Read Just In Time For Love (Stanton Falls #1) Online

Authors: Kaci Hart

Tags: #Contemporary, #Romance, #Fiction, #Forever Love, #Christian, #Religious, #Faith, #Inspirational, #Spirituality, #Love Inspired, #Bachelor, #Single Woman, #Hearts Desire, #Clean & Wholesome, #Stanton Falls, #Series, #University, #Five Years, #Nurse Degree, #Three Year-Old, #Single Mother, #Family Life, #Short Story, #Novella

Just In Time For Love (Stanton Falls #1) (4 page)

BOOK: Just In Time For Love (Stanton Falls #1)
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“Well, when you put it
like that, I guess maybe you should be the one counseling me on decision
making.”

 

He let out a husky, full
chuckle.  

 

“How did you go from the
marines to working for him anyway?  That’s like night and day.”

 

Aaron took on a more
serious look.  

 

“Well, we’ve all got our
stories but let’s just say that it wasn’t what I was expecting out there at
all.  I was having to choose daily to possibly end someone’s life so that
people that I knew and cared about could keep living the life that they do.
 It didn’t sound so bad in theory.  When I used to look at the
pictures of my father and his father in their military uniforms having served,
I felt like it was something I had to do.  My father tried to tell me that
it wasn’t something that I wanted but I was stubborn.  And nothing against
the troops out there fighting.  We live in a blessed country and it’s
because of the sacrifices that they make for us daily.”

 

In his eyes, she saw
anguish and despair.  She felt so bad when she thought about the Aaron she
knew.  He had obviously seen a lot of things that he wished he could erase
from memory.  He was the kind of person that would remember the face of
every person he had gone into battle with.  Every shout, every friend that
was sacrificed so that he could keep fighting, and every enemy whose life he
ended.  They would be with him forever.  It was her turn to be a
comforter to him.  She gently rubbed his hand.  

 

“Oh my.  I am so
sorry Aaron.  I can imagine how hard that was.  I feel horrible now.
 You needed me and I left you because of my foolishness and my
insecurities.  How could you possibly still love me?”

 

“Because when I fell in
love with you, it was forever Em.  You know me.  All or nothing.
 Anyway, after my tour in the marines, I came back home but I didn’t
really have any idea what I wanted to do.  With you being gone, I kinda
just fell into a little bit of a sad moment.  Nick was there to help me.
 To this day, I still think he started his business as a way to help me
find something else to focus on.  After a few months, I was starting to
feel a bit better.  I even started going back to church, something I was
almost certain I would never do again after what I had seen out there.”  

 

“I can only imagine what
that must have been like for you.  Nick is a real friend.”  

 

“Yeah.  Now enough
of the sad stuff.  Em, what about us?”

 

“You’re really serious,
about this, aren’t you?”

 

“Yes, but I know it’s a
lot for you coming from what has gone on in your life.  I don’t want to
rush you into any decisions at all.  Just know that I plan on asking you
to be my wife one day and I do hope that the answer will be yes.  For now,
I would settle for a few dates here and there.”

 

“Well if you are sure
that this is what you want.”

 

“I’m positive about what
I want Emily.”

 

“And Ashleigh?  She
kind of changes things doesn’t she?”

 

“Not at all.  As I
see it, she didn’t have a father before.  She will now.  ”

 

That kind of promise
felt good to Emily.  She was sure that if he had asked her to marry him
right then, she wouldn’t have hesitated to say yes.  He was the kind of
man that she could see raising a family with.  If she was honest with
herself, he was the only man in her life that she ever saw that future with.
 

Chapter 6
 

Emily, her parents and
her sister stood at the front of the church all forming a semicircle around
Ashleigh.  Aaron spoke directly to Emily from the pulpit.

 

“Emily, I have known you
for a long time.  Since we were teenagers.  I am proud to see you
growing up and becoming a wonderful mother.  Now I am going to ask you a
question.  Emily, by coming forward before God and His people, do you
hereby declare your desire to dedicate yourself and little Ashleigh here to the
Lord? If so, please respond by saying ‘I do.’ now.”

 

“I do.”

 

Emily was happy with her
decision to finally dedicate Ashleigh.  It had been a few weeks since her
parents had asked her if she was going to and at first she was firmly against
it.  It wasn’t until her relationship started to blossom with Aaron again
that she felt worthy of being able to even ask God to help her raise her child.
 She watched as he asked similar commitments from her parents and her
sister, all of whom gladly shared the responsibility with her.  When the
dedication was over, he asked everyone to take a moment of prayer for the
family and the child.  Emily’s heart was overwhelmed by the love and
compassion that she felt and her silent prayer evidenced that.

