Part 11 (2/2)

”Oh, Zuzu. No.” As Abigail drew her friend into her arms for a hug, no one voiced what they were all thinking. A brilliant Olympic career? Over. Years of hard work? Haruo and Mieko had to be heartbroken. ”I'm so, so sorry,” she said around a lump of sympathy.

”Thank you,” Isuzu said and sniffed, her smile, watery. ”They are alive. This, I am so thankful to Jesus for. And He is working out everything, I trust. Just hard to see.”

Impossible, Abigail thought, but only nodded. She didn't share Isuzu's generous opinion. ”How are your brother and sister-in-law holding up?”

”They are thankful both kids are alive, but very scared for Brooke.”

”What about her boyfriend? What was his name again?”

”Nick. The kids were outside when tornado hit,” Isuzu haltingly explained. ”When they find Brook she is . . . unconscious. She have serious spinal injury.”

Abigail swallowed and blinked. ”And Nick?”

”No one see Nick.”

Heather finally understood the need of the father to barbecue the fatted calf for the prodigal son's return. Bob Ray was home. She settled in next to the boy she remembered from her childhood. It was that Bob Ray who lit his eyes now. It was that Bob Ray in his touch. In his voice. He drew his foot up over his knee and propped their sleeping toddler in his lap before he turned to face her. For several long seconds, he sat in silence.

Heather could see the thoughts, like logs in a jam, struggling to organize themselves and flow out. She waited, fearing what she would hear, but resigned herself to wait. Her husband was back, but G.o.d knew he wasn't perfect.

”I was so scared,” he began, his eyes welling. ”I thought G.o.d was punis.h.i.+ng me with this storm for the stuff I've been thinking about . . . about . . . what I was missing out on. Here I was, married to a beautiful girl and blessed with a healthy son and I wanted . . . something more.”

Heather nodded. She knew.

Shame had his eyes sliding closed and his chin dropping to his chest. ”I thought maybe I'd lost you and the baby and that I'd have to live with that . . .” He had to stop, for the sobs closed off his throat and had his shoulders heaving. ”Heather, I swear I never cheated on you. But I was thinking about . . . doing it. I . . . I . . . wanted to. I was just so sick of the responsibility. I just wanted . . .” his head dropped back and he peered into the night sky, ”I wanted to play football again, you know? And party with the guys and stuff. Stupid. Stupid. Idiot. I was partying tonight, working, but really? Party time. And, when the hammer came down,” he paused and wiped his face on the baptismal curtain, ”everything I thought I wanted? It wasn't real. And it could never, ever compare to what I already have with you.” His sigh was ragged and he clutched her hands in his, rubbing his thumbs over her knuckles.

Heather stared at her hands, encased in his. The words he spoke cut her to the bone, but . . . hadn't she had similar feelings? More than once she'd fantasized about disappearing and living a life without Bob Ray's misery. Thought about meeting someone new and starting over again. How could she be angry with him for sharing the same thoughts? Clearly, it took a lot of nerve to confess. Maybe he really had matured in the middle of the storm. Stranger things had happened.

”I don't blame you if you don't believe me. I know I've been a total jerk.” His face was so wet, Heather closed her fingers over the cuff of her sleeve and dabbed at his cheeks, nose, and eyes with her cloth-covered palm. Tears welled all over again and spiked his lashes. ”T . . . t . . . tonight I learned that . . . one second you're here, a selfish jerk, and the next minute . . .” his sigh was ragged and consumed with emotion, ” . . . you're dead. I know this is going to sound stupid, but I think G.o.d is trying to tell me something. Have you ever had that feeling where you know that He wants your attention. And you can run, but you can't hide?”

Heather grinned. ”Yes. I have been praying for us. For you. For so long.”

Bob Ray swallowed hard. ”I don't deserve it, but I want to try again. To start over. To go to church and to be a good husband and a . . .” For a moment, he was overcome again. ”And, a father to Robbie. The kind of dad I always wished for.”

Bob Ray hadn't spoken so earnestly in years. For him to be talking to her this way now was unbelievable. It had to be an answer to her prayers.

”I want that, too, Bob Ray,” she whispered and heads together, they cried.

”I found my parents!” Chaz told Abigail, Justin, and Isuzu, his smile huge with relief. ”My brother and his family are all good, too. They're at church right now, finding shelter for people who don't have anywhere to go.”

”I may need to go visit them,” Abigail said and exhaled a heavy sigh.

Chaz stepped behind her and rubbed her shoulders. ”Relax, girl. You are just a pile of knots. Listen, you're gonna be fine. My parents live over by your Aunt Selma. That whole area was pretty much untouched.”

