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He swung the hotel room door open and was surprised to see Kate sitting on the couch, looking out the window at the Eiffel Tower, with her luggage beside her. “What’s all this?” he asked, motioning to the bags.

Kate turned and smiled. “Sit down, Ian. I have some things I need to say.”

Ian rushed over to her and kneeled in front of her. Grabbing both of her hands in his, he said, “No, listen to me. We love each other. No matter what happens between us, something always brings us together. I know I told you before that I tried to fall in love with you, but something was stopping me. There’s nothing stopping me anymore, Kate. I love you. I do. I can picture our life together, and it’s everything that I ever wanted.” He pulled her face closer and kissed her.

Ian’s words were ringing in Kate’s head. These sounded like the same words that she once yearned for him to say to her. He grabbed her hand and pulled her up from her perch on the couch and wrapped his arms around her. He held her close and stroked her hair. “I need you in my life.”

Kate stood very still. “I want more,” she said quietly.

He pulled away and held her at arm’s length. “What did you say?

“I said I want more.” She released herself from his grip and walked away several steps, looking off into the distance.

“What do you mean you want more? I just told you I love you and I want to share my life with you. What more can you want?”

“It’s a good offer, Ian. An amazing offer, really. You’re such a good man, and I’m sure we could have a wonderful life together.”

“Kate, I don’t understand.”

She turned to face him. “I know you, Ian. You’re just trying to do what’s right. You’ve convinced yourself that you love me because you don’t want to hurt me. And sure, in time, we could learn to love each other and be happy together. But I want more than that. I want someone who loves me with such intensity that he will never once look back and question his decision.”

“Don’t do this. Please.”

“We’ve known each other for ten years
. Ten years
. And yet you never fell in love with me, not even a little bit, until we were standing on top of the Eiffel Tower in the most romantic city in the world. You should have fallen in love with me a long time ago. Back in college, or by the fireplace in Carmel at Christmas, or while we painted the walls in your new place. But you didn’t, and I have to believe there’s a reason for that. It’s not enough for me to choose to be with you just because I don’t want to be alone.”

Ian, we won’t always be standing on top of the Eiffel Tower at sunset. I’ve come back down, and once you do too, you’ll understand.”

Kate approached Ian and hugged him tightly. “Thank you. For everything.”

Ian looked at her with pain and confusion in his eyes as she gathered her bags and walked out the door.

“Goodbye, Ian,” Kate whispered as she walked down the hallway with tears in her eyes. She headed to the airport and changed her ticket to fly straight to California.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with me, Mom. Apparently I can’t have a successful relationship or a successful friendship. Something always gets screwed up.”

Olivia hated to see her daughter so upset, but she was so glad that Kate trusted her enough to confide in her. She considered it an honor to be able to be there for her daughter, even though she wished she could just take the pain away.

“I mean, things were going so well. I felt like we had finally learned how to be friends. What if I didn’t make the right decision? What if I’m going to be alone forever? You must be so disappointed in me.”

Olivia grabbed her daughter’s hands firmly. “Katherine Henry, listen to me. I am never disappointed in you. In fact, I am very much the opposite. I am inspired and amazed by you. Life hasn’t been kind to you, sweetie. I know that your father leaving left deep scars in your life. I wish your father and I could have given you an example of the way love should be, but instead I think we taught you how painful and messy love can be. But that didn’t scare you away. You’ve spent your whole adult life searching for that special love that you believe is out there, and you’ve never given up. No matter how many times you get knocked down, you always pick yourself back up and keep searching. Kate, I know that love is there for you. You were made for it. And I pray to God every single day that you’ll get it. Never lose faith, my sweet baby girl. You’ll find him.”

Kate threw her arms around her mother and let the tears roll down her cheeks. “I love you, Mom,” she said.

“I love you too, Kate. More than you’ll ever know.” She let go of her mother and wiped her eyes. “Come on, let’s go cook a fabulous unhealthy meal. You need something to take your mind off of all of this.”

Kate smiled feebly. “Sounds perfect.”

Mother and daughter worked side-by-side in the kitchen, whipping up a meal of fried chicken, garlic mashed red potatoes, and fresh green beans with butter and bacon. “We’re going to have a heart attack after we eat this, Mom. You realize that, right?”

“Absolutely. Now hand me that potato peeler.”

There was a knock at the back door. “Are you expecting someone?” Kate asked.

“Expecting…someone?” asked Olivia, backing towards the door. “I’m not sure what you mean.”

“Mom. Who is at the door?”

Olivia smiled at her daughter and ignored the question. “Hello, Jacob!” she said as she swung open the door.

Jacob walked into the kitchen and Kate could tell from the surprised look on his face that he was unaware that Olivia had company. “H-hello, Kate. Nice to see you again.”

Kate pushed her hair out of her eyes and glanced at her mother with a perturbed look. “Hello, Jacob. It’s nice to see you too.”

Jacob turned to Olivia and asked, “My dad said you were having some sort of pea emergency? Do you need me to take a look at something?”

