by Noelle Adams
Sophie smiled as she listened to the conversation, feeling a deep wave of feeling overwhelm her as she heard her husband talk so blandly about what had taken them both so long to figure out. An answer to prayer, as surely as having her husband return to her, alive and safe and mostly whole.
It was a strange sort of benediction—falling upon her as she stood naked in the bathroom, blotting some of the wetness out of her hair.
When she came out of the bathroom to get her clothes, Mark had ended the call. She felt overly emotional as she pulled on her bra and underwear.
“What’s the matter?” Mark asked. He was still lying on the bed, but his eyes were scrutinizing her closely.
“Nothing.”
“You’re crying,” he said, sitting up quickly and striding over to where she stood near the dresser. “What’s the matter?”
She stopped trying to hide the tears and just admitted the truth. “I’m so happy!”
Mark made a throaty sound of surprise, relief, affection—it sounded like all of them all at once. And then he pulled her into a tight hug.
He didn’t say anything, but he didn’t have to. They understood each other perfectly.
Epilogue
That evening, Sophie and Mark arrived at Jessica and Daniel’s house at about nine o’clock. They were a little later than most of the other guests, but Sophie had been debating between three different outfits, and it took her a long time to decide.
She’d settled on a silver-gray sweater with a pair of velvet jeans and her favorite boots. As they walked in, she was relieved to see that she looked just right for the party, neither over- nor under-dressed.
When she saw who was sitting in the corner near the Christmas tree, Sophie hurried over to greet Abigail and their new son, Noel, who had been born at two in the morning on Christmas day, healthy and almost ten pounds. Tonight was the first night Abigail had been out since the birth. She’d said she wasn’t sure they could stay the whole time, but they would try.
As Sophie gushed over the infant boy, Abigail must have been searching her expression—because the other woman whispered, “You’re so happy.”
Sophie looked up at her friend, who was smiling like she’d been given a gift. “I am.”
“You got things back to the way they were with Mark?”
Sophie shook her head. “No. You were right about that. They’re not like they were. They’re different. But they’re good. I really think they might be even better, if we keep working on things.”
Abigail gave her a hug, which Sophie had to maneuver carefully so as not to squash little Noel.
Sophie glanced around to find Mark. He’d gone over to talk to Micah, and the two men were laughing about something like they’d been friends all their lives. She watched him for a minute with a swell of deep satisfaction. Mark wasn’t healed. Maybe not even close. But he’d entered life again in a way she couldn’t fail to mistake.
“Look at Thomas,” Abigail murmured, bringing Sophie’s attention over to the hearth, where her husband was kneeling, speaking with impressive gravity to Mia, Ellie, and Cara, the three girls dressed up in sparkly dresses for the evening, having been blessed with the special privilege of coming and staying up late.
“What are they talking about?”
“Earlier, he was asking them about their future plans. Mia wants to be a doctor. Ellie wants to be a teacher. And Cara wants to ride elephants.”
Sophie smothered a giggle. Cara wasn’t even three yet, much younger than the other two girls.
She kept looking around the room and saw Daniel and Gabe having some sort of an in-depth conversation. Jessica must have seen Sophie looking at them because she came over to sit down beside her.
“They’re talking about theology,” Jessica said wryly, shaking her head at her husband. “At a party.”
“As long as they’re having fun, I guess.” Sophie glanced back to Mark when she heard him laugh again.
“Alice isn’t feeling all that well,” Jessica said, nodding over to the other woman, who looked pale and tired, although she was smiling as she sat in an easy chair on the other side of the room. ‘The morning sickness has hit her pretty hard.”
“Well, she should go home then,” Sophie said.
“She doesn’t want to. She doesn’t want to be a party-pooper, she says. She was sitting with Nathan, but then he had a stinky diaper, so I made Lydia change it.” Jessica looked like she was hiding a smile. “Poor Lydia. Changing a baby’s diaper is not really in her wheelhouse, but she wanted to help. Oh, look. I guess she made it.”
Lydia was walking back into the room, carrying Nathan and looking gorgeous in a dark green cashmere sweater. She looked quite pleased with herself as she handed the little boy off to Alice and then went to sit down next to her husband, who immediately wrapped an arm around her and whispered something in her ear.
