Authors: Lesa Henderson
Megan didn’t respond except to continue with her story. “I stayed in Savannah for four days. The majority of the time I spent lying on the bed, staring at the ceiling. The rest of the time I spent on the beach, staring out at the ocean. I slept some and ate little. I cried the entire first night, but after that, I wouldn’t allow myself to cry again.”
“Why not?” Lee asked gently.
“I was racked with guilt and didn’t believe I deserved the luxury of tears. I hated Trevor for deceiving me; I hated myself more for being blind and allowing it. I am still tortured by the image of his wife and daughter getting off of the elevator. His little girl was close to the same age I was when my father left. That innocent child could have been destroyed…because of my relationship with her father.
Because of me!”
In anguish, she pounded herself on the chest. Lee moved forward to come to her but Megan held up her hand for him to stop.
“Let me finish. After four days, I returned to Atlanta. I came home much thinner and much wiser. My mistrust of men returned with a vengeance.”
“What about Trevor?” Lee asked. “Did he try to contact you?”
Megan nodded emphatically. “Oh yeah. He repeatedly called my cell phone and my apartment. When that didn’t work, he called my mother and my office.”
“I returned none of the calls. In fact, I changed all of my personal phone numbers. The only contact I had with him was an email. I wrote and told him I would not inform his wife of his extramarital activities because I had no desire to cause her, or their daughter, any pain. However, I wanted absolutely no contact with him again.
Ever.
Not long after that, I moved to Laurel Ridge and started over.”
Megan lifted her head, squared her shoulders and gathered her courage. “The night we returned home from Atlanta, I was going to tell you. I tried to tell you it was best if we didn’t see one another anymore.”
“What? Why?” Lee finally spoke. She hadn’t looked at him the entire time she was baring her soul, afraid of what she might see in his eyes. She looked now and saw confusion and concern.
“You deserve someone better than me. I hate myself. I nearly destroyed another woman’s life, another child’s life—much the same as another woman destroyed my mother’s and mine.” She buried her face in her hands.
Her sobs drowned out all other sound. She never heard him approach, but she felt his arms wrap around her and pull her against him. He began stroking her hair as if she were a child. When at last her sobs subsided to mere sniffles, he cupped her face in his large hands and tilted her face up so she was forced to look at him.
“I’m not perfect, Megan. I haven’t always lived for God, as I should. I still fail Him. He knows what I’m made of, and when I ask, He forgives me.”
When she began to put her head down, he gently forced her to continue to look at him.
“Have you asked Him to forgive you?”
“Yes,” she answered huskily as she nodded her head.
“Do you believe He has?”
“I…I think so.” She paused in answering. “Yes. Yes I do.”
“Good. Now you must forgive yourself. You’re human. You made a mistake, one you tried to correct the moment you discovered what was happening.”
She simply looked up at him, trying to grasp what he was telling her, reaching for it like a lifeline.
“You’ve beat yourself up over this for long enough. I do not—can not judge you—for I am not without sin.”
Her eyes began to fill with tears again.
“We have an opportunity for something wonderful between us. It’s a gift, but you can refuse it…if you choose. Megan, you have to trust again. You can trust God, and you can trust me.” He paused and moved his face close enough to her that he could have touched his lips to hers. “And you can trust yourself.”
He allowed his lips to lightly brush hers before continuing, “Megan McCormick, I want to offer you a lifetime of promise and hope. I want to live every day earning your trust. I love you.” He tenderly began to kiss away the tears that were drying on her face. “You don’t have to respond now. Take some time and think about what I’ve told you. If you decide you want a relationship with me, you know where I am. I’ll be waiting.”
With that, he covered her mouth with his and kissed her with more passion than ever before. It was as if he was trying to make her feel his love and it washed over her like an ocean wave. When he released her and headed toward the door, Megan felt as if she’d been knocked off her feet and had to sit down.
My prince.
As if reading her thoughts, Lee turned back, and with a storybook smile, said, “Sleep well, princess.”
