Riverbend Reunion(96)

“If they ask, we’ll probably turn them down like we did last year,” she told him. “We’ll let the ones who still relive the glory of being cheerleaders in the past have that honor. I don’t need that kind of claim to fame.”

Haley leaned forward from right behind them. “I agree with Jessica. Do y’all realize it was one year ago today that we all met in the parking lot of the old church? Fate steps in again.”

“Ford is chewing his fist.” Oscar handed the four-month-old baby over to Haley. “He doesn’t care about a graduation. He wants a bottle. There’s Mary Nell and Zach coming up the bleachers. I’m so happy for them. He treats her like a queen—or better yet, like a father wants a man to treat his daughter—and she’s so happy since I finished the loft apartment out in my barn so I could move out there and give them the house. I’m hoping that Ford will have a little cousin before long.”

“Wouldn’t that be wonderful?” Jessica touched her belly, which had just begun to protrude.

“It’s about time. Ain’t a one of y’all getting any younger,” Oscar said.

The superintendent of Riverbend Schools tapped the microphone and said, “We’d like to thank you all for attending the Riverbend High School graduation this afternoon. It’s been a year to remember.”

“Yes, it has,” Risa said with a smile.

“I’m not ready for them to go off to college this fall,” Oscar said.

“Me neither,” Risa told him, “but I’m going to give them wings to fly.”

“Are we going to be that comfortable when it’s time for our son to graduate?” Wade whispered to Jessica.

His breath on the soft part of her neck still caused tingles to chase down her whole body. She hoped that when they were married fifty years and sitting in rocking chairs on the front porch of the house they were going to build not far from the bar, she could answer yes to that. But that afternoon, sitting there in the heat, without a cloud in the blue Texas skies, she wanted to hold on to what she had found and never let any of it go.

“I’m just going to enjoy every day I get with you and this baby, and all our friends,” Jessica answered. “Family is what makes life worth living.”

“You got that right,” Wade said.

“It’s the gospel truth.” She smiled over at him.





Author’s Note Dear Readers, I’ve heard that the eyes are the windows of the soul. I don’t doubt it, because the eyes portray so much expression—sadness, happiness, anger. I’m not arguing with that at all, but I believe that music is the window to the heart. Sometimes my characters tell me that a song speaks to their heart more than words could ever do. That’s the case with the folks in Riverbend Reunion. Several songs came into both Wade’s and Jessica’s minds, as well as the twins’, during the course of them telling me their stories. I hope that you enjoy listening to the songs when you read the story. They were all pretty adamant about their selections, and sometimes even woke me up at night to visit with me about them.

As I’ve said before, it takes a village to help produce a book from a simple proposal to what you hold in your hands today. My thanks to all the folks in that village: to my agent, Erin Niumata, and my agency, Folio Literary Management, for everything you do; to my Montlake editor, Alison Dasho, and my entire team there, from copy editors and proofreaders to cover artists and all those who work so hard at promotion, for continuing to believe in me; to my developmental editor, Krista Stroever, the best of the best, please know that I appreciate your advice and suggestions so much; and to all my readers who continue to support me—you are truly the wind beneath my wings. And last but not least, to my family, who understands that deadlines often have to come first—thank you for everything you do so I can live out my dream.

It’s not easy to leave my characters behind when I finish a book. I spend so much time with them that they become real to me. I hope that you feel that way when you reach the last page, and that they have touched your emotions.

Until next time, Carolyn Brown