“Brent Everson?” Allie supplied.
“Yes. It was, wasn’t it?”
“Yes.” Allie rubbed away the final tears. “He just left,” she explained. “For good. You can’t be far,” she added without a pause. “Don’t hang up. Stay where you are and I’ll come find you.”
“Those are the most beautiful words I’ve ever heard,” Frederick crooned.
Thirty-Eight
Within three minutes Frederick spotted Allie striding down the sand-swept lane toward him. After he’d described exactly where he was standing—at the end of a row of condos with the beach on one side and a narrow road on the other—Allie promised she’d be to him in minutes. She kept her word.
Frederick waved wildly and said, “I see you!” into the cell phone.
“I see you, too!” she replied and returned the wave.
Frederick disconnected the call, shoved the phone into his jeans pocket, and ran toward her. He didn’t even give her a chance to say hello before he pulled her into his arms and laid a kiss on her that had been waiting a decade. The way she clung to him made Frederick more hungry for their wedding than when he’d gotten her phone call.
As the ocean’s roar echoed the rush in his veins, Frederick broke the kiss and nearly sank to his knees. “Oh, Allie . . . Allie . . .” he whispered in her ear. “This has been such a mixed-up mess. I love you. I love you! I never stopped loving you. And if there’s any way we could ever get married—”
“Yes!” Allie exulted and pressed her lips against his face. Amid a trail of eager kisses, Frederick detected the proclamation of her love before her lips pressed his again.
Frederick’s eyes closed as he hugged her tightly and drowned in another kiss. Finally he cupped her face in his hands, pulled away, and groaned. “We’ve got to stop.” Glancing toward the beach, he encountered a trio of teenage males who were far too interested in their embrace. “There’s an audience,” he explained.
“I don’t care!” Allie wrapped her arms around him, placed her head on his chest, and continued, “I’ve waited ten years for this. I don’t care if the whole world is watching.”
Frederick glanced back toward the guys and caught sight of an older couple near the condos who were just as interested. He chuckled, rested his head on hers, and decided he didn’t care, either. Her hair smelled of the sea. Her lips tasted like nectar from heaven. And Frederick was high on love.
“I never stopped loving you,” he repeated. “There’s never been anyone else.”
“Not for me, either,” Allie admitted. “Never. I’ve even got a scrapbook—all of you and your war hero stuff.”
Frederick lifted his head and inched back. “A scrapbook?”
“Yes.” Allie nodded. “I went to my room and cried over it when you came to the mansion with Sophia and Darren.”
“And I went just to see you,” he admitted. “Then I followed you to Grove Acres.”
“You followed me?”
“Yes. Louise stopped when she saw me sitting at that roadside park by the turn for their place.”
“I thought she said you guys just bumped into each other.” Allie tucked a strand of wind-tossed hair behind her ear.
“We did . . . literally,” Frederick added. “She nearly ran over me in her Corvette.”
Allie laughed. “That doesn’t surprise me at all.”
Frederick shifted his weight and was thankful for only a mild trace of pain. Today had been a good back day. “I was about to chicken out from just showing up at Grove Acres when she drove up. She gave me an excuse for being there.”
“You never were romantically interested in her?”
Frederick threw back his head and laughed. “Not even a little bit! I’ve barely even looked at a woman since you.” He wrapped his fingers around hers. “I should have never left the hospital that day you broke your leg.”
“And I should have never listened to Aunt Landon.” Allie squeezed his hand and pulled away. “Oh, Frederick, can you ever forgive me?”
“Yes.” Frederick nodded. He gripped both her hands. “Absolutely. Irrevocably. I think my forgiveness was complete after I saw you again at Grove Acres. I struggled with love, bitterness, and regret all those years. Then when I saw you again, it was like the negativity just went away, and the only thing I cared about was you and the chance we might get back together.”
“I was so young then, and so . . . so . . .” Allie shook her head from side to side, and her eyes revealed her sorrow.
“I know. I know.” He lifted her fingers to his lips and eagerly kissed them. “I totally understand. And even though I’d forgiven you, I don’t think I would have completely understood how you felt if everything hadn’t happened the way it did with Louise.”
