Sunset Page 26

  Tears layered her eyes as she watched the two young people step back from each other and continue their conversation. In that instant, she noticed an attraction or chemistry between them, something completely undeniable.

  Jenny slipped through the door of her bedroom, unable to watch the private exchange happening between Bailey and Cody. This moment was for them alone. The rest of the family would see Cody later.

  Jenny trembled as she crossed her room to the wall of windows that faced the front yard. She bit her lip and leaned on the windowsill. The window was open, and she could feel the July heat building outside. So, Cody had lost part of his leg in the war. Why hadn’t his mother told them?

  The answer was obvious, of course. Cody never would’ve wanted them or anyone else feeling sorry for him. That wasn’t his style. He must’ve asked his mother to keep quiet about his injury. He probably figured he’d take care of the news himself here . . . in person.

  Where no words would be necessary.

  Jenny gazed at the blue sky and at the cumulus clouds gathered along the horizon. Never mind about Cody’s leg; it was wonderful to have him home again. Thank You, God, for sparing his life. Thank You a million times.

  Relief took the place of the sick feeling she’d had since she’d first noticed Cody’s leg. So many young men hadn’t returned home from the war, but Cody was alive! He could get by without his lower leg. Thousands of soldiers managed with the same disability. She blinked at the open sky. Yes, of course he could get by. They were all blessed by the fact that he’d come home at all.

  Jenny thought about Bailey and the emotions her daughter must be going through right now. She’d watched Bailey’s growing friendship with Tim, but she had never felt quite right about the two of them, not as a couple, anyway. Tim was kind and talented, and he loved God. But not once had she ever seen Tim look at Bailey the way Cody had looked at her just now.

  She released a slow breath. When Cody had gone away to the army, Jenny and Jim had in some ways been glad for the break it offered their daughter. Cody’s past was so different from Bailey’s that neither Jenny nor Jim had been able to see him as someone Bailey might date one day. But Cody had grown much in the past few years. And the bond between them a moment ago was breathtaking.

  She squinted against the glare of the uncertainty ahead. She’s Your daughter, God. I know that. But please make Your path clear for her.

  Her prayer created a familiar echo in her heart, the same words she lifted to God often for all her kids. This time there was no answer, except one. A very strong certainty that in the days to come they might still see a lot of Tim. But they’d also be seeing more of a young man who might actually love their daughter. The handsome soldier who had fought with every breath.

  The high school football player who had come home a hero.

  As July Fourths went, this one wasn’t too hot or humid. A light wind came off the lake and swept gently up the hillside where John and Elaine sat side by side watching the rest of the family set out their blankets and picnic gear and slather sunscreen on the kids.

  John leaned back in his beach chair and pulled his baseball cap down so he could see despite the glare of sunlight against the water. He was grateful they’d made it back in time for the big picnic. Every year this event was one of the Baxter family’s most special but this year maybe most of all. They were all living in one place now, the Baxter kids and their families close the way John and Elizabeth had once upon a lifetime ago prayed they would be.

  He stretched out his arm and took hold of Elaine’s hand. Two weeks after marrying her, they were still settling into their new house, still browsing furniture stores for odds and ends that would help make the place feel like a home. The sale of the Baxter house made him sad, but even more it gave him closure. Something he needed before moving on—he and Elaine both agreed about that. But most of all, they talked often about how they felt like they’d stepped out of a time of mourning and into a time of living. Truly living.

  John savored the sound of his grandchildren laughing and playing and chattering on the grassy shore. Each wore a life jacket and sunscreen, and Erin’s girls had matching colorful hats to keep the sun out of their eyes.

  John turned to the place where Erin and Sam were setting up one of the picnic tables. With the help of the rest of the family, they had completely moved into their new house, and their four girls were already fast friends with their cousins, especially Jessie, Maddie, and Hayley. Malin had a while before she’d be old enough to join them, but even now Erin’s girls circled her, oohing and aahing over Malin’s new yellow polka-dot swimsuit and her Hannah Montana water shoes. Only Peter and Brooke weren’t here yet, but they planned on arriving a little later.

