Page 4 of Love Story
She had the baby—a boy—and put him up for adoption. Luke and Reagan Baxter adopted the child and Andi had a dramatic change of heart. She returned to God, made things right with her parents, and moved home. Not long after, Andi’s family left Bloomington for Southern California.
It wasn’t until much later, when Cody flew to Los Angeles for the interview at Oaks Christian, that he ran into Andi again.
This time things were different.
Sparks flew and the chemistry between him and Andi was undeniable. By then both Cody and Andi had been sober for years, and Andi was strong in her faith, trying her hand at acting. It made sense since her dad was a producer. After the interview at Oaks, Cody flew back to Bloomington but he and Andi talked every day.
A month passed before Cody made a decision.
He called Bailey, picked her up at her parents’ house, and took her to Lake Monroe. They walked their favorite trail, and that morning he did what he had tried and failed to do for years. He ended things with Bailey Flanigan. He told her that no matter how close they had been, no matter how they had felt for each other or how much they still cared, it wasn’t right between them. It never had been and it never would be. And he told her to find her way back to Brandon Paul. The guy who had given Bailey far more time and attention than Cody ever had.
His words that day were not because he didn’t care about Bailey.
But because Brandon really was better for her.
And because of one other reason: Cody had fallen in love with Andi Ellison.
Cody breathed deep and kept running. Riley panted as he kept up beside him. A stream wound its way beside the trail at the top of the hill, a place where Riley could cool down and get a drink.
The past lingered in Cody’s soul as he and Riley continued on the familiar dirt path into the mountains. He had taken the job at Oaks in part because he was certain that his future belonged to Andi. For the next year that’s exactly how things had played out. They rode bikes along the path at Redondo Beach and they walked to the end of the Santa Monica Pier. They swam in the chilly surf and spent Saturdays in Santa Barbara, strolling the stretch of shoreline where artists and craft vendors set up their wares each weekend.
After a year, Cody talked to Andi’s father. He wanted to do more than date Andi. He wanted to marry her. He was sure. Cody would never forget the man’s reaction or the words he said that day.
“When you came into Andi’s life, I had a chat with God,” Keith Ellison told him. “God assured me you were the one.” He chuckled. “Obviously that wasn’t something I ever shared with Andi. But I believed I’d really heard from God.” He smiled. “And now I know that I did.”
The man had hugged Cody. “You’re like a son to me. You always will be.”
Andi’s mother was also in agreement. Everything seemed like it was headed for the most beautiful happily-ever-after.
And when the time was right Cody took her to an early dinner at Bella Vista, the prettiest Santa Barbara restaurant perched high on a bluff overlooking a perfect stretch of the Pacific Ocean.
After the meal they walked along the water, hand in hand, and as the sun melted over the sea, Cody pulled a simple solitaire diamond ring from his pocket and dropped to one knee. He asked Andi to marry him and she said yes. The happy moment lasted only a few hours.
Later that night, back at Andi’s house, they learned the terrible news.
As Cody was proposing, thousands of miles away in Indiana, a semitruck hit the van carrying Erin Baxter Hogan; her husband, Sam; and their four daughters. The family had been headed to Bloomington for a family reunion.
Only Amy Hogan—one of the little girls—survived.
The news rocked Cody’s world. Years earlier, Bailey Flanigan’s family had been best friends with the Baxters, which made them Cody’s friends, too. At least back then. Which made the accident a little too close to home. Maybe it stirred up memories of Cody’s days in Afghanistan, or maybe it reminded him of the frailty of life.
Whatever it was, he couldn’t rebound.
Sometime after the accident he called Bailey and the two talked about what had happened that day, how the people of Bloomington were handling the tragedy, and how the Baxter family was doing. Toward the end of the call, Cody realized he was doing everything he could to keep the conversation going.
As if only Bailey could understand him, only Bailey could talk him through his angst and sorrow. Whatever confusion his heart had felt during that time, when the call was over he was no longer sure of his feelings for Andi. He let a week pass, and then two. But at the end of that month he knew he was wrong to keep walking blindly toward a wedding date.
He had lost his certainty. Lost his way when it came to Andi and the future he had imagined for the two of them. On a heartbreaking day late that summer, he drove with Andi to a secluded spot in the mountains. “I can’t do this, I can’t marry you,” he told her. “I’m sorry.” Tears filled his eyes. “I need time.”
Cody’s feet pounded the path. He stared at the fading sunlight ahead of him. His decision back then had been both unnecessary and cruel. At least from the vantage point of today. He should’ve told her how he was feeling, why he was breaking things off. He should’ve talked about the accident and the sadness it evoked. Instead after he broke off the engagement, Andi had cried and asked him why, what had she done? What had he done? He had no good answers for her then.
He had none now.
Confusion, that’s all it was. Heartache and hurt for the people he knew so well and a mixed-up sense of what the future held. Maybe he just needed someone to talk to. Someone other than Bailey. Either way, the wedding was off. And that was only the beginning of Andi’s and his crazy, tragic love story.
The top of the path came with a view of the setting sun over Thousand Oaks, flickering lights from the residential streets, the haunting transition between day and night. Riley jumped into the shallow stream and Cody stopped for a few seconds to catch his breath. That’s how his life had always been. As far back as he could remember. Flickering lights, catching him in the transition between day and night.
Mostly night.
