Crossroads—2026-06-08 (Patreon)

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Chapter 134: RUFFLES IT IS by Hannah Madison

Merritt and I are in the lobby at work waiting for Mr. Robertson. He just texted that he was delayed again, so we have a few minutes.

Merritt turned to me. “Well… Emma and Noah… That’s something. Did you know before Paul showed up?”

I nodded. “Just from the night before. We sat and talked for a long time.”

The elevator opened but it wasn’t Will, so Merritt went on. “On paper, being married makes sense, mathematically. Neither of them has debt to speak of. Two can live more cheaply together than they can apart.”

“Math?” I said. “You think that’s the reason?”

He laughed. “No, just saying… What did you think about Emma’s Ruffles idea?”

“I don’t disagree. It’s about finding something you want to stick with for the rest of your life.”

“Ruffles are a good choice,” Merritt said. “They’re great alone. And they work in dip. If you want sour cream and onion one day… Ruffles. If you want nacho cheese one day… Ruffles… I can see picking Ruffles for my one-and-only.”

“Are you talking about chips or are we still talking about relationships?”

Merritt shrugged. “Once you know, you know, maybe. You realize someone is right. Someone is everything you need. You can just stick with that person and quit looking around. Commit.”

I smiled. “I agree with that, in principle. I think Emma’s right about her and Noah.”

Merritt nodded. “I wouldn’t be surprised.”

“I talked to her for hours. I’d be surprised if anything different happened.”

There was another false alarm at the elevator—no Will Robertson.

Then Merritt got a mischievous look on his face, took out his phone, and pulled up my contact information.

He changed my name to Hannah Ruffles M.

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Chapter 135: NOT A FEELING by Noah Vale

By now, most of you know about Emma’s and my plan to get married in Memphis on the 20th. She mentioned that we can’t afford to live in NYC and that we aren’t coming back to live here after the wedding.

To be a little more specific, we’re going to live in the Memphis area. It’s a good-sized city with opportunities for both of us. It’s not foreign territory to either of us—she’s from Vicksburg, and I grew up in the Knoxville area.

We’ll find a place that’s safe and affordable, with access to the highways. We’ll be happy. I’m sure.

My great-grandmother was 84 when I was 13, and circumstances worked out for me to spend some time with her over a long weekend. One day, she pulled me aside.“Noah, when my grandmother was a little older than you, she married a boy she knew from church. They lived happily ever after. Do you want to know why?”I said I did.“Because love isn’t something you feel. It’s something you do. I can tell you right now you can get feelings for anyone, if you try. Feelings get things going. Love sees it through to the end.”She had a lot of examples from her own marriage, her children’s marriages, and her observations of life in general.

“When you marry someone, you’re committing to love them. Not to feel all gushy and moony. You get up loving them. You love them when you’re working, and when you come home, you love them some more.”

Then she said what stuck with me. “It’s how you think. It’s what you do. And if you think it and do it, the feelings will be there, too.”

Now, here’s the capstone on the idea. Emma has a great aunt who told her nearly the same thing.

So, we are committed. We’ll think it. We’ll do it. But we already have the feelings, so… Yeah, that…”

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