I’ve been deep into editing the last week and a half but have not forgotten about you. Thought I’d post the Prologue for your reading pleasure but I’ll do that at the end.
It is feeling GREAT being back into writing so deeply again. It’s exciting! In so many ways I wish, once again, that I could do just that! I just don’t know how to break out!
I’ll ride the wave again… and hope that, this time, the wave never crashes to shore… that I can just keep writing!
It’s been a wild ride these last couple of weeks since my boss resigned. I am looking for something new, this time in Goderich, mostly. I had an interview yesterday for long term care so we’ll see how that goes. Sometimes I think about my dream and how much I’d still love to have my writing and photography studio. I think it comes with age!
Anyway, here is the Prologue… enjoy… hope it keeps you wanting more!
Prologue
The town square was quiet, the hour late enough that the usual chatter of shopkeepers and passing carriages had softened into a distant hum. In the dim glow of lantern light, Lucas Caldwell stood near the courthouse steps, shifting his weight nervously from foot to foot.
The cold didn’t bother him—it wasn’t the bite of the evening air that made his hands tremble. It was the wait.
His fingers curled instinctively around the small wedding band nestled in his coat pocket, the metal warm from his own touch.
Tonight, everything would change. Tonight, she would be his.
And yet, they would never have the kind of wedding that came with a grand hall and an endless guest list like women dreamed their entire childhood. There would be no family celebration, no lace-trimmed invitations sent weeks in advance. Her father would never allow it.
Their love had lived in the quiet corners of Goderich, in hidden notes tucked behind bookshelves and stolen glances in the market square. It had survived despite the forces trying to keep them apart.
Tonight, they would finally claim it.
A soft rustle broke his thoughts, and when he looked up—there she was.
Evelyn appeared from the shadows, stepping carefully from an alleyway near the courthouse, her cloak pulled tightly around her, hiding the pale blue dress she had spent months sewing in secret.
She had never looked more beautiful.
Her eyes met his, and for just a moment, fear flickered behind them.
“Did anyone see you?” he asked softly.
Evelyn hesitated, glancing over her shoulder before shaking her head. “I don’t think so. My father retired early—he believes I’m home, in my room, as I always am.”
Lucas exhaled, relief washing over him in waves. “Good.”
He reached for her hands, squeezing them gently, tracing his thumb over the delicate skin. “Evelyn, if we do this, there’s no turning back.”
She smiled, something fierce and certain in her expression. “I know. That’s why I came.”
A gust of wind carried the distant earthy from the harbor, mixing with the warmth of burning lanterns. It was a quiet night, and the town was resting—no one to stop them, no one to say no.
The minister, a kindly older man who had once purchased a hand-carved clock from Lucas, stood waiting near the courthouse doors. His expression was unreadable, but his presence meant one thing: the ceremony would proceed.
Lucas swallowed. “Are you ready?”
Evelyn didn’t hesitate. “Yes.”
The ceremony was brief but powerful, the words spoken carefully, as if each syllable had been chosen with precision.
Lucas barely heard most of it—all he could focus on was Evelyn, the way she held onto his hands like an anchor, the way her breath steadied when she repeated her vows.
Her voice did not shake. She was resolute.
They exchanged rings—not grand pieces, nothing adorned with diamonds or engraved with names. Just simple gold bands, carved by Lucas himself, polished with care over months spent preparing for a wedding that had never been guaranteed.
When the minister finally spoke the words that bound them together, Lucas exhaled sharply, as if his heart had finally settled into place.
Evelyn squeezed his hands, lifting them between them as if she still needed proof that this was real.
“We did it,” she whispered.
Lucas smiled, letting out a breathless laugh. “We did.”
Their first moments as husband and wife were spent walking, hand in hand, through the quiet streets of Goderich, wrapped in the safety of the darkened town.
Lucas pulled her close, pressing a kiss to her temple, savoring the way she fit so perfectly beside him.
“We leave in the morning,” he murmured. “We’ll start over somewhere new. No one will hold us back.”
Evelyn nodded against his shoulder, her voice steady. “I’ll follow you anywhere.”
But Goderich had a way of holding onto people, even when they thought they had escaped.
Even when love was meant to be enough.
Even when they had promised each other forever.
And even though their wedding had bound them together, it would not protect them from what was to come.
My Writing Path 