Fighting Fate (35 page)

Epilogue

Eight months later…

“It’s beautiful!” Sarah said as she wandered through the house.

Tom had done an amazing job. He’d used Cole’s floor plan sketches as a starting point for his blue prir hnt>

At first, Sarah had insisted she wanted the house the same.
Exactly
the same. As the weeks went by and the ache of the loss of the farmhouse lessened, she’d decided a change here or there might not be a bad idea.

So now the house was nearly identical to the original. Only better. Each room was a bit larger. There was a little more closet space. An entryway had been added onto the living room because Sarah had never really liked that company had to enter though the kitchen. An actual
finished
basement replaced the cellar. Sarah and Cole thought it would make a perfect game or movie watching room.

Some new furniture had been purchased and had been delivered that morning.

“Do you think Cora would approve?” Cole asked.

Sarah ran her fingers over the gleaming oak banister. Her heart ached just a little as she remembered her grandmother. “Yes,” she said. “I think she’d love it.”

Cole had been right in guessing that the fire had not spread to the cellar. While many of the items stored in cardboard boxes were ruined by water damage, several had been stored in plastic bins. Some of her grandmother’s handmade quilts and doilies had been salvaged. Another box that contained holiday ornaments, and knickknacks made by her grandfather had come through relatively unscathed. A final box with photos had to be sorted out but Sarah was thrilled some pictures survived. Overall, relatively little had made it through but she was grateful for every little item that had.

Melinda was serving time for arson. She had insisted that she had known for a fact that Sarah was not home. She claimed she’d been watching Cole’s apartment building because she had assumed the two of them would show up there together eventually. Cole wasn’t sure that he believed her. But she would be locked up for a while. He’d never pushed the matter because Sarah was already struggling enough with the malice that Melinda had shown.

Sarah eventually had her rings returned to her. That same day, she carefully packaged up the ring from Aaron. She had contemplated delivering it to his parents in person. In the end, she decided it would probably be easier on everyone if she did not. Instead, she’d written them a note explaining why it had taken her so long to return it and she’d had it delivered. She hadn’t heard from Brynn again and neither had Liz. For that, she was grateful.

Toby, who had claimed to have turned his life around, had been fired earlier in the spring. Alex had heard through Laurel’s gossip chain that he’d been caught stealing money out of the register. Cole figured Toby was lucky if getting fired was the worst thing he had to face for his pilfering.

So far, the school year had gone smoothly. Because the new school was so big, Sarah and Cole rarely saw each other at work. The history wing was at the opposite end from the library and their lunch breaks didn’t match up. Both thought this was just as well because they saw each other plenty outside of work.

“Comee="on. on,” Cole said. “I have one last thing to show you.”

Tom had just finished putting up the last of the trim, the last project before they could move in. Cole had shown up that morning to help and also to supervise the delivery of the furniture. They had ordered a new bedroom set, office furniture and a living room set. The other rooms would be filled later in the day with furniture Alex was helping him move over from his apartment.

Sarah had come out to visit periodically while the house was being built. But the past few weeks, when it was in the final stages, Cole had talked her into staying away. He was happy with the house and he wanted her to be surprised with the final project.

He took her hand in his and led her upstairs to the master bedroom. Sarah spun slowly, taking in the room. The ceilings were still slanted but the floor was carpeted. It felt soft and plush beneath her feet. The bedroom set she and Cole had picked out was new. She had searched for months to find something similar to the antique set that was in the room before.

She stopped when something on her new dresser caught her attention.

“Cole?” she asked as she darted a glance his way. He nodded, smiling nervously as she crossed the room. Her fingers skimmed across the old jewelry box. “How…?”

“I’d like to say I fixed it myself but I didn’t. I brought it to a guy I know.” His eyes darted to the wooden box as well. “He had to completely take it apart. Unfortunately, this piece had to be replaced,” he said, pointing to one side. “The top piece was cracked but luckily it went with the grain. He was able to glue it back together. Then he sanded it all down, refinished it, bought new hinges and put it back together again.”

Sarah’s hand floated to her mouth, covering her lips, holding in a surprised sob. She had known Cole had taken the box but she’d assumed that he’d tossed it. “Thank you,” she finally whispered. “My grandpa made it for my grandma.”

“I know,” Cole said quietly.

“I feel like it holds a piece of each of them.”

She ran her finger along the decorative carving on the edge of the lid. She glanced at Cole, he smiled at her nervously.

“What?” she asked with a little laugh.

“Maybe you should open it,” he said. “See if the hinges work.”

She quirked an eyebrow at his odd request but complied. The tiny hinges were silent as she lifted the lid upward. The inside was lined with the same familiar blue velvet lining that it had always been lined in. She was used to seeing her grandmother’s simple ring resting in its little black box against the blue velvet. It was absent, of course, because it was currently stored with the rest of her things, boxed up at Cole’s apartment until later in the day, when they officially made the move.

However, there
was
a tiny box. This one was burgundy. Her face crumpled in confusion and her eyes darted to Cole again.

“I suppose I should take that,” he said. Sarah was sure she heard a slight tremble in his voice but before she could reason out why, he had reached inside.

With the small burgundy box in his hand, he dropped down to one knee.

Earlier that morning, Sarah had thought this day was already going to be among the most exciting, most memorable of her life. But now as Cole knelt before her, she felt her heart take off. It was dancing wildly in her chest as both hands flew to her mouth.