****
Over the next several days, Megan mulled over what Lee said. She considered it deeply, taking every word to heart, examining it and reexamining it. His response to her confession was not at all what she expected.
There were no accusations or condescending words. He’d offered his acceptance of her past, encouragement for her to forgive herself and hope for the future. Just like his Heavenly Father.
Your Heavenly Father, too.
Just like
her
Heavenly Father.
As she walked Sir, she contemplated those words. No matter the activity or time of day, her thoughts were ever before her.
She used the days as a time of solace and refreshing. Megan spent a good deal of time in prayer—praying for wisdom and for guidance, asking God to direct her steps like never before. She also read the Bible where the Holy Spirit guided her to scriptures in God’s written word which offered her comfort and answers. It amazed her that in this old book were the answers she had searched for her entire life.
One week after Lee came to the cabin, while she was out hiking, she finally came to a decision. Needing to catch her breath, she paused near a meandering stream. A gentle breeze blew across her face, lifting a few tendrils of hair and directing her attention upward, along the path of the stream. Her gaze followed the stream as far as her eye could see.
It had a beginning somewhere up in those mountains. A place she could not see, but was there nonetheless. It ended somewhere far below. Again, she could not see its end, but knew it was there.
In between the river’s origin and its end were many twists and turns. There were many rocky places and boulders it had to flow over. Still, it flowed on, because God had set its course. The same hand, that gave the river its beginning, guided its course all the way to the river’s end.
A scripture came to mind that she’d discovered yesterday in the Bible. She couldn’t recall it exactly, but it was something about God knowing our beginning from our end and bringing us to it.
There seemed to be a lot of twists and turns in between the beginning of life and the end. But, there were a lot of opportunities. One just had to trust the creator of life to guide the course.
The opportunity to love again and find happiness, in spite of past mistakes, was right before her. Lee was a wonderful, handsome man who loved her and she did not want to throw that away because of fear or because of a lack of trust. She wanted to discover what having a God-ordained relationship could be like.
With that thought in mind, she hiked back to her cabin with renewed vigor. She was not going to waste another minute and was going straight to the clinic to talk to a certain veterinarian. She didn’t even bother to stop long enough to change out of her hiking clothes or pull her hair out of its ponytail.
Moments later, she strode into Wolff Animal Clinic with a purpose.
“Hey, Cindy,” she greeted her friend.
Cindy looked up from some paperwork and smiled. “Hey, Meg.”
“Is Lee busy?” Megan asked.
“No. But he has—”
Megan did not hear the rest of the sentence because she immediately went looking for Lee.
She did not find him in the first room or the second, but he was in the third one at the end of the hall. She could see him standing with his back to her and hear him talking to someone in a low voice. As she got closer, she recognized Felicia.
Megan could see Felicia glance over Lee’s shoulder and thought she saw a sly smile form on the woman’s face. Felicia choose that moment to step forward, wrap her arms around Lee’s neck and press her lips to his.
From Megan’s angle, all she could see were Lee’s hands placed on the woman’s waist. She gasped and whirled on her heel, heading toward the nearest exit.
****
Lee turned in time to see Megan’s ramrod stiff back as she speedily made her way out the hallway door. Lee wished she could have seen him push Felicia away before rushing out and knew he had to get to her. He got right up to Felicia’s face with his own, as he firmly whispered, “Don’t ever do that again.”
Without another word, he left Felicia standing there seething, to go after the woman he loved. Megan.
Megan was standing just outside the door, leaning against a concrete wall with her arms laced across her chest, when Lee found her.
He approached gingerly, like he would a wounded animal.
“Megan…” he said, getting close enough to look her in the eye. He wasn’t quite able to read the expression he saw there and her silence was making him a bit nervous.
She raised her brows. “Yes?”
“What you saw in there was not what you think.”
“Do tell,” she invited, but her voice sounded strangely calm and he was unsure if that was bad or good.
