Chapter 6
"Who is she Rafe?" Evelyn demanded.
Rafe sighed in exasperation. "I told you. I don't know."
"She seemed to know you well enough," Evelyn pointed out as she roughly began to fold some towels that had been sitting in a nearby hamper. Evelyn didn't know what to think. She could tell that Rafe's confusion was genuine. He didn't know who the stranger was, but that didn't make Evelyn feel any better. She couldn't stop replaying how the woman's eyes had lit up when she saw Rafe. She couldn't stop herself from looking for traces of Rafe in the woman's daughter. Not liking how her doubts were making her feel, Evelyn busied herself, waiting for the woman to wake up.
For his part, Rafe looked back and forth between his wife and the strange woman. He knew what Evelyn was thinking. He could see the traces of betrayal in her eyes, but he knew he was innocent. He didn't know who this woman was and he certainly didn't know who the father of her child was. With her eyes closed the woman didn't look familar to him at all, but there had been a moment, when her eyes had met his, that he thought he might have known her - might have seen her before, but he just wasn't sure.
He ran his hand over his face in frustration, seeing Evelyn's glare. "Jesus, Evelyn. She doesn't even look like me!" he exclaimed softly.
Evelyn's eyes snapped up to meet his. "Did I say anything about..."
"No," Rafe said, shaking his head, "but I know what you're thinking it. I don't know who she is." A small shuffling sound broke off their staring contest. The little girl was looking up at them with wide green eyes.
"Mama?" she asked softly, her voice trembling.
Evelyn immediately knelt down in front of her. "Your mama is fine, sweetheart," she told her. "She's just a little tired right now. Did you see all the toys in Danny's room?" The girl's eyes lit up with excitment. "You can go play with them until your mama wakes up, okay?"
"Dandy?!" she asked, excitedly.
Evelyn glanced up at Rafe, who shrugged, not understanding what she was saying. "Danny," Evelyn repeated. "My little boy. You can play with his toys." The little girl's smile faltered a bit, confusing Evelyn. What child didn't like toys?
"Dandy here?" the girl asked again.
Evelyn shook her head in confusion. "I don't know who Dandy is, sweetheart," she explained gently. The little girl's lip began to tremble as her eyes filled with tears.
"Dandy come to Rafe's farm," she explained, though it made no sense to Rafe and Evelyn. Evelyn looked up at Rafe, her eyebrow raised in question. 'I don't know,' he mouthed silently to her.
Evelyn tried to smile cheerfully. "Well, Dandy's not here yet. But we'll let you know okay?" Evelyn promised. "Why don't you go play. Your mama will wake up soon." The little girl stared at her mother for a moment, but then turned and headed back for Danny's room and his toys.
Rafe and Evelyn watched her go, both wondering who Dandy was and why he - or she - would come to their farm. "So whose Dandy?" Evelyn asked Rafe.
"Evelyn," Rafe said, exasperated. "I don't know any 'Dandy,' I don't know this woman, and I'm not that girl's father!" He turned to leave the room, but was stopped when he heard a small cough from the bed. They both turned to see a pair another pair of green eyes looking at them.
"How are you feeling," Evelyn asked, going over to the side of the bed. "Nausous?"
"I'm feeling better," the woman replied, "now that I'm not rocking or bouncing," she smiled wanly as she moved to sit up. Evelyn went to help her, but the woman waved her away. "I'm fine, really."
Once seated, she looked up at Rafe. "I'm sorry for the confusion. This isn't the way I planned this. We've been traveling for 5 days, and I realize I should have gotten a hotel for the night, but I just wanted to get here..." Kate trailed off, realizing that she was babbling. "And I certainly didn't mean to cause a problem between you two," she told Evelyn. With a sigh, she looked down at her hands. "This isn't how I expected to finally meet you," she explained to Evelyn, her cheeks flushing slightly.
"Finally?" Evelyn questioned softly, glancing up at Rafe, who shrugged once again.
"I'm real sorry," Rafe said, "I get the feeling that I should know who you are, but I can't seem to place you."
Kate shook her head. "I should have realized that," she told him. "We only met very briefly and you had a lot of other things on your mind. It's just that I've heard so much about you, Captain McCawley," she explained, using his rank as she had before. "I feel like I know you and I just forgot that you probably wouldn't know me."
Rafe squinted at her, racking his brain to figure out where he might have met her. There was still something about her eyes that made him pause. Where had he seen her before?
"When did you meet my husband?" Evelyn asked, watching them both.
Kate didn't take her eyes off Rafe. "It was just over 2 years ago. Grace - my daughter, was only 4 and half months old, so she's definitly not Rafe's child," Kate smiled as Evelyn blushed. "Though there is some irony in you thinking so," she couldn't help commenting.
Suddenly Rafe drew in a long, painful breath, his nerves stretched taunt. "China," he exhaled. "You were the one who rescued us in China."
