by Ginny Dye
“I found this spot the very first time I visited the plantation. Since it was the dead of winter, it looked quite different. I was surrounded by snow-shrouded trees and ice chunks in the river.” He shook his head. “That seems a lifetime ago.”
“It was a lifetime ago,” Janie replied. “Neither one of us are the same people we were six years ago. I, for one, am quite glad for that. I wouldn’t want to still be that person.”
“You were wonderful!” Matthew protested.
Janie smiled. “I was a young girl with idealistic dreams of what life was like.”
“And now?”
Janie’s gaze swung out over the river as she considered his question. “And now I hope I am a woman with a clear vision of who she is and where she is going.”
“Is there room in that vision for someone else?” Matthew dared to ask, forcing himself not to hold his breath as he waited for her answer.
Janie’s eyes swung back to stare at Matthew. “I…”
“I’m sorry. I know it is probably too soon to talk about my feelings for you,” Matthew said apologetically.
“It’s not that,” Janie murmured. She had grown beyond the point where she was interested in playing games. She recognized the increasing openness and intimacy in the letters they had shared over the last month. She recognized the look in Matthew’s eyes, and she wouldn’t deny how she felt about him.
“What is it?” Matthew asked quickly, encouraged by what he saw flitting across her face. He reached out to take her hand, feeling a quick disappointment when she pulled it back.
Janie sighed and turned to face him. “Do you really believe you can ever love anyone but Carrie?” she asked bluntly.
Matthew should have been surprised by the question, but he wasn’t. He had long since realized that as much as he had tried to hide his feelings for Carrie, he had failed. Of course Janie would have seen them. “I will always love Carrie,” he said honestly, “but I’ve realized in the last month that I was never actually in love with her.” He couldn’t blame Janie for the look of skepticism that blazed in her eyes. “My mama used to tell me I was always determined to get the one thing I couldn’t have. She warned me that I would spend my whole life unhappy if I closed my eyes to the beauty of what was right there waiting for me.”
Matthew paused, his eyes turning toward the water before he continued. He knew Janie would give him time to explain. “My daddy used to tell me that he loved mama from the minute he laid eyes on her, and that he would never be able to even look at another woman. He told me that Justin men loved for life. When I met Carrie, I thought she was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. When I realized, that very first night, that Robert was courting her, I decided I was doomed to always love a woman I could never have. The chaos and the pain of the war kept me from considering things could be different. It was just one more source of pain for me. I buried myself in my work, deciding that being single would allow me to make more of a difference through my writing…” His voice trailed off as the feelings swamped him.
“And now?”
Matthew smiled and swung around on the boulder. “And now I realize that the most amazing woman I have ever known was right there all the time.” His expression grew somber as he reached out and took Janie’s hands. “When I was in New Orleans hiding under the platform with Ben, watching people being beaten and murdered, your face was the only one I saw. It was your eyes gazing at me that kept me sane. You were the only thing that kept alive my desire to live.”
Janie’s face whitened, but her eyes held his steadily.
“Janie, I love you. I love your strength and your passion. I love your ability to laugh and keep moving forward even when life hands you nothing but pain and struggle. I love that you are going to be a doctor. I love that you are a strong woman who has the courage to speak your mind.” Matthew took a deep breath. “And I love how your blue eyes become soft with compassion and sympathy when someone else is hurting. I love that you make me better than I really am.”
Janie shook her head. “You are the most remarkable man I know,” she said firmly.
Matthew eyes widened as hope bloomed. “You don’t mind that I love you?”
“Mind?” Janie asked, a smile lighting her eyes. “If you had ever done more than just look at Carrie every time I was in the room, I probably wouldn’t have married Clifford. I loved him in the beginning, but I never felt about him the way I felt about you.” Her smile softened with emotion as her eyes shimmered with tears. “I have loved you almost from the day I met you.”
Matthew laughed loudly, lifted her from the boulder, and pulled her close. “I love you, Janie,” he whispered, just before his lips claimed hers.
When Matthew finally released her, Janie still had one important thing to talk about. “It truly doesn’t bother you that I’m a divorced woman?”
Matthew smiled tenderly. “Other than the fact that I wish I had been the one who had the privilege of beating Clifford up when he came to the plantation instead of Robert, it makes no difference to me at all.” He held her shoulders and gazed down into her eyes. “You were remarkable before, but you are even more remarkable now. My mama used to tell me that hardship usually creates the most beautiful people if they don’t become bitter. You are the most beautiful person I know.”
Janie blinked back tears of gratitude, hardly able to believe Matthew actually loved her.
“There’s something else I need to tell you,” Matthew said.
Janie smiled, knowing that nothing he could tell her would change her feelings for him. “Go ahead.”
