Learning to Walk Again Read online

  Dane glared right back at him. “I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about, but I’m not going to stand by and let you insult anyone in this house. They’re not monsters. They’re angels. They were better parents to me than yours.”

  “That’s rich coming from a juvenile delinquent!” He threw his hands out in her direction. “You never appreciated anything and always did your best to ruin things.”

  Dane flinched. I ruin things? That’s what he thought of her. It shouldn’t surprise her, but it did. It was like having acid thrown in her face. How dare he blame her for what his parents did? For what his siblings did to her? She was better, and he refused to see it, like he refused to understand anything about her. He gave into the lies every other Wolfe murmured about her.

  Nicole rushed in, like she had a sixth sense for when Dane and Adam were getting into it. There was no way even her angel could salvage what was left of the moment. Nicole smiled as she looked between Dane and Adam. “What’s going on over here?”

  Adam huffed and had the nerve to glower at Nicole. “I should ask you that. What are you trying to pull? First you threaten me to let the boys go to some crappy Christmas show and now you’re trying to have them around people who deliberately hurt my mother every chance they got.”

  “You’re a liar. No one here hurt your mother,” Dane said. What the hell did Christine tell him while I was growing up with the neighbors? What did she tell everyone?

  “Of course, you’d say that because you get off on hurting Mom.” Adam threw his hands up again.

  Dane narrowed her gaze and her blood boiled. Really, what the hell was her life through his eyes? “Think you have that backwards. Not that you’d know a damn thing about me since you never bothered to look at me.”

  “Why don’t you stop whining and grow up?”

  “Funny, I’d say the same about you. Maybe you should tell your wife to let your balls outta her purse every now and then.”

  “You know what, forget this. Luke, Thomas, let’s go!” Adam motioned to the door with a swift sweep his hand.

  Somewhere in the middle of this exchange, Luke and Thomas had wisely escaped. They were off playing with Eddie, Sabrina, and Ben and hadn’t even bothered to take off their coats. Adam’s face burned bright red when he noticed the boys deeper in the house. Dane’s heart sank as she heard the laughter she had missed and knew it was about to vanish, possibly forever.

  “Luke, Thomas!” Adam called loudly. He yanked the door open. “We’re leaving!”

  Thomas groaned, bending into a slump, his arms limp and hands dangling. “Aw!”

  Luke pouted. “We just got here!”

  “Doesn’t matter. Let’s go.” Adam turned to open the door.

  “Can’t you at least leave the boys?” Nicole asked, with a touch of imploring in her voice.

  Adam sneered at her and looked at her as if she was beneath him. “No. I don’t want them around people who will teach them to disrespect their grandmother.”

  “No one here has plans to do that,” Henry spoke up, making his way to the scene. He was calm as he stared Adam down.

  “Like I believe you.” Adam curled his upper lip, grabbed both of his sons, and dragged them out of the door.

  Dane looked out into the cold, dark winter as the night engulfed her nephews. If she tried, she could imagine it was the cruel night stealing her nephews from her. She didn’t want to try. It was her brother robbing her of the only blood connection she had who didn’t scorn her. A wound tore open inside of her. This might be the last time she laid eyes on the boys. Fuck you, Adam. Fuck you so hard.

  “Danny.” She felt a hand slid into hers and she could only assume it was Nicole’s. The soft hand squeezed as Adam’s car faded into the blackness. “Danny, it’s okay.”

  That was patently untrue, but Dane swallowed that. It tasted bitter and seared her insides, but she appreciated Nicole’s attempt to comfort her. Plus, there was still a party. Still so many people who wanted to celebrate with her. She wouldn’t let Adam and his tantrum ruin the day for her. She took a deep breath and forced out a smile.

  “You’re right.” Dane held her head up high. She wasn’t sure how her voice didn’t crack. “Now, something called The Grinch is on and I don’t think I’ve ever seen it.”

  Henry laughed and clapped her on the shoulder. “Yeah, right, kid. We watched it every year.”

