Mending Hearts (21 page)

“
Raelynn, since you’re the
flower girl, I guess you’ll drop lilacs at the wedding since it’s
Emma’s favorite flower.” 

“
Daddy?” she asks,
excitedly. “Do you know what will make it sparkly and
pretty?” 

“
Glitter?” I
ask. 

“
Yep, we can put glitter in
the basket with the flowers so when I drop the flowers the glitter
will make the flowers sparkly.” 

“
Rae, I think that is a
great idea.” 

“
Sissy, that will be so
pretty, but we don’t have no more glitter,” James says,
sadly.

“
They have some at Walmart,”
she says. “Daddy, can we go and get some?” 

I smile at her and wonder if my girl is
ready to go right now. “We can; when do you want it?” 

“
If I had some now, I could
practice with it.” 

“
Should we go and get some?”
This is a huge step for Rae, and I am having a Proud Daddy
moment. 

“
Let me get my shoes on and
I’ll be ready,” she says over her shoulder as she walks up the
stairs to her bedroom.

“
Hang on, Sissy. I need my
shoes, too,” James says as he runs up the stairs behind
her.

I text Emma and tell her Raelynn wants to go
to Walmart. I wait for a text back, but I get a phone call instead.
Emma is crying with joy. The kids and I go to Walmart, and I let
Raelynn get as much glitter that she thinks she needs. I had no
idea that glitter came in so many different colors. James gets a
new train and we also get groceries while we’re out. I stay away
from the direction of the school, so we have to drive a little out
of our way. When I drive past a park, Raelynn looks out the window
and smiles.

I say, “We can get ice cream and then go to
the park if you guys want. Or we can get ice cream and go
home.” 

“
Sissy, you wanna go to the
park?” 

“
Okay, Bubby.”

When we finally get home, Emma is there
waiting on us. “Did you guys have fun?” Emma asks. 

“
Yep, we got glitter and ice
cream, and Daddy took us to the park,” Raelynn says as she sits
down with a bag full of glitter. 

“
The park?” Emma
mouths. 

 
I can only smile and
nod. I don’t want Raelynn to think it is a big deal. “We got
glitter for the wedding, didn’t we, Raelynn?” 

“
Daddy, it is supposed to be
a secret.” 

“
Alec, Sissy doesn’t want
momma to know that she is going to put it in with the
flowers.” 

“
Bubby?” 

James laughs when he realizes he just told
Raelynn’s secret.

Emma wisely plays it off like she didn’t
hear it. 

She asks, “What did you say,
James?” 

James looks stunned and says, “Sissy likes
flowers.” 

I am amazed and shocked that James just did
not tell the whole truth to Emma. I put away the groceries while
the kids play with their new toys and glitter. Emma tells me that
they found a beautiful wedding dress, and she also tells me that
James and I have a fitting for our tuxes on Friday. The wedding is
fast approaching, and I couldn’t be happier. After everything that
Emma and I have been through, we deserve this. Emma wants the
wedding to be held here at the house under the gazebo, and I could
not agree more. The kids have been included in the wedding plans
since day one. Emma wants to make sure they don’t feel left out.
They were involved in the engagement and this wedding affects them
as well.

The homeschooling is working
out very well. The Grannie Nannies have had people stop by wanting
to sign their kids up for school.
I guess
the sign is misleading and it appears to be a real school. They
sadly had to turn the people away. One of the everyday lessons at
school is a morning cooking class where the kids help to prepare
the noon meals. Molly and Bobby’s wife, Leah, go and help out a
couple times a week. Molly is doing very well, and she and Adam
seem to be spending a lot of time together. Molly’s nursing career
is finished because of her drug abuse, but she hasn’t let that get
her down. She was and still is a great photographer and has
recently started selling her still shots as stock photographs
online. Brooke has also hired Molly to make her book covers for her
new trilogy. The first book is due out this year.

