Dove was standing by her bed when Ella came in, and she didn’t look a bit sleepy.
“Someone’s here,” Dove said softly, her eyes wide. “Is it my cousins?”
“No, my love,” Ella told her. “This is a special, grownup guest.”
“Why is it a special guest?” Dove asked, looking a little disappointed that it wasn’t a cousin.
Ella could hardly blame her. It had to be hard to be the only child in the house. Ella had always had Andy when she was small.
“He was good friends with your Uncle Andy,” Ella told Dove.
“Can I see him?” Dove asked.
“He’s tired right now,” Ella said. “He just finished up his work for the Army, and he came all the way here to see us, so he needs a good night’s sleep. But you’ll meet him tomorrow.”
“Okay,” Dove said, letting Ella walk her back to the bed.
“You’re such a great kid,” Ella said, watching her daughter crawl dutifully under the covers.
“I know,” Dove told her with a happy smile. “That’s why I get to ride Goldie.”
“That’s right,” Ella said, nodding.
Goldie, the old palomino pony, was the only horse that had ever lived on the farm during Ella’s lifetime. Ella and Andy had spent plenty of time hanging out with herin the paddock as kids, brushing her mane and bringing her carrots and apples.
Goldie was no spring chicken, but Dove was allowed to ride her sometimes since she was gentle with her.
“I love you more than the moon,” Dove said softly.
“I love you more than all the stars,” Ella told her, bending to kiss her forehead.
Slipping back out into the hallway to her own room, which was on the other side of Dove’s, Ella couldn’t help thinking of the man in her brother’s room.
As she got ready for bed, she found herself wondering if he had always been quiet, or if something he had seen or done had left him with that slightly haunted look in his eyes.
She gazed at her own eyes in the mirror. They were large and dark brown, so unlike Dalton’s. There was a touch of sadness in them when she let her guard down, but Ella reminded herself often that her pain was shared pain. She felt the deep loneliness suffered by every widow. And her heart was broken just like the hearts of every family member of a serviceman who never came home. There was no mystery to Ella’s feelings. She tried to focus on how lucky she was to have family all around her to take care of and love.
Doesn’t Dalton Tyler want to go back to his own family?
But the way he had been talking made it sound like he wasn’t planning on going back to them any time soon.
That thought brought back a memory, and with it a sudden pang of guilt that almost left her breathless.
Climbing into bed, she tried to put the memory out of her head, but she couldn’t escape it. The sheet and quiltwere freezing, and she shivered for a moment as her body heat warmed them up, her mind racing all the while.
Just go to sleep,she told herself firmly.It was only a feeling. You don’t need to overthink it. Just let it pass.
But Ella tossed and turned for a long time before she finally drifted off.
3
DALTON
Dalton thrashed himself awake in a strange bed.
Bolting upright, he took in his surroundings as the last of the nightmare released its hold on him.
I’m safe.
