Читать книгу Picture Perfect Family - Renee Andrews - Страница 9

After getting Mandy’s truck running again, Daniel followed her back to the gas station. Bo saw them and walked out of the station looking glad. Daniel had planned to wait until she filled up and then follow her home, but Mandy got out of her truck and walked back to his with a keychain dangling from her hand. Daniel noticed a rectangular photo suspended from the silver ring, and as she got closer the image came into focus and displayed Mandy and Mia on Mia’s wedding day.

She neared his open window and handed him the keychain. The close proximity sent another sweet fragrance of peaches teasing Daniel’s senses, and he swallowed past the urge to inhale deeper.

“Here’s the key to the shop. You can go on ahead and spend a little time with Kaden until I get there.” She peeked toward the backseat and displayed another beautiful smile that wasn’t at all intended for Daniel’s enjoyment.

But he enjoyed it, anyway.

“Kaden, maybe you can show Uncle Daniel that house we built last night. That sound good to you?”

“Sure!”

“Lincoln Logs,” she said to Daniel. Her words were still short toward him, but he was growing used to it. She’d been perfecting her stoicism around him for seven years, after all.

“Those were mine and Jacob’s favorite toys growing up,” Daniel said quietly.

A look passed over her face, and he figured she was trying to decide whether to respond or simply walk away. Then her mouth slid to the side, and she blinked a couple of times before whispering softly enough for Kaden not to hear, “I remembered Mia had planned to get him some for Christmas so I asked Mr. Tolleson at Nelson’s if he could order a set. They came in yesterday.” She swallowed. “We played with them last night until we were both ready for bed, but I’m guessing he would probably like a guy to help with the building. I do my best, but I’m still learning.”

Daniel noticed that her eyes glistened. Undoubtedly she’d been crying during the short drive from where they’d picked up her car to the station. And Daniel understood. Kaden’s comment about “before Mommy and Daddy went to heaven,” was a sharp reminder that his nephew’s life had been forever altered by a distinctive barrier. In fact, all three of their lives had been altered by that same barrier. The time before Mia and Jacob died, and the time after.

Mandy exhaled thickly and said to Kaden, “I’ll see you back at home, okay?”

“Okay,” he said, rummaging through the brown bag Maura had given him earlier and pulling out another cookie.

“Hey, don’t eat too many. You’ll ruin your dinner,” she warned. “I made that taco soup you wanted.”

“I’ve just got this one left,” Kaden said, taking a bite. “And I’ve only had three, same as Uncle Daniel.”

“Okay. I will see both of you at home, then.” She turned and walked toward Bo.

Daniel drove to the town square thinking about Mandy, the way she spoke to him and more importantly the way she spoke to Kaden. There had been an intimacy there that he hadn’t anticipated, a maternal aspect to her tone and to her words.

By the time they arrived at the photo shop, Kaden had told Daniel about how he and Mandy built the big house out of logs, how they had picnics at the park and how she was trying to help him ride a big boy bike, but she hadn’t let go of the back yet, even though he really really wanted her to.

“She keeps running behind me ‘cause she don’t want me to fall,” Kaden said, standing beside Daniel as he turned the key in the lock of the shop’s door.

“She’s just trying to keep you from getting hurt,” Daniel explained.

“But how’m I gonna ride by myself if she won’t let go?”

“Maybe she’ll let me help you learn,” Daniel offered.

“You’re gonna let go?”

“Yes,” Daniel promised. Undoubtedly Kaden would take a few falls, probably the exact reason Mandy didn’t want to let go. He’d been hurt enough, and she didn’t want it to happen again in any way, shape or form. Neither did Daniel. But Kaden had a point; how would he learn, how would he grow, if everyone didn’t “let go” every now and then?

Kaden pointed to the hand-painted sign on the door. “We’re open for business now that we’re back, so we have to flip it over.”

Daniel’s laugh came easy. “You really are Aunt Mandy’s helper, aren’t you?”

“Yep,” Kaden said, leading the way through the gallery portion of the store. “She needs me. She says so all the time.”

Something about the simple statement resonated with Daniel, but he didn’t stop to analyze why. Instead, he followed his nephew through the abundance of photos covering the walls and easels inside Carter Photography. Striking pictures of babies, children, couples and families. There were still life photos, as well, stargazer lilies, an antique sewing machine, a bowl of peaches. But regardless of the subjects portrayed in each photograph, Mandy’s work was incredible. He’d known her family was big into photography, but until this moment he hadn’t realized that Mandy had inherited the talent.

“Come on and I’ll show you our house we built last night,” Kaden said, moving down a hallway and past two studio rooms with backdrops and props stuffed into every corner.

The hall was filled with senior portraits of kids from Claremont High, some in formal wear and others outdoors. Each photo captured the personality of the teen, whether a boy in his baseball or football uniform, or a girl in an evening gown. It wasn’t what they were wearing but the way they looked that made the teens stand out, as though Mandy had depicted their very essence in the shot.

“Stunning,” he said.

