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“Or not so patiently,” Evie emphasized.
Matt laughed. “And then, we’ll be starting our new lives with the plans we made at the hotel.”
Matt leaned down and kissed Evie and then encouraged her to enter the limousine. In the background, they heard someone yell, “Cut!” and they both sighed a sigh of relief. The ride was too short to fully appreciate the drinks that were provided, but as they exited the limousine, Ryker and Boden were both waiting as Matt had said.
They were talking to another man who was just as big as her brothers… and Matt. Evie didn’t know who he was, but she knew she didn’t need to fear as the three were talking amicably.
“Bobby!” Matt called out as he got out of the limousine. “I didn’t think you’d be here.”
“This is Bobby?” Evie asked.
“Yes! Evie, this is my friend that got me involved in this mess in the first place. Enjoy your introduction, because it might be your last,” Matt teased as he slugged his friend in the arm.
Evie gave Bobby a hug, which he returned with a deep laugh.
“I like her,” Bobby said after Evie released their embrace.
“She’s taken!” Matt hissed, although there wasn’t any malice in Matt’s tone.
“I’m sure there will be plenty of time to get to know you,” Bobby insisted. “But I think the time has come for us to get on our way. There is a slew of reporters and interviewers at the bottom of the hill and I’m sure they would love to get a sneak peek at who you’ve chosen… not to mention the famous football player in our midst,” Bobby teased.
“I’ll be anxiously waiting for my phone call in thirty days,” Evie reminded after Matt finished kissing her.
“Twenty-nine days,” Matt corrected. “You might want to put that little date on your calendar!” he teased as he gave her one more kiss.
Matt helped Evie get into her brother’s blacked-out SUV. Evie watched as Matt climbed into a black-out sedan. There were four other blacked-out vehicles that exited in a caravan with them.
The moment Evie saw they were on the freeway, she leaned her head back against the headrest and sighed. The last sixteen days seemed like a year had passed, and yet it also seemed like a short whirlwind two-week vacation… when she fell in love.
Now to wait patiently for another month while Matt did what he needed to do and she needed to do what she needed to… which was go to Colorado and hug her roommate and make her swear they wouldn’t talk about Matt until the month was over, find a job, and stay off social media.
The latter one should be relatively easy to do, but she was sure the first would be the most difficult… and the job! Everything seemed so up in the air.
Life did not get simpler because the show finished.
It just got harder.
Time to re-evaluate her list.
Chapter 22
Twenty-Eight days later
Matt sat in one of the back rows of chairs in the church’s cultural hall during stake conference. He chose to sit in the far back for a variety of reasons, the main being he didn’t want to see anyone from the ward in which he grew up. He had done a lot of thinking, changing, and reorganizing of his life over the last twenty-eight days, but he wasn’t quite ready to explain his life to inquisitive minds.
He didn’t fear running into his parents because they had left to serve a couple’s mission for the church in one of the Polynesian islands. His parents had mentioned this while they were waiting for Evie to arrive at his childhood home, and a quick text to Amanda had verified they had left.
He didn’t dare ask Amanda how Evie was doing, nor did he dare ask how Amanda was doing in case she mentioned anything about Evie. He had made a promise to wait thirty days and he intended to honor that promise.
He was happy for his parents and hopeful.
Happy they were able to do something they had always talked about doing. Hopeful because he knew he and his dad needed to repair their relationship. Matt started the repair by sending an email wishing them a safe arrival and well-wishes for success and happiness.
Several things happened the first week back into the “real” world. The first thing he did was set up an appointment with his bishop. It took a bit of research to figure out in which ward he actually resided but after contacting the bishop and leaving a message on his phone, the bishop returned the call that evening and told Matt he’d love to meet with him the following evening.
That meeting was still tender in his heart… and it was the closing of one door from his past and an opening of another to healing and forgiveness. After explaining his past lifestyle and desiring to move forward and not knowing how to go about doing it, the bishop said a couple of eye-opening comments.
The first being repentance wasn’t something to punish the sinner… which was what he had always believed. Repentance was the process of turning one’s heart toward Christ and having the desire to leave behind actions that wouldn’t welcome the Spirit and instead choose to do His will.
