Picture Perfect Family

“Come on and I’ll show you our house we built last night,” Kaden said, moving down a hallway and past two studio rooms with backdrops and props stuffed into every corner.

The hall was filled with senior portraits of kids from Claremont High, some in formal wear and others outdoors. Each photo captured the personality of the teen, whether a boy in his baseball or football uniform, or a girl in an evening gown. It wasn’t what they were wearing but the way they looked that made the teens stand out, as though Mandy had depicted their very essence in the shot.

“Stunning,” he said.

“It’s upstairs,” Kaden called, not hearing Daniel’s comment and passing through the kitchen where a Crock-Pot held something that Daniel assumed was taco soup. The seasonings filled the air and caused his stomach to growl.

Kaden evidently heard. “Hey, you hungry?”

“It just smells good,” Daniel said.

“Aunt Mandy cooks great,” he said. “You staying to eat with us?”

Daniel inhaled another spicy whiff. “I certainly hope so,” he said without thinking, then realized that Mandy would probably toss him out the door as soon as she returned. Or throw a little extra Tabasco in his bowl.

“Cool!” Kaden continued through the kitchen to start up a stairway lined with landscape photos.

Daniel surveyed these with equal interest. Several featured the heart-shaped pond at Hydrangea Park in the midst of the annual Valentine’s display, pink lights and roses covering gazebos, the arched entrance and silhouettes of couples throughout. The Smoky Mountains, their dark heights capped with stark white snow and garnished with the pale gray clouds that earned their name. Again, beautiful and breathtaking. The last photo was a white sandy beach at dusk, a red-gold sun dipping in the distance and a little boy putting the finishing touches on an elaborate sandcastle complete with turrets, a moat and a bridge that appeared to be made out of Popsicle sticks.

Daniel stepped closer, because that little boy looked very familiar. “Kaden?”

Kaden had already topped the stairs, but started back down. “Yeah?”

“Is that you?” He pointed to the photo.

“Yep. Aunt Mandy took me to the beach and helped me build the best sandcastle in the world.” He grinned, his pride shining through. “Then she took my picture for her contests.”

“Her contests?”

“Yep. If she wins, she’ll get in the big glammeries. That’s her dream. Aunt Mandy says everybody’s got dreams that they want, and she wants the glammeries. Not a little glammery, like hers, but really big glammeries.”

“Glammeries?”

“Where they show her pictures for lots and lots of people,” Kaden explained.

Daniel kept his laugh in check. “Galleries?”

“Yep, that’s it,” Kaden said, then turned, obviously anxious to get upstairs. “That’s Aunt Mandy’s dream. My dream is a secret, and Aunt Mandy says that’s okay. I can keep it a secret if I want to.”

Daniel instantly wondered what dream Kaden had, but he didn’t ask. Instead, he answered, “Yes, you can.” With each passing minute, he grew more and more touched by Kaden’s relationship with Mandy. Why wouldn’t she be content to raise this amazing kid? But he’d read that email, and even if it wasn’t how she was feeling today, he believed that deep inside she still felt that Kaden was something of a burden. Daniel was certain that the email hadn’t been a misinterpretation of her feelings. Not entirely, anyway.

“Come on, and I’ll show you our house we made.”

Growing up, Daniel had known that Mia and Mandy lived above the photo shop with their grandparents, but he’d never seen the upstairs portion until now. It was small but neat and filled with antique furniture and an abundance of photos.

Some of the pictures were older, obviously taken by Mandy’s grandfather, the town’s only photographer when Daniel had been younger. But when they entered Kaden’s room, he found that his nephew’s walls were filled with photos that had undoubtedly been taken by Mandy. Pictures of Mia and Jacob snuggling a baby Kaden. Mia kneeling behind Kaden as he learned to walk, his chubby arms reaching out toward Jacob and his excited grin stretching across his little face. Daniel viewed several more photos of the happy family at various stages of Jacob and Mia’s four short years with Kaden, and then one more photo that caused Daniel pause.

Daniel and Jacob stood in the hospital hallway after Kaden’s birth. Beside the nursery door, they draped arms around each other and punched opposite fists in the air as they cheered for the arrival of Jacob and Mia’s beautiful baby boy. There were many pictures of the Brantley twins celebrating. Some were taken in end zones, others at home plate and others at center court. But none meant more to Daniel than this particular event.

He’d been so happy when Jacob had rushed from the delivery room to yell the news. A beautiful, healthy baby boy had joined the Brantley family. Daniel had looked forward to the day when Jacob would celebrate the birth of Daniel’s firstborn in the same manner.

Now that would never happen.

His heart clenched in his chest. He remembered that moment when the photo had been taken like it was yesterday. Before now, he’d thought he only had the memory. He had no idea Mandy had captured it on film.

