Love Story

by Karen Kingsbury

  Riley looked at him, eyes faithful, devoted.

  “That’s right. Good boy, Riley.” Cody flipped on the television to Fox News and was about to turn the channel when he caught the headline across the screen. LOUISIANA FLOODS DEVASTATE REGION AGAIN. Cody leaned forward in his seat and lowered the remote. Again? How had he missed this?

  The anchorwoman was saying something about thousands of people being displaced, and floodwaters that had only partially receded. More storms were possible in the next few days.

  Poor people, Cody thought. He couldn’t imagine losing a house to flooding. The network cut away to scenes of devastation. Homes sitting in the middle of the road after having been carried off their foundations. Others reduced to piles of ruined lumber and rubbish. The next cut was a tent shelter.

  “Volunteers and relief workers from all over the country have come to serve the victims of this second year of flooding.” The reporter stepped aside to reveal a number of helpers taking bags and boxes of food from a truck and handing them to residents of what was obviously a temporary shelter.

  At that moment, a girl with long blond hair came from the tent and easily pulled herself up onto the bed of the truck. Cody stood and stared at the screen. The girl had her back to the camera, but her graceful movements, the lithe way about her . . . it almost had to be her.

  Cody watched the girl slide down from the truck, brush her hands on her jeans, and come up to the reporter. Cody was right. He set down his coffee and took a few steps closer to the TV. The girl was Andi Ellison. He kept walking until he was close enough to touch the screen.

  “Andi . . .” He whispered her name. As if she could see him through the glass, as if she could hear him. He reached out and touched the frame of the television, mesmerized by her face, her beautiful eyes. “I’m here.”

  The reporter motioned to her. “We have here one of the relief workers, Andi Ellison.” The woman looked at Andi. “How long before people will be back in their homes?”

  Andi tossed her hair over her shoulder. Her cheek was smudged with mud and her shirt was dirty. Like she’d been working for days on end. “Many of these people will never be back. We’re still finding houses that were a complete loss.” The depth and care in her blue eyes was deep and soulful. Never mind how dirty she looked. Andi took his breath all the same. Most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen. Cody wondered if he was the only one who thought so. “They’ll need to find transitional housing before any funding becomes available and they can rebuild. It’ll be a process.”

  The reporter looked concerned. “So many people affected.” She shook her head. “And what’s the greatest need at this time? How can people help?”

  “Well.” Andi looked over her shoulder at the truck. “People can donate money or food to the few organizations down here making a difference.” She looked at the reporter again. “And one of the things we’re definitely short of are new socks.”

  “New socks . . . just regular socks?” The reporter seemed surprised.

  “Yes.” Andi looked anxious to get back to work. “In a flood zone, socks are always wet. These people would feel a lot better just knowing their feet could be dry for the night. It’s the first thing people need after food and water.”

  “Thanks, Andi.” The reporter looked into the camera. “You heard it here, folks. They need our help . . . if you can donate money or food, please do so. And if you can make it down to one of the temporary tent shelters, bring a few pairs of socks.”

  A quick thank-you to Andi, and the network cut back to the anchorwoman in the studio. And like that, the girl Cody had been missing for so long was gone. Again.

  Cody hurried to the sofa and grabbed the remote. He hit the rewind button and took the program back to the point where Andi exited the tent and began helping in the truck. He played the segment again, and then a third time. Just before the reporter asked Andi the last question, Cody hit the pause button.

  For a few seconds, Cody stared at her. Just took in the sight of her like a dying man in the desert getting his first drink of water after far too long. He had missed her so much. More than he had admitted to himself. The way her hair blew in the wind outside the tent, and the shine in her blue eyes.

  His mother was right. He couldn’t let her go. Couldn’t up and move to Montana without at least trying to make things right between them. Whatever it took. Cody kept the TV there, frozen on her face. And as he did, a realization hit him.

