by A M Heath
But, honey, if he ever does anything out of the way, you better not ignore it.
Danielle 11:21 am:
Thanks, sis! That makes me feel so much better. I didn’t realize I was still keeping him on trial until Ashlyn said something about me not trusting Chris. I DO trust him. I really do. I guess I just thought I wasn’t allowed to. Sounds silly, but …
Macy 11:23 am:
No, it’s not so silly. And I’m glad he’s being the upright guy you think he is. I would talk to Ashlyn again, just … I don’t know, talk to her about the dangers and the warning signs, and let her know that she can talk to you or me or someone. Just to be safe.
Danielle 11:25 am:
Thanks, I’ll do that.
Urg. And I used to think it would get easier as she got older. LOL Boy, was I wrong!
Macy 11:26 am:
LOL It’s the illusion we all lie to ourselves with. It’s how we get through the spit-up and sleepless nights. LOL
Ashlyn’s Diary:
Momma gave me the talk this afternoon. That was so weird. She wanted to remind me that not every man is who they say they are, and that sometimes they try to do things they shouldn’t. But the bright side to that awkward conversation was that she said that she really does trust Chris around me, but she just needed to be sure I understand what to do in the case that something ever happened. But she bought me a peppermint mocha afterward, so I was able to put that awkward moment behind me. We’ve been doing more stuff like that. Not the weird talks, but stopping for mochas and stuff. Just … hanging out together. It’s nice. I really like it.
Danielle and Chris:
Danielle 10:06 pm
I’m sorry if I made you feel like I didn’t trust you. I do. I really do. I talked to my sister about it today, and she helped me see that I was just afraid to trust myself or how others would see me.
You’ve been great for Ashlyn. And me. ;)
Chris 10:07 pm:
I’m glad to hear. I promise, I won’t do anything to damage this trust.
And you two have become my favorite women. You’re both pretty good for me too. ;)
Danielle 10:08 pm:
Meet you tomorrow for coffee?
Chris 10:08 pm:
It’s a date. Get some sleep, dear. Oh, and I have the day off next week, so I can take you to your appt. for your scan.
Danielle 10:08 pm:
Oh, great! Thank you! You’re too good to me.
Chris 10:09 pm:
That’s what you do for someone you love.
Danielle 10:09 pm:
Love?
Chris 10:10 pm:
Yes, Danielle, love. I love you, and I have for some time now. I love your strength. I love your beauty. I love your daughter. I love the way you make me feel. I love your smile. And I love to make you smile.
Danielle 10:11 pm:
I never thought I’d have another great love in my life. And I can’t wait for morning so I can tell you that in person.
Chapter Twenty
December 21, 2017
Danielle to Macy and Chris:
Danielle 3:03 pm:
I’m healed.
Macy 3:03 pm:
WHAT?
Chris 3:03 pm:
Are you serious?
Danielle 3:04 pm:
Yes. The doctor just called. The scans came back clean. And I can’t stop crying.
Macy 3:04 pm:
THANK THE LORD!
Chris 3:04 pm:
Praise God! I’m so happy, love! I’ll be over tonight. I want to rush over right now!
Danielle 3:05 pm:
That sounds perfect. I can’t wait to tell Ashlyn.
Macy 3:05 pm:
Oh, I wish I could be there tonight too. But I’ll be there this Saturday. We’ll celebrate then.
Danielle 3:06 pm:
It’s a date.
Macy 3:06 pm:
Oh, and I’ll get to meet your Chris. ;)
Chris 3:06 pm:
I’m looking forward to meeting the crazy sister.
Macy 3:07 pm:
WHAT? LOL That sister of mine is gonna get it.
Danielle 3:07 pm:
LOL I’ll talk to both of you soon. I better go. Ashlyn will be walking in any minute.
Ashlyn’s Diary:
I don’t think I’ve stopped crying for more than a minute all night. I’m just over the moon happy. Momma’s scans came back clean. I was afraid to hope for this, but the Lord has given it to us anyway. Chris talked to me tonight about how good the Lord is to heal Momma, despite our lack of faith.
My heart is just so full. Aunt Macy and her family are coming this weekend for Christmas, and now also for Momma. I just can’t wait. I doubt I’ll even sleep tonight.
Chapter Twenty-One
January 11, 2018
Danielle and Macy:
Danielle 10:02 am:
Are you still coming down for Ashlyn’s 16th birthday?
Macy 10:05 am:
Yep. With bells on!
Danielle 10:06 am:
Good. Add in a dress, heels, and a bouquet.
Macy 10:06 am:
Ooookay. Why?
Danielle 10:07 am:
I’d like you to be my matron of honor.
Macy 10:07 am:
WHAT??!!
Danielle 10:07 am:
LOL
Macy 10:08 am:
Don’t LOL me! What’s going on?! And don’t even try to leave any of the details out, either.
