Abound in Love (6 page)

After
waiting for what felt like an interminable amount of time for the hot water to
heat up, she stepped into the shower.  The spray of warm water against her
weary muscles felt delicious, but turned out to be short-lived.  When the water
suddenly turned icy cold, Laura let out a startled cry.

To her
horror, she heard someone pounding on the door.  “Are you all right?  Did you
fall in the shower?  Open the door!”

“Yes. 
No.  And absolutely not!” she called through chattering teeth.

Oh, why
hadn’t Thomas told her Dalton was living with him?—even if the situation was
temporary.  Had she known, she would have stayed in a hotel.  Sure, it would
have been cost prohibitive, but how was she going to manage staying here, when
every time she set eyes on the man, she was reminded about her ridiculous crush
on him all those years ago?

All
those years ago…

Who was
she kidding?  She found him every bit as attractive today as she did when they
were kids. 

Desperate
to rinse the shampoo out of her hair, Laura did several rapid turns under the
freezing cold water.  No amount of fiddling with the knobs altered the
temperature, and she hoped she wasn’t going to come down with a case of
pneumonia for her trouble.

Finally,
in frustration, she shut off the water and dried off.  Her teeth were
chattering violently, and she could hardly steady her shaking hands enough to
comb through her hair.  When she finally dressed and joined the others
downstairs, she was still trembling from the cold.

Dalton
gave her a sympathetic glance.  “You never want to be the last shower around
here.”

“I
should have remembered,” Laura admitted.  As the youngest in the family, it had
been commonplace for her to end up showering under a stream of cold water.

“Hey,
sis, are you all right?” Thomas asked from his place at the stove.  His eyes
widened.  “Wow, that eye looks bad.”

“Dalton
did it,” Krissy announced.

Laura
turned toward her niece.  “Honey, he didn’t mean to.”  She swiveled back toward
her brother.  “I don’t think I’m ever going to get used to you standing at that
stove.  And yes, I’ll be fine.  Provided the hypothermia doesn’t kill me.  Do
you need any help with anything?” she inquired, and when Thomas told her no,
she dropped onto the bench seating at the picnic table.  She still felt chilled
to the bone and couldn’t stop shaking.

She
finally noticed Kenny, standing at the refrigerator.  “Hey, there, young man. 
I didn’t see you.  You’re so quiet over there.”

“I’m
trying to decide what juice to have for breakfast.”

“You
can’t go wrong with orange,” she told him.

“You
could probably use a strong dose of Vitamin C yourself about now,” Dalton said
with a wince.  “And maybe even an ice pack.”  He came up beside her and studied
her black eye. 

“Uncle
Dalton gave Aunt Laura a black eye,” Krissy announced.

“
What
?”
a female voice demanded from the doorway.  “Laura, are you all right?”

She
promptly turned to the source of the voice.  Candace stood in the doorway. 
Still tall and stunningly beautiful at age thirty, she did, however, look
awfully tired.  Laura noted that half circles framed her lower lids and that
she seemed to be propping herself up in the doorway.

“Candace,”
Laura said, standing from the table.

Candace
appeared to search her face, and broke into a wide smile.  “You look so
good—aside from the eye,” she said sincerely.  “But then, you were always a
natural beauty.”

Laura
could have been knocked over with a feather.  Since when did anyone refer to
her as any kind of beauty?  She paled in comparison to her sister.  She knew
it.  Everyone knew it.  And in truth, she didn’t care.  She’d always known
there was more to a person than their outward appearance.  But she had to
admit, having her sister compliment her felt … good.

“Thank
you.  You look great yourself.”

Candace
shook her head and gave a dismissive wave.  “No, I don’t.  But thank you for
saying so.”  She crossed the room and wrapped Laura in a hug.  “It’s so good to
see you,” she whispered.  “So good.”

Laura
pulled back.  “It’s good to see you too.”

“Mom,
are you driving us to school?” Krissy asked.  “Please.  I hate the bus.”

