After Noah received her gift, she returned to Ely and leaned on his shoulder. Noah could barely see her through the mist in his eyes. He dipped his head to hide his swelling emotions.
“Come home soon,” she added as she turned her father’s chair toward the van.
“I will.” He swallowed and coughed to clear his voice. “I promise.”
Noah watched the process required to get Ely into the van, but Jenna helped patiently, smiling and patting her daddy’s shoulder as they worked together. Noah knew an all-knowing God somehow got it right. She was where she was supposed to be.
When the van was gone, Noah climbed in the truck and sat there for several minutes, rehearsing all Ely had said. As he put his key in the ignition, a loud hiss and then an explosion rocked the air around him. Noah threw the truck door open and fled the vehicle in a panic before he saw the cause of the blast. A bright trail of smoke split the haze and roared into the sky, exploding into three thunderous booms that emitted multiple trails of brilliant color. He knew it was the Juggernaut, and he knew who had set it off.
Tayte came running over the rise carrying a butane lighter while flapping her hands and smacking at her singed hair. Agnes followed her, maintaining a respectable pace behind, looking just as alarmed as Tayte.
Noah ran toward Tayte, grabbing her by the shoulders to scan her for burns. “Good grief. Are you all right? You could have blown your arm off!”
“I’m okay. I’m okay,” she said, half crying, half shouting her answer.
Without conscious thought of the previous, harrowing day, or the toll it had taken, he clutched Tayte to himself. “What were you thinking?” he groaned.
“I needed to get your attention. This was the best idea I could come up with.”
He felt his thundering heart rate begin to normalize. “That was a crazy, stupid stunt. If you’d gotten hurt I’d . . . I’d . . .” He pushed her away for a moment, driving his point into her with his own frightened eyes before drawing her back to him. “I’d never forgive myself.”
Several moments passed with neither shaking person anxious to release the other. Finally, Tayte pushed away from him. “Then, could you just forgive me?”
He hugged her close again, concealing the grimace caused by guilt over her request. “You don’t need my forgiveness. I need yours,” he whispered into her hair. “I asked too much. I wanted assurances . . . guarantees I had no right to expect.”
“We both messed up.” She bore her gaze into his. “I’ll be here when you get back from San Francisco. However long that is. Everything I want is here, with you.”
Noah brushed several strands of strewn hair behind her ears. “You went to see Ely last night. You stuck your neck out for me?”
She looked away. “I’m sorry. I tried. Was he still angry when he told you? I tried to fix things but he was too furious to listen.”
“He listened, Tayte. He came here. He’s going to let me see Jenna from time to time. She wants to be my friend.”
“What?” Tayte’s eyes began to shine. “I can’t believe it. He practically threw me out last night.” Her brow wrinkled. “But even that doesn’t fix everything. You’ve lost your privacy. Your personal life is still sprawled all over the local paper. That’s why you’re going away.”
“I wrestled all night between wanting to leave and wanting to rush over to see you. I nearly forfeited everything—you, Agnes, the farm—and all to protect my pride. I’m guilty of the same thing I accused you of doing, Tayte. I was running away. Well, no more.”
A wary hopefulness brightened Tayte’s face. “What are you saying?”
“That I don’t want a sterile, safe life. Not if it means losing you. People will talk. Maybe some will always think the worst of me. I’ll just have to prove them wrong. It’s what Uncle John would have told me to do.”
Tayte pulled back and asked, “Are you saying you’re not going to San Francisco?”
“Not if you’re still willing to put up with me.” He sobered, brushing his thumb along her temple. “I might be placing you in Agnes’s position, setting you up to have people whisper behind your back because of the company you keep.”
She wiped her eyes and wrapped her arms around Noah’s neck. “I can take it. I come from good stock.”
“Yes you do. The best.” Noah touched her cheek. “I do love you, Tayte Donnelly.”
“I absolutely love you too,” Tayte replied as they slipped into a kiss.
When Agnes huffed to the top of the drive, fear darkened her eyes. She turned in a circle, growing increasingly anxious. Crying, as if to the sky, she asked, “Non, non, non. Where is my house?”
Noah took her arm. “We’re not at Alsace Farm, Agnes. We’re at the Andersons’ farm.”
She studied Tayte’s face as if unsure who she was. Tayte’s eyes brimmed with tears as she posed the painful question. “Grandma, who am I?”
Agnes studied her granddaughter as if seeing her for the first time, and then recognition came. “You are my Tayte.” She smiled and glanced at Noah. “Are you staying now?”
“Yes, I am.”
“Très bon. So get your bags. I want to go home.” She tugged on him, pulling him forward. Tayte took a step, but Noah stalled and looked back at the nursery and farm.
“I believe I’ll take them inside. I think I’ll bunk here from now on.”
“But you just said—I don’t understand.”
Noah took Tayte by the shoulders. “I do love you. That’s exactly why I need to stay here. You two could use some time alone to really get to know each other.” He looked at Agnes, whose face twisted into a frown. “I’ll still come over every day. Count on that.”
