Chapter 20 Ella
ELLA
Ella watched, astonished and more than a little confused, as Dalton swung himself up into the truck.
“No,” she muttered to herself. “No, no, no, no, no.”
The wind blew down in gusts as she hurried across the porch, leaving tracks with her socks in the inch or two of snow that covered the painted wood planks.
Running across the lawn without shoes or a coat might be madness, but he was clearly leaving, and not just on a run to town for some late-night errand. If she let him go now, she knew somehow that she would never see him again.
“What are you doing?” his deep voice was filled with what sounded like fury as she got closer. But Ella could sense the longing underneath. They understood each other. It was part of why she couldn’t let him go.
“I’ve lost too much time with the people I love,” she shouted against the wind as she ran for the truck. “I’m not going to lose you too.”
“For heaven’s sake, Ella,” he growled, striding toward her and lifting her up in his arms. “You can’t just run out in the snow like this.”
“You were going to leave,” she heard herself sob as he carried her back toward the house.
“I’m still going to leave,” he told her gruffly. “But I won’t let you catch your death out here.”
“I thought about what you said,” she murmured into his ear as he climbed the porch steps. “You’re right. I did love him as best I could. Thank you for that.”
“I’m glad,” Dalton said, stopping in place. “You deserve to feel good about your memories.”
But his tone was resolute, like he’d already made up his mind.
“So you’ll stay?” she whispered.
“Ella, I’m only a poor stand-in,” he said, shaking his head. “I can’t take your husband’s place. And I can’t take Andy’s place either. He did too much for me. It’s not right to step into his life and take up his role in your family, like he never existed at all.”
“My dad called you Andy,” she remembered out loud.
Dalton nodded, looking miserable.
“He was half asleep,” Ella said. “But it was telling.”
“It felt like a sign,” Dalton said, nodding.
“Oh, it is,” Ella told him. “But not in the way you think. It’s a sign that you mean something to us. Only one other person ever made my dad feel that way.”
“And he’s gone,” Dalton said. “He wouldn’t want me here sleeping in his bed.”
Ella frowned, uncertain if what she was about to do was right, but unable to think of a better way to explain.
“Come back inside,” she said. “I need to show you something. And if you still don’t want to stay after you see it, then I’ll let you go.”
He didn’t answer right away, and she held her breath, praying for him to open his heart to her one last time.
“Fine,” he said after a moment, striding for the door with Ella still in his arms.
She braced herself for him to put her down, but he pushed the front door open and turned to ease them through without missing a beat.
“Where?” he asked her softly.
“In my room,” she told him.
He started carrying her up the stairs before she could decide how she felt about inviting him into her bedroom.
It’s just for a minute, and it’s really important.
But when he reached her door, he set her down at last and made no move to come in.
“First, take those socks off,” he told her firmly. “And put on some slippers. I’ll be waiting downstairs.”
“You won’t go?” she heard herself ask.
“Not until you’ve shown me what you want me to see. You have my word,” he said. “But you’re not going to change my mind about this, Ella.”
He was a man who kept promises, so she slipped into her room to do as he asked, trusting that he would be downstairs when she got there.
She closed the door behind her, then peeled off her snow-encrusted socks and placed them on the radiator by the window. They would make a puddle on the floor, but that didn’t matter now, nothing did except convincing Dalton to stay.
Dutifully, she pulled on warm slippers before opening her desk drawer and pulling out the bundle of letters she kept there from Andy.
She leafed through the stack of envelopes, each one worn from being read so many times. It only took a moment to find the letter she wanted. She wondered if Andy ever knew how much she treasured these messages. She hoped so.
Please, Andy, if you can hear me, she begged her brother inwardly. Help me convince him that he needs to stay here with us.
Ella spoke to her brother in her mind all the time, knowing she was really just calling on her memories for comfort.
But tonight, a sense of peace settled over her, like a warm quilt laid over a child on a winter night.
She hurried down the stairs as quietly as she could. The last thing she wanted was to wake the whole house and scare Dalton off.
When she reached the living room, she found him standing by the fireplace, his eyes on the window.
He’s already out there, far away from all of us…
But that line of thinking wouldn’t help her. She had to show him she was sure he belonged with them, with her.
He looked up as she approached, his brilliant blue eyes filled with sadness.
“This is a letter from Andy,” she told him, casting her own gaze down to the envelope that was her last chance of keeping Dalton in their lives. “I don’t think he would mind me asking you to read it.”
She held it out to Dalton and he took it, just holding it in his hands for a moment, as if he wanted to savor this chance to hear his best friend’s words one more time.
Ella paced back to the threshold of the room, wishing she could blend into the shadows so as not to distract him from his task.
Dalton turned the envelope over in his hands once, and then slid his index finger along the broken opening to remove the letter inside.
She couldn’t see the words from where she stood, but she didn’t need to.
Ella had read this particular message a hundred times over.
