It's been a year since Elle's accidental meeting with James and the 3 short weeks that followed in which she discovered what love really looks like.
And it happens to take the form of handsome cowboy, James Bridgewater. Her soulmate, twin flame, ot...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
June 25, 2023
"Hey Darby?" I ask as we make our way into the living room while the boys wash the dishes from dinner.
"Yeah, dear?" She looks at me over her shoulder.
"I was wondering if you could show my pictures of Araceli and West. And tell me more about them?" I say softly.
"Of course!" Her face lights up. "What brings this up anyway?"
"Yesterday James took me to go visit their gravesite and I've been a tad bit curious about them, especially more so lately."
"Well follow me," she motions with her hand and begins walking upstairs. I've been up there a few times. Enough to know that there are only 2 bedrooms and a bathroom. Lucas and Darby's room and then James's childhood room that hasn't changed since he was in elementary school.
Darby goes to the end of the hall, stopping at a shelf above the desk in the hallway. She pulls down a photo album and then leads me into her bedroom, shutting the door behind us.
"Sit, sit," she says with a smile as she takes a seat on the bed. I sit down next to her and see the front of the book for the first time. It's titled 'Ara, West, and JJ's Journey.' "Araceli put this together when she first had James," her smile turns slightly sad as she opens up the cover, revealing plenty of pictures that are labeled and dated.
So far all I see are pictures of a young brunette with freckles and a boy about her age that also has brown hair, so brown it's almost black. Both of them have dazzling smiles and beautiful brown eyes. "These are from when they first started dating," Darby explains, running her fingers across many of the pictures.
"How old were they?"
"About 15 in these but they knew each other their whole lives," Darby explains.
"He has James's hair," I smile thinking about it.
"Aw yes. The signature Bridgewater black-brown hair," Darby chuckles softly. "I suspect your children will have a similar hair color." My smile breaks out into a full on grin at the picture painted in my head.
"What were they like?" I ask, taking in the photos on the pages as Darby slowly flips through them.
"Araceli was brilliant. Straight A's and on the dance team too. She was so kind and always loved helping at the diner. She took pride in everything she did." Darby sniffles, but her smile never wavers as she speaks about her daughter.
