“Hello!” Megan cried.
“You must be Megan. We are so happy you are here. I’m Constance, and these are all my children. You met Dominic. Oldest to youngest, this is Damaris, Delphine, Danny, Dean, Daisy, David, and Desmond,” Constance said, gesturing to each child.
Megan just looked at them all for a moment, as if processing all the new information. “I’m so happy to meet you all!” she cried, running to them and greeting each of them. Danny stiffened at first when Megan hugged him, but Adriana didn’t miss how his serious expression softened into a smile.
“I’m so glad you’re here!” Daisy cried, grabbing Megan’s hands. “We are going to be the best of friends. I just know it. I can teach you how to ride horses and take care of the animals, and you can tell me all about what it’s like to be an Englisher. We can play games outside and jump rope. Oh, and I will teach you how to play all kinds of games like Dutch Blitz.”
“If you want to learn how to feed the animals, you have to wake up early,” Desmond said, yawning. “I don’t like waking up early.”
“I don’t mind,” Megan said with a laugh. “I want to learn everything about this place.”
“I’m allergic to the hay, so I don’t like going in the barn,” Dean said, then sneezed.
“You’re allergic to everything, Dean!” Daisy said, and they all laughed.
As the other children talked with Megan, Delphine hid behind her mother’s skirt, watching.
“Hello, there. Are you Delphine?” Megan asked, kneeling down to the small girl.
Delphine nodded, and after a moment, she walked up to Megan and hugged her.
“I think they are going to be the best of friends,” Adriana said to Dominic with a smile.
“Come on, let’s go play hide and seek!” Daisy yelled, and all the children ran to the backyard.
***
“Dominic,” Damaris said, pulling her brother aside as the children went out back and Constance and Adriana went inside the house. “I need to talk to you about something.”
“Can we do this later? So much is happening right now with Megan arriving, and I want to make sure she feels at home,” Dominic said, starting to walk away.
“No. Wait!” Damaris said, much louder than she’d intended.
Dominic stopped and stared at her. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
“Come on. Let’s go in the barn.” Pivoting on her heel, she stalked off toward the barn, not bothering to look behind her to see if he was following.
“What’s going on? You’re acting strange,” Dominic said as they stepped inside. The scent of hay and manure filled the air.
“I need to apologize to you,” Damaris began.
“Look, I know you and Adriana didn’t get off on the right foot, but she’ll forgive you for being rude to her.” Dominic waved his hand. “It’s okay, Damaris.”
“Listen to me, brother!” Damaris shouted, and the horses looked up from their hay, ears pinned back as if listening in on their conversation. She took a deep breath, calming herself, and said in a softer tone, “For once, stop trying to fix everything, and just listen to what I have to say. No interrupting.”
“Okay. I won’t interrupt. I’m sorry.” Dominic raised his hands, palms up. “Continue.”
“I have to apologize for a lot more than just being rude to Adriana. You need to understand why I was. As you know, I wanted you to end up with Margaret, but I don’t think you know the real reason why.”
Dominic just looked at her silently, eyebrows raised.
“The truth is, I thought if you married Margaret, you’d stay here forever with us. I was worried you might fall for Adriana, then you’d leave again, like you did before. And you would have, if she’d asked you to.”
“Yes, I told her I would do anything to be with her.”
“Don’t you see? I couldn’t bear to lose you again, Dominic. When you left last time, it destroyed me. You’ve always been my true best friend, even more so than Margaret. And after Daed died, I realized you were the last father figure left in my life. I need you, brother. It was selfish of me, but I did some wrong things trying to keep you here,” Damaris explained. “And not only was I sad when you were gone, but I was angry at you for leaving, too. You left me here, as the next oldest child, to do everything. I needed your help. But you were gone.”
“Oh, Damaris, you’ve always been my best friend, too. But I didn’t realize you felt that way. I’m sorry,” Dominic said, grabbing her hand. “I guess I never realized all of this. I should have known you’d step up and take all the responsibility while I was gone. I was ignorant. I should have known.”
Finally, he understood her perspective. She felt relief and some satisfaction, but it was squandered by dread filling her belly.
“There’s something else. While you were gone, I prayed for you to return. I didn’t care what price you had to pay, I just wanted you back here for my own selfish reasons. But today I was thinking about the day you came back, and how sad you were that Eliza had died. I was just happy you were back, and I didn’t realize it then, but I realize it now… I think my prayers caused Eliza to die.” Tears rolled down her cheeks. “Please, don’t hate me.”
“Damaris!” Dominic gently grasped her shoulders. “I could never hate you. I’ll love you no matter what. But why do you think your prayers caused her to die?”
“Because I prayed for you to come back, and I didn’t care how or why. I think God killed Eliza to answer my prayers.” Damaris let out a sob, and her shoulders shook as Dominic hugged her.
“No, Damaris. That’s not true. I don’t know why Eliza died, but it’s not your fault. It was the drunk driver’s fault. Please don’t think for a second that you are guilty.”
She sniffed, reaching up to wipe her eyes as he released her. “You sure?”
“I’m sure. It’s not your fault at all. Don’t feel bad about asking God to bring me back here. God works in mysterious ways, and often we don’t know the reasons why.”
“Well… There is more I have to tell you,” she squeaked out.
Would he hate her after hearing what she was about to confess?
He gave her a confused look, as if wondering what else she possibly had to admit.
“I was so intent on keeping you here and separating you and Adriana that I was the one who spread the rumors about her at church,” Damaris admitted, staring down at the hay-covered barn floor. “Somehow, I thought it might make Adriana uncomfortable enough to leave, then I thought you might forget about her and finally court Margaret. It was a terrible, stupid idea. I see now how wrong I was. I am so sorry, and I understand if I’ve lost your trust. Clearly, the two of you are meant to be together. I just hope you can forgive me one day for being such a vile, wretched sister.”
Silence.
For several long moments, Damaris couldn’t lift her eyes from the floor, just wondering what was going through her brother’s mind. Would he ever speak to her again?
She’d been so focused on keeping her best friend and brother here, but did she just lose him forever in the process?