by Delia Latham
For the first time that day, tears burned Lexi’s eyes. She’d never experienced such kindness and acceptance amongst a group of neighbors. Genuine affection saturated the atmosphere in the large room. Her gaze bounced from group to group of chattering tenants, but she detected none of the stilted discomfort she always expected—and usually encountered—in this kind of gathering.
Mitch pulled out her chair, and Lexi sank slowly onto the seat. He dropped down beside her and leaned close. “OK?”
Lexi caught her breath beneath the force of his gaze. Her cheeks warmed as if he’d caressed her skin. She nodded, making no attempt to speak past the tightness in her throat.
Yes, she was OK.
She’d been given a miracle on Mother’s Day and was learning to trust again. Her heart hadn’t waited on permission to fall for Mitch Gaynor, but she was beginning to think even that might work out well.
And she had friends and neighbors. They cared about each other…and that included her.
She resisted the urge to pinch herself. Why bother? Her imagination could never have created a dream so perfect and complete.
Mitch’s gaze remained fixed on her flushed face. He winked, and she blushed like a lovelorn teenager.
Lexi Carlisle was more than OK.
10
Hours of fellowship got Lexi through a day that otherwise would have been long and lonely.
Mitch never left her side. Pia wandered from table to table but didn’t stay away long at a time. Neighbors Lexi had not yet met wandered over and introduced themselves. Before she realized it, the afternoon had taken wing and was gone.
By the time she thanked everyone and said good-bye, she had begun to feel like the newest addition to a large, loving family. The gentle pressure of Mitch’s hand against the small of her back made her smile because, for the first time, she simply enjoyed it. Her suspicious heart forgot to raise a red flag of warning, and she discovered that without it, she breathed a lot easier.
They strolled to her gate in comfortable silence, and Lexi reached to push it open, but Mitch placed a restraining hand over hers.
“Lexi, wait.”
She stopped and flashed him a questioning glance. “Is something wrong?”
“Do you feel up to a little walk?”
After being cooped up in the rec room all afternoon—pleasant though it might have been—the opportunity to stretch her legs sounded downright heavenly.
“I’d love to walk.” She glanced down at her feet, still crammed into the pumps she’d worn to her mother’s memorial service. “Do you mind if I change shoes first?”
“Not at all.” Mitch hesitated. “I’ll wait here.”
“Are you sure?” At his nod, she turned toward the house. “OK. I’ll hurry.”
“Take your time.”
She hurried inside and made quick work of slipping out of her full skirt and pumps and into comfortable jeans and walking shoes. As she headed for the front door, a movement outside the window caught her eye.
Mitch stood right where she’d left him, staring up into the early twilight sky. His hands gripped the top of her fence, while over his head, a moonbeam lit the backside of the sign over her gate, and she remembered the words carved into the other side: May love find all who enter here.
Lexi stood still for a moment, enjoying the opportunity to watch Mitch from an unobserved standpoint. She couldn’t see the color of his eyes from this distance and in the nightfall, but she didn’t need to—the unique silvery gray had etched itself into her memory. She could see they were open and fixed on the sky, and his lips moved as if in prayer. She had a strong hunch that Mitch was, indeed, engaged in a conversation with the Most High.
Her stomach suddenly clenched, and her breath came in short gasps.
Something was wrong.
Mitch was talking to God about her. She knew it. Why? Was he trying to find a way to bow out of her life without hurting her? Because Mitch wouldn’t want to hurt her. Even in the sudden panic that gripped her mind, she knew he wouldn’t intentionally cause her pain.
When had she come to trust him that much?
She should have known this would happen. They’d only become friends because of her mother. And now Mama was gone. Lexi’s visits to Rosewood were a thing of the past along with Mitch’s reason for spending time with her. He’d supported her all the way to the end of Mama’s journey, and now he would move on with his life.
She forced herself to breathe evenly and try to be calm. But oh…the pain.
Never, in all the years of Todd’s abuse, had she dealt with the kind of devastation that threatened to consume her now. Physical pain, yes, she’d seen plenty of that. Mental intimidation…absolutely.
