He’s already out there, far away from all of us…
But that line of thinking wouldn’t help her. She had to show him she was sure he belonged with them, with her.
He looked up as she approached, his brilliant blue eyes filled with sadness.
“This is a letter from Andy,” she told him, casting her own gaze down to the envelope that was her last chance of keeping Dalton in their lives. “I don’t think he would mind me asking you to read it.”
She held it out to Dalton and he took it, just holdingit in his hands for a moment, as if he wanted to savor this chance to hear his best friend’s words one more time.
Ella paced back to the threshold of the room, wishing she could blend into the shadows so as not to distract him from his task.
Dalton turned the envelope over in his hands once, and then slid his index finger along the broken opening to remove the letter inside.
She couldn’t see the words from where she stood, but she didn’t need to. Ella had read this particular message a hundred times over. She read and reread all of Andy’s letters, but something about this one had stood out to her the first time, and she had returned to a particular section more than once, trying to figure out exactly what Andy had meant.
She saw Dalton’s expression soften the moment he got to it, and she thought of the words in Andy’s letter.
Ella, it isn’t just that Dalton has been kind to me, which he has. I wouldn’t have survived basic training without him having my back. And I’m talking about attitude, not just strategy. He’s changed me.
It feels like I was meant to meet him and bring him home to the farm with me.
Next time we have real leave, I’m going to try and convince him to come, and you can see for yourself.
I honestly think you’re going tolove him, Ella.
Dalton’s eyes flashed back to hers.
“Does he mean…?” he asked softly.
“At the time I wasn’t sure,” she replied carefully. “And this was one of his last letters home, so I never got to ask.”
She cleared her throat, wanting to get it right.
“But yes,” she said. “I think that’s exactly what he meant. I think he knew.”
Dalton’s eyes went back to the letter in his hands, and he shook his head in disbelief.
“You’ve been an incredible help on the farm,” Ella went on. “And I’m grateful, believe me. But we had been running things on our own for four years before you got here. Did you ever wonder why he asked you to promise to come here? Because it drove me crazy until I thought about this letter again.”
“You think he wanted me to come because you would love me,” Dalton said slowly, his eyes still on the creased paper that looked so small in his big hands.
“Yes,” she told him simply.
“And do you?” Dalton asked, his voice low as his eyes met hers again. “Love me?”
The question would have been too much coming from anyone else. But Ella recognized it instantly for what it was.
This wasn’t just Dalton Tyler the man asking her. Behind those intense blue eyes stood the little boy who had been shuffled from home to home, the angry teenager who had pushed away anyone who wanted to help, and the lonely soldier whose closest friend had died too young.
This was the aching soul that cried out to her own,the heart with the jagged pieces that fit so perfectly to her own broken heart that they could make each other whole again. She was sure of it.
“Yes,” she told him, her voice as warm and calm as she could have hoped as her feet carried her to him. “I do love you, Dalton Tyler. As usual, my brother was right.”
His eyes were misty, but his lips tugged up slightly at that last part.
The next thing Ella knew, he was pulling her into his arms, holding her tight to his chest where she could hear his heart thundering under her ear.
Thank you, Andy.