Candace
shook her head, as if bringing herself back to the present.  She checked her
watch.  “I think that can be arranged.”  She directed her attention to Kenny. 
“Would you like to ride along, son?  You’ll be early to your school, but…”

“No,
I’ll take the bus.”  He sat on the bench, and dropped his head, studiously
ignoring his mother. 

Laura
saw Candace wince, as if she’d sustained a physical blow.

“Well,
I’ll see you this evening then.  Thomas, can the kids come here after school?” 
When he nodded, she said, “I’ll pick them up here when I get off work.”  She
turned her attention back to Laura.  “Would you…?  I don’t suppose…?”

“Mom
wants to know if you can go out to dinner with us?” Krissy cried eagerly.

“Nothing
fancy, I’m afraid,” Candace said with an almost apologetic shrug, and then appeared
to brace for her answer.

“I’d
love to.”

The
relief and pleasure on Candace’s face was so genuine, so intense, that Laura
felt it to her core. 

Perhaps
Candace
had
changed.

“
Y
ou’ll
be all right here all alone?” Thomas asked Laura, as he packed up a stack of
student papers in readiness for his work. 

“She’s
not alone.  I’ll be here,” Dalton reminded them.

Laura,
resting on the couch in the living room, glanced up.  “I’ll be fine.  I’ll
probably stick around her today.  I’m feeling more jet-lagged than I typically
do after flying.  I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

“It’s
either the shock of seeing your siblings again,” he said, grinning cheekily,
“or that blow to your eye is making you drowsy.”

“I feel
bad enough about that,” Dalton groused.  “Do you all have to keep bringing it
up?”  He was sitting across the room, in Laura’s father ancient recliner, and
fixated on the morning news.  He turned to Laura and surveyed her face.  He grimaced
dramatically.  “I am really sorry.”

“Forget
it,” she said dismissively.

“Hey,
Uncle Thomas!” Kenny called from the kitchen.  “Can I catch a ride to school
with you?”

“I
thought you were riding the bus.  Isn’t that what you told your mom?”

“It’s
too late.  The bus has already passed your house.”  The boy stepped into the
living room, shifting his backpack more comfortably on his shoulder.

“You’re
not embarrassed riding to school with your ol’ uncle?” Thomas asked.

“It’s
not as if everyone doesn’t know we’re related,” he said with a shake of his
head.  “Besides, I’d rather ride with you in your truck, than sit in the stupid
bus for forty-five minutes.”

Thomas
refrained from mentioning he could have ridden along with his mother.  “I’m
leaving in five.  Be ready.”

Kenny
dropped onto the sofa beside his aunt.  His eyes lit on her swollen eye. 
“Dalton got you good, didn’t he?”

“I
didn’t mean to!” he cried, for the umpteenth time.

“I’m
fine,” Laura said, as she rose from the couch.  She bent to give Kenny a hug,
and then excused herself.  “I think I’m going back upstairs and try to get some
shut-eye for an hour or two.”  She gave a dubious chuckle.  “And considering
the shape—literally—of that old mattress, it may be easier said than done.”

Thomas
laughed ruefully.  “Yeah, it’s definitely seen better days.  It’s as old as
me.”

“But
not quite as soft,” Dalton teased.

Thomas
picked up a pillow and hefted it at his friend.  “I’ll show you soft…  I can
take you any day of the week.”

Laura
shook her head and decided to get while the getting was good.  If the two men
began wrestling around on the living room floor, she wanted to be safely
clear.  She remembered how they used to go at it when they were kids, forever
flexing their muscles and arguing about who was the tougher of the two. 

While
Thomas was a bit taller than Dalton, Dalton was more solidly built.  Both men
still appeared to be in good shape, but Laura suspected Dalton probably spent
more time in the gym.  His broad chest and well-muscled arms were a testament
to his dedication to physical fitness.

When
Dalton met Laura’s gaze and gave a broad grin, she realized she’d been staring
at him, and that he had caught her.  Her face flamed crimson.

