Forever After (36 page)

But when she looked up, there was a mischievous glint in her eye. “I rented a place in the country.”

“You’re kidding.” He was a little surprised, thinking about the day he’d gone with her to look at the trailer. “How far out?”

“About a mile and a half.”

“So what’s it like?
Not
a trailer, I presume.” He winked, hoping he wasn’t pushing it. “When do you move in?”

“I’m already in.”

“No wonder you haven’t been answering my messages as quickly lately. So what does it look like?”

She bit the corner of her lip, smiling. “The outside is turquoise and white.”

“Ha! That’s funny!”

“The inside is … wide—double-wide, actually. With narrow
hallways … Oh, and the whole place kind of rocks you to sleep.” Her grin grew to a full-blown smile.

“What?”

“I rented the trailer house, you goober.”

“No way!”

“It actually looks surprisingly nice with my furniture and stuff in it. You’ll be amazed at the transformation.”

He regarded her with a soft smile. “I
am
amazed at the transformation.”

Tears sprang to her eyes, but she smiled through them. “I … I’m seeing things with such different eyes now, Luc. It’s hard to describe.”

“Well, I like your new eyes.”

She smiled and dipped her head.

“I liked your old eyes, too,” he said quickly, afraid she might have taken his comment wrong.

“I know you did. Honestly, that amazes me as much as anything. How on earth did you ever put up with me before?”

He chuckled. “If you’ll recall, I didn’t always.”

She frowned. “That’s right! You called me a brat!”

He feigned ducking out of range of her fist, which made her laugh harder. He liked making this woman laugh. “Yep, I called you a brat. The day we went to look at your new home, as I recall.”

“That’s right!” She rolled her eyes. “Oh, brother, how rich is that?”

“Pretty rich, I’d say.” He didn’t have to work at looking smug.

They had so much to catch up on, they talked nonstop through the main course. But he started to watch the clock. “I don’t want you to go, but I don’t want you driving back too late either. It’s a good four hours back to the Falls. Not to mention my mother will shoot me if she finds out I put you on the road this late.”

She laughed, then turned serious. “Your mom seems really happy. Are you … okay with her being remarried?”

He thought for a moment, then nodded. “Like you said, she’s happy. That means a lot. And Geoff’s been good about … acknowledging Pop.”

“I noticed that at the wedding.”

“Yeah, it made you cry.”

She shook her head. “It wasn’t just that. God was working on me even then.” A faraway look came to her eyes. “I just hope … that someday I can have the kind of marriage your mom has … and had with your dad.”

“Yeah, I want that, too.”
With you, Jenna Morgan. If God agrees that’s what He wants for us.

“You two ready for some cheesecake?” Their perky server bounced at the corner of their table.

Jenna glanced at him with a little grimace. “I’d probably better get on the road.”

“Would you mind bringing that cheesecake to go?” Luc asked the server.

Ten minutes later they stood in the parking lot talking over her open car door, each clutching weighty hunks of cheesecake in Styrofoam containers.

He held his up like a weight-lifter. “Breakfast tomorrow.”

She mimicked him. “Midnight snack.”

He laughed.

“Thanks for inviting me, Luc. It was a fun day. And congratulations. I can’t wait to see what’s next for you.”

She was close enough to kiss. The scent of her perfume was tantalizing. Like the honeysuckle that bloomed in Pop’s garden in the spring. Man, he wanted to kiss her. He sort of thought she wanted the same thing, but … no. He wasn’t going to mess this up. He’d play it safe and take it slow.

He settled for a quick hug instead. They’d have plenty of time to work up to a kiss once he came back to the Falls.

He opened her car door wider and waited for her to climb in.

But she surprised him by standing on tipoe to kiss him on the cheek. “Don’t be a stranger,” she said. “Bye, Luc.”

“Awww, just when it was getting good.”

She laughed and reached up to touch the collar of his jacket. “I sure have missed you.”

“I’ve missed you, too. Now get in that car.”

She smiled, but she obeyed.

Checking his watch, he knocked on the window and she rolled it down. “It’s nine-fifteen. With Interstate all the way, you should be home by one thirty or so. Maybe a little after. Call me when you’re home. I don’t care how late it is.”

“I will. Don’t worry about me. I’m wide awake.” She demonstrated, batting her eyes at him.

He laughed and waved her off. “Get out of here.”

She revved the engine and backed out, waving up at him through the windshield.

He watched her drive away, feeling as if she was taking a piece of him with her.

Looking up into the foggy night sky, he sighed. “Lord, help me … I love that woman.”

L
ucas had just fed Sparky and settled into his bunk with the Sunday paper when his cell phone rang.

He picked it up off the nightstand, smiling, expecting it to be Jenna. But when he glanced at the clock and saw that it was almost eleven, he figured it was probably Ma, calling to say they were home safe and sorry she forgot to call earlier.

He slid the phone’s cover open. Yep. It was her. “Hey, Ma, you made it, huh?”

“We’re not home yet, but we’re in town at least.” She sounded breathless. “Don’t you let Jenna drive in this.”

“What’s going on? Drive in what?”

“We ran into a snowstorm about twenty miles before we got to Springfield. It was awful. Geoff couldn’t see ten feet in front of the car and there were cars in the ditch all along the Interstate. It’s terrible!”

“Oh, man! She left over an hour ago.”

