“You … you’re selling the house?”
“Yes.” He stroked her face with a rough knuckle. “I have a home here with you. And a future. I love you, Laney. When are you going to believe that?”
She stared at him for a fragile moment, desperate to believe.
“You said once that deep love was only for the lucky ones. Well, it’s not luck, Laney. It’s God’s direct blessing. We’ve got it, and I won’t let you think we don’t.”
When she only stared at him with bewilderment and amazement misting her eyes, he smiled. “Why can’t you believe?”
She laughed and slid her arms around his neck. “Oh, I believe. I believe.”
He kissed her then, a kiss that healed her spirit and branded her soul, a kiss that marauded and plundered, then returned her gifts a hundredfold.
He slid his hand across her flat stomach. “A baby,” he whispered reverently against her lips. “Our baby.”
In amazement, she set her hand on Wes’s over the baby God had given them together, the one they would love and parent and nurture together. The one who would give her a second chance to do things right. As he kissed her again, Laney sent up a silent prayer of thanks. God’s provision. It was so forgiving, so promising, so rich with blessings. It was, indeed, too good to be true. But God had made it true. He had given her a cloak of her own that finally fit.
And she had no intention of ever taking it off.
About The Author
Terri Blackstock is an award-winning novelist who has written for several major publishers including HarperCollins, Dell, Harlequin, and Silhouette. Her books have sold over 6 million copies worldwide.
With her success in secular publishing at its peak, Blackstock had what she calls “a spiritual awakening.” A Christian since the age of fourteen, she realized she had not been using her gift as God intended. It was at that point that she recommitted her life to Christ, gave up her secular career, and made the decision to write only books that would point her readers to him.
“I wanted to be able to tell the truth in my stories,” she said, “and not just be politically correct. It doesn’t matter how many readers I have if I can’t tell them what I know about the roots of their problems and the solutions that have literally saved my own life.”
Her books are about flawed Christians in crisis and God’s provisions for their mistakes and wrong choices. She claims to be extremely qualified to write such books, since she’s had years of personal experience.
A native of nowhere, since she was raised in the Air Force, Blackstock makes Mississippi her home. She and her husband are the parents of three adult children—a blended family which she considers one more of God’s provisions.
Terri Blackstock (www.terriblackstock.com) is the #1 bestselling author of the Cape Refuge, Sun Coast Chronicles, Second Chances, and Newpointe 911 suspense series, and other books.
With Beverly LaHaye, she wrote Seasons Under Heaven, Times and Seasons, Showers in Season, and Season of Blessing.
ENJOY THE NEXT BOOK IN THE SECOND CHANCES SERIES
When Dreams Cross
Chapter 1
The past was a funny thing. It had a way of catching up with you—no matter how fast you ran. Andi Sherman realized now that it was gaining on her.
There was no way around it. The Khaki Kangaroo cartoon was the only one that had the kind of characters she had wanted for her amusement park. But she had resisted choosing it, because she wasn’t sure she was up to dealing with the baggage that came with it.
But letting personal feelings influence her business decisions would have disappointed her father, who had trusted her to take over his dream when others saw her as not much more than a kid. She had something to prove now. Even if it meant working with Justin Pierce.
Andi sighed. “It’s perfect, Wes. That cartoon is the only one that strikes the right chord.”
The builder nodded. “You chose it, Andi. You knew those characters were perfect for Promised Land the first time you saw them. I did, too.”
Andi turned around in her leather swivel chair and stared down at some papers on her desk. Of course she had known it was perfect. But that was before she had learned that Justin Pierce was its animator.
Justin Pierce. She had counted on spending the rest of her life without seeing him again.
She raised her eyes to her old friend and the builder who would incorporate these characters into the rides. As he watched, he rolled a purple Tootsie Pop around in his mouth, one that he’d no doubt bought for his daughters. “It doesn’t matter, though,” she said, “Justin probably won’t come anyway. He’s already an hour and a half late.”
Wes took the sucker from his mouth and surveyed the uncharacteristic tension on Andi’s face. “Justin’s not stupid. If he has any business sense at all, he’ll come.”
“If it were just business,” Andi said in a hollow voice, “it wouldn’t be that hard.”