Danielle 10:09 am:
LOL Alright, alright. Chill.
Danielle 10:09 am:
I don’t even know where to start.
Macy 10:10 am:
Don’t even.
LOL
Okay, you’re planning to get married on her birthday?
Danielle 10:12 am:
Yes. At least that’s what we’re suggesting. We’ll ask her if she wants us to move the date when we tell her tonight. But it seemed fitting since she introduced us. Plus, everyone is already gathering for her birthday party.
Macy 10:14 am:
So, she doesn’t even know yet?
Danielle 10:15 am:
Nope. You’re the first person I’ve told.
Macy 10:17 am:
Yay! I’m honored. Now, back to business …
Why are you getting married so soon? You realize that her birthday is in two weeks, right? When did y’all decide to get married?
Danielle 10:19 am:
Well, we’ve been sort of hinting around about being an official family for a few weeks now. It is pretty sudden. And I know some won’t understand. But we’re not promised tomorrow. I of all people know this.
Macy 10:20 am:
I don’t even want to ask, but I’m going to. Is this because you’re afraid the cancer could come back, and you could die and leave Ashlyn alone?
Danielle 10:23 am:
No. I mean, that factor does weigh on my mind, but that’s not why I’m marrying him. I’ve been married before, so I know what I’m looking for in a mate. In a partner. In a father. And Chris is all of these things. We were talking about the possibility of being a real family someday, and it hit me. If I’m not promised tomorrow, then why should we wait 4 years before we wed? We make sense together on paper and off paper. He’s great with Ashlyn. There’s no real reason to put off our family, just to please everyone else’s opinions of us.
Danielle 10:26 am:
Macy? You’re not mad, are you? I know I said I didn’t care what anyone else thought, but that doesn’t mean I want you angry with me. I’m praying you’ll understand.
Macy 10:28 am:
I do. I really do.
Macy 10:29 am:
I’m sorry I didn’t answer right away. I was just so overcome. I’m so happy for you, Dani! I really am. I can’t wait to see Chris again. He’s about to be my brother, and I’ve only met the man once! LOL I may have to drive down there this weekend.
Danielle 10:30 am:
/> LOL You’re welcome to.
Macy 10:31 am:
Aww! I wish I could. Braxton has a basketball game this weekend. But we’ll clear all calendars and be there the weekend of her birthday.
Danielle 10:32 am:
Sounds great!
Macy 10:32 am:
How do you plan to tell her?
Danielle 10:33 am:
I bought her a dress for the wedding. Chris is coming over tonight. We’ll give it to her, with a note attached, as an early birthday present.
Macy 10:34 am:
Aww! Make sure you get it on video.
Danielle 10:34 am:
Will do!
Danielle 8:49 pm:
Video Message sent.
Macy 9:21 pm:
I LOVE IT, I LOVE IT, I LOVE IT! When Ashlyn holds the present in her hands, I can’t help holding my breath since I know what’s coming. She looks so curious as she unwraps it. But when she sees the dress and then reads the card, her face goes from shocked to overjoyed, and my heart bursts right along with hers. I bawl my eyes out with her too. And I may have watched it near twenty times already, but I can’t get enough. When it ends in a group hug, I just can’t help starting the video over again.
I love you, sis! Give that girl a big hug and a kiss from me. And tell Chris I’ll see him soon!
Chapter Twenty-Two
Less than three months later …
April 12, 2018
Dad 5:35 pm:
Your mom wants to know if you’re staying at Faith’s house for dinner or coming home?
Ashlyn 5:37 pm:
Duh, Dad. I’m coming home. The Preds are playing tonight.
Dad 5:37 pm:
LOL That’s my girl! Puck drops at 8:30.
Ashlyn 5:37 pm:
I’ll be there with time to spare. What’s for dinner?
Dad 5:38 pm:
Catfish ;)
Ashlyn 5:38 pm:
YES! Is Mom gonna watch the game with us?
Dad 5:38 pm:
She said she’ll stay in the room as long as we don’t get too loud.
Ashlyn 5:39 pm:
LOL It’s the playoffs; we’re supposed to be loud.
Dad 5:39 pm:
LOL That’s what I told her. She asked what our excuse was last week.
Ashlyn 5:40 pm:
Grrrrrr! That was Toronto’s fault.
Dad 5:40 pm:
I wholeheartedly agree! And that’s what I told her, but she wants none of it.
Ashlyn 5:41 pm:
Oh, well. We’ll wear her down eventually.
Dad 5:41 pm:
Or wear her out.
Ashlyn 5:42 pm:
LOL Same thing. But at least she still fries our catfish for us. I still can’t believe how much more energy she has now that her treatments are over. I was beginning to think she’d never get better.
Dad 5:43 pm:
I know. Her being in remission is something I thank God for every day.
