Queen, page 30
Will’s voice rose two octaves. “Is it the kind like the navy seals use to fish people out of the water? One of those deals?”
Dennis chuckled. “A true son of the military.”
“Yes,” Cody said. “One of those ‘deals.’ Can you hold on tight enough so that you won’t fall?”
“Sure. Just let ‘er drop.”
“Oh, hell,” Cody said as he stood and signaled one of the men who was carrying rescue equipment. “Sure, Dad. No problem, Dad.” He swiped a shaky hand across his face as Abel Miller walked by and gave him a slap on the back. “Thank God for the resilience of kids,” Cody muttered.
In minutes the rigging had been completed. The men now formed a chain as they lowered the lift by the attached rope, all equally eager to be part of the process of raising Will Bonner from the dead.
“Got it!” Will shouted, and eagerly grasped the horse collar-shaped object that had just landed in his lap. In seconds he’d shrugged it over his head and positioned it firmly beneath his armpits. He wrapped his arms tight around it, tested it once or twice to make sure he had a firm grip, and then shouted, “Pull away! I’m ready.”
Cody was flat on his stomach above the hole, the flashlight an extension of his arm while he leaned as far through the opening as he dared, needing to watch his son’s progress. He said a slow prayer, took a deep breath, and then turned to the men, who were waiting for his signal.
“Let’s get him out of there,” Cody said. It was what they were waiting to hear.
Will groaned as movement sent pain racking through his body.
“Are you all right?” Cody shouted, at the same time motioning for the men to stop pulling.
“It’s okay, Daddy. Just get me out.”
Cody signaled again, and the men resumed pulling on the rope.
Will hunched over the lift, tightened his hold even more, and bit the inside of his mouth as his feet left the floor of the minicavern. Twice as they pulled him up, he bumped against the narrow chimney, and twice he groaned aloud, certain that if it happened again, he would pass out from the pain and then fall. But somehow his daddy’s voice, and the fact that daylight got closer and closer, kept him from losing his grip on the lift and on consciousness.
A scant minute later Cody’s hand connected with a thatch of dark hair and then brushed over the bright red jacket. Realizing that he had touched his son, and now had to move back to give the men and Will the space in which to maneuver, was unbearable.
And then suddenly Will’s face broke above the surface, and that was all Cody was waiting for. He jumped to his feet, then bent down and, with the strength of giants, pulled his son into his arms as the mountain gave up its prey.
There wasn’t a dry eye in the crowd as the men cheered wildly. This was a good end to a bad beginning.
Cody’s belly turned at the sight of the awkward angle at which Will’s thin leg hung beneath his torn and muddy jeans. “Get me a stretcher,” he shouted, and in seconds Will was flat on his back, his leg being positioned so that it would not move until they could get him to a hospital.
“Daddy…is Queenie all right? I saw her fall.”
“She’s just fine, son,” Cody said as he bent over the stretcher while the others worked to secure his son. “In fact, she’s back home just waiting to see you. They all are.”
The smile slid off Will’s face. “All of them?”
“It’s okay, Will. Your grandmother is sorry. Probably more sorry than anyone there. She never meant for you to be afraid. Do you understand?”
“I guess,” Will said, and turned away, unwilling now that he was free of one burden to face what had sent him running from home in the first place.
“Wait,” Cody said as the men started to lift Will’s stretcher. “There’s someone else who needs to hear his voice.”
He took the two-way radio from his inner jacket pocket. “Cody to Queen. Cody to Queen. Do you read me? Over.”
“This is Queen. I’m here. Over.”
Her breathless voice and frightened tone told Cody that she’d spent a night in hell with him, only miles apart.
Cody laid the radio against his son’s cheek and pressed the send button as he nodded for his son to speak.
“Queenie…this is Will. Are you all right?” And then he added, “Over,” at his father’s silent reminder.
She started to cry. After all their fright, and all their worries, the first thing he wanted to know was if she was all right.
“Yes, Will, I’m just fine. Hurry home, sweetheart. Donny’s eating all your cookies. Over and out.”
Will grinned. “Better hurry,” he told the men. “Donny’s got a hollow leg. Queenie says so.”
Cody found it much easier going down the mountain with a lighter heart. Within the hour the roof of his house was in sight. And when they broke out of the trees and into the clearing, the first thing he saw was Queen, standing on the deck in the cold morning air. With her fiery hair and the smile on her face, she was like a bright beacon to come home to.
And then she was running down the steps, covering the distance between them in long, even strides.
Cody caught her in midflight and wrapped his arms around her, burying his face against her neck and whispering things meant for her alone.
“Needs more icicles on this side, J.J.,” Will said, and pointed toward a bare spot near the wall.
J.J. nodded, following his brother’s directions. Although Will was home and safe, for the time being he was couch-bound with the cast upon his leg. His share in the decoration of the family Christmas tree consisted of directing the entire proceedings from a reclining position.
Donny was of the opinion that Will was getting bossy, but he was so glad to have his family intact that he had yet to complain. J.J. was glad to have his mentor back in place and his world in order.
