First Comes Love

Book Four Friendship Heirloom: Responsibility

At the age of fifteen, Chad Feldmann and Winnie McBride made an impulsive choice that led to pregnancy. Now, years later, they have a precious little girl, they've both graduated high school, and they're married. But all is not well in paradise. As much as Winnie loves her daughter, she can't forget the life she'd expected to be living. Her dreams were pushed aside ruthlessly, kicked in the dirt and all but buried with pregnancy and motherhood. While they were both caring for their daughter and trying to finish high school before they got married, she and Chad lived platonically and it'd seemed to her that they were both struggling and making sacrifices to move forward wisely with their lives. Once they're married, she discovers that Chad has used the college fund his father set aside for him to pursue the dreams he'd always imagined for his life. She's working two jobs and taking care of their child. She can't see that Chad is doing his part, sacrificing for their life together, anymore. The less he's there for them, the more her resentment grows.

Chad blames himself for the reckless choice made when he and Winnie were kids. He believes he should have protected the girl he loved--even if it meant protecting her from him, until they were both ready for forever. All he wants now is to build a life with Winnie, but he doesn't know how to do that without unintentionally taking away her dreams. In some ways, he expected to lose her from the moment they discovered she was pregnant, and that expectation hasn't lessened at all in the years since. He knows Winnie isn't happy, knows she's pulling further and further from him, and he can't figure out how to stop the inevitable.

They've done everything backwards--the baby carriage, then marriage--and somehow he has to remind her that, regardless of all the wrongs committed, one thing has been true for him for as long as he can remember: First came love.