Chapter Nine
Hope's phone lit up with a new text message, the third from Colin today:
Would you have dinner with me tonight?
She set aside the novel she hadn't really been reading, staring at the message with mixed emotions. Five days since she'd moved into the downtown hotel. Five days of contemplation, of measured responses to Colin's increasingly earnest attempts at reconciliation.
The flowers had arrived first—an extravagant arrangement of exotic blooms that filled her hotel room with heady fragrance.
Lovely, thoughtful, but somehow missing the point.
Yesterday, a velvet jewelry box had been delivered, containing a platinum pendant that matched the emerald earrings he'd given her before the reunion.
Beautiful, certainly, yet it felt like he was courting someone else entirely—someone impressed by luxury rather than substance.
Hope's fingers hovered over the reply button. She needed to face him, to explain what she was feeling, what she was waiting for. But not in a public restaurant, surrounded by other diners and expectations.
Can we meet privately instead?
His response arrived almost immediately:
Name the time and place. I miss you. I love you.
The swiftness of Colin's reply hurt. She could practically feel his desperation.
His frantic need to see her. Talk to her.
And beg for her forgiveness. But a part of her was still terrified this was just guilt talking, and he would one day think of her as someone who could turn him into a laughingstock. ..again.
Hope's phone rang just as she was about to have a shower, and she answered the call as soon as she saw her foster father's name flashing on the screen.
"Hope?" Frank Barton's familiar voice, rough with emotion, filled the line. "Is that you, sweetheart?"
"Dad?" Concern immediately replaced caution. "What is it?"
"Yes, yes." Frank's laugh emerged wet, as if through tears. "Better than okay. I'm calling because—" He broke off, clearly overwhelmed. "I don't even know how to say this."
Hope's grip tightened on the phone. "What's happened?"
"Your husband." Frank's voice strengthened with obvious gratitude. "He didn't just stop the foreclosure, Hope. He paid off our mortgage. Every cent. The ranch is ours free and clear."
Hope sank onto the edge of the bed, shock stealing her words momentarily.
"There's more." Frank sounded almost giddy now, the gruff rancher overcome with emotion.
"He set up a drought fund for all the small ranchers in the county.
Anyone who needs irrigation improvements, who's struggling with the changing climate—they can apply for grants through the Barton Rural Sustainability Foundation. "
Hope tried to process the magnitude of what Colin had done—not just saving her foster parents' farm, but establishing a foundation that would help countless others in their community. And in her foster parents' name, too!
"When did this happen?" she managed finally.
"Papers arrived by courier this morning.
" Frank cleared his throat, clearly trying to regain composure.
"Your Colin said not to tell you until everything was finalized.
Wanted it to be a proper surprise." He hesitated, then added, "He came to see us in person.
Nine days ago, if I remember correctly. Spent hours asking about our greatest concerns for the community, what would make the most difference for folks struggling here. "
Nine days ago.
This was before she had received Charlotte's email. And even before the night he had told her he was in love.
"Give him a proper thank you from all of us, will you?"
As the call ended, Hope sat motionless, overwhelmed by the implications of Colin's actions. This wasn't manipulation or calculated strategy. This was understanding on the deepest level—recognition of what truly mattered to her, what provided genuine security beyond material comfort.
He had seen her. Truly seen her. And this time, for better or for worse, she also believed he had spoken the truth...when he said he loved her.
Hope's fingers trembled as she typed out a message and hit Send before she could change her mind. It took only mere seconds for a reply to arrive, and scant minutes for Colin to knock on her hotel room door.
"I'm here." His voice was fierce with emotion. His face more handsome than she had allowed herself to remember. But she noticed how he also seemed to have lost weight, and his clothes were far from their usually impeccable state.
"Come in." Her voice came out stilted, and it surprised her to see pain flash over his features. What was that about?
He entered the room and closed the door behind him. Hope had this grand plan of inviting him to take a seat and talking things out like adults. But as soon as he faced her again, the words simply flew out of her mouth.
