Healing Autumn's Heart (Love Inspired)

by Andrews, Renee

  Hannah’s throat grew thick. “Thank you, Daddy.”

  Then she noticed that her pink pages ended and there were red pages at the very back of the book. “Daddy?” she asked, turning the last pink page and finding…Matt.

  “Red is for love,” Autumn said, and Hannah smiled, gazing at the photos that her dad had been snapping over the past few months.

  She and Matt inside the display area at the toy store. Then walking in the square. Feeding the geese. In Hannah’s classroom at church with Autumn smiling between them. She flipped the page, and there were more photos, some that her father had applied special photo techniques, antiquing a picture of Matt kissing Hannah’s cheek and removing all color from one of the two of them taking turns pushing Autumn on the swing at Hydrangea Park. Their emotions, the happiness of all three of them, seemed further intensified in the black-and-white image, and Hannah touched a finger to Autumn’s smile, then Matt’s and then her own. “That was a fun day.” They were all wearing jackets and scarves, because the photo had been taken in early December, but it was the day after Hannah’s last treatment, and she’d wanted to celebrate at the park. Her father and Maura had asked to come along, and now she knew why, so he could take pictures like this. “I love this, Daddy,” Hannah said at the last page.

  “Well, you aren’t done yet,” he said, his smile creeping a little higher into his cheeks. “There’s one more photo on the back of that one, and it’s my favorite.”

  Hannah turned the page and saw Matt kneeling beside Autumn, one arm around her and the other joining her small hands to hold out a small, black box. Hannah blinked, wondering if she was imagining what she saw in that picture, and in that box.

  “Hannah,” Matt said from behind her.

  At some point when Hannah was looking through the photos, Matt and Autumn had edged away from the group, and now they stood together, Autumn’s hand over her mouth to control her giggles. Her other hand, like in the photo, joined Matt’s to hold the black velvet box in front of them and the ceiling light seemed to spotlight the exquisite marquise cut diamond inside that box.

  “You’re supposed to say yes,” Autumn said.

  “But I haven’t asked the question yet,” Matt said to his little girl.

  Autumn’s mouth quirked to the side. “Sorry, I forgot that part.”

  Matt, and everyone else, laughed. “That’s okay. But I should probably ask anyway.”

  “Okay,” Autumn said, her giggles still mingled through her words. She looked at Hannah. “Daddy needs to ask you something.”

  Matt scooted forward, and since Autumn still held on to one side of the box, she shuffled along. “I asked your father for your hand in marriage,” he said, “and in case you’re wondering, he said yes.”

  “And then Daddy asked me if I wanted you and Daddy to get married, and I said yes, too,” Autumn said, then she leaned forward and kissed Hannah’s cheek. She cupped her hand and whispered, rather loudly, in Hannah’s hear. “Now you need to say yes, too.” Then she scooted to the side and stood beside Maura.

  Matt removed the ring from the box and took her left hand. “Hannah Taylor, I love you, and I want to spend the rest of my life showing you how much.”

  Hannah was overwhelmed, her heart flooding with love for the man whose eyes looked into hers and were filled with undeniable love. She knew that he hadn’t officially asked, but she could barely wait to answer the question.

  “Hannah, will you…”

  “Yes!” she squealed then jumped forward, her arms wrapping around him and her laughter filling the room. Her momentum was more than she bargained for, though, and they both toppled backward. “Yes, yes, yes!” she continued, while the entire room burst into cheers.

  Epilogue

  Mitch Gillespie wore the same silver tuxedo as the other groomsmen, but he had a unique addition—six-month-old Dee, wearing as much pale pink lace as would fit on her tiny body—nestled in his arms.

  “Hey,” Mitch said, peeking into Hannah’s classroom, where the bridesmaids were gathered and waiting for their cue. “Dee wanted to get an early peek. You know me, I was content to wait, but she wouldn’t listen.” He grinned. “And she wanted a kiss from Mommy.”

  Jana laughed and made her way to the door, kissed her daughter and then kissed her husband too.

  “You’re terrible,” Jana said.

  “You love me,” he reminded, and she giggled.

  “Yes, I do.”

  “Come here, precious,” Hannah cooed, moving toward them and reaching for Dee.

  “You sure you want to do that?” Mitch asked. “It hasn’t been long since she ate, and you know how she is about losing her meals every now and then.”

  “A little spit-up never hurt anybody,” Hannah said.

  “Maybe not, but I’m betting most brides don’t walk down the aisle with any on their dress,” he said.

  “You’ll hold it all together for Aunt Hannah, won’t you, Dee?” Hannah said, scooping the little redhead into her arms. “There ya go.”

  Dee reached for Hannah’s hair and managed to clasp a lock in her fingers.

  “Whoa, sweetie,” Hannah said, laughing. “Goodness, you’re getting strong.”

  Jana laughed and eased her little angel’s hand free of Hannah’s hair. “Your hair looks very pretty,” she said, “so let’s try to keep it that way, at least until you’ve walked down the aisle. During the reception you can let her destroy it if you want.”

