Pieces of Forever: A Christian Romance (River Falls Book 1) Read online

  Pieces of Forever

  -A River Falls Novel-

  Valerie M. Bodden

  Pieces of Forever © 2021 by Valerie M. Bodden.

  Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

  All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to any person, living or dead, is coincidental.

  Cover design: Ideal Book Covers

  Valerie M. Bodden

  Visit me at www.valeriembodden.com

  River Falls Series

  Pieces of Forever

  Songs of Home

  Hope Springs Series

  Not Until Christmas

  Not Until Forever

  Not Until This Moment

  Not Until You

  Not Until Us

  Not Until Christmas Morning

  Not Until This Day

  Not Until Someday

  Not Until Now

  Contents

  River Falls Series

  Hope Springs Series

  A Gift for You . . .

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Epilogue

  The River Falls Series

  The Hope Springs Series

  Acknowledgements

  About the Author

  A Gift for You . . .

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  As a young man marries a young woman, so will your Builder marry you; as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you.

  —Isaiah 62:5

  Chapter 1

  Most days, Ava could keep the demons of the past at bay.

  But today, every click of the shutter reminded her of what could have been.

  “Okay.” She lowered the camera from her face and studied the model-perfect teenage girl standing in front of the muslin backdrop. Ava had chosen a white background to give the photos an airy, ethereal quality. “Nice job, Emma. Now, can you touch your hand to your face?”

  “Like this?” Emma lifted a fisted hand to her cheek as her friend Emily, whom Ava had already done a set of shots for, giggled from behind Ava.

  “You look like that statue,” Emily said. “You know, the one with the guy all hunched over?”

  “The Thinker?” Ava smiled as both girls dissolved into giggles. She’d been fun and silly like this once too. Some days it felt like a long time ago. Other times, like now, those days bit close at her heels. “I was thinking more like this.” She lifted her own hand to her face, wincing internally as her fingertips brushed the ridges of skin that puckered her left cheek. How did she forget sometimes that this was what her skin felt like now? What it would always feel like.

  She forced herself to keep her fingers there until Emma mimicked the gesture.

  “Perfect.” She lifted the camera and started clicking again, calling for the girl to smile, then to be serious, then to make the goofiest face she could muster. The secret to great photos, she’d found, was capturing those moments when a subject was off guard, like in the seconds after Emma pulled her goofy face and then broke into a laugh that brought out her best smile of the day.

  “Great.” She set her camera on the table of gear behind her. “Why don’t you girls go change into your next outfits, and I’ll get things set up out here.”

  As the girls scampered off, giggling as wildly as ever, Ava switched from the white backdrop to a black one, then reset the light levels and repositioned her flashes.

  All the while, she battled those demons. If life had gone the way she’d planned, she wouldn’t be in River Falls, taking photos. She’d be in New York, on the other side of the lens. She’d be the one who was giggling and rushing off to change clothes and soaking up the spotlight.

  But life didn’t go the way you planned.

  She shook off the heaviness that tried to hang on her. She had everything she needed―her own business, her aunt, and her dog. She’d decided a long time ago that it was more than enough.

  It had to be.

  Ava stepped back and surveyed the studio, tapping the smooth right side of her lips.

  Something was missing here.

  A chair, maybe. Or no―a ladder.

  She was pretty sure she still had one among her props. She stepped around her equipment and bustled toward the back room, which served as both prop storage and a makeshift changing area, with two large changing booths off to the side.

  When she reached the room, she stopped in the doorway, looking around. Things were strewn helter-skelter―flowers in a pile on one table, fabrics of different hues on another, shelves crowded with wooden blocks and blankets and one of those metal washtubs everyone wanted a picture of their baby in. Scattered among it all were chairs of various shapes and colors, trunks of every size imaginable, old lighting equipment, and a variety of tripods. It was getting to the point where Ava could barely walk through the space. Aunt Lori kept offering to come and help her sort through things, but Ava always declined. She knew that to Aunt Lori, sorting meant throwing away―she’d learned that in fifth grade when Aunt Lori had “sorted” a pile of Ava’s paintings right into the garbage can. Anyway, she’d get around to cleaning up back here someday.

  And until then, it was always an adventure.

  Her eye fell on the ladder sticking out from behind a stack of large blank canvases she had yet to find a use for. Maybe she’d grab a couple of those while she was at it. They might look artistic leaning against the ladder.

  “What do you think happened to her?” The voice carried from the dressing stalls, locking Ava in place. “A fire?” She couldn’t tell if the speaker was Emma or Emily.

