Promises to Keep, Nan Rossiter [feel good fiction books .txt] 📗

about his mom clapping and tapping her feet to the fiddle music on the porch, and she’d suggested he try playing some of her favorite music . . . and making sure she put her hearing aids in. He’d said he would, and then she’d finally asked him about the boy in the photo. Will had told her that the boy was indeed his dad and that he’d been killed in World War II before he’d had a chance to marry his mom. He’d also said he couldn’t believe that Bud was the other young man in the photo and said he was eager to meet him.

“A penny for your thoughts,” Gage teased as they neared Atlanta. “You’ve been so quiet.”

She smiled. “Oh, I was just thinking about Bud and Ivy again, and what a small world it is.”

He nodded, squeezing her hand.

“Sooo, are you ready for this?” she asked, changing the subject.

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” he said with a grin.

“Chase said it’s a very prestigious gallery, and you should be proud.”

“I still can’t believe I got in, never mind Best in Show!”

“I can believe it,” Maeve said. “That drawing of Dutch—with all its intricate detail—the wrinkles, wisps of white hair . . . and those eyes—that see right through you! The judges probably took one look at them and heard him warning them: ‘You better pick my grandson!’”

“Maybe,” Gage said. “He does have a way of getting his way.”

“I’m so glad I got to meet him . . . and everyone in your family.”

Gage looked over. “I’m glad, too. I know they loved you . . . and Dutch definitely approves.”

Maeve smiled. “We’ll have to have the wedding soon so he can be there.”

Gage nodded. “I’m going to be busy getting ready for the show—the gallery wants to have it in the spring—so I don’t know when I’ll have time to plan a wedding.”

“You have a lot of pieces already,” she said, “and they’re going to take care of all the framing—which is nice.”

“It is nice, but I’d like to do some new drawings, too.”

“You’ll have time,” Maeve assured him. “And between your mom, my mom, and Macey and Harper, we can plan the wedding, and you’ll just have to stay up late, drawing, and not fooling around so much.”

“But I love fooling around,” he teased, squeezing her thigh.

“Well, which do you love more—fooling around . . . or having a one-man show in a prestigious gallery in a hip section of Atlanta?”

“Both,” he said, laughing.

“Oh, well, you can’t have everything,” she teased.

“I can’t?” he asked, sounding wounded.

Maeve smiled. “Chase did an awesome job with your website, too.”

“He did. It’s very professional.”

“I bet it’ll get a lot of traffic after today.”

“Maybe,” he said, as he turned off the highway.

“Ben’s gonna have to start looking for a replacement for you.”

“Yeah, right,” he said, laughing. “That’s not happenin’ for a while. Speaking of Ben, are they still coming? It’s an awfully long ride . . .”

“They are, but Harper had a soccer game this morning. They were going to have her go to the game with a friend, but she said she’d rather miss her game than your opening.”

Gage nodded and looked over curiously. “Did you two ever start your new book?”

“We did,” Maeve confirmed.

“Which one did you pick?” he asked, knowing they’d been considering several titles.

“Harper chose My Side of the Mountain . . . so we’re leaving ten-year-old, strong-willed female protagonists behind and embarking on the wilderness frontier with a fourteen-year-old boy named Sam,” Maeve reported with a smile.

Gage nodded approvingly. “I read that trilogy when I was younger. What does she think so far?”

“Well, she’s an animal lover so she thinks it’s awesome, of course.”

Gage laughed. “Hopefully, she doesn’t decide to set off into the wilderness looking for a peregrine falcon.”

“I hope not,” Maeve said, chuckling.

“Did they ever make a movie from that book?” he asked, looking puzzled.

“They did,” Maeve confirmed.

“Maybe I can watch it with you since I already read the book.”

“Maybe,” Maeve teased. “We’ll take it under consideration.”

Gage laughed. “Okay, so who else is coming today?”

“Everyone,” she said.

He frowned. “Everyone?”

“My parents are on their way home from vacationing in Virginia, Chase and Liam are bringing your mom, and Mason and Ali are coming, too . . . since they both go to school right there.”

Gage nodded. They’d all had the chance to meet Mason and his girlfriend at a cross-country meet two weeks earlier, and Gage had been impressed by Maeve’s son—especially when he had learned he was in the ROTC program and planning to go into the air force.

“It’s funny how everything has fallen into place,” Maeve said, remembering how, when Gage had finally gone through the mail after being in Tennessee for several days, he’d found the letter informing him that his entry into the art show, which he hadn’t told her about, had won top honors—and how the gallery hoped he would be able to attend the opening.

“It is,” Gage said, knowing, deep down, that the lyrics of the Garth Brooks song that had always made his grandfather cry had also been inspiration for him to enter—he’d definitely chanced the rapids . . . and dared to dance the tide!

“I wonder if your dad is pulling some strings in heaven,” Maeve mused.

Gage looked over and smiled. “I bet he is—it would be just like him.”

With Heartfelt Gratitude . . .

TO MY EDITOR, REBECCA RASKIN, AND MY AGENT, ELIZABETH COPPS, FOR their thoughtful guidance, positive critiques, and patient encouragement. I couldn’t do it without you!

To the entire Harper Perennial team, who have all worked so hard to make Promises to Keep the best it can be.

To my husband, Bruce—whose wonderful, funny, loving traits are the inspiration for so many of the male characters in my books; and to our sons, Cole and Noah, and our lovely daughter-in-law, Leah, who fill our hearts with joy, and who endlessly cheer me on. God truly blessed me when he gave me all of you!

To the Wonderful Women of the Congregational Church of Brookfield, with whom I have the privilege of spending every Monday morning. Together, we learn, inspire, share struggles, celebrate joys, and pray