Page 66 of Love Story
“Time will tell.” Brandon’s eyes held hers, as if she were the only person in the store. “We don’t all end up with our first love.”
“True.” Bailey loved how this felt, wandering through the store with him beside her. “I told him we’d both pray about it.”
Her parents were better than ever, her dad still coaching football and her mom writing a regular column for theIndianapolis Star. Her other brothers were all working out this summer, getting ready for fall football in a few months.
By the time they got home, Bailey could easily say it was one of their best Saturdays. They were taking things out of the bag when Bailey’s phone rang. She looked down and saw it was Andi. “I’m going to take it, okay?”
“Of course.” Brandon smiled. “I’ll finish unpacking.”
Bailey took her phone to their back porch. From here the view of Lake Monroe was like something from heaven. “Hello? Andi?”
“Ah... I’m so glad you answered.” Andi sounded like she’d been crying. “I need your help. I don’t know what to do.”
“Hey, I’m here.” Bailey sat on the outdoor rocker and put her hand on her belly. Her baby was kicking again. “What happened?”
She heard Andi take a deep breath. “Cody came to Louisiana to see me.”
“He did?” Bailey sat up a little. “What for?”
“Well... it’s a long story.” Andi launched into the details. How Cody had come to ask her one question: Would she give him one more chance? “He said he could explain how he’d acted after our second engagement.” Her single laugh sounded like a mix of sadness and frustration. “Second engagement.Every time I say that I can’t believe I’m still eventalkingabout Cody Coleman.”
Bailey tried to sort through the details of her friend’s story. “You said something about Cody explaining himself?”
“Right. That’s what he said.” Andi sighed. “But I got this emergency call and then Cody helped me with this single mom and her kids who were stranded in the flood. The whole day was crazy. And later when we talked, I told him I couldn’t do this again. That I was finished.”
“Wait.” Bailey was still missing something. “What was Cody’s explanation? For the way he treated you after your last engagement?”
Silence. Andi didn’t talk for several seconds. “He never told me.”
“What?” Bailey wished they were in person having this conversation. The details didn’t add up. “He came with an explanation and he never told you?”
“No, because... well, I told him I didn’t want to hear it. If he couldn’t tell me back then, there was no point telling me now. Plus... there’s this other guy. The one I told you about. Caleb.” She paused. “I don’t know, I just needed Cody to leave. Before I fell for him again.”
Bailey’s heart sank. With all her heart she believed Cody and Andi belonged together. She’d been praying about that very thing for years. And now, Cody had gone after Andi, chased her to Louisiana to tell her how much he loved her, and Andi hadn’t let him explain himself? She kept her tone level. “Andi... I think maybe you should’ve let him tell his story.”
Again Andi was silent. “You might be right.”
“I mean, he flew across the country to tell you.”
They talked awhile longer. Andi explained that it wasn’t a question of whether she loved Cody. Rather, she didn’t trust him. And she didn’t want to wind up a single mother someday. “I seriously don’t know if I can believe in him again. And what about Caleb?” Andi sighed. “That’s why I had to call you.”
Bailey took her time responding. This was a strange situation, giving her best friend advice about the boy she, herself, had once loved. It had been many years since she’d thought about Cody that way. He hadn’t been the one for her, she knew that, of course. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t remember the way she had cared for him back then.
She pictured Cody, the sincerity in his eyes, the honesty in his smile. The way he would lay down his life for someone he cared about. Or even for a nation full of strangers, like he’d been willing to do in Afghanistan.
There were very few guys with the character and strength of Cody Coleman. Bailey needed to share that with Andi. “I think a lot of this is your fear talking.” Bailey didn’t want to offend her friend. But this had to be said. “If there’s one thing I know about Cody Coleman it’s this: He’s trustworthy. You could trust him with your life, Andi. If you two ever married, he would never dream of leaving you. Not ever.”
“He left me before.” Andi’s answer was quick.
Bailey considered that. “He broke up with you, yes. But he didn’t leave you. Not in the normal sense, like because he didn’t care about you or love you.”
“I guess.” Andi was softening. “So... you think I should have let him explain?”
“Andi... Do you still love him?”
There was a sniffling sound on the other end of the line. “With everything in me.”
“Then what are you doing talking to me?” Bailey allowed a soft laugh. “You can trust him. You have to find out what he came to tell you. Maybe that will clear all this up.”