But her heart—the part of herself she’d guarded with such determination after her marriage ended—had never been at risk with her husband, because she’d never been in love with Todd.
She knew that now. She knew it because she’d allowed her guard to come down, let her heart get involved, and she was completely, whole-heartedly, irrevocably in love with Mitch Gaynor.
Why had she dared to believe she’d be allowed this kind of happiness for more than a moment? She’d begun to trust, and it was all about to crash down around her feet.
Trust Me.
Lexi went still. “But, God…” she whispered.
Trust Me.
“OK.” She swallowed hard and pulled one deep breath of sustaining air into her lungs. “I trust You, Lord. I don’t know how You’ll pick up all the pieces when Mitch shatters my heart out there, but I trust that You will.”
She hiked her chin, squared her shoulders, and opened the door.
****
“Give me the right words, Lord.” Mitch’s gaze wandered the glorious array of stars sprinkling the sky with pinpoints of light. He couldn’t have ordered a more beautiful night to carry out his plan. Now to keep his trembling heart strong enough to carry it out. “Don’t let me say something that’ll scare her away. Lexi’s skittish as a new colt, and I’m about the furthest thing from a horse whisperer.” He chuckled. “Or a woman whisperer either. I sure could use a little Divine intervention tonight.”
The door opened and Mitch pushed away from the gate. “Show time, Lord. You’re on. Amen.”
He stopped stargazing and looked across the tiny yard—straight into the face of an angel.
Lexi stood poised in the open doorway, one foot inside the house, the other on the doormat outside her door. Lamplight spilled around her from behind and formed a halo-like glow over her head. A shimmering golden aura outlined her slender form.
Mitch’s jaw dropped. How was he supposed to ask an angel to be his wife?
She closed the door, blocking the light and shattering the illusion. Now she was just Lexi. Beautiful, sweet, unassuming Lexi.
The kind of angel he could live with.
“Sorry I took so long.” She gave him a little smile as she came through the gate, and Mitch reached for her hand and then paused. Something had changed in the short time she’d been inside the house.
“Lexi?” His heart slammed his ribcage as if determined to break every bone. Something in her voice…
She would send him away now. For good. With Mom Martin gone, Lexi no longer had any real reason to spend time with him. He’d been kidding himself, thinking Alexa Carlisle might actually learn to love a big, country lunk like him.
His mouth was dry as the Sahara. “What’s wrong?”
Wing-shaped eyebrows rose in too-innocent inquiry, and she shook her head as if she had no clue what he meant, but Mitch recognized that expression. Lexi had worn it like a shield when they first met—when she was protecting herself from him. He’d thought it was gone for good, that he’d shown her he could never hurt her.
She accepted the hand that still dangled between them as if she couldn’t see the abject terror that must be flashing across his face like a neon marquee. “Did you want to walk the trail?”
No. No, he did not want to walk the trail.
He couldn’t take another moment of this torment. If she intended to send him packing, he’d just as soon she did it now. Right here, under that ridiculous sign above their heads.
May love find all who enter here.
So much for old Hart’s romantic side.
“Mitch?” A whisper of concern laced Lexi’s voice, making it more real, more familiar than the brittle one with which she’d greeted him ten seconds earlier.
He pulled his hand free of hers so he could place both of them on her shoulders. “I’ve changed my mind about walking, Lexi. We need to talk.”
****
Breathe. Just breathe.
When she managed to do so, her voice proved uncooperative. Still, Lexi managed a pitiful croak. “OK. What about?”
“Us.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a tiny velvet box.
Lexi gasped when a wave of dizziness made her head spin.
Mitch noticed her reaction—she felt the rake of his gaze—but he said nothing. Instead, he snapped the little box open to reveal a stunning solitaire surrounded by tiny emeralds. Then, with the box resting on the palm of his open hand, he stood in silence, watching Lexi’s face. The diamond captured a moonbeam and splattered its luminescence across the yard like a glittery lightshow.
