The Second Yes Read online

  His first love… his only one so far.

  He parked his sports car. He’d thought he’d forget Sierra eventually. He’d needed to prove to his father he could make it in a big city. He’d needed to help his younger brother pay for his education.

  After turning off the engine, Edgar dashed to the porch. Those reasons had seemed important enough to pursue his career, and they still were, though his father barely spoke to him now. Not a day had passed without Edgar thinking about Sierra.

  If he still prayed on a regular basis like in childhood, he’d ask God if He meant this trip as a second chance with Sierra. Ever since his father’s unfair treatment, praying had become difficult. Besides, Edgar had been so busy since moving to Houston that praying and going to church somehow had been pushed to the side for when he’d have more time. That time hadn’t come yet.

  Being around Sierra brought on thoughts about God because she’d been the one to teach him to pray.

  If his own father didn’t seem to love Edgar, giving all his affection to his younger brother instead, how could he believe Sierra’s words that God loved him with an unconditional, merciful, everlasting love?

  Something thumped inside the house, and then the girl—no, the woman—who’d invaded Edgar’s dreams for too long appeared outside. Pink jeans and sneakers and a T-shirt with a dog on it suited her much better than the black pantsuit yesterday. Then his jaw slackened at the huge forest-green suitcase she was dragging, and he hurried to help her.

  “Good morning, Sierra.” His muscles strained as he carried the ginormous thing to his vehicle. This suitcase must weigh more than she did. “How did you lift this thing by yourself?”

  “Good morning. Who said I lifted it?” She was out of breath as she locked the front door. “I dragged it.”

  “That explains it.” He popped the trunk open and frowned. While he didn’t have much luggage, just one bag, and some sports cars had a lot of cargo space, his wasn’t one of them. “I don’t think it’s going to fit.”

  “It has to fit.” She caught up with him and grimaced. “Aunt Willow gave me this suitcase two weeks ago. She made me promise I’d take it on any trip I go.”

  “You must love your aunt very much.” Maybe he could tie it to the top somehow, or rent a car.

  “I do.” Her chin tipped. “Oh, I know. We can take my car.”

  Great. Edgar pushed away the memories of white-knuckled drives when he’d taught her to drive. When she said she wasn’t the world’s best driver, she wasn’t lying.

  He studied the small sedan in the driveway. “It’s not much bigger than mine.”

  “But it has a bigger trunk. The sooner we stop arguing, the sooner we’ll be on the road, and the sooner we’ll be done with all this.” She marched to her car.

  Hmmm, once upon a time, she wasn’t so eager to get rid of his company. He stifled his disappointment.

  His luggage would have to travel inside in the back, where he moved it from his car. After some wiggling and grunting, he managed to squeeze her suitcase in the trunk.

  He extended his palm for her keys.

  “No, I’ll drive.” She slid into the driver’s seat. “You can drive when I get tired and sleepy.”

  He could go with her logic, but he didn’t have a good feeling about it. He ran around the vehicle, climbed in the passenger seat, and clicked the seat belt.

  This was going to be an interesting trip. Maybe, just maybe, Edgar could win back part of her affection. His heart skipped a beat. Why it mattered so much that Sierra would like him again, he didn’t know.

  He’d built his life in Houston, and she was set on staying in Rios Azules. Besides, by the looks of it, it would take a long time before she forgave him for leaving her behind.

  Her car smelled of coconut air-freshener, just like her shampoo, and in rushed wonderful memories of holding her hand while at the movies, hugging her when they watched a romantic comedy at home, or helping her with her endless pets.

  Sierra always said God had a purpose for everybody and everything. Considering the circumstances, this trip couldn’t be something to bring them together, could it? Definitely not to Sierra, if her frown was any indication.

  She turned the key in the ignition, and the motor revved to life. Pursing her lips, she drove off. He sensed tension in the pressed line of her mouth, and his heart sank a little. Things used to be so natural between the two of them. A longing told him he missed those times.

  As they were approaching the gas station on the outskirts of Rios Azules, he glanced in her direction again. “Do you have enough fuel for a long trip?”

