Adam took a seat at a long table crowded with journalists. A man ought to be free to choose whom he would marry, no matter what his position, Adam thought. Taking out writing tablet and pencil, he waited. Adam couldn't comprehend a man giving up a kingdom for a woman.
Against his will, his thoughts carried him back to Alaska. No matter how hard he'd tried to put Laurel and the Haspers behind him, he couldn't. Everywhere he went, she went with him. Her passion and strength shouted at him. Her beauty drew him.
In four days she would walk down an aisle and promise herself to someone else. Adam envisioned how she would look. Laurel would be stately, proud, and stunning. She'd wear her hair up off her neck, allowing a few soft auburn curls to caress her face. Hazel eyes would shimmer from behind a veil. A soft smile would touch her lips.
He wanted to be the one waiting at the altar.
Stop it! This is getting you nowhere, Adam told himself. Concentrate. He tried to focus on the activities in the room. He recognized many of the reporters but made no attempt to talk to anyone. He tapped his pencil on the pad. “Oh, no,” he groaned as Joe and Ginger walked in. He didn't feel like explaining his sour mood or fending off Ginger's advances.
Joe immediately spotted him. He waved and grinned, exposing his perfect teeth. Taking Ginger by the elbow, he propelled her toward Adam. “Hey, so you got the call too,” Joe said, sitting beside Adam.
“Yeah. What are you doing here? I thought this was my story.”
“It's big. What can I tell you?” Joe smoothed his thin mustache.
“I think it's very romantic,” Ginger said, settling herself in the chair on Adam's left. She smiled provocatively, dipped into her purse, and fished out a lipstick. Without using a mirror, she expertly ran the bright red tube over her full lips, smacked them, and replaced the makeup. “I think he's going to abdicate. After all, love is stronger than anything.” She smiled at Adam. “What do you think?”
“I don't care. I just wish he'd get on with it.”
“Touchy today, aren't we?” She ran a hand over Adam's shoulders. “Oh, your muscles are so tight. Would you like me to massage them?”
“I just want you to do your job,” Adam said. “And I'm not it.”
“All right, all right,” Ginger said. “Just trying to be friendly. You look like a storm cloud.”
“You do look pretty jumpy. What's eating you?” Joe asked.
“Nothing. Everything's fine. I just want to get on to something else.” He stared straight ahead, hoping his friends would leave him alone.
The tumult in the room became a droning hum as his mind returned him to the last time he'd seen Laurel. She'd said God's plans aren't always our plans, and then she'd told him pointedly that success wouldn't make him happy. How does she know? Why can't I have success and be happy too?
Will Hasper's words played through his mind. “Ever wonder if this might be where you belong?” Could he be right? Adam wondered. What would I do in Palmer? I'm a writer, not a farmer, not a hunter or a trapper.
Remembering his mushing experience with Luke, he smiled. No, I don't belong in Alaska, he thought sadly.
The radio crackled, and a man standing in front turned up the volume. “Quiet,” he called over the din.
Adam pushed through the turmoil of his mind and listened. The king was about to speak.
In a monotone voice, a man said, “This is the BBC. Tonight King Edward VIII has an announcement. The king …” the broadcaster said in a deep voice.
There was a long pause, then a solemn voice said, “Good evening. Tonight I come to you with a heavy heart. After long and anxious consideration I have determined I must renounce the throne.”
“I knew it! I knew it!” Ginger said.
“Shh. Be quiet!” a man with pencil-thin eyebrows and a narrow face shouted over the uproar. Remembering there was more to come, the reporters closed their mouths and listened intently to the king's next words.
“I, King Edward the VIII of Great Britain, Ireland, and the British Dominions beyond the seas, King Emperor of India, do hereby declare my irrevocable determination to renounce the throne for myself and for my descendants and my desire that—”
“He's done it,” Adam said. “He's actually given up his life, everything he is.” Astonishment pressed down on him. While the king spoke, Adam scribbled down notes for his story. As he wrote, questions tumbled through his mind, and he couldn't shake a vision of Laurel walking down the aisle to another man.
His voice grave but decisive, Edward continued, “I find it impossible to carry the heavy burden as king without the help and support of the woman I love.”
Adam stopped writing. He stared at the radio. He imagined what his life would be like without Laurel. He could see it—flat, lifeless, no flavor or meaning. King Edward had decided a kingdom without the support of the woman he loved was meaningless. Was that Adam's answer? Was God speaking to him?
Memories of times he'd shared with the Hasper family pummeled Adam. The months he'd spent with them had been the best he'd known. As a boy, he'd felt the presence of God. He struggled to remember, but after years of abuse and loneliness, he'd closed himself off to love—the love of God and the love of people. He'd refused to seek and to trust. And up until he'd met the Haspers, he'd believed he'd done well for himself. He'd thought life's successes would be enough to fill the emptiness.
Adam opened his eyes to the truth. He'd been wrong. The sickening sensation in his stomach twisted into a knot. He'd known he was wrong. Since returning to London, he'd sought happiness in work, but it had given only superficial satisfaction. And when he'd had successes, he had no one to share them with.
Adam remembered the little boy who'd climbed from his cot one night and kneeled before God and accepted the gift of salvation and love. God had promised never to leave him nor forsake him. He hadn't. Adam had walked away from God. All through the years God had been near, calling to him, pleading with him to listen and to follow. Adam had closed his ears. He'd abandoned the relationship. Now he understood. Possessions and status would never bring true joy.
Amidst the confusion of hungry reporters, Adam didn't hear the madness, he heard God. Tears burning his eyes, he prayed, God forgive me. I've been so foolish. Show me what to do. Show me the way.
Laurel's face filled his mind, and heartache returned. How could I have been so stupid? She's all that matters. God, what should I do?
Then he knew. “I've got to tell her,” he said, standing.
Adam looked at Joe. “I have to go. You write the story.”
“What? You nuts?”
“No. For the first time in years, I'm not.” Adam pushed his hat down on his head. “I'm going to Alaska. I just hope I'm not too late.”
Adam hurried out of the room. All that mattered to him was to tell Laurel he'd found his way. She needed to understand he loved her, wanted to marry her, and if Alaska was where they belonged, then that is where they would live.
He walked through the conference room, leaving the bedlam behind. Pushing open the door, he ran down the hallway. He'd send a wire. Lord, I pray I'm not too late.