“What do you mean?” A thin line formed between Allie’s brows.
“I felt so responsible for what happened and so obligated. And that’s when I started understanding how obligated you must have felt to your family.”
“But you weren’t responsible for what she did,” Allie insisted. “You weren’t, Frederick.” She touched his face.
“Ultimately no, but I did contribute,” he admitted. “Do you know what I told her before she crawled up on the plane?”
“What?” Allie tilted her head.
Frederick gazed toward the ocean. “She’d been pressuring me to let her ride in the copilot’s seat with me and insisting we were engaged or something.” He glanced at Allie before studying the shell-strewn sand. “Why is anybody’s guess, but you know how she is.”
“Yes.”
“Anyway, she’d already made me mad. I was feeling really cornered and came out with something like ‘I don’t care if you crawl through the escape hatch, get on top of the plane, tap dance, scream about me, and fall off and break your neck—it won’t change my decision.’” He shifted his gaze to Allie.
“Oh no,” she gasped.
Frederick helplessly looked into her eyes and touched her hair. “Now do you understand?”
“Completely.”
“And I was so disgusted with myself I couldn’t even bring myself to tell you. Then I decided to try to explain that night. I went to your place and saw you with Brent. I royally blew that encounter.” He rubbed the side of his jaw.
“It’s okay. Really, it is.” The adoration in her eyes would make Frederick believe anything she told him. Anything. “And for whatever it’s worth, Brent pressured me into going out with him and then invited himself in. He was like a mosquito I couldn’t get rid of.” She rolled her eyes. “And I nearly died when you showed up and he was there.”
“I was so jealous I went nuts,” he admitted.
“You had no reason to be.” Allie shook her head, and Frederick didn’t question her honesty.
“What is the deal with that guy, anyway?” he asked. “I promise, I think he tried to run over me.”
“He probably did,” Allie said. “He was livid when he left.”
As Allie explained the Brent–Penny situation, Frederick’s respect for her grew. “None of that surprises me about him,” he said when she finished. “But what you did? That took a lot of guts.”
Allie chuckled. “Yep. And all I know is that they were guts I never had before and may not ever have again. God guided me through that one.”
“Kind of like what happened with Louise,” Frederick said. He explained how he’d stepped out of the way and prayed sparks would fly between her and Jim.
“So you set them up to two-time you?” Allie questioned.
“You better believe it.” Frederick nodded. “And I’d already decided that if they didn’t get married, I still wasn’t.” He jabbed his index finger against his chest. “I didn’t care if I had to pay for Louise to go to therapy!”
“So you’d have been after me even if Louise hadn’t dumped you?” Allie asked, her voice full of hope and wonder.
“Honey, by the time I got over the shock of what happened to Louise, I decided I was going after my woman
. Nothing was going to keep us apart.”
“I felt the same way when I heard about Jim and Louise getting engaged,” Allie said. “That’s when I called you.”
“I was going to call Macy and get your cell phone number after I landed in Atlanta today.” Frederick stroked her cheek with the backs of his fingers.
Allie closed her eyes. “Really?” she breathed.
“I wish we were already married,” Frederick whispered, his words thick with longing.
“Me too.” She opened her eyes, and Frederick fought for control.
With a reckless smile, he asked, “Want to fly to Las Vegas and make it happen?”
Allie batted her eyelashes. “You mean get married?”
“Why not? What’s stopping us?”
“As in now?”
“Exactamundo,” he drawled. “All I have to do is get a flight landing approval and we’re good to go.”
“But . . . but . . . but . . .” She pointed toward the condos. “My stuff and my Mercedes.”
He shrugged. “Go pack. I took a taxi here. We’ll use your car to drive to the airport. We’ll fly back tomorrow or the next day or next week and get your car. No problem.”
“You mean right this minute?” She checked her watch and looked toward the setting sun. “It’s almost eight.”
“We can get there in a few hours,” he said. “From what I understand, they have all-night chapels there. What’s the problem? You do want to get married, don’t you?”
