Buy me
Facebook me
Gregory is a world renown artist, drop-dead gorgeous and sincerely believes a promise should never be broken. At the age of twelve he promises to wait for four year old Mary Elizabeth to grow up. Every day of his life since then has revolved around keeping that promise. Now the time has finally arrived to discover if she still wants to marry him.
While Mary Elizabeth doesn't believe in fairy tales, she believes in Gregory. Her parents keep insisting he won't come for her, but she knows he will. At four years of age her young heart recognized the person it belonged to. But just when she believes her perfect future is coming true, a spiteful adversary causes her to doubt Gregory's sincerity. Now the future doesn't seem quite so bright or certain. Gregory and Mary Elizabeth will have to overcome many obstacles in order to stop waiting and to finally begin living and loving.
EXCERPT:
After a moment of silence, Gregory grinned through the railing. "Well, here we are. It isn't exactly how I
thought our first meeting would go."
A fluttering in her chest made it hard to breathe, but she somehow managed to smile in return. "How did you think it would go?"
He leaned backward until both elbows rested on the cold, concrete flooring. "I thought I would ask about your life and then I would tell you about mine." He shifted his weight. "I wanted to ask about your future plans." He leaned over slightly and grinned. "What are your plans for after graduation?"
The way he studied her mouth made it difficult to concentrate. "I want to open my own floral shop, but my parents want me go to the university to study business. They think I should understand business first before I rush into ownership of a shop."
He gave the tips of his shoes some serious consideration before finally nodding. "That sounds like wise advice."
A comfortable silence surrounded them. Mary Elizabeth leaned on the railing and finally broke the silence. "Why are you really here?"
He sat up, leaned forward, and wrapped both arms around his knees. "I needed to know you still wanted me to wait for you." He glanced over for a brief moment before looking back down at the steps. "You were very young when you asked."
She wanted to reach and touch his hair. Just to see if it was as soft as it looked, but she resisted the urge. "Why have you kept your promise? Even my parents said you wouldn't."
He looked up and locked eyes with her. "But someone did expect me to. You did and I did. Did anyone else matter?"
She did reach over then and touched the sleeve of his shirt. "There's more. Isn't there?"
He completely covered her hand with his. "I wanted you to know that I believed you that day. It never mattered to me that no one else did. I did." He gave a shy grin. "I want you to enjoy this time in high school and at the university. Don't give up living just because you know where our journey ends." He increased the pressure on her hand for a moment. "Promise me to do this, okay?"
She nodded.
He released her hand and stood. She stood as well.
"When I return, I don't want you to have any doubts about if we belong together or not."
Before any more could be said, the cab arrived behind her father's car.
Gregory passed Mary Elizabeth at the bottom of the steps. She slipped his jacket off and handed it to him. When he reached over for it, his fingers lingered on the top of her hand in a final caress. The touch was so brief Mary Elizabeth would have thought she had imagined it, but he paused in mid step and smiled before continuing toward the cab.
They both stopped and looked at each other before opening their respective car doors.
I'll wait for you if you'll wait for me.
"I made you a promise. It is still just as good today as it was the day it was made. Enjoy your time here at school. Go study your business classes and then open your floral shop. I'll be back soon."
There were a million things she wanted to say.
"Is that a promise?"
"Yes, but this time, you have to give me a promise. You have to promise me to live and enjoy this time of your life."
"How do I do that?"
"You take each day as it comes. You live each day as if it were your last day on earth."
She could feel her father staring from inside the car, but the only person who mattered at that moment was Gregory. "I'll try."
He laughed. "You have to promise."
His smile made her laugh as well.
"I will. I promise."
No comments:
Post a Comment