Her Wedding Wish

Danielle couldn’t breathe for the pain in her heart. Madison had Jonas wrapped around her little finger since the moment she’d come into the world.

Jonas shuffled forward, but it was the sadness in his eyes that both kept her silent and that gave her hope as he eased alongside his walker. He had one hand on the edge of the counter and the other on the walker’s grip.

“You don’t like this?” he asked the toddler, nodding at the metal appliance.

From behind her grandmother’s knee, Madison shook her head again, scattering her soft curls. “No!”

“Me, either.” He took a shaky step away, unsteady as he shuffled forward without much support.

She was across the kitchen, holding her husband’s elbow without thought, but he didn’t lean on her. No, no matter how much support Jonas needed, he would not do that. He did allow her to keep him steady at this crucial moment as he went a few uncertain inches forward.

Their little girl took a cautious step out from behind her grandmother, looking relieved the scary metal thing had been left behind.

Jonas leaned forward and held out his hand, a father’s devotion sincere and quiet. He waited while Madison bit her bottom lip, debating the merits of approaching her daddy now.

When Madison looked up to her, Danielle nodded and smiled. “It’s okay, honey,” she said and scrunched down a bit to be more at the toddler’s level.

Encouraged, Madison took a step toward her daddy. “Why you got that?”

Jonas’s smile was wobbly and looked relieved. “Because my leg doesn’t work so well. But it’s gonna be better.”

“Oh. Okeydokey.” Madison laid her hand on his, studying him trustingly. “You gonna come see me swim? I kin kick real fast! Jest like a mermaid.”

“I’d sure like to see that sometime soon.”

“Yip.” Madison grinned hugely. “C’mon, Grammy! I shew you my towel!”

Danielle rose to full height as the little girl grabbed her grandmother by the hand and pulled her through the kitchen. She was thankful, deeply grateful.

She turned to Jonas, who waited until Madison was out of sight before he grabbed for the edge of the counter. She tugged his walker to him, holding him steady. He looked too tired from the effort and his leg was shaking, but his smile was pure Jonas.

“This is going to work out just fine,” she told him, certain of it now. “You wait and see.”

“I brought my toolbox,” Dad said in his gruff, good-guy way as he shouldered through the front door and stomped his boots on the entry rug. “Figure the boys and I can get a few things done for you around here.”

Danielle looked up from the counter where she was peeling carrots for the salad. Her burdens lifted at simply seeing her father—her stepfather, who’d adopted her when he’d married her mother long ago. Gratitude filled her right up. She couldn’t have a better father, and she loved him. “Dad, this is supposed to be a celebration dinner. You shouldn’t be doing work around here. We can worry about things getting done later.”

“Nonsense. You know me. I’m not happy unless I’m busy.” He winked, and his smile was good-natured as always. “Might as well make myself useful while I’m here. And what about you, missy?”

“What about me?”

He set down his toolbox against the entryway wall. “You sure you ought to be in here working like that? Your mother isn’t gonna be happy if she and the kids come back from the grocery store and see that you aren’t taking it easy like she told you to.”

“I’m fine, Dad. Really.” She smiled to prove it to him. “You know me. I’m not happy unless I’m busy.”

He shook his head slowly from side to side and, judging by the squint to his friendly blue eyes, he wasn’t fooled one bit. “Jonas resting?”

“He fell asleep on the couch. He had a tough physical therapy session.” Not to mention the doctor appointment before that. “Let me get you something cool to drink, Dad. It’s a scorcher out there.”

“Looked like it was trying to storm to me.”

“Storm?” That couldn’t be good news. She hadn’t had time to check any weather report. Apparently she’d been too busy trying to get a start on dinner prep to look out the big garden window over the sink and counter.

Now that she did look, she saw thunderheads were gathering on the horizon. Huge ones. That might not bode well for their backyard picnic. And for her not to have noticed, well, it only went to show how tired she felt.

Great. She squared her drooping shoulders and put down the peeler. “I’ll get you some iced tea.”

