Free Trust Me II by D. T. Jones Page A

morning.”
    “Is there any reason you would want to?” Richard asked with a loud snorting laugh.
    “We’ll be on our honeymoon by morning, so I suppose walking isn’t a necessity.”
    “Are you two finished?” Amanda asked in a scolding tone. “Where are you going on your honeymoon?” she asked turning back to Sandra.
    “It’s a surprise,” Creighton said in her stead. “I don’t want anyone following us, so we aren’t telling.”
    “That could be romantic,” Amanda added.
    “You’re coming to the reception, aren’t you?” he asked, glancing down at his watch.
    “We wouldn’t miss it,” Richard stated. “Amanda was a little put out that she wasn’t going to have an excuse to buy a new dress, though. I like the idea of wearing jeans, sounds fun.”
    “I hope it will be,” Creighton said. “But we have to go or we’re going to be late. We’ll see you in a little while.” He shook Richard’s hand and kissed Amanda on the cheek again, causing the color to rise in her pale face. Sandra shook both of their hands and followed her husband as they walked hand-in-hand back to the road.
    “Yes,” Creighton said, answering her unspoken question. “Richard and Robert are the twins Miriam wrote about in her book.”
    “So do they both still live around here?”
    “No, Robert is in the military, never married and is currently stationed in South Africa. He hasn’t been back in England in about two years.”
    They continued walking back to the house and Sandra was certain that it was completely due to the fact Creighton was still tired from their run. She looked around at the many farms they passed feeling very thankful he was beside her; she would never have been able to figure out where they were or how to get back home if he wasn’t there. The roads all looked the same; narrow, some dirt, some paved and most without sidewalks. The houses were a variety of styles; many were large narrow stone or brick buildings with windows, doors and shake-style roofs, while others were small wood or brick bungalows. Several farms had sheep or cattle roaming around the fields grazing while others were green patches of barley or vegetables just coming into their growth cycle. There was a small yellow house that appeared to resemble theirs with white trim; bright yellow and pink pansies growing around the front step and a large green tree in the front yard. It was very pretty, well cared for, but much smaller than she would have assumed for the area, considering the sizes of the most of their neighbors.
    “That’s the Johnston place,” Creighton said taking note of where her attention had been drawn. “Wayne and Carolyn live there; she’s the great granddaughter of the Marston’s.”
    “He’s the one from this morning, right?” she asked.
    “Yes. He’s a nice enough guy I suppose, but he’s irritating as hell.”
    “At least I can see why he thought the exterior of our house should be painted.”
    “He has always taken pride in his home, wanting it to look like a show place. He’s pretty frustrated that the other neighbors find a need to maintain their land rather than the houses.”
    “Doesn’t he have a farm? I mean, I don’t see any livestock or fields.”
    “No, he used to work at a bank, never found a need for farming.”
    “It’s a pretty small place isn’t it?” she asked as they passed by. “I don’t think it’s as big as your parents’ house.”
    “No it isn’t. Carolyn’s line hasn’t had a lot of kids, she’s the only child her parents had and unfortunately she and Wayne were never blessed with children. They tried to adopt once, but were never successful. Now he just wonders around the neighboring farms annoying everyone else.”
    “Is she still alive?”
    “Yes, but barely. She had a stroke about two years ago and has been struggling to regain her strength. I think that’s why Wayne spends so much time bothering others; the nurse they have staying with them isn’t