That’s where it happened. That’s where it all began. Grant and I had merged our bodies right there on that hay. My heart fluttered just thinking about it. It had been ecstasy. It had been perfect.
Then I looked up at the beam above me. I wanted to check if Grant still had those photos of me. I reached up and found the flask of whiskey. It was almost empty. I put it back up on the beam, then I reached around for the envelope.
I found it and took out the contents. Sure enough, my pictures were still there. The young Lacey that Grant had secretly fallen in love with. It was still hard to believe he’d had such a strong crush on me all those years ago. There was also a letter. I remembered there’d been a letter the last time I opened the envelope. I’d never actually read it. I’d been so swept off my feet by Grant’s passion to even think about a letter. Now I could read it.
I unfolded the pages and realized there were two letters there. The older one from all those years ago, and a much newer one.
I read the older one first.
Lacey,
You barely know me, but please listen to me. I know this sounds crazy, and that there’s no way I could possibly know this yet, but I’m the man for you. God made one man for you, one man in all the world, and that man is me. I’m your one and only. It’s the truth. Don’t ask me how I know. I just do. The first night I got here, I saw you coming down the stairs and it was like I was looking at an angel coming down from heaven. I always knew I’d meet an angel some day. The priest said, when my parents died, that an angel watched over us all. I didn’t believe him at the time, but when I saw you, his words finally made sense to me. You’re my angel Lacey, and I’m going to make you mine. I swear it. I’m going to take you, like a swooping eagle takes a fish from a mountain lake. There’s nothing you can do about it. You’ve always been mine, and you always will be, no matter what.
Forever yours,
Grant Lucas
Tears were falling down my eyes as I read those words. I clutched the paper to my chest. What might have happened if Grant had given me that letter all those years ago? How much different might our lives have been? Would we be married now, with a family, with children? Would we be happy? Would my father have consented to our marriage? Those were all questions to which there would never be an answer. It was impossible to know how differently things might have been.
I opened the second letter, the newer one, not knowing what to expect.
Lacey,
I should have said these words to you years ago. I’ve been a fool. I know it. Please forgive me. I’ve always loved you. It wasn’t just a crush back then, all those years ago, it was the real thing, and it’s still the real thing. The night we were together at Faith and Jackson’s wedding was the best night of my life. I can’t describe what I feel about it. It felt so right, like our destiny. I know we’re meant to be together, and I’m not going to let anything get in the way, anymore.
Be mine, Lacey. Forget everything else, forget all the mistakes I’ve made, forget what an idiot I’ve been, and give yourself, body and soul, to me. I promise I’ll take care of you and honor you.
Let me make you my wife. Let me make you the mother of my children. I beg you. I want everything you have to offer, Lacey. All the joy and love in your heart, I want it to be mine and no one else’s.
Be my bride, and the mother of my children, and I’ll never be so stupid as to let you out of my grasp again.
Forever yours,
Grant Lucas
I almost fainted. It was as if someone had reached into the deepest depths of my soul and grabbed my most ardent, heartfelt, desires. All I wanted was for the contents of that letter to become reality. When had Grant written it? It was since the wedding. Had he planned on giving it to me and then found out about my engagement to Rob? Would he still want to give it to me when he found out I was finished with Rob? My heart was racing. My mind was racing. I breathed deep gulps of air. I was too overcome to even think straight. Two letters, written seventeen years apart, and they both said almost exactly the same thing. It was uncanny, surreal. It was destiny.
I quickly put the letters back in the envelope and placed it back on the beam. If Grant was going to give me that letter, I didn’t want to do anything that would jeopardize that. I wouldn’t tell him I’d read it. I put the letter back exactly as it had been. He couldn’t know I’d seen it.
Then I sat down on the bail of hay that we’d made love on, and started to cry.
Chapter 39
Grant