Forever

  Finally they received word from Katy. Dayne was officially finished with rehab and had been given permission to travel. The paparazzi would be hot for pictures of the new and improved Dayne Matthews, so he would give them what they wanted. He would stage a press conference midweek and make himself available for interviews over the next few days. After that he and Katy would travel by private jet to Bloomington on Saturday—five days before Thanksgiving.

  One night the family had dinner at their dad’s house, and Luke watched his father break down during the blessing. “Thank You, God. After the accident . . .” His voice gave out. He waited a few moments. “Lord, we know how great You are, but even we are stunned by the gift You’ve given Dayne.” He wiped at his eyes. “The gift You’ve given us.”

  With the knowledge of a time and date, everything about the project kicked into high gear. They had a hard-and-fast goal now. Get the house done by Saturday morning. At first they almost gave way to panic. There was still so much more to do: trim and staining and ceilings and cleaning up. But an unearthly peace settled over the entire group and their work. Luke felt it and so did Ashley and their dad. If God could heal Dayne, He could bring together the pieces of this remodel.

  Luke worked with growing excitement. He could hardly wait to see Dayne, to see the look in his brother’s eyes when he realized just how much they really did love him. Everything would come together—the house, their relationships, the entire family.

  Even if they needed every single hour between now and Saturday to make it happen.

  Ashley was torn about how to use her time. It was closing weekend for Cinderella, and with the renovation needing her efforts, Rhonda and Bethany had filled in and worked with the kids for the performances. Ashley had seen the show opening night with her sisters and their families. Luke and their dad kept working on the house, sanding and painting ceilings throughout the upstairs. They’d rented floodlights so they could work inside or outside as late as they needed to.

  Now it was Saturday morning, a week before Dayne and Katy’s arrival, and Ashley wished she could see the last performance that evening at five. The problem was, today had been set aside for removal of debris. They had some of Ryan’s football players lined up and all the Baxters working on the project, but still they needed more help.

  Jenny Flanigan had called last night and expressed her frustration. “Bailey has two dozen CKT kids ready to help. If only this weren’t the last night of the show.”

  “It’s okay. Tell the kids I wish I were there.” Ashley checked her watch. She was always checking her watch these days. “I have to run. Maybe you can stop by this week sometime.”

  Ashley arrived at the house at seven, just as Luke and her dad and Ryan were pulling in. Each of them was driving a pickup. The local dump was open until five, and the goal was to haul away every piece of debris before then. Ashley opened her van door and grabbed her checklist off the dashboard. There were still eighteen items unfinished. Clearing away the trash was one of them.

  The guys walked by, and Luke smiled at her. “Ready for a big day?”

  “Definitely.” Ashley watched them, but her father didn’t turn around. “Dad?”

  “Oh?” He stopped and looked at her over his shoulder. “Hi, honey.”

  Excitement stirred her sleepy soul. She had a surprise for her dad, something he wouldn’t find out until later today. The idea had come to her a few days ago after she’d spent time talking and praying with Landon. God had taught her something important. There was no time for angry feelings, no room for grudges or bitterness or unresolved issues. Luke had learned that and so had Reagan. Katy had figured that out when it came to the paparazzi and so had Dayne.

  Love required sacrifice—all the way around. Ashley could hardly wait to see her dad’s face when he learned of his surprise. He was waiting for her, and she smiled at him. “You doing okay?”

  “Sure.” His answer was quick, but he looked tired. “Fine.”

  The guys moved on, and the work party began. During the next hour, four more men came, doctors from Peter’s office. Two of them drove pickups. The group descended on the old, broken-down porch and deck across the back of the house. One board at a time, they ripped out the old wood and hauled it to one of the trucks, careful not to damage the new barbecue and island adjacent to the deck. When a truck would fill up, someone would leave and take the load to the dump. Much of the wood was biodegradable, so it would go in a special section, where it would eventually be sold off as mulch.

