21. Dulcie
DULCIE
D ulcie paced the snowy sidewalk beside Little Bear Lake. She had no idea when the next bus would leave Sugarville Grove for Burlington, but she hoped it would be soon, before anyone realized she had gone.
The wind picked up off the lake, sliding icy fingers into her thin jacket.
She couldn’t help thinking longingly about the warm coat West had bought her.
But it was folded neatly on his guest room bed, along with the other clothing and the pay he had given her.
She had even replaced the amount she spent on the princess doll.
Elizabeth’s Christmas gift…
She had known it would be wrong to take a single thing he had given her—not the clothing, and not the pay either. But she could never give back the love she felt for the man and his family.
This whole time, she had been fooling herself that the truth wouldn’t come out, but it always did. And a good man like West deserved to know the truth. Now that he did, she knew better than to imagine that he would want her around. She’d heard his reaction when he found out over the phone.
Kidnapping.
His voice had gone low with disbelief around the word. It would echo in her mind forever.
As much as she’d tried to ignore it, part of her had always known that if he ever learned the truth she would lose the safe, sweet home she had longed for. Dulcie was heartbroken, just like she knew she would be.
But she hadn’t really thought about what it would do to West. The man was practically a saint. Had she hardened his heart when she broke his trust? If so, then she hadn’t just done him a disservice, she had muddied the waters for any worthy person in need who crossed his path after her.
He’ll never trust again…
Another blast of icy wind swirled up off the lake and she nuzzled her face into the shimmery princess scarf that was the one thing she couldn’t bear to leave behind—a reminder of the little girl who had stolen her heart.
I’m so sorry, Elizabeth.
The sound of footsteps crunching on the snow drew her attention, and she hoped it was someone else coming for the bus. That would mean she didn’t have much longer to wait.
But when she turned, it was West Lawrence who was striding toward her, a fierce expression on his handsome face.
“West?” she whispered, wondering if she had conjured him with her imagination .
“Thank God you’re still here,” the big man said, his voice rough with emotion.
Suddenly she was weeping, hot tears sliding down her icy cheeks.
“Don’t cry,” he murmured, pulling her close. “Please don’t cry.”
It felt so good to be wrapped in his arms, and she wondered again if she was dreaming.
“I’m s-so s-sorry,” she sobbed.
“Let’s get you warm,” he murmured into her hair. “Come on.”
He took her hand firmly, as if he were afraid that she was going to try and run away.
Dulcie let herself be led back down Moose Avenue. The lights of the shops around the park twinkled ahead of them and the snow seemed to be falling more gently now that West was here.
She stole a glance up at him, but his jaw was set, and she knew he wasn’t just glad to see her. He was angry, too.
By the time they got to his truck, she had caught her breath a little and resolved that she would tell him everything. Their friendship would probably end tonight, but at least they would both have closure.
West opened the passenger door and helped her up, before heading to the driver’s side. Once he was in, he turned on the truck. The engine rumbled to life and cold air poured out of the vents.
She pulled her jacket more closely around herself.
“It will warm up in a minute,” West told her, peeling off his coat and placing it over her like a blanket, warming her with the body heat that still clung to the fabric…
Tears prickled her eyes again.
“Dulcie, why did you run?” he asked gently.
“I heard you on the phone,” she admitted.
He nodded slowly. The word was probably echoing in his mind too.
“Is it true?” he asked after a moment.
“Yes,” she said, looking down at her hands.
“And you stole the car?” he asked.
“I left it here for you,” she said, looking back up at him. “I knew you’d find it. But I’m really sorry that I scared you.”
“Not my truck,” he said. “I mean the car you came here in.”
“Who said that I stole it?” she asked.
“Joe Fournier got a call from the police,” West said. “They told him someone had reported that car stolen. Joe told them that he had no idea who it was, because the person who brought it in had left on the next bus out of town.”
“Why?” Dulcie asked, completely gobsmacked.
“Because he likes you, Dulcie,” West said, sounding frustrated. “Everyone likes you. Why couldn’t you have told us what’s going on? We would have given you the benefit of the doubt. We would have helped you.”
She was too stunned to speak. This wasn’t how West was supposed to react. This wasn’t how any of this was supposed to go. But the man just sat silently in the driver’s seat, waiting for her to explain.
“The car is mine,” she managed at last, figuring she might as well begin at the beginning. “My mom gave it to me before she passed. But I didn’t really know how to change the title, or have the money to do it anyway. So it’s still in her name.”
“I’m sorry you lost your mom,” West said. He sounded like he meant it, instead of just spouting empty words like people usually did. “Who would have said the car was stolen?”
“My father,” she sighed.
There were so many things in her past that made Dulcie feel ashamed. And she hated the idea of sullying the perfect world of Sugarville Grove by sharing them.
But West was still waiting, looking like he would sit patiently behind the wheel of the truck until grass grew over the hood.
“He was never really… hands-on with Delphine and me,” she said at last. “But when Mom died, he just lost his reason to care. He started drinking more, and he barely went to work.”
