Page 47 of Love Story
And now he was praying for another chance.
His last chance.
He relaxed once more into the airplane seat. Now he could only pray she would say yes one more time. Andi, whose heart was pure gold. The girl who had slipped into his life like a summer breeze in the dead of winter, giving him hope like nothing ever had. They were survivors, the two of them. People who, because of choices and circumstances, had given up on their dreams of finding true love.
Until each other.
A rush of anxiety came at Cody. There was nothing sure about the days ahead, no way of knowing how Andi would react. She wouldn’t take his phone calls, after all. Odds were good she wouldn’t want to see him. But even so, he had to come, had to see for himself if there was even the slightest chance she’d hear him out.
Cody drew a slow breath and tried to relax. God was here. He could feel that, too.I’ve made a mess of things, Lord.He lifted his eyes to the vast blue beyond.Through it all You never left me. You were always there, guiding me, providing for me. Making the answers clear.
If Andi did talk to him, if she was willing to give him another chance, the situation would still be awkward. Who gets back together after two failed engagements? Cody tried to picture calling Andi’s father someday soon. They would talk for a few minutes about Cody’s football team, spring training, and how the coming season looked.
But before long Cody would have to get to the point. Yes, he’d asked before, and yes, he and Andi had struggled through two broken engagements. Cody hadn’t meant to hurt her, he would explain. He had his reasons. But now he was convinced he knew better how to love her. Better how to handle the trauma that still plagued him.
He’d never been more sure in all his life.
Andi’s father would probably hang up on him, too. Or maybe not. Maybe he would actually be happy for Cody and Andi. The man had always loved Cody, and he’d said that he believed God had crossed their paths for this purpose.
Months after Andi broke up with him the last time around, Cody had run into Andi’s father at Ralphs supermarket in Thousand Oaks.
The conversation that day was as real now as it had been back then. Keith had come up to Cody just as he was about to enter the checkout line. “Cody Coleman.” His tone held an understandable hesitancy.
Cody had turned around and there he was—the man who would’ve been his father-in-law. “Keith. Hey.” Cody shook the man’s hand. “It’s been a while.”
“Too long.” He paused. “How are you? Really?”
Cody stepped out of line so the two could talk. For several seconds Cody didn’t say anything. Things were too far gone for small talk. “I... I miss her.”
It felt like they were the only two people in the store. Keith nodded. “She misses you, too.”
That had shocked Cody. “She... hasn’t taken my calls.”
“Andi’s hurt.” The man seemed to stand a little straighter, the way any daddy might when his daughter’s heart was involved.
“I handled everything wrong.” Cody hadn’t known what to say. “I’ve never... been more sorry in all my life.” He shifted, uneasy. “If I could do it all over again, I would.”And the two of us would be married by now,Cody had thought to himself. “How is she?”
“She’s fine. She enjoys her work.” Keith hesitated. “Keep trying, Cody. She does miss you.”
Okay, so Andi’s father still cared about him. Still wanted to see them together. At least he had back then. Cody looked across his seatmates at the vast blue outside the window. He didn’t like to think about the terrible broken engagements between them.
None of it had been Andi’s fault.
Now if only he could find her and explain himself. He would tell her about the terrible dreams and strange episodes. The way he had wanted to protect her from the realities of his postwar trauma. At least then she would know that his distance toward her wasn’t because of anything she had done.
He was in love with her then and he was in love with her now.
Cody felt overwhelmed.What if she turns me away? How am I supposed to go on without her?He closed his eyes. And suddenly the words of the soldier—Beck, right?—came back to him.You’re going to be okay... God has good things ahead for you.Yes, that’s what he needed to believe.
God was on his side, and he wasn’t going to letPTSDstand in the way. Sure, he might have episodes. But he’d learned new ways of coping, and Andi would only help. Andi’s face and voice filled his heart. She cared about people in pain. That’s why she was making her living working in disaster areas.
Please, God... help her to see me in a new light. Let her listen to me, please.He missed her more than ever, with every breath. And something else... something Cody knew he would never find with any other girl. Andi Ellison made him feel ten feet tall.
Now he just prayed that Beck’s words were right.
That God did indeed have good things ahead.
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