The next day, Alex, Daniel, and his parents were discussing the Hope Gardens article that was in The Lookout when Ruby, Nub, and Boris walk in.
“Hey there! It’s great to see you guys,” Daniel exclaimed.
“Well, when we heard that you were going to be leaving for California and wouldn’t be back for at least two months, we just had to come say goodbye,” Ruby explained. She beamed at the minister. “Oh, but look at you! You’re looking wonderful, so much better than when I saw you last.” She came forward and gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek.
“Yes, Daniel, my good friend, is looking very much better than when tree fell on him,” Boris stated, looking pleased. “Though head still wrapped up like mummy.”
Daniel laughed and touched the bandages swathing his head. “Yeah, they’ll be there for a while yet, which is just as well since I think they shaved all my hair off.”
“Boris, you didn’t leave Molly to take care of the Widow’s Walk alone, did you?” Alex asked.
“No, Boris would not do such thing. Teacher Marcus say he help in kitchen. He say that when he in Peace Corps, he sometimes cook for lots of people and nobody die of poisoned food.”
Everyone laughed. “Well, I sure hope not!” Alex said. “I want some living customers when I get back on Thursday.”
Her words reminded everyone of how soon Daniel would be leaving.
“Molly and Callie told us that you’re going to give your sermons through a TV camera,” Nub said. “That’s pretty neat. We’ll be able to talk to you, and you’ll be able to see us too?”
“Yeah, that’s right. The video and audio will be two-way, so we’ll all be able to see and hear each other.”
“That will be very nice, though it won’t be the same as really having you with us,” Ruby said. “We’re going to miss you terribly.”
“I’m going to miss you too. But, by the time I get back, things will be a lot better. I won’t need this wheelchair anymore, and I’ll be able to get around on my own, though I am going to need a ride whenever I have to go into town since it’s going to be quite a while before I’ll be strong enough to take that hike.”
“Don’t worry about that, Reverend. We’ll make sure there’s always someone available to take you wherever you need to go.”
Daniel looked at Nub and Boris. “I understand that you both did a fine job counting the votes last Tuesday. That’s quite impressive that your counts were exactly the same.”
The two men smiled, Nub rather shyly and Boris proudly. The Russian threw an arm around Nub’s shoulders.
“Boris and Nub want to do good job for such important duty. Must not make any mistakes.”
“Well, you did great. Nobody could have done better,” Alex told them. “I’m very glad I picked you to be the ones.”
That made the smiles on the men’s faces even bigger.
Ruby, Nub, and Boris asked how Daniel was doing with his therapy, then the conversation moved on to other things. As one would expect, it soon turned to what had been going on since the vote for Hope Gardens and what they thought about the whole thing. As it turned out, all three of them had voted for the project.
“Bonita and I decided that it could be a good thing since it would obviously bring more business into town, which all the business owners could use. Bonita guesses that she’ll get lots of clients for the hair salon, what with all those rich, retired women that will be moving in.”
“Yes, this is why Boris vote for retirement place too and because old people should be able to live on beautiful Hope Island for last years of life. Is most best place to live in whole US of A!” the Russian announced.
“Well, we happen to agree about that,” Daniel stated.
“Did you vote for Hope Gardens, Daniel?” Nub asked.
“Yes, I did. I think it could be the beginning of a positive economic change for the island, at least I hope it will be.”
Ruby nodded her head, smiling knowingly. Daniel was aware that she knew about his tour guide business idea, and he was glad that she wasn’t saying anything about it. It was unlikely that Nub and Boris knew about it, and he didn’t want to have Nub put in the bad position of having to keep something from Brian. It was better if he didn’t know about it.
Daniel was sorry to see them leave when it was time for the trio to go, but they assured him that more of the islanders would be coming to wish him goodbye, which turned out to be true. Later that same day, Bonita, Marcus, and two other members of Daniel’s congregation showed up. They brought with them well wishes from the rest of the congregation and dozens of others on the island. The next morning, still more people came to personally say goodbye to the minister. Daniel was especially surprised when Bob White and Harry walked in the door.
