A Hero for Her Heart (Truly Yours Digital Editions Book 885) (17 page)

Allie stared in disbelief. “Shared custody? Why would we agree to that? Danny doesn’t even know you.”

“He does now. And he knows Derrick.”

“I don’t think you have a legal leg to stand on, Mr. Owens.” Ma’s voice was sure and confident, and Allie drew strength from her.

“Danny’s adoptive parents were killed in a car accident. He no longer has parents, just a legal guardian.” Richard stood and drew back his broad shoulders. “My wife and I and Derrick are family by blood. If you’re not agreeable to informal shared custody, we will do this through the courts. If we do that, you risk losing him altogether.”

Allie leaped to her feet. Lose Danny? No! Of course they’d fight. But they had barely enough money for necessities lately, let alone legal fees. Frozen to the spot, strength drained out of her and she could only stare up at him.

“We don’t want to confuse Danny or hurt him.” Ma stood and draped her arm around Allie. “We’ve nothing to be ashamed of, Mr. Owens. We love him with all our hearts.”

“But it seems you’re in financial difficulty. My lawyer’s investigator discovered that. You’re selling off land. Perhaps you can’t provide for Danny like we can.” Richard’s gaze roamed the room. “Nor does it appear he’s well supervised based on his broken arm. I could make a case of that. Would you like to reconsider?” Richard crossed his arms over his chest.

“Money doesn’t grow happy children.” Allie crossed her arms in imitation of his. “We may not have a fat bankbook, but Danny’s the happiest kid you’d ever want to meet.”

“We probably should consult our own lawyer,” Ma said. “In the meantime, I think our discussion is over, Mr. Owens. I’ll see you to the door.”

Richard’s face seemed to sag. “I’m sorry you feel that way. I can find my own way.”

They watched as he walked from the room to the front door.

The door closed with a
snap
, and Allie wheeled around to face her mother. “What a nightmare.”

“Yes, so it seems.” Ma rubbed her temples.

“Should we have agreed to joint custody?”

Ma shook her head. “No. At least not right now. We don’t know the truth for a certainty. And we don’t know the Owenses. Except Derrick, and now that’s in question. I just can’t believe he would deliberately deceive us.” Ma focused her eyes on her. “Last thing I want is your faith to be hurt more than it already has been.”

“It’s not your fault.” Allie dropped into a chair, dead exhausted. “He played me, too.”

“I’m not sure about that,” Ma said. “Time will tell. But one thing for sure, they can’t take our little boy.”

“What if the adoption was illegal? They’ve got the money. They can hire hotshot attorneys who’ll make the case.”

“He said coerced, not illegal,” Ma said with a slight smile. “If it had been illegal, a man like Richard Owens would have been here guns blazing. Besides, the Lord is in control.” She took a deep breath. “I’m going to make cookies and pray.”

They both turned when they heard footsteps on the stairs. “Aunt Allie? Did Mr. Derrick’s father leave?”

“Yes, he left.” Allie glanced at her mother for guidance.

“I’m going to make a batch of chocolate chip cookies.” Ma held her hand out to Danny. “Come and help me.”

“Goody!”

“I’m going out to the barn,” Allie said.

“Remember who is in control,” Ma said over her shoulder as she guided Danny to the kitchen. “We serve a good God.”

Allie hated the thoughts that coursed through her head as she walked to the barn. Resentment and anger that flew in so many directions and at so many targets. The Lord, who hadn’t promised a rose garden as Ma always said. And there was Luke, the brother she’d looked up to all her life. What had he done? Participated in a questionable adoption? Betrayed his wife? Then there was her own romantic life, if it could even be called that. Michael the cheater and now Derrick the deceiver. Had he really gotten to know her—kissed her—just to get to Danny?

Allie felt the tears start halfway to the barn. Once she was inside, she draped her arms around Pip’s neck and let the waterworks flow. The horse stood patiently as he had for so many years. When the tears finally dried, she felt drained of all emotion and went to the storeroom for her shovel and wheelbarrow. Then she retrieved two bales of straw and placed them in the aisle.

Lord, I feel so lost. I’m not in control. I can’t do this anymore.

As she scooped a pile of manure from Pip’s stall, she heard the barn door squeak. She turned. Derrick’s outline was silhouetted in the setting sun.