  Dane would take his word on that. She didn’t remember. She had learned over the past couple of months that she had forgotten some things from her childhood. It was nice to find out she had done some things, for both her and Nicole. To understand when she was a child there were people out there who loved and cared for her. There had been people who didn’t view her as an abomination. She doubted she’d ever be able to express how much that meant to her.

  She went off, back to the party. Her heart still hurt, and her throat burned. There was a void now. Some of her joy was gone and the decrease was noticeable. She wanted her nephews here, having a good time, and experiencing this wonderful moment with her. Why’d he have to do that? Why’d he have to take them away?

  About an hour after Adam’s scene, the bell rang. Dane doubted it was her brother again, so she scanned the party to see if someone stepped out. Everyone seemed to be there. She caught eyes with Nicole, who shrugged. Okay, they had an uninvited guest. Dane went to see who it was and gasped.

  “Christine.” Her mother stood before her, cheeks paler than ever thanks to the cold, but her long, blonde hair perfect as always despite the wind. They hadn’t invited her, because Dane still wasn’t sure where they stood. She couldn’t guess why Christine was there, even though Luke and Thomas were with her.

  Luke and Thomas charged in while Dane stood there, dumbstruck. Christine offered her a small smile, which didn’t help Dane find her tongue. She managed to step aside, in case Christine wanted to come in. Christine took her up on the silent offer and she shut the door.

  “You brought them back,” Dane said. Mentally, she patted herself on the back for being able to speak at all. What the hell is she playing at? Why did she do this? She hated Christine had done something that meant so much to her, and she’d never be able to let her know.

  “They cried about wanting to be here for your first Christmas party,” Christine replied. Her blue eyes drifted over the crowd, but settled back on Dane. A ghost of a smile played on her pale, pink lips, but her eyes glistened.

  Briefly, Dane wondered who told the boys it was her first Christmas party. They probably guessed since they knew a lot of things were firsts for her. Nicole was at her side before she could say anything else and her body relaxed enough to where she felt she could speak. Hopefully, there wouldn’t be any more drama.

  “What time should I come back for them?” Christine inquired.

  “You can stay if you’d like.” Nicole, polite all the way to the end.

  Christine scanned the party again, more thoroughly this time, and undoubtedly spotted Henry and Lynn. A tiny frown tensed her face. Dane wouldn’t be sad to see her go, but she was curious about the lies this woman told her family and others about Lynn and Henry over the years.

  Shaking her head, Christine pulled her thick fur coat tighter around her. “I don’t want to spoil the party. When should I come back?”

  “Well, we don’t really have a stop time, but nine should be good,” Nicole answered. There was no school tomorrow for parents or children to worry about.

  Christine nodded and took a lingering look about the house before leaving. Dane let loose a breath as soon as the door shut. She hadn’t realized how taut she was pulled until it finally let go. Nicole stared at Dane for a second, but Dane smiled.

  “I’m fine. Come on. I have to let Henry spoil more of this movie for me and get you some more sugar cookies with snowman faces before they’re gone,” Dane said.

  Dane grabbed a couple of cookies for Nicole, and they went back to watch the movie, sitting on the floor with the children. Even
tually, they served dinner and got several compliments for the meal.

  “You cook now, too?” Lynn asked Dane with a grin as she looked over the many dishes on display. The meal was set up like a buffet with pans of food lined up on the table. There was no way they’d be able to seat everyone at the table. There were baked chicken cutlets, fried chicken, roast beef, yellow and white rice, macaroni and cheese, biscuits, roasted potatoes, mixed vegetables, and cranberry sauce. For drinks, there was iced tea, fruit punch, cola, and, of course, eggnog.

  Dane chuckled. “The one good thing I picked up at my parents’ house and then perfected here.”

  Lynn’s elegant eyebrows knitted in close. “Who cooked at your parents’ house?”

  “The black chef, who they assumed could watch me by virtue of being black together.” Dane rolled her eyes. This would never cease to be the dumbest thing ever to her.

  Lynn laughed like it was the most ridiculous thing she’d ever heard, and really it probably was. But, she looked at Dane and stopped. Her expression sobered, and her eyes widened.

