A Love So Real: A Christian Romance (New Hope Falls Book 1)

by Kimberly Rae Jordan

  Eli led her over to a table where Sarah was seated, busy arranging fall displays. “We’ve got some of the best here, but unfortunately, the judges have already been chosen. Some of the individuals who have made the pies will be selling more tomorrow, so all is not lost.”

  “Are you here to help me?” Sarah asked when Arianna settled into a chair beside her.

  “If I can. I really enjoy doing this sort of thing.”

  Seemingly content that she was settled, Eli left them and set to work helping the men set up chairs. Leah and Nadine were working with other women in the kitchen, and the rich aroma of baking filled the air.

  “Are your mom and Leah making pies too?” Arianna asked Sarah as she clipped the stem of an orange marigold.

  “No. Mom and Leah are making cookies and cupcakes. Stuff to sell at the bake sale tomorrow. We’re raising money for the shelter here in town.”

  “That’s cool,” Arianna said, loving how the church was working together to help those in need. None of these people had cameras out taking a video of themselves helping the poor. None of them looked to be taking credit for anything they were doing.

  She absolutely loved feeling like she was part of that community, and she didn’t want that to be a temporary thing. Glancing across the room, she watched as Eli tugged a stack of chairs around on some sort of wheeler. He and another man worked together to lift chairs off the stack and line them up around the room.

  At one point, he glanced up, and when their gazes met, it seemed as if the world narrowed to just the two of them. Slowly, his lips curved into a smile that she would have called shy at one time, but now she knew that his smiles were a rare thing, not a shy thing. That he would smile for her made her heart pound harder, taking her breath away for a moment.

  It was then that she knew that if he wanted her, she’d do whatever she could to make it so they could be together. He was everything she’d never known she wanted in a man. His commitment to his sisters and mom. His devotion to his faith and subsequently, his church. His strength in facing the condemnation of people around him.

  How could others not see all the things in him that she did? How did they not see his strength, commitment, and devotion in the same way those who loved him, did?

  She gave him a smile in response, hoping he could see everything she was feeling for him at that moment.

  “You two need to stop making googly eyes at each other,” Sarah said as she bumped her shoulder.

  “Googly eyes?” Arianna asked, tearing her gaze from Eli to look at Sarah.

  Sarah’s grin faded to a small smile, even though her brow furrowed slightly as she looked over at her brother. “I’ve never seen him like this before.” After a brief hesitation, her gaze cut back to Arianna. “Please don’t hurt him.”

  There was a note of pleading in Sarah’s voice that Arianna couldn’t dismiss or ignore. She reached out to rest a hand on the other woman’s arm. “Hurting him would be hurting myself.”

  “But your life isn’t here,” Sarah said. “And I’m not sure Eli could do long distance.” She hesitated as she twirled a flower in her fingers. “Did he tell you about our dad?”

  “Yes.”

  Sarah’s eyebrows rose slightly. “I actually didn’t think he would have. I kind of asked the question as a way to segue into telling you about him myself. But if he’s already told you, then you must know why having distance between you two would never work for him, even if he thinks it might.”

  “I understand that,” Arianna assured her. “I would never expect that of him. “

  “Then how do you plan to move your life here? Because I’m sure I don’t need to tell you that Eli isn’t going to leave New Hope.”

  “No, you don’t. I can see that his roots here are many and that they run deep.”

  “Mom, Leah, and I would be okay without him, you know. In fact, I think Mom would like to encourage him to leave, but he never will, so she just saves her breath.”

  “I admire the closeness of your family. My parents love me, and I love them, but we live our own lives without them intersecting very often.”

  Sarah looked up from where she was adding flowers to another display. “That’s kind of sad.”

  Arianna shrugged and picked up more flowers for her current work-in-progress. “It is what it is. It’s all I’m used to, you know.”

  “I can’t imagine.”

  Silence fell between them that Arianna didn’t bother to try to fill. She wasn’t eager to rehash the details of her relationship with her parents with someone who couldn’t comprehend how they lived their lives.

