The Promise of Rainbows (40 page)

“We know this would hurt Mama,” Sadie said, their shoulders touching now, mostly out of comfort.

“It would, but I can see why Gail’s news and the planning for Susannah’s wedding stirred you up,” J.P. said softly. “Have y’all decided to hire a private investigator?”

“We wanted to talk with you first,” Sadie said. “You’re…”

“I’m?” he asked, looking at her intently.

She bit her lip, which looked to be wobbling all the sudden. “Well…you’re rather like our brother and daddy all wrapped up in one.”

His mouth flattened and then he stood. “Come here, you two.”

They flew off the couch and into his arms. He wrapped them up and kissed them both on the head.

“Susannah got so mad at us when we mentioned it,” Sadie said, crying softly. “We don’t want to hurt anyone, J.P., I swear. We just want to know what happened to him and if he’s still alive.”

“And although I want to know about his family’s medical history, that’s not the only reason I want to look for him,” Shelby felt compelled to admit.

His chest rose with a deep breath, and then he set them both back so he could look at them. “I don’t know what you might find if you look. You know everything I know. I’m sorry you haven’t made your peace with it, but I understand where you’re coming from.”

“Have you really made your peace with it, J.P.?” Shelby asked.

“Mostly,” he said after a time. “I have some moments that creep up on me, but they don’t come too often anymore.”

“I’m happy for you,” she told him. “But we don’t have that same peace. If we decide to look for Daddy, it might give us that.”

Sadie nodded in solidarity.

“And it might not,” he said and sat back down. “He’s been gone decades.”

Shelby had thought of that. “I realize that. Do you know if Mama ever looked for him?”

“She did,” he told them. “She was as confused as everyone else.”

Her belly quivered. “Did the…did she ever contact the police?”

He leaned forward and put his hands on his knees. “What are you suggesting, Shelby? That there was foul play?”

“There could have been,” Sadie shot out, rushing to her defense. “That’s the point. We don’t know. All I keep doing is imagining. I want the truth. Darn it all, we
deserve
the truth.”

More silence followed as J.P. folded his hands in his lap. Shelby knew he was praying for guidance.

“If you want the truth, then you should do what your heart tells you to do.” He stroked Charleston, who had taken up sentry duty by his side. “But you need to understand what could come out of this. It might be nothing, or it might be something. Both could hurt.”

“We already hurt, J.P.,” Sadie said, her voice breaking, which made Shelby take her hand again.

“If we move forward, we don’t have to tell you what we find if you don’t want to know,” Shelby said. “Same goes for Susannah.”

Their brother stewed a time more. “And Mama? If you discover something, what will you do about her?”

She and Sadie shared a look, and she could all but feel her sister’s heart being pinched right alongside hers.

“Do you think we should tell her what we’re planning?” Shelby asked quietly.

“No!” Sadie said, jerking her hand away. “She never wants to talk about this. Why stir her up when we don’t know if anything will come of it?”

Shelby kept her gaze on J.P.’s. “Well?” she prodded.

“I don’t think you should tell her about hiring someone,” he said, rising and grabbing his sweet tea, which he downed in three gulps. “As for later…I honestly don’t know.”

Since her mouth was dry, she reached out for her sweet tea. Sadie did the same, her eyes troubled.

“Maybe we should pray on it some more then,” Sadie concluded, clutching her glass to her chest. “I would hate to hurt Mama.”

“But you’re hurting too,” J.P. said, proving yet again that he was the best brother out there.

“Do you think we should go through with it then?” Shelby asked, all of the pros and cons swirling in her mind.

“Are you going to be able to stop thinking about him? Susannah’s wedding is likely to stir it up more. And what happens when it’s your time to walk down the aisle?” He looked at them with gentle eyes. “You don’t want this to weigh on you on your wedding day.”

“I hadn’t thought that far ahead,” Shelby declared. Her own wedding? It seemed light-years away.

“Me either,” Sadie said, “but he’s right. I will be thinking about it on my wedding day, and I don’t want to be crying about it.”

On that they agreed.

“So we’ll look into hiring someone,” Shelby concluded, and Sadie nodded. “Gail recommended someone she’s used in the past.”

J.P. studied his boots thoughtfully, and Shelby waited to hear what he was working out in his mind.

“Wait until Susannah is married a spell,” J.P. said in a grave voice. “We’ve gone a long while without knowing anything; a little more time won’t hurt. I don’t want any news of Daddy to mar her happiness.”

J.P. was right. “We can do that.”

“It’s only reasonable,” Sadie agreed. Then a thought struck her. “You’re getting married too. Do you want us to wait for you as well?”

His face softened and he shook his head. “That’s mighty sweet of you, but I’ll manage. Besides, I don’t think you could wait that long.”

“We would for you,” Sadie echoed.

“I know, and I’m glad you trusted me enough to talk to me about this,” their brother said, walking over and putting his hand on both of their shoulders. “It couldn’t have been easy.”

“Heavens no,” Sadie said, getting up to give him a good hug.

“We trust you,” Shelby said as she stood and put her arms around both her siblings.

They rocked in place for a spell, and when they broke apart, Shelby felt more grounded. J.P.’s support for their plan meant the world.

“Do you want to be a part of things?” Shelby asked him. “The hiring and the…um…process.”

He crossed his hands behind his back and didn’t answer all at once. “I don’t know. When the time comes, ask me again. I’ll pray about it in the meantime.”

They all would, in their own way, she guessed.

“We’d best be going,” Sadie said, picking up their glasses and taking them to the kitchen.

Left alone with J.P., Shelby leaned in and hugged him again. When she was little, his hugs were the best comfort in the whole world. That hadn’t changed much.

“I know it was hard on you,” she said, “seeing our side of things.”

