by Marilyn Knowles Wilke

Created on: March 02, 2009   Last Updated: December 03, 2011

The wind played it's symphony through the trees as Tara Parker continued to unload her boxes from the back of her car. Her new home was beautiful or at least it was new to her children. It had been home to her growing up. Her mother had passed away when she was just twelve. Her father had died recently, leaving her the house, land and enough money to raise her three children the way she was raised. This house brought a new beginning for her now. With Trevor, her husband gone, she had been struggling to make ends meet. His death had also come as a shock only months before her father, but Tara always hid her emotions most of her life. Even now, as she felt like screaming, she managed to hold back her tears.

Tara watched her three young children as they all pitched in, carrying boxes into their new home. Her children were very close together in age with Trevor Junior being nine, Trinity, eight, and Tammy being seven. Tara was pregnant and the baby was due in a few weeks. She was having a hard time carrying the boxes, but she was a strong woman and usually did not let anyone know just how fragile she felt inside.

She struggled with a large box, almost dropping it to the ground. She was relieved when she felt the box being lifted from her grasp. She looked up to see who was attached to the hands that had saved the day. It was a tall man with dark eyes and dark hair. He was very attractive, but she assumed he was also very attached to someone, judging by his appearance.

"Hello," He smiled an enchanting smile that reminded her of her late husband. "I am Thomas, your neighbor. "I live just across the road there."

"Thank-you so much for your help," She thanked him over and over as he brought the last box into the house. "You live in the house that my best friend lived in when I was a young girl."

"I guess you do not remember me," He chuckled. "I am Amanda's older brother."

"Oh, how silly," She smiled, widely. "Of course, Thomas, how could I forget. You teased us enough and scared the daylights out of me plenty of times. How is Amanda?"

He stared at the floor as if he did not want to answer. He explained that his sister and parents were killed in an automobile accident when Amanda was only twenty-eight years old. Her husband was with them in the car as they headed for the hospital to deliver their first child. He explained that none of them survived. He had lived in the family house since then. He left out the in-between years, which obviously were just as much painful

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