Not This Time (45 page)

She held him in place with a hand on his thigh. “Stay.”

“Are you sure?”

She nodded. “I’ve had privacy and I’ve done my mourning. Can we just sit here and swing and be … normal? I’ve missed being normal.”

He held her hand, laced their fingers. “For as long as you like.”

“Careful.” She squeezed. “Not today, but someday I’ll tell you that I fell in love with you my first day in the village, which you probably don’t even remember.”

She’d fallen in love with him then? Then? And he hadn’t seen it?
Moron
. “You got run over by that tourist on the bike and landed flat on your backside.” She had looked so stunned, sitting there on the sidewalk.

“You do remember.”

If she loved him then, there was hope for the future. “I remember …”

In the shadows of Ruby’s parking lot, Beth stepped out of the SUV and Joe enveloped her in a hug so tight it hurt her ribs, cupped her face and kissed her soundly, then hugged her even harder. “Easy, Joe. Ribs. Ribs.”

“Sorry.” He gentled his hold a fraction, his whole body shaking. “When I saw Robert aiming that gun at you, I thought I’d die.”

“Me too.” She smiled. “But like you said, we survived. We’ll be fine.” A lump formed in her throat. “Thank you for everything. I couldn’t have gotten through this without you.”

He hesitated, then rubbed gentle circles on her cheeks with his thumbs. “I love you, sha.”

“I love you too.” She never thought she’d say those words, especially not to a man like him, but they tumbled out of her mouth with ease on a rush of strong emotion and truth. She couldn’t not say them.

“Finally, she gives my heart the words.” He smiled. “I was beginning to wonder, I have to say.”

“You weren’t.”

“I was.”

“You’re a woman magnet and you’re trying to tell me you were worried?”

“Very worried.”

“Joseph.”

“It’s true, gorgeous.” He crossed his heart. “Attracting women isn’t me, it’s them. The woman I want is here, right now, in my arms. And I want her there. But that’s her choice, not mine.”

Beth snuggled closer. “It’s where she wants to be—but we’ve still got a lot of talking to do.”

“I knew there’d be a
but
.”

“It’s a little one.” She smiled. It was, and it was fading fast. “For now can I be relieved we’re alive and kiss you instead?”

“Absolutely.” He tilted his head and his mouth descended to meet hers.

Beth sighed her content. Sara and Nora were fine. Everyone was fine. And Beth was in love. In her mind’s eye, she saw Robert, heard him whisper through the chambers of her mind:
I win. You lose
.

No, Robert. Not you, not Nathara, and not NINA.

Not this time …

Epilogue

A
thick envelope arrived.

“Tell me that’s not a bill.” David Dawson smiled at his wife.

“It’s from Beth.” Millicent returned his smile.

“Well, hurry and read it. About time that girl remembered she had parents.”

“She hasn’t forgotten.” Since they’d moved to Europe after Robert’s death, the girls had been getting their feet and finding their way in the world. “She’s let us adjust to our new nest.”

Millicent walked outside, looked out on the breathtaking coast. She loved Italy. She’d always loved Italy. Living here had been her fantasy, but with Sara married to Robert, Millicent had feared she’d never live to see a time when she felt comfortable doing it.

So much had changed …

She sat in her rocker, watched David weed a flower bed, and opened the letter.

Dear Mom:

It dawned on me that today it’s been two years since you were home. I couldn’t believe it. So much has happened in Seagrove Village, and I know you’ve got to be settled into your life there now and ready to hear news of what’s happening here. Nora says I’m late sharing, but Sara and I discussed it, and after the gray hair we’ve put in your head with everything, we decided you needed a good, long stint of stress-free time to decompress. Well, it’s officially over now. I can’t contain myself any longer.

Nora is doing well. She had some new experimental eye surgery, and it seems to have helped at least a bit. She still can’t drive or anything, but Darla takes her out to Magnolia Branch every other Sunday after church. She puts flowers on Clyde’s grave and chats with him awhile. Mark and Joe put a couple benches out there, so they have comfortable places to sit while they visit. Nora still hasn’t been to Leavenworth to see Nathara, who’s under maximum security, where Nora says she belongs. No one has any illusions that the woman is less dangerous in prison than she was out of it.

Ben and Kelly Walker married right after the Dead Game incident was over. They decided they’d waited long enough and they’re now the proud parents of a beautiful baby girl. They named her Susan, in honor of Susan Brandt. Crossroads was her dream, and it’s been such a blessing to so many. I think Susan would love that.

Peggy Crane is still running the center and playing Cupid to Nora’s Rambo. I can hear you chuckling about that but, you know, something about it works. I think I told you on the phone, but in case I didn’t, Lisa and Mark married Christmas Eve in the Crossroads chapel. All of Mark’s old team came, and security was tight because of it, but what a wonderful group of men they are—especially my Joe.

