Daniel looked up from the letter he was writing and glanced at his watch. Alex had left two hours ago to pick up Dylan and bring him over. They should be returning soon. The minister was really looking forward to seeing Alex’s son. The last time he’d seen the boy, he had been a little out of it, having just recently awakened from his coma and the surgery. It was going to be great to see Dylan again.
Daniel looked over at his mother, who was sitting on the chair by the window, knitting. A smile came to his face. He had a lot of fond memories of long talks with her in the family sitting room as she knitted something for a family member or friend. He had really enjoyed those quiet times spent with her, and the advice she’d given him during many of their chats were things he’d lived by to this day.
“Mom?”
“Hmm?”
“I, um, want to ask you a question.”
Hearing the seriousness in her son’s voice, Bonnie looked up at him. She put down her knitting.
Daniel cleared his throat. “It’s, uh. . . .” He shifted a little in the bed. “I wanted to ask you about you and Dad. When you first met, did you know right away that he was the one for you?”
Bonnie smiled, remembering the day she met Cliff. “No, not right away. At first, he was just a new member of our church. But there was something different about him, a zeal that the other men his age lacked. Then I found out that he was studying to be a minister, and that interested me even more. My father, whom you know was the minister of our congregation, liked him a lot and recognized that same zeal that I’d seen. He was certain that Cliff would go far in the Church. When Cliff asked me out, I didn’t hesitate to say yes. It only took a few months for me to know that I could spend my life with him. When he got his ordainment, I couldn’t have been prouder if he’d been family.”
Daniel nodded. “When I met Kate, I liked her right off. I enjoyed being with her, doing stuff together. We were good friends. I don’t really know when it was that I fell in love with her. I just came to realize that I had.”
“What about Alex?” Bonnie asked quietly.
Daniel laughed. “Oh, things were a lot different with Alex. We definitely did not hit it off well on our first meeting. It was even worse when we met the second time. She was royally ticked off at me for something I’d done. But I felt a deep desire to make things right with her. Those first few weeks were a bit rocky between us, that’s for sure. Even so, I found myself thinking about her a lot. As our friendship grew, I thought about her more and more. And then, we shared that stage kiss.”
“Stage kiss?”
“Yeah. We were doing the annual Hope Island play. Alex was the leading lady, and I took over the part of the leading man after Kevin injured his ankle. Well, the script called for a kiss. It was supposed to be just a simple stage kiss, but when we did it during a rehearsal, I . . . felt something. It stunned me. I just stood there staring at her afterwards, totally speechless. After that, I thought about her even more. When she went out on a date, it really bothered me, though I tried to pretend that it didn’t, both to her and to myself.”
Daniel paused for a moment, summing up his thoughts. “It was when I almost lost the church that I finally admitted to myself that I was feeling more than friendship for her,” he said at last. “She was so wonderful. I couldn’t have gotten the books straightened out without her. I was hurting so much thinking that I might lose my church and have to leave Hope Island, and I was hurting just as much thinking that I’d never see Alex again if I had to leave. But I didn’t feel ready to move forward with a relationship. I wanted to take it slow, see what happened.” He drew in a deep breath. “But then, Steve Kramer came to Hope.”
“That’s Dylan’s father, right? Alex told me about him.”
“Yeah. He walked right back into Alex’s and Dylan’s lives, wanting to pick up where they’d left off. I was furious, seething with jealousy. And then, I saw them kissing, and I felt like my heart was being twisted into a tight little knot. Did Alex tell you that Steve proposed?”
Bonnie nodded her head yes.
“When he did, the pain got even worse. I tried to convince myself that Alex and I were wrong for each other. I guess it was a form of self-defense, an attempt to make me feel better. It didn’t work. After I had a talk with Father Mac, I realized that it was time to do something, talk to Alex about what I was feeling. But I didn’t get the chance. When she told me that she wasn’t going to marry Steve, I was so relieved I felt like flying. That whole thing really woke me up. I could no longer deny that I was falling in love with her, probably had been since she and I first butted heads.”
Bonnie smiled faintly at hearing her son say openly that he loved Alex. “She’s a wonderful woman, Daniel. I like her a great deal. I think she and Dylan will be good for you.”
Daniel smiled in agreement. “She really is something. She’s beautiful, and smart, and caring, and so full of life and spirit. I never get tired of looking at her or being with her.” He laughed in embarrassment. “And listen to me going on like a love struck teenager.”
“Well, I’d say that you’re entitled to, Daniel. I wish you all the best in the world.” Bonnie’s smile widened. “I’m looking forward to being a grandmother, you know.”
Daniel blushed, then laughed again. He was happy that he’d talked to his mom about his feelings regarding Alex.
A few minutes later, the door opened and Alex and Dylan walked in. When the boy saw Daniel, a big grin spread across his face.
“Hey, buddy!” Daniel said happily.
The boy came forward. “Hi, Daniel. Are you doing okay now?”
“Yeah, I’m doing great.” Daniel patted the bed. “Come sit down and tell me all about what you’ve been doing since I saw you last.”
