Pearl Valley

by Felicia Rogers

  Rory laughed and shook his head. “I guess I’ll go. But you must promise to come visit as soon as you’re feeling better.”

  “Yeah, sure. Visit. Now go.”

  Rory left them alone, and Janie worried. What could Trevor have asked for? He still held her hand in a fierce grasp refusing to let her pull away.

  “Sit next to me.”

  She complied and sat on the side of the hospital bed. “How are you feeling?” she asked, keeping her free hand in her lap instead of smoothing the blond curls from his forehead, like she desired to.

  “I’m good. And you?”

  “I’m fine,” she said shyly, lowering her gaze before she added, “because of you.”

  “I didn’t do anything but get in the way,” he said gruffly.

  She looked at him and placed her hand on his jaw. “You were the only one who saw Giles as a threat.”

  “Rory told me about the report in the paper. So they really got him?”

  “Yes, they really got him.”

  Trevor leaned his head back and sighed. She studied his form. He was paler than usual and looked considerably larger in a hospital gown than he did in his jeans. Looking along the length of him, she saw where the sheet dipped below his left knee.

  He pulled her face toward him. “I have something to ask you.”

  “Okay.”

  He released her hand and studied his own. “I’ve been thinking a lot about this. I know we haven’t known each other long, but it seems like I’ve known you for a lifetime.” He lifted his gaze. “Since it seems that way already, I was wondering if we could make it true.”

  “What do you mean?”

  He pulled a black box from underneath the sheet. “Will you marry me?”

  Elated, Janie covered her mouth, nodded, and fell into his open arms.

  ****

  Trevor’s stay in the hospital was brief. The blow to the head that he’d suffered when he’d been thrown from the house hadn’t caused any permanent damage, and he was allowed to go home.

  As he waited for Janie to pull the vehicle around, he realized they had a problem. Where exactly was home?

  The historic home that had been in Janie’s family for years had burned to nothing but a shell. The motel was also gone. During their hospital visits, he hadn’t taken the time to ask where Janie was staying.

  The truck shuddered to a halt, and he climbed in. Janie pulled onto the road and headed toward Pearl Valley. As they drove the twenty minutes back to town, he realized something. Janie had left her sanctuary of Pearl Valley.

  They pulled up in front of the church, and Janie stopped and faced him. “I hope you don’t mind, but I took the initiative and planned the wedding.”

  “For today?” he asked, shocked.

  “Yes. Rory and his family are here as well as the entire town. Your tux and my gown are inside. What do you think?”

  Did he have time to think? He nodded and followed her into the back of the church. Rory was in the room and helped him with his tuxedo. Trevor entered the sanctuary of the church and stood beside the preacher. When Janie walked down the aisle swathed in her white chiffon gown, he gasped with delight.

  They stood before the preacher and Trevor felt sweat drench his palms.

  “Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to join this man and this woman in holy matrimony.”

  Someone in the crowd shouted “Amen!” and Janie smiled behind her veil.

  The preacher cleared his throat. “If anyone believes this marriage should not go forth, speak now or forever hold your peace.” He paused, looked around Janie and Trevor, and cocked a brow. “That’s what I thought.” He straightened and continued.

  Janie repeated after the preacher, ending with “I do”.

  Then it was his turn to repeat the words, but before he said them, he held up his hand.

  “I’d like to speak.” He drew in a deep breath, before saying, “I haven’t had a lot of time to prepare…” Someone in the crowd snickered, and he shot them a silencing glance. “But I just have to say that I’ve never meet another woman like Jane Dossett. In these past two weeks, I’ve come to know her and love her. I just hope I can make her as happy as she has made me.”

  The service was over, and they were at the reception before he even knew what had happened. Happily they danced — him stumbling about and her encouraging him that it didn’t matter.

  “How long have you had this planned?” he whispered in her ear.

  “Oh, just since you asked me in the hospital.”

  “Two days? You did all this in two days?”

  “Well, that is how long I had it planned. The other people in town have had it planned since you announced our engagement at the diner.”

  “I see. So why are we doing this so quickly? Are you afraid I’ll change my mind?”

  “Nope. It is just that I’m having trouble finding a place to live, and I knew you would need a place as well, and this way we only need one instead of two.”

  “Makes sense. So we’re getting married now, not because of love, but because of a lack of real estate.”

  She laughed and lightly punched his arm. She leaned up on her tiptoes and planted a kiss across his lips. “Of course we’re marrying for love. Don’t you know that you are my knight in shining armor? The wind beneath my wings, the mayo in my coleslaw”

  He laughed. “I think you’re going a little too far.”

  She shrugged and smiled.

  “I hope you understand that I haven’t had time to plan a honeymoon. But there can’t be that many places to choose from in Pearl Valley.”

  “Hmm, this is true. But what would you say if I told you that I had a different location in mind.”

  “Really?”

  She whispered, “I’ve always wanted to see Hawaii.”

  His heart soared as he twirled her around the room, making plans for not only a wonderful honeymoon, but more importantly, a lifetime together.

  Epilogue

  Waves lapped against the shore, the soothing sounds filtering into the bungalow. Janie had opened the doors earlier that morning to accept the breeze.

