Tomorrow's Promise (The Hawks Mountain Series) (19 page)

His eyes welled up with moisture. “Before we had you, your momma and I had a baby boy. Teddy was his name.”

Disbelief flooded Faith. Brother? She’d had a brother and no one had told her about him? She wasn’t sure what she should be feeling. Anger that she hadn’t been told? Regret that she’d never known him? Sympathy for her parents? She couldn’t imagine what it would be like to lose Lizzie.

Emotions she couldn’t define or control went wild inside her. Still unable to believe what she was hearing, Faith shook her head. “I don’t understand, Daddy. I . . . have a brother?”

“
Had
, sweetheart.” Her father’s voice cracked. He cleared his throat. “He died when he was just a few months old. Something to do with his heart.” She opened her mouth to speak, but her father stopped her with a raised hand. “I know this is a shock, but let me finish.”

Her heart went out to this man who obviously still mourned the loss of his son. She sat back, ready to listen. Eager to hear about this brother she never knew.

“Your mother didn’t take it well. She went into a deep depression and buried herself in the church.” He ran his hand through his hair. “I took her to a doctor, and he gave her medicine, but she never liked taking it. Said it made her foggy. When she had you, I hoped that things would change, but they didn’t. Under the guise of her newfound religion, she protected you by limiting your activities and keeping you as close to home as she could.”

He stood and walked to stand beside Lizzie. He looked at the child with so much love in his expression that it took Faith’s breath away. “After I was here the other day, I went home and told her about our granddaughter and how beautiful and sweet she is. When she said she’d have nothing to do with the ‘devil’s child’, I gave her a choice. Either she takes her meds or I leave.”

Faith was stunned. She didn’t know what to say. So many things were running through her mind, she couldn’t make sense of any of it. She looked around the room as though the answers she sought were hidden somewhere in the shadowy corners. But they weren’t.

When she finally found her voice, the words that came out weren’t the ones her heart wanted her to say. They were the caustic words of a woman who had been betrayed again. “How could you do this? How could you not tell me? How—”

Her father rushed back to the couch, sat, and took her hands in his. “Princess, you have to understand. It wouldn’t have solved anything to tell you. It wouldn’t have brought your brother back or cured your mother.” Tears ran down his cheeks. “Try to find forgiveness in your heart. Sometimes, even though we don’t intend to, even though it’s the farthest thing from our minds, our actions inadvertently hurt the very people we love and want to protect most.

“Your mother was sick when she hurt us, but she’s been back on her medicine for a few days now, and she’s better.” He smiled weakly. “She’s slowly becoming the girl I fell in love with and married.

“I love you, Princess, and I’m so very sorry I never made your life easier. I never wanted you to know that your mother was sick.” He kissed her forehead and stood. “I know I’ve given you a lot to think about, but now that she’s on her medication, I think your mother will come around. I think she can be the grandma this sweet baby should have. All I ask is that you give her a chance to prove it.”

Faith never saw him leave. She only vaguely recalled hearing the door close behind him.

LIKE A ROBOT, Faith got Lizzie into bed, cleared up their supper dishes, walked Pup, and straightened her house. Hoping busy work would keep her from thinking, she decided to give Pup a bath. But even the squirming, soapy puppy couldn’t keep her from thinking about all her father had told her. By the time she’d finished bathing and towel-drying Pup, showered, put on her nightgown, and then climbed into bed, she still couldn’t wrap her mind around what she’d heard.

A brother.

She’d had a brother, and her parents hadn’t told her. Even as she strained to remember if there had been anything, any object in the house that would have told her about Teddy, she could think of none. Perhaps erasing all traces of the baby was her father’s way of helping her mother heal.

But it certainly explained why her mother had been like she was while Faith was growing up. If she lost Lizzie, she wasn’t sure how she would continue to live, much less go on with her life as if nothing had happened. She now understood why her mother had kept her only child on such a short leash and monitored her every move. She’d probably been terrified of losing another child.

What surprised her was that her father had stuck by her mother for all those years. It couldn’t have been easy. But he had. He’d loved and protected her through it all, much as Cole had protected her and Lizzie through everything that had happened to her since she’d gotten back to town.

