nodded.
âHow do you know that?â
âI asked him. The poor manâs been divorced twice. Twice, can you imagine?â
Chase shot a look at Annie. âNo,â he said tightly, âI certainly canât.â
âDonât look at me that way,â Annie snapped. The teakettle let out a piercing whistle and she snatched it from the stove. âWhat has the manâs marital history to do with anything?â
âA minister who canât keep his wedding ring on ought to consider going into some other kind of work,â Chase growled.
âNo,â Dawn said, âheâs in the right kind of work, Daddy. Heâs a reminder of reality.â She sighed again. âI just wish Iâd been smart enough to realize all this before today instead of being so darned dumb.â
âSweetheart, stop saying that.â Nick clasped her shoulders. âYou were smart to fall in love with me, smarter still to marry me.â He shot an accusatory look at Chase and Annie. âAs for thinking you saw your folks kissing when we turned on the lightâyou were right.â
Dawnâs head came up. âI was?â
âAbsolutely. I saw them, too.â
âNo,â Annie said.
âWe werenât,â Chase added.
âNot at all,â Annie argued, waving her hand in her exâs direction. âDawn, your father already explained what happened. I was upset. He was trying to comfort me.â
âYou see, Nicky?â Dawnâs eyes filled with tears. âThey werenât kissing. Oh, how I wish they had been.â
Annie frowned. âYou do?â
âOf course.â Dawn snuffled and wiped the back of her hand across her nose. Annie and Chase both reached for the paper towels, but Nick pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and handed it to his wife, who blew into it. âSee, when I saw you in Daddyâs arms, well, when I thought I saw you in his arms, it was such a big thing that I felt happy for the first time since Nick and I got to the airport. I figured, just for a second, I admit, but still, I figured...â
âYou figured what?â Annie said, softly, even though she already knew, even though it broke her heart to think that her daughter still harbored such useless dreams, such futile hopes. She went to Dawnâs side, looped her arm around her shoulders and kissed the top of her head. âWhat, darling?â
Dawn took a shuddering breath. âI figured that a miracle had occurred today,â she whispered, âthat you and Daddy had finally realized what a mistake youâd made in splitting up and that you still loved each other.â
There was a pained silence. Then a soft sob burst from Annieâs throat.
âOh, Dawn. Darling, if it were only that simple!â
âYou canât judge the future of your marriage by the failure of ours,â Chase said gruffly. âSweetie, if you and Nick love each otherââ
âWhat does that prove? You and Mom loved each other, once.â
âWell, sure. Of course we did, butââ
âAnd then you fell out of love, like everybody else.â
âNot everybody, sweetie. Thatâs an awfully broad stateââ
âIt must have been awful, knowing youâd loved each other and then having things fall apart.â
Chase looked at Annie. Help me with this, his eyes flashed, but she knew she had no more answers now than sheâd had five years ago.
âWell,â he said carefully, âyes, yes, it wasnât pleasant. But that doesnât meanââ
âYou guys did your best to keep me out of it, but I wasnât a baby. I used to hear Mom crying. And I saw how red your eyes were sometimes, Daddy.â
Nick got to his feet and stepped back as Chase reached for his daughterâs hand.
âWe never meant to hurt you, Dawn. Weâd have done anything to keep from hurting you.â
âYou donât
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