The Arrangement (26 page)
Authors: Hilary Hamblin
Postlude
S
ix months later, Eli and Evie perched on coolers under an open tent in front of Duncan’s City Hall. Rain cascaded off the small shelter and made puddles in the well-trodden grass. Across the parking lot she could see Mayor Colson’s family and friends huddled under a similar tent.
Evie drummed her fingers on the hard plastic cooler under her and tapped her foot. She resisted the urge to check her watch again. The poll had closed five minutes earlier. Her fingers stopped when Eli’s sweating palm touched them.
“I’m nervous too, but driving me crazy isn’t going to make them count any faster,” he teased her.
She stuck out her tongue and turned her hand over to intertwine her fingers with his. “Were you always nervous when your dad had an election?”
He twisted his mouth in concentration. “No,” he finally answered. “The first couple of years I had no idea how one election could change my entire life. The last few years, when I realized one election could move me from my friends in D.C. to someplace we visited only on holidays, I was really nervous. I think I threw up halfway through election day every time after that.”
“Ugh, gross.”
She pretended to move away from him, but he tightened his grip on her fingers and pulled her back until their shoulders touched. She locked eyes with him and smiled. She knew Michael Hudson—hopefully Mayor-elect Hudson—stood only feet from them drinking another bottle of water and talking to his wife. Their two sons dripped with rain water from running in and out of the shelter where the rest of the campaign staff stood.
“So what now?” she asked.
“We wait. It could take an hour or longer for the results to be ready.” His eyes roved over the crowd huddled together under umbrellas, tents, and the awning of the building, all waiting for the results of the day’s election.
“I know we wait now. But what about tomorrow or next week or next year?” She raised her brows as the questions she’d pondered for months seeped from her lips into the damp spring air. “Are you,” she stopped and took a deep breath, “going back to D.C.?”
He cocked his head. “What makes you ask that?”
“Well, you told me last week that one of your father’s colleagues heard about this campaign and asked you to head up his re-election bid. I thought you’d have to go back to D.C. to do that,” she whispered. She felt like a little girl asking silly questions, but she had to know.
Over the last six months she had grown to love Eli. She had attended Bible study with Brooke every week, but she and Eli discussed the group’s lesson every week. His passion for God’s Word invigorated her, and she held a deep respect for his opinion. But she had grown in her own beliefs as well. She felt more comfortable discerning God’s voice from her own selfishness—though she still wanted to ignore him from time to time.
She still had a year before she finished college, and she knew she needed to be on campus for those additional months. She needed more time sheltered from the realities of life and learning about God before she jumped into the middle of a national political campaign. But would Eli have time for her and a major campaign? Would his new “boss” want her to help as well or see her as an unwelcome distraction?
Eli cupped Evie’s chin with his free hand. “Evie Barrett, I love you. God has given us a passion for the same work, and I believe he will direct us in the same path. Wherever one of us goes, the other one goes.”
He slipped off the cooler onto one knee on the rain-soaked grass. He dropped her hand and reached into his pocket. “Marry me, Evie,” he murmured, his eyes locked with hers. “Whether Hudson wins or loses, whether we stay here or go to D.C., whether we live quiet lives or land on the national news, marry me.”
Evie gaped at the large diamond ring Eli slipped onto the ring finger of her left hand. Hands shaking and eyes tearing, she nodded happily before flinging her arms around his neck.
Applause erupted from throughout the city hall campus. Evie lifted her head from Eli’s shoulder just long enough to see everyone watching, laughing, and cheering. She buried her red face back into his shoulder for a moment before Michael Hudson and the crowd of onlookers started offering their handshakes, back slaps, and general well wishes.
Two hours later, when the initial results of the day’s election were announced, Evie twisted her hand one way and then another in an attempt to catch a flicker of light from the street lamp across the parking lot. The sparkle in the diamond matched the smile on Michael Hudson’s face when he realized he’d soon take on the responsibility of the mayor’s office. But he was more than ready for the challenge of the future.
Just like Eli and Evie were…together.
Don’t miss…
The Color of Love
Hilary Hamblin
She was trying to escape her past…
until it caught up with her.
Fifteen years ago, Peggy Luther took her infant daughter, Maggie, and ran away from her husband and ten-year-old daughter, Martha. She settled in Arizona and started over. But there was always something not quite right about Peggy Luther…something Maggie could never identify.
When Peggy takes her own life, Maggie’s life tumbles into chaos. She’s forced to move to a small town in Tennessee, to live with a sister she never knew existed. Worse, Martha’s lifestyle is entirely different from hers. But they will need each other far more than they ever dreamed when the truth about their mother is revealed…and their father comes to visit.
www.facebook.com/HilaryPHamblin
Acknowledgments
My dear husband, Josh, for loving me and encouraging me to follow my dreams. You take such good care of all of us. Malcolm, Katie, and I are so lucky to have you.
The Hot-Mamas and Crew, for encouraging me and being my friends through this crazy ride called motherhood.
Mom and Dad, for showing me what marriage should look like.
Jack and Sandra, for raising a son who turned out to be a great husband and an amazing father.
Tammy and Debbie, for going to lunch with me when I thought I was going to be pregnant forever and giving me the inspiration to write even with swollen fingers.
My reading circle—Stacy, Carolyn, Kelly, and Angie—for being constructive and willing to read “just one more” manuscript.
Becky, for keeping Malcolm one day a week. Without that time, this book would not have been written.
Malcolm, my tender-hearted son, you make me laugh every day. I treasure every hug and kiss and bedtime story. You are a wonderful big brother. Katie is lucky to have you.
Katie, my blue-eyed girl, you charm everyone who meets you, including your brother, father, and me. We are so blessed to have you in our lives.
Jeff and Ramona at OakTara, for giving me another shot at being published and helping me to become a stronger writer.
W Alumni, who spread the word about my first book,
The Color of Love
, booked speaking engagements and book signings for me, and supported my efforts. Your help connected me with readers who might never have picked up my book otherwise. Thank you for all your help.
About the Author
Hilary Hamblin
,
author of
The Arrangement
and
The Color of Love,
feeds her active imagination with thoughts of “what if” as she watches ordinary life unfold around her. Her two novels have been born from those “what if” stories as well as the experiences from her life in small-town Mississippi.
Hilary uses her creative talents helping small businesses through her marketing and advertising agency, Momentum Consulting. She spends much of her time, however, raising two young children with her husband, Josh. She also enjoys running 5K races in her spare time.