  “I think so,” the other girl’s voice was quieter but still reached Ava. “My mom said she was supposed to be a model or something.”

  “Wow. You would never be able to tell.”

  Ava closed her eyes, allowing herself a slow count of five. She’d heard worse. And it wasn’t like the girls were trying to hurt her. They thought she
was up front.

  And they were only being honest.

  “Wouldn’t you just want to die if that happened to you?”

  “Emma!” Emily’s voice scolded around a half-laugh.

  “Sorry. But you know what I mean. She’s never going to have a boyfriend or anything.”

  “I heard she used to date one of the Calvano brothers. In high school.”

  “Ooh. Which one? They’re all so hot.”

  “Eww.” Emily made a retching sound. “They’re old, Emma.”

  “Not that old. The youngest was in my sister’s class, and she’s only twenty.”

  “Well, I can’t remember which one she dated. But I guess he totally ghosted her after . . .”

  Ava’s swallow sliced her throat as she backed out of the room, letting the girls’ voices fade.

  “Joseph,” she wanted to say. He was the Calvano brother she’d dated. But she pressed her lips together and silently moved back into the studio.

  There, she forced herself to pick up her camera, to double-check the ISO and the aperture, to shoot a test picture and check the white balance.

  Forced herself, when Emma and Emily returned in their new outfits, to smile and nod and take pictures that would highlight their unmarred beauty.

  Forced herself, when they were done, to hold her head high and say goodbye as they draped themselves over the boys who had come to pick them up.

  Forced herself, as she locked the studio door, to remember that she had chosen this. That she had been the one to do the ghosting, not him.

  Not that it mattered. If she hadn’t pushed him away, he would have run. And she wouldn’t have blamed him.

  Chapter 2

  It was finally happening.

  Joseph sat in his car, staring at the low brick building where he’d gotten his first job when he was fourteen. He’d had to beg Dr. Gallagher for weeks for that job. But finally the old vet had taken pity on him and let him help with cleaning kennels. From there, he’d worked his way up to checking in patients and then assisting the vet with minor procedures. When Joseph had graduated high school, Dr. Gallagher had promised that if Joseph studied to become a vet, he would sell him the practice one day. And now, after eight grueling years of school, River Falls Veterinary was his.

  “Holy smokes,” he whispered to himself. What if, after all this time, he didn’t have what it took? What if he ran the practice Dr. Gallagher had spent forty years building right into the ground?

  Something cold and wet pressed to his cheek, and he laughed, patting his Samoyed’s soft white ears. The dog was just what he needed to keep himself grounded.

  “You’re right, Tasha. God’s got this. What are we waiting for?”

  He opened his car door, patting the roof. He’d been driving the thing for a decade, and he hadn’t been sure it’d get him home from Cornell, but it had. Of course, with the loan he’d just signed to buy the practice, this old rust-bucket was going to have to get him through for a while longer.

  Tasha zoomed past him, her nose instantly to the ground. Joseph wondered how many dogs had walked through the doors of this building over the years. He pulled out his keychain and grabbed the key that had been on it for less than an hour, taking a deep breath as he turned it in the lock.

  This was it.

  He pushed the door open and stepped over the threshold into the next chapter of his life.

  Inside, everything was exactly the way Joseph remembered it, right down to the magazines in the racks and the paw-shaped treat bowl on the counter. Dr. Gallagher had even left the hideous paintings of cats in tuxedos.

  “Maybe we can replace those,” Joseph muttered to Tasha. And he knew exactly who he wanted to paint the replacement pictures. Assuming she would give him the time of day.

  But for now, he had work to do. “All right,” he said to the dog. “Where do we start?”

  Four hours later, Joseph had completed an inventory, placed an order for supplies and medications, and surveyed his patient list for next week. Fortunately, Dr. Gallagher had let patients with upcoming appointments know about the transition―and the majority of them had agreed to continue using River Falls Veterinary with Joseph at the helm.

  He thanked God again that he didn’t have to start over from scratch.

  And while he was talking to God . . . You know how much I want things to work with Ava this time, Lord. Please make it possible. Or at least let her be willing to talk to me.

  “All right, Tasha. Should we call it a day? Go get us both some treats?” At the last word, the dog’s upright ears perked.

  Of course, since Joseph had just moved into his new house yesterday and hadn’t had a chance to get food yet, any treats were going to have to come after a trip to the grocery store.

  “Sorry, girl. I’m going to have to drop you off at home first. It’s too hot to leave you in the car.” After spending the past eight years in New York, it was going to take a while to readjust to the Tennessee heat.

