15

 

October

 

Beth felt as though she’d come full circle, sitting at the cabin’s picnic table. Singing cicadas—some Nebraskans called the bugs locusts—had given way to the excitement of football fever in a small town.

It was her first visit to the woods since fall had descended. So much had happened. She was busy working, both at Frivolities and as a child advocate. Lanae Diamond had helped Beth make angels from handkerchiefs for the girls she had come alongside.

The trips to Lincoln always reminded her of Aiden and what had taken place on that hot summer night near the theater. She’d asked how Barton even got a job, especially when he hadn’t checked in with his parole officer. The answer was easy: a fake I.D. thanks to an old cellmate connection.

She and Aiden kept in contact, but hadn’t seen much of one another since their last official date, if a date entailed a trip around Platteville. They’d had a good time together, a bittersweet time, which included a visit to Rainn Harris’s art studio, The Other One. They also went through Frivolities, as customers, where Aiden bought a gift for his stepmother.

Talk about forgiveness! Aiden had contacted his father in Minnesota and planned a Thanksgiving reunion.

Then Aiden had been called to work onsite at Harlan County Reservoir, where thousands of fish had died mysteriously, and where he finally saw his first live armadillo in the state of Nebraska.

Beth thought she heard an engine that sounded like Aiden’s Jeep. She tried to follow the sound beyond the trees. She chalked it up to a wishful imagination. But it was hard to hear anything other than the onrush of beating blackbird wings.

The migrating blackbirds awakened Beth from her musings. As cautiously and quietly as she could, she went to stand near the edge of the trees without creating movement. The racket transported her into the movie, The Birds.

Thousands of wings sounded like a mighty rushing wind.

But, she wasn’t frightened. She was delighted. The birds lifted off the ground and low branches as though a leader had signaled. They settled higher in the treetops.

A pure white, albino bird found its perch, standing out amongst all the black the way a sanctified sinner must appear to the Lord, amidst unbelievers who bask in the darkness.

“Ah!” Beth gasped at the sight. She sank to the earth.

“Thank You, Father God, for this sign that You set me apart. I’m not going to call myself beautiful, but You must see me as the white bird and created me just as flawlessly. Thank You for the creatures of these woods. Thank You for watching over me as I found solace here and You healed me here.”

“I believe you are beautiful in His sight. Just as beautiful as you are to me.” A dear, hushed voice came to her from behind.

“Aiden! What are you doing out here?” She threw herself against his chest and ran her hands over his back.

“I’ll take a welcome like that any day.”

She let go to look into the treetops and darkened sky. “Aren’t the birds something? I’ll never forget seeing the white one. I didn’t know you were here.”

“How could you hear me, with such a racket?” He pulled her close to his side. “Sorry to just walk up on you. I called, even sang ‘Amazing Grace,’ but you couldn’t hear me.”

“Powerful stuff, huh? I’ll forgive you for sneaking up on me. How long have you been back from Harlan?”

“Since Wednesday. I have something for you,” he said, reaching to the ground behind his back. “Shall we begin our hello with a bouquet of daisies?” He presented the gift with a flourish.

“What a lovely collection. Thank you.” She reached for the daisies without breaking eye contact.

Aiden looked so intently into her eyes she couldn’t focus on the flowers.

She swallowed, felt the rise of her own chest, along with the quivering of her lips.

“It’s nothing. I needed to see you as soon as I could. I stopped at Frivolities and Moselle said you were here. Have to admit I was more than a little surprised to find you back at the cabin.”

“I’ll fill you in with all the details. First, how about we take a walk in the woods, for old time’s sake?”

“Sentimental, you are.” He lifted her chin with a single finger. “I’d like a proper hello first.”

Her breath hiccupped. Her eyes drifted shut. The meeting of their lips was much more than a simple hello.

When he pulled back from the transportation of their locked connection, Aiden said, “The birds will be off again. We could follow for a ways to see if they land in another clump of trees before crossing the river.”

She managed a nod, still intent on his loden-colored eyes. They looked more like rain-washed tree bark today than she’d ever seen them.

“The Lord will take care of the birds. I’d like the chance to take care of you.” He cradled her face in his palms and kissed her with what she suspected was restraint.

She had to have more of him. The bouquet drifted to the ground. She traced a path over forearms, bend of elbow, the masculine strength of his roped biceps, tips of strong square shoulders. Her thumbs grazed the ridge of his collar bones, up the side of his neck, to mimic his hold on her face.

