Lakeside Sweethearts. Lisa Jordan

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СКАЧАТЬ gaze and hurried through the archway into the kitchen.

      Bracing her hands against the stained porcelain sink, she forced the shudder in her chest to calm. She stared out the cracked window to the backyard at the mangled rosebush and neglected flower beds.

      “Red?”

      She turned and nearly bumped into Ian.

      Agnes ran a trembling hand along the counter dulled by decades of use. She cleared her throat and squared her shoulders. “Sorry, I kind of just took off.”

      “No need for apologies.”

      The yellowed floral-printed wallpaper curled at the corners. She pressed the brittle paper back in place, but the moment she let go, the edges pulled away from the wall. She knew that feeling of continuing to hold on, wondering if hope had forgotten her.

      “If your mama had chosen a different house, I’d have the first coat of paint on the walls already.”

      “We can’t deal in ‘if only.’” He tucked a stray curl behind her ear, his hand lingering on her hair. “Given the chance, this house—and the women in it—can be redeemed. Sometimes it takes peeling away the layers to find the promise for the future. But if you don’t think you can do it—”

      “I said I’d do it.” She stepped away from his touch and waved a hand over the kitchen. “It’s just a little tough being here again. That was a painful time in my life.”

      “I know. If I could turn back time, I’d object to you marrying that jerk.” The muscle in his jaw twitched, and his hand balled into a fist.

      “You had the chance. Why didn’t you?” The words slipped over her lips before she had time to think about what she had just said.

      He turned away. “You chose him. I couldn’t stand in the way of your happiness.”

      Angry tears threatened. Her happiness? The only man she had wanted to stand beside her at the altar saw her as a buddy, a pal.

      No, she hadn’t chosen. She’d settled.

      “I asked you if there was any reason why I shouldn’t marry Bobby. You said no.”

      “I was your friend, Red. I couldn’t stand in the way of your future.”

      She scoffed and shook her head.

      Friend.

      Right.

      He faced her again, a scowl scrunching his eyebrows. “That creep and this house have drained you emotionally. Now it’s time for healing. Learn to let go and forgive. Leave the past where it belongs and focus on your future, Red.”

      “I don’t know what the future holds.” She wrapped her arms around her middle.

      “But God does. I’m here for you, too.”

      “You’re a good friend, Ian. The best a girl could have.”

      He shook his head and scrubbed a hand over his face. “Friend. Yes, seems to be my lot in life.”

      “What do you mean by that?”

      “Nothing. I’m proud of you, Red. Just so you know that.... You said you’d never step foot in this house again, and look where you are now.”

      “Yeah, well, you were pretty convincing.”

      He glanced at his watch. “I have an appointment soon, but first I want to check upstairs.” He grabbed her hand and dragged her out of the kitchen and into the dining room toward the steps.

      Agnes tried to pull her hand from his grasp. “Wait, where are you taking me?”

      He released her hand and gripped the nicked banister. “Just upstairs.”

      Agnes’s eyes studied each step until they reached the top. She lifted a foot onto the first step. Her breath choked in her throat.

      Ian scowled and said something, but the roaring in her ears drowned out his words.

      Yelling. Accusations. Pleas. Broken promises jostled at a locked door in the back of her mind. Feeling that first step beneath her foot pried that door of memories loose, exposing past aches.

      Her heart raced as her breathing quickened. She squeezed her eyes shut. She watched herself reliving the fall—every bone and muscle knocking off the steps—until she landed in a crumbled heap at the bottom, aching for what she had lost.

      Those bones healed and the bruises faded, but Bobby’s role in her accidental fall tore away a part of her that could never be put back together.

      Agnes wrapped her arms around her stomach. God, please...make it stop.

      She shook her head, tears flooding her eyes. “I can’t go up there. I just can’t.”

      Turning, she fled to the front door, wrenched it open and stumbled into the sunshine. Without checking to see if Ian followed her, she hurried down the sidewalk past his Ford Escape.

      Ian wanted this house to bring his family back together, but how could they find hope when all she felt was pain?

      * * *

      As long as he lived, he’d never forget the look of torture that contorted Red’s pale face as she stared up at him from the bottom of the steps.

      He wanted to gather her to his chest and protect her from her past. But that was impossible. All he could do now was help her to face it in order to heal and have the life God desired for her.

      Palming the warm pizza on one hand, Ian rapped his knuckles against Red’s front door, praying she didn’t slam it back in his face.

      A moment later, she opened it, giving him a wary smile. “If you’re fixing to change my mind about going upstairs, it’s not going to happen.”

      “Of course not.” Ian held out the large red and white box. “Pizza offering?”

      “Come in. It’s not polite for a girl to leave a guy standing on her front step.”

      “Especially when he’s holding her favorite pizza.”

      “Especially then.” She flashed a quick smile, giving him a glimpse of the spunky Red he knew and loved.

      The exterior of Red’s brick apartment building lacked character, but her place exploded with color. Cream-colored walls, an orange couch, a bluish-green printed chair with matching ottoman, sheer blue curtains hanging from tree branch curtain rods that had been pushed back to allow the sunshine to spill across the hardwood floor. White daisies in a yellow pitcher sat on a wicker and glass coffee table. And plants in colored pots sat all over the place.

      She had exchanged her work clothes for cutoff denim shorts that showcased her bare legs and a blue Lone Star State T-shirt. Red pulled the ponytail holder out of her hair and tossed it in a pottery bowl on the end table. She fluffed her ginger curls around her face, then took the pizza from him.

      Ian СКАЧАТЬ