Page 26 of Through the Dark Night
“I see.” She had totally forgotten about that. She loved what that said about him. The sacrifice, the way he put his family first. That he would sacrifice what he wanted for the good of someone else. For his sister who needed him.
“And your dad had a heart attack?” she asked, trying to remember the gossip that she’d heard.
“Yeah. Not long after Katie’s accident. I might have left anyway, if it hadn’t been for that. But I took over the hardware store, and Katie and I have been living pretty happily ever since.”
His eyes shifted to her, and they looked at each other for a moment before he looked away again.
She couldn’t help but think that things might have been different if she hadn’t broken her promise to him and if they had ended up married. His life would have been…maybe happier? She wasn’t sure. He didn’t seem to be upset with her or upset with the way his life turned out. He didn’t even seem resigned, just content. Hadn’t he just said that God had a way of working things out?
“All right, I better get back to work, but I just want to make sure that we’re on for tonight.”
“We sure are. Tell me what time you want me and what I should bring.”
“You don’t need to bring anything. I’ve become a fair cook over the years, and we just want your company. That’s all.”
She gathered their things up and took his dirty plate from him soshe could drop it off in the kitchen while he went up to get started working. She was careful not to let their fingers brush. She had found out some things about him today that made him even more appealing than he already had been. And she would be hard-pressed to keep her distance. But that was what she needed to do.
Ten
Shannon stood on the porch of Lance’s house, waiting for him to answer the door. She was unaccountably nervous, especially since she and Lance worked together so well, and she felt more at home with him than she did with anyone she knew, except for possibly her children.
Still, she couldn’t deny the fact that her hands were sweaty and butterflies tangled in her stomach.
Surely, once he opened the door and she saw his face, she would calm right down, but… For some reason, she wanted him to…like her? He already did. She wasn’t worried about that. Not really. But she had showered and carefully styled her hair, and even applied a little makeup, which she hadn’t been wearing at all around the inn. She wore a flattering skirt and a shirt that hugged her curves. She was as dressed up as she ever got, and she was hoping that…it was enough? That she was enough? Was she still wondering whether she was enough?
“Good evening,” Lance said as he opened the door.
“Is this her? Is this the girl you’ve been talking about?” Katie stood beside him, her attitude and words that of a ten-year-old, but the body and face of a woman in her mid-thirties. It was an odd combination, and Shannon was only able to blink.
“I think we’re overwhelming her. But yes, this is Shannon. Shannon, this is my sister, Katie. She’s excited,” Lance said, patting Katie’s head like she was much younger than the mid-thirties that she had to have been.
“It’s very nice to meet you, Katie.”
“Lance talks about you all the time. He says he used to have the biggest crush on you.”
“Katie,” Lance said, warning in his tone, although patience in his voice too.
“I used to have a really big crush on him as well… We were together for a while. But then I left.”
“I know. He’s not mad at you though. And he really wants me to like you. Which I know I’m going to.”
“And I know I’m going to like you,” Shannon said as Lance led the way inside, and Katie wrapped her arm with Shannon’s and walked beside her.
“Lance is the best big brother in the world. Although he does make me go to bed early. Eight o’clock, can you believe it?”
“Wow. Sometimes I go to bed at eight o’clock. Sometimes I go to bed at 7:30,” Shannon said. She’d always been an early to bed and early to rise kind of person.
“Sometimes I just need a little bit of peace and quiet, and Katie’s awesome, but she never stops talking,” Lance said, lifting a brow at Katie, who giggled.
“That’s true. Lance always says I chatter like a magpie. I really don’t know what a magpie is, and he hasn’t been able to tell me, so I think he’s just making it up.”
“You should Google it.”
“Oh, I’m not allowed to have a phone. Lance says I can get myself into too much trouble with it.”
Shannon nodded and wondered about that. Maybe it had something to do with her developmental delay—she wasn’t sure. But Katie was charming and sweet, and it was so nice to see Lance’s gentle care with her.
“It looks like you forgot to set a third plate, Katie,” Lance said gently.
