Authors: LR Potter

Flawed Beauty (28 page)

Tyson Williams looked between Tate
and
Jace
.
Jace
stepped
forward and extended his hand. “Hi, I’m Dr.
Jace
Staton
.”

Tyson Williams stepped forward and
shook hands with
Jace
. “What exactly is this research
for?”

“I’m compiling research for my
thesis. And your name was one of the names given to me,” Tate replied.

Tyson Williams appeared hesitant,
but eventually nodded his head. “Well, come on in. Marla is in the house.”

“Thanks, I appreciate it.”

“So what kind of doctor are you?”
she heard Tyson Williams ask
Jace
.

She tuned out their conversation but
could hear the cadence of their voices. In her mind, she struggled with what to
say to Marla Williams. How did she actually determine whether these were her
parents?

She paused as Tyson rounded her and
opened the door. As he stepped through the threshold, he called, “Hey, Marla,
honey, we have company.”

Tate watched Marla step down the
stairs leading to what appeared to be a second floor of the house. Marla’s
eyebrows creased in consternation at seeing Tate standing in the house.

“Mrs. Williams, this is Dr.
Jace
Staton
. He is here with me.
I wanted to apologize for leaving so abruptly yesterday.”

“Are you okay? I was worried,” Marla
Williams said.

“I’m fine. I would like to ask a few
more questions if you wouldn’t mind.”

Tyson and Marla Williams glanced at
each other but eventually Tyson Williams said, “Okay. What would you like to
know?”

Marla directed them to sit in the same
seats she’d been in the day before. “Can I get either of you something to
drink? I just made tea,” Marla asked politely.

Both
Jace
and Tate shook their heads. “No, thanks,” Tate said.

“What information can we provide?”
Tyson asked.

“Can I get the particulars of how
your daughter was taken? I know Mrs. Williams told me from her viewpoint, can
you tell me from yours?” This time, Tate was determined to listen to the story
and not let her mind drift as it’d done yesterday.

Tyson Williams sat for a long minute
before responding. “It was mid-summer and we’d gone into town. There is always
a small fair going on at that time of year. Sophie was so excited to see all
the people and the sights and sounds of the fair. I’d been asked to judge a
chili cook-off so Marla had taken Sophie off to see some more of the sights.
She probably doesn’t realize that I knew she was actually taking that girl off
to buy her something. But I always knew.”

Tate turned her eyes away from the
obvious love between the two
Williamses
as he leaned
over and grabbed Marla’s hand.

“Well, they’d been gone about an
hour, when Marla come running back to me, frantic as Sophie had wandered off.
That girl wasn’t scared of nothing. We went to the security tent and notified
them and they closed down the fair, not letting anyone
enter
or leave, but it must have been too late, because we never found her.”

Tate swallowed at the tears which
threatened to overwhelm her at the pain which radiated from the couple.

“I’m so sorry,” Tate murmured
softly.

Tyson nodded. “We miss that girl
every day. We look for her wherever we go. Why, she’d be about your age now, I
reckon.”

“We hope everyday she’ll come home.
As silly as it is, we’ve left her room just as it was,” Marla Williams added.

Wiping the tears from her eyes,
Marla asked Tate, “How did you get interested in something like this?”

Tate glanced at
Jace
and he leaned over and reached for her hand. Swallowing painfully in her
indecision, she took a steadying breath. “I was abducted when I was a child.”

She felt both sets of the
Williamses
’ eyes flash towards her. Tyson recovered first.
“How awful for you.
Did your family find you, or you them?”

“No, not yet.”

Again, the
Williamses
flashed their eyes at her after glancing at each other.

Clearing her throat, Tate asked
softly. “Would it be inappropriate if I asked to see Sophie’s room?” She felt
Jace
tense next to her.

“Tate, I don’t think…”
Jace
began before being cut off by Marla Williams.

“I think it’d be all right,” she
said, rising to her feet.

“Marla, are you sure?” Tyson asked
her, rising to his feet also.

“Ty, what’s the harm?” she asked
softly.

Instead of answering, he simply
placed his hands on her shoulders and drew her back to place a soft kiss on her
head.

Marla led the way up the stairs. At
the top of the landing, she turned left and led them through a door painted red
with
Sophie’s Room
painted in bright yellow. It wasn’t quite the colors
Tate was expecting. She’d assumed a little girl’s room would have been done in
pinks or purples.

Seeming to read her mind, Marla
said, “Our Sophie loved everything about the farm, so we incorporated that into
her room.”

As Tate looked around the room, she
took in the white walls with different scenes painted on them. There were
scenes of red barns and black and white cows in a pasture; of bright blue skies
with fluffy white clouds; of green trees with bright red apples; and finally of
a giant green caterpillar standing up, trying to capture fireflies.

On the far wall, was a white canopy
bed with a cheery yellow covering and dust
ruffle.
There was a white, wooden toy chest sitting under the window with a padded top,
which would have been perfect to sit on when the weather was too yucky to be
outside. Tate took in the room slowly and the same tightening she’d experienced
the day before settled in her chest.

Tate struggled to clear her throat.
“It’s a very special room,” she murmured.

Tyson Williams moved further in the
room and sat down on top of the toy chest. With shiny eyes, he said, “A special
room for a very special little girl.” As he looked around the room, he said in
a soft, singsong voice, “Dandelion, dandelion, dandelion wine…”

Tate’s vision began to blur almost
to blackness. Her body began to tremble violently. She slumped to her knees as
Jace
struggled to catch her. Tate interrupted and finished
breathlessly with, “… this little girl is
mine
all
mine.”

Tyson and Marla Williams both turned
startled heads in her direction. “Sophie?” Tyson Williams choked out.

Epilogue

From
her view at the kitchen sink, Tate could see the caterers setting up the tables
underneath the huge, white tent. The blue and white checkered tablecloths were
the perfect backdrop for the bright yellow plates. She wiped her hands on a
dishtowel and turned in time to see
Jace
stroll into
the kitchen. A smile crossed her lips at her husband of two years. In his arms
was a tiny bundle dressed in blue. Today was the day, their newly adopted son,
Tyson Morgan
Staton
, would meet the rest of his
family.

Leaning to drop a kiss on her lips,
Jace
pulled back to look at their newest treasure. “How’s
things going?” he asked softly so as not to wake the sleeping child.

“Good, but hectic.
Mom and dad are picking up your
parents at the airport right about now. Alan and Beth are scheduled to arrive
at three. They should be here in plenty of time to make the party. Thor was
driving Toby and Markus down, and they’ll be here around four. What about Seth
and his wife? What time will they arrive?”

“Seth was coming off an all-nighter
but promised to be here by five. Have you had a chance to sit down at all
today?”

She smiled at the absurd thought of
sitting down when more than fifty people were expected at your house.
“No, not today.”

“Well, I say, you take this
beautiful son of ours and sit down for a while. I’ll take over.”

He passed him to her smoothly. Once
the transfer was completed, he wrapped his arms around them both and pressed a
kiss on her head.

“I am so happy you agreed to move
your track next to mine,” he said against her hair, reminding her of his
analogy of keeping their paths together. “I love you. You make me so happy.”

Staring down at the miracle she
never expected to have, she lifted shining eyes up to his. “I never thought I
could have this life. Thank you not giving up on me.”

Remembering part of a poem he’d
memorized in college by
Sarai
Vanegas
,
he said, “
Swans in love they form a heart, you’ll never see the swans
apart.”
Forgetting the next line, he grinned and muttered, “
something
, something
,” and then continued.
“Our
broken hearts have been repaired, so now our feeling can be shared. Well now we
know that love can be, therefore, you are the swan for me.
”