The Matchmaker's Match

{Chapter} 36

{Chapter 36} A few months later.

The morning sun poured through the windows like water out of a pitcher, spreading light all over the back bedroom of the Dylan home. Wade sat on the side of the bed, rubbing and staring at the scar on his right shoulder and chest.

“You okay, sweetheart?” Aubrey asked groggily, pulling herself into a sitting position.

Wade nodded. “I’m fine.”

“You’re up a little early for a Sunday.”

Wade shrugged. “I know. I couldn’t seem to go back to sleep knowing that the sun was up.”

Aubrey scooted to sit behind him and wrapped her arms around his chest, laying her head on his bare back. Wade continued to rub at the scar.

“I can’t stop thinking about it, Bree,” He said.

“Thinking about what?”

“About how I nearly died. What if I had left you here all alone to raise Jay by yourself? How do you think you would have handled that?” Wade asked.

“Terribly.”

Wade sighed. “I know. I guess that’s why the Lord let me live. Maybe he’s got something special in mind for me yet.”

“I’m sure He does.”

Wade scooted back on the bed until he and his wife sat across from each other with their legs crossed like children.

“I don’t think I could have enjoyed Heaven very much without you there with me,” Wade reached over to smooth a strand of hair to the other side of her face, evening the part in her hair.

Aubrey blinked her eyes, blinking back the moisture in them. “You would have enjoyed it. My grandmother used to tell me that a year down here was like a second in Heaven. I’m not sure if that’s really true or not.”

“I hope it is.”

Aubrey took his hand from her face and clasped it in both of her own. “I was so scared back then, Wade. Scared that I would have to suffer though life without you. Scared that those coyotes would start howling at night and there would never be someone there to comfort me for the rest of my life. Scared that I wouldn’t raise Jay right and that you wouldn’t be there to help me. Scared that…” Aubrey choked on the tears that stung behind her eyes and put her head down.

Wade reached his free hand over to tilt her chin and make her look at him. “You won’t have to do those things alone, Aubrey. When those coyotes start howling like they did last night and the night before, I’ll always take you in my arms and hold you tight. When Jay starts acting up and you’re hanging by a thread, I’ll always take him off your hands. The thing is, Aubrey, that whether I’m living or not, I’ll always be living on in your heart. When a couple loves each other as we do, we’re never really apart.”

Aubrey smiled at him. “That’s a nice thought. That month without you was sure lonely, though.”

“I know. It was for me, too. I mean, who wouldn’t want to wake up to kiss you every morning instead of having to sit across a campfire from an ugly old cowboy?” Wade grinned at her.

Aubrey giggled. “It’s nice to know that I’m more pleasant to look at than a cowboy.”

“That you are, my love.”

A moment of comfortable silence passed between them.

Aubrey reached her hand out to touch his scar. “I guess this will be a reminder that we can pull through most anything, huh?”