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“Unfortunately I do remember. What an entrance.” She tilted her head back to rest it as she studied him.
Her eyes were a deep, vivid green. Their shadowed intensity reminded David of the Amazon forest—he’d once taken a trip there with Wade and their friend Jared. Before his world had become consumed by responsibility.
“My name is David Foster,” he said. “This is my sister, Darla.”
“I’m Susannah Wells. So this isn’t Connie Ladden’s home?” She looked defeated.
“Oh, yes. Connie and Wade Abbot live here,” he assured her.
“They’re having a party,” Darla butted in. She frowned. “Did you come for the party? You don’t have a party dress on. You’re not supposed to come to a party if you don’t dress nice,” she chided.
“Darla.” David frowned at her.
“She’s only saying the truth. You’re not supposed to show up at a party dressed as I am.” Susannah smiled at him tentatively then turned to Darla. “But I didn’t know it was a party, you see. Anyway, I don’t have party dresses.”
“Not even one?” Clearly this mystified Darla. “I have lots.”
“Lucky you.” Susannah frowned. “Maybe I should leave and come back tomorrow.”
“You can’t.” Darla flopped down beside her.
Susannah blinked. “Why can’t I?”
“’Cause you don’t have any place to go. Do you?” Darla asked.
David tried to intervene but Susannah merely waved her hand at him to wait.
“How do you know that, Darla?” she asked, brows lowering.
“I’m a detective today.”
“Oh.” The visitor glanced at him, her confusion evident.
David shrugged but didn’t speak.
“I’m Detective Darla Foster. You don’t have any suitcases. All you have is a backpack.” Darla trailed one finger over the frayed embroidery work on the bag. “If you had a hotel, you would go there and wash first. But you came here dirty. I washed your face.” She lifted the wet washcloth off the floor and held it out to show the grime. “See?”
A ruby flush moved from the V of Susannah’s neck up to her chin and over her thin cheeks.
“There was a wind,” she muttered, avoiding David’s gaze. “It was so dusty.”
“It’s none of our business,” he assured her hastily, giving Darla a warning look. “Except that I don’t think you’re well. Should I call a doctor?”
“You actually know doctors who make house calls?” Her big eyes expressed incredulity.
“Dr. Boo came to my house. She asks too many questions.” Darla’s bottom lip jutted out. “Detectives don’t like Dr. Boo.”
“Dr. Boone,” David clarified, interpreting Susannah’s stare as a query. “Actually she’s here. Shall I call her?”
“No.” The word came out fast. Susannah donned a quick smile to cover. “I’m not very good with doctors. I’ll be fine. I think I caught a little cold, that’s all. But they never hang around for long.”
“You’re shivering.” David didn’t miss the way she hugged the coverlet around her shoulders as if craving warmth, or the way her stomach issued a noisy rumble. “And hungry, by the sounds of it. Shall I go get Connie?”
“Oh, please, I don’t want to disturb her party.” Susannah shook her head. “Can’t I just stay here quietly until everyone’s gone?”
“You don’t want to go to the party?” Darla frowned, then grinned. “Me, neither,” she declared. She patted Susannah’s arm. “Let’s have our own party. Davy, you get Silver,” she ordered.
“Silver?” Susannah looked horrified. “I don’t want money!’
“Silver is Wade’s daughter.” Darla giggled. “She’s nice.”
“I think Connie took Silver up to bed a while ago.” David held his breath, wondering if that would engender another explosion.
And that was exactly his problem. He worried too much about Darla’s temper and not enough about insisting she modify her behavior. But it was so hard to be firm with her. She was his baby sister. She’d lost so much since the accident. All he wanted was to make her world easier, to see her happy.
Still, it was his job to take care of her, no matter what. Which meant that tomorrow David would start scouting the agencies—again—to find someone to be with his sister when he couldn’t be.
Lowered voices drew him back to the present. Two heads, one dark, one blond, bent together as his sister laid out her plans for their impromptu party.
“Darla?” David waited until she lifted her head and smiled her dazzling smile at him. “I’m going to find something for Susannah to eat. Will you stay here?” He emphasized the word so she’d understand she wasn’t to leave the study.
