In a roomful of suits and silky dresses, John accepted the Horizon award on behalf of Harmony Creek in jeans and a ski sweater. The Chamber members didn’t seem to mind, especially once he told them of Verna’s fall.
Every person in the room expressed their concern and urged him to take Verna their wishes for a speedy recovery. John skipped the dinner after the ceremony. He was eager to get home to Verna. To Hope.
He was out the courthouse door and headed to Verna’s car when Chet fell into step beside him.
“Bad news about Verna.” Chet’s tone seemed more conversational than concerned. “Be sure and give her my best.”
“Thanks. I’ll do that.” John picked up his pace. He wanted to call Hope and see how everything was going, but he didn’t want to risk waking Verna.
“You need to let her go.”
John realized with a start that Chet had continued to walk across the lot with him.
“You need to let her go,” Chet repeated.
“Verna?”
“Hope.” Chet swiped at the snow dusting his cashmere coat. “You need to go away quietly and not put her through a messy divorce.”
“What are you talking about?” John frowned, feeling as if he’d suddenly dropped into some alternate reality. “Hope and I aren’t getting a divorce.”
“She was eighteen, impulsive. She made a mistake,” Chet said, as if that explained everything.
John ignored him and pulled out his keys, clicked the door unlocked.
“You know how loyal Hope is.” Chet might have been leaning casually against the Buick, but his eyes glowed with an intensity that was anything but casual. “Because of a sense of duty, she’s honoring something that never should have been. Do the right thing and give her a chance at the life she wants, the one she deserves. Be man enough to walk away.”
“You don’t know anything about Hope.” John jerked open the car door. “Or about our marriage.”
He slid behind the wheel and shut the door, almost clipping Chet’s fingers in the process.
The banker yelped and jumped back.
“You know I’m right,” Chet yelled.
John hit the gas and sped from the lot. He drove several blocks before wheeling the car to the curb. He sat there while the engine idled. Was he being selfish? Tying Hope to a vow made when she was only a girl? Would it be better for her if he simply walked away?
She didn’t trust him. From her lack of response when he left, she might not even love him. Maybe she never had. Maybe she never would . . .
He could take the car home, pack a few items, and jump on his bike. Hope would be free to start her life with a man who was more what she wanted. Since he would be the one to break it off, the guilt would be all his.
But even as the plan began to take shape, John thought of the promises he’d made—to God, to Verna, to Hope.
In his heart John knew if he ran, it wouldn’t be because he thought it’d be best for Hope. Regardless of what Chet seemed to think, Hope was a strong woman who had no trouble making her own decisions. No, if he left it’d be because he was worried Hope would never love him, that she would never feel about him the way he felt about her.
John realized fear had been the reason he hadn’t stayed and fought for Hope all those years ago. He’d thought he wasn’t someone worth loving. His dad had walked out without a backward glance. His mom had died and left him alone.
But he wasn’t a scared boy anymore. What had Dan said in last week’s sermon . . . that God doesn’t give us a spirit of fear?
God never breaks promises, and neither would John. He wouldn’t walk away from the woman he loved. He would stay. He would fight for their marriage and Hope’s love.
And he would comfort himself with the belief that one day she would love him.
Hope hurried to the stairwell when she heard the front door open.
John looked up from where he stood in the foyer as she descended the steps, his expression unreadable.
“How’d the ceremony go?” It was an inane thing to say but the best she could muster. Seeing him, she felt suddenly shy and unsure.
John lifted a block of etched glass in the shape of Idaho on a wooden base.
“It’s a beauty.” His smile flashed briefly. “Everyone sends their best. They were all upset about Verna’s accident. Except for Chet Tuttle. He’s more upset you and I are still together.”
Hope frowned.
“Are we still together?”
The question said in a flat tone sent icy fear slithering up her spine. “Of course. Why would you think otherwise?”
“Our argument earlier.”
Though his posture remained relaxed, Hope noticed a flicker of something that looked like fear hidden deep in his eyes. She forced a light tone. “Oh, you’re referring to our discussion.”
He leveled a long look at her.