  As she continued working on the displays, Arianna let her mind flip through all the steps she’d need to take to get to the point where she could permanently stay in New Hope. More than ever, she was convinced she had to do whatever was necessary to stay.

  They’d finished just about all the displays when Arianna saw Cecelia walk through the door. She made a beeline to where they sat at the table, her frown deepening when she spotted Arianna.

  “I thought you’d left,” she said without even a word of greeting for either of them.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

  Eli rolled out of bed the next morning as soon as his alarm went off. One look at the way his hair was standing out in several directions and he decided that a shower was his best course of action before tackling the day. Once he was done and dressed, he headed out to the kitchen to help his mom. This time, Leah and Sarah showed up about the same time, with Anna only a few minutes behind them.

  She greeted him with a smile but didn’t approach him. He was both relieved and disappointed. But given that he didn’t know if he wanted to share about their budding relationship with his family while they were right in the middle of the festival, it was probably for the best. Once it was over, however, he’d be more than happy to share the news with them.

  As the day progressed, Eli found a joy in the festival that he hadn’t experienced in years. Most definitely not since Sheila had disappeared, and maybe not even since he’d been a child. But seeing it all through Anna’s eyes brought back the joy and excitement he’d had when he’d been younger.

  He ate the carnival food he usually steered clear of, and he played games he knew were virtually unwinnable just to hear Anna laugh and cheer him on. When he did actually win one game, he happily let her choose which stuffed animal she wanted. It took her but a minute to choose the floppy black dog that looked a bit like Shadow.

  “Now you have a Shadow, and I have one too,” she proclaimed as she took the stuffed toy from the teen operating the game.

  “Pretty sure my Shadow thinks he belongs to you, so now you have two Shadows.”

  Laughing together, he looped his arm over her shoulders, and they began moving through the late afternoon crowds. Their destination was a booth selling mini donuts.

  “Are you sure you want those again?” Eli asked. “You’d get better donuts from the bakery.”

  “Well, true, but I can get those on Monday,” Anna told him with a grin. “But what can’t I get on Monday?”

  “Mini donuts?”

  “Bingo!” Anna hooked her arm through his and tugged him forward. “So mini donuts now, bakery donuts on Monday.”

  “What are you doing back here?” The question was asked as a loud shriek.

  Before either he or Anna could react, a woman threw herself at Anna and began to pummel her. Grabbing Anna, Eli spun them around, holding her close, so he took the brunt of the attack.

  “Eli?” His name came in a panicked whisper, loud to his ears, even with the shrieks that threatened to deafen them all.

  He could feel her trembling in his arms, so he murmured reassurances to Anna as he tried to protect her. Suddenly he heard more shouts, and the fists pounding his back vanished.

  “You shouldn’t be with her,” the woman’s voice shrieked at him. “Sheila will never come back if you’re with that woman.”

  Sheila? Eli glanced over his should
er, shocked to see that it was Coral being held back by her husband and daughter. But as much as he wanted to demand to know what she was thinking, he needed to take care of Anna first.

  “Anna? Sweetheart?” Eli bent his head close to her, still keeping his arms tightly around her. “Are you okay?”

  Though she nodded, her body still shook, and she didn’t say anything. How had things gotten so out of control with Coral? There had been times he’d questioned her sanity, but he never would have thought she’d go to these lengths…attacking someone.

  Kieran appeared in front of him, concern on his face. “Do we need to call an ambulance?”

  Anna immediately shook her head and straightened in Eli’s arms, but she made no attempt to move away from him, her hands gripping his arm. “I’m fine. Just a little shaken.”

  “How about you, Eli?” Kieran asked. “Deb said you took the brunt of it.”

  “She scratched you,” Anna said, lifting her hand to touch his cheek.

  “I’m okay. I’m more worried about you.”