Mom, you won’t believe the changes in Sara. She’s blossomed into such a strong woman. It’s been amazing to watch. Once she discovered she could be strong, she has been, and for the first time ever, when I look at her there’s no sadness, no hint of feeling alone in her eyes. She’s vibrant, Mom, and she and Jeff are head over heels in love. It looks good on her. You know that right after Robert’s funeral, she emptied her house down to the last stick of furniture and totally redecorated—Sara-style. It’s gorgeous. Warm and welcoming, and just as beautiful as she is. Maria helped her, and it’s finally a happy house again. Sara’s radiant—and apparently impatient. That’s why I had to write you now.

Last week she told me she was tired of waiting for Jeff to pop the question, so she’s arranged a special evening and she’s proposing to him. Isn’t that wild? Sara? Our reserved and conservative and so-shy Sara is going to propose to Jeff? I’m laughing out loud as I write this. He won’t say no, but if he did, the whole village would blister his ears. Sara’s recruited everyone into helping her set him up for the proposal. It’s tonight, and I can’t wait to see what happens. I’m betting she won’t get down on her knees, but I’m definitely in the minority on that. Even Joe’s betting she will.

Hank Green is doing a good job as mayor, and Darla worked up her courage and asked him and Lance for a meeting. I don’t know what was said, but I have the feeling she told them everything. They’ve treated her differently since then, and though it took awhile, the three of them meet for brunch at the club every other Sunday. Well, Darla and Hank do, now that Lance is away at college. Peggy says that’s a good sign, especially since Darla and Hank never got along, and I guess it is. I know she’s doing everything she can do to make a difference. God has to be pleased at the way she’s turned her life around.

We broke ground on the new cottage development for the moms on Airport Road. Sara has been as persnickety about every detail to do with it as Susan Brandt was in building Crossroads. Anytime someone puts that much love into something, good just has to come out of it.

Mel, the receptionist at Crossroads, is living proof of what love can do. I don’t know if you remember it, but there was a time when she was a teenager on her own. Her mother fell to drugs and Mel showed up at the center. Everyone embraced her, opening their arms and their hearts. Well, this spring she’ll graduate from college, and she’s going to stay on at Crossroads. Not as a receptionist, but running a program she designed specifically to help troubled teens.

All the girls—Kelly, Lisa, Sara, Nora, Peggy, Mel, Annie, and I—had a baby shower for Roxy Talbot. She’s retired from the FBI now and she and Harvey are expecting their first in less than a month. She’s not complained at all about swollen ankles or morning sickness or any of that (which just isn’t human, is it?). Actually, I guess her training taught her to deal with worse and a lot more. She does get emotional easily, which frustrates her, but the rest of us find it endearing. Even Nora, and you know how she is about that kind of thing. Anything tender sets Roxy off like a fire hose. I love that. If a woman needs to cry, she should just cry. It rattles Mark, but Harvey doesn’t bat an eye, and Joe totally gets it. ’Course, he always has had an uncanny insight to women.

Oh, Mom, I still have to pinch myself sometimes. Who could have imagined that a man like Joe would love me? It boggles my mind. And to think that if not for Crossroads and NINA, I never would have met him. I definitely do not want to imagine that.

After Roxy’s shower, we all went to the center and stood before Susan’s portrait. Taking turns, we each told her how her dream had changed our lives. Crossroads was her dream, but oh, are we blessed to have been a part of it. Peggy Crane tagged us as Susan’s Ripples. She says she’s getting us pink T-shirts and sun hats. Imagine Nora in a T-shirt and sun hat. Hilarious, isn’t it?

I’ll happily wear the shirt on my beach runs. I don’t know about the hat, though Nora says we could start a Pink Hat Society. That could be fun, so we’ll see.

You know, Mom, Susan’s dream was born in sadness, but look how God used it to create so much good. A lot of happiness has been found through those walls—and not the fleeting kind. The kind that lasts. When I think about it, it just awes me. I know it does you too.

Now that you’re settled in, stay in touch. Sara and I miss you. All your friends here miss you too. And while we want you to have your dream, we expect to see you on visits. Know that you have nothing to worry about here. You left us in good hands. His hands.

We’re content, Mom. Blessed. Life is good.

Much love to you and Dad,

Beth

R
EADERS
G
UIDE

1. Beth was betrayed by Max and sees herself as too ordinary for a man like Joe to be genuinely interested in her.
¹
Have you experienced things that changed the way you see yourself? The way you see others?

2. Joe had a rough childhood that drove him to church so he could find someone to go home with to get a meal. While there, he found God.
²
How did you find God?

3. Most would consider Joe’s youth, caring for his brothers, a horrific burden, and yet it prepared him for his future. He acquired needed skills and knowledge.
³
Have you experienced a hard time or challenge that proved later to be beneficial to you?

4. Sara was deemed fragile, and she stayed with that path because it was comfortable and expected. Yet there came a time and a situation when she couldn’t take the easy way anymore.
⁴
Have you experienced that—where you wanted to change and knew you had to change, but were torn because you didn’t want to leave what was comfortable or expected and step into the unknown? How did you cope? How did it work out?