  Hadn’t he just asked God for a sign? For an answer to what he should do next . . . how he should proceed? Minutes later he turned on the television only to see Andi Ellison interviewed?

  A warm certainty started in his heart and radiated through his body. Of course this was a sign. It had to be. Not only that, but now he knew where Andi was working. She’d been tending to victims of the latest Louisiana flood.

  Surely he could find her now.

  His heart began to beat harder than before, until after a minute it was pounding in his chest. As if it were telling the rest of his body to make a plan, kick things into action. Make a phone call. Whatever he had to do to reach her.

  Cody pulled his cell phone from his pocket and called the principal at Oaks Christian. Five minutes later he had the time off. He’d have to finish working with his players, but he could leave next week. Once he got to Louisiana, he could spend the next four days looking for her. Day and night if that’s what it took.

  Cody rewound the segment again and this time he let her voice melt into him, deep into the places of his soul that had so desperately thought about her and cared for her and missed her.

  Finally he clicked the television off and rushed to find his laptop. Ten minutes later he had a round trip to Louisiana. As soon as he clicked the purchase button, his racing heart slowed some. Another call to his mom to arrange for Riley to be dropped off the morning of his flight and suddenly everything was in place.

  He was going to find Andi.

  With every minute since he’d seen her on the screen, Cody had felt an increasing certainty. He missed Andi even more than he thought. She was the other half of his heart, and he could only pray God would open doors in the days ahead. That He would lead Cody to find her, and once he did, Andi might want him back again.

  One more time.

  Because Cody knew something he hadn’t known before seeing Andi on TV. He not only missed her. Cody still loved her. He loved her with all his heart and he couldn’t imagine letting her go ever again. Not now that he’d seen her.

  He could only hope that somehow, some way, Andi would forgive him. And that if Cody found her, she would remember something that Cody hoped had been true for years now.

  The hope that just maybe she still loved him, too.

  11

  A week passed in the blink of an eye and suddenly Thursday was here again. Like she’d promised, Elaine didn’t stay. Once again she went to her friend’s house to work on her quilt. John saw now that her being gone was the best choice for all of them. He could give himself fully to the story—the way he had last week—and not worry how Elaine might feel about it.

  John had decided to hold on to the copies of the photos until he was completely finished with the interviews. That way he could refer to them while he told the story. Last week he had shown Cole that first photo, the one from the dance. And also a picture Bill had taken of the two of them on their bench near the science building. Another one showed John and Elizabeth sitting on their bicycles after a ride around Ann Arbor’s downtown area.

  There would be more today.

  He met Cole and Ashley at the door and this time he didn’t struggle with where to begin. The next part of their story was as breathtaking as it was beautiful. The hard part of the story would come over the last two weeks. But even then, the pain of the past was part of the reason John and Elizabeth’s story was so amazing. God had taken the broken pieces of those long ago yesterdays and made them into a foundation for the entire Baxter family.

  A found
ation built on faith in God and love for each other.

  When they were all seated, John held up a photograph. “This is the Wesley house. Where I lived. It’s where your grandma made me dinner that first night.”

  Already Cole seemed to understand where the story was going. “Did you go back to the house alone again after that?”

  “We didn’t. Not right away. I couldn’t put her in a compromising situation.” John almost winced as he said the words. The compromising would come later. First it was time to share some of the happiest days of his life. He titled this next part something that made Cole and Ashley smile.

  Falling in Love.

  Like before, as he began to answer Cole’s questions he felt himself drawn back in time. Until it was like those days were happening all over again.

  In the most beautiful way.

  • • •

  THEY NEEDED A plan to see each other. John knew he couldn’t bring her back to his house. The outcome would be disastrous. Stopping had been nearly impossible last time. If they began kissing again, John wasn’t sure he’d find the self-control.

  Two days later they met at their campus bench and made a plan. Elizabeth would tell her parents she needed all day Saturday to study with Betsy at the library. She would go to Betsy’s house, and Betsy would drive her to John’s.