I get a call from the police detective and I
think it’s to tell me about a nearing court date for the gunman. I
was advised, the day of the incident, that I would need to testify
on behalf of the state.

“
Alec,
here.” 

“
Alec, it’s Detective
Farmer.” 

“
Hi, how are
you?” 

“
Fine, thank you. I’m
calling to tell you your presence won’t be needed in court after
all.” 

“
Oh, I wasn’t expecting
that. Did the gunman plead guilty?” I ask. 

“
No, unfortunately the
deputies found his body early this morning in his cell. He
apparently hung himself late last night or early this
morning.”

“
Oh, I
see.” 

“
He used his sheet and tied
it around the air vent.” 

“
I had no idea that could be
done.” 

“
It’s difficult to do but
not impossible,” the detective says. “I’m sorry that your name got
leaked to the press. Sometimes, this is beyond our
control.” 

“
Thank you. They wanted a
face-to-face interview, but they settled for a phone
interview.” 

“
That’s good, I’m glad you
spoke with them. Sometimes if they don’t get an interview they find
other means to get a story.” 

“
I was afraid of
that.”

“
Well, Alec, thank you for
your cooperation and this should be the last that you hear from us,
unless you have other questions.” 

“
No, nothing that I can
think of. Thank you for calling.” 

I inform Emma of the phone call I got from
the detectives. Since the incident at the school with James and
Raelynn, we no longer watch the news or the television. We don’t
want anything to cause a setback for Raelynn.

We are aware that someday Rae will see
something horrifying on TV, so we told her what Mister Rogers’
mother told him. As a young child, TV’s Mister Rogers would
sometimes watch the news, which of course often reported on many
horrifying events. Whenever the young Mister Rogers was upset by
what he saw, his mother would tell him, “Look for the helpers. You
will always find people who are helping.” 

Emma and I get a call from Molly, who asks
if she and Adam can come over and talk to us. Emma makes some
appetizers and has them ready when Molly and Adam get here. Raelynn
and James visit with them before their bedtime. Molly puts Raelynn
to bed as Emma puts James to bed. Molly has been here enough that
she knows where everything is and she knows the kids’ bedtime
routine.

I’ve talked to Adam and Bobby a lot over the
last month or two and I like them both. Adam seems to be really
good with Raelynn and Rae likes him. Emma and Molly come downstairs
at the same time. I thought at first that it would be odd that my
ex-wife and Emma are friendly with each other, but it isn’t. It’s
actually nice that Emma and Molly get along so well. Raelynn
doesn’t have to pick sides and no one fusses about the other. Molly
takes her place beside Adam, and Emma walks over to me,
smiling.

“
You wanted to talk to us?”
I say as we all sit down. Emma holds my hand; I know she doesn’t
know what this is about either. 

Molly takes a deep breath and says, “I want
to thank you guys for letting me come over here and spend time with
Raelynn. I also want to thank you both for being so nice to me. I
have done some things in my past that I’m not proud of, and I am
working very hard to change that.” She looks at Adam and says,
“Thank you, you are too good to be true.” I watch as Adam holds her
hands and gently rubs her knuckles with his finger. “I’ve been
living with mom and dad, and although I love it there, I think it’s
time for me to get my own place.”

“
Do you think you’re ready
for that?” I ask. Emma looks at me and I know she thinks it’s none
of my business. My only concern is the safety of Raelynn. I don’t
want her with Molly alone, if or when she relapses.

“
I don’t have any urges to
relapse, I have a great support system, and I have the love for my
daughter that will keep me on the right path.” Molly runs her hands
up and down her pant leg. “I understand your concern, but I am in a
really good place right now. My stock photos are selling online,
I’m in church, I go to the Addicts Anonymous meetings twice a week,
and I have a remarkable support system. I think it’s time for me to
be an adult again.” 

“
Do you have a place in
mind?” I ask. 

