My Forever Love

by Wendy Lindstrom

  Another wave of laughter and sniffling surrounded them.

  As they gazed at each other with love-filled eyes, Pastor Ainsely pronounced them married and nodded for Adam to kiss his bride.

  Finally, in a moment Adam had waited years to experience, he cupped Rebecca’s face in his palms and kissed his wife with tender adoration.

  Rebecca’s eyes flooded but her smile shone light and love on all.

  They exchanged hugs with Leo and Mary. Then together they turned to their family and guests as Mr. and Mrs. Adam Grayson.

  As their guests surged forward with joyful hearts to hug and congratulate them, Rebecca stepped into her father’s waiting arms. He rocked her as if she were still his little girl. In some way she knew she would always be his little girl, and that knowledge warmed her heart.

  Her proud, strong uncles hugged her to their hard chests where she felt the solid beat of their loving hearts as they wished her great happiness. They turned her loose with a kiss on her cheek, and then, one-by-one they gave her husband, Adam Dearborn Grayson, a hearty backslapping hug and a lot of good-natured ribbing that made his face and ears red. Laughing, Rebecca turned to their other guests and embraced Helen Fiske, the longtime friend she couldn’t remember but knew in her heart.

  With his face burning from his uncles’ private heckling, Adam was still laughing when Boyd shoved a glass into his hand.

  “I need another lemonade, young blood.”

  “Oh, boy,” Kyle said, stepping back with his hands up as if to distance himself from a potential wrestling match. Radford and Adam’s father just laughed and shook their heads.

  Adam simply tucked the glass between Boyd’s arm and ribs. “Sorry Uncle, you’ll need to get that lemonade yourself.”

  Amidst their combined laughter, Boyd snatched the glass and hooked his arm around Adam’s shoulder. “That a boy, Adam. I knew you’d pull through this!”

  And so it went while Adam stood among the Grayson men, his uncles and father and business partners who had lifted him up into a world he had once only dreamed of.

  His dad pulled him into a fierce hug that would have made a lesser man wince. “You’ve had a long, hard road, son, but by the look on your face I’d say the journey was worth the struggle.”

  “It was, sir,” Adam said with a half-laugh. “But I would have been content with a much shorter and less eventful trek.”

  His father nodded. “Yes, but you would be half the man you are now, Adam. It’s through our darkest times and most challenging struggles that our real character emerges. Count your blessings, son. Some men never get the opportunity to find out what they’re made of. Now you know.”

  He did know—and he could easily face that man in the mirror.

  “Thank you for holding me to a higher standard and helping me become a man worthy of Rebecca and the Grayson name,” Adam said, trying to find the words to express the depth of his love and appreciation for the great man who had made him his son. “To become even half the man you are is probably impossible, but I’ll happily spend my life trying.”

  Duke shook his head. “Adam, all I’ve given you is guidance. Becoming the man you are today was your own doing, and I couldn’t be more proud of you, son.”

  Son. The meaning of that word still created a thrill in Adam’s chest. He was Duke Grayson’s son. “It would have been a lot harder to get here without your belief in me and those side-armed hugs you give that make me feel ten feet tall.”

  Duke laughed. “You give me too much credit, Adam.” He clapped his hand on Adam’s shoulder. “I failed to protect you from my brothers’ bad influence,” he said, shooting a glance at Kyle and Radford who were in a fit of laughter over something Boyd was saying. “I’m beginning to see a marked resemblance between you and your uncles. Looking at you is like looking at one of them.”

  Stunned and deeply honored by his father’s words, even in jest, left Adam speechless. To resemble any of the Grayson men was an achievement he’d only ever dreamed of. And yet in that moment, he knew he was his own man. He was Adam Dearborn Grayson, a blend of names and life experiences that had molded him into the man he was today. He was living up to the Grayson name and bringing pride to the Dearborn name. That knowledge settled in his gut like a truth he would protect with his life.

  “Mind if I shake this young man’s hand?” Stephen Cuvier, the man who had sired Adam, asked.

  Adam welcomed him with a warm hug.

  “I’m filled with pride and happiness for you, Adam,” Cuvier said.

  Adam had been thirteen years old the first time he met Stephen Cuvier, and though Adam considered Duke Grayson his real father, he deeply admired Cuvier. The man hadn’t known about his children until ten years ago. But once he’d learned the truth he’d spent every day of his life getting to know his children, Adam and Faith, and his grandchildren and extended Grayson family. He was a good man that Adam liked and admired.

  “Thank you, sir.” Adam said, realizing in that moment that it was Stephen Cuvier who had planted the seed of Adam’s character. That man loved his children so much that he let Duke Grayson adopt his only son. Duke Grayson nourished that seed and helped Adam grow into a Grayson man.

  As Adam stood between the men who had loved and raised him, he was honored to carry the traits of both men.

