Love Will Find a Way (37 page)

"I panicked. Allison has had a terrible few months. She blames herself for Gary's death. If he hadn't come up here for her birthday, he'd still be alive." Laura paused. "I was afraid you'd blame her, too, Rachel."

"It was an accident," she said. "It could have happened anywhere." It took a lot for her to say that, because there was a part of her that did blame them for having Gary drive up to the mountains.

"I've tried to tell Allison that. I've gotten her into counseling, but she's very fragile. I didn't want anything to disturb the little peace she's achieved. I hope you can understand. I wanted to protect her, and I didn't know what you would say to her. She's at school now. That's why I let you in."

"I understand," Rachel said. "I'm a mother, too."

"Does Wesley look like Gary?" Laura asked.

"The spitting image."

"Allison, too," she said softly. "I guess he left us both something special."

"Yes, he did. Maybe someday I could meet Allison. And she could meet Wesley. They are brother and sister, after all. They should know each other. You can never have too much family."

"Gary was right. You are generous."

"I wish he had trusted me with this," she said. "I wish he had told me. I still don't really understand why he didn't."

"He was afraid of losing you. He wanted to protect you and Wesley. When he realized Allison and I weren't going to be a threat to your family, he decided to tell you."

Rachel thought about that for a moment. She saw Laura play nervously with the wedding ring on her finger and she wondered about something
else ...

"Was it all in the past -- for both of you?"

Laura looked up, her expression guilty but honest. "It was for Gary. After he came up here that weekend, it was for me, too. I had toyed with the idea of a romantic reunion, but it wasn't meant to be. My summer with Gary was a long, long time ago. He'd moved on. He loved you."

"Thank you for telling me the truth." She got to her feet. "There's one last thing. What did Gary say to you when he left?"

"He was happy the weekend had gone so well. He kissed Allison on the cheek and said, I'll call you tomorrow.' That was the last thing he ever said to us. 'I'll call you tomorrow.' "

Rachel smiled as tears filled her eyes. "To us, too. That's exactly what he said." She looked at Dylan. "It's time to go home."

He nodded and stood up.

Rachel gave Laura a sad smile and said, "I won't call you tomorrow, but soon. We'll get the kids together. It's what Gary would have wanted."

* * *

Back in the car, Dylan and Rachel didn't say anything for a long time. They both needed the silence to sort through their emotions.

"I guess it's over," she said finally. "We know everything now -- all the secrets, the cash, the perfume, the teddy, everything."

"And we know Gary didn't kill himself." Dylan shot her a sideways glance. "He was coming home to you, Rachel. Whether or not the insurance company believes that, I'm convinced."

"Yes, I believe he was coming home."

"How do you feel?"

"I don't know yet."

"Me either."
         

Rachel twisted the wedding ring on her finger. "My marriage had a few holes in it, didn't it?"

"I'm sure every marriage does."

"Gary shouldn't have kept so many secrets from me."

"My friendship with Gary had some holes in it, too, and some secrets. I don't know why. But it did. He never told me one thing about Laura, not the first time, or the last time he saw her."

"Because it was private, something he couldn't share." She paused. "The way we couldn't share our kiss with him."

Dylan flung her a quick look. "You're right. We all had our secrets.
 
That's it then."

"That's it," she echoed, wondering why she felt so hollow. They had all the answers, so why didn't she feel complete? "Will you go back to the city now?" she asked.

"I'll finish your house first."

Then what – she wanted to ask, but couldn't find the courage. She knew Dylan's life was in the city and hers was in the country. Where did that leave them? She didn't know, so she sat back in her seat and looked out the window.

A few minutes later, another thought occurred to her. "Do you know where it happened? The accident?"

Dylan hesitated. "A little ways from here. I asked."

"Will you show me?"

"Are you sure you want to see it?"

"My eyes are wide open, Dylan. I want to see everything. No more hiding. No more wishing away the bad stuff."