 

God I don’t know what I
did to deserve such wonderful people in my life.  Thank you so very much.
 I know I messed up but thank you for restoring me and allowing my baby to
grow up in a nurturing, loving environment.  

 

While returning to her
seat after the dedication, Emily looked at the area to the right of the pulpit and
saw Aaron smiling at her as the head pastor of the church took over from there.
 It was fitting to her that Aaron perform her baby’s dedication.
 Emily found out when they started courting each other again that Aaron
had become a youth pastor at the church.  The head pastor did all of the
dedications unless otherwise requested.  She didn’t know why but it felt
right having him lay hands on her daughter’s head and then hers, praying for
guidance.  In actuality, Emily couldn’t think of a better person to perform
that service for her than Aaron. 

 

At the end of the
service Aaron--guitar in hand--led the youth worship team in song as everyone
departed for the remainder of their day.  In the time since they had been
seeing each other again, she often watched as he interacted with the young
people and it made her affections for him grow.  She wondered just how
blessed she was to have that man in her life.  She was walking with her
parents and Ashleigh to the car when she heard Liz call to them from behind.
 

 

“Mom, dad, Emily.
 I thought you had left already.”

 

“Nope.  We almost
got away though.  What’s up?”

 

“I didn’t get a chance
to tell you earlier Emily, but Aaron asked if you would wait around for him
after church.  He needed to make sure all the youth get to their parents
and everything got locked up but he says he wanted to talk to you if possible.”

 

“Ok.  Thanks Liz.”

 

“I’ll see you guys later
for dinner then.”

 

Her sister hurried to
her own car and drove off.  Emily had rode with her parents.  No need
in wasting gas was what her father always said.  Her mother looked to her
and smiled.

 

“You want me to take
Ashleigh home for you?  Get her all fed and stuff?”

 

“Nah, thanks but I think
that she would look forward to seeing Aaron.  She’s taken a liking to him
it seems.”

 

“You don’t say?
 Like mother like daughter I assume.  Alright then, I’ll see you
later.”

 

“Bye.”

 

It was true that since
they had been spending so much more time together, Aaron and Ashleigh had also
been building a special bond.  Emily was always filled with warmth every
time her little face would light up when he came around her.  She stood
outside watching Ashleigh run around in the grass when Aaron came up behind
her.

 

“Hey beautiful.”

 

She turned around and felt
her cheeks blush in full red as he smiled at her.

 

“Hi.”

 

“Wait.  I was
actually talking to Ashleigh, but you’re not so bad either.”

 

They both laughed as
Ashleigh climbed up the slide.  

 

“So you wanted to talk,
Liz said.”

 

“Yeah I did, but grab Ashleigh
first, I wanna show you something.”

 

Aaron had a twinkle in
his eye that made Emily wonder what in the world he was up to.
 
She followed as he led her to a spot in the
back of the church then he turned around and began speaking.   He had
brought her to the same place he proposed to her as a teenager years ago.
 

 

“Remember this spot
Emily?”

 

The sarcastic part of
her wanted to say ‘of course, the church’ but she didn’t.  Moments later,
she realized where they were and her heart beat picked up.

 

“Emily, having you back
in my life has been extraordinary.  I can’t explain how happy I am to be
with you.  And little Ashleigh here.  Two years ago I wouldn’t know
what to think about you having a child without me, and I still don’t.  In
my heart, she has always been my child.  I can’t imagine my life without
your or her.  I told you the other day that my proposal to you all those
years ago was real, and now I want to stand by it.”

 

Aaron got down on his
knee, and looked up into Emily’s watering eyes.  He reached into his coat
pocket, pulling out a small box.

 

“Oh my gosh, Aaron.”

 

“Emily, do me the honor
of spending the rest of your life with me.  Will you marry me?”

 

“Oh yes Aaron, I will.”

 

Emily screamed in delight
as he placed the ring on her finger, and then stopped him.

 

“On one condition.”

 

“Name it.”

 

“You weren’t really
serious about the nine kids, were you?”

At that, they both laughed as he hugged his future
wife and picked up his new daughter, looking forward to a future together that
felt like it was always meant to be.

 

Thank
you for reading.

If you
enjoyed this book please take a moment to leave a review by 
clicking here
.

Continue
reading for an excerpt from the second book in the Stanton Falls Series ‘Love
Therapy.’

 

Chapter 1

“It’s still hard for me
to see you there and not wanna send you to pick up table two.  You sure
you don’t want to catch a few extra hours?”

 

Donna looked around the
diner, reminiscing on her past.  

 

“Now Ms. Shirley, you know
I had some good times here.  If I didn’t actually love what I’m doing now
I would hop right on back there, get myself an apron, and take you up on that
offer.”

 

Shirley continued to
prepare a slice of pie and coffee for Donna.  

