She knew without a shadow of a doubt that when the time came for her to meet the right man, she would. She just had to trust that God’s plan for her life was better than her plan for her life. And so far, that had been true in spades.
Suzanne would keep praying and keep living her life. And if getting married and having a family was part of God’s plan for her, she’d do it. And if not, she’d still have a wonderful and full life serving Him and doing whatever He called her to do next.
That thought was comforting and freeing at the same time.
Chapter Twenty
Nick sat in the parking lot at Sea Isle Park and waited for Suzanne to show up. He had to admit, he felt a little like a stalker doing this. But he didn’t see any other way. He had to make his case and hoped the element of surprise would work in his favor.
He took a deep breath. This was as close to standing out on a shaky ledge as he’d ever been.
Suzanne’s Pathfinder pulled into a space a couple of rows over from him. She climbed out of the vehicle and helped Charlie jump out of the back end. She had on a brightly colored toboggan over her blonde hair, and a simple sweater with jeans. She’d never looked more beautiful. Suzanne and Charlie set out toward the sidewalk at a slow pace.
This is it. He slid out of the truck and hurried toward her. “Suzanne,” he called.
She whipped around. Her blue eyes widened as she recognized him. “Nick. What are you doing here?”
He grinned and jogged the rest of the way to her. “I needed to see you.”
“A phone call would’ve been cheaper than the plane ticket here.” She eyed him suspiciously. “Is your grandmother okay?”
Nick nodded. “She says she feels sixty again. And she’s finally admitted that Mr. St. Claire is her ‘man friend’ as she calls him.” He grinned. “But I didn’t come to town because of her. I came to see you.”
She didn’t say anything. Her face remained a neutral mask. Had she taken lessons in poker face over the past weeks?
He drew a breath and tried to remember all the things he’d rehearsed. “I’ve had time to do a lot of thinking over the past weeks about what’s really important. When I met you, I was too scared to go down a path if I didn’t know what waited at the end. But I’ve finally realized that no one knows what’s around the next corner. It could be something wonderful or it could be something horrible. And I realized that I don’t want to go down that path without you by my side. You make the good things better and the bad things tolerable.”
She started to say something but he held up his hand.
“I know what you’re going to say. Before you do, there are some things I want to give you.” He handed her a key ring. “This is the key to my new truck. Well, it’s new to me at least.” He grinned. “It’s in the parking lot. No more public transportation.”
“Wow,” she said. “I’m impressed.”
“Just wait. There’s more.” He winked and handed her another key. “This is the key to my office. I started last week. I’m working for St. Jude, and I think I’m going to love it.”
Her eyes widened. “You have a job here? In Memphis?”
He nodded and handed her a third key. “This goes to the house I’m renting in Midtown. I signed a year lease. At the end of the year, there’s a possibility that I might be buying the house I grew up in.”
She gestured toward a bench. “I need to sit down,” she said softly.
“Of course.” He followed her and took a seat next to her. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded-up piece of paper and handed it to her. “And now I want you to read something.”
She took the paper from him. “What’s this?” she asked.
“When my editor found out I was here during Elvis Week, he wanted me to do an article about it. But it kind of morphed into something else.”
Suzanne unfolded the paper and met his eyes. “You didn’t tell me you were writing an article about your time here.”
He sighed. “I know. I didn’t want to make a big deal out of it. And I really didn’t want you to think I was using you just for your inside knowledge. But when you read it, you’ll see that I didn’t really do what Richard intended.” He stood. “I have to get one more thing. I’ll be right back.” He hurried off in the direction of his truck. He had no idea what was going on in her head, but there was no turning back now.
***
Suzanne could barely process things. Seeing Nick out of the blue had shocked her. She’d missed him. More than she’d realized. She opened her hand and stared at the keys he’d handed her. Nick, in Memphis with a job and a truck and a house in Midtown seemed like some kind of mirage.
