Page 58 of Gentle Persuasion

It was harsh, but it was clear. Cole started into the house.

“Are you going to tell her, or are you leaving that up to me, too?” Morgan was angry. He couldn’t face being the one to deliver her hurt.

“I can’t,” Cole shouted. “God dammit, I can’t.” The pain was thick in his voice. Tears welled, but refused to flow.

Morgan was sick. He relented instantly, but it was too late. His son was already walking out the door.

Debbie stood in the shadows of the hallway as tears ran blindly down her face. She almost called Cole’s name aloud, but she was afraid if she opened her mouth, nothing would come out but a scream. She’d heard everything.

Buddy leaned against the door to his room and stared at the computers winking at him from across the room. He needed to fix this. But he didn’t know how to fix broken people, only machines. This was out of his realm of expertise. And then he heard Debbie sobbing. A small streak of Brownfield spirit made him grip the doorknob and open the door with a hard, vicious yank.

Debbie stared, surprised by the unlikely vehemence with which Buddy was moving. He grabbed her by the arm, and began pulling her toward the front door.

“What are you doing?” she said.

He stopped, a stunned expression spreading on his face. He looked down at the firm grip he had on her arm and quickly released it with an awkward apology. “Ummm…I just thought…if you weren’t too…” He took a deep breath, yanked his shirttail from his pants and swiped it across her face, drying tears and streaking makeup in one fell swoop. “We’re going to get some ice cream,” he said.

Debbie’s heart skipped a beat. Oh Buddy! You dear! Why didn’t I fall for someone like you? Someone with no complications? And then her heart answered her own question. Because I didn’t fall in love with my head, I fell in love with my heart. And my heart belongs to Cole. She shuddered. I just don’t think he wants it anymore.

“Thank you, Buddy,” she said. “I think I’d like that. Maybe your dad would like to come?”

He smiled, happy that his suggestion was being met with so much appreciation. “I’ll get him,” he said, and lurched toward the backyard.

Debbie sighed as she watched him hurry away. At least the rest of the family still loved her. It was small comfort, but it was a comfort nonetheless.

***

The doorbell was ringing and ringing. Debbie dropped her mixing spoon back into the bowl, ignoring the fluff of flour that poofed over the edge and onto the counter as she ran to answer the persistent summons.

She peered through the peephole and then screamed with delight. The door flew back with a thud and for just a moment the sunlight was blocked by a very tall man wearing a weary smile and juggling a multitude of bags. The woman standing beside him had a bag over one shoulder and a baby on the other.

“Lily! Case! Why didn’t you call? Why didn’t you tell us you were coming? Someone could have met you at the—”

Case dumped the bags and scooped her up into his arms, laughing as he moved her over to make room for the rest of his family to come in.

“You haven’t changed a bit, Deb. You still talk faster than you walk, and that’s saying something,” he said. “Besides you know Lily. The moment the doctor said she could travel, we were on the plane. She’s been very worried about Morgan.”

“Lily! You look great!” Debbie said. “Your dad’s next door. He’s going to be so excited.” And then her expression changed as worry tinged her voice. “I’m in your old room. It’ll take me a little while to get my stuff out of—”

“Leave it,” Lily said calmly. “I spent my entire life across the hall from my big brother. I know how cranky he can be in the morning. I don’t think he’d appreciate listening to his nephew crying during the night. Are the twins still gone?”

Debbie nodded.

“Good. We’ll take their room. It’s bigger anyway.”

It didn’t take long for bag, baggage, and family to be moved into the Brownfield residence. Case wandered back through the house, taking note of the layout and the inviting blue waters of the backyard pool, and found Debbie staring blankly into a bowl of partially mixed dough.

“Did you forget what you were doing?” he teased as he slid a gentle hand across the back of her neck. “You’ve been a godsend to us, honey. I can’t tell you how much we appreciated you coming out when you did. But as you can see, as soon as the doctor gave her the go ahead, Lily was packed. All I could do was follow.”

Debbie looked up into those dearly familiar big-sky eyes, so blue they made her heart ache, and promptly burst into tears.

“Well, hell,” Case said softly and wrapped her in his arms. He didn’t know what had caused this outburst, but during the last few months, he’d learned that it didn’t matter what caused them, the proper procedure for healing them was a hug.

“I finally got the baby down,” Lily said as she walked into the kitchen and then stopped short. She caught her husband’s frown and shrug, and sighed. If Deborah Randall was in tears, she suspected her brother’s absence had something to do with it.

Before Lily could offer advice or condolences of any kind, her father’s voice sent her spinning.

“Lily Kate! You’re home,” he said, and engulfed her in a warm, welcoming hug.

---