“Felicia decided to make a surprise visit. I think it was some last ditch attempt on her part to reconcile. However, I figured since she was here, now would be as good a time as any to let her know our break up was indeed final and would remain that way. I told her I had given my heart to you, although I wasn’t sure if you wanted it. Anyway, that must be when you walked up and she kissed me. She must have seen you coming and was trying to…” He spread his hands palms up. “Megan, I promise you—”
“I believe you,” she interrupted his defense.
“Look, I know it must look bad but I promise you…you
what
?” he asked midstream, as he realized what she said.
“I said I believe you,” she repeated, giving him a smile that could have competed with the sun.
He let out a sigh of relief. “You do?”
“Yes,” she said, emphatically.
“Why?”
“Because you are a good and honest man, who has never given me any reason to believe otherwise.”
“I hope you know I would never do anything to hurt you. Not intentionally. I won’t ever lie to you.”
“I know. I trust you, Lee Grainger.” With that said, she walked over and standing on tiptoe, she wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling his head close enough to reach it. Then with lips close to his, but not quite touching, she whispered, “I trust you and I love you.”
She pressed her lips to his, and with a sweet kiss, she demonstrated all the love and respect she felt for him. Her response nearly knocked him off his feet. But there was no place to sit down!
Epilogue
One year later
Following their wedding ceremony and reception, the local veterinarian carried his new bride across the threshold of her cabin. Now, it was
their
cabin. Sir was waiting just inside the door and nearly toppled them over in his excitement. Lee immediately put her on her feet before any mishap occurred.
Megan knew exactly how Sir felt. She thought her heart might burst with happiness. Her face ached from smiling so much. Her wedding was even more beautiful than she had dreamed it would be. The church literally overflowed with family and friends. The look on Lee’s face, when he saw her walking down the aisle for the first time in her gown, was one she would cherish for a lifetime.
With all of that though, her favorite part of the ceremony was when the pastor said, “Let no man separate what God has put together.”
God had put them together! She knew that beyond a shadow of a doubt.
Cindy and Helen stood with her as bridesmaids and Ben, whom she had grown very fond of, gave her away. Nettie helped with all of the floral arrangements and decorations for the church, not to mention keeping the bride calm before the wedding.
The reception followed at Chatley Bed and Breakfast Inn and was hosted entirely by Aunt Vera and Uncle Tom as a wedding gift to the couple. It was well attended and enjoyed by all.
Even Lee’s mother seemed to be having a good time. Megan prayed, that over time, she would come to love her as a daughter. Megan’s love for her son and his love for her had gotten Mrs. Grainger to graciously concede she really was Lee’s choice.
Close to the end of the reception, before Lee and Megan departed to begin their new life together, Ben clinked a spoon on his glass to get everyone’s attention. Once he had, he cleared his throat. Megan noticed her mother was blushing.
“I have an announcement to make. I pray that this is an appropriate time and will only add to the celebration.” He looked over at Helen and she nodded. Megan caught her breath. Could it be?
“I have asked Helen to be my wife, and thankfully, she has consented.” Amid the cheers of jubilation, Megan hugged her mother and together they wept happy tears. Megan’s heart was filled with gratitude toward her Heavenly Father for filling their broken lives with faith, hope and love.
Later, Megan and Lee arrived at her cabin where it was agreed they would spend the first night of their honeymoon and married life together. They would be leaving the following morning to a location that was, as of yet, undisclosed by Lee. It was a surprise for his new bride.
However, that was not the only surprise waiting for her. Lee followed her upstairs to the bedroom they would now be sharing and Megan gasped as they walked into the room.
Covering the bed, and replacing her old bedspread, was the beautiful deep violet, hand-crafted, circle-of-love quilt she’d seen last year at the Spring Fling.
Turning, she threw both arms around her husband, who was grinning from ear-to-ear at her delight.
“I hope I wasn’t wrong in believing you loved this one. I snuck back and bought it for you. By faith.”
She was too overcome to speak, so she just buried her face against him. He tilted her chin and looked into her eyes saying, “I’ve been keeping it in
my
hope chest.” He was only half-teasing.