“Hey, I didn’t expect to see you here,” Daniel admitted. “Shouldn’t you be out fishing?”
“The fish will still be there in a couple of hours,” Bob replied. “We wanted to say goodbye from all the guys.”
“Thanks. Tell everyone goodbye for me,” Daniel said.
“We, um, know that we haven’t told you before, but we’re all glad that you came to Hope, Reverend,” Harry said shyly.
“Thank you, Harry. That means a lot to me,” the minister told him, touched by the fisherman’s words.
Bob shifted uncomfortably. “Uh, look, Daniel. I never apologized to you about that whole incident last Christmas with my son and the boat, and, well, I wanted to say that I know you weren’t to blame for any of the things that went wrong. I’m sorry I hit you and said those things.”
“Forget it, Bob. I understand that you were under a lot of stress. Everyone does and says things they don’t really mean when they’re upset and worried. So, how’s Evan been doing?”
The fisherman smiled, happy to have the topic changed to his son. “He’s doing great. He does so much better in the special school.” His smile widened. “He’s taken quite an interest in baseball since your friend, Arnie, played catch with him. We play catch almost every day now.”
“That’s great. I’m really happy things are working out so well with him.”
Callie arrived shortly after the fishermen departed. Knowing that she was there for the interview, Alex, Bonnie, and Cliff left to give them some privacy.
Callie settled on a chair and turned on the tape recorder. “So, where do you want to start?”
“I guess the beginning’s as good a place as any,” Daniel replied. He fell silent for a moment, composing his thoughts. “I met Kate through some mutual friends. We liked each other right off. It made no difference that she was Catholic and I was Protestant. It was never an issue. We started doing things together, going out with friends sometimes, other times just the two of us. For quite a while, we were just friends. Neither one of us considered a romantic relationship. But, eventually, I began to realize that I felt more for Kate than just friendship. Finally, I asked her out on a date, a real date, not just a meal together. She accepted, and that was the beginning. And . . . I guess, in a way, it was also the beginning of the end.”
“What do you mean?”
“Dad hadn’t had any problems with my friendship with Kate, but when it became apparent that we were becoming more than friends, he started letting his views be known. As our relationship progressed, he became more vocal. He never took any actions to stop the relationship, but he said all he could to discourage it.”
Daniel went on to describe the months, then years that passed as his and Kate’s romance continued to grow, how his happiness over finding love was dimmed by his father’s attitude about it.
“Mom was great about the whole thing. She never once said anything to convince me that it was a bad idea to date Kate. But it still hurt that Dad was so much against our relationship.” Daniel’s eyes closed, and he rested his head on the pillow. “It was on the third anniversary of the day we met that I proposed to Kate. I knew that she was the one I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. I didn’t care that she was of a different faith. I just wanted to be with her for always.” He sighed. “But when I told Dad . . . to say that he blew his stack would be an understatement. He absolutely refused to allow it, saying that, if we went through with it, it would be without his blessing. We both said a lot of things that night that I regret now. I left the house in a rage and headed straight over to Kate’s. On the way, I decided that the only way we could be married would be if we eloped. I talked Kate into agreeing. Looking back on it now, I know that it was a stupid and childish thing to do. We could have worked things out, even without my father’s blessing.”
A long silence fell in the room as Daniel tried to control the emotions that were beginning to overwhelm him. “It was a car accident,” he finally said in a low voice. “We were on our way to Nevada to get married. We were still in Irvine when a drunk driver ran a red light and hit our car. I saw her . . . her body as they were covering her up with the sheet.” Daniel stopped, closing his eyes tightly against the tears trying to escape. He felt Callie’s hand touch his. He looked at her and saw understanding and compassion on her face.
“I’m sorry, Daniel,” she said softly. “I can’t imagine what that was like for you.”
“It devastated me,” he whispered. “It was like my whole world came crashing down around me. I think I went a little crazy for a while. I blamed myself for what had happened. But, even more, I blamed my father. And that’s what I told him. I told him that it was his fault, that if it hadn’t been for him, Kate would still be alive. Then, I just stopped talking to him, to everyone. For three days, I locked myself in my room and let the grief consume me. After the funeral, I packed a bag and left. I was off to the airport before anyone knew I was gone. I took the next available flight out, not caring where it was going. You pretty much know what happened after that.”
