Chapter 10 Dalton #2
“Nice to meet you,” Dalton said politely.
But Lori was already hurrying his way and pulling him into an embrace.
“Hope you don’t mind,” she said, pulling back with a smile. “We’re huggers.”
“Not at all,” Dalton replied, hoping that she hadn’t picked up on him freezing up when she hugged him.
If she had, she didn’t seem to be dwelling on it. Lori’s attention was already on the platter of vegetables.
“Oh, these look amazing,” she sighed happily. “I love bell peppers.”
“Are we making dip to go with those, Dalton?” Dan asked, wandering over to thrust out his hand.
Dalton put down his knife and shook the other man’s hand.
“We sure are,” Mary said, hurrying over with a container of sour cream and a little packet.
“Classic,” Dan said, nodding. “May I?”
“Of course,” Mary told him.
“What’s that?” Dalton asked.
Everyone looked over at him like he’d grown a second head.
“You stir onion soup mix into sour cream to make dip,” Ella said with a smile. “We like to say it’s a poor man’s sour cream and onion dip.”
“I don’t say that,” Michael said with a satisfied smile. “I’ll bet it’s much better than that store-bought stuff.”
“The store-bought stuff is sour cream with onion soup mix stirred in,” Mary said. “Practically. You can’t taste the difference.”
“Well, we’re never going to find out, are we?” Ella said, chuckling. “This stuff is a family tradition.”
“Your family never made it before, Dalton?” Dan asked, his tone light and friendly.
But Dalton had the familiar feeling of being a fish out of water. It was clear that normal people with normal families probably made that dip all the time, and once again he was out of place.
“I’ll bet they’re dill dip people,” Lori said, turning to Dalton with her brows lifted, as if she was excited for him to say she was right. “Aren’t you?”
“Guilty as charged,” Dalton fibbed, not having the heart to disappoint her, and honestly grateful for the out.
“I knew it,” she said happily. “Want me to whip some up?”
“No way,” he told her, touched that she would go so far for someone she had just met. “I’ll enjoy the sour cream and onion.”
“When in Rome, eh?” Dan said, slapping Dalton lightly on the back.
“How was the traffic, kids?” Michael asked. “You made good time. Did you take the turnpike?”
“Oh, it’s a holiday, so Dan took it nice and easy,” Lori said, rolling her eyes, but smiling so everyone would know she was only teasing.
“Slow and steady wins the race,” Dan said, unconcerned about his wife’s teasing.
“Right you are,” Mary told him. “We’d rather have you here in one piece.”
“And you were early anyway,” Michael said. “We’re glad to get a little extra time with you.”
“Us too,” Lori told her. “And it smells amazing in here. Oh, shoot. We left the pecan pie in the car.”
“You brought a pie?” Dove’s awed voice came from the kitchen doorway.
A second later, two more kids appeared, flanking her. The boy had dark hair like his dad’s and the girl was a strawberry-blonde, like her mother.
“Hope that’s okay,” Lori said, turning to Mary. “I got the recipe from a neighbor, but you all can just put it in the freezer to enjoy another time.”
“We have four pies,” Dove yelled triumphantly and throwing her hands in the air.
The other two kids followed her lead, and all three began marching around repeating four pies, four pies.
“As you can see, we’re delighted,” Ella told her cousin, wrapping an arm around her shoulder.
“I’ll just head out and get it,” Dan offered.
The kids scampered after him and Dalton had to chuckle at the sight.
“It’s a special day when you get to be with your cousins,” Ella said fondly.
“And eat four pies,” her mother added. “Though with this lovely dinner, I don’t see how anyone will have room.”
“That’s a good problem,” Michael told his wife with a warm smile.
“There’s always room for dessert,” Lori said at the same time.
They all laughed and talked and bustled around the kitchen, and Dalton realized that although this wasn’t really like a television Thanksgiving, it was even nicer.
Everyone was dressed warmly and comfortably, they were all getting along, and there seemed to be no big expectations—just anticipation for a shared meal together.
A moment later he heard the front door open as Dan and the kids thundered back into the house.
“Four pies, four pies,” three bright voices chanted.
They all marched into the kitchen behind Dan, who was carrying the foil-wrapped confection in two hands.
Still chanting, the kids rushed around the kitchen to watch him put it in the fridge.
