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.Harmony reached for his hand and then took Callie’s hand on her left side.He took the hint, removed his hat and bowed his head.A whole bunch of thoughts crowded a mind that should have been focused on thanking the Good Lord for his blessings.Two kids that smiled more.A woman sitting next to him, her hand in his.Somehow he managed a prayer that thanked God but didn’t get too specific.Thunder crashed outside, rattling the windows.Lightning streaked across the sky.Callie looked up, a mouth full of chicken, her eyes widening at the continuing ruckus of the storm.“It’s just rain, Callie.” He nodded at her plate.“Go ahead and eat.”“It’s scary,” she whispered, moving a little closer to Harmony’s side.“If you close your eyes and listen, it’s a good sound.” Harmony led by example, closing her eyes and looking peaceful.“Hear the rain on the roof?”She looked down at Callie and smiled.Callie still had her eyes closed but she didn’t look convinced of Dylan’s way of thinking.Callie looked up, shaking her head.“It’s still scary.”“Keep your eyes closed and listen.Rain is like music.And the rain makes everything grow, even flowers.”Callie sighed and eventually the fear passed.He thought about Harmony, and how often she had to convince herself the fear or pain she felt wasn’t real.The other night she’d told him counting stars gave her something to focus on.And now she was having Doris teach her to crochet.Another distraction.Harmony finished eating and stood to carry her plate to the kitchen.She took Dylan’s empty plate and the plastic plate Cash had used.Callie was still eating chicken.“I’m going to help Harmony do the dishes, Callie.You finish eating, okay?”“But the storm.” Callie looked up at him, eyes wide with fear.“The storm is outside and we’re all right here together.”“Okay.” But she didn’t sound convinced.Dylan walked into the kitchen where Harmony was loading the dishwasher.He saw what she needed, a kitchen stool in the corner of the room.He brought it to her and the cane that had been leaning against the pantry.“Sit.”“You’re bossy.” But she didn’t argue.She peered past him, smiling at something she saw in the dining room.Dylan looked, to make sure everything was okay, that Cash hadn’t climbed onto the ceiling fan or something equally dangerous.Callie had moved to Cash’s side and was sitting close, telling him he didn’t have to be afraid of the storm.“Mommy’s in heaven and storms come from heaven.” Callie’s voice was soft, her hand patting Cash’s.Dylan closed his eyes, wishing kids didn’t have to suffer that kind of pain.Harmony leaned her head against his shoulder and her arm wrapped around him, pulling him close.“They’re getting through it the way kids do, by making sense of it.”He glanced down at her and he saw in her eyes the pain of understanding.Of course she knew what it was like to be a little girl left alone.But in a way that he couldn’t even begin to imagine.“Don’t kiss me, Dylan.”He backed away, surprised by the order, surprised that it was exactly what he’d planned to do.He’d been close and she was easing herself off the stool and returning to the dishwasher.“Don’t kiss you?”She loaded the few glasses in the sink and closed the door of the dishwasher.“No more.We have to stop.Somewhere along the way, our perfect plan has turned into a perfect mess.”“It might be messy but I didn’t think it was a mess.”She leaned on the cane and walked past him, to the fridge.She put away ketchup and juice before looking at him again.“It is a mess and you know it.We’re making it messy by letting ourselves think that what we started out with has become real.We’ve crossed the lines.”“I’ve always been bad at not staying in the lines,” he teased.She shot him a warning look.And then Callie was calling out to them, telling them Cash wanted out of the high chair and the lightning was really bad.So much for working with the horse.Dylan helped Cash down from the high chair.When he turned back around Callie had hold of Harmony’s hand, trying to convince her she was afraid of storms, too.“I promise I’m not afraid of storms, Callie.”Dylan guessed she probably wasn’t, but he knew something she was afraid of.She was afraid of what she was feeling.She was afraid of letting him—them—in her life.“Can I stay the night with Harmony?” Callie asked, still holding on to Harmony’s hand like it was a life preserver.Dylan looked at Harmony, and she nodded.“I guess you can,” he answered [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]