Forever Friday

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Authors: Timothy Lewis

BOOK: Forever Friday
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Praise for
Forever Friday


Forever Friday
is a compelling, poignant story about soul mates. Timothy Lewis writes with southern charm, emotional intensity, and inspired insight about the passage of time that might cause a marriage to falter. A must read for those who believe in the enduring and eternal power of hope.”

—D
E
W
ANNA
P
ACE
,
New York Times
and
USA Today
best-selling author of A
Texas Christmas

“In this day of disposable relationships, along comes a beautiful tale of lifelong love between two soul mates. Inspired by his own family memorabilia, Timothy Lewis brings to life real characters in a page-turning romance that will keep you holding your breath in anticipation.
Forever Friday
makes you want to find (if you haven’t already) your own soul mate to cherish forever. There is something to be said in defense of everlasting love, and Timothy Lewis says it stunningly.”

—M
ARTHA
B
OLTON
, playwright and author of eighty-eight books, including the novel
Josiah for President

“Tim has masterfully woven a simple love story, intertwining the joy of new love, the challenge of enduring love, the hope of renewed love, and the joy of lasting love into a beautiful and complex tapestry. Not only does Tim tell a delightful story, he also inspires us all to renew our love and to deepen our relationships.
Forever Friday
will make young lovers dance, old lovers smile, and anyone else who dreams of love strive for better Fridays.”

—D
AN
B
OLIN
, international director of Christian Camping International, author, and speaker


Forever Friday
could be an excellent marriage manual or an important resource for those in the senior care industry, though it’s not meant to be either. Timothy Lewis has penned a passionate love story that carries us all to the most hopeful of conclusions: Not only does enduring love exist but it thrives when purposed.”

—S
HELLIE
R
USHING
T
OMLINSON
, national best-selling author of
Sue Ellen’s Girl Ain’t Fat, She Just Weighs Heavy!

“Timothy Lewis’s debut novel
Forever Friday
will wrap around your heart and not let go. The beautifully haunting story lingers in your mind like a treasured memory long after you’ve read it.”

—J
ODI
T
HOMAS
,
New York Times
best-selling author of thirty-seven novels

“Timothy Lewis’s novel
Forever Friday
transports the reader to an era where love, honor, and cherish were not only marriage vows but a Texas tradition. When two souls come together in perfect harmony, it strums the heart strings from the past to the present!”

—D
AVID
AND
R
OGER
O
TWELL
, the Otwell Twins, formerly of the
Lawrence Welk Show

“In his debut novel
Forever Friday
, Timothy Lewis delivers a timeless story for the romantic at heart. For anyone who believes in happy ever after, the possibility of meeting your soul mate, or the power of true love, this inspirational tale will not disappoint. Spanning generations and transporting readers across time, Tim’s delightful characters highlight the importance of genuine relationships while reminding us all to appreciate the loved ones in our lives.”

—J
ULIE
C
ANTRELL
,
New York Times
best-selling author of
Into the Free

F
OREVER
F
RIDAY
P
UBLISHED BY
W
ATER
B
ROOK
P
RESS
12265 Oracle Boulevard, Suite 200
Colorado Springs, Colorado 80921

This is a work of fiction. Apart from well-known people, events, and locales that figure into the narrative, all names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

Copyright © 2013 by Timothy Lewis

Cover design by Mark D. Ford; cover photos © Kevin Cruff/Corbis; Getty Images

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Published in the United States by WaterBrook Multnomah, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House Inc., New York.

W
ATER
B
ROOK
and its deer colophon are registered trademarks of Random House Inc.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Lewis, Timothy, 1954–
   Forever Friday : a novel / Timothy Lewis.—First edition.
     pages cm
  Summary: “Adam Colby didn’t believe in marriage anymore. After Haley left him, he was convinced that lasting marriage was a fairy tale. He gave up hope of ever experiencing a lasting covenant. But then he found the postcards …”— Provided by publisher.
   eISBN: 978-0-307-73222-4
 1. Divorced men—Fiction. 2. Married people—Fiction. 3. Relationship quality—Fiction. I. Title.
   PS3612.E987F67 2013
   813’.6—dc23

2013017505

v3.1

For Dinah:
my wife, my soul mate
,
my Forever Girl

Hope is not a granted wish or a favor performed; no, it is far greater than that. It is a zany, unpredictable dependence on a God who loves to surprise us out of our socks.