Trembling, she reached out to touch the sparkling jewel. Such warmth in that lustrous shine, and yet it was cold and hard—unlike the vein of fire running through her bloodstream. She pulled her hand back and looked up, trying to read the unfamiliar tension on Mitch’s face.
“I don’t understand,” she whispered.
“Lexi, it’s taken me half a lifetime to find you—I don’t want to wait any longer, and I’m not into playing games. So here it is. I love you. I’ve loved you since that first day at Rosewood.” He paused, then shrugged. “Probably before that, but ‘when’ doesn’t really matter, does it?”
She shook her head, mutely agreeing with whatever that meant. Mitch loves me? But he was supposed to tell me he didn’t want to see me again.
“I want you to be my wife, for always and ever. But I promise you here and now that I will never make you do anything you don’t want to do. This ring is yours, sweetheart. I’d be the happiest man alive if you’d wear it. But if you want it on your finger, you’ll have to put it there.”
She didn’t trust her voice to behave in a ladylike manner, so she simply put every question swirling around in her confused brain into her eyes. And he understood, like he always did.
“Sweetheart, I know you’ve been hurt, and trusting is hard for you. I understand that, and I want to show you what real love is. Will you let me do that?”
The raw emotion in his voice rendered Lexi’s knees entirely useless. From somewhere deep inside, she found strength she didn’t know she had, and managed to stay upright. The savage beating of her heart roared like claps of thunder in her head, and an entire volley of tears streamed down her face in a relentless flood.
“If you don’t want it, Lexi, it’s OK. I understand.” Though ever-gentle, an underlying gravelly tone rendered Mitch’s voice almost unrecognizable. He reached for the velvet box.
Lexi gently pushed his hand aside. “That’s my ring, Mitch Gaynor. Hands off.” Smiling through the tears that would not stop falling, she took the tiny circle of white gold from the satin interior of the box and slid it onto her finger.
Her decision. Her choice.
Lifting her face then, she looked into the silvery eyes that watched her every move with excruciating expectation. The eyes of true love. Her true love.
“I love you, too, Mitch.” Her voice still refused to produce more than a whisper, but she knew he’d hear. “So much it scares me senseless.”
“Ahh…Lexi!”
Before she realized his intention, Mitch’s arms were around her. He drew her close to his chest and tilted her chin up. “I’m going to kiss you, angel.” His lips curved upward in the familiar charming, crooked smile, and her silly heart reacted as if attached to those firm lips by an invisible string. “I’d ask you first, but I’m afraid you’d say no.”
Lexi placed a hand on each side of his face and stood on tiptoe. She drew his head closer and moved her mouth so near his that his warm breath tickled her lips. “I’m not saying no. If you don’t kiss me soon, I’ll—”
But Mitch didn’t wait to hear what she’d do. He kissed her…long and thoroughly. When at last he pulled back enough to let her breathe, Lexi found that her legs no longer possessed the power to keep her standing. But it was OK, because Mitch’s strong arms held her close, and she trusted him to keep her from falling.
“Lexi, Lexi. Do you have any idea what you’ve done to me?” His lips brushed her cheek and trailed kisses onto her neck.
She didn’t answer. She couldn’t, because his lips had found hers again.
Twenty-three years she’d called herself Todd Carlisle’s wife. Yet she knew now that she’d never been kissed before. She’d never been loved.
Mitch’s kiss said so many things without the man uttering a single word.
In that one kiss, she discovered how it felt to be cherished. For the first time in her life, she believed herself well and truly loved. To her surprise, she realized that forgiving Todd for all those painful years was easy because, in the end, he’d freed her of that emotional prison and made this night possible.
Snuggling into his embrace, Lexi wrapped both arms around Mitch’s waist while a silly grin took over her face. She’d waited a long time for a love like this.
Her mother’s words of wisdom on that last beautiful day together rang in her heart. As always, Mama was right.
God, this man, and that incredible kiss…they were worth risking her heart for.
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Where Faith is the Cornerstone of Love™
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May God’s glory shine through
this inspirational work of fiction.
AMDG
