“I—I don’t know. It doesn’t say.” She breathlessly scanned the paper again. “Wait—he must be coming back. This is for just a three-quarter-time position. Grace did it! She convinced the county to add additional therapist hours.”
Josh brushed a kiss against her forehead. “Congratulations.”
“Can we stay?” Eli tugged on her arm again. “We don’t have to move?”
She framed his face between her hands and kissed the top of his nose. “Even without full-time hours yet, it’s far better pay than I ever managed at the restaurant. We can stay.”
“With Josh and Gramps and everybody?” He joyously wrapped his arms around her neck. “Then you can finally marry Josh and he can be my new dad! Is it time for cake and ice cream now?”
Caught off-guard once again by his swift change of focus, she felt her cheeks flame as she gently disentangled Eli’s arms from her neck and hoped Josh hadn’t overheard.
She struggled to find her voice again and settled on her son’s most innocuous words. “Um…cake and ice cream?”
“At the party! You said there’d be a party.”
“It’s a wedding reception. No ice cream, probably. We need to walk down the block to Riley’s,” she said, naming the nicest restaurant in town. “There will be a lovely supper, and then there will be wedding cake and mints.”
Eli’s face fell. “It’s not a real party?”
“It is, but a little different from a birthday party. It’s in the private rooms downstairs.” She nudged him and glanced across the entryway of the church. “Did you see that Cody and his mom are here, too?”
He brightened instantly. “Can I walk with them?”
“Of course.” She brushed a kiss against his cheek. “But don’t wander, okay? Stay right with his mom, and when we eat, you need to sit with me.”
Eli raced off to join Elana and Cody as they merged with the stream of people heading outside. Fresh fall air wafted into the church to blend with the warm scents of freshly snuffed candles and lemon furniture wax.
“It was a lovely service, wasn’t it?” Sophie asked. “The pastor’s beautiful message nearly made me cry. I truly do think Beth and Devlin will make a go of it this time around, don’t you? They seem so very happy.”
“Sophie.”
“Mrs. Reed has the most wonderful soprano voice, don’t you think?” Sophie started to trail the final stragglers out of the church. “And the fall flowers were spectacular.”
“Sophie.”
She faltered halfway out the door, realizing that Josh wasn’t following her, and turned back. “Is something wrong?”
He looked over his shoulder, then gently took her wrist. “Everything is right,” he said simply. His eyes were smoky as he drew her close. “But I don’t want to leave just yet.”
A shiver sped through her at the dark, rich baritone of his voice and the intensity of his gaze. “Y-you don’t?”
He dropped a gentle kiss on her lips, sending a wave of warmth flowing through her that settled like a gentle embrace around her heart. “A lot has changed in my life since I met you. I’ve changed. I don’t know quite how to thank you for what you’ve done.”
Suddenly shy, she dropped her gaze. “You don’t need to.”
“You persisted when everyone else gave up on me, and you kept at it until you made a big change in my life. You’ve been amazing, and I’ve told Grace as much. But I didn’t tell her this part.”
She felt her heart falter as he gently lifted her chin with a forefinger and looked down into her eyes. “You…um…want your money back?”
“Hardly.” The laugh lines at the corners of his eyes deepened. “Until you breezed into my life, I was bitter. Alone. I wasn’t even on speaking terms with God any longer, because I couldn’t imagine a perfect God taking away everything I loved and leaving me with nothing.”
“He didn’t do that, you know,” she said gently. “Bad things happen to all of us, but He’s right there, waiting. Longing to help us through those terrible times. Offering His love and comfort.”
“I understand that now. Finally. And now I look back and see all of the time I wasted by walling myself away from Him. I even nearly turned away from a precious gift when you walked into my life. I do love you, Sophie Alexander. And there’s nothing more I could ever want on this earth more than to spend my time with you and Eli.”
She held her breath, not quite believing this moment was real. Afraid to speak lest it shatter and disappear, a figment of her imagination.
But then he welcomed her into his arms, tucked her head under his chin, and held her close for a long moment. She felt the warmth of his hard, muscled chest and the steady beat of his heart, and wished he would never let her go.
“I know this seems awfully fast…yet I already feel as if I’ve wasted so much time. You don’t have to give me an answer tonight or tomorrow, or even next month. But I don’t want to look forward to a life without you. I can’t even imagine it.”