“
I do. I applied for a
two-bedroom apartment off of S.R. 64. I was honest with them about
my past, but I think I have a good chance of getting it. I don’t
have any furniture, but that stuff will come.” 

“
Why a two-bedroom?” I
ask. 

“
Because I still have a
daughter. When she visits, I want her to feel like this is her
home, too.” 

Emma scoots up in her seat and says, “You
know, Molly, when Alec moved out of the house he stored everything
in Bridget and Sam’s garage. We don’t need it and I think there’s
more than enough stuff to furnish an apartment.” 

“
Alec, is that true? You
stored everything at mom and dads?” 

“
I actually gave it to them
and they stored it in their garage. There is everything from the
house except Raelynn’s things.” 

Molly smiles and looks at Adam.

“
Well, it looks like that
just solved your problem,” Adam says. 

“
You don’t mind if I use
it?” Molly asks. 

“
No, it’s yours. I think
it’ll be nice for Raelynn to have something familiar in your
house,” Alec says.

Molly stands up and hugs me. “Thank you,”
she says before hugging Emma. “Now I just have to get the
apartment.” 

Molly

“
Molly, here are your keys,
the gym hours are 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., the pool opens from dawn
to dusk, and the gate code is 0515. Welcome home and let us know if
you need anything.” 

“
Thank you so much,” I say
as I stand to shake Mrs. Graves’ hand. Adam and I walk outside of
the leasing office and I want to scream with excitement. “I did it.
I got my very own apartment.” 

“
Congratulations, I am so
proud of you.” Adam pulls me closer to him and kisses
me.

“
Thank you. Can you believe
it?” 

“
Coming from you, of course
I can. There isn’t anything you can’t do, Molly.” 

“
Your faith in me is
astounding, Adam.”

“
You just need to have more
faith in yourself. Now let’s get this U-Haul
unloaded.” 

I get a text from Bobby inviting Adam and I
to a cookout at his and Leah’s house on Saturday.

Once the U-Haul is unloaded, we look around.
I had forgotten how nice my and Alec’s things were. We both worked
hard and bought only the best-quality furniture. Alec once said
that if you buy good quality, you’ll have to buy it only
once. 

“
You know what I find is
odd?” Adam asks. 

I walk into the living room where he is.
“What’s that?” 

“
There are no TVs. All this
nice stuff and you guys never watched television? Did you play
chess or something to pass the time?” he says, laughing because he
finds this amusing. 

I suddenly become embarrassed and ashamed.
“No, we used to have big smart TVs at one time, but I… I… I kind of
sold them.” 

“
Yikes, sorry. Been there
and done that. I wasn’t thinking. I’m sorry.” 

“
It’s all right, really. I
made a mistake. I can’t change it, but I did learn from
it.” 

“
That’s my girl. No need to
dwell on the past. Let’s return the U-Haul and I’ll buy my smart,
independent girl dinner.” 

“
Sounds good and I also need
groceries when we’re done. I think I might cook dinner for my
boyfriend tomorrow.” 

“
I think your boyfriend
might like that.” 

“
Do you think he would like
a roast or meatloaf?” 

Adam licks his lips and I laugh. “I think
your boyfriend would like a roast.” 

“
A roast it is
then.” 

After dinner Adam and I go to the grocery
store. This is the first domestic thing we have ever done together.
It’s been over a year since I went grocery shopping. I try to
remember what Raelynn likes, and it saddens me that I really don’t
know. Alec and I have never spoken about Raelynn staying with me
and I haven’t pushed it. I know I need to prove myself first, but I
also hope he can see how hard I have worked and how far I have
come. I will never fight him for custody, but I would like for her
to spend the night with me. 

“
What’s wrong?” Adam asks. I
wonder how he knows something is wrong. 

I smile and say, “Nothing.” 

“
Molly, rule number one in a
relationship is no lying. What’s wrong?” 

I look at him and then at the mostly empty
cart. “Adam, do you have kids?” 

“
No, I don’t have any
kids.”