  Twenty minutes later, with Tasha safely dropped off at home, Joseph drove past the familiar storefronts that had lined Main Street since he was a boy: Daisy’s Pie Shop, Henderson’s Art Gallery, the Sweet Boutique, the Book Den. He crossed the bridge over the Serenity River, driving to the outskirts of town, where the grocery store was located. Sweating lightly after the short walk across the parking lot, he ducked gratefully into the air conditioned store.

  He reached for a cart just as another hand landed on it.

  A female hand, judging by the bright pink nail polish.

  “Oh sorry.” Joseph pulled his hand back and reached for another cart.

  “Joseph Calvano?” The woman’s voice was warm and sugary, slightly higher than most, with a taste of the South that he’d missed during his years in New York. It was a voice he would recognize anywhere.

  “Madison Monroe.” He turned toward her, holding out his hand, but she dove at him in a hug.

  He hesitated a second, then lifted a reluctant arm to her back.

  “Your daddy said you were coming home,” Madison said as she pulled away, her eyes traveling to his shoes, then back up to his shoulders.

  “It’s nice to see you,” Joseph mumbled. The last time he’d talked to Madison had been as he was running out of the prom he’d taken her to.

  “You too. We should get together sometime. Catch up. You owe me a dance, you know.”

  “Yeah. Um―” He’d never had any desire to take Madison to the prom. He’d only asked her because he was upset that the girl he’d wanted to take―the only girl he’d ever wanted to do anything with―had pushed him away. “Sorry about that.” He’d never before considered that it might have bothered Madison. She had so many guys falling at her feet, he figured she probably hadn’t even noticed.

  “I forgive you. On one condition.” Madison pointed her perfectly manicured fingernail at his chest.

  “What’s that?”

  “Dinner. Tomorrow night.”

  “Oh.” Joseph’s mind whirred. “I’m sorry, I can’t. I’m actually, uh, actually . . .” He scratched his cheek, hoping she couldn’t tell he was stalling. “I’m actually seeing someone.”

  Technically speaking, that wasn’t one hundred percent true. But he would be seeing someone soon―as soon as he worked up the nerve to ask her. And assuming that she said yes. That counted, didn’t it?

  “I should have known.” Madison studied his face a little too closely. “You always were too good a catch to stay single.”

  Joseph had no idea how to react to that. The best he could come up with was a strange sound at the back of his throat. He grabbed for an empty cart.

  Madison spun her cart toward the produce section. “I’m sure I’ll see you around.”

  Joseph blew out a long breath as she disappeared. He waited a few seconds, then entered the store, making sure to choose a different aisle than the one she’d headed for. Thankfully, he didn’t run into her again as he did his shopping.

  As he emerged from the
store forty-five minutes later, he tried not to be disappointed that he hadn’t seen the one woman he really wanted to see. The same one he’d wanted to take to the prom. It would have taken a pretty big coincidence for Ava to be at the store at the same time he was on his first day home. Not that Joseph doubted it could happen―he’d learned over the years that even the seemingly coincidental was in God’s hands.

  He whistled as he pushed his cart toward his car, letting his eyes rove to the deep green slopes of the Smoky Mountains that wrapped around the town, making River Falls feel cozy and protected and tucked away in its own corner of the world. He turned his head to the north, squinting, even though he knew her house was too far into the ridges to see from here.

  “Watch out!”

  Joseph yanked his cart to a stop at the shouted warning.

  A dark-haired woman glared at him. His cart was only inches from hitting her.

  “I’m so sorry.” Joseph steered his cart out of the way as he apologized. “I was lost in thought. Wait. Lori?”

  The woman’s glare didn’t ease. “Joseph.”

  “Hey.” He cleared his throat. Wasn’t this exactly the kind of coincidence he needed? “So, uh― How are things?”

  “Good.” The woman crossed her arms in front of her.

  Okay. This was not going well. If Lori was this cold with him, what did that say about how her niece would feel to learn that Joseph was home?

  “Glad to hear it.” He waited for her to ask how things were with him―to give him an opening to say that he was back in town for good. But she remained silent.

  Apparently, he was going to have to take things into his own hands. “I just moved back to town. Bought Dr. Gallagher’s practice.”

  Lori gave a short nod.

  “Anyway, uh―” Joseph pulled on the neck of his shirt. Had someone cranked up the thermostat on the sun? “How is Ava?”

  There. He’d done it.

  Lori’s mouth tightened, and he resisted the urge to remind her that Ava was the one who had broken up with him.