  They lay in bed swathed only in white cotton sheets, their legs tangled from the aftermath of lovemaking. Janie plopped Trevor’s cowboy hat on her head.

  “You know, you never did tell me the story about this hat.”

  “I did so.”

  “No, you didn’t. You said that a nurse gave it to you in the hospital ward while you were recovering. And something about a promise to wear it. If you’re a secret Texan, I think I should know it.”

  “Too late now, we’re married.” He tickled her ribs, and she laughed uproariously.

  When she calmed down, she ran a finger over his bare chest. “Seriously, I want to know. This hat seems to be a big part of you.”

  “All right, nosy woman. I see I won’t get any peace until I tell you.”

  “That’s right, you won’t.”

  He grinned broadly and settled against the pillows. “I had been in the hospital for a couple of weeks. In the beginning it was touch and go. I would wake up and shout for help constantly. This one nurse was from Texas, and she wore a cowboy hat. When I saw the hat I knew she was close by, and it soothed me. Of course she couldn’t always be close by, so she took to leaving the hat by my bedside. My eyes were so blurry I couldn’t tell that I was alone.

  “I guess you could say that the cowboy hat reminded me that someone watched over me.” He twirled a piece of her hair around his finger. “When I left the hospital the nurse gave me the hat. She said, ‘May it bring you that extra sense of peace’.“

  “That’s a beautiful story,” said Janie.

  “You know, until I went on the journey of looking for Jane Dossett, I didn’t realize how lost and alone I really was. But now that I’ve found you, I finally have what I was always looking for.”

  She swallowed. Her throat burned as she whispered, “Me, too.”

  Together they said, “Peac
e.”

  About the Author

  Felicia Rogers born and raised in the southern part of the United States is a Christian wife and mother. She is just your average, ordinary woman, with a side interest-- writing.

  For eleven years, every waking moment of her life was consumed with changing diapers, wiping noses, and kissing scrapes. But now that her children have grown and she enjoys a modicum of freedom, in addition to taking care of hearth and home, she writes! She enjoys adding a flavor of realism and humor to her all too real romance stories. For what is love without a little laughter!

  Also From Astraea Press

  Prologue

  Eight years ago…

  The sun beat hot upon her head as she jogged the lonely stretch. Hannah Alicia Baker, seventeen, approaching her senior year of high school, was all alone.

  Everyone she knew had either left on vacation or taken a summer job. This left her at home, struggling to find activities to fill her time. In other words, she was bored.

  The afternoon run accentuated her loneliness. The neighborhood mimicked a black and white horror movie. Middle-aged people washed their cars and watered their lawns. The lack of children caused an eerie silence.

  She climbed on the porch, grabbed a bottle of water, and guzzled it down.

  The door opened and her mother peeked out. “Done already?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Want to come inside and see what I bought at the store?”

  Hannah shrugged. A frown twitched at her mother’s lips.

  “Look Hannah I know you’re not happy with your father’s decision—”

  “The man controlling my life is not my father. My father is dead.”

  Tears welled in her mother’s eyes and Hannah turned away. Guilt gnawed at her gut but she forced it back.

  “I think I missed a street,” she said, moving off the porch.

  She ran until her lungs burned and her muscles threatened to collapse. She stopped and bent over to catch her breath. A moving van hummed. She looked up, and that was when she saw him.

  Her breath caught. The boy was easily over six feet tall. His shoulder muscles bulged as he carried boxes inside. A breeze lifted jet black hair off his neck. When he turned, his dark blue eyes caught the sunlight and they twinkled.

  Hannah moved slowly behind a tree. Placing her back against the rough bark, she clutched her chest and raised her opposite hand in a fist pump. Man, he’s hot!

  She peered around the tree. He sat on the porch and sipped a glass of iced tea. So he wasn’t an employee of the moving company. He was here to stay. With any luck, all the summer jobs were taken, and he would be forced to stay within the community walls and socialize with her.

  Scenarios where they went to the movies and she snuggled close to his side flitted across her mind. Or perhaps they took a walk in the park and held hands after a long picnic. Leaning her head back against the tree, she sighed. She needed a plan.

  First rule of getting a man — approach his stomach.

  Leaving her hiding place, she raced home.

  “Whoa! Where’s the fire?” asked her mother as Hannah flung the screen door open and sent it crashing against the facing.

  “No fire. I need a pie recipe, stat.”

  “Okay.”

  They worked on the pie all day. At supper, Hannah proudly carried it to the neighbor’s house. Her heart raced and her palms sweated as she waited for the door to open.

  “Hello,” said a woman about the same age as her own mother.

  Hannah’s face fell. “Umm, I brought a pie.”

  “Ah, thank you.”

  Hannah didn’t move or speak. This was all wrong. Where was the boy?

  “Was this to welcome me to the neighborhood?” she asked.

  “Uh, yes.”

  “Thank you.”

  The woman grabbed the pie and closed the door in Hannah’s face.

  ****

  The food delivery was an epic failure. No matter how hard she tried over the next couple of weeks she couldn’t get the boy’s attention. So, she did what she did best, she gave up.