“Oh right, my pea-mergency. No, I was able to figure it out. But,” she gave a sidelong glance at Kate, “as long as you’re here, why don’t you join us for dinner?”

“I don’t think we made enough for three, Mom.”

“Oh that’s all right, I’m not hungry!” said Olivia, casually waving the oven mitt she was holding in the air. “Besides, you know I don’t eat fried food. I’ll just be in my room working on my needlepoint.”

Kate shook her head in disbelief as her mother walked off down the hall, leaving her and Jacob alone in the kitchen. “She is too much.”

“I’m sorry…I had no idea you were here. I promise. I never would have intruded like this if I knew.”

“So you don’t want to have dinner with me?” asked Kate.

“No!” Jacob realized how loud his answer had been and took a deep breath before continuing. “No, I do. Very much. But only if you want me to stay.”

“Well…” said Kate cautiously, “we did make all this food, and I don’t really like eating alone. You should stay.” Kate served up a couple of plates as Jacob filled up two glasses with ice and water.

As Kate raised the fork to her mouth, Jacob asked, “Do you mind if I pray for our meal?”

Caught off guard, she put down her fork and said, “Well, of course not.”

Jacob reached across the table to grab Kate’s hand, which she gave to him slowly. “Lord, we thank you for this beautiful day and for this amazing meal you have provided for us. Thank you for the ones who prepared it. We pray that you would strengthen us as we seek to know you more and follow the plans that you have for us. We know you are a loving God and we thank you for all of the blessings you’ve given to us. And Father, please be with Kate. Fill her life with beauty and joy and help her to feel your presence. Thank you for the incredible blessing I know that she is to her mother. In Jesus’ name, amen.” Jacob squeezed her hand before releasing it.

“Amen,” said Kate, still feeling very cautious. After both had taken several bites of their meal and Jacob had complimented the cooking, Kate asked, “So how has business been?”

“Really good. I thought I was done in your mom’s garden, but we decided to add on a last minute project that I just finished a few days ago. My dad and I are also working on a big job over in the park on 12th Street. Do you know it?”

“Yes,” said Kate. “I spent lots of time there as a kid. Mostly seeing how far I could jump off the swing set.”

Jacob chuckled. “Well, the swing set is still there. Maybe you should try again before you go back home. Which is…when, by the way?”

Kate sighed. “Oh, I don’t know. I really shouldn’t be away from work for too long. But I’m not ready to go back. I just…I just needed to get away.”

“Is everything okay?”

“Not really. You remember Ian, right?”

Jacob nodded, surprised to hear the man’s name that he thought was out of Kate’s life for good.

“Well, things just got really complicated. Again. Neither of us can seem to figure out how to be in each other’s life. Things always get messy.”

“Things don’t have to be complicated. I think sometimes the more complicated things are, the more obvious it becomes that it wasn’t meant to be.”

“That’s a little naïve, don’t you think? Life gets messy. Relationships take work. It’s not as simple as it sounds.”

“Making it work isn’t simple. But I believe that falling in love is.”

Kate shrugged her shoulders and took another bite of chicken. She wiped her hands on her napkin and said, “I don’t think I can eat any more. I’m stuffed.”

“So am I,” said Jacob, getting up from his seat and picking up both plates. “I’ll take care of the dishes. Do you want to sit down in the living room and relax?”

Kate wasn’t used to the feeling of someone else taking care of her. It made her feel uncomfortable. But she fought against her natural tendency to take care of herself and said, “Yes, that sounds good. I’ll be in the living room.”

She curled up on the couch and grabbed a gardening magazine from the coffee table. She flipped it open to somewhere in the middle, and although she staring at it, she wasn’t reading it. She heard the sound of running water and pictured Jacob with his sleeves rolled up, cleaning up after her in the kitchen.

He’s a good man
, she thought.
I can tell. I know my mom wouldn’t keep him around if he wasn’t.
She brought her hand to her lips, remembering the kiss between them from months ago.

Kate Henry, stop it! You are absolutely ridiculous! You think that every single man in your life is your future husband. You need to learn how to be happy on your own. God never promised you a husband. It’s about time to get used to a life without one.

Just then Kate heard the water turn off. She heard footsteps and looked up from the magazine she wasn’t reading to see Jacob standing in the living room. Without a word, he picked up a blanket from the corner and laid it over Kate’s legs.

“Thank you,” she said. “I was…a little chilly.”

He gazed at her before responding, “I thought you might be.”

She pulled the blanket closer around her body.
Stop it, Kate. You’re going to be alone. He’s not the one. You’re just going to get hurt again.

“Thank you for dinner, Kate. Maybe I’ll see you again soon.”

“Maybe,” she whispered as she watched him walk down the hall and out the door.

~~~~~

Olivia was in the kitchen brewing a pot of coffee when Kate came shuffling down the hall. Kate was wearing hot pink pajama pants and a white hooded sweatshirt and her hair was its normal morning-wild.