Daniel told Callie the rest of the story, about his time in Las Vegas and afterwards. Once he was finished, Callie got more details, filling in the blanks in the story. At last, she turned off the tape recorder.
“Thank you, Daniel. I promise that I’ll write this article the very best that I can,” she said, affected deeply by the story the minister had told her.
“I know you will, Callie. I have faith in you. But there’s something I must request from you. I don’t want this article to hurt my father in any way. I don’t want it to shed a bad light on him. There are things that you must not include. I don’t want you to tell how adamant Dad was about not allowing our relationship or his reasons why. And, above all, I don’t want you to reveal what happened after Vegas, about my dad disowning me, refusing to even see me. I have to insist on this.”
“If that’s what you want, Daniel, then that’s what I’ll do,” Callie assured him. “I’m just worried that, if we downplay your father’s part in this too much, it will make your situation less sympathetic. I don’t want you to get hurt by this either.”
“Let me worry about myself. It was my decision to come forward with this. Above all, I don’t want that decision to hurt other people.”
Callie nodded, hoping that Daniel’s selfless concern for others wouldn’t end up causing him a lot of pain. She rose to her feet. “Thank you again, Daniel.” She gave the minister’s hand a squeeze. “We’re going to miss you while you’re gone. Things just aren’t the same without you on Hope.”
“I’m going to miss everyone too. I’ll probably be writing Alex lots of letters and calling her on the phone. We’ll all have to keep in touch through her.”
Callie leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek, then said goodbye. Daniel watched her go with a touch of sadness. He was staring out the window when Alex, Cliff, and Bonnie returned.
“How’d things go?” the redhead asked gently.
“Okay. It wasn’t easy talking about the whole thing again.”
Bonnie stroked his cheek. “I know it wasn’t, sweetheart, but talking about things like that can be a healing experience.”
“I know, Mom. I’m just glad it’s done with.”
“Are you sure you can trust her, Daniel?” Cliff asked. “I know you said that she’s your friend, but she is a reporter, and my experience with reporters has not been good in the past.”
“Callie’s different, Dad. She’s a friend first and a reporter second. I never told you this, but she found out about me and Stella and the whole fiasco in Vegas a long time ago. It was when Stella came to Hope. Callie did some digging and found an old article on the Net about what happened in Las Vegas. She had a big story right in the palm of her hand. Nobody else knew that I’d married that showgirl whom I’d been seen with. With that knowledge, Callie could have printed an article that would have gotten national publication, received a lot of recognition for it. But she gave it up, sacrificed what could have been a turning point in her career for my sake. That’s the kind of reporter, the kind of person she is.”
Cliff nodded. “I’d say that you’re right, Daniel. I’m glad that you have such a friend.”
“Me too, Dad. I’ve been blessed with a lot of terrific friends in my life, especially since I found Hope Island.”
Everyone had lunch, then Daniel went off to his therapy. Afterwards, as they drew up to his room, the minister noticed that the door was closed. It had been open when they left. Wondering why it was closed, he waited for Alex to open it, failing to notice the slight smile that was teasing the corners of her lips. When the door opened, so did Daniel’s mouth. Standing there on the other side was Dylan with a big grin on his face.
“Dylan! What are you doing here? What about school?” the minister asked with a happy smile as the boy came forward and gave him a hug.
“Mom said it was okay for me to miss half a day today so that I could come and say goodbye.”
Just then, Daniel noticed Molly and Kevin standing over in the corner, both of them smiling broadly. He looked up at Alex. “When did you plan this?”
“I called Molly last night from the hotel. I knew that you and Dylan would want to see each other once more before you left.”
“Thanks, Alex.”
The nurse helped Daniel into bed. Once he was settled, Alex looked at her son, then back to the minister, thinking that they might like some time alone for their goodbyes. She suggested that this would be a good time for everyone to go out for a cup of coffee. The others quickly agreed and vacated the room, shutting the door behind them.
