The Anniversary (Christian Romance) Read online

  Sadie sat up, her face close to Sam’s. He dipped his head toward her, his nose touching hers. Sadie closed the gap and placed her lips on his. He moved into the kiss eagerly, sending a surge of desire through her. Memories flooded her mind of their youth and how much she desired him.

  Without warning, Sam pushed her away from him and looked her in the eye. “When you kiss me, I keep getting flashes of our life together. I’m remembering who I am as an old man and I don’t like it. I want to kiss you, but I want the memories to stop.

  Sadie looked at him thoughtfully. “What if I want you to remember? It could be good if you remember. It could be good for both of us”

  Sam pulled Sadie close and kissed her again.

  She turned her head and buried her face in his neck. “This time when you kissed me—I started to forget our old life. Why would that happen?”

  He kissed her neck softly. “I remembered how much I love you.”

  Sadie’s heart caught in her throat. “I could never forget how much I love you, Sam.”

  His lips touched hers, making her want more.

  He spoke between kisses. “I don’t want to go back and be old again. I want to stay here and be young with you.”

  “I suppose if I have to go back, there’s no one I’d rather be with than you. But I don’t want to go back either.”

  Memories suddenly flooded Sam’s mind, bringing the good with the bad. But the way he felt, the bad stuff was melting away as quickly as it entered his thoughts. None of it mattered now anyway because he was determined not to repeat any of it if he could avoid it.

  Sam kissed her again, his lips soft and inviting.

  What was that funny feeling rumbling inside her? Was it love?

  Sadie leaned into his kiss with more passion than she’d felt in years. If it was possible, she was more in love with Sam than she’d ever been before.

  Sam stopped kissing her. “Neither of us wants to go back, we have to do something to stop it.”

  Sadie was still trying to catch her breath from the passionate kisses. “I’m all for anything that will stop me from growing old instantly. If I have to grow old again, I’d like to do it slowly—with you. I’d like the chance to do it all over again without all the mistakes that we made the first time.”

  Sam picked up the cell phone and examined it. His eyes suddenly grew wide as he scrolled through the phone. “Did you put this app on your phone?”

  Sadie glanced over at the screen, her eyes locked on the Time Travel app.

  She struggled to breathe in. “I thought it was a game. I downloaded it while I was waiting for you to get home on the night of our anniversary. I opened it just before you walked in the door. I’d forgotten about it and stuffed the phone in my purse so we could go to the party. Do you think that’s responsible?”

  Sam looked at her, his face flush. “This can’t be real. It has to be some sort of joke.”

  Sadie took the phone intending to examine it more closely. “What if it isn’t?”

  Sam took the phone back. “Then it has to be destroyed.” He bolted from the car.

  Sadie followed. “What are you doing?”

  Sam bent down in front of the car and wedged a phone under each tire. “I’m going to run this thing over so it can’t take us back.” He stood facing her. “I love you Sadie, but I don’t want to be old with you again. I want to stay young, don’t you?”

  Sadie shook her head. She was in love again—with Sam, and she didn’t want to lose that. She wanted nothing more than to stay here and be young again with him. Reaching back inside the car, she grabbed the car charger and tossed it at him.

  “While you’re at it, run over this too.”

  Sam paused. “Was there anything else that traveled back with you?”

  Sadie shook her head. “Those were the only things that were in my bag, and I haven’t found anything else.”

  Sam tossed it under the back tire, and then ushered Sadie back into the car. After pulling their doors shut, they embraced briefly.

  Sam grabbed her hand and looked at her seriously. “Hold onto me. If something goes wrong, I don’t want one of us to be left behind.”

  Sadie was shaking. “I’m scared.”

  Sam kissed her hard and fast. “Whatever happens, just remember I love you.”

  She looped her arm in his and planted her feet firmly on the floorboard. “I love you too, Sam.”

  Putting the car in gear, Sam took in a deep breath and then ran over the phones and the charger. The sound of crushing plastic was almost deafening. It made no sense. Sadie put her hands over her ears to block out the low rumble that shook the car like a giant subwoofer.

  Sam put the car in reverse and ran over the phones a second time, bringing silence at last. They sat staring at one another for what seemed like a short lifetime before Sam bolted from the car to assess the damage. Once again, Sadie followed suit.

  Beneath the tire was nothing but a pile of black dust. Sam bent down to touch it.

  Sadie pulled him back. “No, Sam! Don’t touch it.”

  Sam straightened his spine and urged Sadie back into the car. Without a word, he put the car in gear and pulled out of the parking lot.

  After they were down the road a ways, Sadie couldn’t take the silence anymore. “Do you think we did it?”

  Sadie hated sounding negative, but she was worried. She wanted to believe that they were in the clear.

  Sam pulled off to the side of the road. “Only time will tell. I think it’s something we will be praying about for the rest of our lives, whether we’re young or old.”

  He turned to Sadie and placed a kiss on her forehead. “If we’re able to stay here, I want to make the best of it. I don’t want to lose you the way I almost did in the future. I want to grow old with you again, but in the here and now, we aren’t married yet. I want to marry you all over again…will you marry me a second time?”