 

“Well Donna, I’m glad
you don’t have to.  You know this job is not all the glitz and glamor that
it used to be.  And I know I tell you this every time I see you but I’m
really proud of you.  I always feel like I had a tiny hand in your life
and
it’s
nice when you do well.  Like I’m living
voraciously
through you.”

 

Donna burst out in
laughter.

 

“What’s so funny?”

 

“Oh Ms. Shirley I’m
laughing at you and your new ten dollar word.  You are so cute but you
completely used the wrong one.’

 

Shirley looked at
her.
 
A confused expression plastered on
her face.  As someone that loved reading anything she could get her hands
on, she was always trying to incorporate some new term into her vocab.
 The older woman stood with her hands on her waist, with her eyes looking
up to the ceiling as she replayed the statement in her mind over and over
again.  She had no idea what the error was.    

 

“Really?”

 

Donna laughed at the
short, plump woman’s attempt to use what she called ten dollar words.
 Being around her always made Donna’s day a little brighter.  Some
people just had that kind of way about them.  Shirley was the owner and
principal operator of the diner and was friends with Donna’s mother from church
so she had known her since she was practically a baby.  As a teenager, she
hired Donna on after school and later paid her more than she was worth to help
her cover the costs for college.

 

“Yeah.  You said
voraciously but you meant vicariously.  Living
vicariously
through
me.”  

 

“Oh well.  They
both start with ‘v’ and I had the spirit of the word right so how
ya
like them apples?”

 

The two women shared a
laugh as Shirley stretched across the counter and placed the packaged pie slice
and hot coffee in front of Donna.  

 

“Here you go sweetie.”

 

When Donna reached for
her wallet instead of her food Shirley spoke to her again, shaking her head in
protest.

 

“What did I tell you
about that?”

 

“Oh come on Mrs.
Shirley.  You can’t keep giving me free coffee and pie just because I
worked here.  You have got a business to run and money to be made.  You
know, despite all of our kidding, I really am not an employee of yours
anymore.”

 

“Donna I know that all
too well.  None of these new girls I hired have anything on you.  But
I never considered you like a regular employee.  You have been like a
daughter to me since my own moved away so many years ago.  I could no more
charge you for a cup of coffee than I could her so you will either have to get
used to it or find another place to get your coffee and you know that it would
break my heart if you did that.  So don’t you reach for that wallet again,
you hear me?”

 

Donna knew her well
enough to know that she was absolutely determined not to take her money, so she
acquiesced.  

 

“Yes ma'am.  I got
you loud and clear.  That just means I will be piling all of that coffee
and pie into your Christmas present.”

 

“Now that, I can allow!”

 

“Exactly.  More
than one way to skin a cat.  Well I really have to run off to work now.
 Thank you for the coffee and pie and I will see you tomorrow.”

 

“Alright sweetie.
 Have a great day.”

 

“You too.”

 

Donna enjoyed her trips
to the diner.  It reminded her of just how unique of a place Stanton Falls
was.  It was totally different from Dallas.  Not that either was
better than the other--but it was just different.  Things like getting a
simple cup of coffee in those places was a chore.  Four sizes, eighteen
blends, five types of cream or milk and four versions of sugar, none of which
were really natural.  She inhaled her coffee as she walked towards the
door.  Simple.  Black with a couple teaspoons of sugar.  That’s
the good stuff.  

 

Since her hands were
full, she leaned her shoulder forward to push the door open, and as she pushed
forward, the door swung open from the other direction, causing her to stumble
forward, almost falling before apparently having her fall saved by the chest of
the person on the other side of the door.  She didn’t know if she was more
embarrassed to have almost fallen or to have been that close to a total
stranger.  She was invading his personal space.  

 

Could have been worse.
 I could have spilled my coffee.

 

She looked backed up,
hoping to thank the stranger that saved her from having to take another cup of
coffee from Shirley for free.  She stared at his concerned face.  

 

Cute.

 

She thought he looked familiar
and judging by the look of recognition on his face, she was sure she knew him
from somewhere.  

 

“Um, sorry to bump into
you like that.  Are you ok?”

 

“Donna?”

 
 

***

 
 

Nick couldn’t believe it
was her but he would know her face anywhere.  He had spent enough times
going to that diner for any extra meals that he could just so he could have a
chance to see her.  It was funny because he had never been a shy person.
 He was typically the most outgoing person in the room but he had never
really gotten past flirting with her in the past.  He was never really
sure if she even liked him.  He was totally surprised that day when he
went back to the diner and she was gone.  The owner had told him that she
was gone to finish up school and she didn’t even know if she was moving back in
the future.  Well apparently she decided to return to town.  

BOOK: Just In Time For Love (Stanton Falls #1)
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