This Time Forever Read Online Free Page B

will you be coming to visit?”
    Rebekka’s grip on the receiver was so tight that her hand ached. “As soon as you return to Utah. Let me know once you have a date.”
    “I can’t wait, Rebekka,” Brionney crowed enthusiastically. “Wait till you see how big the kids are! But what about a visa? Won’t that take time?”
    “I work for the Embassy, remember? I can pull some strings.”
    “Oh, that’s right.”
    There was a brief silence. “Thanks, Brionney,” Rebekka said quietly. “You don’t know what this means to me.”
    “Does this have something to do with Marc?”
    Rebekka took a breath. “Yeah.”
    “Did you talk to him?” Brionney had been urging Rebekka to tell him how she felt.
    “Not exactly.” What would Brionney say if she knew Marc was in love with Danielle? “I—I just think it’s time I moved on. I can’t wait forever. He’s already thirty-four. I don’t think he’s ever going to change.”
    “I’m sorry,” Brionney said quietly. “I really am. Believe me, I know what it’s like to have to leave him. But maybe your leaving will help him realize what’s important.”
    Rebekka wanted to believe Marc would come to his senses, that he would recognize how much she meant to him and come after her. But she knew he wouldn’t. Once Brionney had loved him, and when she’d returned to America, he hadn’t gone after her. Their relationship had simply been over. “It didn’t help you,” she observed.
    “What I felt for Marc was friendship,” Brionney insisted. “There was never anything else. We both wanted it to be something else, but he . . . never mind. What’s important is that I found my happiness. It wouldn’t have been fair to either Marc or myself if we’d tried to make things work. I’m supposed to be with Jesse. I know that. I love him, and he loves me. Someday you’ll find the man you’re supposed to be with—I know you will.”
    “I guess.” The problem was that Rebekka felt Marc was supposed to be hers. She’d believed it for so long that she didn’t know how to go about thinking anything else. Her whole life had changed since that morning. Knowing what she did, she couldn’t wait for Marc anymore. She still loved him, but maybe love wasn’t everything. Maybe love wasn’t enough.
    Maybe there was even someone else out there for her.
    “Our plans should be finalized soon,” Brionney said. “I’ve already packed everything but the essentials.” There was a brief pause. “Oh no, Gabriel’s awake. I have to go now. I’ll call you in a week or so.”
    Rebekka thanked her again and hung up the phone. She felt good about her decision and Brionney’s response, but there was a little knot of fear in her stomach as well.
    She slipped to her knees at the side of the bed. “Father,” she whispered, “I’ve made a decision, as I’ve always been taught to do before asking You for confirmation. Oh, I know I made it a little hastily—Mother would say that’s Dad’s influence, You know, depending on my own knowledge and desires instead of Yours. I’m sorry. But I do feel it’s the right thing for me. I just can’t bear to look at Marc. I can’t stand it anymore that he doesn’t love me like I love him. Please let me know I have Your blessing in this decision. Is this the right thing for me?”
    After her prayer, Rebekka continued to feel positive about going to America. The only thing she regretted was not going months earlier; she’d already wasted so much time. She came to her feet, moved to a desk in the corner, and began a list of the things she would need to do before she left. The first hurdle was her job, but it shouldn’t be too difficult to take a leave of absence—perhaps a permanent one. Who knew what adventures awaited her in America?
    She wouldn’t tell her family until her plans were set, and then she would swear them to secrecy. The vindictive part of her hoped Marc would be a little hurt and angry when he finally heard that she was