This Time Forever (46 page)

She laughed at him, her gray eyes full of love. Why hadn’t he seen it before? He held her more tightly, this precious gift. He would love her for as long as they had left in this life, and then forever after.

“Rebekka,” he murmured into her hair. Their lips met for a long, searching moment, their first real kiss in the almost twenty years they’d known each other. Her skin was incredibly soft, her sweet scent intoxicating. Emotions flooded his entire being, penetrating him to the core. For a brief instant, he felt an aching for the years he’d wasted, for the years they’d not held each other . . . until the memories of their long friendship washed the pain away. Today wasn’t a day for regrets, but a day for looking toward the future. And, like Rebekka, he wasn’t going to waste another second of it.

“I see you found her.”

Marc reluctantly looked up and saw Brionney watching them, a satisfied smile on her face.

“Yes, and I’m never going to let her go.” Marc held Rebekka’s hand and gazed at her lovingly. He became aware of other eyes upon them. In fact, everyone around them was staring and smiling their approval.

“You should have seen the talking I had to do to get through security without a ticket,” Brionney said. “They only gave me a special pass when I told them you could barely understand English.”

“Uh, excuse me.” It was the employee from the airline desk. “Will you still be needing that flight?”

Marc took his eyes only briefly from Rebekka’s face. “No. I do not need it now.”

The blonde lady laughed. “I didn’t think so. I have it all ready to cancel.”

“Boy, you’re good,” Brionney said admiringly.

The attendant laughed and lowered her voice. “Just don’t tell the airline. I’m supposed to sell flights, not cancel them.”

Rebekka touched the attendant’s shoulder fleetingly. “Thanks.” She looked at Marc again, and he felt himself melt into her gray eyes. His knees were uncharacteristically weak. How long would it take them to get married? Could they do it here? Tomorrow, maybe?

Rebekka must have been thinking the same thing. “We’ll have to tell our parents. They’ll want to be here.” She frowned. “My dad won’t like me being married in a church ceremony, but he’ll have to get used to the idea.”

“He’s already had a long time to get used to it,” Marc said gently. “You’ve been a member a lot of years.”

Brionney clapped her hands together, her short white hair dancing around her like a halo. “Does this mean what I think it does?” When they nodded, she continued exuberantly, “Finally! Come on. Let’s get out of here so we can start making plans.”

With one arm still possessively about Rebekka, Marc followed Brionney down the wide corridor. He’d never felt so content in his entire life.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

In the end, Rebekka and Marc discarded the idea of eloping and decided to travel to France to personally announce their pending wedding to their families. Rebekka had especially worried about her mother’s reaction if they did elope. “I’m the only daughter she has, and she won’t get another chance to plan a wedding.” She was relieved when Marc agreed without too much reluctance. Of course, she knew that he found it hard to deny her anything at the moment, and she reveled in his love. She’d dreamed of it for so long, and now he was finally hers.

She couldn’t stand to be separated from Marc for a moment, and seeing this, Jesse and Damon hired a replacement and gave her a month off, telling the disappointed Samuel that he would have to do without her for a while. Rebekka was grateful for the time, not knowing exactly what her future held, or where she would be in a month . . . except, of course, with Marc. It had always been him. She wondered if any woman in the world had ever been happier.

Rebekka felt her decision to return home to plan their wedding was even more inspired when she received an e-mail from Raoul on Friday morning, the day before their flight to Paris.

Dearest Rebekka,

I’m afraid you will not be content when you learn that Desirée and I have eloped. While her decision not to be baptized or attend meetings with me has broken my heart, I cannot live without her. Please find it in your heart to understand and forgive. Father and Mother have made a fairly happy life together, and I will do the same. André tells me I’ve made a poor decision, that I’m giving up my chance of an eternal family for immediate pleasure. Could it be true? Could I be giving up someone I could love more than Desirée? I cannot believe so, and yet . . .