  Running brought solace to her mind. Music poured over the speakers in her ears and Hannah worked to relax. Following the normal path through the neighborhood, she prepared to pass his house. She hadn’t seen him since moving day, other than in her dreams, and she had started to believe perhaps he wasn’t real.

  As Hannah rounded the corner, she narrowed her gaze. There he was! She could see the top of his head. The sun glinted off his black hair. But he seemed kind of short.

  Turning her head to investigate, she slowed. Her leg collapsed.

  “Ow!” she exclaimed. “What in the world! Why is there a hole here?”

  A shadow towered over her and a hand extended downward. She grasped it without question, allowing herself to be pulled free. She stood in front of him with his bare chest almost touching her nose. She couldn’t breathe. She was going to pass out. This was the end.

  Taking a step back, he said, “Hullo. I’m Rory Chance.”

  Okay, this really is the end. Drop dead gorgeous and an accent to boot! Get a hold of yourself, girl. He’s staring at you.

  Hannah reached forward and placed her weight on both feet. Pain radiated up her leg, and she collapsed against his chest. The feel of his sweaty skin beneath her palm caused her heart to skip a beat. All rational thought left her.

  Before she could move, Rory swept her into his arms and carried her to the porch and settled her on a chaise. “Don’t move,” he commanded.

  She nodded. Wild horses wouldn’t drag her away. If aliens descended and tried to kidnap her, she would strangle them with her bare hands. She wasn’t going anywhere.

  She closed her eyes. When she opened them, he stared at her. She grinned and said, “I didn’t move.”

  A flush covered his cheeks. Butterflies danced in her stomach.

  “Indeed you didn’t.”

  He stood there holding an ice pack. She stretched her hand forward and said, “Allow me to introduce myself. I’m Hannah Baker.” The twist caused pain to race along her leg, and she scrunched her face.

  “It’s very nice to meet you, Hannah. Now, if you please, stretch out your leg and let’s have a look at your ankle.”

  Tenderly he removed her shoe and sock and murmured under his breath.

  “Well, Dr. Chance, is it broken?”

  He raised his gaze and stared at her. “I don’t believe so. But I think you should stay off of it for awhile and wear this ice pack. Make sure to rotate it off and on at fifteen minute intervals.”

  “Okay. But I might need to borrow your phone.”

  “Of course.” He left and hurried inside

  She took the phone and dialed. “Mom?” she said.

  “Your mother isn’t here right now.”

  Hannah fought to be respectful to her stepfather because Rory listened. “Okay. Just tell her I went for my jog and I’m taking my time.”

  “You need to come home. Your mother is worried about you. It is not right—”

  He continued to talk, but she ignored him. When he finished, she said, “Thanks.”

  She hit End and laid the phone on a table. Rory didn’t move and she said, “You’re new here, aren’t you?”

  “Yes.”

  “Are you from England? Because I’m detecting a distinct British accent.”

  “I am.”

  “Okay. Now I have another question.”

  “Of course.”

  Hannah drew her brows together. She had an open opportunity to ask him anything. What should she say?

  “Why in the world are you digging gigantic holes in your yard? I could have broken my leg! Okay, admittedly I should have been paying more attention to where I was going. I’m bad for daydreaming and making up stories in my head, but this time wasn’t my fault. Although my mom will never believe me. Oh man! I hope my ankle looks better before I get home. She’ll have me at the emergency room. She’ll make them give me a cas
t just to make sure I don’t move and hurt myself worse. And…”

  His eyes widened and heat rushed to her cheeks. “Sorry, forgive me. I don’t normally go all ballistic like that. Especially with people I don’t know. It’s just, well, you’re making me feel a little, hmm, awkward.”

  Rory’s t-shirt lay across his shoulders. Sweat covered his chest, and it shone like that of a bodybuilder. He lifted his finger for her to wait and he walked inside. When he returned, he wore a fresh shirt and held out a glass of tea.

  He pulled up a chair and sat next to her. “Better?”

  “Yeah,” she took a sip. “Why are there huge holes in your yard?”

  “My mum is planting roses.”

  “Oh.” She squirmed.

  “Are you all right?” he asked.

  “Yeah, it’s just…” Pausing, she sighed. “I feel bad for you.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “Rory, those holes are too close to the sidewalk.”

  “What? I don’t understand. Just because you fell—”

  “No, I’m not saying it because of that. That was my own fault. You see, this is a gated community and it has certain rules. One of said rules is no bushes or flowers can be planted within two feet of the sidewalk.”

  “Oh,” he said with a frown.

  The boy had wasted the entire day. She placed her hand on his arm. “Rory, don’t worry. I’ll help you. We just need to fill in these holes and dig new ones.”

  “Why would you do that?”

  She shrugged her shoulders and grinned. “I like your accent.”

  He helped her home that day, which wasn’t hard since she only lived a few houses away. As promised, she returned to help with the roses. The next month was sheer bliss.

  Rory Chance was everything she’d ever dreamed. She laid back on her bed and studied her ceiling, fantasizing about Rory riding up on a white horse and whisking her—

  “Hannah! Can you come down here?”

  Hannah scooted off the bed and bounded downstairs. “Here I am.”