His Plan: Book 2 in the Crossing Midian Series - A Small-Town Christian Romance

Chapter 22

As soon as the front door closed, Lenore leaned against it and covered her face as the tears she'd been fighting to hold back fell freely.

Suddenly Kathleen was by her side, wrapping her in a tight hug. It was clear she'd heard everything, but Kathleen remained silent, offering comfort which Lenore desperately needed.

Lenore didn't understand how this had happened. She'd thought she had made the right decision when she called Nashville and told them she didn't want the apprenticeship. Lenore had seriously thought about it.

It would have been a fantastic opportunity, but it was Beau who planted the seed in her head that night on their date, that if she had gotten one celebrity wedding on her own, she could get more. Then, after lunch with Beau the day before, Lenore had been on her way to the bookstore when she passed by a little storefront building that would make the perfect studio.

It felt like everything was coming together and the only reason she hadn't told Beau yet was because she wanted to take him by the building and show him. She would, after all, need his help to get it fixed up and ready.

But then he was yelling at her, accusing her of hiding things and of not truly wanting to be a part of the youth. Accusing her of not caring about him. How could he assume something like that? And why not just talk to her like a regular person?! The more she thought about it, the more she was actually furious with Beau.

She didn't want to be angry with him, especially not after everything that had happened between them. Beau was right. She'd let him believe she felt the same way, because she did.

Standing there in the living room, crying into her mother's shoulder, Lenore realized the one thing she hadn't admitted to herself or anyone else.

She was in love with Beau Anderson.

Lenore wasn't sure when it had happened, but at some point in the last few weeks, she had gone from caring for this man, to being absolutely head over heels in love with him.

And now it was ruined.

They couldn't come back from this. She might as well go with her original plan and move on to Nashville. Sure, the apprenticeship was out, but there were other jobs. She'd just have to look.

The sooner she left Decatur and Beau in her rearview mirror, the better.

***

Beau stood on the lawn breathing hard for a minute after the front door closed. The nagging voice that always showed up when he didn't want it to was screaming at him to go in there and talk to her instead of acting like an idiot.

But it was too late.

She had said so herself.

Beau seemed to snap out of his thoughts and he walked back around to the truck, got in, and shoved the keys into the ignition.

He debated for another minute before his pride got the best of him and he started the truck and peeled off down the street.

He drove back through town, past the fairgrounds where everything was still in full swing, past the bookstore, and the diner. There he saw Ms. Claudine and Mr. Russell walking down the sidewalk, hand in hand. In her arms, she held the teddy bear Beau had been trying all night to win.

They waved as he went by.

Beau looked down at the floorboard where all the prizes he had managed to win for her lay.

Before he could talk himself out of it, he picked them up, one by one, and threw them out his open window. The only one he kept was the pink duck.

By the time he made it back to the farm, Beau was still upset, but he had calmed down a lot. In place of the anger he had felt in the beginning, was only a weight in the pit of his stomach.