and center, their kids bouncing up and down around them. To one side were the Flanigans along with 316 bunches of CKT kids and their families. On the other side were football players with Clear Creek High emblazoned on their jerseys and beyond them a dozen people he didn’t recognize. Before Dayne’s world could right itself, Luke stepped up. He stared at Dayne, his eyes bright with something like regret. He kept his voice low, between the two of them. “Can we talk later, Dayne nodded. This was the most difficult part: facing Luke.

never …” He coughed and looked down for a moment. When he lifted his gaze, his sincerity came straight from the center of his heart. “I never meant any of it. I’m sorry, Dayne.” Dayne felt flooded by love for his brother. Was this what he’d been dreading? Was it really happening? He put his hand on The onlookers were still hooting and shouting and celebrating the surprise.

Dayne looked at the back of the house before he met Ashley’s eyes and tried to recover enough to speak. “You … you had all these people come just to welcome us?”

“They all-” Ashley’s voice cut out, clrowned by the noise of Dayne saw Landon in the background, but he seemed willing Ashley came to Dayne again, hugged him, and held on tight. “I thought we’d lost ycm . . but look at you. Like it never happened.” She let go and turned her attention to Katy. “It’s a

“Definitely.” Katy to Ashley’s hand. The others were still loud, still celebrating. They moved in closer, making a half circle around them. Katy looked as baffled as he felt. “It’s beautiful, Ash. I thought you couldn’t get subs out until spring.”

More tears filled Ashley’s eyes. “I couldn’t.” She massaged her throat. Then she made a wide sweeping gesture toward the

id their families. .ar Creek High e L dozen people h could right itse

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ppenin talk later.”

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the ackgrounc t.

Le again, hugged cm but loo] In turned her a Ashley’s ani hey moved in I k as baffled a5 ld get subs ou ey eyes. “

cou a wide sweepi

just us?”

Luke put his hands in his pockets.I

” said those words. But I

Luke’s shoulder. “We’ll talk later.”

the crowd.

to give her this moment.

miracle.”

crowd of people.

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Luke, still close by, gave Dayne a humble, crooked ,,m11( “What she’s trying to say is, we did the work.” I le’ititIed toward the group. “All of us.”

“What?” After a few heartbeats, Katy gasped. “You mean . .

“Yes.” Ashley was crying openly now. “Everyone helped. Peter and Jim hung doors and replaced windows and Brooke painted and Luke worked on the roof and the football team sanded and stained the exterior and-” she laughed and tried to breathe at the same time-“Erin watched the kids and the CKT kids cleaned up the yard and Dad and Elaine helped the kids plant bushes and… I don’t know…

just come in and see it.”

Dayne felt his heart bursting. The realization of what had happened was hitting him slowly, like a dream. He searched Ashley’s teary eyes. “Why? Why would you do this?”

“Because … you’re a Baxter.” She wiped her cheeks. “That’s what we do.”

And there it was… the answer he’d been waiting for. Waiting for and dreading.

He stared at Ashley and tried to believe that she had really said the words You’re a Baxter. That’s what we do. With every grueling hour of rehab, every weight he struggled to lift, and every afternoon perfecting the once-ordinary skills of writing and eating and brushing his teeth, he had feared this moment.

Going to Bloomington for Thanksgiving meant that for the first time in his life he would be with his entire birth family. No matter what he had promised Katy, he knew-he just knew-he would feel like an outcast, the one upsetting the balance for the rest of them. Every night when he lay in bed at the rehab center he had feared this reunion, dreaded it with his whole heart, because this would be the moment of reckoning.

The time for good-byes.

But maybe. . just maybe he was wrong.

He stared at the ground and closed his eyes. God, You knew this all along.

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My son, My precious son… welcome home!

The words echoed loudly in his heart. He opened his eyes and there was John.

Suddenly Dayne wasn’t sure if the response had come from God or from the man standing before him.

“We prayed for this moment.” John’s eyes were watery too. He wrapped Dayne in a hearty embrace; then he stepped back and put his hand on Dayne’s shoulder.

“Welcome home, Son.”

That was the breaking point. Tears fell from Dayne’s eyes, and he put his arm around his father’s shoulders. “Let’s go see the place.” The biggest smile he’d had in a long time filled his face, and he hoped with every heartbeat that this wasn’t a dream.

Katy walked beside him as they headed, with the crowd, to the back door. She slipped her arm around his waist, and that’s when he noticed that she was crying too. She stopped for a moment, rose on her toes, and whispered near his ear, “Told you so.”

Dayne wasn’t sure whether to laugh or break down. He gave her a quick kiss and held her eyes, hoping she could read all that he couldn’t find the words to say.

Then they made their way inside. It was as spectacular as the outside. As they reached the dining-room table, Dayne and Katy stopped at the same time.

“What’s … ?” Katy put one hand over her mouth and pointed with the other.

The entire table was filled with cards and flowers and gifts to welcome Dayne to Bloomington. But it wasn’t until they turned as a group and went into the oversize kitchen, where the Baxters were, that Dayne realized how fully, how completely his prayers and questions about today had been answered.

“Dayne.” Ashley squeezed her way in beside them. She had a young woman with her who looked familiar. Ashley’s cheeks were still tearstained, but she glowed from the inside out. She motioned to the woman beside her. “This is Erin, our youngest sister.”