“Yes!” Allie exclaimed. “By all means. Yes! It’s just such a shock!” She pressed her hands on either side of her head. “Let me go get packed,” she blurted and whirled around. After running several feet, Allie stopped, twirled back around, and hurried toward Frederick. She grabbed his hand and said, “Come on! You’re going with me. My family will have to know why I’m leaving. We’ll tell them together.”
“Okay,” Frederick said, walking in sequence with her. “But they might throw me out on my ear.”
“No they won’t. I won’t let them,” she said and stopped at the stairwell she’d come down. “I already told them I was going to meet you when I came out here. They didn’t say a word. How could they?” She lifted her chin. “I’m my own woman now!” Allie proclaimed with the glow of pride. “I rented my own townhouse, and I’m going to get a job teaching at a community college somewhere.”
“You did? You are?” Frederick asked.
“Absolutely.” She nodded with a firmness that dared the world to argue. “I’ve already got all my furniture moved from the mansion to my townhouse, so we can move in immediately.” A worried frown marred her features. “That is, if you’re okay with everything.”
“I’m happy if you’re happy,” he said. “I had hoped you could come on some of my flights with me.”
Allie dimpled. “Of course,” she acquiesced. “Maybe I’ll hold off on the job for a while.”
“No.” Frederick held up his hand. “I wouldn’t stop that for anything. You wanted to teach college when we first met. That was ten years ago.”
“Maybe I could start part-time, then,” Allie responded, her grin growing broader by the second. “Just teach a class one or two nights a week.”
Frederick nodded. “Works for me if it works for you!”
“And what about the townhouse? Are you okay living in Atlanta?”
“Honey, I don’t care where I live as long as I can be with you!” He was ready to move in for another kiss when he recalled the small velvet box in his pocket. Frederick looked toward the stairwell and the line of cars nearby. After diagnosing the place as the most unromantic one on the planet, Frederick decided to pull out the box anyway.
“Frederick?” Allie prompted. “What’s the matter?”
“Nothing.” He shook his head and focused back on her. “It’s just that I have something to give you, and I want to do it now but this isn’t exactly the best place . . . but . . . oh weeeellllll!” Frederick put his hand into his pocket and wondered if his smile was as goofy as it felt.
He retrieved the velvet box and rubbed his thumb across the top. “If this isn’t living proof that I was coming after you today, nothing is,” he said. “I picked this up in Charlotte before I got your call.”
“Oh, Frederick.” Allie sniffled and blotted at the corners of her reddening eyes.
“Recognize the box?” he asked and opened the lid. “And the ring?”
She nodded and whispered, “It’s the same one.”
“Yes.” Frederick removed the ring from its satin bed and tugged her left hand into his. “I never could bring myself to take it back to the jeweler’s,” he explained as he slipped the diamond onto her finger. “Now I know why.” Frederick wrapped his fingers around hers. “I was holding it for you . . . for now.”
She gazed up at him with a love that transcended time, a love that promised to grow more fierce as the years unfolded.
Frederick pulled her into his arms and reveled in a kiss that promised their honeymoon would be the sweetest of all.
About the Author
Debra White Smith continues to impact and entertain readers with her life-changing fiction and nonfiction books, including the JANE AUSTEN SERIES and the LONE STAR INTRIGUE series, Romancing Your Husband, and The Divine Romance: Experiencing Intimacy with God. She has been an award-winning author for years with such honors as Top-10 Reader Favorite, Gold Medallion Finalist (Romancing Your Husband), and Retailer’s Choice Award Finalist (First Impressions and Reason and Romance). Debra has 60 titles to her credit and over a million books in print.
Debra and her husband of 35 years co-pastor a small church in East Texas, and she speaks at ministry events across the nation. She has been featured on a variety of media spots, including The 700 Club, At Home Live, Getting Together, Moody Broadcasting Network, Fox News, Viewpoint, and America’s Family Coaches. She holds two graduate degrees—an MA in English and an EdS in Education—and is a PhD candidate at Northwest Nazarene University.
To write Debra or contact her for speaking engagements, check out her website at www.debrawhitesmith.com.
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Possibilities: A Contemporary Retelling of Persuasion Page 27