Dylan excitedly told him about what he’d been learning in school and some of the things he’d done with his friends. Daniel listened attentively, asking questions and commenting about things. Alex and Bonnie watch the two warmly. Daniel’s mother caught the redhead’s attention and motioned toward the door. Understanding the message, Alex nodded.
“Daniel, Alex and I are going to go for a short walk, okay?” Bonnie said. “We’ll be back in a little while.”
After leaving the room, the two women walked in silence down the hallway.
“He’s very good with Dylan, isn’t he,” Bonnie remarked after a few seconds.
“Yeah, he is. He’s great. In the year that he’s been on the island, he has been more of a father to Dylan than Steve has been throughout Dylan’s life. Before Daniel came to hope, Dylan wasn’t very happy there. He didn’t fit in, didn’t have any friends. He and Daniel hit it off right away. Maybe it was because they both know what it’s like to have a father who was never around for them.” Alex bit her lip, cringing inwardly. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”
“It’s all right, Alex. I know how things were between my husband and my son.”
Alex looked at the older woman, thinking about the things they had in common, two women who had to stand by and watch as their sons grew up virtually fatherless because the boys’ fathers were more interested in their careers than their families. With a silent sigh, she returned to the conversation.
“I think it did Dylan a lot of good when Daniel made him his acolyte. I saw the change in him almost right away. He became happier, less withdrawn and sullen, and he started making friends at school. Being Daniel’s acolyte and finally having a strong, steady male presence in his life has really changed Dylan for the better. I don’t think Daniel will ever know how grateful I am to him for that.”
“I’m glad that he was able to help Dylan. I wish that Daniel had found someone to help him in that way. But, throughout the better part of his childhood, Daniel wasn’t even given the chance to form any lasting friendships because we moved so often.” Bonnie gave a soft, regretful sigh. “You heard me tell Dylan the story of Daniel and that bully at school, didn’t you?”
“Most of it. Dylan filled in the rest.”
“Did you wonder why it was that that dog liked Daniel when it didn’t like anyone else?”
“Yeah, I was kind of curious about that.”
They came to one of the waiting rooms and sat down. “Daniel was ten years old when this happened,” Bonnie said. “We’d only recently moved into the city. He had no friends, and his father was off preaching across the country a good deal of the time. Daniel was so terribly lonely. It broke my heart. I tried my best to make him feel better, but what Daniel really needed was his father. Well, the school was having this father/son picnic, and Daniel asked Cliff to take him to it, but Cliff had plans to be out of town that day and didn’t want to break them. Daniel was crushed. Early the next morning, he ran away from home.”
“Daniel ran away?” Alex responded, surprised.
“Yes. He packed a canvas shopping bag with clothes and some food and snuck out the back door. I didn’t realize he was gone until a couple of hours later when I called him for breakfast. Needless to say, I was frantic. Cliff was on his way to preach in another city, and I couldn’t get hold of him, so I went out to look for Daniel myself. I was desperately hoping that he hadn’t gone far. I’d been searching for perhaps an hour and a half when I came upon a sight that I will never forget. Daniel was huddled on the other side of a chainlink fence, his arms wrapped around the neck of a huge rottweiler as the dog licked the tears from his face. I think that dog sensed the pain and loneliness in Daniel and adopted him in some way. What I know for sure is that the dog became fiercely protective of him. It even growled at me when I approached the fence, putting itself between me and Daniel.”
Bonnie’s demeanor grew even more serious. “I didn’t tell Dylan that the dog very likely saved Daniel’s life a few months later.”
“What happened?”
“Daniel was going to visit the dog. He was approaching the place where the dog lived when a man stopped his car, ran across the street, and grabbed him.”
Alex gasped. “Oh my gosh!”
Bonnie closed her eyes for a moment. “It’s a fear every mother has, that someone will steal her child. I can’t even bear to think about what would have happened if it hadn’t been for Grim Reaper.”
“What did he do?”
“He was inside his owner’s house when it happened. It still amazes me when I think about it. That dog went straight through a plate glass window, leapt over a six-foot fence, and was upon that man before the guy had gotten Daniel halfway to his car. He nearly killed the man. It took three men to pull him off the guy. Animal Control wanted to have the dog put to sleep after that, but the owner and I got up a petition and prevented it. That dog had saved my son’s life. There was no way I was going to let it be destroyed.”
Alex shook her head. “Wow. That’s amazing. Thank goodness for that dog.”
Bonnie nodded. “We moved out of state less than a year and a half later. Daniel missed Grim Reaper terribly for months afterwards. I think that dog was the only really close friend Daniel had until we moved permanently to Irvine and he met Arnie.”
Bonnie looked back in the direction they’d come from. “I believe that Daniel sees in Dylan a kindred spirit, someone who knows firsthand the kind of pain that he went through as a child. Thankfully, Dylan didn’t have to suffer that pain as long as my son did.”
“Thanks to Daniel,” Alex murmured.
