“Well, you’ll never know until you ask, now, will you?”
A loud clearing of the throat caused both of them to turn and find their grandmother smacking lips covered in powdered sugar. She had a half-eaten fried apple pie clutched in one hand and two more balanced on a white paper plate in the other.
“Don’t mind me. I’m just watching that beautiful Haley get a butterfly on her face.” She winked at Troy, gave him a powdered-sugar kiss on the cheek and then continued toward the face-painting table. “Oh, Lily, you two look like twins now. Absolutely beautiful! This night is amazing, don’t you think? Such wonderful things happen at First Friday.” She looked back at Troy and smiled. “Wonderful things! Life-changing things. In fact, I’m going back to the store right now so I can tell your grandfather all about the great things happening tonight!” She turned and practically skipped down the sidewalk toward their sporting goods store.
“What got into her?” Troy asked.
“No idea.” Becca took advantage of the short time they had before Haley’s butterfly was complete to finish their conversation. “Listen, I knew when I met Joey that he was the one. I think you know pretty much the same thing right now, and it isn’t about the girl you’re with.” She paused as though waiting for him to argue. Troy didn’t bother; she was right. Then she nodded her head and continued, “So you need to think about that and don’t miss the opportunity you have to spend time with Destiny while she’s in town.”
“And what about when she leaves?”
“Cross that bridge when it comes. If it is the real thing that you’re feeling, it’ll work out, and if you’re smart, you’ll ask God to help. He won’t let you down.” She snapped her fingers in front of his face. “And you can stop scanning the crowd. She went to the coffee shop with Hannah Graham to listen to Hannah’s love story.”
“Listen to her love story?”
“Yeah. Evidently Destiny got Marvin and Mae Tolleson to share the story of how they met, and then other people around town heard she was writing about how couples met and wanted to find out if they could be included in the paper, or article, or whatever.” She grinned. “You see, the way you meet ‘the one’ is something special, and everyone likes to talk about it. So you should take note of everything that happens this week, just in case. Or, hey, you can probably put it all down in some of your letters. That’s what you do best, after all.”
“How does it look?” Haley stepped toward Troy with a red, white and blue glitter-embellished butterfly on her cheek. “Lily picked the colors to match all of the decorations.”
“It looks great.” He tried to sound enthusiastic, but now he had a new problem on his hands. How to gently end a relationship before it technically got started...and how to find out if the city girl was “the one.”
No pressure.
Chapter Six
“So, are you going to see him today?” Rita asked.
“I’m on my way to his family’s fishing hole right now. He works there on the weekends.” Destiny passed another dirt road with no signage and prayed that the one she was supposed to take would have some form of identification. How did people find their way around down here?
“Their fishing hole.” Rita’s giggle echoed through the speaker on Destiny’s phone. “That sounds so cool. Are you actually going to fish?”
“That’s the plan. I told him that I’ve always wanted to, so he’s going to teach me.” She slowed down at the next dirt road, this one with an ancient mailbox at the end...with no name and no number. Her GPS said she still had a few miles to go, but even the GPS didn’t display any identifiers for the obscure roads.
“Talk about going the extra mile to get him to let you publish those letters.”
Destiny blinked. “Going the extra mile?”
“Pretending you want to learn how to fish and then doing it.”
Rita’s words were a punch to the chest. Obviously she didn’t think a thing about insinuating Destiny had lied to Troy. Then again, why would she? That’d been a perfect way for both of them to get their way growing up, small fibs here and there to acquire whatever they wanted at the time. Back then it felt like a talent; now it felt pretty disgusting.
“I have always wanted to fish. I just never had an opportunity to learn.”
“Really? I had no idea. You should’ve said something. My stepfather goes deep-sea fishing every spring and would’ve taken us along. And I’m sure we could’ve gotten some beach time, too. I never asked him about going because I didn’t think I could stomach looking at a fish, much less touching one.” She laughed. “Funny, I always assumed you felt the same way. Hard to picture you touching a fish. I bet your mother would die.”
“This is a little different than deep-sea fishing, but for the record, I think I’d have enjoyed it.” Destiny wondered how many other things she’d missed out on because people assumed she felt a certain way, presumably the same way as her mother who didn’t like doing anything that might cause her to get dirty.
“That’ll come in handy today, then, won’t it? The fact that you actually want to know how to fish. Maybe fishing together, all of that outdoor bonding, will give you an opportunity to ask him about those letters. Because you need to get his permission to print them, and the sooner the better.”
Outdoor bonding. The thought of that—with Troy—sounded very appealing. She was excited about spending time with him today, even if he went on a date with the pretty vet last night. Destiny had tried to keep her mind from wondering about the what-ifs of his first night out with Haley Calhoun. If they hit it off, then chances were that a relationship was officially getting started, and Destiny should feel good about that. Haley seemed to be the type of person that he’d written about in those amazing letters. Plus, she’d been at church Wednesday night, and she probably didn’t come merely to see Troy, the way Destiny did. No, Haley was probably the real deal, faith-loving, Bible-toting and all of that. And from what Destiny could tell, she had a great personality, friendly and approachable. Last but not least, she was beautiful.