“That’s you and Daddy,” Kaden said. “You were happy.”

He swallowed. “Yes, we sure were, because you were just born.”

“I know,” Kaden said matter-of-factly. “Aunt Mandy told me.” He pointed to the other side of the room. “There it is. Cool, huh?”

Daniel turned to follow his finger and saw a table covered from one edge to the other with the most elaborate log cabin he’d ever seen. With three full levels, it took up the entire table.

“It’s called a wilderness lodge,” Kaden said. “That’s what Aunt Mandy said. We found it in there.” He pointed to a thick book in a wooden chair nearby.

Daniel picked up the book. “Building Dream Homes with Lincoln Logs,” he read aloud.

“Yep,” Kaden said. “Look, we’ve got a gate over here and a place for our animals, but we haven’t bought animals yet. We were gonna make a barn for the animals, too, but we ran out of room, so Aunt Mandy has gotta get another table. Just a little one, since we’re already using a bunch of space in here and this is where I like to play.”

“I see.” Daniel did see. There was only one wall in Kaden’s room that wasn’t graced with family photos, and that wall instead housed bookshelves that were the width and height of the entire wall.

And the shelves weren’t empty. On the contrary, they were filled with all kinds of books on parenting; raising little boys; building sandcastles; playing baseball; learning to ride a bicycle; how to safely catch and raise frogs, turtles and lizards, and every other subject that might be appealing to a woman trying to raise a four-year-old boy. The bottom two shelves were filled with books for said boy, great bedtime stories. Daniel was thrilled to see that several of those books were Bible stories. David and Goliath, Jonah and the Whale, Moses and the Ten Commandments.

“Do you know where we can get the animals for the barn?” Kaden asked. “Aunt Mandy was going to take me to the store today after we went to the park, but then we ran out of gas. Do you know where to buy toy animals?”

“I’m not sure.” Daniel assumed the Tiny Tots Treasure Box was still the place to go for toys on the square, but he wasn’t certain whether Mr. Feazell carried the kind of animals Kaden would want for his wilderness lodge.

“That’s okay. Aunt Mandy will know.”

“Well, if she doesn’t, I’m sure she’ll find out,” he said, still surprised at the amount of effort she was obviously putting into raising Kaden.

A bell echoed through the home, and Kaden took off toward the stairs. “Customers,” he said. “Come on.”

Daniel followed him as he barreled down the stairs, through the kitchen and then through the studio-lined hallway to reach the main store.

“Oh, hey!” Kaden yelled.

“Well, hello,” a woman’s voice said.

Daniel caught up and rounded the corner to see Jessica Martin and her two children in the gallery. Her son stood by her side and her little girl slept sweetly on Jessica’s shoulder with her thumb hanging from her mouth.

“Well, hey, Daniel. I asked Mandy earlier if you were back in town yet. I saw in the church bulletin on Sunday that you took the job as youth minister. Can’t tell you how excited Chad and I were to see that.”

“Thanks. I’m pretty excited myself. Glad to be back home, especially with Kaden here.” He squeezed Kaden’s shoulders.

Jessica glanced around the shop. “So, is Mandy here?”

“No, we ran out of gas, and Uncle Daniel helped us, but now she’s getting the gas in the truck so she can come back here,” Kaden said, visibly trying to sound like the knowledgeable “big boy” in front of Nathan, who nodded as though he were the only one needing an explanation.

“Well, I’m glad you were able to help.” Jessica opened her purse and pulled out a card. “I remembered after we left that I didn’t think to give Mandy my cell number. Since the photos are a surprise for Chad’s birthday, I wanted to drop by and give it to her. Can you pass this on to her?”

“Sure,” Daniel said, taking the card.

“You want to go see my log house?” Kaden asked Nathan. “Aunt Mandy got this book to show us how to make it. It’s called a wilderness lodge, cause if it was real, it’d be in the wilderness. That’s what Aunt Mandy said.”

“Oh, that’s so nice of you to ask, Kaden,” Jessica said. “But I was about to head over to Scraps and Crafts to pick up a few things for the daycare. Maybe I can bring Nathan back sometime when he can play with you awhile, or maybe you could come over to our house and play sometime.”

“Okay,” Kaden said, his disappointment evident.

Jessica looked thoughtful. “You know, I’m going to be busy looking at things for the daycare, but Nathan will probably want to check out some of the toys she keeps at the back of the store. Would you like to come look at those with him?”

“Do you think they have farm animals? I need some for my wilderness lodge,” Kaden said.

“I don’t know, but you could check and see,” Jessica said.

Kaden turned to Daniel. “Can I go? Please?”