  Sadie threw her arms around his neck and kissed him, his lips soft and inviting. What was that funny feeling inside her? Was it love? She could definitely feel herself falling in love with Sam all over again, and by his response to her, she knew he was feeling the same thing. Sadie leaned into his kiss with more passion than she’d felt for him in years. If it was possible, she felt more in love with Sam than she’d ever been before.

  “Yes, Sam. I will marry you a thousand times if that’s what it takes because I love you, and I don’t ever want to lose you again.”

  Sadie pressed her lips against Sam’s, not minding for the first time in fifty years that it felt comfortable.

  Sam looked at her thoughtfully. “It’s not too late to change your mind.”

  “Oh Sam, there’s no one I would rather spend my life with—again! And for the record; I was the one that asked you to dance that night.”

  Sam smiled. “I know that. And I’m glad you did.”

  Epilogue

  Fifty years later…

  Samuel Livingston drove his new sports car down the wooded, country road that led to his home outside the city where he’d made a good living for himself and his family. Weaving around the gentle curves of the road, the tires hugged the pavement despite the increasing puddles from the rainstorm. He knew he was going too fast, but he was feeling young and alive at the moment and was more interested in seeing how far he could push the car. He weaved the car between the many sturdy trees that grew beside the long ribbon of road, feeling invigorated at having made it back to this point.

  Glancing over at the passenger seat, he rested a hand on the bouquet of roses he’d purchased for his wife of fifty years. It wasn’t that he enjoyed being an old man again, but he was happy that he and Sadie had made it another fifty years together. He’d spent less time at the office this time around, and even retired, handing the business over to their son, Nate.

  Sam was grateful for the second chance to do things right in their marriage. It hadn’t been perfect the second time, but it was as close as they could have gotten. No
w, the idea of sitting at home with Sadie all day brought joy instead of dread.

  Sam turned up the volume of his car stereo, allowing his mind to drench in the familiar, Big Band sound as he recalled the day he and Sadie had destroyed the Blackberry cell phones. That night, Sam and Sadie changed their lives forever—something not many people get the chance to do.

  He finally managed to get that dance with her—at their second wedding. Unable to keep his eyes off her, Sam thought Sadie was even more beautiful than she’d ever been. When Sadie had whisked him onto the dance floor, he amazingly kept perfect time with her. They talked in-between sets from the band, thinking they couldn’t love each other more than they did at that moment.

  They’d been wrong. As Sam pulled into the driveway, he thought about how much their love had grown over the years, and was still growing every day. It was great to be in love. And it felt good to grow old with someone he loved. He had a special night planned for their anniversary, but he wasn’t sure how Sadie would feel about recreating their first date—again.

  ****

  Sadie adjusted her flared, gray skirt, pulled back her graying hair and tied it up with a pink ribbon that matched her pink sweater, just like the last time she readied herself for their fiftieth wedding anniversary party. She’d done everything the same and recreated the same outfit she’d worn on her first date with Sam, but as she stared at her reflection in the mirror, she wondered why. She’d gone through so much trouble to hold onto the past, and for what? They’d had their do-over, and things had turned out better than either of them could have hoped for. What she hadn’t realized the first time around, was what a good man Sam truly was. Shamefully, she’d realized she hadn’t appreciated him that first time, nor did she give him a chance. She’d fallen into a depressive state of her own doing that had nothing to do with Sam, but everything to do with her own disappointments in herself. It had been so easy to blame Sam, and though he hadn’t deserved it, he’d endured it for her sake out of the love he had for her.

  Sadie learned to be happy as an older woman looking back on her accomplishments. If she had to do it all over again, which she decided she didn’t want to, she wouldn’t change a thing this time around. She was finally content with who she was, and the life that God had blessed her with—even at the age of sixty-eight.

  Sadie reached for her cell phone and scrolled through it to find the Time Travel app. This mystery no longer tempted her. She’d had her do-over, and it was adventurous at first. But the real adventure had been in growing old with Sam. They’d made some mistakes this time around too, and they’d grown old again in what seemed to be in the blink of an eye. But she wouldn’t trade this life away again no matter what.

  After convincing her father to give up his pipe, he’d lived another ten years. She’d spent those extra years with her parents savoring every precious moment. She’d even managed to spare Eleanor from taking that tumble from the ladder that had ended her life the first time around. Knowing Eleanor would be waiting for her at the party tonight gave her a sudden charge.

  ****

  Sam appeared in the doorway and looked at his wife adoringly.

  “You look just as beautiful as the first day I saw you,” Sam said as he entered the room and handed his wife the bouquet of roses.

  Sadie chuckled. “Which time?”

  His eyes questioned her.

  Sam pulled off his overcoat. “I wore my suit again, just like last time.”

  Sadie stared at her husband in disbelief.

  “Sam, you look almost the same as you did fifty years ago. I can’t believe so much time has gone by—again.”

  Sadie wrapped her arms around Sam’s neck.

  Thank you, God, for helping us put our marriage back on track.

  Sam smiled. “Are you ready for our special night out?”

  “There’s something I’d like to show you.”