Kate nodded. "Like I said, you had a lot on your mind at the time, I shouldn't have expected you to remember me."
"I remember," Rafe whispered, his knuckles white where he gripped the foot board. He remembered that night in vivid detail. The night his best friend died saving his life. The night he left his best friend behind. There wasn't a day that went by that he didn't think of Danny and the sacrafice his friend had made for him, especially now when he saw little Danny every day. He had managed to carry on with his life, but the pain of losing Danny was never far beneath the surface, ready to hit him at odd moments.
Evelyn got up and walked over to her husband, taking his hand in her hers. "Rafe?" she questioned gently, seeing the pain in his eyes. Kate saw it to, and she was sorry that she had delievered her news so clumsily. Danny often had the same look when he was thinking about Rafe.
"You made me promise you something before you left," Kate told him. "Do you remember what it was?"
Rafe nodded, his throat working spasmodically. Evelyn looked between them, unsure of what was being left unsaid. "What...?" she began to ask.
"I made her promise to....." he cleared his throat, "to bring Danny home." He looked up at her expectantly, waiting to hear if she had completed her promised task. Waiting to hear if he could finally sleep easy, knowing that his best friend's body was finally at rest back home in Tennessee.
Kate opened her mouth to tell him that Danny wasn't dead, but Grace came bounding into the room. "Mama," she cried, throwing herself into her mother's arms.
"Hey Gracie," Kate said, hugging her close. "Mama's just fine. Don't you worry, okay?"
Grace nodded teary eyed. "Dandy's not here," she pouted.
Kate looked up at Rafe. "Not yet," she told her daughter, "but soon."
Evelyn looked at her curiously. "She was asking for Dandy earlier, we didn't know who she meant, but she seemed quite sure that he - or she - was coming here."
Kate smiled weakly, knowing that what she had to say was going to come as a big shock to them both. "He promised he would," Kate told them.
Nodding, Evelyn looked up at Rafe worriedly. "Should we know who he is too?" she asked.
"Dandy is what Grace calls the only father that she has ever known," Kate explained, her heart pounding in her ears. She didn't know how to tell them gently so that the shock wouldn't be too much. "She's referring to Danny Walker. Captain Daniel Joshua Walker," she explained more fully.
Both Rafe and Evelyn paled at her words. "No," Rafe whispered, his eyes wide.
"Danny didn't die, Rafe," she told him. Evelyn gasped, her hands covering her mouth as her eyes began to fill with tears.
"He died," Rafe's voice shook with emotion. "You told me he died. I saw him...the blood....the wounds... Danny died."
Kate shook her head in sympathy. "I'm sorry Rafe, I didn't mean to tell you like this. I don't know how I was going to tell you, but...." She trailed off helplessly. She looked over at Evelyn hoping to explain it to her. "Danny almost bled to death, but we managed to stop it. He was awake enough to know what was going on around him. He thought he was dying and he didn't want Rafe to wait around or take him and risk the rest of the men. He had me tell Rafe that he died, that way Rafe would leave." She looked over at Rafe. "He knew that you were stubborn enough to wait around." Rafe shook his head in denial. "He thought he was dying, Rafe," she tried to explain. "He almost did, but his only wish was for you to get out of China and back here to take care of Evelyn." Kate looked over at the stricken face of Danny's one time love and felt sorry for her. To be shocked like this twice in one lifetime was not fair.
"No!" Rafe roared from the foot of the bed, his eyes squeezed closed. "No. Danny died. You, your just crazy. You...."
"Danny's alive," Kate told him. "He almost died - several times, but he survived. Ask me anything," she challenged desperately. "Do you want me to tell you how he got the long scar on his leg? Or who your principal was at school? How about the first girl you kissed? Or he kissed? It was the same girl. Ask me anything!" Kate demanded, wanting to prove to Rafe that his friend was indeed alive.
Suddenly a small bundle of fur jumped onto her bed, followed by a young toddler with Danny's eyes.
"Ramsey!" the little boy called to the pup.
"Ramsey," Kate repeated, unable to take her eyes off the child. "The name of the stray dog that you adopted when you were 11. Danny's father shot him for scaring the chickens." Looking up at Rafe, Kate saw that he was finally believing her, his face loosing all it's color. Nodding at young Danny, she asked softly, not taking her eyes off Rafe; "Ask me who his father is."
"Oh my god," Rafe said as he dropped heavily onto the chair behind him. "Oh my God."
Kate looked over at Evelyn, seeing the tears streaming down her face. "I'm sorry," she told her. "I didn't mean to come in here and...." she waved her hand helplessly. "This isn't how I planned to tell you."
"Is he," Evelyn tried to speak through her tears. "Is he okay?" she asked.
Kate felt her eyes tear up. "I hope so," she told Evelyn. "I hope so."