  Then John would whisk her away to Independence Lake Park, a scenic spot ten miles from campus. They could spend the day together and her parents would never know. John looked for her reaction as they talked about the idea.

  “I don’t know.” Elizabeth faced him. Her hair was in a ponytail again and she looked young and afraid. “Meeting on campus is okay. I have to be here anyway, you know? And you might just be a friend.” She looked down and then lifted her eyes to him. “Leaving here . . . going somewhere like that, just the two of us . . . I could never explain that.” She paused. “If they find out . . .”

  “They won’t.” John didn’t want to push. He rested his arm on the bench and watched her. “We don’t have to go. I don’t want you to worry.”

  She slid closer to him, her eyes holding his. “You won’t let us get in trouble, right? My parents can never know.”

  John thought about that. One day her parents would have to know, because John couldn’t imagine losing Elizabeth. And if they stayed together, then he’d have to face her parents one day. Even if they hated him and . . . He refused to finish the thought.

  Elizabeth was waiting for his answer, looking to him for strength and certainty. He pushed his hesitancy down deep within him. “Never. I’ll protect you from them and anything else, Elizabeth. While you’re with me you’ll be safe. Always.” It was a response he would later regret. One he would’ve done anything to make true.

  He wanted with everything in him never to let her down.

  In the end they decided to take the Saturday adventure. He could tell Elizabeth was nervous because while he drove scenic Whitmore Lake Road north to the park, she fell completely silent. John parked the car and looked at her. “It’ll be okay.”

  Elizabeth nodded, but didn’t say a word. John took the picnic basket and blanket from the trunk and came around to help her out. He had the entire day planned, but first he needed her to trust him. He managed to carry the basket and blanket and still reach for her hand. Her fingers felt cold against his touch so he found a spot in the sun on the sandy shore.

  Once he had spread out the blanket he turned to her. “Come here.”

  For the first time since they left Ann Arbor, Elizabeth smiled. Not the smile from the dance or the way she’d looked when they kissed at his house. But a smile racked with anxiety.

  Even so she did as he asked. She wrapped her arms around his waist and pressed her head against his chest. “I’m so cold.”

  “You’re scared.”

  “Yes.” She lifted her eyes to his. “I love my parents, John. I just wish . . . I wish I could . . .”

  He waited, but she didn’t seem to know what to say, how to finish her thought. “You wish you could tell them about me?”

  Her eyes clouded with frustration. “Yes. Exactly. They’re nice people.”

  John had a dozen reasons why they weren’t nice people. Anyone who would keep their daughter in a prison of threats and unreasonable rules and blame their behavior on God didn’t deserve a girl like Elizabeth. But he kept his thoughts to himself.

  “You aren’t saying anything.” She blinked a few times. “They’re not terrible. I mean it.”

  “I’ll meet them one day.” He stepped back and forced a lighter mood. He did one of his bows, the same kind he’d done when he taught her the twist. Then like a proper Englishman, he pretended to remove his top hat and dip it, grand gesture and all. “ ‘Hello, fine madam and sir,’ I’ll tell them. ‘If it meets your approval, I’d like to court your daughter.’ ” He winked.

  Her ripple of laughter set the day’s course in a better direction.

  “ ‘What’s that you say? How long would I expect to court her?’ ” John raised his hands and spun in a slow circle. “ ‘Fine madam and sir, for a very long time indeed. Till the moon and sun cease to shine . . . till the oceans become dry land.’ ” He came to her again and took her face in his hands. His words mixed with the slight breeze off the lake. “ ‘Until I take my last breath.’ ”

  “John . . .” Her voice sounded like she had forgotten where they were or why she was afraid.

  “I’ll tell them, Elizabeth.” His laughter faded. All that mattered was each other, and this single moment between them. “Just give me a chance.”

