by Mary May
“Hi,” she said softly.
“Hi, I wondered if maybe you would like to go for a ride? I know it’s cold but…”
“Yes!” Charlie looked over at Devon.
“Can Nate borrow Rocket?” she asked quickly.
Devon nodded. “Sure, but it might be a tad warmer if you were to just double up on Stormy, don’t you think?”
“That probably would be a better idea. Thanks!” After going to the hall closet, she pulled on her heavy riding jacket and some gloves. They went out to the barn to saddle Stormy. In just a few minutes Nate was in the saddle then held out his hand to pull Charlie up behind him. The air was so cold their breath came out in thick plumes and Charlie buried her hands in the pockets on Nate’s jacket. They rode for several minutes talking about old times before they reached the spot where they had built their fort so many years ago. Nate pulled Stormy to a stop and helped Charlie slide to the ground before he dismounted and tied the horse’s reins to some low-hanging branches. He reached for Charlie’s hand to help her jump over the nearly-frozen creek then held on to it, tucking it into the crook of his arm. Charlie lowered her head to hide her smile.
“I won’t ever forget the day you and Stormy jumped this creek when it was over its banks. Do you remember?” Nate asked as they looked at the now small and peaceful flow of water.
“Yeah, I remember! I was scared to death!” she admitted.
“I couldn’t tell; you were the bravest girl I knew. Ready to try anything.”
Charlie laughed. “That’s not exactly the definition of bravery, stupidity, maybe, but not bravery.”
“Hey! That day I needed you to be exactly what you were, stubborn, hardheaded and brave.”
Charlie stopped and looked up at him, cocking her head. “I think there may have been a compliment in there somewhere, or is the cold messing with my hearing?” Nate laughed, sounding deep and rumbly in his chest, before he reached down and gathered her up in his arms, swinging her around a few times, making her squeal before putting her back down and cupping her face with his gloved hands, searching her face with his dark eyes.
“Charlie, how do I say this? Yes, there was a compliment in there somewhere. I want to shower you with compliments. I want…” Nate trailed off, unsure of what to say.
Gripping the front of his jacket with both hands, Charlie rose up on her toes and gave him a little shake. Looking up into his face, she demanded, “What, Nate? You want what? Don’t stop there; don’t leave it unsaid, please! Tell me!”
“You…Charlie…it’s always been you for me! I tried going away, but even halfway around the world when I closed my eyes it was your face I saw in my dreams. My mom would send pictures of everyone from time to time, and the last one she sent was a picture of you standing by a yellow rose bush in full bloom this last summer. You had on a sundress and were barefooted, smiling at the camera. I knew right then it was no use. I could fight it and run halfway around the world from it, but it wouldn’t change it.”
“Change what?” Charlie whispered.
“The fact that I was in love with you and I always will be.”
Hearing the words she so desperately wanted…needed…to hear from Nate left Charlie feeling strangely weightless and unable to form a coherent thought. She knew he needed to hear something back from her, but for the life of her she couldn’t think of what to say except one thing!
“Oh, thank God!” She breathed out the prayer barely above a whisper, feeling her body sag in relief. Nate took her by the shoulders, making her look at him once more. He slipped off his gloves and stuffed them in his pockets. Ignoring her confused look, he pulled the black headband from her head, allowing her curls to fall freely around her face and shoulders. Then he smiled down at her.
“Promise you won’t punch me?” Without waiting for an answer he gave in to years of longing and gently tunneled his fingers through her soft curls. Tilting her face upward, he brought his face downward, and as the first snowflakes of the season started to fall, the sweet warmth of love’s first kiss was all they felt…
Gideon turned his head, giving the young couple their first moment in privacy. As he did, he saw a shimmering in the air just beyond where they were standing as Nate’s guardian came into view. She blinked and rubbed hard at her eyes before she looked up, staring at Gideon in surprise, so he introduced himself and explained why she could suddenly see him. For once someone actually knew who Gideon was.
“I know who you are, Gideon the Mighty. You are commander over our warriors. Our paths have never had a reason to cross. It is a pleasure to finally meet you. I have heard many great stories about your victories in battle. My name is Shana.”
Shana was very tall for a female guardian with long straight black hair that she wore pulled into a high ponytail and crystal blue eyes. Gideon noticed that her attire was modified somewhat from the other female guardians. She had sewn a seam down the middle of what was a flowing skirt to basically turn it into loose fitting pants. When she saw Gideon eyeing her unusual garment, she smiled.
“I made a slight modification to the standard-issue skirt. I personally find it very troublesome to fight with all that material wrapped around my legs, so I fixed it,” she explained with a shrug. He could actually see where that would make sense. The freedom it would allow the females in movement during battle would be very helpful indeed. Smiling, he gave her his approval.
“No, I think it’s actually a very good idea. I just never would have thought of it. But now that you brought it to my attention, it makes sense. Perhaps you could show the other female guardians in the family and see if this is something they would like to do as well.”
Shana’s eyes lit up at his suggestion. “Of course! I would love to!” She then turned back to where Nate and Charlie were now just walking and holding hands as the snow began to fall harder. Smiling, she looked up at Gideon.