Daniel looked at Dylan, who was studying the floor at the moment. “Hey, why don’t you come up here and sit beside me on the bed?” he suggested.
The boy hesitated for only a moment before climbing up onto the bed. Daniel scooted over to make room for him.
“So, how’s the model coming along?” he asked.
“Good. I’ve got all the houses up, and the road’s all painted. I’m doing the water now, then we’ll put up the trees and bushes and stuff.”
“I can’t wait to see what it looks like when it’s finished.”
Dylan’s eyes dropped to the bedcovers. “But you won’t be able to see it for a long time,” he mumbled.
Daniel laid an arm over Dylan’s shoulders drawing him closer. “Not a really long time, Dylan, only two or three months. The time will go by fast. Before you know it, I’ll be back.”
“What if . . . what if you decide that you want to stay in California?” Dylan asked, his voice barely more than a whisper.
Daniel turned the boy to face him. “That is not going to happen, Dylan. I swear to you. Hope Island is my home. It’s where I want to be.”
“But your family’s in California.”
“Only my mom and dad, Dylan. The rest of my family is right here. The people on Hope have become like my family.” Daniel touched the boy’s cheek. “You and your mom are like my family.”
Dylan gazed at him for a long moment. “Are we ever going to be a real family?”
Daniel smiled at him gently. “You remember what I told you before when you asked if I was ever going to marry your mom?”
“Yeah.”
“I meant that, Dylan. Someday, if she’ll have me, I’m going to marry her. Then we’ll be a real family.”
“Then you’ll be my dad?”
“Yeah. A second dad. Your real father will always be your first dad.”
“Would you adopt me? One of the kids at school was adopted by his stepfather. He said it made him being his dad official.”
Daniel was quiet for a moment. “I don’t know, Dylan. That’s a decision that would be up to your mom and your dad. They’re the ones who would have to say it’s okay.”
“Would you want to?”
Daniel smiled into the boy’s eyes. “Yes. If I could, I would adopt you. I love you, Dylan, and I would be proud and very happy for you to be my son.”
Dylan grinned and wrapped his arms around the minister’s waist. “I love you too, Daniel, and I want you to be my second dad.”
Daniel held the boy tightly, blinking back the tears that came suddenly to his eyes.
“When you come back, will you be all healed?” Dylan asked.
“No, not completely. It may be a long time before I’m totally back to normal.” Daniel paused, then drew back slightly to look down at the boy. “Dylan, there’s a chance that I may never be able to do everything that I could before. When the brain is injured, it’s hard for it to recover. Sometimes, it’s not possible for someone with a brain injury to recover fully.”
Dylan’s eyes dropped from his. “I know. I looked up some stuff on the Internet. I didn’t understand most of it, but I read about how, lots of times, people have things wrong with them forever after their brain’s been hurt. Sometimes, they never get better.” He returned his gaze to Daniel. “But you’re getting better, aren’t you? Everyone says so.”
“Yeah, I am. I’m stronger and can do more every day. I’m going to keep fighting to get better, to get back to the way I was before the accident. But we both need to be prepared in case there are some things that don’t completely get back to normal.”
Dylan was silent for a few seconds. “I’ve been praying every day that you’d get better.”
“Thank you, Dylan. I’m grateful that you’ve been doing that. I know that God’s been listening to you. Whatever happens, we need to have faith in Him and know that, no matter what, everything will work out in the end.”
The minister looked into the boy’s eyes, seeing a lingering sadness there. “Hey, I had a great dream last night. Would you like me to tell it to you?”
“Sure,” Dylan replied, perking up.