Twenty-one

The second he met Allie’s scorching gaze, Derrick’s greeting died on his lips.

“What do you want?” She heaved a load of manure into a wheelbarrow, and he could just imagine where she really wanted it flung.

“I talked to your mother. I know my father was here.” Derrick slipped his hands into his trouser pockets, heart constricting, remembering the cool greeting he’d gotten from Betsy and the disappointment in her eyes. He’d never felt so shut out in his entire life.

“Yes, he was.”

“I’m sorry.” He uttered the words, but knew they couldn’t begin to express his regret.

“So am I,” Allie said.

Derrick took a couple of steps farther into the barn. “Please hear me out.”

“No.” Allie shook her head. “I don’t want to hear you out. I’ve had enough listening. I want to ask questions.”

“Can we sit, then?” Derrick dropped his gaze. He couldn’t bear to see the wounded look in her eyes.

With a wave Allie indicated the bales of straw. Once they were seated, she faced him.

She flicked back her long auburn hair, then clasped her hands in her lap. “The only reason we’re talking now is so I can get closure. Don’t take it as another opportunity to lie.”

Sorrow like a dagger stabbed Derrick’s heart. He’d honored Sandy’s desires, despite his reservations. Now he’d lost everything. But looking back, could he have done anything differently? He spread his hands. “Ask me anything.”

“You came to Walla Walla looking for your nephew, right?”

“Yes,” Derrick said.

“Was everything a lie? All of it?”

He wagged his head slowly. “I didn’t lie to you, Allie. I just never told you my original reason for coming to Walla Walla.”

“Did you come to town in search of your nephew and pretend to befriend me and Ma—worst of all Danny—just to get your foot in the door and investigate us?”

“At my sister’s request, I came to town in search of my nephew, to make sure he was okay. But I didn’t set out to befriend you or deceive you. You fell into my life, so to speak. The befriending was real.” He leaned toward her. “When I felt myself becoming attached to Danny and Betsy and attracted to you, I made the decision to stay out of your lives. I couldn’t allow any of you to become more attached to me. That’s why I didn’t call you. But when I suspected my father found out, I came to talk to you. I knew how he would react. I can only imagine what that was like.”

“You don’t have to imagine. I’ll tell you.” Allie backed away from him, the conviction in her green eyes sure and strong. “He wants joint custody. He said he’d have no problem dragging us through a legal battle to get
his
grandson. He knew, thanks to you, that Danny’s adoptive parents were dead.”

“Stop,” Derrick said. “I know how he came across. I’ve lived with the man all my life. But you have to believe me. I told him nothing.”

Allie stared at him, tears in her eyes.

“I had a good reason for doing what I did,” Derrick said.

“I really don’t care.” Her voice was so small and sad. “I have just one more question. If you hadn’t met me the way you did, snatching me off Chester, would you have inserted yourself into our lives?”

“Probably not. I would have tried to find out what I needed to know without bothering you at all.” He swallowed. “But if I had met you in other circumstances some other way, some other time, I would have ended up kissing you just like I did.”

A long silence stretched between them, and he searched his mind for the right words, but the wall Allie built around her kept him silent. He knew unless God intervened and a miracle happened, the possibility of a relationship with Allie was gone.

“I’m sorry you lost your sister,” Allie finally said. “I’m also sorry things turned out the way they did. I don’t know what’s going to happen now, but I do know that our friendship is broken. I don’t think I can trust you.”

Derrick’s hopes died. He’d lost her.

She shrugged and got to her feet. “I think you’d better leave now.”

He stood and stared down at her, remembering their kiss and how she felt in his arms.

“Mr. Derrick?” Danny’s voice came from the barn door.

Allie gasped, and Derrick’s muscles grew taut. How much had the boy heard?

He strode toward them and looked up into Allie’s dazed face.

“Danny.” Allie dropped to her knees in front of him. “I thought you were helping Granny make cookies.”

“We finished. She thinks I’m in my room, but I wanted to see Mr. Derrick.”

Derrick wanted to sink into the floor. Of all his regrets, the worst was hurting Danny.

Danny shuffled his feet. “I heard you talking.” He looked up at Derrick, eyes watery. “I don’t understand. Why is your father going to take me away?”

Allie glared at Derrick. He grasped Danny’s shoulder. “Nobody is going to take you away from your aunt or grandma. This is where you belong.”

