The Someday List

"We've all read the happily-ever-after fairy tale, but The Someday
List makes us feel what it's like on the other side of the rainbow,
when the fairy-tale marriage comes apart:"

Virginia DeBerry and Donna Grant

Bestselling authors

"Stacy Hawkins Adams writes with verve, humor, and poignancy
about one woman's quest to find her own voice with courage and
wit. In The Someday List you will find wisdom and truth."

Adriana Trigiani

Bestselling author of the Big Stone Gap series,
Lucia, Lucia, and Very Valentine

"Stacy Hawkins Adams creates a heart-wrenching story with
strong, lovable, and all-too-human characters. The Someday List
gives us all hope that God truly is in control"

Jacquelin Thomas

National bestselling author of Jezebel

"In perhaps her best book yet, Stacy Hawkins Adams paints a
vivid picture of God's redemption in the face of our failurespast and present. Rachelle Covington has everything a woman
could want. Or so she thinks until a close friend announces she's
dying, forcing Rachelle to think about what could have been ...
and who she really is. Readers will enjoy the suspenseful conclusion as Rachelle chooses between yesterday and someday. Get
comfortable for this one and buy a copy for a friend"

Marilynn Griffith

Author of Rhythms of Grace

"Stacy Hawkins Adams has done it again! Her new series examines
the real life issues of long lost love and marital discord through
appealing and relatable characters that will leave readers thinking
about their own Someday List"

Sherri Lewis

Bestselling author of My Soul Cries Out
and Dance Into Destiny

Speak to My Heart

Nothing but the Right Thing

Watercolored Pearls

Stacy
Hawkins
Adams

To my sister, Patsy Scott,
for serving as a modern-day Lazarus,
and reminding those who know and love you
that God can, and still does, work miracles.

No, dear brothers and sisters, I have
not achieved it, but I focus on this one
thing: Forgetting the past and looking
forward to what lies ahead.

Philippians 3:13 NLT

achelle fumbled with the bouquet of yellow roses
and locked eyes with him. Her flowers sagged from
thirst.

The simple gold band she clutched stuck to her sweaty palm.
Instead of a flowing white gown, she wore the black pencil skirt
and short-sleeved white silk blouse that, until today, had served
as her choral ensemble uniform.

Her groom was dressed in his standard singing attire toowhite collared shirt, black tie, and black slacks. He had removed
the diamond earring from his left earlobe, his goatee was freshly
cut, and as far as she was concerned, he had never looked finer.

Between the two of them, the worldly goods they possessed
amounted to less than what Rev. Prescott likely paid to have his
preaching robe cleaned.

And yet, she knew this was right. The right time, the right
place, and the right man, even if she had to marry him in secret.
One day they would look back on this elopement with tenderness
and pride, telling their children about their union in an empty church sanctuary, not far from the university they would graduate from in six months.

He smiled at her and arched an eyebrow, questioning the delay
in her response. The minister repeated himself.

"Rachelle Marie Mitchell, do you take this man to be your
lawfully wedded husband?"

She smiled. Her beloved didn't have to worry about her having
second thoughts-not when she felt this way.

"I do, Reverend Prescott;' she said. "I do."

achelle Mitchell Covington felt both giddy and
guilty.

In twenty-four hours she would be completely alone and she
couldn't wait.

No worries about temporary empty-nest syndrome-she was
happy to let her parents deal with two preadolescent know-it-alls
for half of the summer. And no need to feign an interest in her
husband's wants, work, or even his world.

For the first time in their eleven-year marriage, she and Gabe
would be away from each other for more than a week. When he
informed her that he had agreed to speak at a medical conference
the week before he left for a medical mission trip, she knew he
expected her to complain. Rachelle had frowned for his benefit,
but also bit her lip to keep from cheering.

Though it was already steamy outside this morning, the temperature inside Houston's Intercontinental Airport left her longing for her cashmere coat. Rachelle shivered and smiled when
Tate and Taryn, looking like they had stepped off the pages of a
Children's Wear Digest catalog, turned to wave one last time before passing through the security gate and approaching a waiting
airline employee.

The young woman in the crisp navy and white uniform would
escort them to their direct flight to Philadelphia.

The fifth and third graders had been trying to whine their way
out of their annual summer visit with Rachelle's parents for two
days, because they would miss their friends, feared boredom,
and believed Gram would have way too many rules. Rachelle had
reminded them again this morning that, despite those perceived
hardships, they had no problem enjoying the regular outings,
video games, and other treats they enjoyed during their stay.