Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Present day…
W hen Zoey returned to the cabin from the post office, she tried to stop her heart from racing while opening the box. Placing the three diaries aside, she immediately opened the first of four photo albums, deciding to start with the oldest and work her way through.
There weren’t many pictures of her great-grandparents, Waylon and Deedra. The ones taken were in black-and-white and, in some instances, grainy. But still, she could tell Waylon Satterfield had been a very handsome man. In one photo, he appeared to be in his thirties, tall and muscular, with a pair of dark, friendly eyes. Deedra Satterfield stood around five-six and had beautiful features. They wore their Sunday best, indicating they’d probably gone to church that day.
There was also their wedding picture. Waylon was dressed in a dark suit, and she was in a pretty blue dress and holding a lovely bouquet. Zoey recalled Ms. Felicia saying Deedra had been a widow, which was probably why she hadn’t worn a gown. She looked young, no more than eighteen, although Ms. Felicia Laverne said she’d been twenty-two when they’d married.
There were also photos of Arabella as a little girl with her parents. They projected the perfect family.
An hour later, she placed the photo albums aside, filled with emotions after viewing numerous snapshots of her ancestors. The photos that had touched her emotionally more than the others were the ones in the album her parents had kept. It contained their wedding pictures, vacations they had taken together, her baby pictures, and pictures of various stages of her life while growing up under her parents’ loving, watchful, and protective eyes.
Numerous pictures included not only her and her parents together but also her grandparents. One such photo showed her fifth birthday being celebrated on the ranch. A table had been set up on the lawn, right in front of that giant oak tree. Was that why she remembered that tree that day she’d driven onto Chance’s property?
Zoey hoped seeing those photos of her childhood would trigger her memory. So far, they hadn’t. She was trying not to feel frustrated and not force her mind to recall anything like her therapist said. Instead, she would unwind and relax, believing the memories would come naturally. Still, she couldn’t wait for Lucky to see the albums and for Chance to see them, too.
Chance.
A shiver of excitement raced through her at the thought she would be seeing him tomorrow for their picnic.
She had considered that Chance Madaris might be the one man she couldn’t handle when it came to controlling her sexual urges. She certainly thought of jumping his bones whenever they were together. For a woman who didn’t do flings, she was having second thoughts when it came to him.
She would return to Baltimore at the end of the summer. Why did the thought of parting ways with Chance set her on edge? She usually had more control of her emotions than that, especially when it involved matters of her heart.
Her heart? Honestly, Zoey. Her heart had nothing to do with it. It was about an increase in her hormones and nothing else.
Putting the photo albums aside, she went into the kitchen to pour a glass of wine. She loved this place and wondered since it was located so far from the main house, had it been Waylon and Deedra’s first home?
Anxious to read the diaries, she returned to the living room and reached for the one with a moss green cover and a beautiful large scripted letter D on the front. She figured D stood for Deedra. Goose bumps appeared on her arm as she eased onto the sofa and curled her legs beneath her. After taking a sip of wine, she opened the diary and began reading.
Dear Diary,
Today, I met Waylon Satterfield. Reverend Potts, a childhood friend of my late father, invited me to Houston to meet him, and I’m glad he did. Mr. Satterfield is my last hope. Otherwise, I will be forced to marry Forest, Dale’s brother, who always gave me the creeps. I was still grieving my beloved Dale’s death when his family showed up on the ranch and took everything. They said as a widow, I could not own anything, and if I wanted to continue to live there, I would have to marry Forest. Dale had once confided in me just how abusive his brother could be to women.
Waylon seems like a nice man. He understands I could never love him like a woman or wife should love a man or her husband. My heart will forever belong to Dale. However, I told him that if we married, I would perform all my wifely duties and care for his household. He was okay with my position and explained that just like my heart would forever belong to Dale, his heart would forever belong to a woman named Victoria Madaris.
What?! Zoey recalled Corbin had told her Victoria Madaris had been their great-grandaunt—and Ms. Felicia’s best friend. She also recalled Chance saying that same aunt was buried in a tomb in the fruit grove. Zoey continued reading after taking another sip of wine.
Zoey read twenty more entries and, upon finishing, knew why Waylon and Victoria had broken off their engagement, and the cause of the Satterfield and Madaris feud. Fighting back tears, her heart couldn’t help but go out to the couple who’d been so much in love but could not marry. She also knew why Waylon and Deedra had agreed to a loveless marriage. She checked her watch and saw it was time to prepare something for dinner. But she was so into Deedra’s diary that she didn’t want to stop reading.