  John focused his attention to his grandsons a few yards away. Cole, Devin, RJ, and Tommy were already hard at work on what looked like a monster-size sandcastle. Cole had brought small rocks and raisins and uncooked spaghetti noodles to decorate the outside when they were done with the construction. From where he was sitting, John could hear him handing out instructions to his cousins.

  “See, guys.” Cole’s face was a mask of concentration. “Build up the sides nice and smooth like this.” He stopped and studied the work Tommy was doing. “Right. Just like that. This’ll be better than any girl sandcastle ever!”

  “Yeah!” RJ grinned big. “Boys are best!”

  “You’re smart for your age.” Cole gave him a hearty pat on the back. “I always knew that.”

  A quiet chuckle echoed through John’s chest. Cole hadn’t changed since he was a little guy Devin’s age. Talkative and confident, kind and competitive. He studied his oldest grandson and felt the familiar special fondness he had for the boy. Cole had spent a lot of time at the Baxter house during his early years when John had been the only father figure in the child’s life.

  John watched Landon and Ryan walk over to the boys and admire the foundation of the castle. Landon knelt and used a bucket to drag a pile of sand closer to Cole.

  Cole threw his arm around Landon’s shoulders and kissed him on the cheek. “Thanks, Dad! You’re the best!”

  A smile filled John’s heart. Indeed. Landon was the best thing to ever happen to Cole. God had worked out every prayer ever spoken on behalf of Ashley and Cole. John shifted his gaze to his very pregnant middle daughter, sitting with Katy on a bench facing the lake and laughing her head off about something. Cole wasn’t the only one to benefit. These days, Ashley’s life and faith, her innate ability to love and find joy in a situation—all of it was nothing short of a miracle.

  “She’s beautiful.” Elaine’s voice was soft and thoughtful beside him. She was looking at Ashley too. “Even ready to deliver.”

  “Yes, she is. Katy too. They’re both so healthy and happy.” John sighed. “It could be anytime for Katy.”

  “I’m glad.” Elaine squeezed his hand. “I can’t wait.”

  There was no reason to think trouble existed for Ashley this time, so no one had discussed the possibility. Still, a hint of concern remained for John, because anytime a woman delivered a baby with a birth defect, there was a chance it could happen again. He ordered himself to relax. Never mind the past. Here in the warm early afternoon light, with every reason to rejoice and his family around him, John refused to dwell on his concerns. He smiled at Elaine. “There’s nothing like a brand-new grandbaby.”

  They fell silent again, comfortable with each other. John gazed farther down the slope of grass and sand to where Kari and Erin stood at the water’s edge, lost in conversation.

  John studied his second oldest daughter and felt himself overcome with pride. After he had passed on the information about Angela Manning to Kari, he’d doubted himself more than once. He knew she had always believed that love was a decision, but that didn’t mean she should be pressed into a Bible study with her first husband’s mistress. Even so, Kari had taken on the challenge to meet with Angela and talk to her about the Bible, hoping to keep the connection be
tween them a secret.

  “But in the end, God worked it all out,” Kari had told John last Sunday when he and Elaine returned home from their honeymoon. “Somehow knowing that I’d care about her even after what happened between her and Tim, it’s like that made her believe in God all the more.”

  The Lord had blessed Kari’s determination to love at all costs, something that she’d learned from her mother. The love Elizabeth had for people lived on in Kari; that much was clear. Like Elizabeth, Kari was someone they had all learned about love from over the years, and John had no doubts that God would continue to multiply that love for Kari and her family.

  Dayne had been setting up another table, and now John watched him join Katy and Ashley. Even this many years later, there were still times when John had to remind himself that Dayne, one of Hollywood’s leading men, was in fact the son he and Elizabeth had given up for adoption a lifetime ago.

  That You would bring Dayne into our lives was beyond anything I could ask or imagine. But this? Dayne and Katy starting a family here in Bloomington? John felt a lump form in his throat. You are truly good, Lord. We don’t deserve all You’ve done.