"All right." Five minutes later, Dylan pulled into a turnabout at the edge of a steep drop. "It's a half mile down the road, where there's no shoulder, just the rail."

Rachel nodded and opened the door. She got out and stood at the edge of the road, looking around. There were sharp curves behind and in front of her, curves that could be deadly if taken too fast, too recklessly, too impatiently.

She'd never know what had really happened -- if Gary had been speeding, if he'd gotten distracted by something. But what she did know was that her husband had not committed suicide. He had not driven himself off the side of a mountain. He had been coming home to her, to Wesley, to the life they shared.

She closed her eyes and drew in a long breath of the cool mountain air. There were awful places to die, but this wasn't one of them. She opened her eyes and looked at Dylan, now standing beside her. He stared at the spot down the road.

"He must have felt like he was flying," Dylan said quietly. "For a few seconds there, he was flying."

"He would have loved that," she said.

"Yeah, he would have loved that."

She heard the catch in his voice and saw the emotion in his eyes. She put her arms around him and held him close. She felt his body shake as he fought for control. "It's okay," she murmured.

"I miss him. He was my best friend."

"I know. I miss him, too. I think we always will."

"Yeah." He cleared his throat, squaring his jaw, pushing his emotion away.

"I have an idea," she said. "Do you have a piece of paper in the car? And a pen?"

"I think so. Why?"

"Could you get it?"

Dylan retrieved the sheet of paper with the directions to Laura's house. "Will this do?"

"Actually, it's perfect." She took the pen out of his hand and wrote: To Gary, with love from your family, Rachel, Wesley, Allison, Dylan and Laura. We'll always miss you.

She saw Dylan's quirked eyebrow and smiled. "Family is not always about blood. Will you make an airplane for me?"

He took the paper out of her hands, folding it sharply as he turned it into an airplane. Then he handed it to her. "Do you want to do the honors?"

"Yes." She took the airplane out of his hand and raised her arm. Then she hesitated, her fingers tightening on the paper. Was she really ready to say good-bye?

"Can you let go, Rachel?" Dylan asked.

"I can let go," she whispered. "To you, Gary, may you soar high in the heavens as only you could
do.
" She tossed the airplane into the breeze. They watched it fly down the mountain, over the stream, into the trees and beyond. "Good-bye. Rest in peace."

Three months
later ...

"I can't believe it's done." Rachel looked at her brand new house in amazement.

"What do you think?" Dylan asked.

"My dream house is better than any dream."

"I'm glad you like it. It's not exactly what Gary envisioned. We made some changes along the way. Having the insurance money come through for you helped."

"It's perfect. Unfortunately, I'm not sure I'm going to live in it."

Dylan sent her a questioning look. "Why is that?"

She licked her lips, feeling a bit nervous. They'd taken a lot of steps together in the past three months, but not this last one, not the one that needed to be taken. They'd mutually decided to give themselves some time, but time was up. The house was done. Dylan had a life to go back to. And she had a decision to make.

"I've fallen in love with someone who lives in the city," she said. "I need to be with him."

"And leave this incredible house?" he asked, a smile playing around the corners of his lips. "You could do that for some guy?"

"Not some guy --
you
. I could do it for you. And as you know, only for you."

His eyes darkened with emotion. "You don't have to do this, Rachel. I know how much you love this place, the land, the trees."

"I love you more." She took both of his hands in hers, "You said once you couldn't be second best, but you're not, Dylan. The love I have for you is different from what I felt for Gary. But it's strong, and it's good. I know it will last. I wasn't ready for you before, but I am now. And I think you're ready for me. I'll go wherever you want. I don't need a safe haven to hide in. I need you." She smiled at him with all the love she had to offer. "You set me free from my past, from my fears of losing the people I loved to their dreams. I can give you what I couldn't give Gary. I can move to the city for you. I can give up my life here. Maybe it's not the title of first husband, but I hope it's enough."