Will sighed as J.J. carried a fistful of shiny aluminum strands toward the back of the tree and wished that he could stand long enough to help. It was the first time in a long while that they’d put up a tree, and he was missing out on all the fun.
The Christmas they’d been with their grandparents they’d had a tree, but it had been a designer original. No hands-on decorating for Lenore Whittier. And the theme of her tree had lacked the warm improvisation of this one. There was no way that pink velvet bows and white satin balls could compete with blinking lights, four different sets of balls in four different colors, and Queenie’s surprise—special oven-baked ornaments in the shape of gingerbread men, one with each member of the family’s name swirled across the fat belly in red icing. All in all, Will thought it was a marvelous tree.
“Your grandparents called,” Queen said. “They wished you all a Merry Christmas.”
“Yay!” J.J. cheered, and Donny gave her a thumbs-up sign to indicate his own approval as he glanced beneath the tree at his grandparents’ presents, which had arrived by special express days earlier.
Queen noticed that Will had little to say regarding the message and knew that it was going to take time before he could fully forgive his grandmother. Of all the boys, he’d taken their threats the most to heart…and had suffered the most because of it.
The Whittiers had been at Will’s bedside, as had Cody, when he’d awakened with the cast on his leg. At first he couldn’t figure out what was different about his grandmother.
She’d apologized over and over, and he remembered that she’d been crying. It was only later that he realized she wasn’t wearing all her makeup. She had looked old…and, somehow, almost safe.
Will shifted on his chair and then smiled as Queenie came into the room carrying brownies and hot chocolate.
“Me first,” he said.
“What else is new,” Donny muttered, and then winked as Queen gave him a look he recognized meant business.
“Will…when we get finished, want to put the star on top?” Queen asked, setting down the goodies.
Will’s face lit up like the lights on the tree. “Oh, yes…but you can’t lift me that high,” he said, and then slumped back onto the chair with a sigh.
“I can,” Cody said as he came into the living room, bringing a burst of cold air with him.
Queen smiled. Her heart broke rhythm just once, a reminder to herself that his mere presence still made her weak in the knees.
Cody grinned and winked, recognizing a look in her eyes that he would gladly address later that night.
Queen stared at him in all his magnificence, his black hair frosted with a peppering of the snow that was falling outside, his eyes bright and glowing with life and laughter.
He set a small box on the table, shed his coat, and then grabbed her, covering her mouth with a quick, passionate kiss, knowing she couldn’t object if she couldn’t talk.
“Yuk, mushy stuff,” J.J. said, tossing the entire handful of icicles toward the empty spot on the tree.
Will smiled and reached for a brownie. Donny stood beside the tree, staring pensively at the couple across the room, remembering a time long ago when his mother had been alive…remembering how empty their lives had been when she died…and now, with the arrival of their Queenie, how full and happy they seemed once more.
He sighed and then grinned. It wasn’t everyone who found a savior at a bus stop. He considered himself pretty darn smart for having recognized her worth.
“Queenie, tell me again about the dream.”
Will’s plea was a repeat of the same request they’d all heard over and over.
She smiled and ruffled his hair. “You’ve already heard it a hundred times,” she said.
“But I want to hear it again. Did you really see me in the hole?”
“Yes, I believe I did,” Queen said. “How else would I have known what to tell your daddy?”
J.J. listened intently, already drawn into the magic of the story.
“And did you really hear me crying? Did you hear me say your name?” Will asked.
There was more to Will’s question than just the need to hear the story of his rescue again and again. Cody heard his need to feel connected…in that special way…with that special someone. He understood that need, because it was a mirror of his own.
“Yes, darling,” Queen said, and knelt beside Will’s chair. She cupped his face and smiled, loving the blue eyes and black hair and his face, so similar to another’s—the man she loved with all her heart. “I heard you call, but I didn’t hear you with my ears…I heard you with my heart.”
Will sighed. It was what he needed to hear.
“And I think I hear a kiss coming,” Cody said. “Must be for me…my lips are still cold.” Teasing was the only way he could hide his emotional reaction to her comment.
“Cody…” Queen laughed, stepping just out of his reach as she looked down at the small box beside his coat. “Presents already?”
The blue sweater she’d been knitting secretly, the one the color of Cody’s eyes, had been wrapped for days, just waiting for Christmas morning to arrive.
Cody’s eyes lit up. “I almost forgot. I thought we needed a new ornament for the tree in honor of our new family. What do you think, guys?”
He needn’t have asked. They’d adopted Queen as theirs long before he’d admitted he’d fallen in love with his sister who wasn’t really a sister.
He handed Will the box. “You open it, son. It’s for the top of the tree. I remembered our old star as looking pretty ragged.”
“Great,” Donny said. “I’d just promised Will I’d let him do the honors. Now that you’re here you can lift him up. That cast weighs nearly as much as he does.”
Queen knelt beside Will’s chair, watching as he lifted the lid and sifted through the tissue paper inside.
“Look! It’s an angel,” he cried. He held it up and turned it from side to side, admiring the delicate white fabric of the gown and the fragile, ethereal wings rimmed with a tiny gold thread. “And she’s got red hair…just like Queenie.”
