The Puppeteer

CHAPTER 26



DANI STOPPED HER CAR at the bottom of the long driveway and looked up at the adobe house perched at the other end of the drive. It was late fall in Taos and the landscape looked barren and harsh. Beautiful and rugged. She could see why people would like it here. She could even see Ty, as a young boy, hiking around the jagged mountains, exploring the unusual terrain.

Three months, Dani thought to herself as she sat in the idling car. Three months since Ty had disappeared into the waters off of Africa. Three months since she'd fled the city and all that reminded her of everything they'd had together. The chance they'd lost.

She still had a hard time accepting that he was dead. His GPS had been found on a bit of the boat that was pulled from the water. There hadn't been a body, nothing to prove if he'd lived or died, nothing to say goodbye to.

She glanced at the house and wondered if she was doing the right thing. Would Ty's parents want to be reminded of their lost son? But looking at the house, the question vanished. Replaced by the memory of Ty's voice telling her about his family, how close they were, and how much they loved each other.

And it was for Ty that she was here, waiting to gather enough courage to introduce herself to his parents. She could have gone a lifetime without the meeting, without the reminder of what would never be, but she owed it to Ty. And herself.

And their baby.

She placed her hand on her belly. It was the one good thing to come from her injury. The sound waves that caused her heart attack had affected other parts of her body, rendering the birth control shots she received unreliable. They hadn't known then. And for that she was glad, because if they had, they would have taken extra precautions and she'd have nothing left of Ty.

She put the car in gear and slowly made her way up the driveway. When she reached the top, she turned off the engine and, before she could chicken out, opened her door, slid from her seat, and closed the door behind her.

Pulling her jacket tight around her, Dani made her way to the front door. It opened before she knocked and an attractive woman, who looked be in her sixties but with eyes like her son, stood before her.

“Is everything okay, dear?” she asked. “I saw you down on the drive. It's not a great day to be out. Come in,” she beckoned. Speechless, Dani followed.

The door closed behind her and a man appeared in the hallway.

“Is everything okay, Jeannie?” he asked, his eyes on Dani's. Dani blinked at the man who so resembled Ty his face was like looking into the future, at what could have been, and then she suddenly found herself embraced in a tight hug from Jeannie Fuller.

“It's okay, dear. It will all be okay,” she soothed. Dani took a few deep breaths only to find herself crying in the arms of this stranger. And then something broke and, after months, she let the grief take hold.

She didn't know how long she cried, or how long afterward she slept. But, when she awoke, she was lying on the couch, in front of a roaring fire, wrapped in a quilt. Jeannie was knitting in a chair beside her and Ty's father was reading the paper. He looked so much like an older version of Ty that she couldn't help staring.

“How are you feeling, now? Can I get you something to drink?” Jeannie's voice cut through the haze. Dani glanced back to the woman and then, embarrassed by what had happened, she swung her legs off the couch and began to stand.

“Sit, Dani. It's okay,” Ty's father spoke.

Dani stared at the couple, easing back down onto the couch, before she found her voice. “You know who I am?”

“From the moment you stepped out of the car,” Jeannie answered. “You look a little different than the photo Ty sent all those months ago. But I saw the resemblance. And then, when you looked at Christopher,” she added with a nod to Ty's father. “We knew it was you.”

“Ty sent a picture?” She knew she must sound crazy or stupid, but it was news to her.

Jeannie smiled and nodded. “He loved you.”

Dani blinked to keep the tears welling in her eyes from falling. “I—” she stopped and cleared her throat. “I love him, too,” she managed to say.

“And that's our grandbaby?” she asked with a nod to Dani's barely-there stomach. Dani nodded in response. And Jeannie smiled.

“Well, Christopher,” she said, turning to Ty's father. “What do think about another grandbaby?”

Christopher Fuller smiled at his wife, and then turned to Dani. “I can't tell you how glad we are that you've come.”

Dani swallowed back another set of tears before she spoke again. “You know what happened, right? You know he went after a man because of me?” Somehow it was important to her to say what she was going say, to make sure they knew that Ty's disappearance was her fault.

Christopher frowned. “Did you tell him to go?” Dani shook her head. “Did you force him to go?” Again, she shook her head. “If Ty hadn't gone after this man, would he have come after you or done something else awful?”

“Someone else would have gotten to him first,” she answered. “It didn't have to be Ty.”

“But would he have? Would this man have come after you or someone else?” Christopher pressed. And Dani nodded.

“Then he went because he needed to,” Christopher pronounced.

“But—” Dani started to protest, but stopped when Jeannie's hand touched her arm.

“Dani, he loved you. He did what he thought was best for both of you. It's not your fault. It's not anyone's fault but the person who killed him. Do you understand?” Jeannie fixed her with a look and, though Dani wasn't yet convinced, she found herself nodding.

“Good, now that we have that out of the way, what are your plans for the baby?” Jeannie sat back and took up her knitting again.

“I don't know,” Dani hesitated. “I've been driving around for the last couple of months. Wandering. Trying to heal, I guess. Or run,” she added with a self-deprecating smile. “I haven't been in touch with anyone but my sister. She wants me to come back to the city, but I don't think I'm ready for that.”

“What about your parents?” Christopher asked.

“They're dead,” Dani answered, able to say it for the first time without a sense of panic. “They were killed when I was thirteen by the same man Ty went after in Africa.”

Both Jeannie and Christopher looked up at this bit of information.

“You saw it?” Jeannie asked. That she already knew the answer was clear in her voice, but Dani nodded.

“And did Ty get him? This man?” Christopher asked. Again, Dani nodded as the two exchanged a look.

“Good then, I think it's settled,” Jeannie spoke.

“What's settled?” Dani asked.

“You'll stay here with us,” Jeannie spoke. It was a statement, but when the older woman met Dani's eyes, Dani saw the question there, saw the woman's hope for her grandchild, her love for her son, and her desire to have what was left of him.

“If that's alright with you,” she added. Dani's eyes went from Jeannie to Christopher and then swept the room. As she nodded in agreement, a feeling of how right the decision was wrapped around her like a blanket. Almost everything had been taken from her, her parents, Ty, even her career. But looking at Ty's parents, she knew this was a gift, that the baby was a gift. And she could all but hear Ty saying “Take it, you deserve it. We deserve it.” And so she did.