Bride Wanted

by Renee Andrews

  “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”

  Troy believed those verses, and he’d told Destiny that she should, too. But could she? She put the Bible back on the table, then closed her eyes and prayed. God, if You’re listening, I’m doing what Troy said, what the Bible says, and presenting my request to You. Let me know whether I should give this a go, whether I should send this email, put my work out there and try to get it published. You know how afraid I am that it will be rejected, that essentially I will be rejected. Destiny squeezed her eyes tighter, already feeling a little relief simply because she’d found the courage to ask God for help and believing that He listened. If You want me to send it, then help me do it, Lord. In Jesus’s name, amen.

  “Kind of an odd place to take your Sunday afternoon nap, isn’t it?”

  The deep baritone startled Destiny, and she jumped, her eyes popping open to see Troy, as amazingly gorgeous as ever, stepping onto the porch.

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.” His grin said he wasn’t all that sorry, but Destiny didn’t care. She really was glad he was here.

  “I wasn’t napping,” she explained, then added quietly, “I was praying.”

  His look turned tender. “Another great way to spend a Sunday afternoon.”

  Destiny nodded, feeling pretty good about the fact that she’d found it somewhat easy to ask God about what to do, whether she should send the proposal. Glancing at her computer, she was surprised to see the email no longer displayed. “Oh, no.”

  “Something wrong?” He moved toward her. “Can I help?”

  Destiny realized what had happened with utter clarity. When Troy startled her, she’d jumped, and apparently her hand had also moved...and inadvertently clicked the mouse over the send button. With her pulse skittering, she opened her out-box and saw that, as she feared, the proposal had now been delivered to Lamont Sharp. There was no going back.

  “I asked God to help me do something,” she whispered, then looked up to Troy, “and He did.” Unfortunately, she wasn’t sure she felt all that positive about it.

  “That’s usually a good thing.” Troy had moved in front of her rocker and leaned confidently against the porch rail. He no longer wore his baseball uniform but had on a blue T-shirt and jeans. The blue matched his eyes, making them look almost electric, and Destiny momentarily forgot about the fact that she’d sent an unsolicited proposal to one of the biggest editors in the business.

  She smiled. “Yeah, I suppose you’re right.” Then she remembered leaving Haley at the baseball field. “I thought you were taking Haley home.”

  “I did, and then I went home and got cleaned up, and then I came here.” He looked at her for a moment and Destiny got the feeling he was selecting his next words carefully. She started to say something—anything—to break the awkward silence, but then he said, “Tell me something. Why did you tell Haley to ask me for a ride home? Why didn’t you just take her home?”

  “Because I needed to leave to work on something.” She hated her defensive tone, and she also hated that she wasn’t exactly telling the truth, and she was pretty sure he knew it.

  “But why did you tell her to ask me to take her home?”

  “I knew y’all went out Friday night, and then that she came to the fishing hole yesterday, so I thought you might want to spend some more time together.” She made her voice sound as chipper as possible. “And that’ll eliminate that player status your grandmother was worried about, you spending several days seeing the same girl. You know, maybe I could help you out with that.”

  He looked confused. “Maybe you could help me out with what?”

  “Your player status, or I guess you’d say your relationship status, with Haley. I like her, and we got along real well today. Maybe I could spend some time with her, find out what she likes, let you know and help you develop a real relationship.” Destiny couldn’t believe the words coming out of her mouth.

  His eyes narrowed, and he looked as though he wasn’t sure what to think of Destiny’s offer. She wasn’t sure what to think of it either, but she’d made it, so she pushed her smile up higher. “What do you think?”

  “I think I do want to build a relationship, and I definitely want to end the player reputation, even though I haven’t really had a reason to earn the label.”

  “That’s great,” she said, but she couldn’t manage to make her tone the least bit enthusiastic.

  “But I think you’re confused about what I want, and about who I want,” he said smoothly.

  She swallowed. He had something on his mind, she could see that, and she also could tell that she was a part of whatever had ticked him off. Or she guessed he was ticked off. She hadn’t figured out his looks enough to tell. But he wasn’t happy, for some reason. That was for sure. “I’m confused,” she said.

  He nodded, shifting his weight so that one shoulder rested against one of the white porch posts. “I want to ask you something, and I want you to give me an honest answer. Do you think you can do that?”

  Oh, boy. Could she? Her eyes drifted to the Bible and to the memory of asking for God’s help a few minutes ago. He’d want her to tell Troy the truth about whatever he was going to ask. She sure didn’t want to let Him down now that she’d decided to trust Him to help. “I’ll try.”

  “The last play of the game. Did you see it?” The corner of his mouth crooked up, and he rested a little more solidly against the porch rail as though he knew the answer but simply needed to hear it. When Destiny didn’t readily answer, he repeated, “Did you, Destiny?”

  She thought of that amazing home run and every other outstanding play he’d made on the field. She had attempted to chat with Haley and with all of the other people sitting around them in the stands, but it’d been hard to pay attention to the conversations because her eyes never wavered from Troy. His stance at the plate reminded her of the Braves players she watched so avidly back home. He exuded confidence in every motion, every look, and it had mesmerized her. Her desire to watch him, admire him, silently cheer him on to victory had been so unbelievably strong that she simply couldn’t leave without making sure she saw every play. “I saw it.”