  Jeremiah 29:11 came to mind immediately, the verse he and Elizabeth had drilled into the heads of their kids while they were growing up. John let the words fill his heart and mind. “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’” The picnic spread out before him was proof of that again and again and again.

  “You’re taking stock, aren’t you?” Elaine’s words were unhurried. She wore sunglasses, but she shielded her eyes as she looked at him.

  “I am.” He was warmed by the fact that she already knew him so well, that at times like this he was bound to survey his growing family and the way God had brought them through another year, another set of trials and triumphs.

  “Look at Luke and Reagan.” Elaine turned her attention to the couple, sitting on a log a little ways off from the group. Luke had his arm around Reagan’s shoulders, and she had hers around his waist, her head on his shoulder. Elaine smiled. “I’ve never seen them look so in love.”

  “I have.” John thought back to how things were before, back when the blonde college coed would join the Baxters for Sunday dinners, and after she left, Luke’s sisters would talk about how smitten their brother was. The memory was bittersweet, tempered by the heartache and hurt of their separate choices after 9/11. He was suddenly overcome with thanks to God for all He’d done in the last few weeks. John cleared his throat, finding the words despite his emotions. “I prayed Luke and Reagan would look like that again, but I honestly wasn’t sure.”

  “God is faithful.” Elaine angled her head. “Even when we aren’t.”

  “Yes.” John breathed in deeply, filling his lungs with the fresh lake air. Again he surveyed his family, the adults and children. “That’s the story of our lives, really. His mercy and grace, His love. Even when things don’t go the way we hoped they’d go.” He smiled at her. “Even then He has a good plan for us.”

  There was a sudden commotion of voices and laughter coming from the parking lot behind them, and John turned just as he saw Peter come into view. His son-in-law grinned and waved at the crowd of family members. “Hey, everyone! Come on up. We have a surprise for you.”

  John was still holding Elaine’s hand as they stood and stretched. It took a few minutes, but eventually the whole group of adults and sand-covered kids was trudging up the hillside. As they reached the edge of the parking lot, the laughter and conversation fell to a hush. Standing a few feet from their van, Brooke and Peter and Maddie were gathered around Hayley, who was wearing a pink helmet.

  Braced in Peter’s hands was a pink two-wheel bicycle with white streamers and a floral basket.

  For a minute, John’s heart pounded. It was the bike that had stood parked in his garage since Hayley’s accident, the one he’d given a picture of to Brooke while she sat at Hayley’s hospital bedside. Brooke must’ve gotten it from his garage and cleaned off the layers of dust. Back then the gesture had been deeply symbolic for John because it represented a shift in his thinking. Initially after Hayley’s near drowning he’d thought the child would be better off in heaven, but in time God had convinced him that as long as she had a heartbeat, he had to pray for his granddaughter’s life. For vibrant, abundant life. That his prayers must be for a miracle and nothing less.

  None of them had any doubts that God had granted them the miracle they’d asked for. She continued to make progress in every area of development, and always John was grateful for the reports. But even still, the idea of Hayley on a bicycle had always seemed far-fetched.

  Until this moment.

  Maddie jumped up and down, unable to contain her excitement. “Watch, everybody! Watch our surprise!”

  Hayley grinned at the group of family watching her and then up at Peter. Her long golden hair and innocent eyes peering out from beneath the bicycle helmet made her look more like an angel than a child struggling with a brain injury.

  “Go, Hayley!” Cole yelled from his place next to Landon. “You can do it.”

  Hayley pointed at Cole, her smile stretching from one ear to the other. She gave him a firm thumbs-up and then turned back to Peter.

  A near silent awe came over the group as they watched Peter whisper something to Hayley.

  She nodded, her face more serious than before. Then with motions only slightly slower than other children, Hayley took firm hold of the handlebars and swung one leg over the middle. Peter steadied the bike, and by using the pedals, Hayley slid herself up onto the seat.

  Is she really going to . . . ? John had to remind himself to take a breath.

