AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I must confess that in anticipation of your agreement, and because the holiday season can be especially hectic, I have already gone ahead and reserved the rooms.Please excuse my boldness.However, in a week’s time, I will be heading into the rustic and remote mountains and communication will be difficult for a few months.
I eagerly anticipate returning to civilization and receiving your response.Until then, take care and enjoy your family.Especially that precious little grandbaby.
All my love,
Adam.
She finished re-reading the letter, pushed it to the side and tore off a piece of her Danish.
There was no doubt in her mind about how she would respond.Of course she was going to say yes.The letters they’d exchanged over the last few months had brought some of the brightest spots in her already very bright days.Some of the letters were short, scribbled on the back of an old envelope or recycled paper.Others were pages and pages long, full of details of Adam’s life for the last almost forty years.
In return, Maureen had opened up about her marriage to Harold.Her summers in Cedar Springs with the boys when they were young.And of course, the divorce, and the quiet years following.She told Adam about all her children, including the girls whom, against all odds, she’d come to love like her own.She detailed their relationships and the newdaughtersandsonsin her life.She told him how her boys had convinced her to return to Cedar Springs after so many years of staying away.She’d even confessed to him that after the divorce, the reason she’d stayed away from the lake town was to punish herself for the choices she’d made.
She’d wept, while reading and writing the letters, as they both opened up completely.
Even though Maureen hadn’t actually heard Adam’s voice in decades, she could hear his voice in her head as she read his words, and it was as if no time had passed between them at all.
She’d been given a second chance, and Maureen was old enough to know how rare that truly was.
She put another bite of the warm, pastry in her mouth before pulling her letter writing paper that she’d recently purchased from Live, Love, Lake, along with her favorite pen.
Dear Adam,
I received your latest letter this morning, and immediately I knew that your impending return to North America and civilization deserved a celebratory apple Danish from Dream Puffs.I am writing this from a corner table as I enjoy the delicious treat.Do you remember how good they were?I don’t know if it’s just the passage of time, but they are even sweeter now.One day perhaps you will return to Cedar Springs and experience one for yourself.
As to your question.Of course, my answer is yes.I would be very happy to join you at the Merry Falls Inn.It sounds delightful at Christmas time, and I’ve never been to North Carolina.
I hope you have a safe journey and this letter finds you well when you return.
I very much look forward to seeing you.
Love always,
Maureen.
ChapterSix
Present
Maureen worried maybeshe’d told Elise too much.She’d been caught up in her storytelling.She could hardly believe she’d just told a virtual stranger such intimate details.“I’m so sorry, I never should have—”
“Scandalous.”Elise sat back and shook her head.A small, wicked grin slid over her face.“Simply scandalous, Maureen.”She wiggled her eyebrows, and Maureen couldn’t help but laugh, too.
“Itwas.” She shook her head.“In hindsight, it really was.And I guess by today’s standards, it wouldn’t even rank on the scandal scale, but at the time…”
Elise nodded.“You loved him.”
The laughter on Maureen’s lips died.“I did,” she answered seriously.“Very much.”She let her gaze travel toward the front door of the inn again, as if the love she’d felt all those years ago could will him to walk through the door.“Years later, I wondered if it really was love or if I was just too young to understand.”
“You understood just fine.”
Maureen looked at the older woman.Elise got it.She knew.“I did.”Maureen nodded.“It was true love, and I was absolutely sure that we were meant to be together.Fate had brought Adam Lancaster into my life, and I knew with no uncertainty that he would be my husband.”
Obviously, that’s not how things played out, but she didn’t need to say that out loud.
Maureen put the mostly uneaten muffin back on the plate and sat back with a sigh.
“You haven’t mentioned Africa again.”