  Ashley was dragging rickety patio furniture to one of the trucks when she heard the noise. She stopped and looked up, and it took a moment for her to comprehend what she was seeing. When she understood, she had to blink back tears. A stream of CKT kids and their parents began pulling into the nearby field. Ashley lost count at fifteen cars.

  Some of them pulled trailers, and as they unloaded their gear, Ashley saw three riding mowers. Before she could make her way over, the dads of three kids in Cinderella hopped on the machines and began a methodical mowing of the property.

  Tim Reed and Bailey walked up together. “We couldn’t stay away.” Tim had a rake in his hands. “Katy deserves this.”

  “What . . . what about your show?” Ashley’s head was spinning. More cars were pulling in. There had to be fifty people working fast and hard on clearing the land.

  “It doesn’t start till five.” Bailey smiled. She looked comfortable at Tim’s side, but Jenny had said that her daughter was struggling over a broken relationship and that she and Tim Reed were friends, nothing more.

  When the craziness of the house project was finished, Ashley wanted to catch up with how the show had brought everyone closer. The way CKT shows always did. Maybe she would have a chance to catch up with Bailey too.

  Tim pulled a pair of work gloves from his back pocket and slipped them on. “As long as we leave by two thirty, we’ll be fine.” He grinned at her and raised the rake. “We have work to do.”

  In the distance, Ashley saw the Flanigans pull up; then one of the men asked everyone to move their cars back onto the road. The clearing was happening that fast. Ashley could barely remember to breathe as she watched the group. Women carried potted shrubs from their vans, and kids pulled weeds from around the front porch area.

  “It’s happening, Ash.” Luke’s face was smeared with grime, and his clothes were filthy. But his eyes shone brighter than the sun. “This is why Bloomington’s such a great place.”

  “Yep, you’re right about that.” Ashley drew a long breath and stretched her back. Then she and Luke worked together to clear away the patio furniture. The whole time she was thinking about what Luke said. How Bloomington was such a great place to live. It was true, and she was forever grateful that Landon had been willing to leave New York City to fight fires here in their hometown.

  Bloomington was about raising kids and church potlucks and drawing close as one season rolled into the next. It was about faith and family and building a future together. And it was what Dayne and Katy were going to love most about living here.

  Even if they didn’t know it yet.

  John was watching his grandchildren clear out the flower beds around the front porch. He wasn’t tired; he was simply missing Elizabeth. The buildup of excitement over the house project was unlike anything his family had ever been a part of.

  Elizabeth should’ve been here. She would’ve overseen the roses, making sure the right colors and mixes were planted along the front of the house and in special areas accenting the backyard. She had been brilliant at homemaking, and this would’ve been her finest hour—putting together a home for the child she had spent a lifetime missing.

  “Papa, can we build a fishpond here in the front yard?” Cole’s pile of weeds was bigger than any pile made by the other grandkids.

  “Someday, Coley. I think Dayne and Katy would like that a lot.”

  Tommy was helping, but his attention span was brief. John watched him wander a few feet away, aim hi
s finger at a patch of nothingness, and make a loud shooting sound. “Ha!” he cried.

  “Whatcha doing, Tommy?” John walked over and directed the child back to the group.

  “Tommy shoot dinosaurs.” He looked over his shoulder and took careful aim again. Once more he made the shooting sound. “Tommy shoot bees.”

  “Whew, thank you.” John smiled to himself. Reagan and Luke had been working with Tommy, convincing him that it was never nice to shoot people. The training seemed to be working. “We don’t want any bees or dinosaurs hurting us while we work.”

  “Tommy shoot tigers, too.”

  John was about to express his gratitude once more when a familiar car pulled into the drive. He took a few steps in that direction. It was his friend Elaine. The two of them hadn’t seen each other since the talk they’d had on the porch swing weeks ago. When she’d asked him why they never talked about their relationship.