Destiny should be happy for Troy, potentially finding the woman he’d been writing to all of those years. But it was difficult to feel happiness when another green emotion kept pushing its way to the surface. She wanted to be on the receiving end of Troy’s kind of affection. Destiny hadn’t stopped thinking about how much she’d enjoyed her time with him at the parade. Or the fact that she’d kept hoping to see him on the square last night even though she’d known he was off somewhere having his date with Haley. Then she’d barely slept because she couldn’t stop looking forward to seeing him today.
“Did you get a chance to read all of the emails we received before you started to the fishing hole?”
“Yes. Unreal, isn’t it?”
“I’ll say. They’ve been pouring in since you blogged that you’d met the country boy with the big heart. If he doesn’t find ‘the one’ before we publish his letters, I’m banking on him getting at least a dozen proposals from women who’ve fallen for him simply because he’s the real deal.”
Destiny had only been able to read the first three emails from women who claimed they were perfect bride material for Troy. She couldn’t stomach any more. And each time, she visualized blue eyes amid black lashes, that amazing dimple, jet-black waves of hair and a smile that made her pulse skitter. “And they’ve only read about him. Wait until they see him.”
Rita laughed. “I’m still waiting for you to send a picture. Try to take one today while you’re at the fishing hole. I’ve searched the web, but the guy hasn’t got a single photo online. No Facebook page either. I did run across some articles in the Claremont News from ten years ago. He was a star running back at his high school. Did you know that? The paper said a few colleges were looking at him, but then I didn’t see information saying he took a football scholarship or anything like that.”
Destiny thought about telling her friend she shouldn’t stalk him online, but then she remembered...she’d done the same thing. And every other woman in the country probably would, too, when she revealed the name behind the guy who had been diligently looking for his wife for fifteen years.
“I think the readers would love it if you’d give them another teaser. Oh, and the one you did this morning has been a hit, too. Lots of folks commenting on how they enjoyed reading about the couple that own the five-and-dime, how they met and are still together. We even got a comment from Lamont Sharp.”
Now that got Destiny’s attention. “Lamont Sharp? The editor?” She remembered the influential guy speaking at her graduation from the University of Georgia. He was so impressive, so successful, so...intimidating. She’d stammered over introducing herself and then given him one of her new business cards for her online magazine. He’d actually kept the card. Not only that, but he’d commented, too? “What did he say?”
“He said the article about the couple was impressive and that it was nice to hear about a love that lasts.” She paused. “It’s rare nowadays, isn’t it, for a couple to pull it off?”
“Pull what off?” Destiny was still thrown by the fact that Lamont Sharp—the Lamont Sharp—read her article and liked it.
“Marriage, the whole ‘till death do us part’ thing. My mom said when she was little, they were always going to anniversary parties, a twenty-fifth or a fiftieth, but I’ve never even heard of one happening for anyone we know. My grandparents are divorced, my parents, too. I’ve only got one aunt and uncle who are still married, and this is a second marriage for both of them. Kind of sad that hardly anyone gets it right the first time, huh? Pretty cool that your folks did.”
Destiny slowed the car. Her parents were still together. Granted, it was a strained relationship, since her father always worked and her mother always seemed miserable. But they were sticking it out, and every now and then, when they did spend a decent amount of time together—like for vacations and holidays—they still seemed very much in love. And those times, Geneva Porter actually looked happy. “Yeah, pretty cool.”
“Do you think it’s the whole God thing that makes a difference?” Rita asked. “I mean, Troy talks about it in all of his letters, how important his faith is. Maybe the marriages that make it are because they’ve got that. They want to do it the right way, so they work things out instead of throwing in the towel. I know my parents never went to church. Your parents did though, right?”
“Mom dragged us to church every Sunday, if you can count that. Daddy usually had to work, but he’d make an effort to go with us on Christmas and Easter.”
“Well, I may try church again. Who knows? Maybe I’d meet someone like Troy Lee.”
“Maybe so.” Destiny knew every girl wanted to meet someone “like Troy Lee.” So did she. But unfortunately, now that she’d met him, she suspected that no other guy would ever compare to the real deal. She drove past another vast cotton field as she looked for the next dirt road, hopefully the one that led to the fishing hole.
When she called the sporting goods store this morning for directions to the place, Troy’s grandfather had said she wouldn’t be able to miss it. Had she missed it? She hoped not, because she was eager and ready to spend a little time with the real deal. No, she wasn’t what he was looking for in a wife; she knew that. But maybe she could pretend she was for a little while...and in the process, get the rights to publish those letters.
* * *
Throughout his work routine at the fishing hole, Troy’s mind hovered between how to get to know Destiny better and how to back off from Haley. Performing his Saturday morning ritual, he’d already distributed fishing gear to several guests and cut the grassy bank on the far side of the pond, and was now running the Weed Eater around their tiny store. But every activity had been performed on autopilot, with Troy merely going through the motions while he concentrated on both girls. And his uncanny attraction to Destiny Porter.
