Dylan's Redemption (25 page)

“I’ll try to remember he didn’t know. I’ll remember his grief is fresh, and that I can help him through it the way I wished he’d been there to help me with mine.”

“That’s a start, honey.” He escorted her into the house. “I set up a fire for you. Just strike a match and you’re in business. I filled the wood box too. Do you think you can make it upstairs?”

Sore and still having trouble walking without limping, she’d get up those stairs if it killed her. “Even if I have to crawl up those stairs, I’m sleeping in my bed.”

“Remember what the doctor said. Let the scabs heal. Only take a short shower.”

“I’ll manage. Don’t worry.”

She’d walked into the great room and stared out the bank of windows at her back lawn and the surrounding trees. The sound of an approaching car drew her attention back to the front windows. Dylan pulled up in her driveway.

“Did I mention Dylan said he and Will are coming over?” Greg feigned innocence.

She clenched her teeth to keep from yelling at him. “I don’t believe you forgot at all,” she said tightly.

Will raced in the front door. “This is the coolest house ever.” He ran to Jessie and threw his arms around her legs. She flinched and clenched her teeth, but Will didn’t notice. She recovered fast and gently pulled Will away from her injured leg.

“Will, you can’t just run into someone else’s house.” Dylan walked in, carrying grocery bags. He stopped when he entered. The outside was spectacular, the inside even better. Twenty-foot ceilings towered over him with skylights letting in the natural light and making it appear as if you were still outside. The wood walls and floors gleamed a soft honey in the brilliant sunlight. The stone wall to the right boasted a huge fireplace with a stone bench running the length of the entire wall. Large copper bins sat on each side of the fireplace filled with wood for the fire. A large vase on one end held ten-foot-tall branches that curled and twined together with white lights strung along them. They’d be a pretty sight at night. On the far end of the room, the bench housed several pots of varying sizes with a profusion of houseplants. The natural light made their leaves deep green and glossy.

Seating areas divided the great room into three sections. Along the back wall where the sliding glass doors led out to a patio, the dining table sat with eight chairs surrounding an old plank farmhouse table. Closer to him were two seating areas, one for conversation, and the other for watching the big-screen TV.

The kitchen lay straight ahead. Glass-fronted wood cabinets in the same honey tone as the floors. The counter tops were sandy-colored stone. The sunlight streaming in made everything sparkle and glisten. The room was cheerful and homey, down to the soft brown leather sofas and yellow-and-white fabric chairs.

“Jessie, this place is amazing. You built it?” He noticed the huge framed picture on one of the walls. A set of blueprints for the house, showing the outside exposure.

Jessie stood staring at him like she’d never seen him before, so Greg answered. “She built it a couple years ago. Designed it too. Everything you see, she either built or picked out herself, down to the stones in the wall.”

“What’s in the barn outside?”

“That’s her workshop. She builds furniture out there. You should see the rooms upstairs. The dressers and beds she made are amazing.”

“I’ll bet they are. I bought a bunch of your furniture. I sleep in a bed you made. I have an entire bedroom set, coffee tables, side tables, and a dining set. It all came from your store. You have the order for Will’s new stuff. He’s grown out of his baby furniture.”

“I like horses. Daddy says we can’t keep one in the house. Uncle Owen has two horses. He let me pet them.”

Jessie’s stunned silence faded. The little boy still held on to her leg, though loosely now. Coming out of her daze, his words penetrated her stalled mind. “No. You can’t keep a horse in the house, but I have something you can keep.” She asked Dylan, “Um, can I take him out to the barn?”

“Sure, honey. Be warned, he’ll touch everything.” She could only nod. “I’ll put these groceries away and meet you out there. I’d love to see your workshop.”

Jessie didn’t know what to do now that they were here, in her house. She took Will by the hand and led him to the front door.

Dylan didn’t let her get away from him so easily. He handed the grocery bags over to Greg and stopped Jessie before she passed him. He grabbed her wrist and turned her to him.

“Not even going to kiss me hello.” He didn’t wait for her to answer, simply leaned down and pressed his lips to hers. He pulled back just a fraction of an inch, enough to look into her eyes. Then he kissed her again and made sure she knew how hungry he was for her. He ended the kiss by touching his forehead to hers. He held the side of her head and looked into her wary eyes. “I’ve missed you.”

