Free A Time to Love by Al Lacy Page B

River to Brooklyn. “Take a look at that!” he said. “That’s the Brooklyn Bridge! Won’t be completed for another three years or so. When it’s finished, it’ll be the longest bridge in the whole world. Sixteen hundred feet!”
    “It’s a big one, all right,” Lewis said, eyeing the massive superstructure with awe.
    Janet was bored with Long’s commentary.
    “Masterwork of a fella named John Augustus Roebling,” Long said. “It’s the first bridge in the world to use steel for cable wire. The deck is supported by four of those huge cables. There’s a walkway for pedestrians, too. Well, here we are. The ferrys leave on the half hour, so we’re just in time to catch the next one.”
    Lewis and Janet were married the next morning. They would not be able to take a honeymoon; Lewis was due to report in for work on Tuesday morning at seven o’clock.
    On Monday evening after they had eaten supper at a local café, theyentered their apartment, and Janet threw her arms around Lewis, saying, “I’m so happy! Just think of it—I’m now Mrs. Lewis Carter!” She paused, then laughed. “My baby sister wanted to be Mrs. Lewis Carter, but I outfoxed her. I got her man! Ha! I wish I could have seen her little dollface when she finally realized we weren’t going to show up for the wedding! I wonder how long it took till she and everyone else knew there wasn’t going to be a wedding.”
    Lewis had gone quiet.
    “Hey, what’s the matter, honey?” Janet said. “Something bothering you?”
    “Oh … ah … no.” He hugged her close. “Nothing’s bothering me.”
    Janet pushed herself out of his arms, took a step back, and said, “Don’t lie to me, Lewis. Something’s eating at you. Here we are, just married, with everything working out exactly as we planned, and you’re down about something. C’mon. What is it?”
    “It’s nothing, Janet. Nothing.”
    “Well, you sure don’t seem very happy! I’m your wife now. That’s what you wanted, wasn’t it? You and me together … forever?”
    “Yes. Of course.”
    “Then can’t you smile?”
    “Sure.” Lewis forced his lips into a curve.
    Janet narrowed her eyelids to thin slits and said with sand in her voice, “You’re not wishing you’d gone ahead and married little dollface, are you?”
    “Uh … no, honey. No. It’s just—”
    “Just what?”
    “Well, you said a moment ago that you’d like to have seen her face when she finally realized we weren’t going to show up for the wedding.”
    Janet raised her thinly plucked eyebrows. “So what?”
    “I just wish you and I had been honest with Linda. Simply told her a year ago that we were in love, and I was breaking off the engagement. It wouldn’t have been such a jolt to her. This going through the wedding rehearsal, then taking off on Saturday afternoon was
your
idea, you know. I shouldn’t have listened to you.”
    Janet’s eyes widened in disbelief and her face turned crimson. “Sure, it was my idea! I wanted to show that little pasty-faced, goody-goody sister of mine just what kind of contempt I have for her! She knows now, I can guarantee you. I hope it hurts all the way from the top of her head to the bottom of her feet.”
    Lewis’s features paled. “There’s no need to be so unfeeling about it, Janet. Like I said, I shouldn’t have listened to you.”
    Janet moved up close to him, trying to subdue her anger. “Look, honey. It’s done now. Linda will get over it. We have each other. Let’s be happy. Okay? Give me a smile, now, and tell me it’s okay.”
    With effort Lewis said, “Sure, honey. It’s okay.”
    In spite of her parents’ optimism, Linda became more despondent as the days passed. She stayed in her room except to eat, and though well-wishers came by to see her, she holed up in her room and refused to see them. She prayed and tried to read her Bible, but the dead feeling inside kept her from getting hold of God and allowing the Word to penetrate her heart.
    On