Rekindled Hearts

by Brenda Minton

  A note was attached. This was getting crazy. If he wanted her to go somewhere, he could have just driven her. She pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and dialed his number, the real one, not the disposable number he’d given her to start the game.

  His voice mail picked up. “This is Colt. Lexi, if you have the package, keep walking straight and take your next left. There’s a bottle of water at a nearby house, because this is a long walk. And stop frowning.”

  She stomped on, feeling sillier by the minute. A man mowing his lawn stopped mowing. He waved her toward him. When she approached, he held out the bottle of water. His smile was crooked and he laughed a little.

  “You could tell me what’s going on. It seems everyone in town knows.” She unscrewed the top from the bottle and took a drink.

  “A few of us know, but we kind of like surprises and well, we like you and Colt.”

  “So, was there some kind of meeting that took place and you all decided to have this little scavenger hunt?”

  “It did sort of start out at the last town council meeting…”

  She laughed then, because she could picture them all at a meeting, talking about the new storm siren, her pets and then this. Whatever this was. But she had a feeling the mayor had something to do with it. Maybe they were finally building an animal shelter!

  “How much farther?” She handed him the empty water bottle.

  “Two blocks. Not that far.” He pointed. “And then go left.”

  Out of town. She sighed. At least she was wearing comfortable shoes.

  As she walked, she forgot to be upset with Colt for playing games. It was a pretty evening, close to October, and some of the leaves were changing colors. Families were in their yards, enjoying the good weather, and dogs barked as kids played.

  She loved it here. She had dreamed of this life as a child, wanting a place like this to call home. She had wanted kids that played together in a backyard while she and Colt cooked burgers on the grill.

  For a while it had looked possible.

  “Lexi.” His voice, calling her name. She looked up, remembering where she was and what she was supposed to be doing. She had gotten lost in thought. But there was Colt, standing in the road, next to the real estate sign of the house she loved. And now, rather than Under Contract, the sign said Sold.

  Her heart thumped hard in her chest.

  Colt was waiting in that yard. For her.

  “I love this house.” She smiled, but it wavered and her eyes filled with tears. “Did you buy it?”

  “I did. Come on up.” He slipped an arm through hers and led her up the brick sidewalk, up the steps to the wide front porch where petunias were still blooming in pots and mums were bright yellow and orange. The heavy scent of petunias perfumed the evening air that had suddenly gone still.

  Colt pointed to a wicker seat; on the table next to it were scissors and a big glass of iced tea. And a sandwich.

  “You brought food?”

  “I knew you’d be hungry.”

  She wasn’t hungry now. She had a bad case of butterflies.

  “Colt, this has been fun.” But not. “Please, let’s stop now.”

  Because she couldn’t take it anymore.

  “Lexi, I’ve been through a lot in the last few years. We both have. We’ve been through more in the last two months. But I think we’ve also learned a lot.”

  “Yes, we have.”

  “I’ve learned things about myself that I didn’t know.”

  “Okay.” She smiled a little. “I could have told you, though.”

  “I think you tried, but there were things you didn’t know. There were things that I think I knew, but I didn’t deal with.”

  She pulled out a stool at the bar. “I’m listening.”

  “I didn’t have faith.” Tall and strong, he leaned against the rail of the porch, his face so boyish and sweet she wanted to hold him. “I was angry with God for what happened to my family, and then Gavin. The storm took me over the edge. When I saw people praying, I couldn’t help but wonder where God was in the storm.”

  “Right here, with all of us, getting us through.”

  “I know that now. I know now that sometimes things happen that seem beyond anyone’s control, but God isn’t surprised, and He does have a plan. We have to trust Him.”

  “I’m glad, Colt, really so happy for you that you’ve found a way to have faith.” But inside her heart was quaking, a mixture of fear and anticipation.

  “Lexi, I shut you out because I was afraid. But also because of guilt. I let my fellow officer down. His wife and kids had to go on alone, and I could go home to you every night.”

  “You stopped coming home to me, Colt. You slept at the station, or on the couch. I spent my childhood with that scenario, alone, with my parents off doing their job. I didn’t want it to be my marriage. I still don’t.”

  “I know.” He stepped back, motioning her down the stairs of the porch. “I let you down. And I don’t want to let you down again. I don’t want to lose you, or the dreams we had.”

  “We dreamed of having a family,” she whispered, stepping closer, following him off the porch.

  He leaned forward, capturing her lips in a soft kiss, opening her to him in a way that hadn’t happened in so long. The kiss promised something wonderful in the future. He whispered that he loved her and kissed her again, holding her close, cupping her cheeks with hands that were strong.

  The kiss ended and he held her close. He moved, but still held her. “Lexi, I love you,” he whispered into her hair. “I know I’ve said the words, but I plan on proving it. But what I don’t know is if you still love me.”

  She rested her forehead on his shoulder and nodded, because words wouldn’t come and tears were cascading down her cheeks, because their dream hadn’t ended. And Colt loved her.

  Weeks of rebuilding a friendship had changed everything.

  “I love you.” She finally said the words and he held her tight, as if he might never let her go.