“And I can’t, either,” she said softly.
Joy sparkled through her, flooding her senses with absolute certainty that this time, she felt no doubts, no sad sense of duty. Now, through God’s grace and perfect timing, she had at last found a true and abiding love that would take her to the end of her days.
He drew back so he could look down into her eyes. “Marry me, Sophie, please. I promise I’ll try to make you happy for the rest of your life.”
“Exactly what I want to do for you,” she whispered. She drew him down for a long kiss that made her toes tingle and her knees go weak. “I thought you’d never ask.”
Dear Reader,
In SECOND CHANCE DAD, Josh McLaren shoulders a very heavy burden following the death of his wife, and has chosen isolation and sorrow over emotional healing. He feels God has abandoned him.
Perhaps there are times when we all feel as if we won’t ever receive an answer to our prayers and that we don’t deserve God’s love and attention, but God’s awesome, perfect love is His gift to us. The following Bible verses are some of my favorites. Perhaps they will touch your heart, as well.
Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done. If you do this, you will experience God’s peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.—Phil 4:6–7
The ASPEN CREEK CROSSROADS series began with Beth and Devlin’s story in WINTER REUNION November, 2010, continues in this book, and will be followed by Keeley’s story in 2012. I hope you will come back to Aspen Creek with me then!
In the meantime, THE LONER’S THANKSGIVING WISH for Love Inspired will be out in November, 2011, and another BIG SKY SECRETS book for Love Inspired Suspense will be out in December, 2011.
I hope to see you then!
Wishing you blessings and peace
www.roxannerustand.com
http://roxannerustand.blogspot.com
www.shoutlife.com/roxannerustand
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
Josh feels overwhelming grief and guilt over his wife’s death. Have you suffered the loss of a close family member? What emotions did you feel in the months following that loss—and how did they change over time?
Have you ever been in a situation where you felt completely helpless and overwhelmed? How did you deal with that situation? If a close friend was going through this sort of trial, is there anything you could say or do to help, or is it better to just not interfere?
Sophie’s dad was angry over her illegitimate pregnancy years ago, and that situation had affected his opinion of her ever since. Do you know of anyone in a similar situation, where old hurts and grudges have continued to fester over the years? What might you say or do to help resolve this? Can you find any Bible verses that address the way people should forgive each other?
After Sophie hears her father rail against Josh, she stands up to her father and defends Josh.
Was this the right thing to do, or would you have handled it differently?
Rob was a good friend who came to Sophie’s aid when she became pregnant by another guy in college. Their marriage was one of friendship and kindness, rather than one stemming from a passionate courtship and love. What do you think about their kind of marriage? Was it a mistake, or can true love grow out of a situation like this?
Sophie is caught in the middle of a number of challenging family relationships—a difficult father, an aging grandfather, a stepmother who came into the family under less than ideal circumstances, and a child who needs extra attention. Do you face any similar challenges? How do you handle the stress and demands on your own life?
Josh has lost his confidence about God’s love and concern for him. What evidence of God’s love and caring do you see in your own life? And how have some of your prayers been answered?
At the end of Second Chance Dad, you see a glimpse of the challenges that both Keeley and Hannah will be facing in the future. In Hannah’s case, there could be a custody battle over orphaned children, because the parents left no will and no clear instructions. How might this affect the children? If you have children at home, have you made your own wishes known, and have you put them in writing?
What person in your life would you call on if you were in trouble, and why?
Josh is initially wary of any sort of personal relationship with Sophie, and feels even more wary when he realizes she has a son, remembering that he failed his own family. Have mistakes in your past ever clouded how you approached decisions later?
Sophie feels guilty about her brief attempt at dating Todd, and how it affected her son when that relationship ended. Did she handle the situation well, or should she have done things differently?
By the end of the story, Josh has a second chance at being a father, and Beth and Devlin are getting a second chance at marriage to each other. Do you think their prior experiences will make the future more difficult or easier for them?
ISBN: 978-1-4592-0539-0
SECOND CHANCE DAD
Copyright © 2011 by Roxanne Rustand
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.
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†Aspen Creek Crossroads
* Snow Canyon Ranch
** Big Sky Secrets
Second Chance Dad (Aspen Creek Crossroads Book 2) Page 15