"Who is she Rafe?" Evelyn demanded.
Rafe sighed in exasperation. "I told you. I don't know."
"She seemed to know you well enough," Evelyn pointed out as she roughly began to fold some towels that had been sitting in a nearby hamper. Evelyn didn't know what to think. She could tell that Rafe's confusion was genuine. He didn't know who the stranger was, but that didn't make Evelyn feel any better. She couldn't stop replaying how the woman's eyes had lit up when she saw Rafe. She couldn't stop herself from looking for traces of Rafe in the woman's daughter. Not liking how her doubts were making her feel, Evelyn busied herself, waiting for the woman to wake up.
For his part, Rafe looked back and forth between his wife and the strange woman. He knew what Evelyn was thinking. He could see the traces of betrayal in her eyes, but he knew he was innocent. He didn't know who this woman was and he certainly didn't know who the father of her child was. With her eyes closed the woman didn't look familar to him at all, but there had been a moment, when her eyes had met his, that he thought he might have known her - might have seen her before, but he just wasn't sure.
He ran his hand over his face in frustration, seeing Evelyn's glare. "Jesus, Evelyn. She doesn't even look like me!" he exclaimed softly.
Evelyn's eyes snapped up to meet his. "Did I say anything about..."
"No," Rafe said, shaking his head, "but I know what you're thinking it. I don't know who she is." A small shuffling sound broke off their staring contest. The little girl was looking up at them with wide green eyes.
"Mama?" she asked softly, her voice trembling.
Evelyn immediately knelt down in front of her. "Your mama is fine, sweetheart," she told her. "She's just a little tired right now. Did you see all the toys in Danny's room?" The girl's eyes lit up with excitment. "You can go play with them until your mama wakes up, okay?"
"Dandy?!" she asked, excitedly.
Evelyn glanced up at Rafe, who shrugged, not understanding what she was saying. "Danny," Evelyn repeated. "My little boy. You can play with his toys." The little girl's smile faltered a bit, confusing Evelyn. What child didn't like toys?
"Dandy here?" the girl asked again.
Evelyn shook her head in confusion. "I don't know who Dandy is, sweetheart," she explained gently. The little girl's lip began to tremble as her eyes filled with tears.
"Dandy come to Rafe's farm," she explained, though it made no sense to Rafe and Evelyn. Evelyn looked up at Rafe, her eyebrow raised in question. 'I don't know,' he mouthed silently to her.
Evelyn tried to smile cheerfully. "Well, Dandy's not here yet. But we'll let you know okay?" Evelyn promised. "Why don't you go play. Your mama will wake up soon." The little girl stared at her mother for a moment, but then turned and headed back for Danny's room and his toys.
Rafe and Evelyn watched her go, both wondering who Dandy was and why he - or she - would come to their farm. "So whose Dandy?" Evelyn asked Rafe.
"Evelyn," Rafe said, exasperated. "I don't know any 'Dandy,' I don't know this woman, and I'm not that girl's father!" He turned to leave the room, but was stopped when he heard a small cough from the bed. They both turned to see a pair another pair of green eyes looking at them.
"How are you feeling," Evelyn asked, going over to the side of the bed. "Nausous?"
"I'm feeling better," the woman replied, "now that I'm not rocking or bouncing," she smiled wanly as she moved to sit up. Evelyn went to help her, but the woman waved her away. "I'm fine, really."
Once seated, she looked up at Rafe. "I'm sorry for the confusion. This isn't the way I planned this. We've been traveling for 5 days, and I realize I should have gotten a hotel for the night, but I just wanted to get here..." Kate trailed off, realizing that she was babbling. "And I certainly didn't mean to cause a problem between you two," she told Evelyn. With a sigh, she looked down at her hands. "This isn't how I expected to finally meet you," she explained to Evelyn, her cheeks flushing slightly.
"Finally?" Evelyn questioned softly, glancing up at Rafe, who shrugged once again.
"I'm real sorry," Rafe said, "I get the feeling that I should know who you are, but I can't seem to place you."
Kate shook her head. "I should have realized that," she told him. "We only met very briefly and you had a lot of other things on your mind. It's just that I've heard so much about you, Captain McCawley," she explained, using his rank as she had before. "I feel like I know you and I just forgot that you probably wouldn't know me."
Rafe squinted at her, racking his brain to figure out where he might have met her. There was still something about her eyes that made him pause. Where had he seen her before?
"When did you meet my husband?" Evelyn asked, watching them both.
Kate didn't take her eyes off Rafe. "It was just over 2 years ago. Grace - my daughter, was only 4 and half months old, so she's definitly not Rafe's child," Kate smiled as Evelyn blushed. "Though there is some irony in you thinking so," she couldn't help commenting.
Suddenly Rafe drew in a long, painful breath, his nerves stretched taunt. "China," he exhaled. "You were the one who rescued us in China."
