What Happens At The End Of No Promises In The Wind?

When my parents call to tell me they are taking me to my childhood friend, Oliver Holland's house to meet his blind date, he is still asleep beside me. I think they are joking and whisper, "Oliver, they said they've found you someone to date." He gives a lazy hum and pulls me into his arms. "Gerry, help me pick out something to wear later. And fix my hair, too." When I freeze, Oliver opens his eyes and lets out a short, mocking laugh. "What's wrong with you? We're just sleeping together. You don't actually think I'm going to marry you, do you?"

In Silver Hollow, a girl could not leave her family home as a bride until the groom's family had prepared a complete set of seven silver wedding pieces. For six years, Logan Carney promised me that my bridal set would be ready soon. But every year, one piece was still missing. So I waited. I waited until the girl everyone once called beautiful became the woman people whispered about behind her back. In the seventh year, I emptied my savings and secretly ordered the silver crown myself. It was the most expensive piece, but I told myself it was worth it. I loved Logan, and I wanted to help him. But on the day I went to give him the crown, I stopped outside his door. Inside, I heard his younger brother, Caleb Carney, speaking in a low voice, "Logan, are you seriously giving this year's silver crown to Abbie? You have been giving her one piece every year for seven years. She already has a complete bridal set." Logan laughed softly. "Abbie is different. She's wild, and everyone in town treats her like one of the guys. She is afraid no man will ever marry her, so she wants a full silver set to prove she is still worth marrying. Giving it to her doesn't hurt me." Caleb was quiet for a moment. "And what about Julia?" he asked. "What if she finds out? What if she gets angry and marries someone else?" Logan snorted. "She has waited for me for six years. If she were going to leave, she would have left long ago." Then he said the words that shattered the last of my heart. "Besides, she is already twenty-eight. Who else would want her now? Let her wait one more year. Once she is almost thirty, she will be grateful just to marry me. A woman like that won't dare act proud anymore." I stood outside the door, feeling as though my heart had been ripped wide open. At that moment, I finally understood the truth. For seven years, I thought I had been waiting for my wedding. All along, Logan had been building someone else's. If that was how he truly felt, then it was time for me to find myself a new groom. I dialed a number I had buried for years. The moment he answered, my voice trembled. "I'm getting married in three days," I said. "Will you come steal me from the wedding?"

When my mother went into kidney failure and needed a transplant, it was Pauline Maynard—on the brink of death herself—who gave my mom a second chance at life. Just before Pauline passed, she gripped my hand tightly and whispered her final words. "Summer, Ricky is my only son. He's rebellious… and fragile. Please, take care of him. Just three years, please?" I gave her my word. Then I moved into their home and gave Ricky everything he needed—love, comfort, a sense of safety. For three years, I stayed true to that promise. By the third year, Ricky had transformed. No longer the wayward boy he once was, he rose to become the Mafia Don Ricky Lenza. And I was carrying his child. As I busied myself with wedding plans, I overheard something I was never meant to hear—his voice, low and mocking, as he wrapped another woman in his arms. "Summer? She's just pretending to love me for the sake of my mother's inheritance and a stupid deal. A gold digger like her dreams of marrying me? What a joke." A sharp pain pierced my chest, like thorns stabbing deep beneath the skin. On the way to a prenatal checkup, we were hit in a crash. My baby didn't make it. And my mother, sitting in the passenger seat, shielded me with her life. When I woke up, I stared blankly at the date on my phone. Three days left. That would've marked the end of the three-year promise. I realized then—I'd paid my debt to Pauline in full. It was time for me to go.

Robert Blackwell promised to marry me, then postponed it thirty-eight times. The fifth time, a car crash broke eight of his ribs, and I signed seven critical-condition notices. The tenth time, on the way to get our marriage license, he and the car were thrown into the sea, and his suit was torn apart by sharks. By the thirty-eighth time, his heart disease had worsened and his life was hanging by a thread. Eight months pregnant, I changed flights three times and flew twenty-three hours across half the world to find him. When the door opened, a little boy who looked exactly like him lifted his face and said, "I thought Mom was back." Robert rushed out barefoot, panic written all over his face. I turned around and saw my best friend of twelve years standing behind me with a key in her hand. The little boy ran to her and threw himself into her arms, calling her Mom. So the fiance I had waited seven years for was my best friend's secret husband all along. "I will not wait through these thirty-eight near-death weddings anymore." "Robert, I do not want you either."

Nissa Sullivan was born mute, yet by chance managed to marry rich, becoming Mrs. Jules, wife of Benjamin Jules. However, she knew full well that Benjamin held no love for her. Naturally, Benjamin got together with his first love, Charlotte Quinn, when she returned to the country. Nissa, knowing full well that it was time she left, chose to hide her pregnancy result and make room for Charlotte.

Five years of marriage, and I was finally pregnant. I couldn't wait to tell Neil—until I heard his mom say: "When are you going to tell Angela? Cece's already showing. This family needs an heir." "Just give me a little more time. I'll handle it." I froze in the doorway, the ultrasound report burning in my pocket. Neil Schmidt, your promises mean nothing.