When Danny passed the kitchen table, he accidentally knocked his father’s cell phone off the edge.
It fell to the ground with a sound that was a combination of a thump and a crack. Something was broken. That would be trouble.
Dalton put himself between the boy and his father before he even made the conscious decision to move, his heart thundering.
“What was that?” Dan asked, turning to find Dalton standing behind him.
“Oh, honey,” Lori said. “Your cell phone was right on the edge of the table.”
Little Danny crouched over it, tears in his eyes.
“It’s okay, buddy,” Dan said. “You didn’t mean to.”
“I’m s-sorry,” Danny whimpered. “I was running in the house.”
Dalton backed out of the way and Dan got down on the floor with his boy.
“I left it right on the edge of the table, didn’t I?” Dan said. “What does Mom always tell us about leaving our stuff on the edge of things?”
“They’ll fall and break,” Olivia announced.
“That’s right,” Dan said. “So this is my fault too.”
“It d-d-did break,” Danny told his dad, pushing the phone toward him on the floor.
Dan picked up the phone and looked it over.
“Well, the screen is cracked,” he said. “But it still works. Look.”
He held out the phone to his boy. The screen was cracked, but it was lit up.
“Can you fix it?” Danny asked hopefully.
“Not me,” Dan said. “But there’s a man in the city who can. He has a shop right across from my work.”
That put a tentative smile on Danny’s face again.
“Next time, I won’t put my phone on the edge of the table,” Dan said. “How about you?”
“Next time, I’ll be more careful,” Danny said right away. “And I won’t run in the house.”
“Exactly,” Dan told him, opening his arms.
Dalton watched in absolute wonder as the little boy crawled into his father’s arms and the man held him tight and kissed the top of his dark head.
“Now,” Dan said. “Who wants to admire the pies?”
That had the kids cheering again. But no one ran around this time. They all moved carefully through the crowded kitchen.
When Dalton finally took his eyes off Danny, he caught Ella gazing at him, a curious expression in her eyes.
She saw me put myself in front of the boy, he realized. She knew what I thought was going to happen.
He glanced around, but no one else seemed to have noticed that he’d reacted strangely.
When he looked back to Ella, she had turned to help her mom with the gravy.
The rest of the afternoon unfolded smoothly. The meal was completed and everyone sat down at a table that Dalton was starting to think might be in danger of collapsing under so many dishes.
Before they ate, everyone went around the table to say what they were thankful for.
“I’m thankful to share this meal with family,” Lori began.
“I’m thankful for each of you,” Dan went on.
“I’m thankful Christmas is coming,” Olivia said, her eyes wide.
There were smiles and quiet chuckling around the table at that.
“I’m thankful for my teacher, Mrs. Wiggins,” Danny said.
“I’m very thankful for extra hands to help on the farm this year,” Mary said with a warm smile for Dalton. “And for the friends and family who we hold dear.”
“I’m thankful for help in the kitchen,” Michael added. “And to have family here today.”
“I’m thankful for you, Dove,” Ella said when it was her turn.
“And I’m thankful for four pies,” Dove said.
Everyone laughed, charmed by the little girl’s joy at their dessert.
Then all eyes were on Dalton. He’d been so moved by everyone else’s statements, he’d forgotten that he would have to say what he was thankful for himself.
“I’m thankful for the Bennett family,” he said gruffly. “You all know how to celebrate. Thanks for including me.”
Everyone raised their glasses at that, and then began passing the plates of food around. Everything was delicious. Dalton had to keep reminding himself to save room for dessert.
There wasn’t a harsh word spoken about any topic.
The kids were indulged in as many helpings as they wanted, with Danny going in for fourths on the cranberry sauce, which was way better than that canned stuff, as everyone shared what they were up to.
They also seemed to take special pleasure in retelling old memories for Dalton’s benefit.
“Hope you don’t mind all this nostalgia,” Dan said to Dalton at one point.
Lori had just finished telling a story about when the kids had snuck the pony into the mudroom during a snowstorm, and it was so funny that it had everyone in tears from laughing.
“I think we all just like having a fresh audience for these old stories,” Lori said with a misty-eyed smile.
“It’s great,” Dalton said. “I love them. Tell me more.”
He tried to quiet the voice in the back of his mind that wished these were his stories too, or that he had his own to tell.