Kate nodded. "Like I said, you had a lot on your mind at the time, I shouldn't have expected you to remember me."
"I remember," Rafe whispered, his knuckles white where he gripped the foot board. He remembered that night in vivid detail. The night his best friend died saving his life. The night he left his best friend behind. There wasn't a day that went by that he didn't think of Danny and the sacrafice his friend had made for him, especially now when he saw little Danny every day. He had managed to carry on with his life, but the pain of losing Danny was never far beneath the surface, ready to hit him at odd moments.
Evelyn got up and walked over to her husband, taking his hand in her hers. "Rafe?" she questioned gently, seeing the pain in his eyes. Kate saw it to, and she was sorry that she had delievered her news so clumsily. Danny often had the same look when he was thinking about Rafe.
"You made me promise you something before you left," Kate told him. "Do you remember what it was?"
Rafe nodded, his throat working spasmodically. Evelyn looked between them, unsure of what was being left unsaid. "What...?" she began to ask.
"I made her promise to....." he cleared his throat, "to bring Danny home." He looked up at her expectantly, waiting to hear if she had completed her promised task. Waiting to hear if he could finally sleep easy, knowing that his best friend's body was finally at rest back home in Tennessee.
Kate opened her mouth to tell him that Danny wasn't dead, but Grace came bounding into the room. "Mama," she cried, throwing herself into her mother's arms.
"Hey Gracie," Kate said, hugging her close. "Mama's just fine. Don't you worry, okay?"
Grace nodded teary eyed. "Dandy's not here," she pouted.
Kate looked up at Rafe. "Not yet," she told her daughter, "but soon."
Evelyn looked at her curiously. "She was asking for Dandy earlier, we didn't know who she meant, but she seemed quite sure that he - or she - was coming here."
Kate smiled weakly, knowing that what she had to say was going to come as a big shock to them both. "He promised he would," Kate told them.
Nodding, Evelyn looked up at Rafe worriedly. "Should we know who he is too?" she asked.
"Dandy is what Grace calls the only father that she has ever known," Kate explained, her heart pounding in her ears. She didn't know how to tell them gently so that the shock wouldn't be too much. "She's referring to Danny Walker. Captain Daniel Joshua Walker," she explained more fully.
Both Rafe and Evelyn paled at her words. "No," Rafe whispered, his eyes wide.
"Danny didn't die, Rafe," she told him. Evelyn gasped, her hands covering her mouth as her eyes began to fill with tears.
"He died," Rafe's voice shook with emotion. "You told me he died. I saw him...the blood....the wounds... Danny died."
Kate shook her head in sympathy. "I'm sorry Rafe, I didn't mean to tell you like this. I don't know how I was going to tell you, but...." She trailed off helplessly. She looked over at Evelyn hoping to explain it to her. "Danny almost bled to death, but we managed to stop it. He was awake enough to know what was going on around him. He thought he was dying and he didn't want Rafe to wait around or take him and risk the rest of the men. He had me tell Rafe that he died, that way Rafe would leave." She looked over at Rafe. "He knew that you were stubborn enough to wait around." Rafe shook his head in denial. "He thought he was dying, Rafe," she tried to explain. "He almost did, but his only wish was for you to get out of China and back here to take care of Evelyn." Kate looked over at the stricken face of Danny's one time love and felt sorry for her. To be shocked like this twice in one lifetime was not fair.
"No!" Rafe roared from the foot of the bed, his eyes squeezed closed. "No. Danny died. You, your just crazy. You...."
"Danny's alive," Kate told him. "He almost died - several times, but he survived. Ask me anything," she challenged desperately. "Do you want me to tell you how he got the long scar on his leg? Or who your principal was at school? How about the first girl you kissed? Or he kissed? It was the same girl. Ask me anything!" Kate demanded, wanting to prove to Rafe that his friend was indeed alive.
Suddenly a small bundle of fur jumped onto her bed, followed by a young toddler with Danny's eyes.
"Ramsey!" the little boy called to the pup.
"Ramsey," Kate repeated, unable to take her eyes off the child. "The name of the stray dog that you adopted when you were 11. Danny's father shot him for scaring the chickens." Looking up at Rafe, Kate saw that he was finally believing her, his face loosing all it's color. Nodding at young Danny, she asked softly, not taking her eyes off Rafe; "Ask me who his father is."
"Oh my god," Rafe said as he dropped heavily onto the chair behind him. "Oh my God."
Kate looked over at Evelyn, seeing the tears streaming down her face. "I'm sorry," she told her. "I didn't mean to come in here and...." she waved her hand helplessly. "This isn't how I planned to tell you."
"Is he," Evelyn tried to speak through her tears. "Is he okay?" she asked.
Kate felt her eyes tear up. "I hope so," she told Evelyn. "I hope so."