Page 74 of An Unexpected Home

“And what did she say?”

“She told me that if I’m asking if he is the one, then he is.”

Leah looked at Alice and smiled. “And what did you do after that?”

“I resisted his best efforts to fall in love with him until finally, he did something that I couldn’t ignore.”

At her raised eyebrows she went on.

“We met the summer after I graduated from college and he was in Cedarville on vacation with his family. At the end of the summer, he wanted me to move with him back to Georgia. I refused. A week after he left, he showed back up here with all his belongings and said, ‘if you won’t come to me, I’ll come to you’. The love that I had been holding back, flooded out. He moved his whole life for me and to me; that was love.”

“That’s a beautiful story.”

She looked like she wanted to say more but instead she said, “Go get Bran and get out of here. You guys have done enough today.”

She left her standing there, still watching Brandon when he turned and caught her eye. He winked and she laughed thinking of his mom and dad.

They met halfway across the room. “You ready?”

She knew he was talking about leaving the party but she couldn’t stop her mind from wondering if she was ready for more with him.

Chapter 18

Brandon had kept the news from Leah that they had found Will hiding in town mainly because they still weren’t able to locate him. His hope was that when Mrs. Haggerty had spotted him, he’d finally just left town. He knew it was a long shot but for Leah’s safety, he hoped it was the truth.

Nothing else bad had happened in town and the girls had security both at home and at the studio. Plus, they tried to stay together still, especially in secluded areas.

But Brandon wasn’t giving up on finding him.

He and Tim were researching the shed that he had fled from in Mrs. Haggerty’s backyard, in the hopes that they missed something the first two times.

“I’m gonna take the inside,” he told Tim. “You take the outside and surrounding areas.”

“Got it,” Tim said and walked away after the doors were open.

Mrs. Haggerty kept the shed in immaculate condition, only putting her lawnmower and her gardening items inside it.

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