Ashlyn 5:44 pm:
You and me both.
We’re almost done here. I’ll be home soon.
Dad 5:45 pm:
Drive carefully.
Ashlyn 5:45 pm:
Will do. I love you, Dad.
Dad 5:45 pm:
I love you too, sweetheart!
Mom and Ashlyn:
Mom 6:20 pm:
Is it too late to ask you to stop at the store for lemons?
Ashlyn 6:21 pm:
Nope. I was just about to leave.
Ashlyn 6:21 pm:
I suppose these lemons are for the catfish?!
Mom 6:22 pm:
How did you know?
Ashlyn 6:22 pm:
Dad told me. LOL
Mom 6:23 pm:
I should have known.
Ashlyn 6:23 pm:
He also said you might sit and watch the game with us.
Mom 6:24 pm:
Might. I said I might. LOL
Ashlyn 6:24 pm:
Don’t you like it even a little bit by now?
Mom 6:25 pm:
Honestly, I just like watching the two of you enjoy it together. I picked us a good one, didn’t I?
Ashlyn 6:25 pm:
The best!
Ashlyn 6:26 pm:
But don’t forget, I picked him first. ;)
Dear Reader,
I hope you enjoyed this sweet little story. It was my aim to be entertaining, and tell a story through text messages and journal entries simply because it’s something I enjoy, and it sounded like a fun challenge.
My other goal with this story was to work with the family environment. I wanted Chris to be a blessing to both Danielle and Ashlyn, in how they came to love him as a member of their family, and how he helps mend their broken relationship. I knew that working with a scenario where the teenager befriends an older man could be controversial. It was not my aim in any way to make light of the dangers or encourage girls to make similar decisions. I hope I showed enough of the real fears and consequences to keep from romanticizing a potentially dangerous situation. As a fiction author, I knew I was working with “safe” characters, but real life doesn’t promise safety. I hope that I kept the lines clearly drawn as to what was and what was not discussed between Ashlyn and Chris, and the fact that Chris had no knowledge of her true age. And I hope you were able to glean the lessons that I meant for you to glean on mending troubled relationships.
I find myself in this interesting place with Ashlyn, because it’s common for me to give my main heroine a portion of myself. But Ashlyn is my opposite in so many ways. Two of the biggest glaring differences between myself and Ashlyn are that I actually love history, and I’m a HUGE supporter of early Christmas decorations.
But I gave Ashlyn a special part of myself. I chose to give her my Preds experience. I like using real Tennessee flair in my novels as much as I can. Maybe it’s working with real places, or common phrases, or southern habits. The idea came to me to sprinkle a little Predator love into one of my contemporary novels, and this story was such a natural fit. It became the foundation of Chris and Ashlyn’s relationship. I didn’t want to bore readers with overwhelming details, so I tried to keep things light and conversational, but you might be surprised to know that everything I included is 100% real. Like Ashlyn, I became a faithful follower during their playoff run in the spring of 2017 and was able to follow my first full season in 2017-18. So when I was writing, I wanted to incorporate some of the memorable highlights. I think most notably would be the catfish. I’m curious to know how many of you stopped to research whether or not I was making stuff up there, but it’s all true. They really do throw catfish on the ice here in Smashville. I encourage you to go look up Catfish Jake, because I wasn’t making that up either. That was a real moment from the Finals that year. And their reaction to it was very much my own reaction. It was live TV at its best.
Here’s a look at what’s coming up next:
I have a new series releasing this year. The Art of Love is a series containing standalone novels set primarily in the 1950s and featuring a variety of arts.
Dance With Me releases April 8, 2019. You can keep reading for a sneak peek or pre-order your copy today.
Lord willing, book 2, titled Painted Memories, will follow in Fall 2019. And for your Christmas reading, I have a retelling of A Christmas Carol in the works.
You can keep up with the latest by following me online.
I’d love to hear from you. You can visit me online on Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, Pinterest, and my blog. *Note: I’m most active on Facebook and my blog.
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Acknowledgments:
&nbs
p; It’s such a blessing to be allowed to write and publish a story just for the sheer pleasure of doing so. While I pray that this will glorify Christ and edify the reader, the concept was born out of pure fun. And I’m so grateful the Lord opened the door and allowed me to do what I love.
But I couldn’t bring even this small story to you without a host of helpers.
I want to thank my family, friends, and readers for their ongoing support.
My street team and plotting partners, in particular, are first in line with their enthusiasm and prayers.
A great big thank you to the editing crew:
Critiquers: Jean Hughes, Krista Noorman, Rachel Swander, Amanda Tero
Grammar Editors: Kimberly Bowie, Krista Noorman, Jimmy Yates
Spotters: Becky Dempsey, Kim Hampton, Carolyn Neinas
Spiritual Content Review: Judy Thrash