  He’d had time to think her question over. Two lonely months, to be exact.

  But why would she come now in the middle of the work party? And what about Ashley and the others? The last thing they needed was hurt feelings or tension on a day when everything and everyone was coming together. He watched Elaine climb out of the car. She wore jeans and a sweatshirt. In her hand were yellow work gloves and a box of what looked like gardening tools.

  As she came closer, her eyes met his and held. She stopped a few feet from him and smiled. “Where do you want me?”

  “Elaine . . .” He looked back at the kids, but Cole was busy pointing out areas they’d missed, assigning various weeds to specific children. John faced his friend once more. Never mind that his grown kids might be watching. He set down his shovel and closed the distance between them. Then he hugged her for a long while. When he let go, he let himself get lost in her eyes. “I missed you.”

  Her smile was shy, not in the least bit suggestive. “I missed you too.” She took a long breath. “Maybe you don’t know what you want, John. I think I’m okay with that. Life’s too short to walk away from a friend, and that’s what I did.” She paused. “Can you forgive me?”

  “Of course.”

  “Well then.” She set her box of tools on the porch and grinned at him. “Looks like we’ve got some work to do.”

  He was still baffled. “How did you know we’d be here?”

  “Simple.” Her smile was filled with meaning. “Ashley called me.”

  The project came together just before midnight.

  By then, all that was left was the cleaning. Otherwise, every item on Ashley’s ten-page list had been crossed off. The finished house was stunning, better than anything any of them had dreamed. Thankfully Katy had been too busy with Dayne to ask many questions about it. Ashley had worked with Dayne’s agent, getting the okay from him anytime they needed more funds. In that way they’d managed to keep the entire renovation a surprise.

  The yard looked like something from a magazine cover. It was green and lush and neatly mowed. Big maple trees had been planted along the driveway, their leaves already decked out in brilliant reds and yellows. Bark dust had been spread along the perimeter of the property, and in the front flower beds Elaine and several other women had planted rosebushes and tulip bulbs that would come up right around the time of Katy and Dayne’s wedding.

  Maybe the most dramatic change was the log siding—which looked brand-new—and the improvements to the backyard. The new wooden deck was stained and cleaned, and the view from it was breathtaking. It was twice the size of the old one, large enough for big gatherings and barbecues overlooking Lake Monroe.

  The inside of the house looked like a different place altogether. Brooke had picked warm colors for the painted rooms, and Kari had taken care to have wooden blinds hung over every new window. The appliances had arrived on schedule and were installed in the modernized kitchen. The ceiling beams were stained and looked warm against the earthy tile and taupe-colored carpeting, which had been laid by a local contractor who got wind of the project. It was the one piece Ashley had fretted about, but by Friday night the installation was completed and the carpet freshly vacuumed.

  The final touches were made yesterday. Ashley had hung one of her paintings in the living room. It was the one that showed the back of a man standing in the foreground, looking at the Baxter house all warm and lit up and in the middle of a field that seemed to go on for miles. It was the one she’d painted when her older brother had been only some unknown guy out there, someone who was afraid to make contact with them. Now that she knew him, there was no question the man in the painting was Dayne Matthews. How could it not be him?

  She’d patterned the man in her painting after Luke.

  The painting wasn’t the only personal touch that happened at the end. While watching the kids, Erin had framed some family pictures—Elizabeth and John at different stages of their marriage and collages of the Baxter kids and grandkids through the years. When the cleaning was finished late last night, Ashley and her sisters had worked together distributing the photographs, placing them around the kitchen counter and hanging them on the walls throughout the house.

  The project reminded Ashley of dear, sweet Irvel, the woman she had cared for at Sunset Hills Adult Care Home. Irvel wasn’t really at peace until Ashley found old pictures of her husband, Hank. Once the framed photos hung on Irvel’s walls, everything about her countenance had changed.

  When Dayne saw the family pictures in every room, Ashley hoped the change in him would be the same. She could hardly wait.