  “Oh, my god, you’re serious,” Lynn replied.

  “Totally serious. Nasir wasn’t as happy to have me around as you guys. He wasn’t a jerk or anything, but he didn’t feel it was his job to babysit me and he was right. He found out I was into music and used to put these amazing headphones on me when he needed me out of the way and turned me onto a lot of different types of music. When he let me help, he showed me how to make all these different dishes. It was okay, but he wasn’t you guys.” The day he quit, he cited the way Russell treated her as one of the many reasons he’d never return to the house and hoped something of biblical proportions happened to the Wolfes.

  Lynn nodded like she understood, but Dane doubted it. Few people would ever understand what it was like being in that house, having only Nasir to depend on and him not being the true caregiver she needed, wondering why the Briarmoors didn’t want her anymore. For so long, she’d been certain something was wrong with her.

  Lynn put a hand on her shoulder and at first Dane thought it was to show support, but Lynn led her away. They ended up by the glass doors of the backyard, away from the din of the party. Lynn held her hand for a second, tracing each finger with her thumb. Dane held in a relaxed sigh, thinking that might be weird.

  “You always had long fingers,” Lynn said.

  “You guys called ’em spider fingers,” Dane replied. She never really understood what that meant and for a time, forgot they said it, but whenever she met someone with long fingers, she’d tell them the same thing.

  Lynn snickered. “This is an awesome party.” There was a little awe in her voice.

  “Thanks. Had a lot of help.” Dane couldn’t help glancing at Nicole, who was making a plate for Thomas as he bounced next to her. Thomas looked dangerously close to knocking the plate out of her hands. “Maybe I should go help her with the kids and then we can talk.”

  Lynn smiled. “I’d like to talk.”

  Dane nodded, but went to help Nicole. Her stomach flipped at the notion of talking with Lynn and she liked to pretend she didn’t know why. She talked to Lynn all the time. But, this time would be different. They hadn’t seriously spoken since reuniting. They’d mostly tried to get to know each other again, relearn each other, and enjoy their time together. Not gonna mess that up.

  Dane shook her thoughts away as Nicole beamed when she arrived at the table. She smiled back and started making a plate for Luke and then Ben came out of nowhere, wanting her help as well. She ruffled Ben’s hair, earning a huge grin and giggle from him. The fact that he and Allison seemed to enjoy her attention made her heart flutter each time they smiled at her.

  “Is this gonna be as good as the cookies you made?” Ben asked, eyeing the pile of food on his plate. His mouth dropped open, and it wouldn’t have been a surprise if he drooled.

  Dane chuckled. “Well, me and Nick made everything, so I hope it is.”

  “Nick is a great cook. They make good stuff,” Luke assured Ben.

  Dane smirked. “Thanks for the vote of confidence.”

  Luke nodded. Ben looked up at her and then turned his attention to Luke. For a second, he frowned, and Dane feared something might’ve happened that she didn’t get.

  “You’re lucky you get to spend so much time with Dane,” Ben said with a dreamy sigh.

  Luke grinned. “I know. Dane and Nick are the best. We’re always happy to hang out with them. Maybe you’ll get to hang out more and we can all hang out together.”

  “I bet we will,” Ben stated with confidence.

  Dane held in a joyous grin as she prepared their plates. They really like us. Carefully, she handed them their plates and watched them trot over to Eddie. They all seemed to be getting along. Terri came, slapping her on the back.

  “You throw a good party. It’s good to see me and Crow aren’t your only friends, too. I mean, I worry,” Terri teased as she pulled Dane close, into a tight side hug. It was great that she wasn’t dressed in one of the so-called ugly Christmas sweaters. She had on jeans and a regular, button-down shirt, so Dane felt like she was dressed all right in her usual clothes.

  Dane rolled her eyes and allowed Terri to lead her off somewhere. “Did you eat already?”

  Terri scoffed, moving her short blonde hair from her face. “Twice. You’re a surprisingly good cook.”

  Dane arched an eyebrow. “Is that supposed to be a compliment?”