Jessica reached over and put a hand on Sophie’s arm. “I didn’t get a chance to tell you yet, but I’m so happy that you and Mark are staying in Willow Park.”
“I’m happy too,” Sophie admitted. “I’m so glad it worked out.”
“Willow Park wouldn’t be the same without you,” Abigail added.
Sophie was touched, since she could tell both women meant it. “Well, I know Mark and I wouldn’t be the same without all of you. I really think we were brought here on purpose.”
“Of course you were. How else would you have found us?”
It was true. Sophie knew it was true—that God had been with her all this time, using this church, these friends, in a way she desperately needed. She felt a surprising sense of homecoming as she looked around the room, at all of these people she loved, all of these people who loved her.
She’d come home, as surely as Mark had this year.
Turning her head to find Mark again, she saw that he was looking at her too. They smiled at each other in perfect understanding.
Then Abigail asked, “What’s that smell?”
“Oh, I’m making cookies,” Jessica said absently, reaching down to catch Nathan, who was toddling clumsily over to his mother.
Abigail sniffed the air again. “Well, maybe it’s time to take them out.”
Jessica frowned as she passed her son over to Daniel. Then she stood up, her eyes wide, and exclaimed, “My cookies are burning!”
Daniel burst into laughter as his wife ran to rescue her cookies.
Sophie smiled at Mark again, and she murmured, mostly to herself, “We just might stay in Willow Park forever.”
***
Thank you for reading! This is the final Willow Park book, although I have a few ideas for John, so there may be some sort of spin-off. If you haven’t yet read them, the other Willow Park books are listed below, and be sure to check out the excerpt from one of my other books, Listed, in the pages that follow.
Book One – Married for Christmas (Jessica and Daniel)
Book Two – A Baby for Easter (Alice and Micah)
Book Three – A Family for Christmas (Lydia and Gabe)
Book Four – Reconciled for Easter (Abigail and Thomas)
Excerpt from Listed
Emily slanted him a half-teasing smile, relieved at the return of his sense of humor. “Not to cast aspersions based on your reputation, but it’s pretty clear you’ve been…you’ve been around where women are concerned, so I thought it might not be such a big deal to you. I mean, I figured you’re worldly enough to not think one short marriage has to be a life-altering event. It would just be for three months. Maybe less.”
“But why?” It seemed like he genuinely wanted to know.
She felt a little shaky, but she smiled at him, determined not to let him see that she wasn’t as confident and matter-of-fact as she pretended. “Just to do it. So I can cross it off my list.”
He cleared his throat. “So it’s not…it’s not me. You’re not—”
“Nursing some sort of secret passion for you?” Emily finished for him, embarrassed that he’d even h
ad that thought and determined to eliminate the possibility from his mind completely. “Of course not. You just happen to be available.”
He lifted his eyebrows. “How flattering.”
“I like you. I mean, of course, I like you, Paul. You’re a decent guy, and you’re obviously a great catch in terms of what most women are looking for in a husband. But none of that matters to me at this point. It’s not about the money at all. I’ll sign a pre-nup or whatever you want. I don’t have anyone to leave money to anyway, and I definitely wouldn’t expect anything from you financially.”
“I know that. I never thought that’s what this is about.” He released a long breath. “You’re only seventeen, Emily.”
“What’s your point?”
“There are laws about marriageable age. In most states, it’s eighteen.”
“Yeah, I thought about that. I even looked it up on the Internet. You can get married younger with parental consent, so I figured you could get your lawyer on it, since I don’t have any parents to give consent. I’ll be eighteen next month, and I’m officially emancipated anyway, so maybe that would help sway a judge.”
Paul tightened his lips as he thought. “We could probably get a license with judicial consent, given your situation.”
Emily straightened up. “So you’ll do it?”
“I don’t know. It’s…it feels wrong.”
“It’s not wrong. You wouldn’t be taking advantage of me. In fact, it would be more that I’m taking advantage of you. I really do want to cross this off my list. I know it’s a lot to ask, but it would just be for a couple of months. Unless, maybe, you’re already seeing someone…”
She hadn’t heard about his having a girlfriend, but it certainly wasn’t impossible.