Queen stared at the doll-like ornament, blinking furiously against the sudden onset of tears.
Cody leaned down and picked up his son. “Put her on good and tight so she doesn’t fall,” he said as Will worked the angel over the top of the tree.
“There.” Will was finished.
Cody set him back down on the couch and then stepped aside, squinting his eyes just enough to admire the way the angel seemed to hover above the treetop as if in flight.
Queen slid beneath his arm and laid her head on his chest as he hugged her gently. “It’s beautiful,” she said. “Thank you, Cody. Thank you for making me feel so loved…and so special.”
“Look at her, Mom. She’s shining.”
J.J.’s innocent cry stunned them all. Unaware of what he’d said, he danced around the tree in a childlike frenzy, admiring the way in which the blinking lights reflected off her wings and her hair.
Queen was in shock, afraid to let her joy show…afraid that the others might be offended by what J.J. had done. But she needn’t have worried. Donny just winked and then turned away, busying himself with brownies so that he wouldn’t have to admit to the lump in his own throat. Will considered what J.J. had said. Without speaking, he simply slipped his hand in hers as she stood beside him and squeezed once. It was enough.
Outside, the snow continued to fall, covering trees and earth alike in a heavy white blanket of cold beauty. Inside the house, a fire burned brightly in the fireplace, love and laughter filled the rooms, warming their hearts as the fire warmed their bodies.
Cody took her in his arms, pressing his cheek closely against the soft warmth of her own.
“Welcome to the family, my love. Welcome home.”
Epilogue
Lids rattled on the pots as wind rattled the windows. Queen walked from stove to cabinet and back again, stirring patiently and checking to make sure that the evening meal would be ready on time.
She could hardly believe that it was their second Christmas as a family and, within days, the first anniversary of their wedding.
With four males in the house, it had been a whirlwind year.
A small squeak and then a squawk turned into a definite wail as Amanda Bonner woke from her nap and for one of the few times in her very young life did not see a face hovering over her cradle. She was certain that she’d been abandoned and thereby proceeded to make her presence known.
Cody beat his three sons into the kitchen by inches, scooping his daughter from her cradle before she had time to finish her third yelp. Queen smiled and shrugged. It was hopeless to assume that this child wasn’t going to be spoiled. If Cody didn’t have her, Donny, Will, or J.J. did. She would never know what it was like to be lonely, but she would certainly know what it meant to be loved.
“Is she hungry?” Cody asked. “I’ll finish supper if you need to feed her.” He cuddled the tiny scrap of humanity that he and Queen had created and tried not to gloat at the beauty of their child.
“She has your hair,” Queen said, amazed that a man of Cody’s size could be reduced to mush by one so small.
“But she’s going to have your eyes,” Cody said, aware that the baby blue eyes Amanda had been born with were already changing to a deep forest green. It was a perfect blending, as was everything in their lives.
“Yeah, but she has J.J.’s personality,” Donny said. “Totally rotten.”
“Does not!”
“Does too!”
Cody rolled his eyes. “Guys…for Pete’s sake, cut it out.”
Queen smiled. She loved this rollicking mess of men and muscles and wondered where she and Amanda would fit into such a male-oriented world. If she knew her Bonners, she suspected it would be somewhere around the top of the pedestal.
Because of the weather, the radio on the shelf above the desk was picking up many unfamiliar stations. Cody said they were picking up skip, but whatever it was, it was music, sweet and familiar.
Queen listened absently, thinking how long it had been since she’d heard that particular station, and then realized what she was hearing was a live broadcast of the Grand Ole Opry out of Nashville.
“Oh, my,” she said, and had a sudden hunger to see her family.
She sighed with regret when she realized how long it had been since she’d tried unsuccessfully to find Diamond through Jesse Eagle’s music label. All three sisters were so lost from one another.
An unusual and intense longing overwhelmed her, and as the announcer began to talk, she turned away so that they would not see her tears.
Cody noticed Queen’s face change expression. It had been months since he remembered seeing that longing…that far-off look of remembering. He silently handed Amanda to Donny and walked up behind Queen, intending to give her a hug, when she actually bolted out of his arms and made a beeline for the radio, turning up the volume while waving for everyone to be quiet.
They stared at her odd behavior and then watched in amazement as Queen began to smile.
“…live from the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee.”
A woman’s voice filled the room, and even though Cody had never heard the song, a chill ran up his spine at the familiarity of the voice.
It wrapped around them as they listened, lulling them and then, when they thought it had passed, yanking emotion from them in unsuspecting fashion. And all the while Queen was laughing and crying and dancing in a little circle beneath the shelf.
“Oh, my God! My God…it’s her! She did it! She really did it!”
She kept repeating it over and over until Cody started to suspect what she was talking about. “Honey…?”
The song ended, and the wild sound of applause was drowned out by the announcer’s exuberant shout. “And that, ladies and gentlemen, was Nashville’s own Diamond Houston with her latest single.”
Cody started to grin at the look of pleased shock on Queen’s face.
“It’s my sister!” she shouted, pointing toward the radio.
“Wow!” Donny was duly impressed. “You mean that you have a famous sister?”