Rebekka, dear sister, I’m so confused, but I MUST be with her. We eloped to evade her parents as well as our mother. Desirée was afraid this was our only chance, and I had to agree. I am determined to keep up my church attendance, and will pray that she eventually sees the light of the gospel for what it is. I love her. I really do.

Love from your brother, the happy fool

Rebekka mourned Raoul’s decision to marry outside their faith, but she didn’t blame him. Hadn’t she been about to turn to Samuel in the face of Marc’s rejection? Though she had decided in the end not to pursue the relationship, she could have so easily boarded that plane and gone to him. Samuel would have loved her and treated her well—of that she was certain. But how long would that have been enough? How long would Raoul and Desirée be happy? Would their differing views pull them apart? Would she finally embrace the truth, or would he desert his faith and his family for his wife?

Later that evening, Rebekka was sitting on the couch in Brionney’s living room, thinking of Raoul and his dilemma. Her heart was heavy, despite her own happiness. Marc came from the kitchen, where he’d been stirring the contents of a boiling pot for Brionney, and settled beside her. “Why so glum?” he asked, encircling her with his arms. Before she could reply, he added, “It’s Raoul, isn’t it?”

Tears smarted in her eyes, not only because of her worry for her brother, but because of Marc’s intuitiveness. They knew each other so well! How could she ever have thought of living without him at her side? His friendship was every bit as important as his newly awakened passion for her.

“It’ll be all right,” Marc murmured in her ear. “We’ll be there to help him. We’ll love him no matter what.”

She rested her cheek against his shoulder, grateful for his strength, wondering how she’d survived these months without his ready grin and constant support. He kissed her cheek and leaned against the back of the couch, pulling her tightly against him. Rebekka felt safe and loved.

Brionney burst into the room with a camera. “I got the film. What a cute picture!” She snapped a few shots. “Great! I’ll send you a copy for your album.” Taking another quick picture, she darted into the kitchen, where the oven timer had begun shrilling loudly.

“You’d think this was a wedding reception, for all the fuss Brionney’s going through.” Marc reached out to grab a handful of nuts from a dish on the corner lamp table.

Brionney was having a going-away-engagement party for them and had invited everyone Rebekka knew, as well as a dozen old friends and their families. Except for stopping to nurse the twins, Brionney had done nothing but plan, shop, and bake for the past three days. Jesse laughingly complained that he was having to change altogether too many diapers, and since he never used less than six baby wipes with each diaper—all at the same time—he’d stopped at the store to buy five large containers.

Rebekka reached for the nuts, but Marc brought a few to her lips. She licked his fingers, and he kissed her lingeringly. “I wish this
was
our wedding day,” he said in a low voice.

She kissed him back. “Soon.” For the first time in her own life, she understood how comforting it was to have a relationship for eternity. Despite their anxiousness to be married, there was no real hurry.

They forgot about the nuts, the party, and even Raoul as they sat blissfully in each other’s arms.

* * * * *

Mickelle stopped at the cemetery before going to the party for Marc and Rebekka. Bryan and Jeremy had walked to Brionney’s earlier with Tanner and Belle, and she planned to meet them there. Darkness seemed to fall earlier each night, and already the sun had set behind the mountain, obscuring most of its light. She paused for a moment to watch the brilliant reds and purples fade into the darkening sky.

Each day that week she had spent the evening with Damon and his children, and each day she was more and more certain that she was falling in love with him. There’d been little opportunity to think, and at times she was so happy she was afraid it wouldn’t last.

And she felt guilty.

That was why she had come to talk to Riley. Since she began dating Damon, she hadn’t been able to talk to Riley at the house, as though the ghost of his presence had fled. But at his grave, she could feel him—an intangible essence, a whisper of his former self, but there all the same.

“I know you might not be happy about this,” she explained in the utter stillness of the cemetery, “but it’s what I want. I know you loved me once . . . wanted my happiness. Can you understand?”