Thoughts of Cole brought back the longing she’d felt when he’d left after she’d found the money. He’d always been there for her and maybe, if he was here, he could help her sort through all this. But she’d driven him away with her foolish inability to trust.

Suddenly, Faith sat up straight in bed. It was never Cole she hadn’t trusted. It was herself she hadn’t trusted and the belief that all the men in her life had betrayed her in some way. First her father, who had never stood up for her with her mother. But, right or wrong, he’d felt he’d been protecting his daughter from knowing about the sickness her mother was struggling with. Then Sloan. But she’d known almost from the beginning that Sloan was less than honest, and she’d stayed with him anyway because she loved her daughter and didn’t want her to grow up fatherless.

Sometimes, even though we don’t intend to, even though it’s the farthest thing from our minds, our actions inadvertently hurt the very people we love and want to protect most.

Her father’s word rang through her head like a tolling church bell. Had Cole intended to tell her about the letter? Instead of running away like a petulant child, why hadn’t she given him a chance? Without overwhelming her, he’d done nothing but protect and take care of her and Lizzie since the day he’d stepped foot in Doc Amos’s office. He’d saved her daughter’s life when she’d almost gotten bitten by a poisonous snake. He’d given Faith independence by teaching her to drive and making sure she had a car and providing her with a cell phone. Why was she allowing a stupid letter to come between them?

She picked up her cell phone off the night table and started to punch in Cole’s number, but paused and glanced at the clock. Reluctantly, she replaced the phone on the table and then switched off the lamp. Since it was the middle of the night, her breakfast of crow would be better served in the morning.

COLE SAT ON HIS porch, a cup of coffee getting cold in his hands. Little to no sleep the night before had left him feeling less than human. But he couldn’t get Faith off his mind. All he could think of was how frightened she’d been, and that he hadn’t been there to protect her. How she’d trembled in his arms and sobbed until his shirtfront was soaked with her tears.

He stared at the lavender clouds drifting across the horizon, their undersides pink with the dawn. Very slowly, the sun rose above the mountains, painting everything with glorious light. Morning birds began to chirp and gather at the feeder.

Normally, he loved to watch the dawn break, but today, his thoughts were far down the mountain in a little house with a woman and a precious little girl. How he’d grown to love them both. Then, because of a stupid letter and his neglect in not telling Faith about his plan to go and his decision not to move away, he’d lost it all.

He should have forced her to listen to his explanation. Instead, he’d let her walk away and when he’d had the opportunity again to talk to her about it, he’d walked away.

So, what’s holding you back from telling her now?

“Nothing!” He stood, set his cold coffee on the porch floor, then reached in his pocket for his car keys.

The sound of a car coming up the mountain stopped him. He concentrated his gaze on the spot in the driveway where a car would appear if it were coming to his house. Moments later, the car edged into his yard. When he saw who it was, his breath caught in his throat, and his heart began to pound as if it would fly out of his chest. His grip on his keys tightened.

Faith!

FAITH PARKED THE car and just sat there staring at Cole, drinking in the sight of him like a woman dying of thirst. The sun illuminated the expanse of his muscular chest and arms and picked up the blue highlights in his coal black hair. The man was enough to take any woman’s breath away.

Having put off what she’d come here for as long as she could, she climbed from the car and made her way across the lawn, then up onto the porch. She stopped beside him. “Good morning.”

“Good morning. What brings you here so early?”

For a moment, she studied him, trying to gauge his mood. But his face was as blank as an unused sheet of paper. But she bit the bullet. “We need to talk.”

He turned and sat down in one of the white rockers, then motioned for her to join him in the other. “What do we need to talk about?”

Well, at least he wasn’t turning her away. Not that he shouldn’t after the way she’d treated him. “The letter.” She glanced sideways at him, then out across the lawn to the far mountain. “We need to talk about the letter.”

When Cole said nothing, she felt a cold spasm clutch her heart. He’d given her a chance to hear him out, and she’d denied him that opportunity. Maybe she wouldn’t get a second chance.

“What about it?”

She cleared her throat, but continued to look out over the landscape, afraid of what she’d see in his eyes. “You wanted to explain about it, and I wouldn’t let you.” She turned toward him, but still avoided his eyes. “I’m really sorry I behaved so childish and unfair, but I’m ready to listen now if you still want to tell me.”