He carefully cracked open the small box. Inside was a large oval diamond on a simple gold band. It was simple but elegant and absolutely perfect.

He took a deep breath as he finally looked up at her. “Sarah—”

“
Yes
,” she said as her hands fell from her mouth.

Cole raised his eyebrows at her. “Yes?”

She nodded as she felt the first tingle of happy tears spark to life.

“But…I had a whole speech prepared,” he said, sounding a little dumbfounded.

“Do you want me to take it back?”

He got to his feet. “God no, don’t do that. Yes? Really?”

“Yes,” she said firmly.

His nervous expression melted away. He pulled Sarah into his arms to give her a quick hug before he placed the ring on her finger.

“Your mom is going to be so happy,” she teased. “Now we can officially start working on those grandbabies she wants so badly.” Her smile fell away as she looked up at Cole. “It’s been a bumpy road, hasn’t it?”

“Sometimes it’s hard to believe it’s taken us ten years to get to this point,” he said. “It was ten years ago, this spring that you crashed into that ditch and crashed into my life.”

“It was fate that brought us together,” she said. She smiled to herself because she thought she sounded just like Gretchen. “It was a twist of fate that tore us apart. It was another twist of fate that brought us back together again. And now? I’m right where I wanted to be all those years ago. I’m home. I’m with you. I’m right where I belong.”

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Truths and Dares
…Coming soon…

EXCERPT FROM
DITCHED

By Amity Hope

Chapter 1

“They’re not here. They’re for sure not in here,” Felicia moaned. She looked up from her purse. Her expression was worried and apologetic.

Dani let out a little huff of annoyance. Her gaze met mine. She looked as frustrated as I felt.

“No keys were turned in,” Lanna informed us as she crossed the parking lot to complete our quartet of friends.

“I knew I should’ve driven,” Dani muttered under her breath.

“I’m sorry,” Felicia said, yet again. She turned to me. “I’m really
so
sorry. Holly, this was supposed to be a fun night out for you and I ruined it.”

“Well,” I said with a shrug, “these things happen.” I was trying to keep any possible snippiness in check. I didn’t point out that these types of things happened more to Felicia than the rest of us combined. She already felt bad enough so I tried to keep my attitude upbeat. “We’ll just have to call someone.”

My fingers of my right hand went to my left wrist. Collin had given me a dainty diamond tennis bracelet a few months ago. It was a gift for my nineteenth birthday. I almost never took it off because he was insistent that I wear it. However, when I was nervous, I found myself twisting it around and around. I was doing that at the moment. I wasn’t too pleased with our current situation.

We looked around at each other, all of us realizing that with the four of us here, we really had no one left to call.

Felicia’s worried gaze swept the parking lot. We were downtown Chamberlain. It was late; the club we’d gone to was closing down. Everyone had already exited the club and even the parking lot was emptying out. Standing around wasn’t the best idea.

“We could call Max?” I suggested. While Max was a close friend, he wasn’t a female, and therefore, he hadn’t been invited to our girls’ night out. My last night going out as a single girl, actually.

“No,” Lanna said. “Not Max. I don’t want to bother him.”

I frowned, wondering why not. I was sure he wouldn’t care.

“I could call my mom,” Felicia scompavous, I uggested.

“No, I’d really rather not be picked up from a club by a mom in a mini-van. Sorry, but no,” Lanna told her. She emitted a little growl of defeat. She turned to me. “Fine. Call Max.”

“It
is
kind of an emergency,” Dani pointed out. “I don’t think he’ll mind.”

“Or if he does,” Lanna said sweetly, “he’ll be too polite to admit it.”

Lanna was right. But so was Dani. This late at night we could be facing a potential emergency. Our options were limited and Max, I knew, would come to our rescue. I glanced around the gloomily lit parking lot. Even though the club had emptied out, there were a few clusters of people standing around but not many. As people headed to their cars, there was less by the minute. I’d rather get out of here sooner than later. I rooted around in my purse for my phone.

Max answered sounding groggy. I was glad he’d answered at all. When I explained our predicament, he assured me he was already getting dressed and would be on his way.

He arrived less than fifteen minutes later. I spotted him first. His new, white Dodge Challenger—last year’s graduation gift—was hard to miss. It rolled down the street, pulling off to the side as we made our way to the edge of the parking lot.

He was just in time, too. The lot had entirely emptied out. Even though I wasn’t alone, I was wondering what might be lurking in the shadows. It was a gloomy, late night scene that I didn’t want to be a part of. The only thing missing were sirens. I was sure if we’d been left standing there much longer, they’d be blaring in the distance, completing the effect.

My group of friends thanked him as they tumbled into his backseat, one by one.

“Thank you,” I said as I slid into the front. “I owe you.”

“No problem.” 

He was wearing a plain white t-shirt and sweats with a pair of flip-flops. He looked like he’d rolled out of bed, which, I knew he had. Max Campbell was a big guy. He’d been a linebacker on our football team. Despite his size, he was one of the most easy-going guys I knew. He gave me a smile. His bronze hair was rumpled but his light green eyes showed nothing but humor. He was as aware as the rest of us of Felicia’s innate ability to bring bad luck. 

“Where to, ladies?”

I turned around so I was facing the backseat. I could barely make out my friends’ features. “Who wants to be dropped off first?”