“Well, you, your mom and I were on Hope. A great big picnic was going on right in the middle of town, with lots and lots of food everywhere. Everybody was happy and had plenty to eat. I saw new things in town, buildings that I didn’t recognize, and some places that are now closed were open, like Jo’s Bakery, only it wasn’t called Jo’s anymore. A little old lady was handing out free cookies to all the kids,” Daniel grinned, “and they weren’t even broken ones. The three of us walked on down to the dock, and there I saw a marina with dozens of boats in it. Lots of the fishermen were there, and they had smiles on their faces too. We kept walking and soon got to the beach. A family on horseback passed by us, one of the islanders leading them.” Daniel’s smile grew soft. “It was a wonderful dream, Dylan. But do you know what the best part was?”
“What?”
“The three of us were together, really together and . . . your mom was pregnant with our baby, your little brother or sister.”
Dylan’s eyes widened. “Really?”
Daniel nodded. “Uh huh.”
“Wow, that’s cool. You think it will really be like that someday?”
“I hope so, Dylan. I want that dream to come true more than anything in the world.”
“Me too.”
A short silence fell between them. Dylan was the first to break it. “Kevin took me up to get my bike from under the tree a few days ago. He showed me where the tree fell on us.”
Daniel studied Dylan’s face closely. “I should think that was kind of scary.”
“Yeah. My bike was all smashed. The wheels were bent, and the fenders and handlebars were twisted up.” Dylan looked up at the minister. “I would have been standing there of you hadn’t grabbed me.”
Daniel swallowed convulsively, his arm tightening around the boy’s shoulders. It terrified him to think of what would have happened to Dylan if he hadn’t been there.
“When I told that to Kevin, he said that you saved my life, that you were a real hero,” Dylan said, gazing worshipfully up at the minister.
Daniel shook his head. “I’m not a hero, Dylan. Far from it. I only did what a lot of people would have done, what your mom would have done if she’d been there. I’m just glad that I was there.”
“Even though you got hurt so bad?”
Daniel looked at the boy earnestly. “Dylan, if I had to do it over again, I would do the same thing, even knowing that I’d get hurt like this. Making sure that you were okay would be worth it, is worth it, every bit of it.”
Dylan wrapped his arms around Daniel, pressing his face against the minister’s chest. Daniel held him close, closing his eyes from the joy that the simple act gave him.
The minister put on a smile. “Hey. Let’s not talk about serious things anymore, deal?”
Dylan grinned. “Deal.”
The others returned a few minutes later, and they all spent the rest of the afternoon together. When the time finally came for Dylan, Mollie and Kevin to leave, it was hard for Daniel not to let his tears show. Molly gave him a kiss on the cheek, and Kevin shook his hand, both of them telling him how much he’d be missed and giving their wishes that he get well soon. Then it was time to say goodbye to Dylan.
“Hey, buddy, come here,” the minister said gently. Dylan came up beside him, and Daniel cupped his hand around the back of the boy’s neck. “You know I’m going to miss you. A lot.”
“I’m going to miss you too,” Dylan said, his eyes filling with tears.
“But we’ll be seeing each other again soon. In fact, if my dad gets everything set up at the church, I might even be seeing you this Sunday. That would be cool, right?”
“Yeah. And I can light the candles, right?”
“You bet, pal. The services wouldn’t be complete if you didn’t.” Daniel pulled Dylan into a long hug. “Remember that dream I told you,” he murmured in the boy’s ear. “If you and I pray hard enough for it, we might see it come true.” He lowered his voice to a whisper. “But how about if we keep that dream just between you, me and God, okay?” He gave Dylan a wink.
The boy grinned and glanced at his mother. “Okay. I won’t tell anyone, especially Mom,” he whispered back.
Daniel grinned. “Now you’ve got the idea.”
With a last goodbye, Dylan, Mollie and Kevin left. Alex went out with them, saying she’d be back in a few minutes.
“You really do love that boy, don’t you, Son,” Cliff remarked.
“Yeah, I do, Dad. He’s a terrific kid. I’d be the proudest dad in the world if he was my son.”
Cliff smiled at him proudly. “You’re going to be a wonderful father, Daniel. I think that Dylan would be lucky to have you as his dad.”
Daniel looked up at his father with surprise and gratitude. “Thanks, Dad. That means a lot coming from you.” He turned back to the door. “I hope that, someday, he will be my son,” he murmured.
