“Jonas is in the living room?”
“Yes, Tyler is with him. He’s been waiting a long time for his daddy to come home, poor baby.” She set Madison to the floor and the little girl immediately spun around and stretched both hands toward the out-of-reach counter.
“Gotta get my phone!” she singsonged, while her aunt produced the plastic pink cell phone from the collection of stuff on the counter. “There you go, sweetie. Dani, you look tired. Are you feeling a little worse for wear?”
“And a little short of time. Know where I can buy a few more hours to add to the day?”
“I wish I did, believe me. I’d be the first one in line.” Katherine wrapped her in a hug. “You’ve been going hard all day, which is what I figured. That’s why I brought dinner. It’s a little earlier than your normal suppertime, but I thought you’d be too tired to fix a meal.”
“Could you be more wonderful?” Danielle thought of all that her sister had done for her, and not only Katherine, but her entire family—her brother and sisters and her parents, not to mention her church family. “Like you don’t have enough to do?”
“My Jack wasn’t hurt in the line of duty.”
“Thank God for that.” Danielle prayed for her brother-in-law every day. Katherine’s husband was also a state trooper; Jonas had helped his childhood friend Jack get his job when he moved to Montana last year.
Such violence, like the kind that touched their family, wasn’t common in this part of Montana, but no place was immune, it seemed. The silver lining in this dark time was seeing for sure there was much more good in the world—in people—than bad. “Kath, thanks for taking the kids and for thinking to pick up dinner. For everything.”
“No problem. I wish I would have had the time to make you a real dinner, but there’s a youth group basketball game tonight. Jack stayed behind to help Hayden get ready.”
Danielle adored her sister’s stepdaughter. Hayden was thriving, active in their church and excelling at school, which was done for the summer. “She’s starting tonight?”
“Talk about excited. She’s worked so hard. I know she’s going to do well tonight as a starter.”
“Then you don’t want to miss the tip-off. You’d better be going.” Danielle laid her hand gently on her little princess’s small shoulder. Madison, chatting away, grinned up at her and kept prattling. “What time’s the game?”
“Not to worry.” Katherine swirled to the sink and turned on the tap. “I’ve got a little bit of time before I have to leave. I might as well make myself useful here. Why don’t you take your little one in to see her daddy, sit down and spend time with your family? Your whole family. Together.”
“I know. It’s almost unbelievable. I’ve been praying for this for so long, I can’t believe it’s finally here.”
“It puts a different meaning to the word blessings, doesn’t it?”
The four of them together in the same house. Danielle’s throat ached with gratitude. How very easily this moment could have never happened.
Katherine washed her hands and reached for a towel. “Oh, I can hear Tyler.”
They both strained to listen to the little boy in the neighboring room, his voice clear and sweet. “Daddy, that’s the picture where you hit your knee when you was climbin’ up the steps, and you hopped around. Your whole foot tingled so Mom had to drive until we saw the moose.”
“You remember all that?” Jonas asked in his resonant baritone.
“Yep. I remember lotza stuff. I got lotza brains.”
Danielle put her hand over her mouth to hold in the giggle.
“Go on.” Katherine’s eyes were sparkling with mirth as she dried her hands. “Get back to your husband. I’ve got it covered here.”
“I owe you. Expect retaliation when you least expect it.”
“Oh, that would be wonderful. You know how I love your lasagna.”
“I know.” One evening soon, she’d make sure to pay back Katherine for her thoughtfulness tonight, but it couldn’t be enough. Nothing could be. It had been twelve long months that her entire family had been rallying around her and pitching in with the housework and the child care. As much as she appreciated it—and she did very much—the weight of the guilt over inconveniencing them choked her. It was time to start paying back.
She put her hand on her daughter’s soft downy head and gently turned her in the direction of the living room. They went a few paces before Madison suddenly stopped chatting, wrapped one arm around Danielle’s knee and dug in her heels.
Strange. Danielle knew that the little girl hadn’t seen Jonas since their brief trip to Seattle for Christmas. “C’mon, baby, let’s go see your daddy.”
“No.” Madison dropped her phone and buried her face in her hands.
Danielle knelt down—which was awkward since Madison still had one arm tightly around her knee—and realized Jonas was watching them from the couch. Tyler was camped down beside his dad on the cushion, his feet tucked beneath him, shoes and all.
“C’mon, Madison!” Tyler called out. “Mom made the fudge cookies.”
“Fudge cookies?” Madison spread two chubby fingers to peer out and verify the truth of her big brother’s claim.
And right before supper, too, Danielle thought. “Only one, both of you, or you’ll spoil your dinner.”
It was tough being the mom, because she had to face Tyler’s groan and Madison’s gasp of distress at such news. She gently nudged her daughter forward a step. “Go on, sweetie. Tyler has a cookie for you.”
“No.” Madison removed one hand from her face, held up two fingers, reconsidered, and held up three, which meant she wanted three cookies. Her adorable little chin jutted.
Danielle knew that look. Ah, the terrible twos were such a joy. She took a breath and gathered her courage for the impending battle—knowing she’d come out unpopular in the end—and then she felt Katherine’s hand on her shoulder.
“She reminds me of someone,” Katherine said innocently. “Who could it be?”
“Not me.” Danielle started to laugh, even as she denied it. “I’m not stubborn and never have been.”
“No, not you,” Katherine agreed, laughing, as she opened the refrigerator door.
Yep, her mother had warned her this day would come. She figured the best way to deal with having a daughter just like herself was to embrace it. She unwrapped Madison from her knee. “It’s too bad you don’t want a cookie.”
“No! No! Bring me some!”
Danielle sighed and turned her back, unable to ignore the fact that her sister was silently laughing as she gathered condiments from the refrigerator.
“Just you wait,” she told Katherine
