Page 231 of Sing with Me

At 8:45 a.m. Diehl made his way to the boardwalk behind the beach house. The wood was still damp from the overnight rain.

In the middle of the night at Brooks Cottage, he had woken up to the sound of thunder, and immediately recalled that night back in June when he had been stranded in Athens with Skye in her brother’s off-campus apartment.

They felt at ease with each other, and Diehl knew he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her.

At the edge of the boardwalk, Diehl put on his sunglasses to scan the beach. No sign of Skye.

The ocean waves rolled on, their crashing sounds a reminder to Diehl that life went on no matter what.

Bittersweet life.

Tomorrow afternoon, he’d fly back to Atlanta with his kids. The weekend was too short for him. He wanted more time with Skye.

“I don’t know how I can wait another nine months, Lord,” he whispered into the wind.

His voice blended into the crashing surf and the squawk of seabirds. Somewhere over the waters, a few brown pelicans glided in the wind.

Life goes on.

Unfinished conversations hung over his head. He had hoped to talk about his fears after dinner, but his time with Skye had been interrupted by his needy child who wanted him to tuck him in and read something to him before he slept.

Lately, Diehl had been reading the Bible to Ethan.

On Friday night, Dad was supposed to read to Ethan in Diehl’s place—except Ethan had changed his mind about it at the last minute.

While Skye had agreed to meet Diehl this morning on the beach, he couldn’t be sure she would show up.

Perhaps Diehl had expected too much?

How could they have a relationship with each other five hours of driving apart? Diehl wanted to be with her, hold her, hug her, kiss her every single day.

None of that could be done remotely via phone or video calls.

Even though he had lived that way before with Isobel living on a different continent, this time it felt different because Skye was a different type of woman.

She loved the Lord, wanted God’s best, and seemed self-sacrificial. Still, would she wait for him?

He had tried to let her go many times so that she could live free on the island and find a new boyfriend or marry another man. At the same time, he wanted to be with her.

Last night, he found out—and confirmed his own understanding—that Skye was on the same page with him in terms of their feelings for each other.

Now we have to make it work.

How do we make it work, Lord?

Diehl was sure that if Skye was meant to be together with him, they should not live so far apart.

It was past nine o’clock. Skye was late.

Diehl started to worry until he saw her coming up on the beach, walking along the shoreline in a pretty dress, her A-line skirt fluttering gently around her calves. Her long legs seemed to extend into the foam swirling around her ankles. She carried her sandals in one hand.

She wore a pair of sunglasses, and her hair was down, dancing on her shoulders in the morning wind.

Diehl thought she was prettier than she had been when she joined his family for a picnic at this same spot.

He pulled out his phone to snap a photograph of Skye walking on the beach, but ended up recording a video of her strolling toward him, the Atlantic Ocean providing background music and the sunshine providing perfect lighting.

This was how he wanted to remember her.

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