  He hooked his arms around the mighty shoulders of his two fathers and said, “Thank you both for... everything.”

  Faith cried as she watched them.

  Adam took her in his arms, quietly thanking her again for finding the courage to lead them out of a life of pain. “You remind me of Princess Cecily,” he said.

  Sniffing, she asked, “Who is that?”

  “I’ll ask Elias Crane to share her story while we eat,” he said, reaching out to link hands with Rebecca. “Right now, I need to hold my beautiful bride and assure myself this is real.”

  Rebecca smiled and pecked him on the cheek. “It’s real, my darling husband.”

  He looked down into her radiant face and understood why he’d never wavered in his love for her. She was his stunning bride... his life-mate... his beautiful Rebecca—and he’d known it the minute he’d first laid eyes on her.

  Chapter Thirty-one

  Hours after they had spoken their vows and spent the evening in celebration with their friends and family, Adam and Rebecca went to their little house on Mill Street. They closed the door and stepped into each other’s arms. In the candlelit privacy of their new home, after years of waiting and sacrificing, Adam and Rebecca finally expressed the full breadth of their powerful love.

  “My beautiful, precious wife,” Adam said, cupping Rebecca’s face between his palms. “We have finally crossed the threshold of our home as husband and wife. This is the beginning of our marriage journey and every memory we create will be ours together.”

  “That’s right, Adam. And it will be an exciting journey filled with love.” Rebecca slipped her arms around his neck. “Thank you for holding onto me all these years. We have so much to look forward to and to experience together.”

  He gazed into her eyes and tightened his embrace. “Starting right here, right now, my forever love.”

  For a long, leisurely week they enjoyed their small home and their new marriage. Together they walked the creek and explored all their favorite places in Fredonia, some Rebecca could remember, many she could not, although she found great joy in rediscovering them with Adam. They talked and laughed and visited their family.

  For Rebecca, the time was healing and joyful. At one of their many family gatherings, she spent time getting to know Adam’s outrageous aunts and her uncles’ lovely wives. Later, she partnered with her father for a croquet game that they played in the summer sunshine. Adam and his father were their opponents and gave them a tough challenge. While her mother, and Faith and Grandma Grayson looked on, other family members cheered and chose sides. Rebecca reveled in their play and joked with Adam and her parents. When she and her father finally won their
match, he swept her into a hug and swung her in a circle. When he set her feet on the ground, Rebecca was laughing and excitement rushed through her. She gripped his hands and looked up into his handsome smiling face. “Daddy, I... I think I remember you teaching me to dance. I stood on your feet as a girl and you danced me around our parlor. Is this true? Am I remembering?”

  His smile fled and his mouth fell open. Tears filled his eyes and he choked out her name as he hugged her to his chest. Seeing her strong father reduced to tears brought her own rushing forth, and she clung to him feeling as if she had embraced a redwood tree. Her strong, protective father would always shelter her. She felt love for him as great and towering as the lighthouse at Crane Landing.

  There wasn’t a dry eye in the family, but they returned to their lawn games with joy and a new and deeper bond of love between them. Will, her eldest brother, began to joke with her as he’d apparently done before her accident, which pleased Rebecca and became a fun source of entertainment for the family. Her motherly instinct with her younger siblings felt natural and welcome and she coddled and played with them.

  They shared family stories throughout the week that Rebecca listened to with avid interest. She recovered a few more memories, some that made her laugh and a couple that made her cry, but each one a gift she cherished. Although some memories were a bit muddled, and she still wasn’t sure the lady on the beach wasn’t a hallucination, she was hopeful that she would one day remember everything. Until then, she felt a deep sense of peace with whatever her future held.

  In the late evenings she and Adam would return to their small home and cuddle together on the sofa. They talked about their future, and Rebecca asked about their past. They enjoyed each minute of their present as if they might never get another.

  Snuggled in Adam’s arms, Rebecca finally asked the question that had been on her mind for weeks. “Adam, what did you wish for that night at Crane Landing when we tossed our pebbles in the ocean?”

  “That you were happy,” he said simply.

  Her eyes welled with tears to think he’d cast such a loving wish when he could have asked for so much more. “I thought you might have wished for my memory to return,” she said, blinking to clear her eyes.

  He shook his head. “I just wanted you to be happy, darling.” He stroked her face with his fingertips. “What did you wish for?”

  “That someday you and I would have children together.”

  His eyebrows lifted and then a slow smile tilted his mouth. “You never cease to surprise me. You’re like an ocean wave. I think I know how big and strong it is until the thing plows me over. You do that to me with your words and your wit and your remarkable skill at croquet and stone skipping.”

  She laughed. “Does that make me undesirable?”

  He pulled her into his warm, loving arms. “It makes you even more desirable, my love.”

  Laughing, she caught his hand and led him out of the house. They walked the gorge to their willow tree. They had survived ten years and great heartache to arrive at this moment in their lives. Rebecca was his ocean—and Adam was the wind that would carry them through their journey together.