When the meal was over, he and Ella chased everyone else out so that they could do the cleanup.
“But what about dessert?” Dove asked, her eyes worried as her hands cupped her little belly tellingly, like she was super full but wanted that pie anyway.
“I think if you go and play with your cousins for a little while first, there will be even more room in that belly for pie,” Ella told her with a gentle smile. “What do you think?”
“Yes,” Dove said, looking relieved as she trotted off after her cousins.
“She’ll be devastated if she doesn’t manage to eat four slices,” Ella said, looking after her daughter worriedly.
“I’ve got her,” Dalton said. “When we’re done with cleanup, I’ll slice the pies small enough that she can manage.”
“Is there anything you can’t do, Dalton Tyler?” Ella asked teasingly.
But when her beautiful brown eyes met his, his heart wanted to cry out that the only thing he wanted was to love her, and he couldn’t do that.
Maybe it’s too late. Maybe I already do.
He’d spent a lifetime trying hard not to get attached, keeping his heart under lock and key. But this woman and her family had stepped inside without even trying.
He started the water in the sink and got it nice and hot. It was better to keep his mind on the dishes than to let himself get lost in hopeless feelings.
Ella quietly scraped food off the plates and set them in the empty side of the sink for Dalton to wash, and soon they had established an easy rhythm.
Once or twice, he caught her looking at him and felt a bolt of fear that she might be feeling sorry for him. But her expression was more thoughtful than anything.
“I noticed what you did,” she said softly, after a while.
“What do you mean?” he said automatically.
“When Danny broke his dad’s phone,” she said. “I saw you step in front of him.”
Dalton slowly let out a breath as he scrubbed at the stuffing pan.
“I made a lot of mistakes when I was young,” he said, finally.
“But the one thing I always did right was to try to look out for the younger kids. I know everyone here is safe—more than safe, Ella. Everyone here is really, really good. But I guess… some of it’s just coded into me now. I hope that doesn’t scare you.”
She put down the dish she was holding and turned to him, her gaze serious as her eyes met his.
“I think it’s noble, Dalton Tyler,” she said. “You’re a good man, and it sounds like you always were.”
Her words made him want to cry, so he applied himself to the pan again, setting his jaw in his determination not to get emotional.
How do you slip past my defenses like that, Ella?
But he knew how. She didn’t have to. She was already right there, in his heart.
But that was a dangerous place for her to be. Ella wasn’t for him.
And the way she lived, it seemed that she had decided she wasn’t for anyone. She hadn’t been out once since he’d come—not a date, not even a lunch with friends. Ella seemed to have dedicated herself one-hundred percent to what was left of her family.
She had already had her one great love. And if Dalton told himself anything different, he was only setting himself up for pain.
The desire to run rose up in his chest as it had done so many times before.
I have to get out.
I can’t stay here.
I have to get out before I ruin this.
But he had more to do here in Trinity Falls before he could go. All of this was for Andy, and he would never do anything halfway when it came to his best friend.
So he took a few deep breaths, and somehow, in the quiet warmth of the kitchen, with the scrape and clink of Ella working beside him, he was able to hold himself together.
Before long, the kitchen was sparkling clean again, and Dalton was feeling steadier.
Ella started some coffee while he cut impossibly thin slices of pumpkin and apple and peanut butter and pecan pies.
When everyone sat down again and ooh’d and ahh’d over the delicious treats, it all felt too good to be true. And even though he was sure that everyone would be too full, they all dug into the pies with gusto.
“I did eat four slices, Dalton,” Dove said, scrambling up on his lap and patting her tummy in satisfaction when she was finished. “I can’t believe it.”
Little Dove grabbed his hand all the time, but this was the first time she had sat in his lap. She was as light as a feather, and she smelled like pumpkin pie and the wood fire she and her cousins had been playing in front of.
“Great job, sweetheart,” he told her. “I believed in you the whole time.”
“That’s because you love me,” she said lightly.
The table suddenly got quiet, and Dalton felt his own surprise like it was a palpable thing, spreading out to the edges of the room and snapping back tightly around him.
“Everyone loves you, Dove,” he told her gruffly.
“I love you too, Dalton,” she told him, leaning her little head against his chest. “I’m glad you live here now.”
His eyes were burning, so he bent and pressed a light kiss to the crown of her hair so no one would see.