Alex walked with Molly, Kevin and her son outside. As they waited for the taxi, she knelt in front of Dylan.
“You okay, sweetheart?” she asked, smoothing back his hair.
Dylan nodded, still looking sad.
“You know that Daniel’s not going to leave and not come back, don’t you?”
“Yeah. He promised me that he’d come back.”
“Then he will. Daniel’s not the kind of person who would break a promise. Before we know it, he’ll be coming back on that ferry, back home where he belongs. You know, we’re going to have to plan a big welcome home party for him when the time comes. We’ll have Boris bake a cake and everything.”
Dylan brightened. “That would be cool. Could we keep it a secret so that Daniel will be surprised?”
“You bet! A welcome home party just isn’t the same if it’s not a surprise.”
Just then, the taxi pulled up. Alex gave Dylan a hug and a kiss. “I’ll see you tomorrow, kiddo.”
She watched them get into the taxi and drive off, then she went back inside for the last few hours that she’d have with Daniel until he came home again.
Cliff and Bonnie helped Daniel out of the car and into the wheelchair. Several yards away, the private jet stood, waiting to take Daniel back to what was once his home. He stared at the jet for a long time, then looked up to meet Alex’s eyes. A silent message passed between them, their eyes revealing how much they were going to miss each other.
“Why don’t we give you two a moment alone,” Bonnie said. Not waiting for an answer, she and Cliff walked away a few yards.
“Well, I guess this is it,” Daniel said. “You know, I’ve imagined going home a lot of times, but I never would have guessed it would be like this or under these circumstances.” He gazed up into Alex’s face. “And I never thought that it would be this hard to say goodbye.”
Alex swallowed the lump in her throat. “Then let’s not say goodbye. We’ll just say see you soon.”
“Yeah. Soon.” Daniel took hold of Alex’s hand and brought it to his lips, his gaze never breaking from hers. She went down on her knees and they engulfed each other in a tight embrace.
“I’m going to miss you so much, Daniel,” Alex whispered, finally losing her battle with her tears.
“I’m going to miss you too, Alex, every waking minute.” Daniel pulled back and gazed lovingly at her face, wiping the tears away with his thumb. “I’d kiss you, Alex Stone, but when that moment comes, I want us to be completely alone, no audience.”
Alex smiled through her tears. “So, do you have it all planned out when this big event is going to occur?”
“Uh huh. The day I set foot back on Hope.”
Alex’s smile faded. “That day can’t come soon enough for me.”
“Me neither.” He tilted her head down and placed a long, sweet kiss on her forehead. “I’ll see you soon,” he whispered against her skin.
They pulled back and took a last long look at each other. Then Alex stood.
“Hey, Daniel. There’s something that you should learn to accept about me,” she said, a smile starting to curve her lips.
“Yeah? What’s that?”
“That I often do exactly what I want to rather than what others want me to.” With those words, she abruptly leaned down, grabbed hold of Daniel’s face, and planted a hard, quick kiss on his lips. Stunned, Daniel didn’t even have time to respond before she was pulling away, a self-satisfied smile on her face. She laughed at the expression he was wearing. “Gotcha,” she said.
Daniel’s mouth quirked upward, then he was suddenly laughing. Alex joined him.
“I’m going to get you for that,” the minister promised.
“Can’t wait,” Alex shot back.
Their laughter slowly faded. Daniel glanced over at his parents, knowing it was time to go. He returned his eyes to the woman he loved. “Take care of yourself, Alex.”
“You too, Daniel. Get well fast and hurry home to us.”
“I will. I promise.”
Turning away, Daniel wheeled his chair toward his parents. Alex watched them get on the plane. She kept watching as the jet taxied toward the runway, her eyes not leaving it as it wheeled onto the airstrip, picked up speed, and lifted into the air. As the plane disappeared from view, her fingers went to her lips, still imagining that she could feel Daniel’s mouth pressed against hers.
“I love you, Daniel Cooper, and when you come home, I’m going to do everything in my power to see that we’re together for always.”
That promise having been spoken, Alex turned and walked away toward her own journey home.