He told her about his earlier conversation with Thomas and Abby, and then waited for her reaction. He was suddenly aware of just how uncertain his future was. He wondered if that would bother Janie.
Janie smiled. “My grandmother Ganny called that ‘shifting with the wind.’ ” When Matthew just blinked at her, she laughed. “Change has always been hard for me. My grandmother used to tell me that it was usually in the winds of change that we find our direction. I didn’t like that very much because if things were going along smoothly, I just wanted them to keep going that way.”
“And they never do,” Matthew murmured. “Things always change.”
Janie smiled. “Glimmers of Change. I really think that title says it all — especially right now. Everything seems hard, but there is still reason for hope.” She gripped his hand tightly. “We will find our way together, Matthew.”
Matthew felt a powerful surge of joy. He laughed, picked Janie up, and swung her through the air, laughing even harder as her peals of merriment rolled over the water and echoed back from the woods.
~ The End
Keep reading for information on Book # 8 –
Shifted By The Winds
If you enjoyed Glimmers of Change I would so appreciate you leaving me a review! Just click the image below:
The Bregdan Principle
Every life that has been lived until today is a part of the woven braid of life.
It takes every person’s story to
create history.
Your life will help determine the
course of history.
You may think you don’t have
much of an impact.
You do.
Every action you take will reflect in someone else’s life.
Someone else’s decisions.
Someone else’s future.
Both good and bad.
The Bregdan Chronicles
Storm Clouds Rolling In
1860 – 1861
On To Richmond
1861 – 1862
Spring Will Come
1862 – 1863
Dark Chaos
1863 – 1864
The Long Last Night
1864 – 1865
April – December 1865
Glimmers of Change
1866
Many more coming as the Bregdan braid of history continues to be woven…
Oth
er Books by Ginny Dye
PepperCrest High Series – Teen Fiction
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When I Dream Series – Children’s Fiction
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When I Dream, I Dream of Puppies
When I Dream, I Dream of Snow
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When I Dream, I Dream of Elephants
When I Dream, I Dream of the Ocean
Fly To Your Dreams Series
Dream Dragon
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Little Heart
101+ Ways to Promote Your Business Opportunity
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All titles by Ginny Dye
www.AVoiceInTheWorld.com
Author Biography
Who am I? Just a normal person who happens to love to write. If I could do it all anonymously, I would. In fact, I did the first go round. I wrote under a pen name. On the off chance I would ever become famous - I didn't want to be! I don't like the limelight. I don't like living in a fishbowl. I especially don't like thinking I have to look good everywhere I go, just in case someone recognizes me! I finally decided none of that matters. If you don't like me in overalls and a baseball cap, too bad. If you don't like my haircut or think I should do something different than what I'm doing, too bad. I'll write books that you will hopefully like, and we'll both let that be enough! Fair?
But let's see what you might want to know. I spent many years as a Wanderer. My dream when I graduated from college was to experience the United States. I grew up in the South. There are many things I love about it, but I wanted to live in other places. So I did. I moved forty-two times, traveled extensively in forty-nine of the fifty states, and had more experiences than I will ever be able to recount. The only state I haven't been in is Alaska, simply because I refuse to visit such a vast, fabulous place until I have at least a month.
Along the way I had glorious adventures. I've canoed through the Everglade Swamps, snorkeled in the Florida Keys and windsurfed in the Gulf of Mexico. I've white-water rafted down the New River and Bungee jumped in the Wisconsin Dells. I've visited every national park (in the off-season when there is more freedom!) and many of the state parks. I've hiked thousands of miles of mountain trails and biked through Arizona deserts. I've canoed and biked through Upstate New York and Vermont, and I’ve polished off as much lobster as possible on the Maine Coast.
I had a glorious time and never thought I would find a place that would hold me until I came to the Pacific Northwest. I'd been here less than two weeks, and I knew I would never leave. My heart is so at home here with the towering firs, sparkling waters, soaring mountains and rocky beaches. I love the eagles and whales. In five minutes I can be hiking on 150 miles of trails in the mountains around my home or gliding across the lake in my rowing shell. I love it!
Have you figured out I'm kind of an outdoors gal? If it can be done outdoors, I love it! Hiking, biking, windsurfing, rock-climbing, roller-blading, snow-shoeing, skiing, rowing, canoeing, softball, tennis... the list could go on and on. I love to have fun and I love to stretch my body. This should give you a pretty good idea of what I do in my free time.
When I'm not writing or playing, I'm building Together We Can Change the World - a fabulous organization I founded in 2001 - along with 60 amazing people who poured their lives into creating resources to empower people to make a difference with their lives.
What else? I love to read, cook, sit for hours in solitude on my mountain, and also hang out with friends. I love barbeques and block parties. Basically - I just love LIFE!
I'm so glad you're part of my world!
Ginny