“Uh,
have a good day, everybody.”  As she fled the room, she heard Dalton chuckling
behind her.

“What
was that about?” Thomas asked.

Laura
braced for his answer as she topped the steps and lit on the landing upstairs. 

“I
don’t have a clue,” Dalton said, but she could still hear the laughter in his
voice.

Back in
her old bedroom, Laura dropped onto the bed.  She abruptly sank into the center
of it.  Was there even a box spring beneath it?  

As she
lay back against the pillow, and stared at the ceiling of her old room, she
felt transported back in time.  She remembered every crack in that ceiling, and
every feature of the wall.  She turned toward the single window in the room and
stared out at the sky.  Though the window was closed, a draft caused the lacy
curtain to sway in the slight breeze.

She
turned away.  Thomas really should replace those old windows.  She couldn’t
imagine how much his heating bill was each month.  It had to be high.

She
couldn’t help wondering what had possessed him to buy the old farmhouse. 
During her drive into town, she couldn’t believe the numbers of new housing
developments she could see from the main strip through town.  Why hadn’t her
brother purchased something new and modern and energy efficient?

Laura
sat up and reached for one of the blankets at her feet.  She tugged it up to her
chin.  It really was chilly.  She remembered how often she and Candace had
complained to their parents about the chill in the room.  Out of necessity, the
family had simply learned to dress for the cold, but there was many a morning
Laura had been hard-pressed to leave her bed. 

When
she heard the sound of Thomas’ truck start up, she knew he and Kenny had left
for school.  That meant she was alone in the house with Dalton.

She
wasn’t certain how she felt about that.  It was disconcerting that the boy she’d
‘loved’ had grown into a man, and that that man was currently kicked back in a
recliner downstairs.  Of course, seeing Dalton in her home wasn’t unusual.  He
had spent a lot of time at their house when they were kids.  Laura’s mother had
essentially taken him in, since his mother had died when he was young, and then
his father had been killed several years after, while on the job as a police
officer.

Although
Dalton had an aunt living in the area, he had preferred spending time at
Laura’s house, hanging out with Thomas and Candace.  Laura had often been in
the background, almost an afterthought where her family was concerned.  She
typically spent her time daydreaming about a future with the object of her
childish musings—Dalton.

He was
three years older than her, and as children, it had amounted to a huge age
difference.  Now, the difference was irrelevant.  Not that she expected
anything to come of her arrival in town.  She had no illusions that Dalton saw
her as anything but the younger sister of two of his dearest friends.

Laura
sat up, turned, and pounded the pillow—which was thin and wholly
uncomfortable.  She fell back against it and closed her eyes.  She suddenly
remembered all the times she had embarrassed herself around Dalton.  One time
in particular, when she’d been about thirteen, she had dressed in a blouse and
a skirt, donned high heels, and applied makeup to her plump cheeks—an attempt
to get him to notice her.

When
she’d come downstairs—trying to float down the staircase like a princess—Candace
had spotted her first.  She had burst out laughing and nudged Dalton, who was
beside her on the couch.  “Get a load of Laura.  She looks like a clown!” 
She’d taken her voice down a notch and whispered something Laura hadn’t been
able to hear. 

To his credit,
Dalton had only smiled serenely.  “You look very pretty, Laura,” he’d said.

Candace
had burst out laughing.  “Oh, Dalton!  You’re terrible!”

Laura
froze on the stairway.  She could only stare in horror at Candace, who by now
was clutching her sides and laughing hysterically.

Thomas,
who had entered the room from the kitchen, saw Laura and surmised what had
happened.  “Candace, leave her alone!  Laura, go wash your face and get out of
that dress.  You need to give the dogs their supper.”

Laura
had spun on her heel and run up the stairs.  As she’d scrubbed the blush off
her cheeks, she’d begun crying.  She also had nearly leapt out of her skin when
Dalton had popped his head into the bathroom a moment later.  “Don’t cry,
Laura,” he’d said.  “You do look pretty.”