A Time To Love

Chapter 6: "The Broken Hearted"

Audrey's classes had concluded for the day, and she quickly set off.
"Are you leaving now, Audrey?" Audrey's fellow doe-eyed classmate, Jolene, asked.
"Why, yes, Jo. I sure am. Are you still leaving to visit your grandmother in the city tomorrow?"
"Yes, of course. I leave tomorrow morning." Jolene stated and continued with a
smile, "I'll see you when I return, Audrey. Take care of yourself."
"Thank you, Jo. You as well! Have a safe trip, alright?"
"Thank you, I will!"
The two friends parted ways, and Audrey continued on. Audrey felt the cold breeze,
and adjusted the scarf wrapped around her neck. It was now winter, and a beautiful
one at that. Hoar frost seemed to hang off of every tree in Maple Grove, and Audrey
simply adored it.
She looked down the snow lined path and quickly noticed a familiar figure.
She grinned and called out, "Daniel! How are you?"
He looked up at her and smiled back, "I'm good, thank you. And, you?"
She had reached him now, "I'm doing well myself. It's been a while since I've seen you, Daniel."
"Oh, it hasn't been that long."
"Two weeks are long to me." She told him sincerely. She paused and then added,
"You know what we should do?"
"What's that?" He asked.
"We should celebrate!" She announced happily, "Come to my home for supper,
would you? You can meet my dear family. I'm sure they'll be happy to have you."
Daniel hesitated to answer. He couldn't help but think Audrey to be naive. "I...I'm not sure -"
"Oh, please! I want you to come." She pleaded, with her hands clasped together and
her brow furrowed.
He looked at her and studied her desperate expression till her face relaxed, and she
added with a twinkle in her eye, "Would you do it just for me?"
Daniel accepted his defeat and replied, "What time should I arrive?"
Audrey smiled widely, "Uhhh..6 o'clock, how about?"
"Sure. Sounds good to me."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Katherine busily prepared supper, staying silent the whole time. Katherine was
always at her calmest while she cooked. She had something to focus her attention on,
that wasn't her sisters or her husband. She quite enjoyed the serenity of it all.
"Katherine?" Audrey entered the kitchen with a coy demeanor.
"Yes, Audrey? What is it?" Katherine asked, not even looking up from her present work.
"Can I set an extra place at the table?"
Katherine quickly turned her head to peer at Audrey, who stood in the doorway,
"What for?"
"My friend is coming over."
"Oh, alright then." Katherine turned her attention back to the stove top and continued, "Who is it?" There was no answer, "Audrey? Where did she go?"
Katherine just shook her head and continued with her work.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A knock was heard at the front door of the Harris-Baldwin home.
Audrey sprung up, "He's here!" Audrey announced jubliantly.
Katherine's ears stood up, and she glanced over at Henry, "He?" She hissed.
Audrey swiftly opened the door to see Daniel standing on the doorstep, with a bouqeut of daisies in hand, "Hello," He greeted.
"Oh, I'm so glad you've come, Daniel. Please, come in."
Katherine shot Henry a look of disbelief, for what she hoped was only a rumour, was
proving to be the truth.
"Daniel, this my eldest sister, Katherine, and her husband, Henry Baldwin," Audrey
introduced, pointing to each person, "This is the youngest, Emily, then Irene, and
Rachel. Everyone," She pointed to the tall and handsome man that stood at her side,
"This is Daniel Bouchard."
Henry was the first to speak, "Daniel, it's nice to see you again." He shook his hand and continued, "It sure has been awhile, hasn't it?"
"It sure has."
"You two know each other?" Audrey exclaimed.
"Yes. I tutored Daniel when he was young. It was in mathematics, wasn't it?"
"It was. I do believe I was eleven or twelve back then."
"My, it really is good to see you again. Come on in. Let's eat!" Henry patted Daniel on the back, and led him into the dining room, with Daniel passing the flowers to Audrey on the way there. She sniffed them joyfully and planned where to place
them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Supper had begun, and Henry and Daniel seemed to get along like two old friends.
Katherine just sat at the head of the table, eyeing the two with a dissaproving gaze.
Henry was so excited to finally have a male presence in a house full of girls that he
didn't even notice his wife's glares.
Audrey sat next to Daniel and seemed to smile at him the whole time. She was so
happy to see him having a decent time and getting along with someone like Henry.
Rachel, Emily, and Irene seemed to be able to read the room but didn't quite know what to make of the whole scene.
"So, Daniel," Katherine piped up, "What do you do for work?"
He replied, "I work at Mr. Langford's bottle factory." With Henry promptly adding in, "He's a good man, that Mr. Langford."
"He sure is."
"Well, that's...nice. What do you do for fun around here, Daniel?" Katherine asked seemingly innocently, but Henry couldn't help but feel that Katherine meant it in a
more sly manor.
"I..uhh..." Daniel knew what his answer would be if he was being truthful, but he
figured that it wouldn't be appropriate to announce that he mostly spent his time
getting intoxicated at the local tavern. And, not just for fun. He went with a safe answer. A half true one. "I enjoy walks. I like getting out. It seems boring, but it's quite fun." Daniel glanced over at Audrey, who tilted her head at him with suspicion.
She didn't say anything, though. She felt it wasn't right.
Katherine let out an unconvinced, "Really?" and promptly went back to eating her supper.
"So, how did you two meet?" Irene spoke up, after spending most of the meal in an awe-driven silence. "I love romantic stories."
Audrey and Daniel looked at each other and chuckled. Audrey quickly corrected, "We're just friends, Irene. Although,...perhaps we did meet in a romantic manner.
What do you think, Daniel?"
