With One Taste - Heaven's Promise - Seasons of Change, #3

Tears whisper down Janelle's cheeks as she grieves the loss of her husband, Daniel, gone now for one year. She looks out over turbulent Lake Como in St. Paul, Minnesota, and has never felt more alone. When a stranger offers her comfort, she willingly goes into his arms to cry into his chest all of the loss she feels. In his arms she begins to feel secure and other longings take over. For just this moment, Janelle wants to know what it feels like to live again and feel something other than the ache of letting go.
Paul doesn't know why he's gone for a walk on such a cold and wet day. Paul's aborted hopes of an engagement with Cally Bartelt fills his mind and heart with grief. Her book, In Time, tore up his pride. Yes, Paul knows Cally is happy with her new husband, the infamous Michael Paige, but Paul can't help but feel loss whenever he thinks of her. When Paul sees a stranger crying at the edge of the lake, he knows he can't leave her to her grief.
As he holds the weeping woman, he feels in his spirit he is doing just as God has willed. When he feels the prompt to kiss the woman in his arms, he is at once stunned by the thought, but when she looks up at him with trust and expectation, he dips his head and captures her lips with his own. Never has Paul felt like this. Passion bursts in all of its decadent colors, and he doesn't even know her name.
When the stranger pulls back and whispers, "Thank you, " he doesn't know what to say. When she steps out of his arms and walks away, he wants to call out to her, but the still small voice in his heart says, "Let her go, Paul."Neither Paul nor Janelle believe they will ever see each other again, but Janelle turns up in Paul's college course on nineteenth century women's fiction a week later. Janelle is impressed with Paul's instruction, and Paul is equally impressed by Janelle's intelligence and her ability to grasp the concepts he is imparting to his class.
Janelle and Paul have chance meetings outside of the classroom. He is there when she visits the Como Zoo with her children and offers comfort when she remembers the circumstances of her husband's death. He prays for her in courtyard of the university when she is gripped by her loss. When she visits a new church, Paul is there. He holds her close during worship service when the congregation sings, "He takes a way yet gives"-a song sung at Janelle's husband's funeral.
As Paul's yearnings for Janelle grow, he knows that he would never be able to live without her. Professional honesty prevents him from pursuing her romantically until after her final. When he holds her in his office afterwards, he knows that he would only be satisfied if Janelle would agree to be his wife. Their romance blooms softly. They share the depths of their hurts-Janelle's guilt over not staying pure before marrying-Paul's grief over being raised by a clinically depressed mother.
God is in the midst of this couple as their relationship passes through the stages of their engagement until their final joining as man and wife.