She glanced down at the article and began to read.
I grew up in Memphis but have tried for years to shake the city’s dust from my boots and become a native son of anywhere else that would have me. I’ve lived in Atlanta and Chicago and New York. In San Diego and Barcelona and Munich. I liked to think of myself as a citizen of the world, so I spent a decade on the run, stopping only long enough to cringe if I happened to see stereotypical Memphis portrayed on TV or in movies. I distanced myself from the sports teams and the music and even the food. And in August, when a family obligation called me back to the city of my birth, I wasn’t exactly enthused at having a reunion with a place I’d tried to leave firmly in my past.
As luck would have it, it was Elvis Week when I got to town, and after a conversation with my editor, I decided to write a piece poking fun at that particular tradition. But I couldn’t go through with it. Because something funny happened while I was there: I fell in love with the city again, just like I had when I was a child. I uncovered the true Memphis and separated her from the cliché. Sure, there’s an element that includes Elvis and barbecue and the blues. But the city is more than just that. It’s the guys who turn flips on Beale Street. It’s the restaurants that have been cooking the same recipes for more years than most of my readers have been alive. It’s the way the barges roll by on the river just like they have for a century. It’s the people who genuinely care about their neighbors and somehow manage to create a sense of small-town community within a metropolis of more than a million. It’s a city that gets behind the Tigers and the Grizzlies with an intensity that surprises rival teams. And for me, a long-lost son, it’s a place to call home. I came back, expecting my visit to last only a few weeks and then be over for at least another decade. Instead, I’ve turned in my traveling shoes for a Midtown address. And I couldn’t be happier.
Suzanne looked up from the article and saw Nick walking slowly toward her, a tiny brown puppy in his arms.
“This is Presley,” he said. He carefully set the puppy on the ground and clipped a leash to its collar. “Just in case you don’t see enough changes in me, I figured he’d give you the complete story. I adopted him a few weeks ago, so he’s not a loaner or anything.” He grinned.
“He’s adorable.” Suzanne watched as Charlie and Presley sniffed each other. She tried to process everything that had transpired over the past few minutes, but it was difficult.
Nick bent down to untangle the puppy’s leash. “I know this is a lot to take in. And I guess I could’ve called you weeks ago and told you what was going on. But I thought everything together might make you understand that I’m serious. I want a life here, in Memphis, and I want you to be a part of it. A big part of it.”
She watched the emotions play across his face. “You never stop surprising me, do you?”
His mouth turned upward in a smile. “I hope this was a good surprise. I realize that it might be too little, too late. I knew there was a chance that you might already be with someone else.” He shrugged. “But I also knew that if I didn’t beg you to give us a chance, I’d never forgive myself.”
She’d gone out with James a few more times, thinking she might forget Nick. But each time she’d wished she were with Nick instead and had finally told James she couldn’t see him anymore. “I want to give us a chance.” She
smiled. “I’ve wanted that almost since the day I met you. I was just too scared to say it out loud.” She kept a tight grip on Charlie’s leash.
Nick grabbed her free hand and pulled her closer to him. “So we’re going to give this a shot?” he whispered.
She nodded. “I’d like that.”
Nick kissed her gently on the mouth. “I’ve missed you. A lot.” He grinned. “And I think Christmas in Memphis with you will be way better than Rockefeller Center or Disney.”
Despite the November chill, Suzanne felt like she was basking in warm sunshine. She’d wanted someone who was sure enough about her to take a risk. And buying a truck, accepting a job, leasing a home, and adopting a puppy were all the gestures of a man who’d clearly decided she was worth that risk.
All of the sudden, her future had no limits. She leaned forward and kissed Nick again. If he’d decided to stay a few weeks ago, it wouldn’t have meant nearly as much as it did today. Today it was obvious that he’d put a lot of consideration into his decisions and that they were the result of a lot of thought and prayer, not a knee-jerk reaction.