  Her chin tipped. “I know what I’m doing.” Then she put the right-turn blinker and pulled up to the gas station. “Well, it doesn’t hurt to get more.”

  He suppressed a chuckle. “Your tank is nearly empty, isn’t it?”

  She flipped her auburn hair back in a familiar gesture as she parked near a vacant pump. “Well, I didn’t anticipate taking my car, and I don’t need much fuel to get around a small town.”

  “I’ll pump fuel while you get yourself a cup of coffee or a soda.” He leaped out of the vehicle. For a moment, he expected her to protest and declare her independence again.

  Instead, her gaze was thankful and strangely sad. “Thanks. That’s… nice of you.”

  As she headed to the convenience store, he pressed the buttons on the pump screen. Apparently, Sierra had to stand on her own feet and take care of others, so even small gestures of kindness were unusual for her. He wanted to change that, and nostalgia tugged at him.

  His eyes narrowed as he removed the pump handle. He couldn’t leave his heart in Rios Azules for the second time. He just couldn’t. He’d have to resist his attraction to a feisty girl with eyes that seemed to look into his soul.

  As she strolled back from the convenience store with two paper cups in her hands, he couldn’t look away. Her red hair flowed in the wind, and pink jeans hugged her slim legs. The familiar smile she finally gave him made his heart flip-flop. Argh. She still had that effect on him.

  “Hello, Sierra!” A tall man too handsome for Edgar’s liking rushed to her from a luxury car. Hmmm, apparently Edgar wasn’t the only one watching her.

  “Hello, Kyle.” She gave him a bright smile—too bright—and a quick hug. Sadly, she didn’t spill any coffee on the guy in the process. “Glad to see you.”

  Something clicked in Edgar’s hand. What was it? He looked at the handle in his grip. The tank was full.

  The Kyle guy told her something Edgar couldn’t hear. A smile still playing on her plump lips, Sierra nodded. Her face lit up as Kyle talked to her. He leaned way too close. Hadn’t the guy heard about personal space?

  Edgar swallowed hard as he got a vibe they were old friends. Maybe more than friends?

  A flare of jealousy was totally uncalled for. He had no rights to Sierra. She could date, hug, or kiss whomever she wanted. His silly heart didn’t want to understand that.

  Judging by the way her lips moved, she said good-bye, and the guy strode back to his expensive car. Finally! Edgar released a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding.

  Then he climbed inside her vehicle, which cramped his massive frame.

  He wouldn’t mention the guy. He couldn’t care less.

  “Who was that?” he said as soon as she slipped inside her sedan.

  “Kyle Smith. He owns a chain of grocery stores.” She placed cups of coffee in the console and started the engine. The motor woke up to life.

  Good thing he had high self-esteem, so the guy’s obvious well-off status wasn’t intimidating. Not much, anyway. “Hmmm.” That sounded neutral enough, right?

  She pulled out of the gas station. “He’s an awesome guy. We used to date.”

  Really good thing he had high self-esteem. His fingers drummed against the car door handle. She said “used to”. The things were in the past. He hoped. “What happened?”

  If Kyle Smith was stupid enough to leave a girl l
ike Sierra… Hold on. He’d left her, and he wasn’t stupid. Well, the circumstances were different.

  A line marred her forehead. “We weren’t made for each other. We both realized we were trying to forget somebody else by dating the wrong person. Thankfully, Kyle married the woman of his dreams. They are happy together.”

  Air whooshed out of his lungs. “I’m glad for them.” He meant every word.

  Hmmm, was it him she’d tried to forget? Just like he’d tried to forget her all these years?

  She gestured to the coffee cup closest to him. “I bought that for you. Black, the way you like it.”

  He took the cup and sipped the hot, flavorful drink, but it wasn’t what warmed him. Her words were. “You still remember.”

  “I remember many things I probably shouldn’t.” She made a turn. “It would be easier if I could forget.”

