Aside from visiting Pikes Peak, the Garden of the Gods, Cave of the Winds, and numerous other tourist attractions in Colorado Springs during their summer, Alan and Arianna got to know Ace and formed a new, close bond with him.
They often had dinner at his house with Rachel and Miles, while other times Alan joined Daniel for fishing, and Lydia took Arianna around to nearby stores for shopping.
It was an unlikely match, but the families were appreciative of the friendship that had formed between them.
On the Fourth of July, the Tates were able to meet Jason, Monica, Miranda, and Tori, who all stayed for a week before heading back to their various homes. They sat on a blanket at a local park and shared buckets of fried chicken, mashed potatoes, baked beans, coleslaw, macaroni salad, a veggie tray, and chips. For dessert, Lydia made a sheet cake that was decorated like a flag, while Arianna made red, white, and blue layered rice cereal treats, which the children enjoyed.
Jason was twenty-eight and had been married for two years. He and his wife lived in Illinois with their fourteen-month-old daughter.
Monica and Miranda were twenty-five and still lived on opposite coasts. Monica had gotten married three years ago and had a daughter just a couple of months older than her niece. Miranda was happy being single.
Tori, who was ready to start her junior year of college in Colorado Springs, wasn’t entertaining thoughts of marriage either.
As Arianna looked around at Miles playing with his cousins, she felt her heart grow warm. This was where Chase—Ace—was meant to be. The Fellers’ business was successful, and one day he would be the sole owner.
“What do you think about moving here after CeCe graduates from high school?” Arianna asked her husband when they returned to their cabin after the fireworks. She held her breath, bracing herself, expecting him to say that it was impossible. After all, he’d taught at the same school for twenty years. It was a good district, and he had a longstanding reputation in the community as both a teacher and girl’s track coach. The Tates had been born and raised in Iowa and had planned to stay there for the rest of their lives.
“I have been thinking the same thing.”
Arianna breathed out through her nose. “You have?”
Alan stuck his hands in his pockets. “Yeah. Being here feels right. Being with my son again feels right. We don’t have any more time to lose. We missed out on nearly twenty years of his life. If it’s God first, family second, and everything else after that, then it’ll all work out. If Ace gives us his blessing, of course.”
Not only was Ace thrilled by the news, but so were Daniel and Lydia. They offered to help in whatever way they could. Even CeCe remarked about Colorado’s beauty and said that she was interested in applying to colleges there. Alan hoped that preparing two years for their move would allow him to find a decent teaching job. It would also give Arianna time to say goodbye to the friendships she’d made at the shelter and Mothers of the Missing group. Her parents and brother gave her reason to still visit Iowa, but she had come full circle when it came to living in Des Moines.
Knowing that their home would be near their son very soon made saying goodbye at the end of the summer a whole lot easier.
“The invite still stands—I hope you will join us for Christmas,” Lydia said as the families hugged goodbye.
“Absolutely. Thank you so much for making us feel at home here. We look forward to returning in a few months.”
The two women, both of whom had worried about competition with each other, had recognized that they were allies. Their smiles for each other were genuine. Arianna was grateful to Lydia for listening to the Holy Spirit, or they might not be here now. Her insistence at searching for answers year after year led her to finding the truth.
Arianna squatted down and slid her arms around Miles. It was a gift that he looked so much like Chase. She hadn’t been able to watch her son grow up, but she would be there to see her grandson.
Ace embraced her as she stood back up, and Arianna used her hand to brush her son’s curls away from his blue eyes, just as she had done when he was a toddler. “Every Christmas I wondered if it was going to be the last one that I spent without you. Now I know . . . the twentieth Christmas was the last. What a blessing the year 2014 has been.”
“Thank you for never giving up on me.” Ace looked at both Alan and Arianna. “I love you, Mom. I love you, Dad.”
It was the first time he’d ever referred to them by those titles, and the first time they’d ever heard him speak the phrase. It was music to Arianna’s ears, and she knew it was just the beginning.
Thank you, Lord. Thank you for not giving up on me.
“We love you, too, son.”
THE END