Suzanne couldn’t help but smile. Sometimes the things God had in store were so much bigger than the things she imagined for herself.
Epilogue
Six months later
Suzanne glanced down at an incoming text from Avis. They were meeting for lunch today. And even though it was a bit of a drive from her east Memphis office building, Suzanne had agreed to meet Avis at Graceland.
Meet Me In The Chapel
Suzanne wrinkled her nose at Avis’s text. She hadn’t stepped foot in the chapel since her last day of work several months ago. Maybe they’d done some remodeling or something. She climbed out of her car and hurried toward the chapel. She turned the knob on the door. “Avis?” she asked as she opened the door. “Are you here?”
An Elvis song began to play softly.
Suzanne looked down the aisle and couldn’t believe her eyes. Nick’s dog, Presley, sat at the end of the aisle like he was about to officiate a ceremony.
She walked down the aisle and knelt down to see Presley. He’d grown a lot over the past few months and was almost as big as Charlie now. Her eyes landed on a shiny ring tied with a ribbon to Presley’s collar.
“Hey,” Nick said from behind her.
She turned to face him. “What are you doing here? And what is Presley doing here?” Even though the ring tied to the dog’s collar gave her a pretty good idea of what they were there for, she couldn’t wrap her mind around it. “I’m pretty sure it’s against the rules for a dog to be here,” she whispered.
Nick beamed. “I’ve got it on good authority that no official will be in here for at least fifteen minutes.” He grinned. “Your friend Avis helped me.”
Suzanne nodded. “I figured. But why?”
Nick swallowed. “Suzanne, you know I love you. I think I’ve loved you almost since the day we met. You shook up my life that day and rescued me from the shell of a man I was becoming.”
She grinned. “I love you, too.” Saying those words for the first time a few months ago had been a big step for them both, but Suzanne had never been surer of anything in her life. “And you weren’t the only one who needed rescuing.”
“When I met you I was a nomad, moving from one place to another, never satisfied or happy. But after I met you I began to realize what it was I was searching for all that time.” He took her hands in his. “Home. I tried for ten years to find a place that felt like home to me. A place I felt safe and loved and happy. I had that once when my family was alive. But it eluded me after that. Until I met you.”
Tears sprang into her eyes. “I feel the same way.”
Nick dropped to one knee and untied the ring from Presley’s collar. “Suzanne Simpson, you make my life brighter. You make me want to be a better person. And I want you to do me the honor of becoming my wife.” He held the ring out to her. “Will you marry me?”
Even though she’d anticipated the question from the time she’d seen the diamond hanging from Presley’s collar, she still gasped. “Yes. Of course,” she said.
Nick stood and kissed her, first gently and then with more intensity. “I love you,” he whispered as he slipped a perfect princess-cut diamond on her ring finger.
“I love you, too.” She hugged him again. Today had been better than she ever could’ve imagined or wished for. In fact, things were so good that Suzanne knew the events were part of a bigger plan.
And knowing that made it even better.
Bonus Preview of Can’t Help Falling in Love
Can’t Help Falling in Love
Memphis Moments Series, Book Two
Chapter One
Emily Madden slammed on the brakes of her BMW, narrowly missing the truck in front of her. She resisted the urge to honk at the driver who’d come to a quick stop, but the car behind her wasn’t so polite. The shrill noise only added to Emily’s growing headache.
This was shaping up to be one of those days where everything had gone wrong.
Everything.
If it weren’t for the fact that she had dinner plans, Emily would be at home in bed by now, ticking down the hours until it was a new day. But she’d promised Suzanne and Jade that she’d meet them for dinner, so after her shift at the hospital she’d headed to Bosco’s.
Emily worked as a nurse at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, a position she loved very much. Even before she began working there, she’d long admired their policy to never turn patients away because of an inability to pay. She knew firsthand the toll medical bills could take on a family.