“Okay.” Darla tore a piece of paper off the pad by the telephone and began scribbling. “Here’s our order, Davy. Crackers and cheese and soup. Chicken soup. Eighty-six percent of doctors say chicken soup is an effective aid in treating cold and flu.”
Darla had a knack for reciting television commercials verbatim.
“Cold and flu—is that what I have?” Susannah asked, tongue in cheek. “How do you know?”
“I’m a nurse. We just know.” Darla pulled the cover tighter around her patient’s shoulders.
David hid his smile at Susannah’s surprise.
“I thought you were a detective,” he said.
“Not anymore.” Darla glared at him. “Food, Davy. This child is starving,” she said in her bossy grandmother voice.
“Yes, ma’am.” He choked back his laughter. Darla had always been able to make him laugh. He headed for the door. “I’ll be right back.” He thought he heard a giggle from the blond woman before he closed the door, but it was quickly smothered.
David went searching for Connie and caught her between guests.
“There’s a woman in the study, a Susannah Wells,” he began, but got no further.
“Really? Suze? How wonderful.” Connie beamed with happiness. It faded a little as she glanced around the room. “We’re about to eat dinner. I can’t leave right now.” She thought a moment. “Bring her to the table, will you, David? I’ll get another place set.”
Before Connie could continue, David stopped her.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” he said softly. “I don’t think she’s well. She fainted when I opened the door and she’s been shivering ever since.”
“Oh, dear.” Connie looked distracted. “Cora just gave me the nod. I need to get everyone seated.”
“Then go ahead. Darla and I will keep Ms. Susannah entertained until you’re free.” David smiled at her. “Don’t worry. Darla has everything under control. She’s a nurse.”
“Ah.” Connie grinned in understanding and stood on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek. “What would we do without Darla, David?”
“I don’t know,” he answered her, perfectly serious. “Go enjoy dinner and don’t worry about your friend. I’ll look after her.”
“You always look after everyone.” Connie touched his cheek. “Thank you for all you do for us. You’re a dear.”
David watched her hurry away. He couldn’t help but envy Connie. She and Wade shared the kind of home he’d always wanted—one filled with love and joy, hope and the laughter of friends and family. But he shook himself out of it. Having a family was a dream he’d given up.
For Darla.
He escaped to the kitchen. A whisper of concern that Darla might cause problems lingered at the back of his mind as he hurriedly filled a tray and carried it to the study. He hadn’t gotten what she’d asked for, but she would have to manage. He pushed open the study door—and froze.
“You could marry Davy. He would look after you. He looks after me.” Darla’s bright voice dropped. “He had a girlfriend. They were going to get married, but she didn’t want me. She wanted Davy to send me away.”
David almost groaned. How had she found out? He’d been so careful—
“I’m sure your brother is very nice, Darla. And I’m glad he’s taking care of you. But I don’t want to marry him. I don’t want to marry anyone,” Susannah said. “I only came to Connie’s to see if I could stay here for a while.”
“But Davy needs someone to love him. Somebody else but me.” Darla’s face crumpled, the way it always did before she lost her temper. David was about to step forward when Susannah reached out and hugged his sister.
“Thank you for offering, Darla. You’re very generous. I think your brother is lucky to have you love him.” Susannah brushed the bangs from Darla’s sad face. “If I end up staying with Connie, I promise I’ll see you lots. We could go to that playground you talked about—” Susannah suddenly lurched up from the sofa and stumbled toward the bathroom. The door slammed closed.
“What’s wrong?” Darla jumped to her feet. She saw him and rushed over. “What’s wrong with her, Davy? Did I do something?”
“No, sweetie. You didn’t do anything.” He set the tray on a nearby table, then hugged Darla close. “I told you. She’s sick.”
“But I don’t want Susannah to be sick. I want us to be friends and do things together.” Tears welled in Darla’s brown eyes. “Susannah doesn’t think I’m dumb. She talks to me like you do, Davy.”