"I suppose we did." He confirmed and continued, "Audrey helped me out, back in September. I was..uh..not in a good condition, and she came along and showed me
a great deal of kindness."
Irene sighed in amazment, "That is romantic! Audrey's going to be a great nurse. I think it's a very romantic career, but I think an actress would be even more so, which
is why I've always wanted to be one-"
Irene went on and on, and even Emily answered some of the questions that Daniel asked her. Rachel thought Daniel to be strange. She had most certainly heard the
rumours about him, and about the occurrence between him and her sister, but he
was nothing like what she thought he might be, or at least he was nothing like what the gossip had said him to be. She wasn't surprised though, she had never bought
in to it much. Katherine didn't look at him with as much grace as Rachel did, though.
All she could see was the town drunkard, who was probably just using her little sister,
and would end up breaking her heart in the end.
Henry grabbed the wine and poured himself some more before reaching over and pouring some more for Daniel, too.
"Thank you."
"Don't mention it."
"Henry?" Katherine spoke up.
"Yes, Katherine?'
"That's your second glass tonight."
"And?" He asked her.
"I just think you should be careful, is all. That'll be your last one." Katherine told him, although he knew she wasn't just saying it to him.
Henry evidently didn't listen well to his wife's instruction after he had finished his second, he poured himself another and went to pour Daniel his third.
"More?" He asked him, the spout hovering over the glass.
Daniel hesitated and glanced over at Audrey first, who just smiled at him, although he couldn't tell what her smile meant, but he knew she surely didn't mean for him to
have another.
Before he could even decline, Katherine quickly announced, "He doesn't need
anymore -" She caught herself, "I mean... you both don't need more. We have children at the table."
"Katherine." Henry said her name sternly while Daniel nervously wiped his hands on his trousers.
He stood up, "I should probably be going."
Audrey followed, grabbing him by the sleeve and protesting, "No, don't leave. We haven't even had dessert."
He looked at her and smiled, "It's okay. I'm sorry, Audrey. I need to go."
"Daniel..."
"I'll see you tomorrow, alright?" He looked at everyone around the table and said,
"Thank you for having me. It's been a lovely time." He looked over at Katherine last and shot her a smile before heading off and leaving Audrey behind, wondering
what had gone wrong.
Audrey stood there watching him as he grabbed his coat and walked out the door.
Everyone was silent. They dared not say anything. Tears rolled down Audrey's cheeks.
She wiped them away before turning back to everyone. She looked past everyone else and stared directly at Katherine before erupting, "How could you?! Why do you
always have to be so cruel?"
Katherine stood up to face her, "What do you mean? What did I do wrong? I just didn't want them to drink themselves stupid."
"No. That's not what it is, and you know it, Katherine. You didn't want him here from the beginning cause you look at him the same way everyone else does, don't
you?"
Katherine shook her head in defeat, "Fine! You're right. I didn't want him in my home, but I have good reason for that. And, I don't want you around someone like him. Believe it or not, I'm just trying to protect you, Audrey."
"That's absurd."
"No. You know what's absurd? That you would ask me to set a plate for the town drunk!"
"Well, you also set one for the town hypocrite." Audrey stated calmly.
Katherine scoffed, "Oh? And, who's that?"
"Look in the mirror, Katherine."
Katherine's mouth gaped open, and everyone sat silently, trying to process everything.
Audrey didn't waste time. She ran out the front door in hopes of finding Daniel.
Rachel was the only one who dared to break the silence, "Well, that was a nice supper. Don't you think?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Daniel! Daniel!" Audrey called out for him in the cold, dark, December night. She figured he wouldn't have gotten far, and she was proven right when she spotted him
up ahead. "Daniel! Wait!"
He heard her voice calling and turned to see her running up to him, a cloud
forming in the air with each cold breath she took. "Audrey? What are you doing out here?"
She stopped to catch her breath before explaining, "I had to come find you. I'm so sorry. I wanted you to have a good time, but instead... Katherine was just critical of
you the whole time."
"It's okay. You don't have to be sorry. It's not your fault." He said, placing a gentle hand upon her shoulder and adding in, "It didn't bother me all that much. I just felt that...it might have been embarrassing for you."
"Of course not! I'm not embarrassed of you." She declared.
"Audrey... I don't think you really understand."
"What?"
"Who I am." He replied simply. "I'm not a good guy. I've nearly drunk myself to death on multiple occasions, I've slept around, I've tried everything under the sun. I
fill alot of the requirments for someone who will have their place in the lake of fire. You shouldn't be around me."
Tears fell from Audrey's eyes once again as she placed her chilled hand on his warm cheek, and pleaded with him, "That's not true! You said I was the one who showed
you kindness back then, but I don't look at it that way. You've been the one to show me kindness, over and over again. You're gentle and tender-hearted. I see that in
you... even if you don't." She said it with the utmost sincereity, making him place his hand on hers, which still lingered on his cheek, "You might be a bit broken, but we all are in
some way. You're not any worse than anyone else. The only goodness I have in me is at the fault of the one who is good. He's the only reason for it. And, It's true, God does heal the broken hearted. He does bind up their wounds. If you would give your
heart to him...I know he wouldn't leave it the way it is." He wiped her tear stained cheek with his other hand, as she added, "And, I won't leave you, no matter what
anyone tells me. I believe God's not done with you."
"Audrey," He began, taking her hand from his face and letting it fall back to her side,
although he never did let go of it. He just held it, now at a healthy distance. "You don't know what that means to me. You're the only one who's ever encouraged me
like that. I can't promise you that I'll change or that I'll start believing in myself the way you believe in me,... but I'll try. Just...stay with me, would you?"
She smiled from ear to ear, "I will. I'll be your friend for life, Daniel, if only you'll let me."
"I'd like that more than anything."