“You saw me yesterday.”

He gave her that cocky half grin she’d missed so much. “I missed you.”

Those words were meant to convey a lot more than not seeing her for a day. He’d missed her a lot longer. She wanted to tell him she’d missed him too. She wanted to tell him she thought of him all the time and stayed up nights watching the road to her house, remembering their night together and hoping to one day see him drive up the road ending at her house.

It made her nervous to think he already knew. How could he not? Being here, at her home on the very land where their lives had come together and been torn apart, he knew how deeply she’d longed for him. Why else would she still be here waiting for him? And he knew it.

Will pulled her arm toward the door. So much easier to go with him than take a step toward Dylan.

“Come on. I want to see,” Will said, tugging on her.

Dylan let her go. She passed him, but his hand softly slid down her arm to her hand before their fingers touched and dropped away.

Greg unpacked grocery bags in the kitchen, not even trying to hide his huge smile. “So, what’s your plan of attack?” Greg asked.

“Every time she turns around, she’ll find me. I figure the only way for her to believe I’m not leaving, and I want her with me always, is to make sure she knows I’m here, all the time.”

“That sounds like a good plan. Are you going to talk to her about the fact she built her house here?”

“I’m blown away. She really has been torturing herself, since she left all those years ago.”

“You should see what’s in the garage,” Greg said half under his breath, intriguing Dylan.

“What’s in the garage?”

“Cars. What else would she keep in the garage?” He smiled wickedly. “You know, I never really believed there was one person out there for each of us. Not until I met her. For her, there’s only you. You’re the only man she sees and loves. The rest of us are just people to her, and a few, like Dad and me she calls friends. You are the only man that’s been in her life since she was young. Remember that.

“Listen, man, I’m out of here. Take care of her. Her heart’s as beat up as her body. Go out to the barn. See what an amazing woman she is.”

“I already know how amazing she is. That’s why I’m not letting her go.”

“Good. I expect to be best man at the wedding. Dad will walk her down the aisle. Nothing would please us more than to see her happy.”

“That’s all I want, to make her happy.”

“I believe you will.” He looked out the door toward the barn. Dylan followed his gaze. “Go slow with the whole mother thing. That area is still raw and sensitive. She only got to be a mother for five days. Will is going to remind her of how much she lost. Give her time to adjust.”

“I’ve already spoken to Will about calling her ‘Mommy.’ He’s determined to have her.”

“Just like his dad.” Greg slapped him on the shoulder and they walked out the front door. “I hope this works out, for the both of you.”

Dylan intended to make sure it did.

Chapter Twenty-Six

D
YLAN WALKED INTO
the barn through one of the oversize doors and waited while his eyes adjusted to the darker interior. Will and Jessie stood off to the right beside a large cabinet. Will hid inside the bottom door and Jessie pretended she’d lost him.

“Will,” she called. “Where are you? You disappeared.”

The door flung open and Will peeked his head out. “No, I didn’t. I’m hiding.” He giggled.

“Oh my goodness.” Jessie yelped, pressing her hand to her chest. “You scared me. I thought I’d lost you.”

“Then you know how I felt when I thought I lost you,” Dylan said from behind her.

She turned and took a step back. She hadn’t heard him come in, and it made him smile to see her off balance.

“Daddy, look. I can hide in here.” Will closed the door and shut himself inside the cabinet again.

“Handy. Now when he’s bad, I can lock him up.”

Will burst out of the cupboard. “No way.”

Dylan scooped him up and hugged him tight. “I’d never lock you up, buddy. I’m only teasing.”

“Only bad guys get locked up, huh, Daddy.”

“That’s right, and you’re as good as they come.” He nuzzled Will’s neck with his nose and got a giggle from his little boy.

“Look, Jessie made a farm.” Will pointed to the shelves along one wall. There were a dozen different carved farm animals along with small trinket boxes and larger chests she’d made.

“Jessie, oh my God. You did all of this.”

She simply shrugged. “There are a lot of hours in a day. I don’t like to sit idle.”