  “One of my guys is taking Coral to the station,” Kieran said, taking his hat off to run his hand through his hair before replacing it. “I’m going to head over there and see what’s going on.”

  “Do you think she’s the one behind the notes and vandalism?” Eli asked.

  “It certainly seems like she could be, but we won’t know for sure until we get a chance to talk with her and compare fingerprints. We’ll let you know.”

  “Thanks, Kieran,” Eli said.

  Other people crowded around them after Kieran walked away, asking what had happened and if they were okay. It wouldn’t be long before the story reached his mom, so Eli knew he needed to let her know that they were okay. Keeping his arm around Anna, he guided them through the crowd that had gathered with the commotion, eager to get them away from it all.

  “Eli, hun,” a voice called out. He glanced over to see Mrs. Albridge standing in the doorway of her antique shop. “C’mon in here.”

  Knowing that Mrs. Albridge was one of the few people who didn’t seem prone to gossip, Eli headed toward her, and they slipped into the quiet of the store. The bell over the door rang as she closed it. She flipped the sign to Closed then turned to face him.

  Eli gave her a grateful look. The woman had always been a staunch supporter of his through the time following Sheila’s disappearance, so he felt safe within the walls of her store. Silver bangles jangled as she waved them further into the store.

  Always given to a more Bohemian style of dress, that day Mrs. Albridge wore a loose flowing dress in shades of blue and several long silver chains. She definitely had a unique style about her, and though she’d had gray hair for as long as Eli had known her, her features were unlined, giving her an ageless look.

  “Come have a seat,” the woman said. “Would you like some tea, darling?”

  Eli finally let go of Anna after she gave him a reassuring smile. “I’m just going to phone Mom, so she doesn’t hear about this from other people. If she hasn’t already.”

  Mrs. Aldridge took Anna into the back where Eli knew she had a small kitchen and an office. He stared out the front window, watching as people continued sauntering past in the late afternoon sun. Guilt ate at him for how Anna had suffered because of his past. He had no doubt that in Coral’s mind, Anna was the reason he’d decided not to attend the anniversary event. She’d never believe that he’d already been considering not attending before he’d even met Anna.

  His phone rang, and when he saw his mom’s number, he knew she’d already heard. With a sigh, he tapped the screen to answer it.

  “Coral attacked you and Anna?” were her words of greeting.

  “Yeah. She went a little nuts, screaming that Anna was the reason Sheila wouldn’t come home.”

  “What? That’s ridiculous.”

  “I don’t think that Coral was exactly in her right mind, to be honest. She’s so determined that Sheila is still alive and will come home eventually. I suppose it’s not too much of a stretch to think she’d assume that Sheila would want to get back together with me if she returned. So if I wasn’t available, in her mind, Sheila wouldn’t come home.”

  “Didn’t you tell her that things had basically ended between you two before Sheila disappeared?”

  “I did, but she didn’t believe me.”

  “Are you and Anna alright?”

  “We’re okay. I haven’t had much chance to talk to Anna.” Eli lifted a hand to rub his forehead. “We’re at the antique store. Mrs. Aldridge is getting Anna some tea.”

  “Do you need me to come to you?” she asked.

  “No. We’ll be okay.”

  “Are you going to stay at the festival?”

  “I’m not sure. I need to talk to Anna and see what she wants to do.”

  “Take care of her, son,” his mom said, affection in her voice.

  “I’ll try my best.” Eli had always done what he could to take care of his sisters and his mom, but it seemed that the need to care for Anna increased exponentially every day they were together.

  After finding out where his mom was right then, Eli promised to let her know what they decided to do. Hanging up, he made his way to the back of the store and found Anna seated at a small round table with Mrs. Aldridge, dainty teacups in front of them.

  “Have a seat, hun,” Mrs. Aldridge said as she got up from the table. She moved to the counter and quickly put a pod into the machine there. While the coffee streamed into the mug, she opened a container and set it on the table. “Not as good as your mom’s or aunt’s, I know.”

