Free Leaving Eva (The Eva Series Book 1) by Jennifer Sivec Page A

IMAGINED that her wedding day would come. She didn’t even know if she wanted to get married, but as the day approached, she realized there was no choice. It was happening, and she couldn’t stop it.
    When Rose and Thomas started dating, everyone was surprised.
    Rose was excited for the first time, running into the house to find Momma. “Thomas asked me out,” she panted, pushing her hair carelessly out of her sweaty face. Rose had run all the way home from the market, and in her excitement she had forgot the groceries. Nobody had ever asked her out on a date before, not even in high school. She was the wallflower, invisible to everyone, especially the boys. While Rose wasn’t unattractive, she had never been called beautiful.
    Rose decided early on that she was as far from extraordinary as one could get.
    When Thomas asked her out in the middle of the frozen foods aisle, she thought it was a joke. She’d known him all of her life, and knew that he only dated the pretty, popular girls. He had a good job and was considered a “catch.” It was unfathomable that Thomas would want to go out with her.
    She certainly didn’t look like any of those pretty girls with their long flowing hair, long lean legs, and tight youthful bodies. Instead, she was tall, “lanky,” and much to her Momma’s dismay, was almost masculine with her long limbs, and absence of feminine softness.
    “She’s all arms and legs,” she once overheard Momma Clara say to Aunt Jeannie. Momma hadn’t meant to be critical, but she always wished her daughter were more like Aunt Jeannie’s pretty girls.
    Momma would have been happy if she had turned out like her. Daddy would often say that Momma was an “exotic flower” with her long dark hair and her deep brown eyes, though Rose never heard him say anything like that about her. With Rose’s wiry brown hair, straight white teeth, thin lips and unassuming brown eyes, she looked far from a beautiful flower. She looked more like a useless weed.
    Momma loved Rose in her own way but never expected much for her. She hoped only that someone might take pity, and marry her so that Rose could be taken care of, but she wasn’t optimistic that anyone would settle for Rose. Thomas wasn’t the most attractive boy in town, but he was certainly much better looking than anyone Clara thought would ever choose her daughter.
    Within two months of dating, to everyone’s astonishment, Thomas and Rose were engaged. At first, everyone thought that she was pregnant. Rose could hear the whispers, and girls like Natalie and Cindy had outright asked her what she had over him to force the marriage.
    Rose was stunned herself that he asked. Thomas didn’t even care that she didn’t love him. “It’s okay Rose,” he said quietly in his usual steady voice. “You will learn to love me, and I will learn to love you.” And though she should have, she didn’t wonder why a man like him would ever want to be with her without love. She didn’t care. She only cared that now she wouldn’t ever be alone.
    The day that Rose married Thomas was the prettiest she ever was or ever would be again. Her wedding gown belonged to Grandmother Johnson and was all lace. It was beautiful with its intricate design and exotic feel. Grandmother Johnson had truly loved Rose, from the moment she was born. Rose was her namesake, and she reserved a special place in her heart for her sweet granddaughter who wasn’t loved as deeply as she should have been.
    Grandmother Johnson never understood her Clara’s coldness toward Rose, but she tried to make up for it as much as she could until the day she died. Giving Rose her wedding dress was a small gesture, but one she knew that she would love.
    The long, lace dress was beautifully preserved, though Clara never believed that Rose would get to wear it.
    On her wedding day, Rose found that she felt beautiful.
    In spite herself, she felt some happiness and hope. Daddy captured her happiness in a black and