Concealed Attractions (Cedar Island Tales) (33 page)

Ben
stretched out on the couch, one leg on the floor and the other hanging over the end. “
You’re right.
I
need to take a nap before I go
.
Like you said.
”

“
Feel free
.” She
sat down at
the little desk and started outlining her
American h
istory
notes. When she s
tood up to stretch
and relieve the ache in her back
from sitting in one place for
too
long
, Ben was
asleep. She
leaned
over
the couch, brushed his hair off his forehead
,
and kissed him where the bruise was still visible.
I
f only I’d met you first
, Ben
.

“Come on, Happy. Let’s go for a las
t walk before you have to leave,
”
she
murmured. The dog, who’d been s
nooz
ing next to the couch, rose quietly at her signal and followed
Dann
i
.
S
he
left a note for Ben
in case he woke up before she returned
and
tiptoed out of the a
partment, the dog at her side.

The two of them
walked
together
in the quiet of the night
. The evening mist deposited tiny raindrops on Danni’s hair. She
slowed down to
climb
the hill, turned a corner, and
walked
two
more
block
s before turning around and
beginning to
retrac
e
her
steps.
Her mind swirled with a mixture of emotions
, her body still reacting to Ben’s kiss.
Will he kiss me again? Will he
still like me after the baby is born?
A foghorn sounded
and she watched as a car slowed and then spe
e
d
ed
up the hill, its lights twin spears of
silver
as they pierced
the
soft
early winter
dark
ness.
She gave herself a little hug before crossing the street and heading for the apartment building.

Ben
was still asleep when
Danni
returned. She
made him a sandwich from what was left of the turkey and
wrapp
ed the last two gingerbread men, both tall like his first one, into a napkin.

He laughed
when he woke
and said he’d share one with
Happy
on the way home
. Then he wrapped his arms around
Danni
before he left, holding her
to his chest
as they sat on the couch together
, his heart beating a steady rhythm against her breast
. “Thanks for dinner,” he murmured in her ear. “It was the best.
Are you sure you’re going to be okay without Happy?
”

She willed herself to show him she was confident. “I’ll be fine.” But she wondered if
he could tell from the little qu
aver in her voice that she would miss Happy. And Ben.
His strong arms. His caring. And h
is kiss.
That kiss she would never forget.

When he left, the
apartment seemed
much
larger
now that she was alone again
.
Danni
wrapped a blanket around her shoulders and
went back to her studies to keep her mind
off the emptiness she felt
after Ben
’s
depart
ure
.
Then h
er mother called
.

“Hon
ey, you
r
dad is
still
being difficult.
I hate
d
the thought of you all
by yourself
on
Thanksgiving.”

Danni
sucked in her breath. “It’
s okay, Mom. I was
n’
t
a
lone. I invited Ben to eat
with me and Happy
was here, too
.
”

“I’m
so
glad.
You don’t have much more school to go, do you? With final exams, and all?
You
are
coming
home
after
ward
, aren’t you?”

“I was hoping to
. I’ve
never
had
Christmas
anywhere else
.
”
A lump formed in her throat.
She had to ask.
“Or won’t that be possible?”
Was her dad never going to let her come home?

“I
hope so
, dear. Let me call you in
ten days and see how things are. W
hat
your father’s mood
is
then.”

Danni
couldn’t
stop
a
dee
p sigh
from escaping
that she was sure her mother heard.
“Okay
.”

She put the phone down.
M
aybe she sh
ould
think about
find
ing
a place
in
New Harbor
if she couldn’t go home
.
A kind of Plan B
in case Plan A wasn’t possible
.

She
slept fitfully and
woke
up early. “I have to concentrate on my exams,” she
kept
remind
ing
herself. “I’ve got to stay focused.
I’ll talk to Ben.
He’ll know what to do.
” 

Chapter
10

“
Mr.
Kelly
, come right in,”
Pastor Wheeler
invited. “What can I do for you?”

David
edged onto
a chair in the minister’s office.
“I’m here
’
cause my wife
said I had to talk to you.
About my daughter.”
The older man fumbled with his hat
,
seemingly
un
sure what to do with his hands.
“
Dannilynn
got herself pregnant and I told her she c
an’t come home until she ge
t
s
rid of the kid.”

The minister
held
his gaze steady
. He needed to step carefully through this family’s emotional minefield
, his parishioners for several years
. “
Those are
harsh
words
.
Isn’t
Dannilynn
your only daughter, carrying your first grandchild?
”

The older man
blinked once, twice. “In
my
book
, women
don’t get pregnant
unless
they’
re
married, and she did, so that’
s that.
Maybe I’m old-fashioned, but that’s how I see it.
”

Not much flexibility there. No forgiveness either.
“Sinc
e you feel so strongly about i
t,
why
did your wife want you to talk
with
me?”

“She says I’m wrong and you would know what to do, what I should
say, to make things right. She claim
s
Danni
’s
afraid of me and
Anna said
I have to forgive her—so
she
can
come home for Christmas
.
I can’t do that
.
I
won’t
do that
.  She was wrong
,
getting herself
knocked up
.”

Pastor Peter glanced
around the room as he considered what to say next
.
“
Hers
wasn’t an immaculate conception, David.
It wasn’t just
your daughter’s
doing.
Some man got her pregnant. Has she talked with you about how it happened?”

“I know how it happened! She let that kid from the clinic get between her
legs is
what
happened!” H
e
rose abruptly and headed for the door
.

“Are you talking about Ben Edwards?”
Surprised, Peter rubbed a hand across his brow.

“He’s the one.”

“Somehow, I don’t think he
—
”

“He did al
l
right. I saw them cozied up together when I surprised her at the college. He denied it
,
but I know he’s the one.
That boy
ought to be horse
whipped for what he did to my little girl.”

Pastor Wheeler
stood
and
walked
over to
his distraught parishioner. “If he denied it,
perhaps you should
talk with
Dannilynn
about who the father is. Do you know if she intends to keep the child?”

“Over my dead body! She’s
not livin’
u
nder
my
roof with a bastar
d kid.
I’m done talking to you. You’re just like my wife.”
The
man stormed out of
Peter
’s
office.

When the man
left the parsonage and drove away
,
Rebecca entered
her husband’s office. “That was
a bit touch
y, wasn’t it?
Do you think Ben is the father?”

Peter
shook
his head. “The timing seems
a bit
off. I
’m not sure, but I
think she
was
already
pregnant when she
came
home from college
last summer
.
” He
reached for his coat. “David’
s been drinking, and it’s barely
ten
in the morning. I need to
talk to
Anna.”

What he found
when he
reached
Anna
’s home
was no more encouraging.

“I’m afraid
of
him now that he
’s
drinking again, somethin
g he has
n’t done in
such a long time
, and
I’m
afraid for
Danni
, if she’s here
when he’s like this
.
”

“Do you want her to come home?”
P
astor P
eter asked.

“Of course
I do
, but I’m afraid
if she’
s
here and David comes back, he’
ll do something.”

“
Hurt
her?”

She hugged her
self as if for warmth.
“I don’t know. I don’t wan
t to think about that, but he’
s
so
angry.
I haven’t
seen him
like this
in such a long time
. That’s why I told her not to come home for Thanksgiving, and I’m not sure she should
for Christmas, either.” S
he began to sob. “I
feel like I’ve lost my daughter
and
my husband,
and I don’t even know
exactly
when she’
s supposed to have that baby.”

“
Has
Danni
told you
if she is going to keep the
child
?”