  Then, like the evening in his kitchen, he kissed her. Here, there was no music. Only the wind in the trees that surrounded the park. To John, the sound might as well have been a symphony. The rest of the day was like something from a movie. They left the blanket and picnic basket and rented a canoe. Together they paddled around the shore of Independence Lake, laughing and talking and pretending the world was on their side. On the far shore, away from the people gathered along the beach, Elizabeth spotted a baby bear. He was standing on his hind legs, leaning against a pine tree, batting his oversized paws at something up the tree trunk.

  Every sound, every image, every second of their time was like the greatest gift. The reality waiting back home seemed to fall away, and for that one Saturday, Elizabeth was completely his. After the canoe ride, they hiked the trails that wove their way around the outer edges of the lake, and at one point they stopped and sat on a bench, out of sight from anyone.

  It felt like they were the only people in the world.

  “Tell me your dreams, Elizabeth.” John couldn’t get enough of her. Sure, he wanted to kiss her. He wanted more than that, if he were honest. But beyond that he wanted to know her, to meld his heart with hers until it was impossible to know where one ended and the other began.

  She tilted her face to the vast blue sky and breathed in the fresh air. “I don’t think we have enough time.”

  John smiled at her. “Try me.”

  Her eyes shone with a freedom she had clearly not felt earlier. “Okay . . . It’s a long list.” A raw, youthful anticipation lit her expression and she stood—the empty trail her stage. “I want to play the piano and sing. Not just everyday sort of singing, but in a room with people who pay to watch. I’d like to make a record. And I want to act, too. Shakespeare and musical theater. Or maybe star in a movie.”

  He raised his brow. “Ambitious. I love it.”

  “That’s not all.” She giggled. “I want to be a lawyer, and lock up the bad guys so no one has to worry about violent people who get out of prison too soon.”

  “That’s important.” John slid to the edge of the bench, mesmerized by her. “What else?”

  “Modeling. I’d love to be a model. With the prettiest dresses in all the land. And I’d like to be a teacher and a painter. Oh, and a doctor. So I can help people.” She grinned at him. “A doctor like you’re going to be, John. We can work at the same
hospital.”

  “We will. Absolutely.” He hung on her every word. There was no other girl like her.

  She spread her arms out as far as she could reach. “And I want to have a big family. A house full of kids with laughter and love and music. Everyone will see me with all these children and they’ll say, ‘Why, there goes Elizabeth. She’s the best mother to those kids.’ ”

  John couldn’t stop smiling. He was dizzy from her monologue. He stood and moved toward her. This time when he put his arm around her waist and pulled her close the motion felt as natural as breathing. He wanted to tell her they wouldn’t say, There goes Elizabeth. They’d say, There goes Elizabeth Baxter. But it was too soon. He couldn’t let his heart get ahead of him.

  Couldn’t risk her running scared.

  Instead he held her loosely and together they swayed to the gentle sound of the lake water lapping against the shore. “I can dance with you anywhere.” He allowed his face to brush against hers. “Know why?”

  “Why?” Her voice was like the wind around them. Soft and surreal, like maybe she wasn’t here and John wasn’t dancing in her arms on a dirt path.

  “Because . . . you’re the music, Elizabeth.” He eased back, his eyes finding hers again. “I love you.” His words came without permission. As if his heart was speaking for him. “I’m in love with you.”

  Her smile started slowly and then filled her face, her eyes. “I thought I was crazy. We only met a few weeks ago.”

  John laughed. “We’re both crazy.” He put his hand against her cheek. “You feel it, too, don’t you?”

  For a long while she only looked at him, as if she didn’t want to interrupt the beautiful moment with words. Finally she breathed in, her eyes holding his. “Yes, I feel it. I love you, too, John.”

  He looked down to make sure his feet were still on the ground. He’d never been so happy in all his life. “We’ll figure this out.” He kissed her once and then again until his passion for her became more than he could bear. “Okay.” He steadied his breathing. A step back and then another. “Let’s keep walking.”