West nodded, his eyes on the snow falling on the windshield, as if he knew she needed space to go on.
“I don’t know what I would have done if not for Delphine,” she went on. “Things were really hard, but I always knew I had to keep going and do whatever it took to take care of my baby sister. She’s my whole world.”
West nodded.
“She was only ten when I turned eighteen,” Dulcie went on. “But I managed to find a job at a grocery store, and a room to rent. It wasn’t much, but it was ours.”
Tears threatened again and she swallowed them down. She wanted to tell the story, needed West to know everything.
“But my dad wanted me to come back and live at home,” she said after a moment. “He just wanted my pay. He didn’t really care about us. When I refused, he called the police and said I had kidnapped my sister.”
“Oh, Dulcie,” West said softly.
“They brought me in to the station, but the chief knew the owner of the grocery store where I was working,” she said. “He understood the situation and they agreed to let me go if I didn’t try to take Delphine again without formal custody.”
“That’s good,” West said, nodding.
“But my dad will never give up custody,” Dulcie said.
“And I knew she wasn’t really okay there.
So, I went to a social worker, and she told me that unless I had a real place to live, with a lease and a separate bedroom for my sister, there was no point trying to take her from him.
And I definitely couldn’t afford all that. ”
West winced and nodded again.
“You found the money?” she asked.
“I wondered why you said you didn’t have money for anything,” he admitted.
“I don’t,” she said simply. “None of that is my money. It’s Delphine’s, to get her someplace safe. I would have been happy to sleep off a concussion on the floor of the shop rather than spend a penny of it.”
“I understand now,” West said.
His dark eyes met hers and she realized that he did. He really did.
“This winter, they had to reduce my hours at the grocery store,” she told him.
“The owner’s daughter was coming home from college on break and wanted to work.
So, I came up here, hoping I could earn more faster with some seasonal work.
My grandfather was up here for the winter a long time ago, and he said there was plenty of work and that the people were good… ”
Suddenly the tears were threatening again. West grabbed her hand and squeezed it, but he didn’t speak.
“So, I took the car and drove up here,” she said. “My dad lost his license a million years ago. And it was always supposed to be mine when I turned sixteen anyway. I’m surprised he even noticed it was gone.”
“How did he know you were here?” West asked.
Shame clenched her heart like a fist, and she looked down at her hands.
“I’m not positive,” she said. “But I’m pretty sure it’s my fault.
I got my sister a cheap phone when I left.
I text her sometimes, when I miss her. She never texts back, so I thought my dad had probably found the phone and sold it, but I guess he hung onto it.
I sent her a picture of the park the day of the tree lighting.
He probably figured it out from the signs in the photo. ”
West nodded, nothing but empathy in his dark eyes.
After the past week, Dulcie knew she should be getting used to having a man in her life who didn’t berate her or call her stupid for making mistakes. But his kindness just twisted up her insides all over again.
“Is that everything?” he asked after a moment.
She thought back over the ugly years since Mom died, the awful words her father launched at her, the sight of Delphine, small and frightened, the hunger, the fury, the helplessness she’d felt, and the odd jobs she’d taken to put food in their bellies before Cal at the grocery store took pity on her and gave her a real job.
She thought about the loneliness and despair that had consumed her since leaving Delphine, even though she’d known deep down that she would have to leave for a while to have any real chance of getting them both out.
And she thought about the hope she’d harbored until tonight, that somehow she could bring her sister here, to a place where hunger and heartbreak could never touch them again.
“Yes,” she told him. “That’s all.”
West nodded, his eyes meeting hers. His jaw was tight again, and she waited for him to scream at her.
“We’re going to get your sister out of there,” he said instead, his voice calm and certain.
“Wh-what?” she asked.
“I know a good attorney. We’ll go see him in the morning,” West said. “And we’ll ask him about getting that arrest off your record, too.”
“Why would you do this?” she heard herself ask, her voice almost breathless with disbelief.
“Because you’re our princess,” West said simply. “You can’t leave. It’s Elizabeth’s Christmas wish.”
I want my princess to keep forever…
“She meant the doll,” Dulcie heard herself say.
“No,” West said. “I don’t think she did. Besides, some generous person already got her that doll.”
“It was the least I could do,” she told him.
“The least you could have done was to drive on through this town like you planned, and leave us the way we were,” he said.
“You didn’t have to help Elizabeth relax and have fun.
You didn’t have to make my parents smile.
You didn’t have to participate in our town activities, and fill the house up with fun and laughter.
You didn’t have to wake up something inside me that I thought was lost.”
She opened her mouth to ask what he meant, but then closed it again.
“And now?” West went on. “Well, can you imagine how excited Elizabeth is going to be when she hears there are going to be two princesses in Sugarville Grove this Christmas?”
“You barely know me,” Dulcie whispered, desperate to believe him, but determined to guard her heart against what sounded too good to be true. “She’s never even met Delphine.”
“She loves you,” West said simply. “And this is where you belong. It’s your home.”
Home…
Dulcie smiled up at West, trying to remember the last time that word made her happy.