  “I was so lucky that the treatments didn’t make it fall out this time.”

  “Favor of God, I’d call that,” Maura said from behind her, and Hannah nodded.

  “Definitely the favor of God.” Hannah kissed Dee’s cheek and nuzzled those soft red curls. She couldn’t wait to hold her own baby one day and to start raising Autumn with Matt now. She adored Autumn and was thrilled that she’d been so excited about the wedding.

  “I just love these shoes!” Autumn said, holding up the hem of her pink dress so she could see them in the mirror on the back of Hannah’s classroom door.

  Hannah smiled. “Well, I knew the minute your daddy asked me to marry him what shoes we had to get. Remember, you told me that you wanted to wear those in a wedding one day,” she said.

  Autumn giggled. “I said I wanted to wear these kind of shoes when I got married. And that made you laugh,” she said, moving the sparkly ballet slippers one way and then another to view them in the mirror.

  “Well, I figured you wouldn’t mind wearing them in my wedding.”

  “I sure don’t,” Autumn said, still smiling.

  “Me, either,” Jessica Martin said. She stood behind Autumn and was also admiring her sparkly shoes, as well as her pretty pale pink bridesmaid dress.

  “Hey, I think I’m up,” Mitch said, kissing his wife on the cheek before heading out.

  Jana and Jessica followed him, and Hannah waited until the music for the groomsmen and bridesmaids ended, then she sent Autumn out to meet Nathan.

  “I drop the flowers by myself, right?” Autumn asked, before heading out. She looked so pretty in the pink lace dress with her dark hair in beautiful long ringlets and sprigs of pink-tinted baby’s breath tucked throughout the curls. “Nathan doesn’t help?”

  “You can let him help if you want,” Hannah said, grinning. They were such good friends. “But he will be fine just to hold on to the ring pillow.”

  “Okay,” Autumn said, opening the door. She stopped, and Hannah wondered what had happened. She’d been a pro during rehearsals, knowing exactly when to go, how slow to walk and when her music cue began. “Miss Hannah?”

  “Yes, honey?” Hannah moved to the doorway. “What is it, Autumn?” She prayed Autumn wasn’t changing her mind about Hannah and Matt marrying. She’d said she was happy and it would break Hannah’s heart if she wasn’t. “You can tell me, sweetie. Anything at all. You can always talk to me.”

  “I love Mommy. I always will.” Those dark eyes that had been filled with sadness on the day t
hey’d met studied Hannah now.

  Hannah’s throat clenched. “I know that, honey. I wouldn’t want it any other way.”

  “But I talked to Daddy and he said I’d need to talk to you about something.”

  “Okay,” Hannah said, unconcerned that Autumn’s cue had passed and that the pianist seemed to be trying to start the section over. This was more important. “What did you need to talk to me about?”

  God, let me handle this right.

  “Would it be okay, since you’re marrying Daddy today, if from now on…”

  “What, sweetie?”

  Autumn chewed her lower lip, looked down at her shoes again, and then lifted those dark lashes. “Can I call you Mommy, too?”

  Hannah didn’t even attempt to stop the tears this time. She scooped the precious little angel into her arms and held her, kissing her forehead, her cheeks and then holding her in an embrace that she prayed conveyed how much Autumn’s request touched her heart. “Yes, that would be absolutely fine.”

  Autumn leaned back, smiled then took her fingers to Hannah’s cheeks. “You’ve got those marks again.”

  Hannah laughed. “Don’t worry. I’ll clean off the mascara before I walk down the aisle. And these are happy tears, very, very happy tears, so it’s definitely okay.”

  “I love you,” Autumn said.

  “I love you, too, sweetie.”

  Autumn turned, and Hannah heard Nathan yelling at her to hurry, and she was fairly certain she heard the crowd laughing a bit from inside the church, which made her smile.

  “She does love you, you know,” Maura said from behind Hannah.

  “I know. I love her too.”

  “And in case you’re wondering, I’m happy that she feels comfortable calling you Mommy, too. That’s exactly what Rebecca would have wanted.” Maura moved to Hannah and wrapped an arm around her, gently squeezing her against her side. “This has been such a blessing, that you’re cancer-free and now you and Matt are becoming a family, giving Autumn a true family again. God is good indeed.”

  Hannah smiled. “Yes, He is.”

  Then she heard her cue, hugged Maura once more and said, “I’ll see you in the church.”

  Maura smiled. “Yes, you will.”

  Then Hannah met her father in the lobby of the church.

  “Well, you ready?” he asked, grinning.

  “Absolutely ready.”

  They stepped through the doors, where from the look of the packed pews the entire town of Claremont filled the auditorium. Everyone stood and smiled at Hannah as they passed and made their way to the front of the auditorium. Jana and Jessica stood for Hannah, Mitch and Chad stood for Matt.

  Hannah kissed her father on the cheek before he released her arm and went to stand next to the spot where Matt would be standing shortly.