“I’ll do it myself, missy.” Dad ambled her way, still a big man despite the fact that he’d passed retirement age. “But I will take one of those brownies. They smell awful good.”

Danielle reached for a clean knife and joined him at the opposite counter to cut him a generous piece. “You’re going to spoil your appetite.”

“Yeah, I know.” Dad was smiling as he tore a paper towel from the dispenser and held it to use in place of a plate. “No one anywhere makes a better brownie than you. You even got Ava beat.”

One of her younger sisters, Ava, was a professional baker. A high compliment, but one she’d heard before. Plus, Dad was generous with compliments. She kissed his cheek. “Why don’t you go put up your feet? If you don’t want to disturb Jonas, you can use the TV either in the basement or in our room.”

“No, I don’t mind bothering Jonas.” Dad winked as he strode out of sight. The faint rumble of his voice in the living room told her that Jonas must have woken up.

When she peered around the corner to check on him, he had straightened up on the couch. Now sitting up, he was sleepy-looking and pale, but he seemed glad of the company. That had to be a good sign, right? She worried about the evening ahead. Her family—bless them—had dearly wanted to see Jonas again. But was he up to so much at once?

Well, they would find out. She hoped so. She wanted him to see that he wasn’t as alone as he had to feel. She leaned her shoulder against the archway to watch as Jonas talked with her father, someone else he didn’t remember. But within moments they were both smiling and talking like old friends.

Great. She blew out a breath of relief and went back to her carrots. The men’s voices rumbled pleasantly as she finished peeling and dug the pitcher of iced tea out of the refrigerator.

The house was relatively quiet without the little ones—Mom had taken them with her on her grocery run. She missed Tyler’s constant motion and Madison’s constant chatter underfoot. And thinking of the kids made her remember how it used to be—how Jonas would always hang around the kitchen and help her, grazing on whatever was handy to snack on.

Hard to imagine, since Jonas and her dad had once been close.

There was a knock at the front door, a few quick, no-nonsense raps and then a key turned in the lock. Spence, the oldest of the clan, poked his head in. “Hit the garage door opener for me, would ya? I’ll get the front yard mowed before Dad thinks of it.”

“Thank you, Spence.”

“Don’t mention it.” He shut the door firmly.

The oven timer chose that moment to beep. She hit the off button, snagged an oven mitt from the closest drawer. She knelt to lift the casserole pot of baked beans from the oven and onto a trivet on the counter. While she heard Dad and Jonas talking, she tried not to focus on her husband’s halting words—that halting was worse when he was tired, she’d learned. She ached for him.

This was not fair. She had to lay aside her anger at the desperate gunman who had fired that shot. Jonas hadn’t deserved that, and yet it had happened just the same. She rushed around to the inside garage door and caught sight of him on the couch—struggling to find the right words while Dad waited patiently.

No, she thought, her heart heavy. This was not fair. Surely there was some good that would come out of this—some good the Lord would find in all this hardship. But for the life of her Danielle couldn’t figure out what. She yanked open the inside door and hit the button.

The churn of the opener’s engine drowned out the sound of her husband’s voice. As the door lifted, there was Spence, in T-shirt and denims, storming into the garage like a hulk. His grimace was hardly a grimace at all, which meant he must be in a very good mood. He grabbed the lawn mower and wheeled it out into the driveway. The roar of the engine coming to life echoed in the garage.

Talk about a reliable guy. Danielle loved her brother. She couldn’t have a better one—or a better family, and she thanked the Lord for them every day. She’d just hoped there would be less need for their help after Jonas’s homecoming. They’d done so much. They had to be exhausted, too.

She heard the air conditioner click on and felt the swirl of cooled air against her ankles and shut the door, leaving it unlocked so Spence could find his way in after his mowing. She remembered the kitchen work awaiting her. She wanted to get it done so that her mom didn’t have any choice; she couldn’t help with dinner because it would already be done. Mom had done more than her share already.

It was Jonas’s voice, low and sonorous, that made her stop halfway to the kitchen. Seeing him so changed still hit her hard every time.

“Is that right, John? Yellowstone, you say?”