“No,” Dove said dreamily. “I just thought it would be nice to havethreepies.”
“Well, you think about what kind of pie you want to try out while you’re going to sleep,” Ella told her fondly. “And you can tell me all about it in the morning.”
“I’ll think about itafterI say a little prayer for Daddy and Uncle Andy,” Dove said firmly.
“Yes, after that,” Ella agreed, her heart tugging at her daughter’s fierce loyalty to the two men she probably couldn’t even remember.
Dove closed her eyes and Ella slipped out of the room, reminding herself once more of all that they had to be grateful for.
She had just made it back to the sofa and pulled out a book of her own to read when there was a knock on the door.
“That’ll be Bill Haddington returning my paint sprayer,” Dad said.“Come on in, Bill.”
Mom shook her head at him as she scooped up her knitting and got up to open the door herself.
But it swung open before she got the chance, and for a moment they all froze. The figure of a big man in fatigues with a tight haircut carrying a huge duffel bag stood in the entry, silhouetted by the porch light.
For one wild instant, Ella thought she was seeing her brother, coming home from the Army. Of course that was impossible, but something about this man was vaguely familiar, even though she was sure they’d never met.
“You’re not Bill Haddington,” Dad said.
“No, sir,” the man replied in a deep, rusty voice as he stepped inside and closed the door behind him. “I’m Dalton Tyler, and I’m here because I made a promise to your son.”
2
ELLA
Ella turned to her mother in surprise as the name hit home.
Andy had talked about his friend Dalton many times. The two became close as they served, and she did remember him saying something about a shared promise—how if anything happened to either of them, the other would come to help out the grieving family.
It had seemed impossible at the time, so she hadn’t paid it much mind. And it had also sounded like a fleeting pledge, spoken in a show of trust during a moment of high emotion, but the kind of thing no one would ever dream of actually following through on. You couldn’t really expect someone to drop their whole life to help out a family they had never met. From what she remembered, Dalton was studying communications and had a bright future of his own to attend to.
“Oh, for heaven’s sake,” her mother said, dropping her knitting on the table and hurrying over to hug theman. “Dalton Tyler, we’ve heard your name so many times.”
“You have?” he asked, looking surprised, though Ella wasn’t sure if it was more at the recognition or the tiny woman’s fierce embrace.
“Of course we have,” her mother told him, releasing the man and looking him up and down. “Did you come straight here?”
“Soon as my time was up, ma’am,” Dalton said, his voice so serious. “I’m sorry you had to wait so long.”
“Well, we’re very glad to see you, young man,” Ella’s father said, getting up from his chair and masking his usual groan with a chuckle.
“It’s good to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Bennett,” Dalton said before turning to Ella. “And you must be the baby sister.”
“Hi,” Ella said, unable to keep a smile from her face at the idea of being described as ababy sister.
“Ella’s got a little girl of her own now,” Mom said proudly. “And you can call us Michael and Mary. Why don’t you put your things down, and we’ll fix something to eat.”
“Please don’t go to any trouble on my account, ma’am,” Dalton said.
“Nonsense,” Dad said. “Let’s have a bite and a nice talk.”
Ella watched as Dalton Tyler placed his duffel carefully on the floor and allowed himself to be walked back to the kitchen while Dad immediately launched into a string of questions about the man’s journey and his plans without once giving him the opportunity to answer.
Dad had a way about him—he knew how to handle people, and it was clear that he sensed the man’s reluctance to speak. So he would happily fill the empty air with his own comfortable chatter until Dalton was ready to open up, even if that meant he kept up the whole conversation all night.
Ella knew she should get to bed—she had plenty to do in the morning before getting Dove off to school. But she couldn’t help trailing after them into the kitchen anyway. Something about the quiet man had stoked the fires of her curiosity. Plus, the temptation to stay up and maybe hear something new about her brother was irresistible.
