Page 23 of Lumberjack Bride
Seven
Hazel
It didn’t break them.
Four little words that kept me up all night. My parents defied all odds, went against everything everyone ever told them to be together. People told them they were insane. You can’t marry a person you just met. You don’t even know them. How can you trust them? They’re hiding something. They want something. Break it off and don’t get married.
It didn’t break them.
My mother made a mistake. For all I know, my father did, too. The others won. They were right. They couldn’t trust each other. My mother was hiding something. But...
It didn’t break them.
I sit on my front porch, watching the sun slowly rise over my old home. More cars pass by each minute, people hustling to make their morning commutes and send the kids off to summer camp and daycare. Those who happen to walk by notice the bearded man sleeping on my lawn but they don’t say anything. It’s none of their business, after all.
I hold a cup of cold coffee in one hand and my mother’s diary in the other.
Leo stirs, subconsciously reaching beneath his head to fluff the non-existent pillow. Honestly, I’m not at all surprised he spent the night here. It’s what I did, though I’m a little jealous that he didn’t have to worry about bears eating him in his sleep.
As reality dawns on him, Leo opens his eyes and looks down the street.
“Hey, Leo,” I say, raising my mug to take a sip from the old coffee.
He looks at me as he sits up. “Hazel,” he says, yawning.
“Did you sleep well?”
He stretches his back. “You kidding? I could do this all week.”
My lips twitch as he turns his stiff neck. He’s not lying, either. He will do this all week, all month if he has to.
I could make him prove it. Or I could accept the inevitable.
I set the mug down on the porch. “You were right,” I say.
His brow arches. “Say that again.”
My head tilts. “I shouldn’t be trying to live up to some fairy tale. I should just get over it and move on.”
He glances from me to the diary. “Haze—”
“Just let me say this, please,” I say.
He nods and shifts to face me on the grass.
I heave a weak breath. “I tried to read more. I tried to find out all the answers. Did my dad know? Did she fall in love with this other guy? Did she ever come clean? In the end, I don’t want to know. Because you’re right, it didn’t make a difference to them, so why should it make a difference to me? I based my life on this idea of true love and that there would always be someone out there for me. But, you’re right, Leo. There is no such thing as true love.”
His head tilts. “I didn’t say that.”
“I should stop trying to live up to this impossible ideal and just… live.” I look at my hands. “But I don’t know how to do that.”
Leo exhales. “So… are we getting married today?” he asks. “Yes or no?”
I don’t answer. I hesitate, torn between two powerful paths.
He stands up and reaches into his pocket. “I’m going back to Whitefish,” he says, stepping closer. “I’m going to take a long, hot shower to wash this city stench off me. Then, I’m going to put on my tuxedo, I’m going to stand in front of the dock at sunset, and I’m going to wait for you.”
I open my mouth to speak but I fall silent as he pulls an object from his pocket.