Southern Beauty - By Julie Lucia Page 0,54

upset with me?” David had no idea what was happening. This was not what he was expecting.

“No, David.” Kathleen’s harshness turned to its softness once again. As she spoke, she suddenly felt free. She hadn’t realized that this was exactly how she felt. She saw the panic in his eyes but knew relief was in his heart. She knew she was doing the right thing for both of them.

David still was feeling speechless. He wondered if he should try to change her mind. He suddenly felt afraid for his future. Life would be safe and normal with Kathleen. He was sure he could love her eventually, in time. Time was all he would have once he left the army. He remembered looking forward to coming home to family and friends, to familiarity. Everything had changed since then. Had Johanna been a siren in disguise? Was he making a mistake? David’s muscles tensed, he could feel the heaviness of his decision.

This moment would impact the very people he held close in his life. “What should he do?” he wondered.

He had to make the right choice. The safe choice was Kathleen. But Johanna, he didn’t think he would ever get her out of his mind or heart, even if he tried.

“I don’t know what to say. I thought you would be angry with me, especially because I…” he didn’t know how to finish, but she did it for him.

“You love someone else,” she said.

“Yes. I do. How did you know?” he asked.

“I had my suspicions when I discovered you were here for a week and you never came to see me,” she said.

“I am sorry,” he apologized. “That was very insensitive of me.”

“You thought she was dying. Why would you leave her side?” she asked with a knowing smile.

“You knew that too?” he asked sheepishly.

“David, everyone in town knew,” she said.

“I am sorry,” he apologized again. “I forget sometimes what a small town we live in.”

“Is she feeling better?” she asked.

“She is, thank you,” he said.

“Is she really Lee’s niece?” she asked curious.

“Yes, I am afraid she is,” he frowned.

# # #

Is the coach waiting for me?” Johanna asked Jacob while she tried to put on a brave face.

“It is. Are you sure you want to leave town without seeing David first?” Jacob asked.

“Absolutely, I am sure he has a wedding to plan,” Johanna said with a grim look on her face. She tried so hard to show her tough exterior even though her heart was broken within.

“He…”Jacob stopped what he was saying. He didn’t know what to say. He didn’t know where David was but he knew he would be devastated once he realized she had left.

Johanna hugged him and Emma goodbye and hopped into the carriage. The driver closed the door and through the window Jacob saw her do a small wave to him and then the carriage rolled out of sight.

“Where is David?” Jacob asked Emma.

Now that Johanna was out of sight on her way to Ravensworth, she let everything she had been holding in come to the surface and she sobbed uncontrollably. How could she let herself be so betrayed by everyone? She didn’t even know where her journey had begun. How she had gotten so far off the beaten path. She always felt in control of her life. Even when her parents had fled, she knew it was the right thing for her to stay. It hurt sometimes, but sometimes decisions did. Her mind raced through the inventory of men that came in and out of her life like a swift breeze right before a storm’s wrath. They all had promises of love and yet all betrayed her in one swift blow. It was disheartening to believe this pallid life she was leading could be hers. She was finally going to Virginia to be with family but now the excitement of it seemed more skewed and foreboding. She recited scripture that always gave her peace, “all things work together for good.” She wanted to believe this but she could never be as an unhappy as she was right now. She tried desperately to not love David.

# # #

“Jacob, I am here to see Johanna. Is she awake?”

David asked with a smile. “I have great news to tell her, the wedding is off.”

“David, it is too late,” Jacob mortified by having to break the news to David.

“What do you mean it’s too late? I am free to love her now,” David rushed to the room where he last