Destiny…it’s really an interesting thought isn’t it? Destiny...
Mine was determined before birth. It was very simple. I was expected to graduate from high school, marry Declan Sharp, and have two kids. I would stay at home with them, while my husband worked on our family farm.
But wait, I’m getting ahead of myself…here is how my destiny started:
My parents, Samuel and Margaret Harper, known by everyone as Sam and Maggie, were best friends with Max and Louise Sharp. My dad met Uncle Max when they were kids. They grew up just down the road from each other and had always been best friends. My mom and Aunt Louise became fast friends when my mom moved to town from Los Angeles, California in the seventh grade. My mom said Aunt Louise made the culture shock less severe by always making her feel like she belonged.
The population of Kipton, Missouri is three hundred and seventeen. There is a diner, a gas station, and a post office. That’s it. When I say it’s a small town, I really mean it.
Now my dad would tell you the moment he saw my mom walk into the school with her bleach blonde hair and tight blue jeans, he fell head over heels in love with her. For mom, it took a bit more time. She admits she didn’t completely fall in love with him until their freshman year when they were paired up in the Homecoming court. My mom would never admit it, but I believed the fact that he was on a date with someone else was what did it. Although, she said it was the way he looked at her while they danced. Those big golden brown eyes danced with love for her and only her. Yep, that was what did it…
My Uncle Max joked that he and Aunt Louise had been together since Noah built the Ark. In actuality, they became a couple in fifth grade and had never been apart since.
Really the only sensible thing for these two couples to do was graduate high school, have a double wedding on New Year’s Eve, and live on the family farms that my Dad and Uncle Max grew up on. So that was exactly what they did. They always dreamed of having children and they also dreamed about what those children would mean to each other.
My destiny was born on July first at midnight. His name was Declan Samuel Sharp. Yep, Uncle Max insisted his son be named after his best friend, my dad, Samuel. Declan was a beautiful baby. He had tons of dark hair and big crystal blue eyes that had a mischievous sparkle to them from birth. My Aunt Louise could definitely confirm that. Like clockwork my mom and dad welcomed a little blonde haired, brown eyed girl into the world on, July first the following year. I was born in the morning though, if we had been born at the same time that would have just been weird. My name is Lorelei Maxine Harper. You guessed it, my dad had to name me after my Uncle Max.
I honestly don’t remember a time that Declan and I weren’t together. Every picture of me from when I was little had Declan in it. He was my destiny and I was his. We spent all of our time together at school and after school. We loved to go to the pond on my family’s farm and just play. He loved to tease me with frogs, snakes, or whatever he could find to make me scream. That was actually how I got my first kiss.
I was ten years old, so Declan was eleven. He had just caused me to release a blood curdling scream when he threw a huge frog at me! I was freaking out and he came over and that’s when he did it. He hugged me. It wasn’t like he hadn’t before, but this time was different. When he pulled away he gave me a little peck on the lips, and then, I was pretty sure he was going to start screaming. The look on his face was horrific. He looked scared to death. I didn’t know what to do, so I did what any good country girl would do…I stomped on his foot and ran all the way back to my house.
I didn’t see Declan again until the next day at school and, thank goodness, everything was back to normal. I didn’t know what I would do if things changed between us…if