Chapter Thirty

Dante

It was nearly time for church, and I was pacing in and out of my office at the ward building, checking for the missing female members of my family. Becca and the girls should have been here by now. I stifled irritation that stemmed more from worry and a lack of sleep than from any upset she’d caused by her absence. How strange the house felt without her, how empty our bed. How needy the boys. Did she feel this way when I was gone?

The thought made me smile. Becca didn’t worry about things like that. If she was awake when I was at late meetings, she did laundry or cleaned the house, made kids’ lunches, or prepared something for Primary. I grimaced at how dull that all sounded. No wonder she’d jumped at the chance to go to Saint George.

No, you idiot. You convinced her to go. Truth was, Rikki was right. I took Becca for granted, and I suspected if I didn’t do something about that right now, it might become a problem. Sending her to Saint George for a well-deserved day off was a step in the right direction, though in the possessiveness of my soul, I hated the very idea.

Then again, with the girls and Rikki’s kids, it probably hadn’t been all that much of a vacation. Rikki shouldn’t have forced Becca to take her. What had they talked about? And where were they, anyway? The trip didn’t take more than five hours, even with the necessary rest room stops.

What was taking her so long? Maybe I shouldn’t have let her go.

Let her?

As though it was up to me to give her permission.

While she’d been gone, I’d been busy every second—most of which had nothing to do with my calling as a bishop. There had been dishes to wash, counters to wipe, homework to deal with, and all kinds of unimaginable cleanup that I normally took for granted. And to think I’d only had half the children, and I hadn’t had to prepare food from scratch. I was amazed at how easily Becca handled everything in the house. I’d done my best, but the kitchen already looked rumpled around the edges.

I’d spent my rare evening alone at home replacing a broken light switch in the main upstairs bathroom and fixing the door to Cory’s room, which had mysteriously fallen off its hinges. Mysteriously. Right. Things tended to self-destruct where Cory was concerned. Too bad he was so dang cute or I might hold it against him. When I was finished, there’d been no one to ooh and aah over the job. The boys hadn’t seemed all that impressed.

What if Becca never came back? Though I knew the idea was ridiculous, it made me feel ill all the same. I couldn’t imagine life without Becca, yet I was starting to believe that she was nowhere near as happy as I was in our relationship. And why should she be? When was the last time I’d surprised her with a night away? When had I last made reservations somewhere just because I loved her?

I was about to call her when I heard Lauren’s loud voice in the foyer. “Mom, can I sit by James?”

“No, you’ll sit with the family.”

I rushed from the office, and there was Becca, wearing a bright red blouse I’d never seen before with a black skirt. She looked fabulous, and if we hadn’t been at church, I would have grabbed her and kissed her like a drowning man. Was it the red that brought that color to her cheeks?

“Hi,” she said a bit breathlessly.

“I was getting worried,” I said.

“Worried about us getting in an accident, or about us being here on time?”

What kind of a question was that? My confusion must have shown in my face because Becca gave a quick shake of her head. “Never mind. We’ll talk later.” Her hand touched my cheek, and suddenly everything was right with my world.

Behind Becca, Rikki caught my eye. She was smirking at me, but I didn’t show my irritation. Kyle, on the other hand, was almost unrecognizable. Someone had pulled back her hair, and her makeup was tasteful. I knew somehow Becca was responsible. I shook Kyle’s hand. “Good to see you,” I said.

She smiled shyly. “Thanks.”

“And me?” Rikki said.

“Always nice to see you, Rikki. But you’d better go in now. It’s starting.” I took my own advice and hurried up to the podium. As usual, the members noticed when Rikki came in, and hands were raised in friendly greeting. Sister Gillman briefly grabbed onto Kyle’s hand, her mouth moving. I hoped whatever she said didn’t destroy all Becca’s good work with the child. But Kyle smiled and went on her way. Rikki sat on the same row as Becca, with James and Lauren next to each other. Becca would have her hands full. She didn’t seem to mind, though. The smile on her face made her seem dreamy and young and a bit like someone I didn’t know very well. A tremor shuddered up my back, but when Becca caught and held my eye, I was okay again.

Silly, I thought and pulled my mind back to what I was going to say after the opening hymn.