Finding Eden (A Sign of Love Novel)(130)

"It is," I choked out, pulling her into me and kissing the top of her head, inhaling her sweet scent, apple blossoms and springtime.
"Mama's spwing," Maya said enthusiastically. I looked down at her and laughed with the realization that she recognized it from the paintings we had hanging in our home—the ones that reminded us where we'd fallen in love.
"That's right, baby," I said to Maya, smiling down at her.
We looked around for things we might have left there, but there was no trace of anything. The kids played and splashed at the edge of the spring as Eden and I enjoyed simply watching their innocent joy. We sat against the same rock I had leaned against so long ago as I’d sketched. My arm was around Eden, her head on my shoulder. We squinted upwards to see an eagle circling above us, the sky a soft, peaceful blue.
Here, I had fallen desperately in love with a girl and she had offered herself to me with her whole, beautifully tender heart. Here, we had shown each other how to be brave, what it was to truly be known. Here,  we had learned how to live. Perhaps the land over the cellar was hallowed ground, but this place…this place was holy, too. This was the place where I had first found Eden.
When we were ready, we gathered our kids and went back through the opening in the rock. As Eden was ducking through ahead of me, she glanced back at the spring and then up into my eyes, her gaze tender and full of love. My breath caught. She smiled a smile I had seen a thousand times at this spring, and a thousand times since. I smiled back, realizing in that moment the depth of heartache and love, hurt and forgiveness we had experienced since the last time we were here. And my heart filled with gratitude for all of it, even the pain, because it had brought us here, to this very moment.
We ascended slowly and took the path to the main lodge. When we reached it, we stood looking up at what once had looked like the grandest place on earth. We walked around to the far side and Eden gasped softly. Morning glories vined up the wood, over the windows and all the way up to the roof, filling in the cracks, and covering up the ugliness. The whole side of the house was covered in deep blue beauty, each yellow center looking just like a light shining out from the middle.
And as I stood there with my family, I realized, in the end, it was the beauty that had taken over. It was the beauty we looked upon. And when we walked away from Acadia that day, it was the beauty we attached to our hearts.




Acknowledgements

It takes many people to complete a book and I am so blessed to have the very best on my team. Special, special thanks from the bottom of my heart to my storyline editors: Angela Smith who not only talked story arrangement with me to the point of exhaustion, but provided wine and emotional support often and tirelessly, and Larissa Kahle, who spends what little free time she has helping me to ramp up the emotions of my story and perfect the character development. Thank you to my developmental and line editor, Marion Archer. She is new to my process, but I'll never write a book without her again—never. Her expertise and enthusiasm—not to mention the little notes she wrote in the margin of my manuscript that made me laugh and swoon—not only taught me things, but made my story richer and full of more depth. And to Karen Lawson whose bionic eyes perfected my manuscript even further.
I am also lucky enough to have an incredible group of beta readers who provided invaluable feedback on Calder and Eden's story, and cheer leaded for me when I needed it most; Cat Bracht, Elena Eckmeyer, Michelle Finkle, Natasha Gentile, Karin Hoffpauir Klein, Nikki Larazo, and Kim Parr. And to my author beta, A.L. Jackson, who read the first draft of my manuscript, when it was just three hundred pages of my ramblings and before I'd even spell checked it. Her feedback and assurances gave me the courage to continue on.