The Edge of Destiny

by Emma Easter

  She sighed sadly as her eyes remained on him. There were two things that kept her from being the happiest woman in the world. The first was, of course, the fact that she didn’t know where her parents were, but the second had to do with Taylor. He was perfect to her, but there was still a part of him she wanted, and which he held back from her. Without question, he loved her, but she wanted more. She wanted to marry him.

  But it wasn’t possible now. It felt as though he was still mourning his wife. Not that she blamed him. It was barely a year since Faye had died. He wasn’t ready yet to fully commit to her. She sighed again. She would take whatever he gave her now, even though it hurt that he couldn’t give her the one thing she wanted most.

  She shut her eyes in frustration. When would he stop mourning his wife, anyway? She immediately felt awful for thinking that way. Give the man some time, Lily.

  But how much time did he need? How long would she have to wait to become fully his, and he hers? She loved him enough to wait for him forever, but it would be great if they could get married now. She ached to be with him the way a husband and wife were meant to be.

  You’re being really selfish, Lily. Let the man be.

  She ran her fingers through her hair and pressed all her frustrations away. She focused on the conversation her friends were having. Taylor was telling Patricia about how his workers had found her husband, Dennis, in the river. He had already told Lily, Rachel, and Keith the story.

  “Dennis told me that when the flood came, it carried him and the squad team that were with him into the river. It kept pulling them farther and farther away from shore. He said he and his men struggled to stay above water, but gradually they grew tired, and the next thing he knew, he was drowning.” Taylor brushed his hair back from his face in that peculiar way of his that made Lily’s heart pound. “As your husband began to drown, he said he heard a voice tell him that he would be given another chance to do the right thing. The voice told him he would be saved and so would the other men.”

  Patricia’s mouth was open, and she looked shocked as she listened to Taylor.

  “Dennis said that somehow he began to rise and rise until his head popped out of the water, and he saw a vessel coming his way. My vessel. I had left Fallow Creek at that time, but I still had some business there and that particular vessel, I think, was transporting some of my equipment out of Fallow Creek. Some of the men on the vessel saw Dennis and the squad team fighting for their lives and rescued them. Many of them had swallowed a lot of water, but they all lived thanks to the quick intervention of my men on the vessel.”

  He went on. “I was called as soon as they were rescued. Dennis told me he had nowhere to go, and even though I thought that strange, I told my men that when they were feeling better, Dennis and his men could be taken to the emergency house I had built near the border. There was enough food to last them for a long time, and they stayed there.”

  Taylor shut his eyes briefly and then opened them. “Because of my wife’s death, I didn’t want to know about anything that was happening in Fallow Creek at the time, and Dennis offered no explanations as to why he wasn’t going back to his own house. I knew he was in some kind of trouble, but that was all I knew. I’ve been helping him out from time to time, sending food and other basic necessities for him and his men.”

  “But why did you not tell me, or anyone?” Patricia asked.

  “I wanted nothing to do with anyone here. I wasn’t even picking up my sister’s calls.”

  “So Dennis lied to you and didn’t tell you he’d stolen what belonged to Rachel?” Patricia asked.

  “Yes. I didn’t find out the whole truth until Rachel told me about it. I would’ve stopped helping him, but I knew in my heart that it was what God wanted me to do.”

  Patricia nodded again.

  Taylor leaned forward and gazed at Patricia. He said tenderly, “Dennis is still at that house now, in case you want to see him.”

  Patricia shook her head. “No! I don’t want to see him. He pretended to be dead all these months. As far as I’m concerned, he’s dead to me.”

  Lily understood the woman’s anger. She shuddered as she remembered once again the day she’d found out Dennis was planning to marry her. If she had agreed, she would have been, according to Sofia, a sister wife to this woman. She would have been a widow for months, only to have her dead husband come back to life. She could not fathom how her life would have been now. She was overwhelmed with gratitude to God for leading her in a different direction. The worst part was that she would never have had the chance to be with Taylor. The thought was horrifying to her.

  Taylor smiled at Patricia. “I understand how you feel. You don’t have to see him now anyway.”

  Patricia got up and thanked Taylor for telling her everything she wanted to know about Dennis. “And thank you for all you did for him,” she said in a voice heavy with emotion. “I am truly grateful.”

  “It was no problem,” Taylor said, beaming at the woman.

  Patricia left the common room.

  Their conversation moved to the occupants of the House. A few kids now also lived in the House of Refuge with their mothers. Amongst them were Olivia’s boys and Olivia. She had refused to go back to Mike’s after he’d died.

  “Olivia and her boys are doing okay under the circumstances,” Rachel said. “I’m glad she’s free from Mike, though it’s unfortunate that he had to die for that to happen. She suffered a great deal with him.”

  “She loved him, though,” Keith said.