  When they finished, Ashley and her sisters and Luke and their father formed a spontaneous group hug, and for a few minutes the tears came for all of them. Tears because God had brought together every piece and because they had actually finished. Tears because their mother would’ve cherished this moment maybe more than any of them. Most of all tears because together they had become greater than the sum of their individual parts.

  “Look what we can do when love pulls us together.” Ashley sniffed. She glanced at Luke. “Can you believe it?”

  None of them could. They were worn-out by the time they left.

  Now it was Saturday morning, just ten hours later, and they were back again, anxious and excited and ready to give God the glory for what had taken place on this piece of ground.

  Word of mouth spread through their various circles, and this morning everyone who had helped with the renovation was invited. Dayne and Katy would arrive around one o’clock, but the people came at eleven. They brought cards and gifts and flowers, and together they filled the dining room table with the outpouring of their love.

  By noon, her dad asked everyone to gather outside.

  It took a few minutes for the crowd to make their way out back for an informal worship service. Everyone held hands and formed an enormous circle. Ashley looked from one face to the next, and there was nothing she could do to stop her tears. It was like a snapshot of every season of her life, everything that had ever mattered. She smiled at them as she made eye contact. Kari and Brooke and Erin and Luke and their spouses and children. The Flanigans with their six kids and a couple dozen other CKT kids and their parents. Ashley grinned at Jenny Flanigan, then let her gaze move on around the circle.

  Her father was there, of course, and next to him his friend Elaine. Ashley no longer felt threatened by her. God had used Landon to help her see that her dad deserved a friend. And if somewhere down the road that friend became something more, the Lord would meet them in that place. For now it was enough that there were no hard feelings, none whatsoever.

  Around the circle were Brooke and Peter’s doctor friends, coaches from Clear Creek High, and a crew of carpet layers from downtown Bloomington. There were Rhonda and Bethany and the lady who ran the art gallery near the university. She’d contributed a frame for Ashley’s painting, and she wanted to be part of the surprise.

  Ashley didn’t mind. The more people who could welcome Katy and Dayne, the better.

  Her father raised his hand,
and the group quieted. “God has met us in this place.” His voice was strong, steady. The way they would always see their father, no matter how the coming years might take their toll. “Now we are privileged to give Him thanks.” Her father prayed, loud and clear. There would be time for tears later, but this moment was marked by smiles and gratitude and a satisfaction that ran deeper than any of them had ever known.

  After the prayer, Tim Reed took his guitar from its case and led them in a few songs. He ended with “Great Is Thy Faithfulness.” From the tough football players to the educated doctors to little Hayley holding Brooke’s hand, they raised their voices to the clear blue skies as the song came to an end. “‘All I have needed Thy hand hath provided—great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!’”

  Ashley savored the moment. As long as she lived she would remember how it felt to see nearly a hundred people circled in her brother’s backyard, their hearts joined as one as they gave praise to the Creator, their Father. Savior of all.

  Then her dad talked about love. By then he had given all of his children except Dayne the letter from their mother—the one with the secrets to a happy marriage. “A long time ago, my wife, Elizabeth, wrote down what she believed were the secrets to love.” He smiled. Next to him, Elaine didn’t falter even for a moment. “When we think of love, we think of marriage. But the truth is, the secret to love works for all of us, whatever relationship we’re in.”

  Ashley saw Bailey look down and lean in closer to her mother.

  He went through a few of the points, talking about time, love, laughter, and forgiveness. Lessons they’d learned that fall. But he focused most of all on the first point—the one that Ashley wouldn’t have thought much about before taking on this project. Her mother’s wisdom was this:

  God had them here to serve one another. Love acted out is serving.

  It was a truth they had played out in every possible way leading up to this moment. Which was why, as the service came to an end, Ashley was convinced that after today Dayne would finally know that he was loved by his family, both now and forever.