—Max Lucado,
God Came Near

Prologue

Summer 2006

Adam Colby

Some great romances worth the telling are never told, their lovers slipping silently between life’s timeworn cracks only to be pitched with yesterday’s trash. As owner of a small estate-sale business, I’d witnessed evidence over the years of various couples’ love lives. So I’d learned to sift through the piles of forgotten memories. Learned to appreciate a second look … and perhaps ease my pain.

That was how I discovered the postcards.

Bargain hounds and treasure hunters pushed through the heavy front door of Gabe and Pearl Alexander’s beloved home early before rushing away to their next classified find. Antique buyers, who were more savvy, missed the cards because they were camouflaged among several dozen identical photo albums. Inside their vinyl maroon covers, these albums held not the usual faded family snapshots, but hundreds of colorful postcards revealing six decades of married passion recorded in rhyme beside canceled postage stamps.

Surprised to find postcard poems instead of photos, I began reading them in between my dealings with customers. As a thirty-eight-year-old man who had once committed to “forever,” I was intrigued. What was
this couple’s secret? In a fast-food world of abbreviated relationships, what supernatural love potion kept Gabe and Pearl enamored with each other for more than half a century?

So I continued reading through lunch and into the sale’s afternoon lull. I’m not sure I believed in love anymore, especially married love, but found myself becoming more entranced as each minute passed. Even though the Alexanders had lived together in the same house, the postcards were sent over the years from Gabe to Pearl, beginning in 1926. Each unique card was signed “Forever, Gabe,” the poem connecting an episode of their love to the picture on the front.

My guess was Gabe died in the mid-1980s, because that’s when the cards stopped.

One of the earliest cards was dated September 4, 1927. On the front was a picture of two colorful seashells. On the back, this poem:

Two tiny shells, together side by side

Wandering to and fro about the morning tide.

Two tiny shells, now picked up by a man

Who sets them out to dry upon the glistening sand.

Two tiny shells, how delicate, how proud

To be created by the One whose throne’s above the clouds.

And these two tiny shells are sent to you by me

Because I know you understand God’s wonders by the sea.

Forever, Gabe

I was curious if he’d mailed Pearl two actual seashells along with the postcard and, if so, what had happened to them. Surely she’d have treasured them, but the only seashells in their belongings were large and obviously store-bought. The ocean must have played a significant role in their marriage because there were several cards with sailboats and beach scenes, and with Galveston so close by.

“What kind of man invests this much time in his marriage?” I said aloud, feeling a little betrayed by a guy I’d never met. Love wasn’t a competition, but Gabe had left me floundering in the dust, and most other men as well. Men who loved their wives, or
said
they did, even though many times their actions proved otherwise.

At least I wasn’t a hypocrite.

Or was I?

Just before the sale ended, a customer declared himself the Alexanders‧ next-door neighbor, so I discreetly asked about their interest in the sea.

“Wouldn’t know,” he said, then shrugged. “Gabe died shortly after I bought my place. Pearl would speak to me from across the yard, but she wasn’t keen on in-depth conversations.”

“Why?”

“Valued her privacy, I guess.” He shrugged again. “Spent the last year of her life confused and in an extended-care facility.”

“Can you tell me anything else?” I asked.

“Pearl had an unusual nickname.”

“Nickname?”

“Yeah, like a man’s, but I can’t remember it.” The neighbor paused. “Do you know what happened to their car? A big 1940s model Oldsmobile. Mint condition.”

I shook my head, wondering if the postcards contained Pearl’s nickname.

“The old gal probably needed the money and sold it,” the man continued. “Shame. I’d have bought it.” He rubbed his chin. “Any tools left?”

“Out in the garage,” I replied.

“The Alexanders were nice folks,” the man added before walking away. “Too bad you never met them.”

The neighbor was correct. I’d never met them, but had heard from the attorney who hired me that they had no children and were donating the bulk of their estate to charity. However, their will included detailed instructions that certain sentimental items be delivered to various relatives still living in the Houston, Texas, area. I usually contracted that job to a moving company, but since the Alexanders’ home was only a few miles from mine, and the items were small, I elected to deliver them myself. After reading the postcards, I felt strangely invested in Gabe and Pearl and was more than happy to oblige.

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