  Rachel threaded her fingers through her husband’s. “I’m glad that I don’t have that kind of toxic love. The man I love actually loves me back.” She smiled widely at Keith, and he smiled back at her.

  “I’m so happy everyone is safe now,” Lily said. “I just wish I knew where my parents and my sister were.”

  Rachel took Lily’s hand, squeezed it, and smiled encouragingly at her. “I’m sure they’re okay, wherever they are. You’ll find them eventually. I’m sure of that.”

  “Thank you,” Lily said.

  Will and Jeremy ran into the common room screaming and laughing. Josh ran in chasing them. The three boys ran around the common room while the adults watched. Rachel smiled broadly, Keith looked amused, and Taylor looked exasperated as he gazed at Josh.

  Emily started bouncing on Rachel’s lap, clearly wanting to be free so she could run around with the boys. Rachel held her tightly and shook her head. “No, Emily, you’re not running around with those rascals. You’ll fall and hurt yourself.”

  Lily chuckled as Emily strained to get away from her mother. Clearly, what Rachel had said meant nothing to her. Bree suddenly woke up, probably because of all the noise the boys were making, and began to wail. Lily rubbed her back and spoke softly to her to try to calm her down.

  Olivia came into the common room and apologized profusely for her boys’ disturbance. She grabbed them by the hands and pulled them out of the common room. Josh moaned, turning and fixing his gaze on Bree. He ran up to Lily, grinning, and Bree immediately stopped crying. She stared at her brother and raised her hands, clearly wanting Josh to carry her.

  “Can Bree come and build LEGO with me?” Josh asked Lily with a sweet smile.

  “Sure, Josh,” Lily smiled at him. She let go of Bree, and the toddler slipped off her lap and toddled after her brother. Lily smiled and turned to Taylor. He was grinning at her, and she knew exactly what was on his mind. Josh was gradually losing the belligerent attitude he’d had toward her. He still didn’t want his father kissing her in his presence, but he’d come to terms with the fact that she was here to stay. She hoped they would become close one day.

  Taylor whispered, “Lily, can you take a walk with me?”

  Her heart began to pound, and she nodded. She stood up just as he did and took his hand when he held it out to her.

  “We just want to go for a walk. We’ll be back,” Taylor said to Rachel and Keith.

  Keith waved them away. “Go, gu
ys. We need our alone time, anyway.” He gave Rachel an impish smile, and Taylor shook his head.

  Lily left the house hand in hand with Taylor. Daniel and Davina were at the gate whispering to each other, obviously smitten with one another. Lily greeted them both briefly and followed Taylor out the gate.

  They walked through Fallow Creek holding hands, silently enjoying each other’s company. Lily looked from house to house as they walked. Already, the town was not as abandoned as it had been a month ago, though many houses were still empty.

  Taylor finally stopped, and Lily did too. He stood in front of her and took her other hand. “Lily, I’m sorry that I haven’t been able to find your parents or your sister yet.”

  “It’s not your fault, Taylor. It’s no one’s fault.”

  “We won’t stop looking for them, Lily. Until we find them, we will not give up.”

  “Yes,” she said. “Thank you, Taylor.”

  He beamed, and they continued to walk through town until they came to the front of his house. She looked up at his house in surprise. She hadn’t even realized they were going in that direction. He stopped her once more at the gate and fixed his gaze on her. “I know you have two main things you want to see come to pass, Lily,” he said. “One of them is to find your parents and sister, and the other is to travel the world.”

  No. Three, Taylor. The third is to marry you. She chuckled to cover the pain she felt and said, “You know me so well.”

  “I haven’t been able to help with the first... yet, but the second I might be able to help with.” He put his hand into his pocket and, for a split moment, she thought he was going to bring out an engagement ring. When he brought out two slips of paper and a brochure, she sighed with disappointment.

  Why would you think he was about to propose, Lily? she scolded herself.

  He held out the slips of paper and brochure to her, and she took them from him. “What is this?” she asked. Her heart leapt as she scanned the papers. “Two tickets for a world cruise?”

  “Yes.” He smiled. “And we can keep looking for your parents while we take the cruise.”

  She flew into his arms and hugged him tightly. He pulled away. “Lily, you haven’t looked at the brochure.”

  She smiled and opened the brochure. She began to flip through it and looked up at Taylor and shook her head. “This says that you booked a cruise for two, but with just one room.” Her mouth dropped open, and she said, “This says the room has a big cozy bed for two.” She shook her head as she looked at him. “Taylor, you know we can’t stay in a room with just one bed!”

  He shrugged. “Why not?”

  “Taylor... please, I’m serious. You have to rebook this. We haven’t kept away from temptation for this long only for you to book a world cruise and have us stay in the same room. You know what will happen. It would be...” He placed a finger on her lips, silencing her.