He kissed her again, deepened the pressure for scant seconds before dropping his arms. “We might see the birds in the distance, now, I faintly hear their ruckus.”

“Sure,” she answered, dazed. What had he meant, take care of her?

He folded her hands between his, touching them as though they were delicate petals, and looked deep into her eyes. “Before we tear off, I have something to say. ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you’ has become a biblical promise that I carry with me. I want you to know that we’ll work things out. And, Beth, I will never leave you, nor fail to cover your back, nor do anything to harm you in any way.”

She grabbed his shirt and pulled him close. Her tiptoes couldn’t make her high enough to reach his mouth, without him lifting her off her feet. There was nothing gentle about the way they embraced.

Finally, after seconds of intensity, Aiden took her hand. They raced into the woods. The path was still faintly visible where Lakota had kept guard over the cabin.

The first clearing they reached, they panted to a stop. Beth almost bounced off Aiden’s side. She raised her face to the distant sky, circled, but the birds were no longer in sight.

“So much for a sentimental walk in the woods,” Aiden said, as he exhaled.

“I’ll give you sentimental, big guy.” She snuggled up against him, and he rested his chin on her head. “I don’t know when, where, or how. But somewhere along the way, I gave you my heart. I’ve only done that with Jesus.”

She felt his heart pounding.

“No one has ever trusted me with her heart. I also give mine into your care.”

Could she take care of his heart? With the Lord’s help, she could do anything she was meant to do. “No comeback? Then let’s amble back to my cabin.”

“Your cabin? Ouch!” He slapped his cheek. “Sounds good. Let’s go in before the squeeties come out to eatcha alive.”

“You betcha.” Shooting him an impish grin, Beth squeezed his hand.

Moments later, they were inside.

He pulled her close. “I’m so glad you were able to come back here. It’s good for you that the church hasn’t taken it over yet.”

“That’s my surprise. The reason I came out here today. I was going to leave a message for you.” She gave him a squeeze and led him to the loveseat angled towards the wood burning stove. “To tell you the church no longer needs the land. They said all the work I did on the cabin was more than an adequate price. All I gave was a dollar for a quitclaim deed.”

“They don’t need a place for retreat or for teenagers to get in touch with nature?”

“They have a better, much larger place. A church member died. He was a campground owner. His heirs agreed earlier to put half the land back into tillable acres, leaving the clubhouse and several cabins. But no one wanted to be in charge of renting cabins. So they agreed to donate that property to the church.”

“Congratulations. You get to keep your cabin.”

“Thanks. I can’t tell you what it means. From the very beginning I had the sense of belonging here in the woods. The first thing I’ll move out from the loft is the finch feeder. Goldfinches will need the thistle seed come winter.”

“Since I’ll be hanging around, though, think you could agree to let me install taller doors and raise the ceilings?”

“That might be arranged. So you do want to hang around?”

“If you’ll have me. And I’m thinking Grace would appreciate that tree house you once mentioned.”

“You remember I said that? Talk about sentimental.” She raised up and pecked him on the chin with a soft kiss. “Can we build it together?”

“You betcha. How is Grace?”

“Wonderful. Happy in foster care, and happy that her father is getting help.” She linked her arms around his neck. “You won’t mind driving from here to work in Lincoln?”

“I’m willing to do anything, as long as we’re together. I think we need to celebrate, Ms. Phillips. How would you like to visit Wolf Canyon?”

She squeezed him tight and whispered, “I’d love to.”

He kissed her.

Oh, how she’d missed him.

Finally, he broke their intense kiss. “Let’s be on our way.”

 

****

 

Before long, they stood on high ground with only a fence and railing between them and a pair of nuzzling wolves, Lakota and a young female the keeper called Sonoma. Aiden was struck anew by how the pack had warmed right up to the injured wolf while he was recovering. The younger female and Lakota took to one another without an older male raising a ruckus.

“I’ve seen my dad,” he announced without preamble.

“Aiden. Wow. That’s huge. You couldn’t wait for November. Did it go OK?”

“It went, with hugs and tears.” He’d been convicted to follow the Lord’s leading, to make amends before he could start a life with Beth.

She said nothing, so he elaborated. “I determined to accept my earthly father, to overlook his supposed abandonment.”

“So you now believe people can truly change, through faith.”

“Yep. If Jesus can forgive the sins of the world, He enabled me to forgive my father for any supposed sins.”

“And that’s what grace is all about.”

