Buried Truth (21 page)

He tipped her chin up and kissed her deeply. She felt sheer joy scorching her insides, making trails through her soul.

“I should have said it long ago, but I was afraid to be hurt, afraid to lose someone else.”

Her heart fluttered so strongly she wondered if he could hear it. “I don’t know what to say,” she whispered.

“Do you still love me? Or have I waited too long?”

She answered him with a kiss of her own, pouring all the longing and regret that she’d felt into it, until they both parted, breathless. Her heart beat with a new rhythm, a happy, vibrant song that trilled through mind and body.

How could she have found everything she needed here in this dry and dusty place? She caressed his cheek, checking to be sure what she’d just experienced was real. Tears welled up in her eyes. “Does this mean you’ll have a chance to learn your way around that cookbook I gave you?”

He laughed and she thought she’d never heard such a wonderful sound. “Maybe so.”

“What have you gotten through so far?”

He frowned in thought. “Let’s see. I think I’ve managed to make my way through the table of contents.”

Their laughter mingled. Heather looked over to see her mother watching her with a smile on her face, and she knew that there was no greater treasure in the world than what she had been given at that very moment.

She tilted her face to the sun and kissed him again.

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

1. Heather believes that no matter where she goes she will never escape the pain of her mother’s abandonment and her own bad choices. Have you ever felt that way? What is the antidote to this pain?

2. At one point, Heather makes the decision to leave South Dakota. How do you think her life would have turned out if she had left?

3. Heather realizes that the only way to heal is to make a choice “that will hurt deeply.” Have you ever had to make a choice like that? What helped you through it?

4. Aunt Jean tells Bill that Heather will always be tangled around his heart. Who are some people in your life that you no longer see but who remain deeply embedded in your heart?

5. Heather struggles to accept Margot. What are the qualities that make someone a mother besides the physical act of giving birth?

6. Heather worries that if she leaves, she will be abandoning her family as her mother did. Do we sometimes make choices to consciously be like our parents, or deliberately choose to be different than they are? Can you identify the choices you’ve made?

7. Heather feels a mixture of fear, anger and resentment about her mother. How do you think God will help her deal with such emotions?

8. Margot says of her husband, “We were complete opposites and I loved him instantly.” Which of Margot’s qualities probably attracted Heather’s father?

9. How did motherhood feel like a punishment to Margot?

10. As Margot points out, there is no rational reason why someone is compelled to love a person just because they gave birth to them. If God taught us how to love, why do we make such a mess of it sometimes?

11. Bill says, “I’m not going to let anyone in, Heather. Ever again.” What other characters in the novel appear to have made the same decision? Do they change as the novel progresses?

12. Tank is a noble canine friend, as is Choo Choo. How does God use animals to bless us in our daily lives?

ISBN: 9781408951415

Buried Truth

© Dana Mentink 2011

First Published in Great Britain in 2011
Harlequin (UK) Limited
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