  “Shh... this brings me to my other surprise.”

  “What other surprise?” She gasped when he brought a tiny box out of his other pocket and held it out to her. When he knelt down before her and opened the box, her heart stopped beating. Inside the box was a huge diamond ring.

  A sob rose in her throat, and he said, “Lily Hunter, I love you with all of me.” He grinned and winked at her. She shook her head at the mischievous smile he gave her. “Will you be my wife so we can take that cruise together and finally be able to share a room as a couple?” He pointed at the brochure. “Say yes, Lily. If you need more convincing, look at that bed. It looks inviting, doesn’t it? I can’t imagine how it would…”

  “Stop!” She laughed out loud. She couldn’t stop giggling at the look on his face. Finally, she calmed down and said, “So, you want to marry me just so we can go on a world cruise and share a bed that looks inviting?” She covered her mouth so she wouldn’t burst out laughing again.

  He nodded, a serious look on his face.

  She laughed again. “Okay then, in that case, I will marry you. I need a travel buddy anyway.”

  “Great!” he exclaimed. “Now, all we need to do is to start packing, because we’re going to get married as soon as possible.”

  She giggled. “You have all this planned out.”

  “Yes, I do. We’ll be married before the end of the month so we can go on the cruise together. I just can’t wait to take that cruise.”

  She laughed again. Her heart flooded with joy as she gazed at him. She felt she would die of happiness at any moment now. She took his hand and pulled him to his feet, her heart racing. It felt like her heart was about to crash out of her chest. His gaze took her breath away, and tears filled her eyes.

  In a voice laden with emotion, he whispered, “I love you, Lily Hunter. I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you.”

  She threw her arms around him and kissed him. Her dream was finally going to come true. Soon, she could love him with all of her. She smiled as she breathed in the musky scent of his cologne.

  He pulled slightly away from her, his eyes glazed with such desire that her stomach flipped. He looked up at his house longingly and shook his head. “We’d better go back to the House of Refuge,” he said.

  She giggled as he firmly turned her around and led her away from the house.

  She was bursting with their good news as they headed to the House of Refuge. Once they got there, she would tell Rachel, Keith, and everyone else she saw that they were now engaged. God had brought triumph out of tragedy and hope out of despair.

  As they walked with their hands linked, she felt like she was walking on clouds. The moment seemed sacred, wonderful, and a little sad because her parents and sister were not here to witness her engagement. But even though she didn’t know where they were, she was not alone in the world. God had given her a new family — a ready-made one, made up of a man who loved her dearly and two precious children she could now call her own.

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  Thank you.

  Emma Easter

  A Look at Chasing Destiny

  The Destiny Series 4

  A STORY OF FORGIVING THOSE WHO HAVE DONE WRONG AND BRINGING LIGHT TO THE DARKNESS – THE DESTINY SERIES IS CHRISTIAN ROMANCE, SUSPENSE AND INTRIGUE AT ITS BEST.

  Sofia Ross thinks her boyfriend, George Davidson — a married man — is about to finally ask her to marry him and leave his wife. But instead, he tells her he must break up with her. She not only loses the man she has loved for the past five years, but also her job, her Tucson penthouse, and her car, all which he provided.

  Not knowing what else to do, Sofia tries to end her life with a handful of pills, luckily her friend Edith is there, and Sofia survives. But the depression resurfaces, and Sofia attempts again right as her friend Lily is calling. Sofia explains how she feels empty and has nothing to live for. Lily tells her Jesus will give her the love she is looking for.

  Eventually, a supernatural peace settles over Sofia, and she knows that whatever has happened, God will help her through it.

  COMING JULY 2020

  About Emma Easter

  Like the characters in her stories, Emma Easter juggles a range of identities.

  In the low-income community where she works, Easter is known as a family medicine physician who treats patients of all ages and backgrounds, including those who’ve been historically under-served by the healthcare system. But it’s less known that she’s also experienced life on the opposite end of the stethoscope as a cancer patient, now in remission.

  College friends see her as an accomplished musician, having studied and mastered five classical instruments—but behind closed doors, she’s just as comfortable rocking
an air guitar to Creed. And when she isn’t giving her heart, soul, and sanity to her three young children she’s indulging in her most secret identity of all: meeting new characters, crafting fresh plots, and exploring every corner of her imagination.

  Across all these different roles, one cohesive thread has tied everything together: her faith and love of Jesus Christ.

  The Sisters of Rosefield is Easter’s first series, soon to be followed by a second, The Destiny Series. Both center around themes close to Easter’s heart: The importance of family, the redemption of true love, and the power of faith through harrowing adversity.

  Emma Easter loves hearing from her readers. You can reach her at EmmaEaster.com.

  Find more great titles byEmma Easter and Christian Kindle News at https://christiankindlenews.com/our-authors/emma-easter/