Bonnie stood. “Shall we head back and see what mischief those two are getting into?” she asked with a smile and a twinkle in her eyes.
Alex grinned. “That might be a good idea. They could be fomenting a plan to sneak contraband food to Daniel.”
Laughing, the two women headed back to the minister’s room.
“How long will it be before you can come home?” Dylan asked.
“I don’t know yet. It all depends on how quickly I get well. Soon, I hope,” Daniel replied.
Dylan’s gaze fell to his lap. He fiddled with a thread sticking out from the seam of his pants for a few seconds. “I’m . . . I’m sorry you got hurt, Daniel,” he said in a low voice. “If I hadn’t gone out bike riding or if I’d gone back home when I was supposed to, it wouldn’t have happened.”
Daniel put his fingers under Dylan’s chin and lifted his head. “It wasn’t your fault, Dylan. You couldn’t have known that the storm was going to move in a lot faster than forecast. And as for not going home when you were supposed to, I know how time can get away from you when you’re having fun. It was an accident, Dylan. Nobody is to blame. So, I don’t want to hear any more of this kind of talk from you, you got it?” He smiled encouragingly.
Dylan’s face broke into a smile. “Yeah.”
Daniel ruffled the boy’s hair. “That’s my pal.”
Dylan was silent for a few seconds, then, “Are you going to marry my mom?”
Daniel’s mouth dropped open, rendered instantly speechless. A faint flush suffused his face as he struggled for something to say. “I. . . . Uh . . . Dylan, your mom and I aren’t. . . . I mean, we’re not in that kind of relationship yet. There are steps a man and woman go through before they get to the point of marriage. They go out on dates, get to know each other better, do things together. If, after a while, they both think that they’d like to spend their lives with each other, then they get engaged.” He reached for a glass of water to wet his suddenly dry throat.
“So, when are you going to go out on a date and get things started?”
Daniel choked on the water. Gasping and sputtering, he stared at Dylan through watery eyes. When he could finally talk again, he asked, “Dylan, why are you asking these questions all of a sudden?”
Dylan shrugged. “Never mind.”
Daniel clasped the boy’s arm gently. “No, I want to know. Why are you asking this?”
Dylan’s eyes dropped back down to his lap. “Because I want you to be my dad,” he whispered.
Daniel felt tears prick his eyes as a tightness formed in his chest. “Dylan,” he murmured, deeply touched by what the boy had just said. He cleared his throat. “Dylan, look at me.” Alex’s son lifted his head and met the minister’s eyes. “I want you to know something. If you were my son, I would be the luckiest dad in the whole world.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
Dylan threw his arms around Daniel. They hugged each other tightly. That was how Alex and Bonnie found them a moment later. Man and boy pulled apart, blinking back the tears in their eyes.
“Hey. Are you all right?” Alex asked in concern.
“Yeah, we’re just fine,” Daniel replied, giving Dylan’s arm a squeeze. “We were just having a . . . a serious discussion.”
“About what?”
“Oh, just about a question Dylan asked me.” Daniel turned to the boy. “By the way, the answer to your question is yes, I hope so, someday.”
A huge grin nearly split Dylan’s face in half.
“But that’s our little secret for right now, okay?” Daniel quickly added.
Dylan nodded enthusiastically, glancing at his mother, who was looking at him and Daniel in puzzlement.
“So, am I going to be let in on this secret someday?” she asked.
“Someday,” both Daniel and Dylan responded. They looked at each other and laughed.
Alex smiled and shook her head. “Why do I get the feeling that this secret has something to do with me?”
“Hmmm. Could be,” Dylan said, giggling.
“Could be, huh? Could be?” Alex repeated, as she stalked toward her son. Then she pounced on him, tickling his tummy. Dylan fell back on the bed, squirming and laughing.
“Daniel! Save me! Save me!” Dylan cried breathlessly.
Instantly, Daniel reached over and attacked Alex’s stomach with his fingers. The redhead gave a sound halfway between a shriek and a shout of laughter, quickly straightened, and moved out of the minister’s reach. Daniel broke into laughter himself at the look on her face, which was a cross between disbelief and delight.
Bonnie watched the whole thing with a look of joy on her face, thinking how much the three of them looked like a happy family.
Just then, the door opened and a nurse came in, a frown of disapproval on her face. “I’m going to have to ask you to keep it down in here.”
Alex clamped a hand over her mouth, and both Daniel and Dylan adopted sheepish expressions. “Sorry about that,” the minister apologized. “We’ll be quieter from now on.”
The nurse, nodded, a tiny smile curving her lips just before she went back out the door.
Alex muffled a snort of laughter before getting control of herself. “Well, that was embarrassing.” She turned to her son. “So, you ready to get some lunch?”
Dylan nodded. He looked at Daniel. “I wish you could come with us.”
“Me too, but I have to eat a special diet right now because of the damage to my kidney, so I’m afraid that I’ll have to take a rain check.”
“We’ll see you in a while then,” Bonnie said.
Daniel watched them leave. A small smile returned to his face. “Someday,” he said softly.