  “Where were you? Haley said you left the game right before it ended, but I didn’t see you or your car anywhere. So where were you when you saw that last play?”

  She looked at her computer screen, even though it merely displayed her screen saver, a photo of her and Bevvie. She couldn’t look at Troy.

  “Destiny?” he prodded.

  She took a deep breath, knowing she had no choice but to tell the truth. “I parked at the next field for a few minutes. That was a nice home run, by the way.”

  “Why did you stay to see it if you had to leave and get some things done?”

  Because I wanted to see you. She couldn’t make her voice utter the truth, so she kept her eyes focused on the photograph and tried to remember the day it’d been taken. Last year at Thanksgiving when the family was together and everyone—even their mother—had been happy.

  Troy leaned forward and eased the laptop closed so that the image disappeared. “Listen, you don’t have to tell me why you stayed. I shouldn’t have asked. But let me tell you what I was doing during the game.” He waited until she had no choice but to look into those beautiful blue eyes. “I played my very best because I knew someone was in the stands that I wanted to impress.”

  “Haley,” she whispered.

  He shook his head. “No. You.” The words were said with such emotion that she knew for certain he meant them.

  “Me?” she whispered, and a path of goose bumps marched up her arms and legs. He’d been playing to impress her? “But what a
bout Haley?”

  “Haley is a nice girl, and I think we’ll be good friends, which is what I told her when I took her home. I also told her that I really enjoyed my morning with you at the fishing hole yesterday and that I believed I felt a connection with you.” He paused and then smiled. “That’s when she told me that she believed the feeling was mutual, saying you’d barely been able to talk to her during the game because you’d been so focused on watching me.”

  Destiny felt her cheeks burn. “Oh, my, she must have thought I was so rude.”

  He laughed. “No. In fact, she said she’d already decided for herself that she was too into her job right now to be in a relationship or even to date, and she’d planned to ask me if I’d thought about asking you out.” He leaned back and grinned. “I had, by the way.”

  “You...had.” The shock of all of this truth telling was knocking her for a loop, but it was a very happy, wonderfully exciting loop.

  He nodded. “Just need to find out if you’ll say yes.”

  Every time Destiny had read Troy’s love letters she’d dreamed about what it would feel like to have something so heartfelt written to her. Now, she realized, she might actually find out.

  “Say yes, Destiny.” His words were low and husky and sent a delightful shiver down her spine.

  * * *

  Troy held out his hand and held his breath as he waited for her answer. He had sensed something different about Destiny ever since that first day, with their conversation at the filling station and then their interaction that night at church. The time spent together with his family at the parade had also sparked Troy’s interest. But their time together yesterday, when he got to know her more personally as they visited at the fishing hole, cemented the truth—that he felt something special toward this lady. And he suspected that God had finally answered his prayers with the woman he’d been writing to...but she still hadn’t answered his question.

  “Destiny? I asked you out. Are you actually going to break my heart by saying no?”

  She smiled. “No.”

  “You’re saying no?” Troy knew the answer, but he still wanted to hear it.

  She ran her hand along the length of her ponytail, curling the tip around her fingers, and laughed. “No, I’m saying yes. Yes, I’ll go out with you.”

  He loved the way she continued wrapping her hair nervously around her fingers, almost as much as he liked the way she seemed unable to control the smile that lifted her cheeks and made her eyes dance. And now, she’d said yes. Troy extended a hand. “Okay.”

  She slipped her hand in his and asked, “Okay, what?”

  “Okay, you said I could take you out, and I figure there’s no time like the present.”

  She glanced down at her outfit. “I’m not exactly ready for a date.” She wore a pale pink T-shirt, white capris and sandals, the same outfit she’d had on at the baseball field, and she looked absolutely adorable.

  “You’re dressed perfectly.”

  She stood, then touched her face. “I’m not even wearing makeup.”

  “And you’re beautiful,” he said softly. He liked the way her cheeks flushed with the compliment. “I mean it.” Troy moved closer, saw her eyelids begin to close and knew that she wanted this kiss as much as he did.

  The door flew open, causing him to take a tiny step back and completely blowing the moment. Mr. Tingle carried an old-fashioned wooden ice-cream freezer while Mrs. Tingle followed close behind with two boxes of ice-cream salt nestled in one arm and a couple plastic bags of groceries hanging from the other.

  “Oh, hello, Destiny,” Mrs. Tingle said. “Troy, I didn’t know you were here.” She eyed the two of them and apparently realized, or at least suspected, what she’d interrupted. “Well, I’ll be.” Then she cleared her throat and attempted to hide her smile. “Oh, ah, Troy, how are you?”

  “I’m fine.” He smiled in spite of the fact that the sweet lady had just blown his first kiss with Destiny. “You want me to help you carry that?”