“I sure was skeptical after meeting you and associating you with your past. Anyway, Dad didn’t know how much I needed to rely on him. But when Mom died, he was as lost as I was. He said he kind of set aside my feelings, because his grief lumped in the sight of me with the loss of Mom. It was easier to walk away than deal with reminders of her.”

“So, you’ve forgiven him for sure?”

“Totally. I knew I had to do something about that animosity, or I’d never be clean enough to spend the rest of my life with you.”

“Thank you, I think. I would hope that down deep, you wanted that fresh start because the Lord removed your animosity.”

Silence reigned for a spell, except for the murmurings of the wolves.

Aiden considered how far he had come in a scant few months. From hating wolves to rejoicing in their existence. The way God had chosen a lone wolf, who’d scared him at first, to shape him into the man he was today.

They watched the wolves’ muted colors blend right in with the browning leaves of autumn.

He couldn’t keep it to himself. “Isn’t it something, the path we’ve been on lately? When I first met you, you were protecting yourself and your wolf. You had risked coming home, to a place where you might not be welcomed, but you came anyway. And found a home and friends in Platteville.”

Beth picked up when he paused. “I had nowhere else to turn. Don’t ever think I wasn’t afraid. And the wolf I met was afraid, as well.”

“Then when I came onto the scene, I threatened your sanctuary as well as your protection of the wolf.” Yet I fell for you, and your wolf, and your God.

“I had some growing to do.”

“Look at that,” Aiden said, pointing at Lakota and Sonoma, while pulling Beth to his side. “God had a mate picked out for each of us.”

“You mean—?”

“Yes, Beth Phillips Todd Littlefield Phillips. I love you. More than I ever dreamt possible. And I’ve never been more certain of anything, other than my salvation. Are you willing to add Holt to the back of that list?”

With a whoop and a jump, she pumped her fist in the air. Once on firm ground, she cupped his face in the palm of her hand.

“Yes, I will marry you. And Holt will forever be at the front of that list for me. I knew I loved you after you went back to work in Lincoln. What I went through thinking you were lost to me.” She shook her head as though shaking off a memory. “Our Lord is the best foundation a marriage could have. Who could ask for better security in knowing who you are, and that He holds our future in His hand?”

He pulled her close for another kiss, feeling so complete, the way her softness filled all the right places, especially his heart.

“Aiden. How I love you.” She stretched up to initiate a kiss, just a light meeting of the lips. “Thank you for bringing me here today. God is so good to have changed us both. And He’s made you into such a good man!”

“I’ll only be good, able to go on with my life, as long as I can protect you, and keep Littlefield out of your way for the rest of our life.”

She smoothed a finger over his lips. “Let’s vow to never say his name again. Let’s begin sharing the first chapter of the story you and I will live the rest of our life, starting today.”

“Talk about chapters. Have you ever considering writing?”

“No, but I’m beginning to get into words. And the definition of names.” She gave him a quirky grin. “Holt. English. From the forest, just where I belong.”

“Perfect. I wondered how long it would take before you checked out the literal meaning of my name.” Her lazy finger, now tracing his bottom lip, was raising havoc with his senses.

“Soon to be my name, as well.” Beth accepted his kiss as though she’d waited for it her whole life. “You are so worthy, my love. I love you. I trust you. For me, that’s huge.”

He kissed the corner of her mouth. “I’m eager to put into practice the meaning of my first name.”

“I looked it up as well. Aiden, warmth of the home. I’ll help you create the warmth in our home.”

“We can’t forget to magnify the name of Jesus.”

“How right you are. Since you’ve been thinking about this longer than I have, do you have the logistics worked out?”

“Logistics? Well, I want you to come look at rings with me, give me some ideas.”

She beamed. “Can hardly wait. But I was thinking more on the lines of, will we live in the cabin just on weekends, or do I move to Lincoln?”

“Let’s take it as it comes.” He leaned in for a long kiss and wondered if socks could sizzle.

“Let’s not wait too long.”

“I agree, and for the record, I’m willing to commute.”

“In the meantime, I’ll continue to stay in the loft. We’ll decide once the cabin is finished, how’s that?”

“I like the idea of living in the woods.” He gave her a squeeze. “After all, it’s where I found you.”

“We’ll be able to tell our children how you found Jesus in the woods. Rather, He met us there.”

So wrapped up in Beth, he’d forgotten where they were. From the corner of his eye, he watched Lakota and Sonoma approach from the tree cover. “Look. Lakota approves.”

“Our Lakota was lost and found in the woods, just like us.”