“It’s upstairs,” Kaden called, not hearing Daniel’s comment and passing through the kitchen where a Crock-Pot held something that Daniel assumed was taco soup. The seasonings filled the air and caused his stomach to growl.

Kaden evidently heard. “Hey, you hungry?”

“It just smells good,” Daniel said.

“Aunt Mandy cooks great,” he said. “You staying to eat with us?”

Daniel inhaled another spicy whiff. “I certainly hope so,” he said without thinking, then realized that Mandy would probably toss him out the door as soon as she returned. Or throw a little extra Tabasco in his bowl.

“Cool!” Kaden continued through the kitchen to start up a stairway lined with landscape photos.

Daniel surveyed these with equal interest. Several featured the heart-shaped pond at Hydrangea Park in the midst of the annual Valentine’s display, pink lights and roses covering gazebos, the arched entrance and silhouettes of couples throughout. The Smoky Mountains, their dark heights capped with stark white snow and garnished with the pale gray clouds that earned their name. Again, beautiful and breathtaking. The last photo was a white sandy beach at dusk, a red-gold sun dipping in the distance and a little boy putting the finishing touches on an elaborate sandcastle complete with turrets, a moat and a bridge that appeared to be made out of Popsicle sticks.

Daniel stepped closer, because that little boy looked very familiar. “Kaden?”

Kaden had already topped the stairs, but started back down. “Yeah?”

“Is that you?” He pointed to the photo.

“Yep. Aunt Mandy took me to the beach and helped me build the best sandcastle in the world.” He grinned, his pride shining through. “Then she took my picture for her contests.”

“Her contests?”

“Yep. If she wins, she’ll get in the big glammeries. That’s her dream. Aunt Mandy says everybody’s got dreams that they want, and she wants the glammeries. Not a little glammery, like hers, but really big glammeries.”

“Glammeries?”

“Where they show her pictures for lots and lots of people,” Kaden explained.

Daniel kept his laugh in check. “Galleries?”

“Yep, that’s it,” Kaden said, then turned, obviously anxious to get upstairs. “That’s Aunt Mandy’s dream. My dream is a secret, and Aunt Mandy says that’s okay. I can keep it a secret if I want to.”

Daniel instantly wondered what dream Kaden had, but he didn’t ask. Instead, he answered, “Yes, you can.” With each passing minute, he grew more and more touched by Kaden’s relationship with Mandy. Why wouldn’t she be content to raise this amazing kid? But he’d read that email, and even if it wasn’t how she was feeling today, he believed that deep inside she still felt that Kaden was something of a burden. Daniel was certain that the email hadn’t been a misinterpretation of her feelings. Not entirely, anyway.

“Come on, and I’ll show you our house we made.”

Growing up, Daniel had known that Mia and Mandy lived above the photo shop with their grandparents, but he’d never seen the upstairs portion until now. It was small but neat and filled with antique furniture and an abundance of photos.

Some of the pictures were older, obviously taken by Mandy’s grandfather, the town’s only photographer when Daniel had been younger. But when they entered Kaden’s room, he found that his nephew’s walls were filled with photos that had undoubtedly been taken by Mandy. Pictures of Mia and Jacob snuggling a baby Kaden. Mia kneeling behind Kaden as he learned to walk, his chubby arms reaching out toward Jacob and his excited grin stretching across his little face. Daniel viewed several more photos of the happy family at various stages of Jacob and Mia’s four short years with Kaden, and then one more photo that caused Daniel pause.

Daniel and Jacob stood in the hospital hallway after Kaden’s birth. Beside the nursery door, they draped arms around each other and punched opposite fists in the air as they cheered for the arrival of Jacob and Mia’s beautiful baby boy. There were many pictures of the Brantley twins celebrating. Some were taken in end zones, others at home plate and others at center court. But none meant more to Daniel than this particular event.

He’d been so happy when Jacob had rushed from the delivery room to yell the news. A beautiful, healthy baby boy had joined the Brantley family. Daniel had looked forward to the day when Jacob would celebrate the birth of Daniel’s firstborn in the same manner.

Now that would never happen.

His heart clenched in his chest. He remembered that moment when the photo had been taken like it was yesterday. Before now, he’d thought he only had the memory. He had no idea Mandy had captured it on film.

“That’s you and Daddy,” Kaden said. “You were happy.”

He swallowed. “Yes, we sure were, because you were just born.”

“I know,” Kaden said matter-of-factly. “Aunt Mandy told me.” He pointed to the other side of the room. “There it is. Cool, huh?”

Daniel turned to follow his finger and saw a table covered from one edge to the other with the most elaborate log cabin he’d ever seen. With three full levels, it took up the entire table.

“It’s called a wilderness lodge,” Kaden said. “That’s what Aunt Mandy said. We found it in there.” He pointed to a thick book in a wooden chair nearby.

Daniel picked up the book. “Building Dream Homes with Lincoln Logs,” he read aloud.

“Yep,” Kaden said. “Look, we’ve got a gate over here and a place for our animals, but we haven’t bought animals yet. We were gonna make a barn for the animals, too, but we ran out of room, so Aunt Mandy has gotta get another table. Just a little one, since we’re already using a bunch of space in here and this is where I like to play.”