  “I have something for you.” He backed away, releasing her.

  When she turned, he released a cord and a sign fell from the overhang of the porch.

  Lexi, Marry Me. Red letters on white, hanging across the front of the porch.

  The house she had wanted. She turned back to Colt. He handed her the envelope she’d picked up along the way.

  “Open it.”

  She did. She slid out the papers, recognizing their divorce papers. New tears trickled down her cheeks as he handed her scissors that were sitting on the post of the porch rail. She took them with hands that trembled and sliced through the papers.

  “Lexi Ridgeway, will you marry me, soon? Will you have my children and live in this house with me, forever?” He dug around in his pocket, for a minute looking panicked. “And forgive me for ruining the most romantic thing I’ve ever done in my life, because I have something that I almost forgot.”

  Lexi laughed a little and wiped at the tears.

  Colt had something in his hand and he kneeled down in front of her, taking her left hand. Lexi sobbed because when he looked up, he had tears in his eyes and her wedding ring in his hand.

  “Lexi, forgive me for keeping these from you. But I had a feeling I might need them again. I hoped. The minister who married us said that these rings stand for eternity. And I believe they do. And I believe God has a plan for our lives together. I found these rings, Lexi, your rings, after I prayed for God to show me what to do. It was the first real prayer I had prayed in years, and God heard.”

  “Colt.”

  “Marry me again.”

  He was still on one knee and Lexi wanted to be close to him. She dropped to her knees in front of him and reached to pull him close.

  “I’ll marry you.” She brushed her cheek against his, smiling. “You could have asked me this at my house.”

  “I wanted this proposal to be one you’d never forget.”

  She closed her eyes as he kissed her again. An
d she would never forget what God had done in their lives, or what it meant to believe in forever with a man she loved.

  Dear Reader,

  Rekindled Hearts was an opportunity given to me by the editors of Love Inspired®, and I so appreciate this chance to write a story about people surviving. Not only did the citizens of High Plains survive the devastation of the tornado, they came together and they found a faith that was stronger than ever.

  Colt and Lexi are like so many of us—they faced challenges in their marriage brought on by fear, lack of communication and even lack of trust. When it got too difficult, they walked away from each other and from the love that had brought them together. This book brings them back together, but it takes work, it takes communication. They have to face the problems that broke down the marriage to begin with, before they can start to put it back together. In the end, they do find that their love is strong enough, and so is their faith—in God and in each other.

  In the midst of life’s storms, God brings beauty. From tragedy, He brings joy. What looked like the worst possible thing for a small town became the catalyst for many good things to happen in the lives of the citizens of High Plains.

  Brenda Minton

  QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

  As the tornado roars toward High Plains, Kansas, Police Chief Colt Ridgeway is patrolling the town, but also thinking about the safety of his ex-wife. God also crosses his mind, as does the thought that he isn’t ready to die. Why do you think all of those thoughts are rolling through his mind? What type of person is he?

  Lexi is worried about her ex-husband, Colt. She knows she should be in the basement, but she’s torn by worry. How would you react in her situation, with someone you care about possibly in danger, and knowing that you yourself could be in danger?

  The tornado was not something that could be controlled, and afterward, it was time to rebuild. But even in rebuilding, there is much that is out of a person’s control. In the first chapter Lexi knows that the town will never be the same, even after it is rebuilt. Why does she feel that way?

  How discouraged would the citizens be at this point, with so much still ahead of them even weeks later? How would you feel if you were in their shoes?

  Colt notices that people return to church because of the tornado. Why are churches full after something like a tornado or national tragedy? What happens to those people as months go by?

  Lexi, like so many of us, has dreams of what she thinks a perfect life would be. She knows that life is never perfect, but do you think those dreams affected her marriage?

  Lexi knows that perfect doesn’t exist. What do you think she really wanted from life, her marriage and her faith?

  If we’re looking to change our lives, how does it help us to look at someone else as an example, the way Lexi looked to her neighbors when she was growing up? How can that hurt us?

  Colt is controlled by a sense of obligation to people and a desire to keep everyone safe. How does his faith, or lack of faith, affect that trait?

  The tornado, Marie Logan’s death, the loss of Tommy’s dog and the loss of homes are a few of the bad things that happened in High Plains. What is the normal reaction when these types of things happen to us? How can we see God moving, in the book and in our lives, if we look beyond what we see as a bad situation?

  Lexi wants to fix her failed marriage, but fear keeps her from giving in completely. What do you think causes her fear?

  Colt begins to see God at work in the lives of the people of High Plains. How does that change his relationship with Lexi, and how does it give him faith?

  Would their marriage have been stronger if they had communicated more effectively? Colt’s neighbor told him that he needed to do more than listen; he needed to hear what Lexi was telling him. What did the neighbor mean by that?

  Colt and Lexi plan to marry again. Life isn’t perfect. No marriage is perfect. What makes a relationship work?

  When Jill and Lexi discuss marriage, they talk about trading one problem for another. What did they realize as they were discussing marriage?

  ISBN: 978-1-4268-3969-6

  REKINDLED HEARTS

  Copyright © 2009 by Harlequin Books S.A.

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