  Again Hayley smiled at her dad and gave a firm nod of her head. With that, Peter jogged alongside the bicycle a few steps and then let go. Hayley wobbled a little at first, but then her determination took over, and she pushed herself forward and found her balance.

  Hayley was doing it! She was riding a bicycle! John blinked back tears, his eyes glued to his granddaughter. She’s doing it, God. You told me to pray that she’d live, and now . . . He couldn’t stop the tears from rolling onto his cheeks, and he wiped them with the back of his hand.

  A chorus of cheers came from the curbside, and Hayley maintained her balance even while shooting them another grin. She made a large circle around a planter at the end of the parking lot, and when she reached her family once more, she stopped and caught herself with her feet.

  “Hayley!” Cole was the first to race over, both his arms raised over his head. “I can’t believe it! You were awesome!”

  “She learned from watching me.” Maddie lifted her chin, but at the same time she caught her father’s look. She smiled at Cole and released a nervous laugh. “Just kidding. Actually, Daddy taught her.” She moved to the side and made room for Cole. She was practically bursting with pride as she patted her sister’s back. “This is your big day, Hayley! Right, isn’t this your big day?”

  “I learned how!” Hayley beamed up at her father, and the two exchanged a high five. “That was my best, huh, Mommy?”

  Brooke nodded, but clearly she couldn’t speak. John saw the tears on Kari’s and Ashley’s faces too as the group moved into the parking lot and surrounded Hayley and her bicycle. Congratulations and words of encouragement came from every side.

  Tommy worked his way to the place near the front. He looked determined. “Hey, now you can teach me, Hayley. I’m so tired of training wheels!”

  Laughter rippled through the crowd, and they made way for Peter to lift the bicycle back into their SUV. Elaine and the rest of his family started back down the hill, but John waited for Brooke and Hayley.

  Hayley spotted him from a ways off, and her face lit up. As she reached him, she held out her hands and took a running jump into his arms. She hugged him around his neck and leaned back enough to look straight to his heart. “That was good, right, Papa?”


  “Yes.” He nuzzled his face against hers and pressed his hand against her silky hair. “That was very, very good.”

  Hayley kissed him on his cheek. “Thanks for the bike. I like pink so much!” She flashed him a grin, then scrambled down and ran with Peter to catch her cousins.

  John turned to Brooke. For several seconds they only looked at each other, the reflection of Hayley’s painful past haunting both their eyes. Finally John pulled his oldest daughter into his arms and held her for a long time. They had so much in common, really. Their love for the medical field and their ability to handle things calmly, directly. And a long time ago in a hospital room with Hayley hooked to life support, they had both struggled with the same thing.

  Believing for a miracle.

  John stepped back and took hold of Brooke’s hands. His voice was tight, but he managed. “You . . . you found it in my garage.”

  “I didn’t think you’d mind.” Brooke smiled through fresh tears. “We told Hayley it was from you. She’s been practicing on one at school.”

  “Remember . . .” John was overwhelmed once more, and he stared at the ground as a quiet sob caught in his throat. “I was the first one who believed it could happen.” He sniffed hard and pressed his palms briefly to his eyes.

  This time the hug came from Brooke, and neither of them said a word. This was the way family was supposed to be—there for each other through whatever life brought, loving each other, supporting each other. And believing God for the best.

  As the hug ended, John smiled at his daughter, and in awestruck silence they walked arm in arm down the hill to join the others. Everything that needed saying had already been said in a single picture. The image of their precious Hayley, who wasn’t supposed to walk or talk or ever get out of bed, pedaling away on her pink bicycle.

  A picture John would cherish as long as he lived.

  The barbecue was over and daylight was close to fading when Ashley began to take her contractions seriously. The big annual fishing contest between her dad and Landon was more than halfway finished, and the cousins were bunched together on a couple of fallen logs not far from the water. This year the kids were split between who they were rooting for. In the first few minutes of the half-hour contest, Landon had caught a fish so small his own cheering section burst into laughter. Since then her dad had snagged a twelve-inch bass. The stakes were same as last year—loser jumps in the lake with his clothes on.