Standing up, she went to the window, hands jammed in the pockets of her slacks. The cool pink blouse she wore provided a soft contrast to the tan on Andi’s arms. Absently, her hand went up to tuck a stray strand of hair into the French braid at the nape of her neck. If only she could put this off until another day, she thought.
“Andi,” Wes said, his gentle voice cutting into her thoughts to remind her he was still there. “Eight years is a long time, and you were both practically kids. Don’t you think he’s put all that behind him by now?”
Andi breathed a silent laugh. She had never been able to completely put it behind her. But she had lost more when the relationship ended than he had. She turned back to Wes, who’d been friends with them both when they were all involved in a Christian discipling group in college. “Of course he has. I’m just worried about those resentments he had toward me the last time I saw him. They might get in the way of my offer.”
Wes stood up and stuck the Tootsie Pop back in his mouth. “Those resentments were unfounded. And your father was wrong. Everything that happened was wrong.” His words were slurred around the candy, making what he said seem less important, but Andi knew better. “Surely the past won’t cloud a business deal like this.”
Surely, Andi thought with a sarcastic lift of her brows. But unless Justin Pierce had changed, she knew there would be trouble.
ISBN: 978-0-310-20709-2
Pick up a copy today at your favorite bookstore!
Double Minds
Terri Blackstock,
#1 Bestselling Suspense Author
As talented singer/songwriter Parker James struggles to make her mark on the Nashville music scene, she finds the competition can be fierce—even deadly.
When a young woman is murdered at the recording studio where Parker works, Parker is drawn into a mystery where nothing is as it seems. Unraveling the truth puts her own life at risk when she uncovers high-level industry corruption and is terrorized by a menacing stalker. As the danger escalates, Parker begins to question her dreams, her future, and even her faith. Does stardom even matter anymore?
Double Minds is a compelling suspense novel that unfolds in the middle of the Christian music industry in Nashville. Terri Blackstock, known for her Up All Night Fiction, grabs readers at page one and keeps them riveted until the final plot twist is untangled. This well-turned mystery is Blackstock’s first stand-alone title in several years, and it was worth waiting for.
Hardcover: 978-0-310-31842-2
Softcover: 978-0-310-25063-0
Unabridged Audio CD: 978-0-310-28812-1
Audio Download, Unabridged: 978-0-310-28813-8
Pick up a copy today at your favorite bookstore!
Other great books from Terri Blackstock
A RESTORATION NOVEL SERIES
Pick up a copy today at your favorite bookstore!
CAPE PEFUGE SEPIES
This bestselling series follows the lives of the people of the small seaside community of Cape Refuge, as two sisters struggle to continue the ministry their parents began helpi
ng the troubled souls who come to Hanover House for solace.
Pick up a copy today at your favorite bookstore!
Other great books from Terri Blackstock
NEWPOINTE 911 SERIES
Pick up a copy today at your favorite bookstore!
MORE GREAT BOOKS FROM
TERRI BLACKSTOCK
SUN COAST CHRONICLES
Pick up a copy today at your favorite bookstore!
Other great books from Terri Blackstock
SECOND CHANCES SERIES
Pick up a copy today at your favorite bookstore!
BESTSELLING BOOKS WITH BEVERLY LAHAYE
Pick up a copy today at your favorite bookstore!
About the Publisher
Founded in 1931, Grand Rapids, Michigan-based Zondervan, a division of HarperCollinsPublishers, is the leading international Christian communications company, producing best-selling Bibles, books, new media products, a growing line of gift products and award-winning children’s products. The world’s largest Bible publisher, Zondervan (www.zondervan.com) holds exclusive publishing rights to the New International Version of the Bible and has distributed more than 150 million copies worldwide. It is also one of the top Christian publishers in the world, selling its award-winning books through Christian retailers, general market bookstores, mass merchandisers, specialty retailers, and the Internet. Zondervan has received a total of 68 Gold Medallion awards for its books, more than any other publisher.
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Table of Contents
Cover Page
Title Page
Copyright Page
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
About the Author
About the Publisher
Share Your Thoughts
Second Chance - 05 - Never Again Good-Bye Page 20
