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Ezra had finished up his day, ate dinner with his parents, and headed down the street to Hadley’s. She wasn’t expecting him tonight but he thought maybe as beautiful as the evening was, they could enjoy some time beneath the stars. It was one of her favorite times of day to walk. Hadley had known every constellation and star in the sky back in high school, and they had spent many hours under them discussing in great detail the various arrangements on cloudless nights.
He had a big day behind him and wanted to share the news with her. He needed to share the story and find out if she thought it was a promising idea. Major life decisions such as his housing, for some reason, felt like she needed to be the deciding factor. She had a much more logical approach to making decisions and had always been an excellent foil to him.
He knocked on the front door and found a spot on the porch swing directly to the left of the opening. He could hear her coming and waited patiently.
When she stopped outside and found his eyes, her smile melted his insides. She was the most beautiful woman in the world.
“Hey, you, how was your day?” She said, coming round to sit next to him.
“Great, we are nearly done with the clinic expansion. The wing should be ready for drywall and paint in the next week.”
“That is amazing.”
“I also looked at a house,” he said, not able to contain it any longer.
“Where?”
He nodded his head directly across from their location.
“The Mason’s old place?”
“Yeah. They are asking a fair price, actually better than that because it will need some updating.”
“Some updating? It was last decorated in the 1950s. That is a lot of work. The lot is amazing, though, and he did a fabulous job on that porch and backyard.”
“I thought the same thing. A suitable place to hang a tire swing and host cookouts. So other than the interior, what do you think?”
“Well, I saw what you could do with a hammer and nail when I stopped by at lunch. And I know you kept everything at the church and your home repaired when we were kids. I think it will be a special project, and if you are getting a reasonable price with some sweat equity, you will have a diamond.”
“Speaking of diamonds,” he said, moving slightly to remove from his pocket a wrinkled envelope. The edges were yellow and frayed, and the letter had long ago faded.
He held it for a moment, “the day your letter came, it was just in the nick of time,” he said with a deep sigh. “I almost mailed this to you but didn’t when I saw those words of yours.”
He held the tiny mess of paper out to her. “I just put it into my wallet and figured I would put it in the safe when I got back here. I went to do that today, and just couldn’t.”
Hadley took the paper and looked at him. “It was always yours, no sense putting it in some cold safe. You don’t have to give me an answer, but I wasn’t kidding when I said I was all-in. There was never another girl for me. It was you from the first day in kindergarten when you transferred here. You walked in, caught my eye, and I was a goner.”
“Ezra,” Hadley said, reaching out to lace her fingers with his. “Same for me. I didn’t know it at that time, but no one would ever capture my heart and soul, as you did at that moment.”
“I missed you something fierce, but when you asked for me to let you go, well, I couldn’t deny you. I should have been able to save Thomas, but I was just a second too late. I made peace with that, and I’m sure we will have a tough talk about my bad timing when we meet again. Until then, I’m committed to watching over you and your mom. I need you to know the house is there, so you don’t even have to be far away. She can see the grandkids and bother us any time she wishes.” He sighed as his shoulders slumped forward. He had gotten it all out-the longest most important speech of his life.
He turned to see her reaction, just as she looked down and carefully unfolded the old envelope pieces. When the tiny ring came into focus, she sniffled and ran a finger across her nose. She picked it up and looked him directly in the eye. “Well, it’s about time, Ezra Necome. I’ve been waiting for a long time.”
“I will take that as a yes,” he said, leaning forward to kiss her soundly.
When she finally backed up from him, she looked him dead in the eyes. “Did my mother know about this?”
He felt his skin heat. “Well, yes, she did.”
“When?”
He shook his head.
“She asked me that very first night if I had come home to marry you,” he said softly.
“Did you tell her, yes?”
“I said if you’d have me.”
Hadley pulled his face close, “No wonder she kept making all those comments and pushing us together,” she said, before kissing him for a right long moment.
She pulled back to allow him to take the ring and slide it over her finger.
“You better not keep me waiting a lot longer.”
“I know a preacher,” he said with a chuckle.
Hadley slugged him playfully in the arm, turning a questioning eye on him.
He simply shrugged sheepishly. Anytime, anywhere she named, he would be there!
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Read More By Everlee Whitman
Published Soon
Book 11: A Time To Tear Down and A Time To Mend
Book 12: A Time To Be Silent and A Time To Speak
Book 11: A Time To Tear Down and A Time to Mend
Chapter 1
“You want to talk about it,” Belle said as Trista sat silently across from her staring out the window.
