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by Staci Stallings

Sunday slipped by into memories all too quickly, and when evening came, it found Scott and Jenna once again by the pool. She was going to miss this space. 

“I know this is kind of quick,” Scott said, “but have you thought about a date?” 

“A date?” she asked and then realized what he meant. “Oh. For the wedding?” 

Holding her hand, he nodded. “I mean I’m not trying to rush you or anything.” 

“No. No,” she said, not wanting to ruin the moment. “Yeah. We need… we should talk about it.” 

“Good. I’m glad you think so too. I was looking at a calendar earlier, and I really think, you know, I mean, what’s the use of waiting? I hate the thought of you being all the way in Texas for too long.” 

Her world rocked just a bit. Leave Texas? He was assuming she would be the one to move. Somehow, she hadn’t thought about that until now. Now, she couldn’t help but think that made the most sense. He had his practice. What did she have? A house with old memories, and a mother who barely tolerated her? Still, it took a hard swallow to nod. 

“So I was looking, and I was kind of thinking around the end of March looks doable. Unless, like you’re thinking about having a big church wedding or something. I’m not sure how long those take…” 

The air thinned around her, and she pulled in a short gasp. “March…?” 

“Unless that’s too soon,” he said, jumping on the concern in her voice. “Yeah. Yeah. You’re probably right. That’s too soon. So, like April then… or May? We could do a spring wedding. It’s not like it has to be fancy. Just us and the preacher is fine by me.” He looked at her. “Unless you want the big, fancy wedding thing…” 

“No.” The word was soft, barely there as it jerked her heart painfully. She’d had the big, fancy wedding—complete with a cathedral train and a veil to match. Her heart lurched at the thought of that day. How happy she’d been, giddy even. Marrying the man of her dreams. Jeff Davis. He was everything she’d ever dreamed of, and they would be married and build a life together and have a whole bunch of kids… 

“What do you think?” Scott asked, and Jenna snapped back to reality and realized she had no idea what he had just asked. 

“Uh? Think?” 

“About where it should be. I mean, I’m not really very connected up in New Jersey. I don’t even really have friends there, just colleagues and acquaintances. It’s just mostly where I landed after college and stuff. We could probably go out to Idaho. Mom and Dad’s church is nice enough, and there’s all of their friends out there. Or we could do it in Texas if you’d rather do that. I really don’t care, long as you’re there and I’m there, and we’ve got a certificate and someone to sign the papers, and I’m good to go.” With a grin, he leaned over and kissed her. “I can’t wait.” 

Janna closed her eyes to absorb the courage of the kiss into her. She needed something to keep her from crying.  

“But we don’t have to decide now either,” he said as he straightened and continued. “You can talk with your mom. Once I get back in the swing of things in New Jersey, we can talk and get things settled.” 

Smiling, Jenna nodded. Settled. It was a nice idea… 

Can Jenna learn to open her heart to love again?

Or will her second chance at love be doomed before it even gets started?

Find out in

A TIME TO LOVE

Now available for preorder…