His mother groaned. “You call her right now and tell her to get off at the next exit. The weather people are saying the storm is headed west. Just have her go to a hotel for the night. I’ll pay for it.”

His pulse raced. “Okay, Ma … Thanks. I need to get off and call her.”

“Don’t take no for an answer. Tell her she’s driving
right
into a blizzard.”

The rain hitting her windshield was starting to look like more than rain.

42

Sunday, March 22

J
enna turned the radio down and flipped the wipers on high. The sky had been spitting on her for the past hour, but it was raining in earnest now.

The clock on the dashboard had just turned to midnight. She still had an hour and a half to go before she was home … maybe longer if this rain kept up. But she didn’t care. She wasn’t at all sleepy, and the weather was perfect for daydreaming.

She’d passed the time reliving every moment she’d spent with Luc today. And praying her heart out that God thought she and Lucas Vermontez should end up together as much as
she
thought they should.

Slowing down to sixty, she switched her lights from bright to dim and back, trying to figure out which made it easier to see. The temperature had dropped to freezing, but the road didn’t seem to be slick.

The rain hitting her windshield was starting to look like more than rain. She drove another ten miles, and the sky swirled with white stuff.
It was snowing! Beautiful white flakes, except they were hitting the windshield ever faster—and beginning to accumulate on the dry grass in the ditches. She blinked a few times, trying to keep the road and the black night sky from blending into one.

“Just watch the center line,” she heard Zachary say. They’d driven to St. Louis in a storm like this early in their marriage. She’d been terrified and angry that he wouldn’t pull over and drive. But he’d said it was too dangerous to be on the side of the road, and besides, she needed to learn to drive in all kinds of weather.

She tried to recapture thoughts of Lucas again. Maybe she should call him. At least let him know why she would be later than one thirty getting home.

She searched her purse for her cell phone, trying to keep one eye on the white line. But the snow was coming down so hard now that she could barely make out the front of the car, let alone the road.

She opened her phone and hit Luc’s number, but saw that she had no signal. She tossed the phone in the seat beside her. She’d try him again in a few minutes when she got near a cell tower.

She turned the heater on high. She wasn’t really cold, but maybe running the heater would help keep the windshield clear. The wipers were working overtime and not doing a very good job of it either. Thank goodness there wasn’t much traffic at this time of night. Or morning. It was twelve forty. Sunday morning.

She smiled. That meant only three more days till Luc would be home. Or four, if he didn’t get back till Thursday. Surely this snow would be gone by then. But it sure seemed to be piling up fast. And blowing some now, too. A blizzard on the first day of spring? This was crazy.

She passed a road sign that said ten miles to … somewhere. The name of the town was veiled in snow. She was starting to feel a little disoriented. She knew she was still on 44, but she didn’t remember passing a Leaving Oklahoma sign or a Welcome to Missouri sign. She had
to have crossed the state line, though. She should be only an hour or so outside of Springfield.

Nothing looked familiar, but how could it? She couldn’t
see
anything. She grabbed her phone from the seat and tried Luc’s cell again.
Thank You, God.
It was ringing!

Her spirits sank when his voice mail picked up. She’d leave a message. … But what was he supposed to do when he got it? He’d just worry about her. The beep sounded and she hesitated. She started to hang up, then thought he’d worry more if he had a missed call from her and no message. “Hey, Luc. It’s me. Just wanted to let you know I … hit a snowstorm somewhere around … well, I don’t know where I am, but anyway … it’s really pretty, but I’m no fan of driving in this stuff. I’ll call you when I get to the Falls, but I’m only going about fifty on the Interstate, so it’s going to be a lot later than—”

In the road ahead of her—
right
in front of her—a dark form loomed. Someone must have had car trouble and gotten out of their vehicle. Idiot! The shadow wasn’t moving. What …? It looked bigger than a man. Whatever it was … she was going to hit it!

Oh dear God! Help me!

She slammed on the brakes, steered sharply to the right, gripping the wheel like a lifeline. The car fishtailed and snow sprayed all around her.

A huge bump threw her forward against the seatbelt. A loud bang split the air inside the car. A flash of light and Jenna’s hands were ripped from the steering wheel. Something slapped her hard across the face. The car kept going … spinning. She felt as if she were falling from a high place.

Her face stung and she rubbed at her cheek, confusion clouding her thoughts. Had she hit someone? What was happening?

She choked, breathing in a mist of powder—fine and white, like baby powder. It floated eerily in front of the car’s interior lights. She heard a hissing noise and looked down to see a puddle of white nylon
pooling on the seat and the floor. Relief swept over her. The airbag. It must have deployed.

But the car was still moving, seeming to take on a life of its own. Branches and tree boughs clawed at her windows, dumping their burden of snow as the car plowed through the woods.

The windshield was completely blocked with snow now. She let go of the wheel and buried her face in her hands.

An odd melody played in her head. Country music. She wanted to laugh. This wasn’t what she expected heaven to be like. “Jesus, take the wheel. …” It was the song from that
American Idol
girl.
Jesus! Please, God. I need help. …

He couldn’t just sit here and do nothing.

43

L
ucas stood in the parking lot looking east. It was cold, but the sky was clear. He pulled his collar up over his ears and checked his phone again. He had plenty of bars. Why couldn’t he get through to Jenna? He’d been trying to reach her for over an hour now. Surely her phone hadn’t been out of service, in a dead spot, all this time.