  The guests remained standing, and Hannah turned to see her future husband at the lobby waiting. Then she saw Maura, wearing a pale-pink-and-cream wedding suit, step to his side. A loud sniff to her right caused a look to her father, and his smile touched her all the way to her soul. This was what she had prayed for, all of it, Hannah finding someone who would love her for life, and their father also finding someone who would make his life complete, someone he could love and share his life with. Someone to be a part of him, the same way Hannah would have Matt as a part of her.

  She watched as Matt walked Maura down the aisle, and Maura joined Hannah’s father, and Matt joined Hannah. Then they turned to Brother Henry who was smiling, and crying.

  “This is beautiful,” he said, before starting the ceremony. “Undeniably beautiful.”

  Matt leaned toward Hannah. “Certainly is beautiful, all of this, and you,” he whispered. Then, while Brother Henry thumbed through the scriptures and prepared to speak, Matt continued. “Isn’t it great when…” he started, then paused and looked to his bride, to the woman that would be his wife today and forever. “You know the rest,” he prompted. “Isn’t it great when…”

  Hannah smiled, suspecting they would do this the rest of their lives, and she completed his tender thought. “When God says yes.”

  Dear Reader,

  Current statistics show one in every eight women in the United States will develop breast cancer over the course of her lifetime. By telling Hannah’s story, I tried my best to cover the way she held on to her faith for both the good and the bad news she received from having the disease. Battling trials brings us closer to God, but some choose to turn away from God in times of struggle. I hope that Healing Autumn’s Heart may cause someone who has turned away in times of struggle to reconsider their faith and hopefully find their way back to our Savior.

  I enjoy mixing facts and fiction in my novels, and you’ll learn about some of the truths hidden within the story on my website, www.reneeandrews.com. You can enter a contest on my website to win a pair of Toms shoes similar to the ones worn by Hannah in the book. I am very impressed with this company and the fact that they donate a pair of shoes to a child in need for every pair purchased.

  Additionally, my website includes alternate scenes for some of my novels and deleted scenes that didn’t make the final cut. If you have prayer requests, there’s a place to let me know on my site. I will lift your request up to the Lord in prayer. I love to hear from readers, so please write to me at renee@reneeandrews.com.

  Blessings in Christ,

  Renee Andrews

  Questions for Discussion

  The book begins with Matt’s concern over Autumn’s silence. He finds himself praying to God, even though he hasn’t prayed in years, just in case God might help his child. How hard is it to pray after you’ve lost touch with God? Was it really all that difficult for Matt to find his way back, and how did Hannah help?

  Claremont is a town similar to the town I live in, where everyone really does know everyone and cares about each other. How can this be beneficial in living a faithful life? How could it be a hindrance?

  Hannah’s family has at least one weekly dinner together, they go to church together and occasionally have “Family Fun” days together. How do you think family bonding such as this affects the family unit? Do you think families still spend this type of quality time together, or do you feel that it’s been tossed to the wayside with the fast pace of modern society? If so, what can we do to put priorities back in order, the way God intended?

  Nathan Martin had prayed for Autumn before he really even knew the little girl. How important is it to teach children to turn to prayer in times of struggle? How can we emphasize this to our children, so that they turn to prayer first?

  Hannah’s father, Bo Taylor, attends his first church service in over a decade. Have you ever returned to a church after being gone for a while? How hard or easy was it to come back? Did the members welcome you, or did you feel a little bit of resistance at your return? How could you compare the parable of the prodigal son to Bo’s return to church?

  Bo and Maura strike up a friendship that seems to be heading toward something more. How did you feel about this? Were you happy that they’d found a second chance at love, or did you think there was something inappropriate in their relationship? Explain.

  Some of my favorite memories growing up involved the big gatherings for church fellowship meals. I attempted to describe a similar “dinner on the grounds” in this book. How do you feel church fellowships can help a congregation grow closer? What are other ways of bonding the church can do outside of regular worship meetings to strengthen the relationship between members?

  After he lost his wife, Matt asked his mother-in-law to move with them to Alabama and to care for Autumn while he was at work. What does this say about Matt? What does it say about Maura?

  Matt mentions 1 Corinthians 10:13. Read this verse and define a point in your life where you felt, like Matt, that there was something you just couldn’t bear. Did God have you face that trial? If He did, did you grow closer to Him, or did you turn away? What can we do to ensure that we turn to God during those toug
h times? What can we do to ensure that our children do the same?

  Toward the end of the story, Hannah gets some unexpected news about the state of her health. Though she thinks Matt will respond a certain way, he acts in a completely opposite manner. Did you think Matt would be as supportive? Why or why not?

  ISBN: 978-1-4592-1480-4

  HEALING AUTUMN’S HEART

  Copyright © 2011 by Renee Andrews

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the editorial office, Love Inspired Books, 233 Broadway, New York, NY 10279 U.S.A.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  This edition published by arrangement with Love Inspired Books.

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