Riverbend Reunion(91)

Wade stood up and held out a hand toward Jessica. “I think they’re playing our song.”

She put her hand in his, and he led her out to the middle of the dance floor. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and he drew her close. “We’re going to be all right. I just know it. We deserve what we’ve got, and with all our friends around us, we’re going to kick that other shoe out the door if it drops.”

“Yes, we are,” she said, and she meant it.





Chapter Twenty-One


When everyone had gone that evening, Jessica went out to the bar and plugged some coins into the jukebox. She pressed the buttons to play “Lead Me Home”—a song that probably would be better suited to a funeral, but every bit of the song seemed to apply to her life. That night she was burying the past and going forward. The lyrics asked God to take the singer’s hand and lead him home, and Jessica felt like God had done that for her. That a bar remodeled from an old church could be compared to heaven might not fit into some folks’ way of thinking, but to Jessica, it was perfect. She stepped out into the middle of the floor in the semidarkness and closed her eyes. She weaved back and forth until the song ended.

The next song was “If Tomorrow Never Comes” by Garth Brooks. One minute she was dancing around alone, the next Wade had appeared out of nowhere and taken her in his arms. He sang the words to the song right along with Garth.

“This was on the radio when I was getting ready for bed, and I had to come out here and tell you . . .”

She took a step back and led him down the hall to her bedroom. “I don’t ever want to face the world without you, Wade Granger, but I damn sure don’t intend to waste another moment of what we have today, either.”

“This is a big step,” Wade whispered. “I’ve been ready for it for a long time, maybe since we were teenagers.”

“Me too.” She pulled him into her bedroom and kicked the door shut with her bare foot.



Wade awoke on Tuesday morning and sat straight up in bed. For a few minutes he thought he was still dreaming, and then he realized that Jessica was curled up beside him. His phone lying on the table next to the bed told him it was five o’clock, Tuesday, August 16. He propped up on an elbow and stared his fill of Jessica. Her blonde hair was splayed out over the pillow, with one strand stuck to her forehead. The sheet covered her body, but he didn’t need to see her without clothing to know what she looked and felt like. The night before had told him all that and more.

She opened her eyes slowly, reached out to touch his face, and said, “You are real. Last night wasn’t a dream.”

“I was just thinking the same thing.” He moved over and brushed a soft kiss across her lips. “I’m in love with you, Jessica. I want us to live together, but all I have to offer you is a tiny travel trailer.”

“I want us to live together, too,” she said, “and I do have this bedroom, a nice bed, and a bathroom we can share.”

“So?” he questioned.

“But . . . ,” she started.

“There are not buts in real love, just ands,” he told her.

“What does that mean?” she asked.

“But means there’s a reason for something not to work. And means there’ll just be more and more added on to what we have now,” he answered.

“I was going to say, but I want to keep this between us for a little while. I don’t want to share you or the news,” she told him.

“No problem,” Wade agreed. “We’ll tell the rest of them when the time is right. Right now, though, it’s more than an hour until Risa arrives to make breakfast.”

She moved over closer to him. “I’ve got an idea about how to spend that hour.”

“I’m reading your mind right now, and I like your idea,” Wade said.



A week later, Risa awoke with sadness in her heart. She had never been ready for the first day of school, and that morning she dreaded even more seeing her girls get into the truck and leave. This would be their last first day, and she would only have one more year with them before they went off to college. She made their favorite pancakes that morning, but they were almost too excited to eat. Now it was time for them to walk out of the bar and drive to school—their first time ever to drive and not ride the school bus.

“I can’t believe you are letting us take the truck to school.” Lily slung her backpack over one shoulder. “Man, Daisy, we are almost adults.”

“Almost is the key word,” Mary Nell told them. “Treasure this year, because being an adult isn’t nearly as much fun as it looks like.”

“Amen to that,” Haley said. “Mary Nell is giving you some good advice.”

“Yes, she is, and learn from all our mistakes instead of repeating them,” Risa said.

“This is some pretty heavy conversation for the twins’ big day.” Oscar piled three more pancakes onto his plate. “I remember the morning that Mary Nell left for the first day of her senior year. Her mother cried, and I wanted to go get her and take my family to a remote island somewhere far away.”

“Are you going to cry, Mama?” Daisy asked.

“Nope, I’m going to pray that you have the best year ever.” Risa crossed her fingers under the table like she had when she was a little girl and told a white lie.