Nightchild--The SeriesBook 1--Falling

Chapter 19

Destiny-1986

Blythe became Mrs. Nathan Wade Stevens in Houston where they'd flown and stayed a few days before heading back to Nate's home outside of Dallas. There were no family or friends present at the ceremony; strangers stood beside the couple to witness their vows. The situation had been discussed with both Nate and Blythe agreeing it would be best to keep the plans for the wedding simple and quiet, not letting anyone know until the deed was actually done, for they were not expected to return from Mexico for another week and no one would be any the wiser.

As a wedding gift, Nate presented Blythe with a classic mint condition MG-TS, remembering they had seen one on the bricked streets of Puerto Vallarta and she had expressed a desire to someday own one, should she ever settle down. The car was not just a present but a symbol that now she was settled...with him.

Blythe was elated as they began the drive toward Dallas, but Nate was troubled with uncertainties over what awaited their arrival. Even more nagging was his concern about his wife's nightmares which constantly flared to destroy the peace between them as they slept. After each bout she would draw into herself, become sullen and cold and it would take hours for him to break down the barriers she constructed between them.

Reaching the outskirts of town Blythe refused to give up the wheel of her new car. Nate had no choice but to be content with giving her directions as they drove nearer the ranch. Finally, he instructed her to pull over and stop in front of a long winding drive where tall stone walls stood guard on either side, supporting a sign which spanned the drive several feet overhead. Reaching over, he turned the key off in the ignition.

"This is it," he said, expanding his arms to indicate the vast estate.

"Oh, Nate, it's lovely. How far does it go?" Blythe asked looking eagerly about her.

"Several sections. We're completely isolated. The closest neighbors are miles away. Do you mind?"

"No, not at all. I'll covet the privacy as long as you're with me. It's inbred. I think I've always been part hermit," she replied earnestly then glancing up at the swinging sign, her brows drew together curiously. "Destiny?"

Nate flashed an ingenuous grin, the lines deepening around his usually brooding mouth. "I saw this place when I was a kid, one of those Sunday country drive things. The walls weren't here then, just barbed wire. I had them built recently. Fans can take advantage sometimes if they find out where you live," he explained diverting briefly from the subject. "Anyway, you could see the house back then. I remember thinking how warm and inviting it seemed. Years later after my father ran off and I was old enough to drive, I'd get this urge to get out of town. Every so often I'd come here and watch through the trees.

"This old man, he had three sons. They'd be out in the fields shooting at targets or riding horses in the pastures. Occasionally, I'd see them with the hands working the cattle. But they were always together. They were a family. I used to imagine myself, not with my dad, but with kids of my own, doing all the things with them I'd missed."

He paused as Blythe put a hand up to lovingly tousle his shaggy mane. She had never realized before just how painful his childhood had been and her hear went out to him.

"Well, the point is that after I was grown, had a business and everything, I drove down here on a whim. I was drunk, feeling sorry for myself. It had been years since I'd seen the place and lo and behold, there was a big wooden for sale sign out front-right over there," Nate pointed to a small clearing just past the gully. "The old man was dead, the sons grown, moved off. The widow was elderly and desperate to get out from under the place. So, you see, when it actually did become mine, I felt like it had sort of been my destiny all along...hence the name."