Dylan surveyed the rest of the large open space filled with bedroom, kitchen, and living room furniture. Some of the pieces were finished. Others still needed to be stained. She had the barn divided into sections. Tools cluttered one area where she cut wood and put the pieces together. She draped another area in drop cloths where she stained or painted the pieces. The smell of freshly cut wood and varnish permeated the air. Finished furniture sat by the doorway until she took it to her store to be sold.

In one part of the shop, she had a seating area with a love seat and a chair. Several wood-carving tools and large chunks of wood lay on the coffee table. He could imagine her sitting in the quiet barn whittling away at the wood.

He walked over to some of the finished pieces. “Jessie, these are gorgeous. I love this dining table.” He rubbed his hand over the carved wood. She had engraved a soft wave into the edge, rolling around the round table. The wave was mimicked in the base, only it swirled around and down until it met the feet. Unique. Like the woman who created it.

“I finished that piece several weeks ago. It’s mahogany. Tough to carve because it’s such a hard, dense wood, but it’s beautiful. I haven’t decided on the chairs yet.”

“I think I need another house.” He ran a hand over a large hutch. “These pieces are great, I’d love to decorate another house just to see them all displayed as they should be. My house looks great with all your furniture. I can’t wait to see Will’s new bedroom set.”

“I haven’t started it yet, obviously. I have some ideas in mind. I could sketch them out for you, so you can decide if it’s what you want.”

“I want a horse.” Will said, moving back into the cupboard again.

“I think I’ll make him a side table for his bed large enough for him to hide in.” She leaned down and brushed a hand over Will’s head through the door.

“I want this cupboard in my room.” Will stomped his feet and listened to the echo inside the walls.

Jessie studied the cupboard critically and decided she could modify it a bit to make it suitable for a television up top and some storage on the sides. Maybe she’d leave the tabletop and shelves in a wood tone and paint out the sides in red.
It could work
, she thought.

Dylan watched her assessing the hutch. “I’ll take it if you’re willing to sell it.”

“I have to make a couple changes.” She pulled one of the notepads off her worktable and sketched the modifications. She made a list of things to do for the new furniture set to match. “What color is your room, Will?”

He opened the door and popped his head out. “Bright.” He squinted, wrinkling up his nose.

She tried not to smile at his disgruntled, scrunched-up face.

Dylan had a silly smile. “It’s a bright yellow. I guess he doesn’t like it.” He bent to Will. “Why didn’t you say something?”

Will shrugged and closed himself up in the cupboard again.

“I’ll paint it a soft wheat color. Then I’ll paint out that cabinet in a deep red with wood shelves.” She eyed the cabinet where Will hid. “I’ll poke a hole in the back and run a strand of white lights inside, so he can see in there. The other furniture you wanted, I’ll do in the same wood tone with the horse theme. Something that will grow with him and work when he’s a teenager.”

“Sounds good, honey. Will, let’s go inside and get something to eat. We need to make Jessie dinner.”

The door flew open and Will reluctantly slipped out. “She said I could have something.”

Jessie set her drawing aside, remembering why she’d come in here in the first place. “Come here, Will.” She waited for him to take her hand and walked him over to a large cabinet. She opened the door and laughed as Will said, “Wow.” She took the horse from the top shelf and handed it to him. “For you. This one you can keep in the house.”

Several animals and chests lined the shelves, but the cabinet held even more, all so very detailed and lifelike. The horse she handed Will looked like the real deal, only miniaturized. About a foot tall, it looked as if it were standing in a pasture smelling the breeze. The tail and mane softly ruffled in the wind. So perfect, you could almost feel it too. She’d sanded the wood so smooth it shined. Will pet his hand down the horse’s back.

Dylan’s mouth dropped open. “You amaze me. You did all of these.”

“Like I said, I have a lot of time on my hands.”

Will made horse noises with his new toy. Her chest grew tight thinking about all the things she’d made for her daughter, and Hope would never get to play with them. One in particular came to mind. She couldn’t keep it hidden away in the barn forever. Someone should enjoy it. Dylan’s son was a good choice. If Hope had survived, Will would be her brother.