  “I don’t want to forget. I want to carry them in my heart forever.” Like the amazing sensations he’d experienced when he’d drawn her close for the first time … when he’d brushed his lips against hers. His pulse spiked. Safer to talk about something else. “Why did you never go to college like you wanted? Leave your hometown?”

  “I did take a few college courses from time to time, mostly online. You know why I never went for the degree I wanted. First, Aunt Willow was sick. I couldn’t leave her.” Her voice dipped.

  “But seems she’s been doing much better for years.” He glanced at her over the paper rim.

  “Then my sister died in Houston. My parents were grieving. I couldn’t leave them in their grief alone. And as much as I explained to them the accident could’ve happened anywhere, they were especially reluctant for me to go to Houston.” Her shoulders slumped forward. “Then my younger sister needed help, then my uncle, then Aunt Willow again. And then… I guess I got used to the routine. It was comfortable. Besides, I felt it was too late to change things. It takes a long time to become a veterinarian.”

  “It’s never too late. You were always so bright. You even had a scholarship.”

  She sighed as she slowed around a curve. “I lost that scholarship. Every year I thought the next year would be the one everything would change. Then, something happened each time. First, Aunt Willow’s sickness. Then my younger sister had a child right after she lost her husband. I couldn’t abandon her in the time of need, could I? Next year, Aunt Willow had a relapse. Next year, Uncle Bob asked me to assist in his failing business. I figured it wasn’t meant to be for me.”

  “So you gave up on your dreams to help your family?” While he could admire that, compassion constricted his rib cage.

  “That, and maybe I figured it was safer not to change anything.” Her voice dipped further.

  He couldn’t bear to hear her misery. “I don’t recognize you. I had no clue what I wanted to do with my life until the year of graduation. But nearly as long as I remember you, you talked about how much you wanted to be a veterinarian. Most of the time I saw you, besides dinners at a restaurant, of course, you were with a dog or a kitten or a sparrow with a broken wing.”

  She chuckled. “You helped me take care of them, and you didn’t even like cats.”

  “I just prefer dogs.” He did his best to push the memories out of his mind. “Where’s that girl who always reminded me that, with God, everything was possible? You were the one who encouraged me to follow God’s calling.”

  “I guess she was sleeping all these years, and it’s time for her to wake up.” Her voice perked up somewhat, and she seemed to press on the accelerator, jerking the car forward. “There’s a university in Houston I’d love to attend to complete my degree in biology. But what would happen to all my pets?”

  “You can take them with you.”

  “I’ve got two dogs, two cats, a dove, and a frog. I know some apartments are pet-friendly. But can they be that pet-friendly?”

  Hmmm… “Maybe Aunt Willow could take them?”

  She grimaced. “Um, I felt bad asking her to help with the animals, even for several days while we go to Crossroads and back.”

  “You know what they say. Where there’s a will, there’s a way.”

  “Enough talking about the past. I hope Ms. Snow will give us the bride’s address, and we can wrap this up. No pun intended.”

  He coughed a little. “About wrapping it up. I took the liberty to call the bridal store. I didn’t get the bride’s address. But I managed to find out the bride was from overseas.”

  “What?” She jerked the steering wheel to the right.

  Okay, maybe Edgar should’ve waited to disclose that information until he was the one driving. Too late now.

  “How far overseas?” Sierra straightened the car.

  “A place near Warsaw.” Edgar braced himself.

  Thankfully, she kept the vehicle in the middle of her lane this time. “Please tell me Warsaw is a small town somewhere in the United States I don’t know of, not the capital of—”

  “Poland.”

  She groaned. “I wanted to travel overseas, but not this way.”

  “I’ll pay for the trip,” he added quickly.

  “It’s not that.” Her fingers tightened around the steering wheel as she changed lanes. “Not just that. Thank you, though. The thing is…I don’t want to spend much time with you.”

  Really, really good thing he had high self-esteem. “I can’t say I feel too flattered right now.”

  He spotted the peccary as it crossed the road, followed by its babies. “Be careful!”

  She gasped and tapped on the brake. The car in the oncoming lane seemed to overcompensate by shooting into their lane.