Daniel was taken aback at first that Kaden would ask his permission. He wasn’t his parent or guardian. But he wanted to be, very much. And he couldn’t deny that it felt good to have even a semblance of what that role would entail. “I think that’d be fine,” he said.

“Cool!”

“We’ll be back soon,” Jessica said. “Twenty minutes tops.”

“Sounds great,” Daniel said, then caught Kaden’s attention before he headed out the door. “Hey, Kaden, come here a minute.”

Kaden darted back to Daniel with a questioning gaze. “Yes, sir?”

Have mercy, he was a sweet kid. “Here you go, in case you find some animals that will work for your lodge.” He withdrew his wallet and pulled out a five.

“Wow, Uncle Daniel!” Kaden said, grinning. “Thanks!” Then he turned and joined Nathan near the door.

“We won’t be long,” Jessica repeated. “I still have to cook supper.”

“Take your time,” Daniel said, and moved to open the door so she could pass through with Lainey now softly snoring on her shoulder.

He watched them walk away, started back through the shop and heard a commotion in the back that he could only assume was the store’s owner. Daniel calmly passed through the hall and beyond the two studios to the rear entrance behind the kitchen where, sure enough, Mandy threw her keys on a counter, dropped her purse and blew long dark bangs from her eyes. She looked up and announced, “I’m not leaving, Daniel.”

Have mercy, she was even prettier when she was mad. “Well, fancy that, Mandy. Neither am I.”

Chapter Four

Mandy’s mind was made up, and there was nothing Daniel Brantley could do to change it. The entire drive from the gas station to the town square, Mia’s words kept reverberating through her mind.

“Mandy, please, promise me. Take care of Kaden.” On that awful night in the emergency room before Mia’s last breath, Mandy had made that promise, and since that night she’d done exactly that, she had taken care of Kaden. Then, because of one bad day and an impulsive email, Daniel thought he could traipse back into town and take over, discount everything she’d done right because of one little thing she did wrong.

Fixated on how bad a mistake it was to send that stupid email, Mandy had slammed the door, flung her keys and tossed her purse. Then she got that eerie sick feeling that someone was watching her, and she lost her breath. Then again, this was the same guy that had continually taken her breath away throughout middle school and high school. Back then it was because he was the most gorgeous guy she’d ever seen. Now it was because she was startled to find six feet of mostly muscled and quite magnificent male suddenly standing in the middle of her kitchen.

But there he stood, piercing blue eyes, sandy hair that was never fixed but always looked absolutely perfect, strong cheekbones and a mouth that seemed to harbor a perpetual semi smirk each and every time he looked at Mandy. Unquestionably still the most attractive man ever. She’d known he was here with Kaden, so it shouldn’t have surprised her to run smack-dab into him when she entered the back of her home. But it did, and she had to concentrate to control her racing pulse.

Why did the entire package of Daniel Brantley still cause her knees to sway, even when he’d upset her enough to make her want to fling something at that beautifully chiseled face? He was a missionary that looked like a model, plain and simple. Who’d ever heard of such?

She’d anticipated his response the whole way over. “Okay, so now that we know neither of us is budging from Claremont, it all boils down to this. Kaden and I have been doing very well without you. I wish you would believe me, Daniel.”

He gave her a look that said he was less than convinced.

She changed tactics. “Listen, I know how important your mission work is to you, and I know you’d planned to stay in Africa several more years. It makes me feel terrible—” she put a hand to her heart for emphasis “—absolutely terrible that my email caused you to leave that behind.” She paused, shook her head, and repeated with as much emotion as she could muster, “Really, you didn’t need to come back.”

Come on, Daniel. It’s the truth. Why can’t you just believe me?

“But I’m here now, and I’m staying,” he said flatly.

There was no point in arguing. Like her grandmother had always predicted, her impulsive nature was coming back to bite her in the behind. She had always wanted to leave Claremont and see the world, and Daniel knew it thanks to that impromptu proposal when she’d been seventeen. But that desire faded away the night Mia died. Now she wanted nothing more than to be a good mother figure to Kaden and stay put in Claremont.

Unfortunately that foolish email caused Daniel, the person who could most threaten her custody of Kaden, to believe otherwise.

“I’m staying, Mandy.” His repeated words were deliberate and determined.

She refused to let him believe she would back down. “Then we need to come up with a compromise, because I promised Mia I’d take care of Kaden—and I’m not about to break that promise. I love him, and despite what I implied in that foolish email, I’ve never regretted being here with Kaden.” She exhaled deeply. “Yes, I wanted to travel abroad and photograph the world, but I’ve learned that photography here can be equally challenging. Truth is, I really enjoy living in Claremont. I’m perfectly content to stay here permanently and raise Kaden the way Mia and Jacob wanted.”

