Reckless Radiance by Kate Roth Page B

didn’t comprehend why until George continued.
    “Val really seems to like you. Hell, I like you. So I’m gonna overlook the circumstances of how ya got here. I don’t know how well you know my girl but you should know she’s been through the ringer and the last thing she needs is to be hurt. If you can’t understand that then you shouldn’t stay,” George said. His eyes left Russell’s but he didn’t move. Russell hid a smile. He’d never before experienced the kind of nervousness that came from a conversation with a girl’s father. He knew exactly what George meant though. He knew all about her past, a fact that was just one of the many secrets hanging between them. He had found her to protect her. He couldn’t imagine hurting Valerie but it was a father’s duty to present this warning.
    “I understand. I will be staying as long as she’ll have me,” Russell said.
    George smiled and Russell noticed that Valerie and her father shared the same eye color. It was a hazel that was a lovely mixture of green and blue with slight slivers of brown bursting around the pupil. He followed George in through the waist-high fence where large hens roamed through the grass, pecking at the ground.
    Russell would never know what it was like to have a parent. His eye color was a choice. His smile was organic, not learned or given to him. The pull he felt toward Valerie was keeping him with her but he also knew there was nowhere else for him to go. Since the moment he defied his angel brethren, he became alone in the world. He’d orphaned himself by choice for her.
     

Chapter Fifteen
     
    Her eyes locked on her trembling hand as it rose to knock on the red door. The last time she’d seen it it had been pale blue. Somehow red looked better but the change made her stomach twist at yet another realization of things moving on. Two quick raps on the wood and she felt short of breath. The sound of footsteps within the house sent a chill through her bones.
    The door opened and there she was. Valerie stared at Alicia and took in how different she looked. Her face had filled out and her short chocolate colored hair, though specked with silver strands, had a brilliant shine. She no longer wore the tired eyes that seemed to define each of them for a year. Words didn’t come to Valerie quick enough but her tension faded when she saw the tender smile that formed on Alicia’s face as she recognized her.
    “Hi,” Valerie said.
    Alicia stepped forward and wrapped her arms around her causing Valerie to nearly melt. Pulling back, Valerie saw Alicia’s eyes had grown glassy with the threat of tears. She smiled wide and waved her inside. “Come in, please,” she said.
    Walking into the house was like stepping into a dream. Things had been moved and rooms redecorated. “Emily just called and said she ran into you. I was really hoping you’d come by,” Alicia said. She led Valerie to the living room and they sat down.
    She tried to shake the remorse that tickled the back of her mind telling her what a terrible person she was for not coming home sooner.
    “Congratulations. I heard you’re about to be a bride,” Valerie said with a timid smile.
    Alicia laughed and absently looked at her left hand. A sparkling diamond on a gold band perched on her ring finger. It was simple but stunning. Valerie glanced at her own bare left hand out of reflex and felt her throat tighten.
    “It’s funny how it all worked out. I never expected to love another man after Gabriel’s father but I guess what we need comes to us at just the right time. My fiancé would say the Lord works in mysterious ways ,” Alicia mused.
    A flutter rolled through her chest at the mention of his name and she smiled. For so long Valerie believed she’d never love again. Gabriel had been her one true love. But she wondered … maybe there was room for two. Maybe what Valerie needed had come to her at the right time. She’d lost her faith long ago but for a moment she