Page 84 of When We Were Young
Ten Secrets to a Happy Marriage.
“My mom wrote it before she died.” Kari sat down and leaned back in her chair. “Ryan found it last night.” She paused. “Just when the two of us needed it most.”
“The two of you?” Emily lifted her eyes to Kari. “For your marriage?”
“Yes.” Kari took a sip of her coffee. “Just because we lead the group doesn’t mean we don’t have our moments. Marriage takes work.” She smiled, even though a hint of sadness remained in her eyes. “Ryan and I were struggling, thinking more of ourselves than each other.” A deep breath. “We’re good now. And Emily, you and Noah... you can be, too.” She hesitated. “No matter how dark things are right now, I have to believe there’s still hope.”
Emily looked at the top of the first page of the document. The words took her breath.Divorce is not an option.The very first point Kari’s mother had made. If only that were true for Noah and her. “Thanks.” She handed the document back to Kari. “It’s too late for this.” She could feel herself shutting off. She didn’t need this advice. Not now.
“Keep it.” Kari slid the pages back to Emily. She didn’t seem daunted. “Anyway, Ryan’s already at work, but he told me to tell you he’s praying for you and Noah. For a miracle. We both are.” She let that sink in for a moment. “Even now.”
“Noah’s probably already gone.” Emily hated to kill the mood, but there was no reason to believe a miracle would happen. It was too late.
Another sip of her coffee and Kari looked intently at Emily. “So, you haven’t talked to him since he went to bed last night?”
“No.” Emily held the warm coffee mug against her face. She was so cold. The rain didn’t help. “He just kept sleeping. Like he didn’t have a care in the world.”
“I hoped that after we texted, he might’ve woken up. The two of you could’ve talked things out.” Kari wasn’t pushing. She was being a friend and a Bible study leader.
Emily got it. She shook her head. “If there was a way I could change all this, I would.” She sighed. “I don’t know how to live with Noah anymore.” Tears stung her eyes. In the near distance lightning flashed in the sky. Another storm. She focused her thoughts. “But last night I didn’t sleep at all. Just... kept remembering the beautiful moments between us. And it’s like even though I can’t live with the man he’s become... I don’t know how to live without him, either.”
Kari seemed to let that statement sit for a minute. She sipped her coffee and looked right into Emily’s eyes. “That’s because you’re not supposed to.” She hesitated. “You know what the Bible says about not letting anything separate a husband and a—”
A screeching sound came from out front. Alarm flashed on Kari’s face, and both of them raced toward the front door. The second Kari opened it, Emily gasped. “Noah?”
He had pulled his truck into the Taylors’ long driveway and apparently slammed it into park. What was he doing and why was he here? Emily started to breathe faster. There wasn’t a single reason why he should be in his truck outside. Not one.
“Go to him.” Kari put her hand on Emily’s shoulder. “I’ll watch the kids.”
Emily stepped outside before her heart caught up. Was he trying to punish her, make her watch him drive off to his new life? Or maybe he was here to say goodbye to the kids. Like they needed that. Emily’s heart thudded hard against her ribs. Whatever reason Noah had for coming here, Emily wasn’t sure she wanted to know. But she had no choice.
Thunder shook the ground and then, in the pouring down rain, Noah got out of the truck and stood there. Just stood there getting drenched, blinking back the water so he could see her. Something was different about him. Emily could tell from the shelter of the Taylors’ front porch. “Emily Andrews,” Noah shouted above the sound of the rain. “Please. Come here.”
And so she did the only thing she could do, the thing she’d done since she was nineteen. She ran to him.
As fast as her body would take her.
26
He couldn’t be dreaming because the rain was stinging his eyes and he was standing on the Taylors’ gravel driveway. Lightning split the sky a ways off and the thunder rolled. Water was running down his back and chest and into his work boots and it was all very tangible. Not only that, but for the first time in two decades—or maybe the first time since Clara died—Emily wasn’t standing far off.
She was running right for him.
“Emily!” He shouted her name, and the closer she came the more he knew that this was real and it was a miracle. He moved toward her, onto the lawn. Then like he’d done at Olivia’s side as she died under the overpass, Noah dropped to the ground. Only this time he grabbed at the grass. Handfuls of it. “I’m here, Emily. We’re young again!”
Emily had almost reached him, so Noah quickly stood up. He raised both fists in the air. “Look at us!” He shouted at the top of his lungs so she could hear him over the storm. “I asked God to take us back to when we were young, and He did it... we’re really here!”
She stopped a few feet from him, wiping the rain from her face. “Noah... what... what happened to you?”
He ran to her and put his arms around her. Their bodies came together wet and scared and panting too hard. “I’m here, Emily.” He pressed his face against hers and kissed her cheek, her neck. “I’m never leaving. I love you so much.”
Finally he could breathe again. She was life to his bones, health to his lungs and he wasn’t ever letting go. She brushed the rain from his eyes. Thunder crashed nearby. “Should we sit in the truck?”
“I don’t care.” He laughed and let his head fall back. “Thank You for the rain, God. Bring on the storm! Wash away everything that happened last night, every minute of it.”
Emily looked scared. Noah’s behavior probably made her wonder. “You think I’ve lost my mind, right?”
“I... I’m trying to figure it out.”
