Lenora Worth - Sweetheart Reunion

But what if Alma could make it work? What if Julien was the kind of man who was willing to truly love her, no matter what? He’d have to prove it to her. He’d have to make her see that he was willing to settle down and grow up and…be there.

Just be there. No matter what.

Alma wouldn’t open up her heart to that kind of commitment unless it was solid.

So she put on her pajamas and took the ancient enamel tea kettle and made herself a cup of peppermint tea. Then she opened the crumbled bag Julien had shoved at her and took out a fat, buttery, yellow tea cake. She nibbled it while she stared out into the moonlight and remembered how, long ago, Julien and she would sit and eat tea cakes, their feet dangling in the bayou water, their eyes on each other. He’d kiss her, the taste of vanilla and butter all around them. And they’d laugh and whisper and dream of the future they’d have together.

The future that had disappeared in the swirling wisps of satin and lace as Alma had turned and run away from him. Had she been running away from the constraints of a life on the bayou? Or had she believed she was running toward freedom?

No, her heart hurt too much to ever enjoy freedom. Her guilt at even wanting to break away from her hometown shadowed her like Spanish moss. Sometimes she felt trapped and sometimes she felt captivated.

“I don’t know if I can ever leave,” she said into the night. Then she stood and remembered and closed her eyes to all the wants in her life. And reminded herself of her blessings and of all the things she couldn’t have.

Never knowing that the man she was thinking about was still standing out there under the cypress tree, wondering how to win her back.

Chapter Five

Julien couldn’t look away. He couldn’t move from the spot under the big towering cypress tree. How could his life have changed so completely in the blink of an eye? Yes, it had to do with seeing Alma all sad and lonely the other day in the early morning light. It also had to do with knowing she’d suffered through such a tragedy that she could barely function. But he saw that in spite of her difficulties, she did indeed make it through her days with a sweet grace and a strong sense of faith. That didn’t make sense since he’d been hovering around during her mother’s death and her older sister’s cancer scare. He’d often asked after each of them, yet hadn’t taken things any further than comfort and platitudes with Alma during all of that. He’d been too afraid to push at her fragile, tattered emotions. And he respected her and her family way too much to make any moves during the worst of their grief.

But oh, how he’d longed to hold her in his arms and comfort her. He still wanted to do that.

Why now? Why did he have to stand here pining away for a woman who had long ago given up on him? Pining now, when all these years past he’d accepted that he’d lost her forever.

Julien thought back over the day last week when he’d had the first of his epiphanies. He’d been at his boat warehouse, working on a sweet pirogue that he hoped to finish and sell at the upcoming festival. The small city park was right across from the old warehouse. He’d heard children playing. He’d watched their laughter and their tears, watched young mothers soothing hurt feelings and opening juice containers and doling out crackers. And he’d wanted that for himself. With Alma.

He’d gone home that day with her on his mind. And that night, he’d lain in bed and said a prayer for the good Lord to offer him some sort of validation. He’d waffled back and forth for years now, playing the field while he hoped Alma would turn back to him. Was it time to try and win Alma back?

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