Authors: Carolyne Aarsen
A Bride at Last (17 page)
Nadine frowned at him, surprised. “What are you talking about? I thought Skyline was threatening the paper with a lawsuit?”
“So far it’s just threats.” Clint traced the track of a tear down Nadine’s cheek, his eyes following the path of his finger. “I would be lying if I said I wasn’t concerned about it. But your battle with Skyline has shown me something important. The reason I went into this business to start with. To print the truth. To expose wickedness and collusion.” He smiled a wry smile, absently stroking her hair away
from her face, tucking it behind her ear. “I learned something from you in all of this. You have shown me how a child should love their parent and how strong love can be. I never cared for my parents that way.”
“Please,” she begged, shaking her head. “Don’t look to me as an example of filial love. My mother and I had a totally different relationship.”
“Probably, but you did the same for her that you did for your father. You sacrificed much for her. A career, a marriage—”
“Breaking my engagement to Jack wasn’t a huge sacrifice,” she interrupted.
“That’s good to hear.” He fiddled with a strand of her hair, sending delicate shivers down her spine at his casual touch. “You have always been someone who holds fast to what she believes. Your faith in God, your strength has always been an example to me. I’ve often wished for the same strength, the same ability to face problems head-on.”
Nadine felt ashamed as he spoke. He was making her out to be so much better than she was. “Please, Clint. I’m not like that. I battled many times with God over my mother’s illness. When she died I was relieved and had to ask God to forgive me that, as well.”
“It doesn’t matter, Nadine,” he said quietly. “You have a beauty, a strength of character, a faith that has depth,” he continued, his eyes on the hands that still played with her hair, as if unable to face her. “You’re not the kind of person someone can
get to know in one night, or one week, or month. You always intrigued me and scared me at the same time.”
What he said began a faint stirring in the depths of her being.
“I think I’ve always cared for you. I know I have,” he amended. “I don’t know exactly how to say this except to be very honest.” His hand stopped, resting on her shoulder, his finger caressing her neck. “I love you, too, Nadine.”
She saw his lips move, heard the words as they settled into the empty, lonely part of her heart that she had kept blocked off for so long. As if in a daze, she slowly shook her head. “What did you just say?”
“I said I love you.”
Nadine closed her eyes as if to hold the words in her mind. Words that echoed and resounded, drowning out so many other tiny voices that she had stored away—voices that had humiliated and hurt, sometimes unintentionally. She opened her eyes again and then, surprising herself at her audacity, reached over and pulled Clint’s head down to hers.
Their lips met, seeking at first, then moving more slowly as pain was eased and loneliness filled. Finally Nadine pulled away, her heart as full as when she had first fully experienced God’s love for her.
“I love you, too, Clint. I have loved you for years,” she said simply, her hands resting on his shoulders, his clasped behind her waist.
He drew in a deep breath, as if he had been holding
it since he first declared himself to her. “So that means if I ask you to marry me, you’ll say yes?”
“More than likely,” she returned.
He pulled her close once again and as she rested against his heart, she let her arms slip around him, enjoying the solidity of him.
“It worked, you know,” she said softly, rubbing her cheek against his wrinkled shirt.
“What do you mean?”
“My life.” Nadine tilted her head so she could look up at him. “It seemed so unorganized, like anything I started would end up going in a different direction. Yet God took all those scattered pieces and made them work.”
Clint smiled down at her. “I know we can’t expect a life without trouble, but I still choose the kind of marriage your parents had. Their faith and their love. They built on a strong foundation and I pray that we will, too.”
And as Nadine returned his smile she sent up a prayer of thanks.
And then she stood on tiptoe and kissed her man.
D
anielle Laidlaw snapped open the newspaper, turning first to the “Court Docket.”
“Can you believe this, Leslie?” she asked in a shocked voice. “Eva Nedelof was caught shoplifting at the Red Rooster. Poor soul.” Grandma Laidlaw clucked in dismay as she turned the page. The kitchen was silent except for the soft tick of the clock and the breathy sighs of Leslie’s baby girl.
“Oh, my goodness.” Danielle adjusted her reading glasses and leaned forward. “Listen to this headline. ‘Skyline Contractors Files For Bankruptcy.’” She frowned as she read on, mouthing the words silently. “They are such a big company. What happened?”
“I heard they did a lot of work for that oil company that was starting up. The oil company went broke and took Skyline with them.”
Danielle shook her head. “I always wondered why they didn’t sue the paper like Nadine was so
afraid they would after they ran that piece on Jake. Just goes to show you, ‘Though the mills of God grind slowly, yet they grind exceeding small;/ Though with patience He stands waiting, with exactness grinds He all.’ A German poet said that, and I agree.”
“When are Clint and Nadine supposed to be back from their honeymoon?” Leslie asked, shifting her daughter to her arm, changing the subject.
Danielle shrugged. “Nadine sounded anxious to come back. They’ve been gone for two weeks already.”
“Who’s running the paper?”
“Clint’s uncle Dory came back for a while.” Danielle pursed her lips. “How old is Dory Strepchuk?”
“Don’t start, Grandma. According to Clint he’s a confirmed bachelor.”
“I did okay with Clint and Nadine.”
“Clint had his eye on Nadine long before you came into the picture.”
“How did you know?”
Leslie laughed at her grandmother’s expression. “Don’t pout, Grandma. I could see the way Clint looked at Nadine when he thought she wasn’t looking.”
“I could do quite well for Dory.”
“Sounds like you have someone in mind.” Leslie brushed a kiss across the top of her daughter’s downy head.
“I do,” Grandma said with a confident smile. “Me.”
Whenever I tell a story, I start with my characters. What are their dreams, hopes and wishes? All of us have things that we want from life, yet prayerfully wonder if our motives are right.
Nadine wanted a number of things, but she had to learn to reevaluate her motives and her reasons for wanting them.
As we live our lives, our own wishes and dreams change with our situation. Sometimes we get what we want and then wish we hadn’t. Sometimes we don’t and are glad we didn’t. I think the important thing is to remember that God uses all the good and bad things in our lives to shape and mold us, if we are willing.
I hope you enjoyed reading about Clint and Nadine. If you have any comments, I would love to hear from you. Please write me c/o Steeple Hill/Love Inspired, 300 East 42nd Street, New York, New York 10017.
Yours truly,
ISBN 978-14592-5773-3
A BRIDE AT LAST
Copyright © 1999 by Carolyne Aarsen
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the editorial office, Steeple Hill Books, 300 East 42nd Street. New York. NY 10017 U.S.A.
All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.
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