Read Online Christian Romance: Heaven on Earth... [4 Beautiful Christian Romance Stories] by Joanne Sawyer - Free Book Online Page B

to despair that Lucy would ever find a husband. She has
absolutely no interest in such things. Boys would come calling at
our house now and again, and we wouldn’t have grumbled too much about her
getting to know any of them better as long as it’s a decent fellow,
but it’s Lucy herself who turns them down. Sends them all home
politely, not even fifteen minutes in.” Helena shook her head at
Lucy, looking torn.
    “Eh, but what of it?” said Rick in his
daughter’s defense. “She’s too young for that anyway. Really,
darling.”
    Helena looked at her husband patiently
but not resignedly, and it was easy to tell this was an old
argument. “We were twenty-two when we married, dear. Right out of
college.”
    All of a sudden, a smile bloomed on
Rick’s face as he looked at Helena. “Eh, but we couldn’t wait,
could we?” he said, to his wife’s mortification and to the
amusement of the rest of the table who were following the
conversation.
    “Oh, come, come, Helena,” said
Margaret, wiping at her eyes again, this time of tears born of
mirth. “Your Lucy is a pretty girl, I’m sure she wouldn’t have a
problem on that score, when the time comes. What do you think,
son?” She turned to Charles. “Don’t you think Lucy is
pretty?”
    This was such an unexpected turn in
the conversation that the participants stilled for a moment. And
then—almost as one entity—they all turned to look at Charles. He
was the one most shocked by the question, and for once he couldn’t
find it in him to feign anything.
    Lifting his gaze to meet Lucy’s,
Charles said, “I think she’s very beautiful.”
    It wasn’t just the words that made the
others’ silence stretch on. It was the redness that was seeping
from his lobes and down to his neck, making it flush visibly. And
perhaps the answering bloom in Lucy’s cheeks as well.
    In a whisper that carried over half of
the table, Lucy’s cousin whispered to her brother, “Why are they
blushing?” Adrian, being more in tune with his surroundings,
elbowed the other young man in the rib—hard.
    There was only one thing this looked
like, and it was perfectly natural and even understandable that two
attractive people of their age, who’ve known each other previously
and haven’t seen each other in a while, would develop a crush on
each other. For some reason that none of them could wrap their
minds around to, however, both Lucy’s and Charles’ parents felt
something like alarm over this—what they thought of as a new
development.
    She’s our only
daughter , floated in the minds of Helena
and especially of Rick, in an attempt to explain and justify their
reaction to themselves.
    He’s our only
child , Margaret thought in a similar
fashion and for much the same reason. Only Noah recognized what was
between the two people for what it was, and his only objection was
that they were both too young.
    Awkwardness compounded all their
embarrassment, so the sudden appearance of the waiter over their
end of the table was a godsend. Their attention now turned to
choosing their meal—or seemingly so. The older women were
determined to wipe the incident clean from their minds while the
men turned the fact over for practicality’s sake. They thought they
needed to prepare for eventualities.
    Lucy, meanwhile, was lost in a
confusing world of thrill and fear. Charles could barely stop
himself from stealing a glance at her whenever the urge took him,
which was often. He still couldn’t believe this was happening, but
even if this were only a dream or an illusion, he was determined to
never snap out of it...

The Next Summer...

    Charleston didn’t truly understand
what hit him—not five years ago, and somehow even less
now.
    At school he’d been the kind of
student who made friends with like-minded people but mostly kept to
himself. He was quiet and detached from the rest, just doing his
work, giving more than what was expected of him, and at home he did
what he thought most young