Page 113 of Left Behind

“Maybe,” Linette said. “All I’m going to say about them is if you want to meet them before the wedding, then you’d best find time to pay a visit. We don’t have a spare room, so book a room in one of the hotels, and let me know so I can take off a couple of days while you’re here.”

Angela gasped! “Wedding! I didn’t know things had gone that far!”

Linette sighed. “I have loved him since the moment I saw him. We had one date that went haywire, and then no contact with each other, which was all my doing, until that attempted bank robbery.”

“That was horrifying, but how was he connected to—”

“He’s the one who stopped the robbers. He saved our lives and took a bullet in the chest for his troubles. I thought I was watching him die, and then I realized he was wearing body armor. Long story short, he proposed on our second date. I do not want to do life without him. Ava came later. We’re already a family. He’s in the process of becoming her legal guardian. Once all that’s done, then we come next.”

Angela was silent for a moment. “Understood, and I’m happy for you. Does he have family in the area?”

Linette laughed. “A whole mountain full, plus a bunch in the valley. He’s one of four brothers. One’s a policeman like him. One is the head pastry chef at the Serenity Inn, and the other one is an IT specialist. His mother was a Pope, as in Pope Mountain… Remember it from when we came here on vacation?”

“Oh, my goodness. Well, then I won’t worry about you not having family close by anymore,” her mother said.

“You and Dad are retired. I’m not. So, you two have to come see me.” Then she glanced out the window and saw Ava limping toward the house. “Gotta go. Looks like Ava needs me. Love you.”

She disconnected and hurried outside. “Honey, did you hurt yourself?

“Something’s in my shoe,” Ava said.

“We probably should have changed from sandals to sneakers,” Linette said as she picked her up. “Let’s get in out of the sun and see what’s happened.”

They were coming in the back door as Wiley was coming in the front.

“I’m home!” Wiley shouted.

“We’re in the kitchen,” Linette said as she sat Ava on the island and began taking off her shoe.

Wiley walked into the room just as Linette dropped the little sandal on the floor.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

“Something hurts my foot,” Ava said.

“It’s a little pebble,” Linette said as she brushed it off the bottom of Ava’s foot. Then she took off the other sandal and brushed the bottom of that foot, too, making sure it was okay. “How about you play inside barefoot for a while?”

Ava nodded. “Miss Mattie took off her shoes so her feet could take a breath.”

Wiley grinned. “Miss Mattie was a wonder. She took good care of you, didn’t she, Sister?”

Ava nodded. “Sometimes I got the last bite.”

“Thank God for Miss Mattie,” Linette muttered, and brushed sweaty curls off Ava’s forehead.

Wiley lifted Ava down from the counter. “Go tell Pinky about your day. I need to change out of my uniform.”

“Okay, Bubba,” Ava said, and ran out of the room.

Linette immediately turned and wrapped her arms around Wiley’s neck. “Welcome home, my love,” she said, then kissed him.

His hands slid around her waist, then down her hips, pulling her closer. She was in his blood, and he had things to share.

“The guardianship thing is happening. I’m flying to Conway on Monday. I chartered a chopper. The hearing is at eleven a.m. One last face-to-face with Corina, and then she’s out of our lives forever,” he said.

Linette blinked. “You can afford to do that?”

“Yes, and darlin’, once we say, ‘I do,’ I have a story to share.”

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