”Have you seen Kaylee?”

Giving his watch an impatient glance, he patted her neck and said, ”She's only a few minutes away. My phone is working fine now.”

Abigail exhaled tension and breathed in relief. Digging through her purse, she found her phone and saw that she had a frantic text message from her mother in California and several from friends in other states. There were also a number of text messages from local friends and family, concerned about her safety. Quickly, she sent out a ma.s.s text, letting everyone know that she was fine and at Rawston Legacy Hospital looking for a friend.

Justin was also able to let his family know that he was okay. ”My grandparents are leaving the shelter and heading home. Souths.h.i.+re was lucky. There was some wind damage, but nothing big,” he told her as soon as he'd hung up.

”Oh, I'm so glad-” she was interrupted by giddy squeals as Kaylee and her mother and her aunt found Chaz. In spite of a broken arm, Kaylee was jumping up and down and frantically exchanging notes with Chaz about everything that happened over the last hours, whenever Chaz wasn't shutting her up with a kiss.

”Our place is completely wrecked,” Bob Ray told Heather. ”Seriously. Looks like someone drove our trailer in a demolition derby and lost. Big time.” They'd been talking nonstop since he arrived. And, even though the news was terrible, he'd never felt more at peace. More convicted about what a lousy husband and father he'd been. More willing and eager to make amends and some serious changes in his life. And Heather. Beautiful, sweet Heather. Her forgiveness was a total gift that he in no way deserved. He'd spend the rest of his life working hard to make her happy.

”I know,” Heather said and s.h.i.+vered. ”When I got here, I saw on the news that the tornado had plowed straight down Hollingsworth Boulevard.”

Head dipped to kiss his son, he murmured, ”Luckily, Mrs. Carmichael is okay, but the place is totaled. Half of it's in our yard. Half's in hers.”

”What about Danny?” Heather asked as she remembered she'd left him there, when she and Robbie had headed off to the store for milk.

”Wasn't there. Neither was his truck. Mrs. Carmichael said she thinks he left before the storm hit.”

Heather's relief was audible. ”Thank heavens. I was so worried. When I left, he was . . .” She swallowed, obviously emotional at the thoughts spinning through her head, she tried again, ”. . . when I left he was under the house, looking to see if our insulation was soaked and hoping to find where the water was coming out.”

Bob Ray pushed back a stab of worry. Danny was from around here. He knew when to take shelter. He was a smart, strong man. He had to be safe. He had to be.

”I'm sorry I wasn't there when the storm hit, Heather. That will never happen again. I promise you, I'll be there whenever you need me in the future.”

”I know.”

Those two simple words sent a powerful rush of healing through his body, and he loved her more, if possible, than any person or thing he'd ever loved before.

”I guess it's lucky we don't own anything worth sweating over, huh?” He smiled at her, drinking in her sweet face and unselfish love for him and Robbie.

She shrugged. ”Unless you count your football trophies and-”

”Heather? Heather?”

Both Heather and Bob Ray turned at the sound of her name filtering through the crowd and growing closer.

15.

As Heather's parents emerged from the milling, misplaced throng, a surge of adrenaline had Bob Ray tensing with the fight or flight syndrome. Rising to his feet, he s.h.i.+elded his son in his arms as he stepped between his in-laws and his wife, at their frantic, take-charge approach. Though he was tempted to stalk away and leave Heather to deal with her intimidating father, he stood his ground.

Huffing and harried, Mike and Denise were urgent with fear and when they saw their daughter, their relief was extreme. Palpable.

Bob Ray couldn't help but wonder why they thought this disaster in their daughter's life was more worthy of their attention than the last. As usual, her parents were dressed impeccably for a post-tornado meeting, their Tommy Bahama togs perfectly coordinated, their hair well-groomed and stylish. Both were still tan from their annual spring fling in Fiji. How he used to admire their style and wealth. Tonight, it seemed as vain and useless as the gold pinky ring on Mike's finger.

Heather's mother, Denise, reached them first. ”Heather, oh, thank G.o.d! Mike! Over here!” She gestured for Heather's father to hurry and join them. ”Oh, we've been worried sick about you! And the baby! Living in that horrible trailer park during a tornado . . . why anything could have happened!”

The muscles in Bob Ray's jaw jumped with resentment, and he was glad when Heather stood and tucked her hand into the crook of his elbow. Robbie was still fast asleep in his arms, blissfully unaware of the day's traumas.

”We've been watching the news and saw that the storm hit that whole area.” Denise's gaze strayed with longing at Robbie as she spoke to Heather. ”How are you, sweetheart?”

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