He gazed back into Tayte’s eyes. “I don’t want to mess this up. Remember that fairytale ending we both want? Let’s slow things down.” He rubbed at a smudge on her face and smiled. “We’ve both been through a lot. We’re both a little raw. I don’t like where my thoughts go sometimes, and I don’t want to risk backsliding, so I need to find a group meeting here, and work on me a little more.”
Silent for a few moments, Tayte finally nodded and smiled. “Then do it. I think you should. Maybe I should go too.” She chuckled.
“You’re invited. And I want to learn all about you. Maybe we could start by going on some real dates.” He laughed as a boyish nervousness warmed his cheeks. “I figure we could all use a fresh start.”
Agnes’s hand slipped from Noah’s arm as she stared off at the smoke floating over the hills.
“What’s wrong, Grandma?” asked Tayte. “This is a happy day.”
“Of course it is, ma chérie.” She touched Tayte’s cheek. “Your lives are just beginning. I am very happy for you.” Her smile faded once again as her hand slipped from Tayte’s cheek. Both arms wrapped around her middle as she stared off at the hazy field. “I feel like that smoke. Like I’m slipping away along with my memories.” She wiped at a tear and returned her arm to her middle. “Growing old scares me.”
Tayte placed her hands on Agnes’s soft shoulders and looked into her eyes. “Don’t worry, Grandma. We’ll make new memories—together.”
Agnes’s arms dropped as her worried eyes widened with hope. “New memories?”
“Yes. Wonderful new memories.”
Noah stepped between the two women and placed a kiss on Agnes’s cheek. “We’ll take things one day at a time. You’ll never be alone, Agnes.” He turned and looked down into Tayte’s expectant face. “None of us will ever be alone again.”
He tightened his hold on these two women he loved. Noah knew he was finally home.
– The End –
Thank You
Dear Reader,
Thank you for purchasing The Dragons of Alsace Farm. I hope you’ve enjoyed my story. I’d be honored if you’d consider leaving a review at your favorite site. Reviews are so important in helping authors write stories that appeal to their audience, and they help other readers find books they’ll enjoy.
I
love hearing from you. On my bio page you’ll find contact info. Please drop me a line and tell me what you enjoyed about Dragons.
I’d also like to invite you to join my VIP Readers' Club. In each monthly installment I’ll share news on how the next project’s going, other authors’ new books, and information on my upcoming releases, promotions, and book signings. Some months will include links for free ebooks, even some from my author friends, and some of my favorite recipes. To sign up, just email me at [email protected].
Always remember love.
Warmly,
Laurie (L.C.) Lewis
Book Club Questions
1. Noah was a craftsman on construction sites. He fixed washers and dryers at night for the Laundromat, and he made frames from driftwood in whatever free time remained. Why did he fill so many hours with work? What or whom from his childhood may have motivated his choices, and how? How do positive and negative influences affect us? Can we use both to change us for good? How?
2. Compare and contrast Noah’s childhood to Tayte’s. How were they similar? How were they different? How did each person’s experience impact their adult choices?
3. Noah arrives on Agnes’s farm to help her. Tayte arrives to rescue her. Agnes promised Noah she would teach him many things. Who helped whom, and how?
4. Noah discovered that love leaves a person painfully vulnerable. Explain how that was manifested in his life. In Tayte’s. In Agnes’s.
5. Compare and contrast Agnes’s decline caused by dementia to the decline of Uncle John’s physical health. Which is harder on the person? On the family?
6. Following Agnes’s night in the storm, she has a sharp decline. With Noah’s help, she fights back and returns from the rabbit hole. Her explanation is that she remembered love. What does that mean to you? When have you taken on a challenge in your life with greater effort because you remembered love?
Acknowledgments
The Dragons of Alsace Farm evolved during conversations with friends who were likewise navigating new waters with aging parents. Agnes is a fictitious, composite character pulled from these and subsequent discussions with caregivers, doctors, therapists, and loved ones of dementia sufferers. I am grateful for my association with such dedicated, loving people.
My mom, Bernice Chilcoat, had great impact on Dragons. This city girl adopted Dad’s dream of farming while in her forties. Her Dr. Doolittle-esque farm filled her days after Dad passed, and her love of her little spread and its animals inspired aspects of the book. Mom has always been a self-taught Renaissance-woman. She continues to teach us all in unexpected ways
I relied on two friends/family therapists—Merilee J. Meacham, LCSW-C, and Lu Duke, CMHC—to help me keep the characters’ complex personalities and mental health concerns accurate and plausible. They read the manuscript several times before final edits. Their comments were invaluable in shaping these rich, complicated characters.
Many thanks to my loyal crew of friends and beta readers—Valerie Sanfrey, Barbara Lipps, Judi Stull, Kay Edwards, and Sue Snyder. Many thanks are also owed to eagle-eyed Michelle Mebius who proofed the final document, and to author friends and colleagues Liz Adair and Chris Hall for support and long-distance therapy when the road got rough.
I am blessed with a talented critique group—Elizabeth Petty Bentley, Lisa Swinton, Lisa Rector, Melissa Lemon, Misty Pulsipher, and Sarah Lee. Writers need writers, and these ladies are among the best and most talented I know.
