Beneath a Southern Sky - By Deborah Raney Page 0,53
at my folks’, actually.”
“Well, we certainly got our white Christmas, didn’t we?”
“Yes, isn’t it beautiful?”
“Jack is out shoveling the rest of the driveway right now. We’ve had almost six inches, and it’s still coming down a little. Now where is my little girl?”
“She’s by the Christmas tree—playing with the wrapping paper, I think,” Daria chuckled.
“Oh, isn’t that the way it always is?” Vera exclaimed. “Well, let me talk to her.”
“Of course, but actually… I was calling to invite you—and Jack, of course—to join me for a late Christmas dinner. Would you be able to come next Sunday?” Daria flashed Cole a smile.
“Why, that’s very nice of you, Daria. We’d love to come.” There was a pause, and then Vera’s voice became guarded. “Your friend… Dr. Hunter… isn’t going to be there, is he?”
“No, it will just be Natalie and me.” Daria rolled her eyes at Cole.
“Well, we’d love to come.”
“Wonderful. Let me get Natalie. I know she’ll be happy to hear your voice.”
She motioned to Cole, and he went to retrieve the toddler so she could stare at the receiver while her grandmother made baby talk from the other end.
Balancing three bowls of Rocky Road ice cream with the grace of a former waitress, Daria emerged from her kitchen. With a free elbow, she pushed Natalie’s half-eaten bowl of spaghetti from the edge of the highchair tray as she passed by. Then she set two of the desserts in front of her former parents-in-law and one at her own place.
“After that delicious meal, I don’t have room for another bite, Daria,” Jack Camfield groaned. “But I guess I’ll choke it down if I must.” He laughed at his own joke, and Daria joined in nervously.
The clock on their evening together was ticking, and still she had not found an opening to tell the Camfields of her impending marriage.
She couldn’t let them leave without knowing. She felt deceitful, having left the diamond Cole had given her—the one she ordinarily wore so proudly—in her jewelry box that morning.
Poking her spoon at her ice cream, she took a deep breath and plunged in. “Vera, Jack. I have something I need—something I want—to tell you.”
Vera turned toward her, her heavily penciled brows raised in innocent interest. This was going to be harder than Daria thought.
“I—Well, I have an announcement to make. As you know, Cole and I have been dating for a while now.”
Natalie perked up at the sound of Cole’s name and began banging her chubby fists on the plastic highchair tray. “Da-da-da-da-da,” she sang plainly and happily.
The effect on Vera Camfield was devastating.
Daria tried to ignore Natalie’s happy chattering. “We… Cole has asked me to marry him, and I said yes.” She tried to put a cheerful inflection in the words.
“I had a feeling this was going to happen,” the woman spat.
Daria looked at her, shocked, near tears, and uncertain how to respond. “I know this isn’t easy for you, Vera—”
“So,” Vera cut her off, “you’re just going to marry the first man that comes along, is that it?” She twisted a tattered paper dinner napkin in her hands.
Jack Camfield sat silent now.
Daria fought to remain calm. “Vera, I love Cole very much. I haven’t made this decision rashly.”
“Do you have any idea how this hurts us, Daria? Any idea whatsoever? Did Nathan mean nothing to you? How do you think this will look to our friends? Our son is barely cold in his grave and you have just gone on with your life, as though he meant nothing to you.”
“Vera!” Daria hadn’t meant it to come out so harshly. She took a deep breath and forced her voice down an octave. “Nate has been dead for a year and a half. Oh, Vera, you know I loved Nate—more than I ever thought it was possible to love another human being. But he’s gone! He’s not coming back, and I have to go on with my life. I don’t want to raise Natalie alone. She needs a father. And Cole loves her like his own.”
Vera recoiled as though she’d been slapped.
From her chair, Natalie started her happy litany again. “Da-da-da-da.”
Daria cringed inwardly at Natalie’s chatter, but she reached out and put a hand on Vera’s arm. “I’m sorry, Vera. But surely you do want Natalie to have the influence of a good man in her life. Do you want me to be alone for the rest of my life? I love Cole. He’s a wonderful man. I’d like for you to get