  Inside their private nest beneath the willow, Adam asked Rebecca if she’d made her decision.

  Holding hands, she gazed into the handsome face of her lifelong friend, her lover, a man who would move a mountain for her, and she said, “If you don’t mind, I would like to spend our first year in Crane Landing.”

  A delighted smile lifted Adam’s lips. “So would I, darling.”

  So when the end of the week came, Adam and Rebecca—and Jojo and her new playmate Bella—returned to Crane Landing, to the pretty little house on the river where a Princess once lived.

  Adam and Rebecca would spend their first year as newlyweds, walking the river and the shores along the southern coast of Maine, and their evenings on the back porch of their cottage, visiting with their friends, playing with the kittens, and nurturing their long awaited love. They would visit their family in Fredonia during the Christmas holiday and again in the spring. And when their year as newlyweds ended they would decide whether they would make a permanent home in Crane Landing or return to the beautiful little village of Fredonia where two young sweethearts first fell in love.

  Dear Reader,

  Thanks so much for taking the time to read My Forever Love. I am deeply grateful for your support. If you enjoyed this story of the healing power of true love and, and consider it a 5-star keeper, will you please consider helping other readers find my books by writing a review? Your review will help me, too! And if you would like to find out when my next book is available, sign up for my newsletter. I often write about my little Rustic Studio and the magnificent — and somewhat crazy — wildlife that resides in this beautiful little glade that reminds me so much of the Grayson world. I share a lot of other fun information in my newsletter as well (like the fact that I’m working toward my black belt and that I recently got my motorcycle license and that I’m in love with tiny houses). So please sign up and join the conversation!

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  Again, my sincere thanks, and I hope you will read and enjoy the rest of my books about the Grayson family.

  Peace and warmest wishes,

  Wendy

  Turn the page for a preview of Second Chance Brides Series Book Seven

  Always and Forever

  The prequel to the Grayson Brothers series.

  A Mail Order Bride He Doesn’t Want — A Woman He Can’t Resist.

  Will the captivating and spirited Nancy Mitchell reawaken Hal Grayson’s grieving heart?

  Chapter One

  Always and Forever is the SWEET edition of

  When I Fall in Love (Grayson Brothers series)

  As Hal Grayson angled his gouging tool and created a shallow arc in the lid of an oak chest, he tried to lose himself in the scraping, rasping sounds from his carving tools. The rhythmic motion of carving and sanding wood, and the earthy smell of the old barn that housed his woodshop, usually calmed him after a hard day’s work at the sawmill. But tonight nothing could soothe the anger churning inside him.

  With an agitated groan, Hal braced his fists on the workbench and dragged in a hard breath, trying to settle his frazzled nerves. He had to finish carving the lid and staining the chest before he could line it with cedar, but his hands were too unsteady to work.

  His brother had completely lost his mind.

  Hal and his brother John Radford had experienced their share of disagreements over the years, but they always talked it out in the end. That’s why Hal believed they would have a successful partnership in the sawmill business, but John’s latest decision made Hal question that possibility.

  What was John Radford thinking ordering a wife like one might order a piece of furniture? And why hadn’t he talked to Hal before making such a foolhardy move? He was thinking only of himself, that’s what. He wasn’t thinking about Hal, and he sure as heck was not considering the future of their mill.

  Hal tossed aside the gouge and slammed his fist on the workbench. The whole idea was absurd. They couldn’t afford the responsibility and expense of another person and that’s why they hadn’t hired a man at the mill. They were trying to build a business, and Hal was going to remind his thick-skulled brother of that fact as soon as John Radford returned from making their last delivery of pine planks.

  How could John have done something so irresponsible and thou
ghtless? Their sawmill business was just beginning to show a profit, but still not enough support them. The money Hal made building furniture for Addison Edwards was barely enough to cover their monthly payment on the mill and their house. How could John not see that they couldn’t afford a single added expense. They ran the mill until dark and built furniture in his woodshop until the wee hours of the morning. They were already working around the clock and couldn’t physically work more hours if they had them. They were exhausted. What they needed were extra hands at the mill, not a woman to warm John’s bed.

  Shaking his head, Hal inspected the chest lid, eyeing the sweep from his last pass with the gouge. He took up a veiner to add finer detail, but had to stop several times to take a calming breath and relax his tensed hands before he ruined the piece. Not even the fragrant scent of cedar, his favorite wood, could unlock the tension between his shoulders.

  Hal loved his brother, but he could literally throttle John at the moment. Barely a year apart, they were usually lock-step on everything. But just two hours ago John had flippantly announced that he’d found a bride and made an agreement with her. Hal had stood staring at him, open-mouthed and stunned. He still couldn’t believe it.

  Gads, even now thinking about it made his chest cramp with anger. What a fool-brained and inconsiderate decision.