She didn’t even know where to start and partly worried that once she got going, she would lose it. She had been here in Little Bend, and also meeting with Belle for the last thirty days to try and work through issues. Last night though, the desire to run that always found her had reared up in the middle of a gathering at Greyson’s house. She had to physically restrain herself from getting up and walking away for good. She had spent years doing just that, tearing down every relationship and possibility for her future. This was her second chance, and yet with all the progress, there was the one hurdle she just couldn’t overcome without that she would never be free of the ghosts that haunted her paths.
“I just don’t know where to start,” she mumbled, absently staring out over the fields beyond the office. It was so peaceful here; it felt like a magical place. If there was ever a time or location that might heal her, this was it. That was a truth she was certain. It was the actions needed to mend her heart and psyche she couldn’t execute.
“I thought you were having a great time last night,” Belle prodded, “but then everything changed. You became distant, and honestly, at one point, I thought you would run from the house.”
“I considered it,” she said, inhaling but never meeting Belle’s eyes.
“If you felt like we pressured you into meeting Hunter, or you just don’t want a relationship, I promise we will understand.”
“It’s not that. He is amazing,” she said as a tear lobbed itself over her lower eyelid. She angrily swiped it away. “He is amazing. Truly, every time you have him to a party, I like him more. I’m worried, he might consider asking me out on a one on one date.”
“And that would be a bad thing? How long has it been since you dated?”
Trista’s shoulders slumped. How could she tell Belle that she had never been in a relationship? Sure, she had men around for stress relievers and the occasional distraction, but no one that ever stuck around for exceptionally long. Relationships, though, she didn’t do those. Hunter was a good friend of Ray’s and worked at the Sheriff’s department. He was a good looking, tall, well-built, sweet, down to earth man who was interested in much more. This she was sure of, based on the amount of time he spent with her at each gathering with friends. She simply couldn’t find one bad thing about the man. He was kind, served his community with loyalty and honesty, answered all her questions, and was genuinely liked by everyone who met him. He didn’t need the kind of baggage she carried around.
“I have never had anything close to a relationship in my adult life,” she finally said as her shoulder slumped. She turned toward Belle, trying to hold her quivering lip in check by biting down on it. “I push men away, even harder than my brother and momma if you can believe that based on my history.”
Belle simply nodded. She was the least judgmental human Trista had ever encountered. She took it all in, offered sage advice along the way, and somehow had the most calming personality of anyone Trista had met in all her crazy travels.
“Did you live in the same place when you were away from your family? Have any special friends?” Belle asked softly.
Trista shook her head, “Nope. Every year or two, I would uproot and keep moving. I saw most of this big old country, but don’t have a single person from all of that whom I still keep in contact with.”
“Can you tell me why?”
She shook her head. “After – after what happened, I’ve never wanted ever to feel that way again. I just made sure I didn’t,” she said, with a shrug as a fresh round of tears stained her face.
“Trista, when was the last time you told someone about your sister,” Belle asked even quieter than her last question. The words sliced through Trista as if she had reached out and physically assaulted her body. The constricted muscles, painful heart-thumping, goosebumps all came to the surface.
“I can’t even say her name,” she said, exhaling around the heaving sobs emanating from her chest.
“Ah, so was it the gathering last night, or Phoebe and Emma coming in?”
Trista bit down on her lip to try and hold the convulsive sobs in but failed. “They are so cute, and just like we were at that age. Inseparable, finishing each other sentences and seeing them, I just miss her even more. I didn’t think that was possible.”
Belle sat quiet and let her work through some of the toughest emotional releases before she interjected, “I need you to say her name,” Belle coaxed.
Trista inhaled, as she rubbed her nose. She moved her neck side to side, cracking the uncomfortable kinks. Lowering her head, she inhaled, “Treena,” she whispered. She made a circle with her mouth and exhaled hard. “Her name was Treena, and she was my twin sister. I couldn’t save her, and even now, I replay that moment every day.”
“Trista, you loved your sister, and I bet she knew that, but sometimes depression is such a debilitating disease that sneaks up on even those of us who are closest to a person. This was not your fault, or anything you could have stopped,” Belle said firmly.
Trista felt the heaving continue, wracking her body.
“Tell me what you loved most about her,” Belle said as she held a Kleenex box out to Trista.
“There was nothing she wouldn’t try. She was fearless. Unfortunately, I normally followed right behind her. Our poor mother definitely had her hands full with us,” she said with a deep chuckle as the tears lightened a bit.
“I would have loved to meet her,” Belle said. “If she was anything like you, I’m certain she would have been someone I enjoyed getting to know.”
Trista smiled through the pain, “thank you.”
“Oh, this is just the first hard step; you might not want to thank me yet.”
“Hey, it only took you thirty days, and nine appointments to do what no one else has managed,” Trista said. “I think I’m going to owe you big time for this.”
“It’s what I do,” Belle said, leaning back slightly more relaxed. “Tell me something further about Treena.”
