Betty's Journal (Piper Anderson Bonus Material) (The Piper Anderson Series) (4 page)

I’m not easily fooled. Being incredibly nosey helps reduce those odds, but today something got by me. When I got dressed up in my Sunday best, I thought for sure I’d be heading to my same seat in church that I always did. But instead of turning down the old dirt road that would lead us there, Clay kept driving. I put up a hell of a protest about how many years I’d been going to that church. But he didn’t crack.

He played it cool like he always does in the face of my “moments
.” A little funny smile crept onto his face and his nose wrinkled up, like he stole a cookie from the jar. The man has me all figured out and frankly it drives me mad. This morning, especially. I like to have a bit of say in what goes on, ok maybe a bit more than a bit. Being held captive was not my idea of a good time. But it did get better. Clay made sure of that.

We pulled up to an open field where a picnic blanket lay, rocks holding down the
corners so it wouldn’t fly off in the summer breeze. Right dead in the center were two baskets. The first was filled with all my favorite foods. The other, well that was a surprise to me. I pulled open the lid of the basket and saw a pile of envelopes. All different colors and shapes, all having only one thing in common. My name was written across the front of each of them.

Clay started handing them to me one at time, there were
over a hundred, but he told me to open them all. He laid out our lunch as I began. What transpired over the next hour will stay with me the rest of my life. I opened those cards and found thank yous and love notes from people I’d met throughout my whole life. People I hadn’t thought of in decades, all their love and memories of me tucked in one basket.

My fifth grade teacher, Mrs.
Evaline, had to dictate her note to a nurse, since her hands aren’t steady enough to hold the pen. Jim Everson wrote a note on behalf of his late wife; she and I were best friends in middle school. Every family I’ve comforted in the wake of loss. The two exchange students who stayed with Stan and I not long after we were married. I couldn’t believe it.

Most people don’t get to see the sum of their
lives until they stand before God, but I feel like I just walked right through my own history.

Is there anything more touching than a gift like that? Yes, two things.
The man who organized hundreds of people. Tracked them down, explained what he was trying to do and then gathered all these up. I can’t imagine the amount of work that took, especially the extra steps it would have taken to keep such a mission secret from me. The other amazing gift was the last thing Clay handed me out of the basket. When every letter had been opened, my eyes burning from the salt of so many happy tears, my side aching from laughter, Clay slipped a ring on my finger.

Now
I’ve never taken my wedding band and engagement ring off, the ones Stan gave me.  I’ve never had the inclination to. Stan put them there with the intention of me wearing them all my life, not all his life. I didn’t see this proposal coming, so I didn’t ever give much thought to how I would handle another ring. But Clay did.

The ring Clay gave me was not a ring at all, it was a band of diamonds, designed to fit perfectly around the ring I’d worn for half my life. And that’s who Clay is. He’s the man who wants to love me without having to shove the rest of my life out of the way. He doesn’t’ compete with the love I knew before him, he embraces it for the person it has made me.

I’m not to proud to say that I sat on that blanket, surrounded by those letters, looking down at that addition to my ring in the arms of a man I love and cried like a blubbering idiot.

I wonder who else
might step across my porch someday. Will I give more people reason to write such kind letters? I don’t know how many more days I have left on this earth, a lot I hope. But I intend to spend them surrounded by the people I love. I can’t wait to rock the rest of my life next to this brilliant, big hearted man.

I hope you enjoyed this small glimpse of the world through Betty's eyes.
A taste of her favorite things for those who can never get enough of her.

Anxious to hear more about Bobby & Piper's
 wedding? Or Betty's engagement, wedding and restaurant?  Read all about it in Settling Scores - Book 5 of the Piper Anderson Series - Available May 2014.

Did you enjoy Betty’s Journal? You can see where it all started with Chasing Justice, Book 1 of the Piper Anderson Series. Book 1 is FREE on all major
ebook retailers.

The Piper Anderson Series in order:

Chasing Justice

Cutting Ties

Changing Fate

Choosing Christmas

Finding Freedom

Betty’s Journal

Settling Scores
– May 2014

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