She read and reread all of Andy’s letters, but something about this one had stood out to her the first time, and she had returned to a particular section more than once, trying to figure out exactly what Andy had meant.
She saw Dalton’s expression soften the moment he got to it, and she thought of the words in Andy’s letter.
Ella, it isn’t just that Dalton has been kind to me, which he has. I wouldn’t have survived basic training without him having my back. And I’m talking about attitude, not just strategy. He’s changed me.
It feels like I was meant to meet him and bring him home to the farm with me.
Next time we have real leave, I’m going to try and convince him to come, and you can see for yourself.
I honestly think you’re going to love him, Ella.
Dalton’s eyes flashed back to hers.
“Does he mean…?” he asked softly.
“At the time I wasn’t sure,” she replied carefully. “And this was one of his last letters home, so I never got to ask.”
She cleared her throat, wanting to get it right.
“But yes,” she said. “I think that’s exactly what he meant. I think he knew.”
Dalton’s eyes went back to the letter in his hands, and he shook his head in disbelief.
“You’ve been an incredible help on the farm,” Ella went on. “And I’m grateful, believe me. But we had been running things on our own for four years before you got here. Did you ever wonder why he asked you to promise to come here? Because it drove me crazy until I thought about this letter again.”
“You think he wanted me to come because you would love me,” Dalton said slowly, his eyes still on the creased paper that looked so small in his big hands.
“Yes,” she told him simply.
“And do you?” Dalton asked, his voice low as his eyes met hers again. “Love me?”
The question would have been too much coming from anyone else. But Ella recognized it instantly for what it was.
This wasn’t just Dalton Tyler the man asking her. Behind those intense blue eyes stood the little boy who had been shuffled from home to home, the angry teenager who had pushed away anyone who wanted to help, and the lonely soldier whose closest friend had died too young.
This was the aching soul that cried out to her own, the heart with the jagged pieces that fit so perfectly to her own broken heart that they could make each other whole again. She was sure of it.
“Yes,” she told him, her voice as warm and calm as she could have hoped as her feet carried her to him. “I do love you, Dalton Tyler. As usual, my brother was right.”
His eyes were misty, but his lips tugged up slightly at that last part.
The next thing Ella knew, he was pulling her into his arms, holding her tight to his chest where she could hear his heart thundering under her ear.
Thank you, Andy.
Dalton pulled back slightly after a moment and cupped her cheek in his hand.
Ella leaned into the warmth, closing her eyes at how good it felt to love him fearlessly.
“I love you too, Ella,” Dalton told her, his voice husky with emotion. “So much.”
She opened her eyes just in time to see him lean down to her, his eyes on her mouth.
When he kissed her, she felt the strength of his love rush through her chest, and she almost laughed for joy.
This is what it is to be alive, not just to survive, but to love…
“Who’s awake at this—oh, my,” her mother’s voice came from the hallway.
Ella pulled back right away, and Dalton allowed it, but he kept a hand at her waist, as if to say he wasn’t going to let her go.
“I’m so sorry,” her mother said, clearly trying to hide her smile. “I didn’t mean to interrupt.”
Relief filled Ella’s chest at her mother’s obvious happiness.
“What’s going on down there?” Dad’s voice came from the top of the stairs.
The sound of small, quick footsteps came next.
“Are you ready for all this?” Ella asked, looking up at Dalton.
But the big man was smiling.
“Very ready,” he told her. “Are you?”
“Very ready,” she agreed.
“Oh, kids,” Mom said, rushing over to wrap her arms around them both just as Dove flew in behind her.
“Everybody’s awake,” Dove sang out. “Everybody’s hugging.”
Dalton bent to lift Dove up in one arm and she laughed like a waterfall. His other arm stayed wrapped firmly around Ella’s waist.
“Well, it’s about time,” Ella’s father said, his eyes twinkling as he stepped into the room to join them.
“About time for what?” Dove asked. “What is happening?”
“I’m, uh, I’m in love with your mom,” Dalton said a little awkwardly.
“Of course you are,” Dove said, shrugging her shoulders, like it was old news. “She’s your girlfriend. You went on a date.”
“So, you approve?” Dalton asked her seriously.
Ella had to smile. The way he spoke to Dove never failed to make her feel happy.
“Yes,” Dove decided. “But sometimes, I like to go out to dinner too.”
“I see,” Dalton replied. “Well, maybe we can all go out for pizza to celebrate when the snow stops.”
“Yes,” Dove said, wiggling out of his arms so she could scamper over to her grandmother and hug her hard.
“Happy to babysit anytime, you know that,” Ella’s dad said, thrusting his hand out to Dalton. “After the pizza party, of course.”
“Thank you, sir,” Dalton said, his voice breaking slightly as he took her father’s hand.
But Michael Barrett pulled him in for a hug instead, and Ella held in her tears as she watched her two favorite men embrace.
Thank you, Andy.
Thank you for bringing us all together.