Love's Battle (True Blue Trilogy) Read Online Free PDF

snob mode he’d long since out grown. “That was priceless.”
    “Hey!” I punched him in the arm, Kelly was a friend and I took exception to the flashback bring out bad behavior I know Everett has since corrected.
    “Oww! Sorry.”
    “The quarterback and the debate club geek as you so eloquently put it have been happily married for the past seven years; since the week after graduation. They have a set of twins that’ll be five in a few months.” This is where pride filled my voice. “The debate club geek is now a small town lawyer and Mr. Quarterback is running plays as Mr. Mom. They’re loving every minute of it.” Unbuckling my seat belt I stepped out. Before I closed the door, I leaned back in.
    Well and truly chastised, Everett’s head hung in shame, but I was having none of it. “Like I said, I’ve got a gift Everett. One that allows me to see true love. And I can tell you with certainty that Melanie is not supposed to marry Stephen today or any other day for that matter. You are!”
    When Everett’s eyes met mine, they were brimming with renewed optimism. Before I shut the door I only had one more thing to say. “So I tell you exactly what I told Thomas Daniels years ago.” I enunciated each word clearly so there would be no doubt in what I was saying. “Double dog dare ya!”
    Scrambling out of his seat Everett hurried to catch up with me as I strode resolutely toward the church.
    “Dare me? You dare me to stop the wedding and ruin what is supposed to be the best day of Melanie’s life!” He thundered, his hand wrapping around my arm, pulling me to a stop.
    “No,” I assured him, patting his cheek. “I’ll do that silly. I dare you to take the step that will make your world complete. To ignore the past and accept what the future has in store for you.”
    “She doesn’t even… she doesn’t love me.” Everett confessed, his hand falling from my arm, his small measure of hope draining away.
    “Sure she does. She just doesn’t know it yet. You’re a smart man Everett, you’ll find a way.”
    “You’re crazy.”
    I shrugged, continuing on my way. “So I’ve been told.”
    “What are you going to do?”
    “I can’t tell you.” I smothered a giggle, Everett’s expression priceless. “Look. Don’t you want to be able to tell Melanie honestly that you didn’t know what was going to happen?”
    “Well, yeah. But…”
    “Problem solved. Okay. So don’t worry about it. All you need to do is go in there, sit on her side of the church where she can see you and not give up. It’ll be touch and go for the next few weeks. I’m not going to lie Melanie’s going to feel like her world is falling apart and it will be. But for the better. You are going to be the one to put it back together my friend, and make it more than she could have dreamed of. You’re a great guy Everett, one who deserves true love.” I reached up to brush a speck of lint from his collar and patted his cheek again.
    “You and your sisters have always been strange, but this…”
    I cut Everett off, needing to get him away from me. The man obviously didn‘t understand guilt by association. “Smith, I’m going to take that as a compliment. Now get your butt in there and act like you have no clue who I am. Just don’t forget to name your first kid after me.”
    With that last bit of advice I stepped into the cool air of the church. Giving Everett one last smile of encouragement, I turned my back on him.
    Losing myself in the crowd, and boy was it a big one, I found an empty corner. Fishing my cell phone from my purse I called Faith again.
    “Hello.”
    “Oh thank God. Look, my car blew a tire and I need a ride, really, really bad.”
    “Where are you?”
    On the other end of the phone I winced, bracing myself for a coming blow, “St. Agnes.”
    “Payment?” Faith asked without preamble. It was a harmless game we’d come up with a few thousand years ago when one of us needed a favor from the