She wished it didn’t sound so much like she was trying to convince herself instead of the stunning man standing in her kitchen. And did she have to always focus on how gorgeous he was? Or how manly he smelled, with that hint of crisp mint, or pine, or whatever it was.

Mandy, get a grip. He wants custody of Kaden, and you can’t let that happen. Or lose your focus because he still happens to make you weak-kneed.

“I mean it, Daniel. I want to stay here. I want to raise Kaden. And I want to keep custody.”

“I know,” he said, no further explanation than that. He knew she wanted custody, but apparently he was going to try to get it, anyway. He calmly pulled out a chair and sat at the kitchen table as though he belonged here, in the middle of her home and in the middle of her life. And Mandy realized that if he was determined to stick around, then that’s where he’d be, in the middle of her life from now on. Mandy Carter and Daniel Brantley, working together to raise a child. She’d had a vision, a dream, of something very similar to that a few years ago.

A shiver of apprehension shimmied down her spine at that awareness. Could she handle being around Daniel that much? And hearing him make little comments without explanation, like the one he’d just made? Back when she was in middle school and he was in high school, she’d been completely in awe by every statement that came out of that pretty mouth. She’d been too intimidated by the great Daniel Brantley to call him on any of his baffling remarks. “You’ll understand when you’re older, Mandy.” She’d heard that from Daniel, Jacob—and even Mia—continually. And hated it each and every time. But that was when the four years age difference between them made her feel inferior. When she was twelve and they were sixteen, those years had been huge. But now that Daniel was twenty-eight and she twenty-four … not so much.

Daniel seemed all-knowing and all-powerful back then, like he’d experienced so much more than she ever had or ever would. But Mandy had also experienced plenty since that time. She’d lost almost everyone she cared about, and she’d survived. More than that, she’d kept a promise by taking care of the little boy that meant the world to her. So she was not intimidated by Daniel anymore. She knew that she was a good mother figure to Kaden. She simply had to figure out how to convince Daniel—and probably a judge—of that fact.

The reminder of her status as mom caused her to realize that she hadn’t heard any movement upstairs since she’d entered the house. “Where’s Kaden?” She sure didn’t want him overhearing this conversation.

“Jessica Martin came by to bring you her cell number,” Daniel said. “It’s over there on the counter.” He motioned to a small white card near the telephone. “And she invited Kaden to go to the craft store with her, Nathan and Lainey. I assumed it would be okay with you. Is it okay?”

She blinked, finding a modicum of pleasure that he was at least asking her approval, even if after the fact. “Yes, of course it’s okay,” she said. “I want him to make new friends, and he’s really hit it off with Nathan.”

Daniel nodded. “That’s what I thought.” He motioned to the chair across the table. “Mandy, since we’ve got a little time before Kaden comes back, let’s talk about custody.”

Her stomach pitched with the mention of the word, but she swallowed past the nauseous feeling, said, “Okay,” and sat in the chair.

He clasped his hands in front of him, and Mandy was drawn to the tan skin, the disarming masculinity that radiated from Daniel Brantley, even in the shape of his hands. Would the fact that he was male and could teach Kaden boy things better than Mandy play a factor in court, if they ended up in a war over custody? Did gender count in custody battles? Mandy had no clue. No one had ever fought for custody of her or Mia growing up. They were blessed that their grandparents wanted them. As far as their parents were concerned, they’d never known the identity of their father, and their mother had left Claremont right after Mandy’s birth and never returned.

But Kaden wouldn’t grow up thinking no one wanted him. Mandy wanted him, and she would fight for him starting right now. “I think we’ve established that I want custody, Daniel.”

His mouth tightened then he nodded. “Mandy, I believe that you think you want to stay in Claremont and raise Kaden. But I also believe that there was a hint of truth in that email. Yes, you were having a bad day, but the words in that message were clearly coming from your desire to leave.”

She blew out an exasperated breath. “I was sick. I was exhausted. Everyone says things they don’t mean when they’re not feeling well, Daniel,” she said, proud of herself for keeping her voice steady and calm when she really wanted to scream.

“That’s probably true,” he said. “But you’ve said the same thing before.” Those blue eyes lifted to find hers and cast her right back to that night seven years ago when she’d begged him to marry her and take her away from her horrible, tiny hometown.

“I didn’t mean it then, either,” Mandy snapped and struggled not to flinch as she told the lie.

His eyes said he knew differently. “I want custody.”

Mandy imagined the two of them in court pleading their cases for why they should raise Kaden. What court would give her custody over a missionary? Especially a missionary that had an email from her saying that she thought Kaden was a burden. But Daniel would never bring that email to court. Would he?

If he wanted Kaden that badly, he might. Mandy knew she would, if the tables were turned. That wave of nausea grew stronger. She inhaled through her nose, focused on maintaining composure.

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