Read Online Abound in Love by Rosemarie Naramore - Free Book Online

nodded.  He followed
by gesturing to the patrol car.  They watched Kenny shuffle to the car and
slide into the passenger seat.
    Dan
turned and walked toward the house.  When he reached the steps, he immediately
spotted Thomas and Laura.
    “Dan,
I’m…” Thomas began.
    He only
shook his head and gave a dismissive wave.  “Please.  No.  You didn’t do
anything wrong, Thomas.  Even Kenny told me that.  He knows his mother and I
have relied on you too much.”
    “Hey,
no, that’s not it at all,” Thomas assured him, but sighed.  “Dan, you know I
love those kids.  I really do.  I’m just worried about Candace.  I’m worried
about…”
    “Macy,”
Dan said knowingly.  “And you should be.  You didn’t sign on to fix my and
Candace’s problems.  I want you to know I appreciate everything you’ve done for
us, and I’m sorry we’ve taken advantage of you.”
    “You
haven’t,” Thomas assured him.
    Dan
gave a humorless laugh.  “Oh, yes, we have.  It’s just…”  He ran a hand through
his short blond hair.  “I just don’t trust anyone else with the kids.  I’m not
accustomed to Candace…”  He sighed and stared at the ground.  He finally shook
his head and glanced up, and appeared to spot Laura for the first time. 
“Laura…”  His mouth tugged into a smile.  “Wow, is it really you?”
    She
smiled in return, and when he opened his arms to her, she stepped into them for
a brief hug from her brother-in-law.  “It’s good to see you, Dan.”
    “You’re
looking well,” he told her, and snared Thomas’ gaze.  “Certainly better than
the rest of us.  I guess you’ve heard, we’re falling apart at the seams around
here.”
    She
gave him a sad smile.  “I wish there was something I could do.  If…”  She
sighed.  “If there’s anything— anything —I can do, please let me know.”
    He
smiled softly, his sad eyes twinkling briefly.  “If anybody can figure out this
mess, it’s you.  Candace may even listen to you.”
    Laura
was taken aback by the remark.  She had no idea what he meant by it.  How could
she do anything to fix his marital woes?  Candace certainly wasn’t going to
listen to her?  She never had before.  Why would she start now?
    “Well,
anyway,” Dan said, “I’m taking the evening off.  The kids are going to stay
with me tonight.  They’re going to forget what I look like if I don’t spend
more time with them.”
    “Do you
want me to drop them by your place?” Thomas asked, indicating the patrol car
with a nod.
    “Naw,
I’ve cleared it with my sergeant,” Dan said.  “He gave me permission to pick
them up.”
    “Okay,
well, I’ll go and get Krissy.  I think she’s upstairs.”  He glanced at Laura
for confirmation.
    She
nodded.  “She’s doing homework.”
    He left
them to retrieve her.  Dan watched Laura with imploring eyes.  “Laura, will you
talk to her?  Please?”
    She was
uncertain what he meant initially.  “You mean, Candace?”
    He
nodded.  “She won’t talk to anyone else.  Maybe she will talk to you.”
    “Dan,
I’m probably the last person Candace is going to confide in.”
    “That’s
not true” he said adamantly, shaking his head.  “Before she…  Well, she talked
about you all the time.  She was desperate to see you—to make amends.  She
always said…”  He sighed.  “She said you were a ‘better’ person than her, and
that, if she had known ‘then’ what she knew ‘now,’ she would have done things
so differently.  She said she wished she could get on a plane, so she could
talk to you…”
    “Why
didn’t she?” Laura cut in.  “Get on a plane, that is.”  Suddenly, the old hurts
came to the forefront.  Candace could have apologized at any time over the
years.  She could have gotten on a plane.  She could have picked
up a phone.  She could have apologized.
    It was
as if Dan read her mind.  “She wanted to,” he told her.  “She wanted to more
than