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Benny and Marco stepped forward. The bruises on Benny’s face had faded to horrific shades of yellow and green. Stitches decorated a swollen lower lip. He and his foster cousin read from a scrap of paper in his hand, their voices blending in a high, sweet sound that carried on the wind. “Mark 10,Verses 13-16 says ‘People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it. And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them’.”
Benny laid a small bouquet of daisies in front of the marker. Marco added a bouquet of pink roses. “These are for you, Nina.” He stepped back. Then the others made their way to the marker, showering it with flowers and small stuffed animals, homemade pictures, and brightly colored balloons fastened to the hands of chubby-faced dolls.
They began to leave then, quietly, without conversation. The wind whistled through the cracks in the walls of the old tool shed. It was so quiet. Some music would have been nice. Something a five-year-old would have appreciated. Alex couldn’t move. He stared down at the marker anchored in the dirt, with fresh bouquets of flowers—little pink roses, daisies, baby’s breath—bright against it.
He felt her presence and looked up. Deborah wavered a step from him, one hand out as if she might touch his arm.
They stared at each other.
His mouth dry, his heartbeat strangely off kilter, he brushed past her.
“Alex! Wait!”
He kept walking.
* * *
Daniel drained his coffee cup and set it on the coffee table. “You ready?”
Nikki stood in the doorway, her coat already on. She’d been very quiet since he’d picked her and the kids up from the house for the memorial service. “That was a beautiful service.”
He swiped a quick kiss. “Yes, it was. Are you all right?”
She wiggled from his grasp, laughing, as she grabbed the door. “I’m fine. The kids are already outside. We better go and stop it. You’re making me crazy.”
“Hey, this wait-until-we-renew-our-vows strategy was your idea.” He started after her. She pulled the door open. Deborah stood on the other side, her hand up as if she’d been about to grab the knob.
They stared at each other. Nicole spoke first. “Detective Smith, how are you doing?”
Nicole moved aside and Deborah brushed past her. She came within inches of Daniel, but didn’t make eye contact. “I wanted to say good-bye to everybody. I have to get back to town.”
Daniel started to reach for her, make her stop. He let his hand drop. Neither woman would appreciate that approach. “What’s the hurry? Maddy made hot chocolate and cookies.”
Deborah didn’t respond. She started down the hallway with an exaggerated saunter that belied the rigid set of her shoulders. Daniel glanced at Nicole. She nodded, her face encouraging. “Go. I’ll get the kids together and wait in the car.”
He turned toward the hallway. “Deborah, wait.”
She kept walking. “Deborah, stop! Now!”
She glanced back at him. “I don’t take orders from you. What do you want?”
He matched his stride to her. “After . . . After that day in the guest bedroom, we never talked.”
“Nothing to talk about.” Her gaze traveled over his shoulder toward the now closed door. “No harm done, obviously.”
“Well, yeah, there was, at the time.” Daniel didn’t let his mind dwell on those difficult days. They were over for him. He and Nicole would renew their vows in a week—just as soon as Ray and Susana returned from their honeymoon. “But it wasn’t your fault. You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“I never said I did.” Her chin lifted. “I just woke you up, that’s all.”
“You’re acting like you feel guilty. We were friends, Deborah, I’d like for us to still be friends.”
Confusion colored her face. “How can we be friends? Nicole hates me and I . . . I . . .”
“She doesn’t hate you.” The topic had been discussed thoroughly at counseling sessions after their reconciliation. Nicole had let go of her anger. Daniel was still working through his regarding Joshua. “She realizes you were just waking me up.”
“She’s not stupid. She knows it was more than that.”
Not for Daniel. It had never been more than that. “Nicole knows I love her. And that’s what counts. And for you, Deborah, it was a reaching out. That’s a big thing for you. You don’t reach out to very many people. You trusted me enough to care about me. That’s a very special thing—a gift. I just wanted to thank you.”
