Timeless (18 page)

EPILOGUE

Last week I graduated high school, and now I was standing inside the church, ready for the wedding.

Arrangements of white roses adorned the end of each pew, sheer sheets draped between them. The altar was even more incredible—clusters of flowers everywhere, with summer vines winding around the awning over my head. The priest stood with the Bible in hand, ready to begin.

When the wedding march came on, tears formed in my eyes as I watched my mom walk down the aisle. Her dress looked perfect on her—beaded and intricate—and she was radiating happiness.

I was thrilled to be the maid of honor for my mom’s marriage to Mr. Givens, and happier to be up there with Chelsea, my future stepsister, who was a bridesmaid.

Drew sat in the front, watching me with love in his eyes. One day, it would be me in my mom’s place, walking down the aisle to promise Drew forever. But while we considered ourselves secretly engaged—I never removed the garnet ring—marriage after high school wasn’t something either of our families would consider. We knew better than to bring it up to them. Plus, we still had to go to college. We would both be starting Rollins College, a small school in central Florida, in the fall. Chelsea would be at the University of Miami, and while it would be a bit of a drive, we promised we would visit each other whenever possible.

As much as I loved him, waiting to marry Drew was the right decision. We were only eighteen years old. Neither of us minded waiting the four years until finishing our degrees to make our promises to each other official. They were already official to us, and that was what mattered. We had our whole lives ahead of us. There was no need to rush things.

The love between us was strong enough to transcend time—it would last always and forever.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

In the fall of 2008, Michelle saw Taylor Swift’s “Love Story” music video for the first time. She thought up a story to go along with the video, and wrote the first chapter as a homework assignment for class. Her classmates and teacher loved it so much that they wanted to know what happened next, so Michelle continued writing, and that story eventually became
Remembrance
, the first novel in the Transcend Time Saga. She’s so happy to be able to share this series with you, and hopes you enjoy reading it as much as she loved writing it!

Check out her website, www.michellemadow.com, to add her on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and her many other social networking sites.

Michelle lives in Florida, and is hard at work writing more novels for young adults.