He’d always assumed he would know when he met the right one because she would emanate every quality he’d described throughout years of writing. But he didn’t know enough about the Atlanta lady to say whether she had all of the qualities he wanted in a wife. He simply knew that he couldn’t stop thinking about her.
Absorbed in his thoughts, he nearly didn’t hear his grandmother’s yell from the store’s porch. However, her wild arm wave caught his attention and had him shutting off the Weed Eater. “You need me?”
Typically she stayed busy inside the store cooking chicken fingers and her delicious pies for the guests to purchase throughout the day. Rarely did she come out to find Troy...unless she needed help. But he couldn’t imagine that she’d need any help with the cooking.
“I wanted to know if you invited that sweet Haley to come out here today.” She held a hand to her chest and gasped between words, and Troy felt a little guilty; how long had she been screaming at him before he’d noticed?
“I thought about inviting her, but she said she had to work. She’s answering the house calls for Dr. Sheridan today.” That was the truth; he’d thought about inviting Haley out to the fishing hole, right up until the moment that he realized he couldn’t get his mind off Destiny. But he wouldn’t tell his grandma that.
“Oh.” Her disappointment filled the word, then her brows lifted and she asked, “What do you mean, answering house calls? Like if someone has a sick cat or dog at their house, she goes to check on them?”
“Or a horse or cow,” he said with a grin.
Still frowning, she turned when a puff of smoke in the distance signaled that a car had started up the dirt road leading to the fishing hole. “Looks like we’ve got another customer.” She shielded her eyes with her hand and squinted to see their new arrival, then her frown quickly converted to an all-out smile. “Well, lookie there, it’s the writer! Troy, put that Weed Eater back in the shed and dust yourself off a little. Go on, I’ll keep her occupied until you’re more presentable.”
Troy was baffled. Had she already suspected he wanted to make a good impression? “More presentable?”
“We want her to put our place in one of her books, remember? Now you’ll need to show her around and make sure that she catches plenty of fish. And point out all of the flowers we’ve got blooming. I’ve planted a bazillion bulbs. Boy, I wish she’d have come in the spring when the tulips were going full blast. That would have been a real sight for her to see, but we’ll do what we can, now, won’t we? We’ve still got the daylilies going strong. Point those out to her, okay?”
Troy grinned. Leave it to his grandmother to ask him to make a good impression on the girl he was crushing on. “I’ll do my best.” And he would, not only for the sake of the fishing hole, but for himself, too.
“That’s real good. Oh, I’m going to take those pies out of the oven. And then I’ve got a little errand to run, but I won’t be gone long. Everything in here will be fine. Nothing in the oven but those pies. You just spend some time with Miss Porter and show her how good the fishing is.”
“I’ll do that.” He placed the Weed Eater in the shed beside the store and then turned to see Destiny pull her car into a parking space. She had the top down on the convertible and her dark hair pulled back in a ponytail. Small pearl earrings dotted each ear. She got out of the car and Troy noticed her outfit, a white short-sleeved button-up blouse and cuffed jean capris. Like the other night, she wasn’t overdressed but still looked classy, portraying a girl from the nicer side of the tracks. Big city.
He glanced down at his dusty jeans and faded black T-shirt. What would a girl like that ever see in a country guy from the sticks?
“Hey.” Destiny’s bright smile seemed to shoot straight to his heart, and he felt as though he was smiling right back...from the inside. Problem was, the outside forgot to catch up because she looked confused. “It
is still okay for me to visit today, right? I really would like to learn to fish.”
He shook off his apprehension and answered, “Of course.” Troy couldn’t remember ever being nervous around a girl, but he was now. What if he got to know her, realized that she was indeed the person he’d been writing to all this time, and then learned she wasn’t interested in a small-town guy without a fancy car, snazzy clothes or a four-year degree?
“Was that your grandmother I saw as I drove up?” She stepped onto the porch and peeked in through the side window. “I want to say hello.”
“Yes, that’s her, and I’m sure she’d like that. She got all excited when she saw your car. She’s still convinced you need to put the fishing hole—and everything else about Claremont—in a book.”
She laughed, knocked on the door, then peeked inside. “Hey, Mrs. Bowers.”
Troy listened to them exchange small talk, his grandmother chattering nonstop in her excitement at having Destiny here. While they visited, Troy selected a couple of bamboo poles from the rack on the porch and prepared to take the lady fishing. He found himself relaxing a little with her friendly tone and with the way she seemed to fit right in to her surroundings, talking to his grandmother about her favorite kinds of pies and about how she believed that Southern cooking simply tasted better than anywhere else she’d visited.
He wondered where all Destiny had visited and assumed she’d probably seen a good portion of the States, if not the world. Troy had never been farther north than Gatlinburg or farther south than Destin. And truth be told, he didn’t have to travel to find contentment. Everything he wanted or needed was right here in Claremont.
Everything, that is, except for the woman he’d been writing to for the past fifteen years. Then again, maybe she was here now. And—he smiled as Destiny laughed at something his grandmother said—maybe she’d decide she liked it here.
Bride Wanted Page 9