“I’m happy Nate finally came home to her. He fought it so hard. He dated other girls, but no other would do. I don’t think anyone else would stand up to him and sass him the way Charlie does. He needs that.”
“Charlie just recently understood her feelings for Nate. I think he will be good for her because he is strong enough to handle her without breaking her free spirit.” Gideon remembered Devon telling Sabrina something that Seth had told him about raising Charlie was like raising horses. That some responded better to a soft voice and light touch than a tight rein. He thought Seth must have passed those same words of wisdom along to his grandson because he seemed to know exactly how to handle the vivacious prancing spirit that was Charlie.
As he watched them begin to play in the snow, their laughter ringing out through the cold December air, it echoed down through time, reminding him of times past when they played during the Growing Years…
“Charlie Marie Blakely! You promised!” Lakyn stood in the dress shop trying on what had to be her eighty-fourth dress that afternoon alone. Right now she had on a red and black number that, in Charlie’s opinion, would probably be better suited for someone who had a career that involved a stage a pole and a name like Candy. But who was she to judge?
“Charlie?” Lakyn said in a low hiss. Pulling herself from her inner musings, Charlie looked at her best friend blankly.
“What? Is this the dress? Really?”
“No, this isn’t the dress! My dad wouldn’t let me out of my room much less the house with this much skin showing. I just wanted to try it on…you know, just to see?”
“Thank the Lord,” Charlie mumbled, glad she wouldn’t have to guard her friend’s virtue.
“Shouldn’t you be trying on dresses? You did promise you would go.” That seemed to sink into the fog that had surrounded Charlie’s brain after hours of dress shopping.
“What! Me? You know that Nate won’t be here and I’m sure not going with someone else. I also refuse to tag along as a third wheel on your date, Lakyn. Now I know I promised, but I have extenuating circumstances and I should be released from that
promise, don’t you think?”
Blinking up at her friend, Charlie felt her hopes hit the cold tile floor when Lakyn looked at her with frosty green eyes and said, “Nope.”
Three hours later Charlie decided that Lakyn was actually the devil with red hair and green eyes. It wasn’t humanly possible to be this evil and not be.
“Here, Charlie, I think this might be the one!” Tossing yet another confection of sequins and lace over the dressing room door, Lakyn waited while she shimmied herself into it and then flung open the door and stomped out for her inspection. Stepping up on the raised platform, she turned and faced the mirror and her best friend and stared in disbelief at her reflection. The dress was a deep royal blue that reflected the color of her eyes. Strapless with a sweetheart neckline, it gathered just under her breasts. Silver beadwork spiraled along the bodice of the dress, cinching in her waist and smoothing her hips. From there the skirt flowed to the floor. Charlie turned and swayed in the mirror, watching the dress flow and swirl around her legs as she spun in a circle. Lakyn stepped up behind her and gathered her hair up high on her head, pulling free a few long curls to lay on one shoulder.
“Oh, wow…Charlie, you look like my Barbie doll!” Meeting her friend’s eyes in the mirror, Charlie smiled.
Three weeks later Charlie stood in front of the full-length mirror in her mother’s room as Sabrina finished pinning up her hair. She had swept it up into a French twist, leaving the top unfinished so Charlie’s curls would tumble off down the side of her neck. Sabrina kept Charlie’s makeup very simple with a sweep of black liquid liner across the tops of her eyes and two coats of mascara, along with peach blush on the apples of her cheeks and rose-tinted lip gloss. Charlie had refused to spend hours having someone else do what she knew her mother could do in twenty minutes. After she slipped on her blue and silver heels and some sparkly rhinestone earrings, she was ready. Turning around, she smiled at her mama, who shook her head.
“Wow…Lakyn was right, you really do look like a Barbie doll! You are gorgeous, sweetheart!”
Charlie smiled as she walked with her mama down the stairs. “Yeah, I bet Barbie’s Ken wasn’t shipped off somewhere though,” she grumbled.
“Maybe her Ken got a weekend furlough.”
Charlie gasped when she saw Nate dressed in his military dress uniform standing at the foot of the stairs holding a corsage box, smiling up at her.
“Nate! You’re here!” She started to rush to him when he stopped her.
“Careful, Charlie, don’t kill yourself in those heels! Let me come to you!” Nate laughed as he walked up the remaining steps.
“Hi,” Charlie said, looking up at him, still in shock that he was actually standing in front of her.
“Hi, yourself, you look…beautiful…stunning…just wow!”
Charlie laughed. “Wow seems to be the word of choice tonight…it’s a good word; I’ll take it.”
Nate held out his arm and escorted her the rest of the way down the stairs where Sabrina helped her slip the blue and silver corsage onto her wrist and then took several pictures. Devon smiled as he hugged her, while he pointed a finger at Nate who just nodded and said, “Understood.”
Charlie and Nate arrived at the school and walked in with Lakyn and her date. It was just as hokie as Charlie thought it would be, but somehow when Nate took her into his arms and they swayed as the soft music played she closed her eyes and was transported to that magical place where for just a moment time stands still and the land of castles and princesses and knights in shining armor really does exist…
A few weeks later…
Charlie stood in front of her mirror and held her graduation cap in place while her mom stood behind her with a mouthful of bobby pins trying to anchor it down.
