Read Online Twice in a Lifetime (Love Found) by Ruthie Henrick - Free Book Online

and blessings, standing shoulder to shoulder with the man of her dreams in the evening light, surrounded by loved ones, it was only right she should dream about the future with Ben. Ben, who loved her, who laughed with her. Who teased her about her dimple. She laughed, brushed bird seed from his shoulder, then leaned into his kiss.
    She would run with him in the mornings, cook dinner with him at night, and draw him a map to the laundry hamper. And one day, in the same way she prepared for the school year to begin, for a room full of eager young children to grace her life, she would dream about a family of their own.

 
     
     
    “Reminds me of the old days.” Ben paused to stretch his back. Loading tools at the end of the day was heavy work. He pulled a bandanna from his back pocket and lifted his ragged ball cap, wiping sweat from his tanned forehead. “Working like slaves for old man Billings.”
    Jake tossed a couple of two-by-fours into the bed of the truck. “Business is good. You complaining?”
    “Hell no.” He coiled the extension cord, looping it around his forearm and securing the end before tossing it into the truck. “We need to get this company in the black as quickly as possible.”
    “We’re getting there.” Jake motioned for him to help lift the table saw and together they muscled it onto the tailgate. Jake gave it a healthy shove until it was in the bed. “Permits will be ready for that bigass house in Scottsdale next week, the one in Chandler the first of the month. I’ve got a handful of remodels on the line, too.”
    He nodded. He’d seen the proposals, the contracts. They’d be busy for a while. They unloaded their tools back at the yard and said goodnight. The next day would come early.
     
    The door opened to the sounds of Allie puttering in the kitchen. He kicked his boots off, left them by the door and padded that way. “Mmm, hello.” After a slow, welcoming kiss he lifted lids, investigating. “Smells good. How was your day today?”
    “I worked in the classroom all day, but it’s all ready for the first day of school. I have lesson plans to finalize tonight.” He found forks and napkins shoved into his hands to set the table.
    She put the finishing touches on dinner, then passed him a loaded plate and took a seat across from him at the table. “Looks good, Allie. One day you’ll make some lucky guy a fine wife.”
    “You think so? Do you think I’ll make a good mom, too?”
    His eyes shot up. Surely alarm flashed neon bright across his face.
    “Gotcha!”
    He grinned broadly and shook his head, then turned thoughtful. “You know I want to make babies with you, Al. Lots and lots of babies. But let’s take this slow, okay? We both have careers to get off the ground.”
    “Mmm.” She swallowed her mouthful. “There are lots of things I’d like us to do first.” She glanced around. “And we’ll need a house, this place is kind of small.”
    “It will happen when the time is right.” He took her hand and rubbed her knuckles with the pad of his thumb. “I love you, but I want you to myself for a while.
    She leaned across the table and kissed him. “I love you back.”
    “Good. Now be a good wife and don’t ever scare me like that again.”
     

     
    She wouldn’t have imagined it, but she was in love all over again. With twenty-five 5-year-olds. They kept her busy; some days they ran her ragged. But as she’d hoped, she loved every minute.
    Allie locked her classroom and exited the outer doors of the school building, her arms full of paperwork she intended to go over that night. The sun, which was bright earlier in the day, now hid behind thick gray clouds. Gusty breezes teased the stack of papers as she fumbled through her purse for keys. A tall, thin woman she recognized as a teacher in one of the other grades yelled from two cars down.
    “Hey, do you need help? You look like you’re about the lose everything!” She tossed her purse in her own car and hurried