“See? I told you. You’ve got a great guy.”
“He’s the best guy.” She said it with confidence, as if she no longer had a single doubt.
And why would she? Brice was absolutely perfect. Happiness for her sister warred with the sadness she felt for her family and the odd aching sorrow that William left behind. Which reminded her. “Do you know a friend of Jonas’s named William?”
“Nope. Then again, why would I? I can’t keep my own name straight some days.” Ava rolled her eyes and leaned close to reach for Madison. She transferred the sleepy child into her arms. “I’m taking over. You’re officially off duty.”
“When it comes to family, there no such thing as off duty.”
“Stop being stubborn and go home—”
“To an empty apartment?”
For a moment they both paused in their lifelong habit of interrupting each other and finishing the other’s sentences. Aubrey knew what Ava stopped short of saying. They’d spent their whole lives together. Even when they’d pursued different career paths after high school, they’d still been practically attached at the hip.
They talked throughout the day, all day long, thanks to the invention of cell phones. They met for lunch and dinner, and they shared an apartment. They spent their free time together as they always had. But Ava’s marriage would change that.
Aubrey loved her sister with all her heart, and there was nothing more important than her happiness, but she knew she was going to miss spending so much time with her twin. When she looked into the future, Ava would have a home and a husband, children. That’s where her time and energy should lie. Absolutely. But all Aubrey saw for herself was a long stretch of lonely evenings and weekends. Even now, without Madison in her arms, she felt lonely.
Not that she was going to be sad for herself for a second, because look at all the wonderful blessings the Lord put into her life with each and every day. But still, it was a change. And a big one.
“Tyler’s watching one of his DVDs,” she said with the most cheerful voice she could muster under the circumstances. “Maybe I’ll just crash with him on the couch.”
“Hey, what’s that?” Nothing got past Ava. She pointed with her free hand to the wrapped gift.
“No idea. That William guy I mentioned dropped it off. It’s an anniversary gift from Jonas to Danielle.”
Ava looked sucker punched. “That’s just about the saddest thing I’ve heard today, and it’s been a day with a whole lot of sad in it.”
“Tell me about it,” she said over the sound of the garage door ratcheting closed. She stared at the package wrapped so neatly and noticed, for the first time, there was a business card tucked beneath the intersecting twine. “It’s hot in here. Maybe I should take that in.”
“Good idea. It’s probably something really nice, knowing Jonas.”
A beat of silence passed between them when they said nothing at all. Aubrey knew Ava was thinking, too, of how devoted Jonas had been to their stepsister. Now what would happen? She could tell by Ava’s face that whatever the doctors had told them tonight hadn’t been good, which could only mean one thing. Danielle would need her family more than ever.
“I’ll see to this.” Aubrey broke the silence. “You get Madison inside.”
“Ten four.” Ava looked on the brink of tears as she dragged her gaze away from the gift, which was clearly some kind of a wall hanging. “Did you get anything to eat?”
Aubrey shook her head. Not that she was hungry.
“I’ll heat something up for both of us,” Ava decided as she headed inside. The snap of her flip-flops echoed in the empty garage, leaving Aubrey feeling sorely alone.
Okay, call her curious, but she snatched the business card from its secure place beneath the string. The name William Corey was printed in small letters in the lower right-hand corner, in block script. Photographer.
Jonas’s friend was the William Corey? That’s where I’ve seen him before, Aubrey thought, a little shocked. She’d shelved so many of his books at the bookstore over the years, she should have known him on sight. His picture was plastered on the back jacket of his bestselling collections of inspirational photography. How did Jonas know the famed photographer? And why had someone of William’s stature mowed the lawn?
No, that couldn’t be right. Could it? Aubrey tucked the card back into place and carefully lifted the wrapped package. It certainly felt like a framed photograph, she thought as she shut the garage door and headed down the hall. It was a good-size picture. Not that Jonas could afford an original, but William Corey was Danielle’s favorite artist. She had a book of his in the house.
Aubrey took care with the package and leaned it against the wall in Danielle’s bedroom. There was a small wooden bookcase in the corner with a collection of devotionals and inspirational books.
There, on the bottom shelf, Aubrey found what she was looking for. A hardback book with William Corey’s name on the spine. She tugged it from its snug place and turned the volume over. A man’s image with jet-black hair and dark eyes stared up at her.
Yep, it was the same high cheekbones and ruggedly handsome look. William Corey.
It was a nice photograph, she thought, but it didn’t look like the man she’d met tonight. His features were the same, yes. His look was the same. But the man in the picture seemed at ease, with a relaxed half smile on his face, standing in a mountain meadow with rugged peaks in the background. He was vital and alive and full of heart. Not at all the man who’d stood in the garage, looking lost in the shadows.
“Aunt Aubrey?” Tyler came up to stand beside her. “I’m lonesome. Will you come watch TV with me?”
“Sure thing, pumpkin.” Aubrey put the book back on the shelf, but she couldn’t put away her thoughts of William Corey as easily.
She took her nephew’s small, trusting hand and let him lead her down the hall.
In the stillness of his mountain retreat, William was comforted by the echoing scuff of his slippered footsteps. He was back in his space, where he was safe from life and the way it made memories tug at the sorrow in his heart.
Hours had passed since he’d driven away from Jonas’s house. He’d slapped a sandwich together and called it dinner, then hopped on the Internet to scan through the online version of the local paper. He found a small article saying only that Trooper Jonas Lowell had been shot at a routine traffic stop and was in critical care. Nothing more. He’d tried the hospital, but they weren’t releasing any information.
Maybe tomorrow, he’d try harder to see what he could find out and if there was anything he could do to help. After what Jonas had done for him, it was the least he could do.
Troubled, William watched the sun turn bold crimson in the hazy dusk and told himself he didn’t long for his camera. He had no desire to capture the light of the sun and the haze of descending twilight. Really. Or, that’s what he told himself as the long-dead desire grew razor sharp.
It was that woman Aubrey’s fault, he decided as he bent to turn on the lamp at the bedside table. There had been something about her, probably just the trick of the light, that made the dead place inside him come to life. For a moment, he wished for the things that would never be for him again—like innocence and trust and hope.
It had been a long time since he’d prayed. His knees felt stiff as he knelt beside the bed, resting his forearms on the soft, cool percale of the turned-back sheets. The shadowed darkness in the room seemed to deepen and grow; the low-watt bulb in the table lamp wasn’t strong enough to keep it at bay.
Maybe it