“I’m not seeing anyone right now, but—”
“I know you don’t want to live like a monk for three months or anything.” She stared emphatically at her hands, unable to meet Paul’s eyes. “I’d understand if you need to…to see someone else, as long as….” She trailed off, unable to complete the sentence.
“Emily,” he began, “I wouldn—”
“It doesn’t matter,” she interrupted, wanting to get through with the whole cringe-worthy topic. “You don’t have to explain anything to me. It’s just about being married for me. I wouldn’t expect you to act like a husband.”
“Emily,” Paul said again, reaching out and putting one hand on her shoulder. “You’ve been through a lot in the last couple months, and I’m not sure you’re thinking clearly.”
“Don’t treat me like a child or an idiot. I am thinking clearly. I only have a few months to live, and I want to get through my list.” She picked the list up from the desk, where Paul had placed it. She stared down at the page, hating herself when her eyes blurred over with tears.
She blinked them back and was relieved when her voice didn’t waver. “If you do this for me, and then maybe help me do a few other things on my list—they’re all straightforward like going skydiving and seeing the Pyramids—then I’ll still testify against your father at trial and you can have the satisfaction of helping a dying girl get her last wish.”
Paul sat back in his chair, covering his mouth with his hand and then slowly rubbing his chin. He must have shaved that morning, but his bristles still made a faint scratching sound. He was looking vaguely in her direction, but she knew he wasn’t seeing her.
“Paul, please,” she said, her voice wobbling for the first time. “My aunt was the only family I had left, and now I’ve lost her too. I don’t really have…anything. This list is all I have left.”
It was true. There was a shadow lurking in her mind, threatening to swallow her up at any moment. She wasn’t going to give into it, though, not while there was some way to control the last days of her life.
“Okay.”
“Really?” she asked, brushing a couple of stray tears away. “You’ll do it?”
He nodded and smiled back at her, reaching over to catch her last tear with his thumb and flick it away from her cheek. “I still think it’s not the sanest of plans, and I’ll most likely regret it. But I’ll do it.”
Acting on impulse, she threw herself forward and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Thank you,” she said into his shoulder.
Paul seemed a little stiff, like he wasn’t used to getting hugs, but he squeezed her lightly with one arm before he pulled away. “You’re welcome.”
“Is there anything I can do for you?”
“If you’re still able and willing to testify, that’s all I need.”
“So we can get married right away? As soon as possible?”
Paul stood up from his desk. “I’ll start working on it. It’s going to take a little time for my lawyer to get judicial consent for the license, but I’ll see if we can rush it.”
For the last several months, it had felt like Emily’s life—her entire existence—was falling apart, bit by bit.
There wasn’t anything left to fall apart.
In some ways, it was freeing.
Emily’s world wasn’t big, frightening, and confusing anymore. It had narrowed down to a series of tasks she could count on her fingers and toes.
Fourteen items on a sheet of paper. Three months.
One list.
***
You can find out more about Listed here.
About Noelle Adams
Noelle handwrote her first romance novel in a spiral-bound notebook when she was twelve, and she hasn’t stopped writing since. She has lived in eight different states and currently resides in Virginia, where she writes full time, reads any book she can get her hands on, and offers tribute to a very spoiled cocker spaniel.
She loves travel, art, history, and ice cream. After spending far too many years of her life in graduate school, she has decided to reorient her priorities and focus on writing contemporary romances. For more information, please check out her website: noelle-adams.com.
Books by Noelle Adams
Beaufort Brides Series
Hired Bride
Substitute Bride
Accidental Bride
One Night Novellas
One Hot Night: Three Contemporary Romance Novellas
One Night with her Boss
One Night with her Roommate
One Night with the Best Man
Willow Park Series
Married for Christmas
A Baby for Easter
A Family for Christmas
Reconciled for Easter
Home for Christmas
Heirs of Damon Series
Seducing the Enemy
Playing the Playboy
Engaging the Boss
Stripping the Billionaire
Standalones
A Negotiated Marriage
Listed
Bittersweet
Missing
Revival
Holiday Heat
Salvation
Excavated
Overexposed
Road Tripping
Chasing Jane
The Protectors Series (co-written with Samantha Chase)
Duty Bound
Honor Bound
Forever Bound
Home Bound