  “I’m sure they’re still very good,” Anna said as she reached into the container for a cookie. “Thank you for them and for the tea.”

  “You’re very welcome, my dear,” the older woman said as she placed the mug in front of Eli then went to the small fridge to get the cream for him. This wasn’t the first time she’d made coffee for him. She sat down on her chair and then asked Eli about what had happened.

  After they’d spent a few minutes discussing what had happened with Coral, Mrs. Albridge said, “Did you hear about my excitement this week?”

  “No,” Eli said as he lifted his mug. “What happened?”

  “I had a break-in.”

  “A break-in?” Frowning, Eli lowered his mug to the table. “Did they take anything?”

  “They managed to get my safe open and stole my cash box.”

  “Seriously? They opened your safe?” It wasn’t that they were immune to crime in New Hope, but most thefts were petty in nature. The last major theft anyone had reported was when a couple of cases of beer were stolen from the liquor store by some kids who wanted to have a party. “Did they get much?”

  “No. Just a couple hundred bucks.”

  “Nothing else?”

  “Not that I’ve discovered,” Mrs. Aldridge said with a shrug. “But then there is a lot of stuff in my shop, so I may have lost more than I realize.”

  “You weren’t here, were you?”

  “No. It was Wednesday, which is the day I close the shop.”

  “I’m so sorry to hear that happened to you,” Eli said, reaching over to cover the woman’s hand. “Has anyone else been broken into?”

  “Kieran didn’t say.”

  “Well, I hope it’s just a one-time thing.”

  “You and me both, hun. You and me both.”

  “Do you want to see more of the festival, or are you done?” Eli asked Anna when he finished his coffee.

  “I think I’m done for now. Maybe next year I’ll be able to enjoy the whole festival.”

  Eli smiled, even though he knew it might not be appropriate given what they’d just been through, but the idea that she was already thinking of what would happen in a year’s time made him happy.

  “Can you wait here for a couple of minutes?” he asked. “I just need to do something real quick.”

  Anna nodded. “I still have some tea to finish.”

  “Ok
ay. I’ll be right back.”

  Eli let his hand rest on Anna’s shoulder for a moment before leaving her with Mrs. Albridge. He exited the store and headed in the direction they’d been walking before the run-in with Coral. There was a short lineup at the mini-donut stand, so it took a little longer than he’d planned to get back to the antique store.

  “Here you go,” he said as he walked into the kitchen. He set the bag of donuts on the table in front of Anna.

  She stared at it for a moment before she got up and threw her arms around him. Eli wrapped his arms around her, wishing that the donuts could take away the trauma of the past hour.

  Her face was pressed against his neck as she whispered, “I can’t believe you got those for me. Thank you.”

  Eli buried his face in her hair, grateful that she was okay. “Can’t make you wait until Monday for donuts.”

  He felt her laughter in puffs of air on his neck and soon found himself laughing along with her. Relief flowed through him as they stood there. The ugliness of his past might have touched her, but she was turning to him instead of away from him, which was all he’d hoped for.

  Mrs. Albridge gave them a knowing smile when they finally moved apart and turned to face her. “I think you’ll be fine.”

  Eli prayed she was right. He gave the older woman a hug then took Anna’s hand to lead her from the shop. They made their way back to the church where they spent time helping clean up the remnants of the pie tasting contest, then set things back up for church the next day.

  Though the festival ran until five o’clock on Sunday afternoon, most church members didn’t plan any involvement with it in the morning, and their evening service that day had been planned to include gospel music and testimonies. It had been advertised throughout the festival, and they hoped that people would come to the service once the festival was over. They’d been doing that for the last several years, but as of yet, they’d never had a huge response. Usually it was just a handful of visitors who showed up, but nonetheless they continued to do it year after year.

  His mom and the twins showed up shortly after they’d gotten to the church, and immediately gave them hugs. Eli didn’t want to rehash what all had happened, especially not with an audience, so he brushed aside their questions for later.