“But why does he want to?” Danny asked.

“I’ll explain in a little while.” Allie met Derrick’s eyes and nodded toward the door, silently demanding that he leave.

Derrick exited the barn, feeling like he was leaving his beating heart at Allie’s feet on the dirt floor. As he got into his truck, he wondered how he could keep his promise. Could he stop his father? The man was accustomed to getting his way. He’d even made sure Derrick was detained at the office so he wouldn’t interfere with his visit to the Vahns’.

His mind turned over all his options. He had to have someone on his side. As he turned onto Frog Hollow Road, he headed for his final destination before he left Walla Walla.

Twenty-two

Allie and Danny walked to the house from the barn.

“Is it true? Derrick’s father is my grandfather?” Danny frowned and pursed his lips. “Does that mean Mr. Derrick is my father?”

“No, he isn’t.” Allie felt an urge to slug something. Now she was forced into telling Danny who his real mother was and that she was dead.

“Why did you make Mr. Derrick leave?” Danny looked at her. “He’s my friend.”

He’s more than that,
Allie thought bitterly. “Let’s wait and talk with Granny, okay?” She walked into the mudroom with her arm wrapped around Danny. Let Derrick, his dad, or anybody else try to take Danny away from them. Over her dead body.

Ma looked up from cleaning the last remnants of baking in the kitchen. “Danny? I thought you were in your room.”

“I wanted to see Mr. Derrick.”

“He overheard us talking in the barn. Now he wants to know why Derrick’s father is his grandfather and. . .” Allie swallowed. Where did she start?

“I see.” Ma set down her dishrag and pointed at the kitchen chairs. “Let’s sit.” She looked across the table at Danny. “You’re nine years old now. I know you’ll be able to understand what we tell you. Are you ready?”

Danny nodded solemnly, minus his usual rambunctiousness.

As her mom began to talk, Allie’s body went rigid.
Lord, please soften the blow. Give Danny peace.

❧

Thirty minutes later Allie left the kitchen to make a phone call while Danny continued to hammer his grandmother with questions. Amazingly, he didn’t seem terribly disturbed. Perhaps because he’d never met Sandy—or maybe because the Lord had actually softened the blow. Danny had become animated, focusing on the fact that Derrick was his “real uncle.”

Derrick. She’d begun to trust him. She’d put her faith in love again, but he’d left her faith in ruins. The irony of that thought struck her, and she could hear the Lord whispering,
“Your faith should never be in a man, but in Me. No man is perfect. No man ever will be.”

That slowed her thoughts. It was true—no one was perfect, including her. She made plenty of mistakes. And wasn’t her anger and resentment and lack of trust in the Lord just as bad as Derrick’s sin of omission? He was right. He had never outright lied to her, and he had finally come to her to tell the truth. At least what he knew.

But Allie had more questions. She needed to know if Danny’s adoption had really been coerced. And there was one person who probably knew most of the answers. Paige Maynard. She pulled her cell phone from her pocket and walked to the living room, her long strides fueled by anger. Paige—what had she really done? Yet without Paige, would they have Danny? She began to punch numbers into her cell with trembling fingers.

Lord, I need answers.

Allie hit the last digit of Paige’s number, held her breath, and listened to the first ring, then the second endless ring. “Lord, please,” she whispered, “let her pick up.”

“Paige here.”

“This is Allie.” She drew in a breath. “I had a visitor today. He told us that Danny’s adoption had been coerced.”

A long silence ensued. “Paige? Are you there? Hello?”

“I don’t understand.” She spoke in a clipped tone. “Who told you such a lie?”

Allie hesitated a beat. Paige had admitted to the affair with Luke, and what could be worse than that? Yet something in her gut told her to press on. “This person has evidence to the contrary.”

“What type of evidence? And who is this person?”

“Richard Owens. The biological mother’s father.” Allie paced. She wasn’t about to show her cards, not without knowledge of all the facts. Her thoughts returned to Luke, the money. She just couldn’t accept that her brother had carried on an affair with the likes of Paige—the woman who’d chased him through high school and beyond.

“That money Luke gave you. . .” Her thoughts were a swirl of confusion. Too much had happened today. Allie sent up another silent prayer and started again. “You persuaded a drug-addicted young woman to give up her baby.”