  Everything inside Edgar went cold. It was either risk head-on collision or go off the road.

  Sierra jerked the wheel to the right.

  With an effort, Sierra opened her heavy eyelids. Her head hurt. She blinked everything into focus. Where was she? Trees? The field? Then memories flooded.

  Oh no! She slowly moved her fingers, then her toes.

  Edgar! Her hands trembling, she unbuckled her seat belt.

  “Are… are you okay?” Everything inside her shaking, she touched his hand, then his face.

  She couldn’t lose him. She… just couldn’t. Tears burned behind her eyes. In a way, she did lose him when he’d moved to Houston, but he was alive. He… existed.

  “Edgar, please, please open your eyes. Please!” She couldn’t see any blood, but it didn’t mean much. She blinked furiously to keep tears at bay as she leaned close.

  Phone! She needed to call 911.

  His eyelashes fluttered. “Sierra…”

  “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I didn’t know what to do, so I went off the road. And then I couldn’t brake fast enough to avoid hitting a tree.” Tears spilled from her eyes as she fished her cell phone from her pocket.

  He sat up and clicked the seat belt open. “I’m… fine. I think… I’m fine. A bit shaken up, but nothing major. However, we should get out of the car in case it explodes.”

  “Yes. I know. We should.” She unbuckled with a loud click, grabbed her purse, put its strap over her shoulder, and scrambled out of the car. The earth moved in front of her, and she had to wait before it became steady again. Then she fished out her phone from her purse and pressed the numbers 911 on the screen.

  He was okay. He was okay. He was okay. Those three words pulsed inside her head. Thank You, Lord, for saving Edgar and me.

  Her foggy mind registered something was wrong as she relayed the situation to the dispatcher. She disconnected, slipped the phone into her purse, and rubbed her forehead.

  Edgar was still in the car! He must’ve been hurt more than he’d let on.

  No, no, no!

  Lord, please, please, please help Edgar be okay. Please!

  Her legs, with bones turning soft as if they were made from cotton, didn’t want to obey, but she forced herself to dash back to the car. She stumbled over something on the ground, and the earth flew from under her feet. In a desperate a
ttempt to regain her balance, her arms flailed. She hit her vehicle palms first and winced from the pain reverberating through her arms.

  No time to think about that. At least she didn’t fall.

  Not paying attention to her scratched palms, she pulled the car door handle. “Edgar! What’s wrong?”

  “The seat belt stuck. I can’t get out.” His gaze was grim.

  Okay.

  Okay.

  She could deal with a stuck seat belt.

  She drew a deep breath of air filled with gasoline fumes and grass scent.

  “Let me try.” She leaned over him, the fragrance of his expensive cologne assaulting her nostrils. For years, she’d dreamed of being close to him again, but not under these circumstances. She pressed the button a few times, but the seat belt didn’t budge.

  “Get out of here.” His voice rose. “If the car goes up in flames, I don’t want you to be anywhere close.”

  “Right. Like I’d leave you here.” In other times, she’d snort that he even suggested it.

  Think.

  Oh, she had a pair of miniature scissors in her purse. Granted, they were manicurist scissors, but better than nothing. She opened her purse and grimaced at the chaos there. She really needed to organize it better.

  After a few incredibly long seconds, she let out a yelp. “Found scissors!”

  She started cutting the seat belt. The fabric was thick, and she grunted at her lack of progress.

  “Sierra! What did I just tell you? You’re putting yourself at risk.” Urgency tightened his voice.

  She didn’t even blink and continued sawing the seat belt. Her heartbeat thundered in her ears.

  Lord, please help us.

  Next time before she’d go on the trip, she’d get the most gigantic scissors she could fit into her purse. No, she’d get a bigger purse, too.

  “Sierra!”

  Okay, she was halfway there. “Hmmm. I’m going to tell you this with all the tenderness I currently possess. Please shut up and let me finish this.”

  “I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone like you.”

  “I’m one of a kind.” Finally! Air whooshed out of her lungs. “Done.”