The Heart's Voice (16 page)

He cupped her face in his hands and smiled down into her eyes. “Your heart speaking to mine.”

She slid her arms around his neck and laid her head on his shoulder, feeling the warmth and strength and rightness of his embrace. “I’ll marry you, Dan Holden,” she whispered, “and thank God every day for you.” She knew that he heard, just not with his ears.

“A real wedding,” Dan insisted later, sitting on the sofa next to her, his arms looped about her shoulders. He couldn’t stop grinning, couldn’t stop marveling, couldn’t stop touching her, loving her. He smiled as she considered, watching the cogs turning in her mind. Sweet Becca, she just couldn’t seem to stop counting pennies, but then she did.

“I’d like that, too. I didn’t have it with Cody,
didn’t think it was important, and even if I had, my folks couldn’t have provided cupcakes, let alone wedding cake. Besides, he had to be in Calgary in two days. I’d like a church wedding this time, the last time.”

The last time. Dan liked that.

“Nothing fancy,” he said, “but with my folks and yours, if they’ll come.” He felt strong, certain. Whole. Funny how that had nothing at all to do with physical perfection.

“I’m not sure they will,” Becca was saying, “but we’ll invite them.”

“Okay. When?”

She shrugged. “As soon as we can work it out. I want to talk to Abby and John. And Jemmy.”

He nodded. “Better see how the kids take to it first, huh?”

Becca cut him a look. “Oh, they’ll ‘take to it,’ all right. Trust me on that.”

“CJ’s little,” Dan mused. “Don’t figure he’ll mind. Jem might be little confused, but she’ll be okay eventually.”

“Eventually,” Becca echoed. It almost seemed like a question. She shifted around on the couch to face him more fully, drawing up one leg. “You don’t read lips as well as you think you do, hotshot.”

He frowned, targeting his concentration. “How’s that?”

Her lips twitched. “Jemmy decided some time ago that you are her father.”

“What?” He couldn’t have gotten that right.

“You think she’s been calling you Danny, don’t you?”

His brows drew together. She
had
been calling him Danny. Unless… His eyes widened. “Daddy?”

“Yep.” His jaw dropped, and Becca just grinned. “We’ve been around and around about it, but she’s one stubborn little girl.”

“Daddy,” Dan whispered. He’d thought he’d never be anyone’s daddy, and then he was without even realizing it. He had to duck his head, the tears catching him unawares. Becca slipped her hand into his, and he heard it again.

“I love you. Just as you are.”

He got to his feet, pulling her up with him. “Let’s go.”

He wanted to hear Jem call him “Daddy” and John Odem call him “son” and Becca tell them all that she loved him and trusted him enough to be his bride. He wanted to hear Abby’s delight and CJ’s sweet confusion and silly bids for attention. He could already hear Cody whispering that he should take care of them, make them his own.

The sound of a heart speaking was a beautiful thing.

Dear Reader,

Hearing impairment is a serious issue in my family. In 1996 my beautiful niece Hillary gave birth under very trying circumstances that even involved airlifting her newborn daughter a hundred miles away to a special hospital. After fearing that our Madison wouldn’t survive or could do so only with extreme medical problems, we thanked God to find that her sole impairment was loss of hearing. What a blessing she’s been to us!

Her parents have always treated Madi as the perfectly normal child she is, so our darling not only speaks normally, reads on grade level, enjoys television and, yes, even music, she’s also made significant accomplishments in her young life that few hearing children have achieved. Last year, her parents allowed her to enroll in competitive cheerleading, and her team went on to win two national championships in the mini-tot division. Madison herself won the American’s Elite National Championship for Individual Dance at the age of six in Kansas City, Kansas. A world champion at six! How’s that for inspiration?

As Madi could tell you, love, strong support, hard work and prayer can overcome any personal challenge, which is Dan Holden’s message for us in this book. Like Dan, Madi knows she’s “challenged,” and that’s sometimes daunting, but—also like Dan—our little rosebud has bloomed huge under the bright light of personal accomplishment. I hope you enjoy their story. And look out, world, here comes Madison Bowles! (Go get ’em, baby.)

God Bless,