She pulled her car into the first empty parking space she found outside of Bosco’s, one of her favorite restaurants in midtown Memphis. Maybe a girls’ night out was just what she needed to turn this day around. She grabbed her purse and hopped out of the car.
“Emily!” a voice called from across the parking lot.
Emily turned to see Jade Denton slamming the door on her Prius a few rows over. She waited by her car until Jade reached her. “I hope Suzanne isn’t running late. I’m starving.”
Jade chuckled and raked her fingers through her dark hair. “Actually, it’s just the opposite. She texted me as I was pulling into the parking lot to say she’s already inside and sitting down.”
Emily raised her eyebrows. In the ten plus years she’d known Suzanne Simpson, she’d never known her to be early. Unlike Emily, Suzanne was rarely on time, much less early. It was one of the reasons they hadn’t lasted long as roommates at the University of Memphis. After one semester living in the dorm, Emily had moved into a sorority house and Suzanne had found an apartment. Despite their differences, they’d become best friends. Emily often joked that if they’d remained roommates, they probably wouldn’t be on speaking terms today. “Wow. Maybe she’s starving, too.”
Jade shrugged and they hurried toward the restaurant.
“It’s about time,” Suzanne said once they reached the table. She grinned, her blond ponytail bobbing. “I’ve been waiting forever.”
Emily sat down. “Have I stepped into an alternate universe?” she teased. “One where you arrive early and I run late?”
Suzanne beamed. “Nope. I got here as soon as I could after work because I have something super-important to tell y’all.”
“I hope it’s that you’ve already ordered an appetizer, because I’m starving.” Emily grinned.
Jade raised her eyebrows in Emily’s direction. “My guess is it has nothing to do with food.”
Suzanne grinned. “I couldn’t stand the thought of telling y’all over the phone or by text. And I sure didn’t want you to find out on Facebook.” She held up her left hand and pointed at a giant diamond on her ring finger. “Nick asked me to marry him.” She paused dramatically. “And I said yes.”
Jade squealed. “Oh, Suzanne. I’m so happy for you.”
Emily sat in silence. Engaged? She liked Nick Taggart. In fact, she’d encouraged Suzanne to go ou
t with him. But engaged? She looked up to see Suzanne and Jade both eyeing her expectantly. “Congratulations. Sorry. I guess I’m just a little surprised.”
Jade laughed. “Where have you been for the past few months? Hiding under a rock? I’ve expected a ‘we’re engaged’ phone call ever since they went on vacation with Nick’s grandmother last month.”
Suzanne had met Nick on an airplane last August and after a rocky start, they’d become a couple. He’d moved back to his hometown of Memphis where his elderly grandmother still lived and the rest was history. “I guess y’all have been dating for six months now.” Emily shook her head. “Where has the time gone?”
Suzanne tossed her blond ponytail. “Well, I can tell you where your time has gone.” She grinned. “You’re always working, taking some oddball class, or traipsing off on an adventure.” She narrowed her eyes. “Where is it you just got back from—Flagstaff?”
Emily laughed. “That’s right. There’s a hot air balloon festival out there. I’ve always wanted to go up in a hot air balloon.”
Jade sighed. “Y’all make me feel like a big blob. One of you has gone off and met the love of your life, and the other is just back from some exciting quest.” She frowned. “And I’m just boring old Jade, working and trying to find homes for abandoned animals.” Jade worked at the Memphis Zoo, but her passion was rescuing dogs and finding good homes for them.
Suzanne patted Jade on the arm. “Don’t be like that. You know God has big things in store for you.”
At the mention of God, Emily shifted uncomfortably. Her two best friends were strong in their faith. In fact, they attended the same church. But Emily wasn’t so sure about her beliefs. She’d grown up in the church and her parents were both strong Christians, but she’d fallen away when she was a teenager and her life had spun out of control. “So, have you set a date yet?” she asked, hoping to steer the conversation in a different direction.
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