  Terri tilted her head in Nicole’s direction. “You want me to just give all the credit to your hot girlfriend? I can easily do that.”

  “What have I told you about checking out my girlfriend?”

  “Anyway. I’m gonna grab some cookies before the kids get back to them. Although, I think I’ve had more than all the kids combined.”

  Dane didn’t doubt that. Terri could eat. But, she was tall and physical, so it made sense. Terri pushed her a little, wanting her to go with her to get treats. She glanced over at Lynn, who was eating. Her throat tightened and her stomach locked up. She decided to go off with Terri. Crow came out of nowhere and made herself at home with them. It was nice her two friends got along. Sure, not to the level of Mina and Clara, but it was still awesome.

  Chapter Four

  NICOLE SMILED AS SHE watched Danny walk off with her friends. The children were entranced with Haydn, who ate up the attention, rubbing his head against them and licking them. He wasn’t rough with them, more protective. He seemed to realize with the children, he could hurt them if he wasn’t careful, unlike when he charged Nicole and Danny. Nicole made her way over to Henry, who was in a corner watching it all.

  “How are you doing?” Nicole asked.

  “I’m enjoying myself. Watching her. Listening to the kids tell me about it being her first Christmas party. I wish we’d had just one Christmas with her,” Henry replied, shaking his head. Lines appeared under his eyes, and he seemed quite stricken.

  Nicole blinked. “No Christmases? She said she never had a birthday party either, but you guys seem like good parents. I mean, whenever we talk to Allison and Ben, they’ve had all these incredible experiences and they’re well mannered, intelligent, and sweet. Why didn’t you do that with Danny?”

  A half smile settled on his face. “We do things with them that we wanted to do with her. We didn’t get her on Christmases, and we didn’t know when her birthday was considering her mother didn’t socialize with us much. By the time she was able to tell us when it was, we only had her a few more years and her mother…” His face twisted into a snarl and a fire shot up in his eyes for a second.

  Nicole scrunched her face up. “Her mother?”

  Henry gritted his teeth for a moment, like he held back a flood of insults he wished to heap upon Christine. His eyes glimmered. “I don’t understand that woman. I never have, never will. She gave us this amazing little bundle of pure joy, this perfect little being, and then she took her from us and ruined her.” He sniffed, balling his hands into tight fists.<
br />
  Nicole watched Danny joking around with her friends. “Not ruined. Delayed maybe.” Danny was too good to be ruined, even back when she was filled with pain and scarred by life.

  He looked at Danny, too, his eyes misty and haunted. “Yeah, delayed. I’m just happy she didn’t kill herself along the way.”

  Nicole nodded, pained to know that could’ve been a possible outcome. “That makes two of us, but why do you say her mother took her from you? I mean, you guys admitted you brought her back to her parents because she needed them.”

  “She did. That was probably our fault.”

  Nicole inhaled. They feel guilty over what happened. They’re not as horrible as they seem to think they are. Well, she had to tell herself that to hold onto Danny’s hope. “You’re going to talk to her about that, right?”

  He glanced at Lynn. “We really should. Maybe today. She’ll be more understanding, knowing there are people out there who care.”

  “I think that’s good.” Danny needed to understand why the people she saw as her parents hadn’t done as much for her as they did their biological children and what had gone wrong.

  Henry and Lynn hadn’t spoken much about when Danny was with them or what her parents might’ve done to interfere with the relationship. It was probably painful for them, like it was for Danny. They needed to start somewhere, though. Sometime.

  “You won’t lose her, you know,” Nicole said.

  Henry took a breath and scratched his forehead. “We can only hope. You know, having her until she was eight was like having a daughter. We raised Allison and Ben to know they had, essentially, a sister out there. They’ve always been fascinated with the idea of her, Allison especially. The idea of a sister meant somewhere she had a built-in friend, someone who’d accept her for who she was and wouldn’t think she was weird or awkward. Ben loved hearing about how adventurous Dane was, even though we couldn’t really take her anywhere. Now, knowing her, I don’t want to risk them losing that. I don’t think any of us would be able to take it.”