Brilliant, patient, cover designer Cindy Canizales of Nifty Technologies, put up with me and helped me place Agnes's attic on the cover. My vision didn't sit well with readers, so I called on another gifted graphics artist and friend, Keslie Houser, who came up with the beautiful final cover you see now. Thanks for hanging in there with me, ladies. You’re the best!
I’m so grateful to my wise, book-loving daughter Amanda, who told me when a character’s arc just wasn’t working. Thank you, Mandy. Noah thanks you too!
Three talented editors pulled me from the mire and gave me good direction. Award-winning editor/publisher/author Elizabeth Petty Bentley of Parables is a friend and critique partner, and my local 911 contact. Beth has had eyes on this project for two years. She asks questions that challenge my thinking, and I relied on her editorial gift to clean up my messy manuscript. Our talks kept me from throwing in the towel a few times.
Many thanks are owed to Emilee Newman Bowles for the great cover suggestion, for a wonderful copyedit, and for her generous assistance during the painful process of shortening the manuscript.
Angela Eschler, of Eschler Editing, has been with me since my first book, and remains a good friend and excellent editor who tells me exactly what I need to hear whether I like it or not. She held my hand as she guided the cuts and changes required to transform Dragons to what we hope will be a thought-provoking novel that will speak to many. Thank you, Angela.
Family grounds me and puts everything else into perspective. I’m grateful to my husband, Tom, for his patience and support. Honey, you make it possible for me to dream big. I love you. Thank you to my children, by blood and by marriage—Tom and Krista, Amanda and Nick, Adam and Brittany, Josh and Sidney—and to our ten beautiful grandchildren—Tommy, Keira, Christian, Brady, Avery, Desmond, Chase, Wesley, Noah and Kenzie—for injecting joy into my life.
And thank you to my readers, including those who see themselves in these pages, and those supporting someone else caught in the web of dementia. Wonderful breakthroughs in this disease are on the horizon. I hope a cure comes soon. Statistically, most of us will be impacted by this dragon in some way.
About the Author
No matter where life takes her, Laurie (L.C.) Lewis will always be Marylander at heart—a weather-whining lover of crabs, American history, and the sea. She admits to being craft-challenged, particularly lethal with a glue gun, and a devotee of sappy movies. She loves her readers and pours over the kind words in their reviews when her kids or hubby are grouchy with her. She's been honored to win several acknowledgements for her work, including a RONE Award, the New Apple Literary and BRAGG Medallions for Inspirational Fiction, and was twice named a USA Best Books finalist and Whitney Awards finalist.
The Dragons of Alsace Farm: Second Chance Romance Series, Book 1, is Laurie’s eighth published novel. It was inspired by a loved one’s struggle with the dragon of dementia. Her women’s fiction novels include Unspoken (2004), Awakening Avery (2010), Sweet Water (Second Chance Romance Series, Book 2) and Love on a Limb: Great Expectations Love Stories, The Graykens, Book 1, (2017), written as Laurie Lewis. Using the pen name L.C. Lewis, she wrote the five volumes of her award-winning FREE MEN and DREAMERS historical fiction series, set against the backdrop of the War of 1812, America’s nearly forgotten second war of independence: Dark Sky at Dawn (2007), Twilight’s Last Gleaming (2008), Dawn’s Early Light (2009), Oh, Say Can You See? (2010), and In God is Our Trust, (2011).
Please watch for her remake of Awakening Avery, Book 3 in her Second Chance Romance Series, scheduled for a summer 2018 release, and a fall 2018 sequel to Love on a Limb.
Laurie loves hearing from her readers and may be contacted through her website: www.laurielclewis.com. Please join her VIP Readers' Club where she and readers swap recipes and talk books. You can also follow her on Twitter at laurielclewis or on her blog at laurielclewis.blogspot.com. She also enjoys interacting with book clubs. Contact her to arrange a video chat with your group.
SWEET WATER
A Second Chance Romance
Laurie Lewis
Willowsport Press
SWEET WATER
A Second Chance Romance, Book 2
Laurie Lewis
Copyright ©2017 by Laurie Lewis
and Willowsport Press
Published 2018 by Willowsport Press
* * *
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval syst
ems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
To Tom
Who still leads me to sweet water.
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Acknowledgments
Chapter One
The fog of medication lifted enough for Olivia McAllister to flutter one eye open and see the cold frame of bars surrounding her elevated bed and the chaotic network of wires and tubes snaking across her barely gowned body; all confirming that her nightmare was true. There had been an accident. A terrible accident.
An athletically built woman with long brown hair stood by the window. Her angular jawline and strong brow, Jeff’s signature features, identified her as her sister-in-law Susan. The two women had only met once, some eleven years ago, when Jeff brought his baby sister to the University of Washington’s Seattle campus to celebrate her high school graduation. The pride she displayed while being escorted on her football-star brother’s arm was now replaced with grief, dispelling any hope Olivia had about the outcome of the accident.
A SECOND CHANCE ROMANCE BOXED SET Page 34