Page 5 of The Baxters
A doubt she hadn’t shared with anyone. One she tried to squash every time it reared its head. Tim was wonderful. Theirs would be a storybook life.
And later today, Tim would be her husband.
Kari sat up in bed again and smiled. Life would play out with love and beauty, with Tim caring for her and protecting her the rest of her life. Theirs would be a story marked by deep talks, and hours of laughter, and most of all a long happily ever after. She felt her heart gradually relax. Today would be perfect, whatever thestorm held. With Tim she would never have to worry about where he was or who he was with. There would be no girlfriend on the side.
And always, at the end of the day he would come home to her.
Only her. For the rest of time.
2
Elizabeth Baxter stood on the front porch of her family’s home and let the wind gust over her. Ominous wind. Dangerous. Foreboding. A shiver ran down her arms.
What was this terrible feeling?
Today was her second daughter Kari’s wedding. The ceremony was being held at the chapel on Indiana University’s campus. Dinner and dancing would take place in an adjacent hall. They’d be inside all day, whatever the weather.
No, Elizabeth wasn’t worried about the storm outside. She feared the one in her heart, the one building between her grown kids. That one had a far better chance of tearing things apart.
Especially today.
Elizabeth turned back inside and walked to the kitchen. Along the way she studied the familiar walls and windows, the rooms that housed a million memories. This was the Baxter house. That’s what they called the place. A white Victorian farmhouse with a wraparound porch and enough bedrooms for the five kids Elizabeth and her husband, Dr. John Baxter, had raised here.They’d moved in when their youngest, Luke, was just six years old. Back when everyone they knew wanted to be like the Baxter family.
When Elizabeth and John’s kids couldn’t get enough of each other.
A dozen years had passed since then and in that time the house had seen more laughter, witnessed more love and life than most ever would. Elizabeth leaned against the kitchen counter and breathed deep. These days, her family just wasn’t the same. Something had changed, and there was nothing she or John could do about it.
She stared at the cookies and chips on the kitchen table. After the reception, the family would return to the house for more celebrating. That was the plan. So what would these old walls hear today? Doubts about Kari’s choice of a groom? Arguing between the middle kids? Scoffing at God from the oldest? If Elizabeth’s bad feeling was right, this might be a day everyone would rather forget.
Even the house.
Stop, she told herself. Kari was getting married today. It was the happiest moment in her daughter’s life. Of course Kari had chosen the right groom.God, please, take this feeling of doom from me. I can’t bear it. Not now.
Thunder rumbled in the distance.
Daughter… I am with you. I go before you and behind you. I have loved you from the beginning.
The whisper caused Elizabeth to catch a quick breath.Lord?The wind screamed through the trees outside.Sometimes she was sure God was talking to her. He was with her. He loved her. But if this were one of those times, she still felt no peace.
No assurance.
The wedding was set to start at five o’clock. Ten hours from now. Kari’s high school and college friends would be there along with Tim’s colleagues from the university. Friends from church, several neighbors and their families. A hundred people in all. And of course Kari’s four siblings.
Brooke, Ashley, Erin, and Luke.
Kids who used to play together and share secrets and believe that nothing would ever change. Back when everyone in the family agreed: Your best friends were the ones sitting around the dinner table each night.
Elizabeth pictured them, the way they were. Their happy young faces. What had happened since then? Where had those Baxter children gone? And what would they think if they knew their parents’ gravest secret? That there weren’t really five adult Baxter kids.
There were six.
The sound of a car came from the driveway. Elizabeth peered out the window as John pulled up near the garage. A smile tugged at her troubled heart. Everything was better when John was home. Maybe he would say something that might ease her increasing dread.
A creak of the heavy wooden front door and a sudden burst of wind howled through the house. The door slammed shut and Elizabeth turned to see John, a bag ofgroceries under each arm. “Big storm coming.” A quick gaze out the window and John gave a low whistle. “Biggest storm in a while.” He turned to her and a grin stretched across his face. “I found the streamers. The white ones you wanted.”
Elizabeth watched him come closer, into the kitchen where he set the bags on the counter. A conversation about the tension between their kids could wait a few minutes. She closed the distance between them. Then she kissed his cheek and returned the smile. “You’ve always loved parties.”
“True.” A chuckle slipped from his lips. “Nothing better than celebrating our kids.” He put his hand alongside her face. “And now Kari’s wedding.” His eyes held hers. “Where did the years go, my love?”