“Seriously, we can put a man on the moon and grow artificial body parts, but they can’t come up with a graduation cap that will stay on? Something is wrong with that picture…very wrong.”
Sabrina laughed at Charlie’s grumbling as she slipped in yet another bobby pin.
“I think maybe it’s just all part of tradition, sweetie. They figured they had to deal with it so every generation after them should, too. Ok, that will have to work because I’m out of bobby pins.”
Charlie turned around and looked at her mom, who suddenly looked a little sad as she reached out to touch the strawberry blonde curls that spilled over Charlie’s shoulders.
“Well, how do I look?” Charlie asked as she spun around in her royal blue and gold graduation cap and gown. Putting her hand over her heart, Sabrina gave her a sad smile.
“Honestly? You look like heartache, because that’s what my heart is feeling right now. But you look beautiful, and I’m so proud of you, honey.”
Charlie waved her hand in front of her face trying to stop her tears before they started. “Stop it, mom! We promised no bawling until after the pictures were taken!”
Sabrina laughed and waved her hand in front of her face, too. “Ok! Yes, no crying! You’re right! You are beautiful. Now let’s go downstairs and get pictures…hurry!”
They went downstairs. As Charlie hit the bottom step, she saw Devon watching her with tears in his eyes, which proved to be her complete undoing!
“Oh, forget it! I’ll just redo my make up,” she cried as he reached for her, wrapping her in his strong arms that had held her for as long as she could remember.
“Oh, Charlie girl, how can this be possible? You should still be in pigtails and asking me for cookies. I’m not ready for this.”
“I know…me either, dad.”
Luke and DJ stood back and actually looked a little sad themselves as they watched. Charlie smiled at her brothers who had grown so much, especially over the last year. Now twelve, they definitely took after their dad in the height department, for they were already inches taller than both her and their mom. Most people still had trouble telling them apart, but for her it was easy even when they tried to fool her. DJ, who was the older by seven minutes, was a prankster and always had a glint of mischievousness in his eyes that he couldn’t hide no matter how hard he tried, while Luke was more serious. They were handsome boys; Charlie knew that in a few years they would be turning heads everywhere. The one secret that Charlie often used to tell them apart was the fact that Devon passed on his trademark dimples. He gave one to each son. DJ’s was on the right and Luke’s was on the left; you just had to get them to smile. They didn’t inherit Devon’s light blonde hair; theirs was a dark blonde that she suspected might turn even darker like their mom’s when they grew older. They were good kids and she loved them madly, even if they did drive her bonkers. Releasing her dad, she walked over to Luke and pulled him down for a hug that he returned with surprising strength.
“Love you, Lukey,” she whispered.
“Love you, too, sis,” he whispered back.
Walking over to DJ, she didn’t have to pull him down. He reached for her, wrapping her in a tight bear hug, sniffling as he held her.
“Love you Char-Char,” he said, calling her by the name he had dubbed her with before he could say it right.
“Dang it, twin terror, I’m trying to stop crying! But I love you, too!” Pulling back, she looked up into his face that was just starting to lose its boyish look and she could see a glimpse of the man he would become. Finally she turned to Cleo, who was dabbing her eyes with a dishcloth. She opened her arms for Charlie then rocked her as she held her close.
“Oh, my petit child! May God bless you and keep you close in the palm of His hand. May his angels encamp all around you and walk with you always until they escort you back into the Father’s arms. May your future be bright with love and laughter, and may your heart only hear the sound of its love being returned.”
“That was beautiful, Cleo! Thank you!”
“Oh, you are welcome, sweet girl. You remember your Cleo loves you; now, you hear?”
Charlie smiled as she hugged her once more. “I’ll remember. I love you, too!”
&
nbsp; Charlie ran back upstairs to hastily repair her makeup now she thought all the crying was over with for a few minutes. Then they took dozens of pictures before heading off to meet the rest of the family and Nate at the graduation ceremony.
Gideon stood with Sherrilyn, Edgar and the rest of the angels as they watched Charlie walk across the stage to receive her high school diploma. They all applauded and erupted in cheers and loud whistles, even though they knew they couldn’t be heard. But none cheered louder or clapped harder than her guardian, who watched with blurry eyes as Charlie changed her tassel from the right side of her cap to the left side. With a loud cheer they all threw their caps high into the air.
Gideon watched as her family surrounded her: Devon, Sabrina, and the twins; Catherine and Evan; Carl, Keelie and Kinsley; Brother Eddie and other people from their church, and friends. She hugged them all, but her eyes searched the crowd for one person in particular. Finally she spotted him standing back giving her family time with her first. Nate stood against the fence still in his uniform. He got there minutes before Charlie’s name was called. He smiled and lifted his hand as she walked toward him, her steps getting faster until she was running across the football field toward him, dodging around people, calling his name. Gideon was happy that Nate could make it in for this; being in the military, you never knew. Finally Charlie reached her destination. As Nate swept her up in his arms and their lips met, the world around them disappeared…