Dayne smiled at Erin, and the last bit of his awkwardness 319

faded entirely. He hugged her. “Hi, Erin.” He took Katy’s hand “This is my fiancee, Katy.”

“Hi, Erin.” Two more tears slid down Katy’s cheeks. She sniffed and laughed at the same time. “I can’t wait to meet the rest of your family.”

Erin seemed shyer than the others. She pointed at something behind him. “I framed those for you. But everyone helped put them around the house.”

Dayne and Katy turned and there on the counters were framed photographs of the Baxter family. The crowd of people stayed outside for the most part; only the Baxters were inside now.

Cole rushed around the counter and began describing each picture. “This one’s Grandma and Papa before Grandma went to heaven.” Then he moved on to the next one. “This is me and little Devin and Mommy and Daddy. Here’s Aunt Erin and Uncle Sam and the girls, and Aunt Brookie and Uncle Peter and . .” The explanation went on for several minutes. But the last frame in the line was empty. -You forgot one, Aunt Erin,” Cole announced, reaching for the empty frame.

A pretty young woman stepped forward. She had an Asian baby in one arm and a mischievous-looking little boy by the hand. “It’s okay, Coley.” She smiled at Ashley’s son. “You can leave that one there.” Then she turned her little group toward Dayne and Katy. “That one’s for you and Luke.” She motioned to Luke and he joined her, putting his arm around her and the baby.

Luke’s eyes were damp. “Dayne, I’d like you to meet my wife, Reagan, and our kids, Malin and Tommy.”

“Nice to meet you.” Dayne’s heart pounded. If Luke could say what he’d said in the tabloids, Dayne figured his wife felt the same way. But now he could see that he was wrong. As wrong as could be.

He could live ten thousand years and never forget one detail 320

about this surprise, the house and the yard and the people and most of all the family. He was touched by this moment, changed by it.

Even in the midst of introductions, Dayne realized what was happening. He and Katy were home-the place where he’d always wanted to be, with the people he’d long dreamed about knowing. They were survivors, all of them, and he could see life clearly now for the first time since his accident.

This was only the beginning.

Luke turned to his wife. “Honey, I’d like you to meet Katy Hart, Dayne’s fiancee.”

The two women shook hands and exchanged hellos. Luke hesitated. He hung his head and gave it a single shake. Briefly he touched his fingertips to his eyes. Then he lifted his head and looked at Dayne. “I’ve wanted to say this for a long time.”

Dayne blinked twice, clearing the tears so he could make out Luke’s face.

“Reagan-” Luke looked from his wife back to Dayne-“I’d like you to meet my brother.”

Around the room, no one said a word. No one could. Dayne took Reagan’s hand, but in the same moment, he turned to Luke and everything about the past faded. Dayne made the first move, and they came together in the kind of intense hug usually reserved for teammates in the moments after winning a championship. They stayed that way a long time, clinging to each other and all they’d almost lost.

And standing there in the kitchen of a house that would soon be home, there was an overwhelming sense that instead of losing everything they had defied the odds. Because in the end they had both won. And now Dayne and Luke had what neither of them had ever had before.

A brother.

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THE TURKEY was in the oven, and the Baxter house was alive with the love and laughter and quiet conversations that Ashley looked forward to around the holidays. She was coming back from the garage with another pound of butter, but halfway to the kitchen she ducked into the living room and marveled. All twelve cousins were together, which meant sometime before the day was over Kari would line them up near the fireplace for the annual cousin photo. It was tradition.

Ashley stayed in her spot, unnoticed by the kids. Their laughter and the football game playing on TV and the smell of turkey wafting into every room were what Thanksgiving was supposed to be. That and their dad’s prayer. Each year it was a specific praise time to their God and Savior and a chance for their father to ask a blessing for each of his kids present.

This year that would be all his kids.

The scene before Ashley was so alive it would be almost impossible to paint. But someday she’d like to try. Cole and Maddie were sitting at a card table her dad had put in the room

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for the older kids. They were trying to start a game of Yahtzee, but they seemed to be involved in a lengthy discussion about who would go first.

Cole was easily the loudest. “I go first ‘cause I won last time.” His tone of voice left no room for discussion.

“No! That’s not how.” Maddie was quick with her retort. “Girls go first. That’s the rules.”

Cole stood up and crossed his arms. “The rules don’t say that, Maddie, because I read them. You’re just trying to be the boss of me.”

“No, I’m not.” Her tone rose to a whine. With exaggerated movements, she put her hands on her hips. “Girls go first in Yahtzee. Otherwise girls don’t play.”

“That’s not fair! You said you’d play, and now we have the papers out and we put our names on ‘ern, and that means no one else could use ‘em later, so I’ll just go first so we can move on.”

Ashley stifled a giggle and rolled her eyes at the same time. Cole might have a future as a salesman, but he definitely needed help on his approach. Rudeness wasn’t tolerated. She would talk to him about it later.

Malin was out of her playpen, darting about the room on her hands and knees and generally causing an uproar wherever she went. Erin’s girls-Clarisse, Chloe, Heidi Jo, and Amy-were playing dolls on the floor with Kari’s daughter, Jessie, and Brooke’s Hayley. Erin’s daughters were making an effort at being polite, but they kept sending the baby bits of instruction. “Stay out of here, Malin.” “Go over there, Malin.” “Don’t touch our dollies, Malin.”