"It's more than enough," he answered, crushing her in his arms. "I want to be your husband, and I want to be Wesley's father, and we can live wherever we want."

"You need to be in the city and so does Wesley. I found the perfect school for him. He can start next September."

"You hate the city."

"I don't hate it anymore. It was never about the city; it was about feeling safe, and I feel that with you wherever you are."

"To tell you the truth, I'd give up my business for you and not miss it for a second. I built things to fill the emptiness in me. But you do that now. You and Wesley."

Her eyes blurred with tears of happiness, but she could still see clearly enough to kiss him.

"Goodness, do you two ever stop?" her grandmother asked, a note of amusement in her voice.

Rachel stepped back as the rest of her family joined them, urging her to officially open the new house. It was silly, really. They'd all been a part of the construction, but they acted like they'd never seen the house before.

"Wait one second," Carly said. "I almost forgot." She ran back to her car,
then
reappeared a few moments later holding a small pot. "This is for you, Rachel, to plant behind your house. It's a seedling from the Lady Elaine."

"But we said we'd never try to duplicate the tree."

"I think it's time. You're just as brave in love as our great-great-grandmother. I think Elaine would want you to have this. It will protect your new home and your new family."

"Thank you, Carly."

Carly dropped her voice down a notch. "By the way, Travis and I are going to Paris this summer -- for our honeymoon." She let out a little squeal at the end of her sentence.

"Paris? Honeymoon? Oh, my God." Rachel put the pot on the ground, then threw her arms around Carly's neck and gave her a big hug.

"We're planning to live in the main house," Carly said.

"What about your painting?"

"I don't need to live in the city to paint. In fact, I find a certain annoying man actually inspires me."

She laughed. "How the world keeps spinning."

Dylan put his arm around Rachel's shoulders. "The world is spinning without me in it?"

"Oh, you're always in it."

"You better believe it. Now, cut the ribbon so we can go inside."

"Let's do it together, the three of us," she said, motioning for Wesley to join them on the steps.

They put their hands on top of one another's and cut the ribbon.

"There's only one thing left to do," Dylan told her with a tender smile.

"What's that?"

"Carry you across the threshold." He swept her up in his arms with a laugh.

"But we're not married yet," she protested.

"We will be," he promised. "We will be."

THE END

If you enjoyed this book and would like to talk about it in your book club, I've enclosed some questions to hopefully inspire some great discussion! (Following the Reader's Guide are several excerpts from some of my other books.)

1. Nearly every major character in LOVE WILL FIND A WAY is keeping or has kept a secret. Rachel and Dylan kept their kiss a secret from Gary. They discover Gary kept many secrets from them. Carly keeps her love of and talent for art a secret from her family.

Do you think it’s possible to have a relationship without some secrets between partners? When have you kept a secret from someone close to you? When is it okay to keep a secret?

2. Compromise is a major theme in LOVE WILL FIND A WAY. Gary lived in the country to be with Rachel although he preferred the city and Carly hid her love of painting to avoid upsetting her family. This contrasts with Rachel and Carly’s mother who couldn’t compromise on her vision of her life and abandoned her husband and children.

How do you draw a line between your personal desires and those of your loved ones? What is the line between being brave about your choices that may hurt others and being selfish?

3. Many of the characters in LOVE WILL FIND A WAY are impacted by the loss or estrangement of a parental figure. Rachel and Carly’s mother abandoned them. Gary’s father, who they had assumed was dead, was estranged. Even Gary, through his untimely death, has unintentionally abandoned his son at a young age. Rachel’s reaction to this parental loss was to grow roots, Carly’s was to deny her life’s passion, and Gary’s was to lie to his family about his father’s death.

Do you think each character was justified in their reactions? Have you been impacted by the loss or estrangement of a parental figure? How did you deal with it?

4. Rachel’s family believes the Lady Elaine apples can make a couple fall in love. Many of the women in their family have been happily married to the recipient of the apple, and Rachel believed Gary ate the apple she gave him.