  “Oh, no, dear, I’ve got it.” She bumped the door closed with her hip. “If you take something now, you’ll throw me off balance. Are you two coming to the ice-cream social? Doesn’t start for another hour, but L.E. and I are going early to make sure our ice cream is ready in time.”

  Destiny had looked a little embarrassed when the couple first came out, but she seemed at ease now. “Ice-cream social?”

  “At Hydrangea Park,” Mrs. Tingle said. “One of the best events we have all year, if you ask me. The church always has an ice-cream social at the park on the Sunday closest to the Fourth of July. And that’s today. We’ll have a Bible study first, and then everyone eats ice cream. L.E. and I are making our Orange Crush ice cream. You really should come and try it.”

  Troy looked to Destiny. “Would you like to go?”

  “It sounds like fun.”

  “We’ll be there,” he said.

  The lady stopped walking, studied Troy and Destiny, then tilted her head and smiled. “I like the idea of you dating Destiny, Troy. She’ll be good for you.” Then she shifted her attention to Destiny. “He’s got a reputation of being a player, or that’s what the ladies at the quilting group say, just so you know. I don’t believe it, mind you, but I figured I should tell you.” She nodded knowingly.

  Troy laughed. “Are there any secrets left in this town?”

  “None that haven’t made it to the quilting group, dear.” And with that parting remark, she headed toward their car, where L.E. waited beside her door. She got in, and he shut the door, then looked back toward the porch.

  “Can’t keep much from that quilting group.” He shrugged, rounded the car, climbed in and then they left.

  Troy noted the shocked look on his date’s face. “Might as well get used to people telling you exactly what they think. That’s the way things are around here.” He expected her to smile, but she instead looked troubled. “What is it?” he asked.

  “It sounds like you think I’ll be staying around here awhile. What happens when I need to go back home?” She visibly swallowed and worry etched her features. “I want to go out with you, but...”

  He’d been thinking the same thing, ever since he realized that he had serious feelings for the writer. But he didn’t want the fact that she lived two hours away to affect the possibility of him finally finding the girl he’d been writing to. And he wasn’t going to let anything stop him from seeing if his suspicion was true, that Destiny was the one. “You want to go out with me, right? And see where these feelings can take us?”

  “Yes, I do.” She started to say more, but Troy pressed a finger to her lips to stop her progress.

  “Then let’s concentrate on that, going out and getting to know each other better. We’ll cross any other bridges when we get to them. Right now, I want to take you on our first date, and it appears that date will end with an abundance of ice cream.”

  “Okay.” Her smile warmed his heart. “If it ends with ice cream, how does it begin?”

  “With this.” He stepped closer, tenderly brushed his fingers along her jaw, then gently cupped her face. Her eyelids, as before, slid closed, and this time, no one interrupted. Troy took his time, touching his lips to hers and enjoying the soft warmth of their first kiss. He’d known he felt something special toward Destiny, but he was still overwhelmed by the emotion that accompanied the kiss, a feeling as if he never wanted this closeness, this amazing feeling, to end.

  Apparently his emotion got the best of him because the kiss eventually ended with Destiny’s giggle against his lips.

  He grinned. “I’m guessing I crossed the typical first kiss boundary there, huh?”

  She laughed. “Unless you always have people honking car horns when you kiss.”

  Troy vaguely remembered the sound, but it hadn’t been enough to make him stop. “Nope,
that’s a first.” Smiling, he nodded toward his truck. “We should probably leave so we can get to the social.” And so I can get away from the desire to kiss you again, right now, but longer. He’d waited fifteen years to meet this girl. Now he’d have to keep his emotions in check, and that probably meant limiting their time alone, for the time being.

  “Okay.” She placed her hand in his, her smaller fingers sliding easily between his larger ones.

  Troy liked the way their hands fit together, he liked the way they fit together, and he looked forward to getting to know more and more about Destiny Porter, the woman who, he believed, God had sent to Claremont...and to him. In his mind, he knew that his life was now complete, perfect.

  What could possibly go wrong?

  Chapter Nine

  “Destiny, you’ve got to ask him about those letters. We only have four days until we’re supposed to put out the next issue, and we don’t have anything else to use. The advertisers are expecting it. Our subscribers are expecting it, too.” Rita waited, as she had waited every other day for the past two and a half weeks, but Destiny couldn’t give her the answer she wanted.

  Each day Destiny promised her friend that she’d try to get Troy’s permission to publish the letters, but so far, he still hadn’t even told her about them. And what’s more, now she firmly believed that he’d eventually give the letters to her, as his future bride. She couldn’t hold back her excitement at that thought.

  “Destiny, please,” Rita pleaded. “You’ve got to help me out here. You said you would ask him last night. That’s what you told me yesterday morning.”

  “I said I would try to ask him,” Destiny clarified, “but I didn’t. I couldn’t. And,” she knew she had to tell Rita the truth, “I don’t think I can.”

  The sound Rita emitted was almost a growl. “We promised our readers. And we promised our advertisers, too!” Frustration punctuated each word. “If we don’t deliver, I don’t see how anyone will continue reading, and I know advertisers won’t stay on board if we don’t follow through with our promises. You know this, Destiny. What has gotten into you?”