“I see.” Daniel did see. There was only one wall in Kaden’s room that wasn’t graced with family photos, and that wall instead housed bookshelves that were the width and height of the entire wall.

And the shelves weren’t empty. On the contrary, they were filled with all kinds of books on parenting; raising little boys; building sandcastles; playing baseball; learning to ride a bicycle; how to safely catch and raise frogs, turtles and lizards, and every other subject that might be appealing to a woman trying to raise a four-year-old boy. The bottom two shelves were filled with books for said boy, great bedtime stories. Daniel was thrilled to see that several of those books were Bible stories. David and Goliath, Jonah and the Whale, Moses and the Ten Commandments.

“Do you know where we can get the animals for the barn?” Kaden asked. “Aunt Mandy was going to take me to the store today after we went to the park, but then we ran out of gas. Do you know where to buy toy animals?”

“I’m not sure.” Daniel assumed the Tiny Tots Treasure Box was still the place to go for toys on the square, but he wasn’t certain whether Mr. Feazell carried the kind of animals Kaden would want for his wilderness lodge.

“That’s okay. Aunt Mandy will know.”

“Well, if she doesn’t, I’m sure she’ll find out,” he said, still surprised at the amount of effort she was obviously putting into raising Kaden.

A bell echoed through the home, and Kaden took off toward the stairs. “Customers,” he said. “Come on.”

Daniel followed him as he barreled down the stairs, through the kitchen and then through the studio-lined hallway to reach the main store.

“Oh, hey!” Kaden yelled.

“Well, hello,” a woman’s voice said.

Daniel caught up and rounded the corner to see Jessica Martin and her two children in the gallery. Her son stood by her side and her little girl slept sweetly on Jessica’s shoulder with her thumb hanging from her mouth.

“Well, hey, Daniel. I asked Mandy earlier if you were back in town yet. I saw in the church bulletin on Sunday that you took the job as youth minister. Can’t tell you how excited Chad and I were to see that.”

“Thanks. I’m pretty excited myself. Glad to be back home, especially with Kaden here.” He squeezed Kaden’s shoulders.

Jessica glanced around the shop. “So, is Mandy here?”

“No, we ran out of gas, and Uncle Daniel helped us, but now she’s getting the gas in the truck so she can come back here,” Kaden said, visibly trying to sound like the knowledgeable “big boy” in front of Nathan, who nodded as though he were the only one needing an explanation.

“Well, I’m glad you were able to help.” Jessica opened her purse and pulled out a card. “I remembered after we left that I didn’t think to give Mandy my cell number. Since the photos are a surprise for Chad’s birthday, I wanted to drop by and give it to her. Can you pass this on to her?”

“Sure,” Daniel said, taking the card.

“You want to go see my log house?” Kaden asked Nathan. “Aunt Mandy got this book to show us how to make it. It’s called a wilderness lodge, cause if it was real, it’d be in the wilderness. That’s what Aunt Mandy said.”

“Oh, that’s so nice of you to ask, Kaden,” Jessica said. “But I was about to head over to Scraps and Crafts to pick up a few things for the daycare. Maybe I can bring Nathan back sometime when he can play with you awhile, or maybe you could come over to our house and play sometime.”

“Okay,” Kaden said, his disappointment evident.

Jessica looked thoughtful. “You know, I’m going to be busy looking at things for the daycare, but Nathan will probably want to check out some of the toys she keeps at the back of the store. Would you like to come look at those with him?”

“Do you think they have farm animals? I need some for my wilderness lodge,” Kaden said.

“I don’t know, but you could check and see,” Jessica said.

Kaden turned to Daniel. “Can I go? Please?”

Daniel was taken aback at first that Kaden would ask his permission. He wasn’t his parent or guardian. But he wanted to be, very much. And he couldn’t deny that it felt good to have even a semblance of what that role would entail. “I think that’d be fine,” he said.

“Cool!”

“We’ll be back soon,” Jessica said. “Twenty minutes tops.”

“Sounds great,” Daniel said, then caught Kaden’s attention before he headed out the door. “Hey, Kaden, come here a minute.”

Kaden darted back to Daniel with a questioning gaze. “Yes, sir?”

Have mercy, he was a sweet kid. “Here you go, in case you find some animals that will work for your lodge.” He withdrew his wallet and pulled out a five.

“Wow, Uncle Daniel!” Kaden said, grinning. “Thanks!” Then he turned and joined Nathan near the door.

“We won’t be long,” Jessica repeated. “I still have to cook supper.”

“Take your time,” Daniel said, and moved to open the door so she could pass through with Lainey now softly snoring on her shoulder.

He watched them walk away, started back through the shop and heard a commotion in the back that he could only assume was the store’s owner. Daniel calmly passed through the hall and beyond the two studios to the rear entrance behind the kitchen where, sure enough, Mandy threw her keys on a counter, dropped her purse and blew long dark bangs from her eyes. She looked up and announced, “I’m not leaving, Daniel.”

Have mercy, she was even prettier when she was mad. “Well, fancy that, Mandy. Neither am I.”