“Are you sure you want to hear it?”

Faith wasn’t sure she
wanted
to, but she needed to hear it. Even if it ended with her going home alone. She smiled. “I dropped Lizzie off at Granny Jo’s so we’d have time to talk. Yes, I want to hear it. The whole story.”

Cole stood and went to sit on the railing facing her. “I worked for the Richmond PD before I moved back here. At first it was a great job, exciting, adventuresome. All the things the TV shows depict.” He gazed off the side of the porch, as if peering into a past only he could see. “Then I saw things. Things I’ll never forget. Charred bodies that were pulled from buildings that were nothing but ashes. Old women killed for their Social Security checks.” He shook his head as though to dislodge the pictures in his mind. “The final straw was when I was called to the multiple homicide of a mother and her two young children. I knew then that I couldn’t keep going if I wanted to retain my sanity.”

The pain in his voice and the darkness in his eyes tore at Faith’s heart. She had to force herself to stay in the chair and not run to him, hold him, and give him some of the solace he’d given her so many times. Instead, she remained where she was.

He took a deep breath. “So I decided to leave law enforcement and use my degree in history to teach. But then my father got ill and asked me to step in for him. So I did, but I had already put in my application to teach at an Atlanta high school. The plan was to come here and fill in for him until the election, then move on to the teaching position. The letter you saw was to tell me about an orientation day for new faculty, but I called them and refused the job. I’m staying in Carson and running for sheriff.”

Relief flooded through Faith like a spring thaw. But she warned herself about jumping to conclusions. Faith screwed up her courage to ask the question she hoped would tell her how Cole felt about her. “So what happened? Why did you decide to stay?”

He left the seat on the railing and squatted down in front of her. “One of the things I wanted most in life was a family of my own. I never thought I’d get that. Then I met a beautiful woman and a precious little girl who stole my heart.”

She could feel his breath on her face. “Just the little girl?” Her voice came out barely a whisper.

“No. I fell in love with her mother, too.”

Before she could say anything, he leaned toward her, and then whispered, “And I think she might love me, too.”

Faith released a breath she hadn’t even been sure she was holding. “Oh, she does. She absolutely does.”

He gathered her in his arms, lifted her from the rocker, and then kissed her like he’d never stop.

Epilogue

Three months later

SO FAR, FAITH’S wedding day had turned out perfectly. The cloudless blue sky hung over Hawks Mountain like a good omen. An autumn breeze still carrying the breath of summer blew through the open church windows. It had stayed warm enough to open the building’s doors and windows, allowing the mountain air inside to spread the sweet perfume of the flowers that lined the altar. And best of all, she was about to marry the man of her dreams, a man she loved and who loved her in return.

She spun in front of the full-length mirror that had been placed in Reverend Thomas’s study just for the wedding. The silk and lace skirt of her wedding gown flared out around her and made it appear as though she floated inside a fluffy white cloud.

“Stop fussing. You look beautiful.” Becky Hart, Faith’s maid of honor, stood behind her. “I’m sure Cole will be absolutely blown away.” She checked the wall clock and then handed Faith her bouquet of white roses, baby’s breath, and stephanotis. “It’s almost time to go.”

Faith gripped the handle of the flower piece, her heart beating triple time. In a few minutes, she’d be Mrs. Cole Ainsley. She still had an overwhelming urge to pinch herself to make sure she wasn’t dreaming.

The study door opened, and her father stepped into the room, looking dapper in a black tuxedo. “Ready, sweetheart?”

“Ready, Daddy.” Faith took his arm.

“You look beautiful.” He beamed at her, kissed her cheek, patted her hand, and then led her into the vestibule.

The organ music began and, as they entered the aisle laid with a white silk runner, Faith spotted Cole standing at the altar. Her breath caught in her throat. How had she won this handsome man for her own? Keeping her gaze centered on Cole, she clung to her father’s arm and followed Becky up the aisle. Everyone else in the small church faded away. There was only Cole, his face alight with love.

Most of the ceremony was a blur. Faith heard her voice repeating the vows, then Cole’s deep voice repeating his, and him sliding a ring on her finger. His kiss was whisper-soft and filled with promises of all their tomorrows.