The small headstone on his grave was covered in shadow. There were flowers there, too—roses like the ones almost dead on her bushes. Had someone visited recently? It was likely Bryan, who had been unusually pensive this week. He hadn’t spoken against her growing relationship with Damon as she’d feared, but he certainly wasn’t as happy about it as Jeremy.

Despite Bryan’s apparent reservations, it was good for the boys to have a man around again. Jeremy still wasn’t wetting the bed, and both boys adored playing basketball with someone who genuinely enjoyed spending time with them. Damon was so good for them all. If only Riley could understand.

Mickelle was the only living person in sight, although she could hear a few birds in the trees, now decked in their bright fall colors. A car or two passed on the road far behind her.

She took a steadying breath. “I guess I’ve come to say I’m sorry about the way your life ended. I loved you so much.” She wiped away a stray tear. “I think maybe you are learning just how much I did love you . . . do love you. I wish more than I can say that things could be different—I really, really do—but since they can’t, I need to go on. The boys need to go on.” She blinked back a few more tears. “Will you give us your blessing?”

Until that moment, she hadn’t understood how deafening silence could be. She felt a wild urge to laugh at herself, at her earnestness in talking to the dead.

Where was her answer? There was no sudden breeze to stir the trees, no light dancing on the headstone or apparition walking on the bright carpet of fallen leaves. But her heart filled with a warm sense of approval. With love.

Whether that came from the Lord, from within herself, or from some part of Riley that remained, it really didn’t matter. Mickelle walked slowly back to her car and was startled to find Damon waiting for her.

“I saw the children at Bri’s,” he said. “I came to give you a lift, but you were pulling away as I drove up to your house. I followed you here.” His voice was apologetic, implying that he hadn’t meant to intrude upon her privacy. “Is everything okay?” he added, glancing behind her at the rows of stones on the leaf-covered grass. Now he sounded anxious, and the handsome face that had become so dear to her crinkled in worry.

She smiled and offered her hand. “Everything’s fine. I just came to say goodbye.”

He nodded, and she was grateful that he didn’t demand further explanation.

“I know you loved your husband,” he said softly. “I can live with that. I just want us to be together. We have a lot of time to work everything out. I’m not going anywhere.”

The warmth in her heart increased, and she hugged him. “Good.”

“I love you.” He returned her embrace with a fervency that said far more than words.

The joy of new love filled Mickelle’s heart. Feeling warm and secure, she lifted her head to look at the single star winking in the twilight sky above and smiled.

THE END

If you enjoyed this novel, please follow Mickelle's continuing story in
Bridge to Forever,
and Rebekka's story in
Ties That Bind
and
Twice in a Lifetime.
The first chapter of
Bridge To Forever
can be found on the next page. A list of all books by Rachel Ann Nunes can be found in the About the Author section after the sample chapter.

Bridge To Forever

by Rachel Ann Nunes

CHAPTER ONE

Mickelle Hansen started her blue Metro and backed out of her American Fork driveway, past the ancient gold station wagon parked by the curb. Her stomach churned with a mixture of excitement and nervousness. What was she doing getting involved with someone so soon after her husband’s death?

She had known Damon Wolfe less than six weeks, but already he had become a regular and vital part of her life. He was continually on her mind, and even thinking about him stirred a range of emotions her deceased husband had never evoked.

Was this really love?

She thought it was, prayed that it was, but if it did turn out to be love, did that necessarily mean a happy ending? She’d been mistaken about that before with Riley. Neither she nor their children had been happy living with him, and Riley hadn’t been happy, either, for that matter. A hard knot of anxiety formed in her stomach.

Damon is not Riley.
She’d said these words so many times, she’d hoped to believe them by now.

Her feelings about Damon’s two children were not so troubled. She loved them with all her heart, especially smart little Isabelle—Belle for short—who’d quickly become the daughter she had always craved. She was grateful for the opportunity to earn money by tending Belle and her older brother after school each day until their father picked them up on his way home from work. When for some reason they didn’t come to the house—like today because Damon had taken time off work to spend with his children during the teachers’ UEA conference—she missed them terribly.