  Sadie held out her Blackberry to him and pointed to the Time Travel app.

  Sam raised an eyebrow and held out his arm to his beautiful wife. “Shall we?”

  Sadie didn’t take his arm. “We both know how this evening is going to end. Do we really want to go back there?”

  Sam shook his head. “I thought it was what you wanted. I’m willing to if you really want it.”

  Sadie shook her head and smiled. “I’m perfectly content to be right here with you. Let’s delete it and go have a party with our friends.”

  Sam took the phone from her. “Are you sure?”

  Sadie didn’t have to think about it. She had everything she ever wanted right in front of her. Growing up was hard enough the first time around; she wasn’t willing to do it a third time.

  THE END!

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  Love Inspired Historical:

  A Sheriff’s Legacy: Book One

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  CHAPTER ONE

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  May, 1885

  Tombstone, Arizona

  Wells Fargo stage robbed. Stop. Outlaws unaccounted for. Stop. Clayton Fisher gunned down. Stop. Critical condition. Stop.

  Marshall Tucker.

  Logan Fisher held the telegraph in his trembling fist as he exited the train onto the platform near Tombstone, Arizona. Although he’d said a quick prayer for his estranged father’s recovery, he was still reluctant to go to the dying man’s bedside. To be honest, he couldn’t even be certain which side of the law his Pa had fallen on, and he was more interested in hunting down the outlaws than seeing his Pa again. He hadn’t seen the man for over fifteen years after he’d been dropped at the doorstep of his Aunt Mirabelle and Uncle William just after his Ma had died from a rattlesnake bite.

  Pa had blamed him.

  He’d even blamed himself.

  The only one that hadn’t blamed him was Ma.

  She’d been bitten out on the prairie where she went searching for him that stormy afternoon in June. Pa had warned him time and again to stay away from the small cave etched into the rocky cliffs that bordered their spread of land, but he’d only ducked inside when the storm began to stir up into a thick veil of dust that shielded the distance between him and the ranch.

  When he heard Ma’s cry straining against the dust storm, his emotions flared. He was twelve years old, and didn’t want to be followed like a small child. But Ma knew him too well. She knew exactly where to find him, and now she was in distress from the storm. When he reached the mouth of the cave, he spotted her petite frame lying on the ground some distance from him.

  Pulling up his kerchief from around his neck to cover his mouth and nose, he stretched his spindly legs toward her. As he came upon her, that’s when he saw the snake. It reared its head only for a moment before slithering away.

  Logan knelt at his Ma’s side looking for the bite. Blood stained the dust-covered bloomers that modestly disguised her calves.

  Then he saw the bite marks.

  Both of them.

  Logan reached for the pocket knife that Pa had given him for his twelfth birthday and scored both bites. After sucking the venom from the wounds and spitting it on the ground, he lifted his canteen to his mouth to rinse the venom from his lips, and then offered a drink to his weak mother.

  She looked up at him; her hazel eyes had gone dark.

  “I love you, son.”

  He grabbed her limp hand in his. “I’m so sorry Ma. I’ll never disobey you again. I promise. Please don’t die!”

  Her eyes fluttered. “It’s not your fault, Logan. You’re a good boy. Just promise me you’ll take care of your Pa.”

  “I will, Ma. But you promise me you won’t die.”

  “I promise.”

  Her eyes closed and her breathing was shallow. She didn’t even cough against the dust swirling around her cheeks. Logan pulled his kerchief from around his neck and covered his Ma’s face against the dust whirling around.


  Knowing the doc’s cabin was on the other side of the rocky ridge; he judged the distance to be shorter than that of his own cabin. He hoisted his Ma’s thin frame into a sitting position and cupped his arms under her armpits and began to drag her backward in the loose clay toward the doc’s cabin. Each laboring step filled his lungs with more dust, but he didn’t stop to cough; he knew his Ma was failing fast.

  When the cabin came into view, he began hollering for the doc, his mouth filling with dust. His eyes were dry and his lashes were coated with the same clay dust that nearly covered his Ma’s body. Just when he thought he couldn’t pull her another foot, the doc was at his side. The older man flung his Ma over his shoulder like a sack of feed and took her into his cabin.

  Logan ran to get his Pa, leaving his Ma with the doc. When he found his Pa in the barn, he told him the story in between coughs. He’d never forget the look in his Pa’s eyes when he pulled the horse whip from the tack room and tanned his hide before riding off toward the doc’s cabin. Logan ignored the pain of his backside as he flung himself bareback over one of the geldings and rode the reluctant horse through the calming storm. When he arrived at the doc’s cabin, his Pa refused to let him see his Ma.

  She died two hours later.

  ****

  Clayton Fisher hadn’t spoken one word to his son since his wife’s death. After her burial, Clayton took his son and all of his belongings to the train station and boarded him for Texas. He’d wired ahead to his sister Mirabelle and her husband, William, who would be waiting at the other side for Logan. Over the years, his Pa sent word of his whereabouts and always included several paper notes to cover the cost of his room and board. But there was never a personal word from father to son. Logan became bitter until his aunt and uncle slowly broke through the rigid barrier with scripture and regular church-going.