David could hardly stand the plaintive tone in his sister’s voice. But he dared not promise Darla anything. Not until he’d learned a lot more about Susannah Wells.
As he hugged Darla, the sounds of retching penetrated the silence. Susannah sounded really ill. Maybe he should have ignored her wishes and called the doctor in anyway.
“Davy?” Darla peered up at him, her eyes glossy from tears. “Do you think she’s going to die like Mama and Papa?”
“No, honey. Susannah’s just sick. But she’ll get better.” He squeezed her shoulders, wishing he could make everything right with Darla’s world.
A moment later the bathroom door opened and Susannah emerged, paler than before, if that was even possible. She sat on the sofa gingerly, as if afraid she’d jar something loose.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I shouldn’t have come.”
“Of course you should have come.” Connie breezed into the room and wrapped Susannah in her arms. “I’m so glad to see you, Suze. But you’re ill.” She leaned back to study the circles of red now dotting Susannah’s cheeks. “I’ll call the doctor.”
“No.”
David noted Susannah’s quick intake of breath, the way she vehemently shook her head as her fingers clenched the sofa cushion. He wondered again why she was so nervous.
“But honey, you’re obviously unwell. Maybe you have a virus.”
Susannah began to laugh, but tears soon fell and the laughter turned to sobs. “I don’t have a virus, Connie.” She risked a quick look at David.
He understood immediately. He grasped Darla’s hand.
“We’ll leave you two alone.”
“No!” Darla jerked away from him and sat down beside Susannah. “I want to help my friend. Can I help you?” she asked quietly, sliding her fingers into Susannah’s.
David had never seen his sister bond with anyone like this. He prayed Susannah wouldn’t reject her offer of friendship.
“You already have helped me, Darla.” Susannah smiled. “You looked after me and helped me the way a very good friend would, even though I hardly know you.”
“I know you,” Darla insisted. “You’re Sleeping Beauty.”
“I’m not really.” Susannah caressed Darla’s cheek. She glanced at him, then Connie. “I’m just an idiot who’s made another huge mistake.”
“Davy says everybody makes mistakes. He said that’s how we learn.” Darla faced Connie. “I made a mistake and broke your lamp. I’m sorry.”
“That’s okay, honey. You and I will go shopping for a new one.” Connie smiled her forgiveness, then turned back to Susannah. “Can you tell me what’s wrong, Suze? Because you’re very pale and I still think you need to see a doctor.”
“I’ve already seen one.” The blond head dipped. “I know what’s wrong with me.”
“Tell me and we’ll do whatever it takes to get you well,” Connie promised.
“If only it were that easy,” Susannah whispered.
“There’s me and Davy and Connie and Wade and Silver. That’s lots of people to help.” Darla twisted, trying to peer into Susannah’s face. “We can all help you. That’s what friends do.”
David had to smile at the certainty in his sister’s voice. But his smile quickly died.
“I’m pregnant.” The words burst out of Susannah in a rush. Then she lifted her head and looked him straight in the eye, as if awaiting his condemnation.
But it wasn’t condemnation David felt. It was hurt. He’d prayed so long, so hard, for a family, a wife, a child. And he’d lost all chance of that—not once, but twice.
How could God deny him the longing of his heart, yet give this homeless, ill woman a child she was in no way prepared to care for?
“Come on, Darla,” he said. “We’re going home now. Connie and Susannah need to talk. Alone.”
Darla must have heard intransigence in his voice because she didn’t argue. She leaned over and kissed both women on the cheek, whispered something to Susannah, then placidly followed him from the room. She walked home beside him in silence, peeking at him from time to time. It was only when they’d stepped through the front door that Darla finally spoke.
“I know what it means, Davy. Susannah’s going to have a baby.”
“Yes.” He felt horrible about his attitude, but he just didn’t want to get involved with Connie’s friend. He had enough responsibility with Darla. He couldn’t—wouldn’t—take on any more.
“Is it hard to have a baby?” she asked.
“Yes. I guess so.”
“Then we have to help Susannah, don’t we? That’s what the Bible says.” Darla took his hand and held it between hers. “She’s my friend, and I want to help her.”