"Why didn't you tell me about the mortgage?"
Colin stilled. "Who told you?"
"Frank. Not that it matters." She looked at him searchingly. "Why did you do it?"
"Because they're your parents. And it was also the right thing to do."
He had no ulterior motives, in other words. And she believed him. But then...she had always recognized the goodness in Colin. That had never been the problem between them. Or maybe it was. He had been too good to Princess. And seeing that had started to hurt more and more.
"I have something to show you."
Her head lifted, in time to see Colin pull out a crumpled manila envelope from his jacket pocket. The action lacked the usual sophistication she was used to seeing from him, and knowing that she had something to do with this hurt.
Hope accepted the envelope, moving to the small desk to open it. Inside, she found legal documents bearing the letterhead of Colin's attorneys.
A post-nuptial agreement?
She looked at him in confusion, but Colin only nodded. "Read it," he encouraged quietly. "All of it."
Hope returned her attention to the document, and confusion gradually turned to shock. He was giving her half of everything except control of his businesses. Regardless of whether they stayed married or not.
All of it spelled one thing.
He loved her.
And if he had done this earlier, she would have flown straight into his arms, and they could live happily ever after.
But now?
"I realize I've been doing everything wrong the past several days," Colin said tautly.
"The flowers, the gifts, asking you out again and again.
It's easily something I could have done for any other woman.
But you're not any other woman. You're my wife.
The woman I've fallen in love with. The only one I'll ever love. "
Hope was stunned when Colin suddenly closed the distance between them as he went down on one knee. He slowly reached for her hands, and she started to cry, realizing that he was giving her all the time in the world to reject his touch.
He loved her. He really loved her. Colin...loved her.
But it was too late.
"I'm sorry for hurting you," Colin said hoarsely. "I wasn't just a fool. I was also heartless and full of it. Seeing the look on your face when you found out—" His voice cracked, and so did her heart.
I asked for someone to make Princess jealous. But you're choosing to send me someone that could turn me into a laughingstock?
"It killed me to see that. And I know it would kill me again if I were to ever say anything like it about any other person. Because you...you make me want to be a good person, Hope. You make me want to change. And that's why, even though I know you deserve someone better—"
Colin brought her hands to his lips, and slowly, she felt his own tears wet her skin.
"Please, kyria," Colin said raggedly. "Please come back to me."
****
Her husband was gone.
She was all alone again.
She had told him her conditions, and he had agreed to it.
If all of this had happened even just two days ago, it would have been so, so easy to just forgive. And assume that she already knew what she was doing, and that she had everything under control.
But not anymore.
This time, things would be different. This time, she wouldn't let the world and its lies fool her into thinking that she knew better than God. Because she didn't. She never did.
Jeremiah 17:9-10 The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is? But I, the LORD, search all hearts and examine secret motives. I give all people their due rewards, according to what their actions deserve.
The phone in her hotel room started to ring, and Hope reached for the receiver with shaking hands.
"Good afternoon, Mrs. Souloukis. We've been informed that your driver is here to pick you up."
"T-Thank you. I'll be down in a minute."
"Understood, Mrs. Souloukis."
She found herself starting to cry again as she packed her things.
To hurt her husband continuously was not an option, but to resume their marriage just like that wasn't in the cards either.
She had told Colin she was willing to come back and think things through while staying with him under one roof.
He had accepted her terms and given Hope his word about waiting.
I don't care how long it takes, Hope. You're giving me a chance. I can't ask for more.
She wiped the tears away before heading down to the lobby. But as soon as she was inside his car and on her way back to his home—
He loves me, God.
And I love him.
These two things were true, but she also knew it was not enough. It never was. For a marriage to truly work, God had to be a part of the equation.
He had to have chosen Colin for her and Hope for him.
And that was why...
I'll wait, God.
Just like Colin.
No matter how long it took.
She would wait for His sign because she was placing all of her trust in Him, the way she should have done from the start.