He chuckled. “And yet it’s my biggest life lesson. You took me to a new level of listening and openness tonight. For a moment, I wanted to tell y’all to let it go.”

“So you have moments of weakness like the rest of us,” she teased gently.

“As if there was any doubt,” J.P. said and released her when Sadie returned.

They embraced again, and Sadie brushed away more tears as he walked them to the door.

“You’re still the best brother ever,” Shelby told him as she stepped outside.

“Yeah, the best,” Sadie agreed.

“Goodnight, girls,” he said and closed the door.

They walked to their cars, and when they reached them, Sadie opened her purse and took out her wallet. “I thought about it long and hard and… I want to contribute to hiring the P.I. Here’s some money. I’ll give you what I can.”

She felt blind-sided. “But—”

“I know I don’t make as much money as you do, working at a craft store and all, but he’s my daddy too. I want to help you find him. Gosh, that sounds all film-noir-like. What did Gail tell you about the one she recommended?”

Shelby’s mind flashed to Vander immediately. “Not much, but I can ask her for more information. He has endorsements from some pretty big names, I can tell you.”

“Excellent!” Sadie said, giving her another hug. “I know this won’t be easy, but I feel oddly at peace about it now that we’ve decided. I love you, Shelby.”

“Love you too,” she answered, holding her tight before releasing her.

Her sister headed off to her Honda.

“Sadie!” she called out. There was a funny tightness in her chest. “Thanks for not letting me do this alone.”

Sadie gave her a smile over her shoulder. “It’s what sisters do.”

But Susannah felt differently, and she was their sister too. J.P. had been wise to ask them to wait until all Susannah’s wedding business was behind them before looking for their daddy.

Who knew what they were ultimately going to find?

Chapter 29

If you asked Jake, the three weeks flew by faster than a speeding bullet. Susannah worked with the team Garth had hired, and he mostly said, “Um-hum,” a lot when it came to agreeing to flowers, food, decorations, and other wedding-like stuff. The details boggled the mind, and he wondered how weddings had become so complicated.

But Susannah thrived on the details, and her gift was arranging things to make them beautiful. He would have supported her if she’d wanted to release hundreds of butterflies at the wedding. He’d heard of people doing that kind of thing. Normally he would say people who bought insects for show should probably be put on the front porch for a spell, but he would do anything for her.

By the time their wedding day arrived, he was as eager and nervous as he’d been before performing his first concert. Susannah felt the same. They’d moved her things into his house—their home—early in the week, and then she’d spent the rest of the week fussing with everything. As far as he was concerned, she could fuss away in their home for the rest of her life. His nightmares had continued to stay away, and he figured that was because Susannah mostly slept beside him now.

As he eyed the den, he was hard pressed to believe the room belonged in his house. White lights hung from the ceiling like strands of snowflakes, and hot pink roses tied together with decorative purple ribbons perfumed the air. Only fifty people would be in attendance for the wedding—all of whom they trusted not to breathe a word to anyone—while another fifty had been invited to the reception, which they’d billed as Jake’s housewarming party.

“Looks pretty good if you ask me, bubba,” Rye said, slapping him on the back. “I still question you agreeing to all this pink and purple, though. You lost your man-card on that one, my friend.”

“I like the purple, Uncle Rye,” Rory said, tweaking his purple bow tie. “Aunt Shelby said I look smashing in purple.”

Rye plucked him up and lifted him over his head. “Rory, son, never
ever
let a woman tell you that you look good in purple. No matter how pretty she is.”

The little boy laughed as Rye tossed him in the air before setting him down on the ground.

“Take it from an old pro like me. Don’t put that girly stuff on until right before the wedding.”

“Not all of us can get away with that,” J.P. said, pulling out Rye’s bow tie, which he’d stuffed into his handkerchief pocket.

“The wedding planner tried to make me put it on, bless her heart,” Rye said, “but she gave up when she saw that ain’t happening.”

A number of the guests were already seated. His parents weren’t in attendance, although his mama had sent her apologies along with a gift of his and hers Razorback sweaters—which was at least a gesture of sorts. His brother hadn’t responded at all to the invite.

But those he cared about were here, and that was all that mattered. His manager was chatting animatedly with his record producer, likely about his new album. His agent was present with wife number three, and his band members… Well, they had their legs stretched out in front of them like they’d tied one over after the rehearsal dinner last night. Jake hadn’t wanted to be tired or hung over on his wedding day, so he’d declined their request to join them. The bachelor party they’d thrown him on Thursday had been enough.

Jake caught sight of Randy and Darren coming into the den. He looked around to see if Monty was trailing behind. His old Army buddies hadn’t been able to make it in for his bachelor party last minute, so he was eager to catch up with them. “Excuse me for a moment.”

He strode over to his friends, waving to a few people sitting in the back. But the moment his buddies caught sight of him, they halted in place.

The usual spring in Darren’s step was missing, and he didn’t look like he’d be ready to salsa to the number Jake had insisted they put on the DJ’s list for the reception. Randy’s massive shoulders were set in an angle suggesting he wanted to go nine rounds with someone. Jake’s gut burned fast and hard.
Something’s wrong,
he thought. He knew these guys. Had learned to read their body language when it meant life and death.

“Hey, guys.” He gave each of them a one-armed hug. “Thanks so much for coming. I know it’s a long flight from out West. I was sorry y’all couldn’t make it for the bachelor party, but you’re here now, and that’s what counts.”

“Yeah, man,” Darren said, putting his arm on Jake’s shoulder and gripping it hard. “We’re really sorry we missed it. Work stuff, you know.”

It had surprised him a little when Darren texted at the last minute to say they could only come in for the wedding, not the bachelor party. Sure they lived in different states, but something was off and he knew it. Best ease into it.