by Kat Brookes
“Addy,” he said, “this isn’t going to change anything.”
“Not for you,” she allowed. “But it will for me.”
“What are you doing?” he demanded as Addy pulled his wheelchair toward the door.
“Taking you out onto the porch,” she replied.
The second the warmth of the afternoon sun lit upon his face, Jake felt better. It had been days since he’d been outside.
Pleasure gave way to the pain of his past. The shock. The fervent prayers. The guilt.
“Jake…” A gentle hand came to rest on his arm.
Opening his eyes, he drank in Addy’s pretty face and the unspoken comfort her gentle touch offered.
“Are you okay? If being out here is too much...”
He shook his head. “No, I’m fine. I just forgot how good the sun’s warmth could feel.” Being with her felt good, too. Odd how he could be so angry with Addy yet be calmed by her presence.
Did she still fill a small piece of his heart?
Kat Brookes is a multipublished, award-winning author. She has been married to her childhood sweetheart, the love of her life, for over thirty years. They’ve been blessed with two beautiful daughters and an adorable Australian shepherd named Mac. She loves writing stories that can both make you smile and touch your heart. Kat is represented by Michelle Grajkowski with 3 Seas Literary Agency. Read more about Kat and her upcoming releases at katbrookes.com. Email her at [email protected], or contact her on Facebook at katbrookes.
Books by Kat Brookes
Love Inspired
Small Town Sisterhood
With All Her Heart
The Missionary’s Purpose
Bent Creek Blessings
The Cowboy’s Little Girl
The Rancher’s Baby Surprise
Hometown Christmas Gift
Texas Sweethearts
Her Texas Hero
His Holiday Matchmaker
Their Second Chance Love
Visit the Author Profile page at Harlequin.com.
THE MISSIONARY’S PURPOSE
Kat Brookes
The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him.
—Psalms 28:7
I’d like to dedicate this book to my own real-life hero, Ron. He is a kind, caring, unfailingly supportive man. He doesn’t hesitate to help others when called upon. He finds ways to help those in need without ever taking credit for it. And like Jake, who believed in Addy and helped her to realize her dream, my husband has done the same for me in my pursuit of becoming, and continuing on as, a published author. I love him for supporting me, for motivating me, for being the perfect example of what a true hero really is.
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Epilogue
Dear Reader
Excerpt from Finding Her Courage by Christine Raymond
Chapter One
“Aunt Addy!”
Addy smiled as her foster sister’s son, Finn, came racing toward her. Opening her arms wide, she accepted the nine-year-old’s warm, welcoming hug. Needing it more than she had realized until that very moment. She’d spent the drive back to Sweet Springs and Mama Tully mulling over her current job situation. Or jobless situation, as was her case.
Days earlier, Addy had learned her position as head pastry chef for a privately owned hotel had been terminated. A larger chain had bought out the hotel and was bringing in its own staff. That meant her time back in Sweet Springs was not only going to be spent visiting with her foster mother, Mama Tully, and helping Lila with preparations for her upcoming wedding to Mason Landers. She would also spend it searching job listings for her chosen career in the Atlanta metro area. Maybe beyond that area, as jobs in her field weren’t all that plentiful. The thought of starting over again career-wise was daunting. Not that she’d have to begin at the bottom. She was good at what she did, had years of professional experience behind her. It was more the thought of forming new professional relationships, workplace friendships, when her past had left her more guarded when it came to those things. But she would push through and find a spot for herself once again.
“Well,” she said, giving Finn one more affectionate squeeze before releasing him, “if it isn’t my little sweetie pie, Finn Gleeson.”
“Not for much longer,” he replied excitedly as she set him back down onto his feet.
She looked down at him with a tender smile. “I like you just the size you are, but even when you grow to be big and strong, you’re still going to be my little sweetie pie,” she teased, giving the dark curls at the top of his head a playful tussle. She knew full well Finn wasn’t referring to his height when he’d said not much longer, but she wanted it to be his news to tell.
“I’m not talking about growing bigger,” he said, shaking his head.
“You’re not?” Oh, how she adored this little boy. One she had helped Lila to raise for the first few precious years of his life, until he and Lila had moved from Atlanta to Alabama. While she and Lila had talked often since her best friend and foster sister moved back to Sweet Springs, it was actually seeing the true happiness on both her and Finn’s faces that told Addy happily-ever-afters really did exist. But did they for everyone?
“Didn’t Momma tell you?” he asked. “I’m getting my daddy’s name! I’m going to be a Landers!”
“You are?” she said, feigning surprise. He was referring to the changes Lila was having made to her son’s birth certificate.
His head bobbed up and down. “Yep. I get to be Finn Landers!”
She would never forget the day her foster sister, only seventeen at the time, had shown up on Addy’s family’s doorstep, pregnant and distraught over the decision she’d made to run off from Sweet Springs. Addy had made a promise that day to keep Finn’s existence a secret. It hadn’t been easy keeping the truth from Mama Tully and Mrs. Landers. Two very special women who had so graciously taken her under their motherly wings, showing her nothing but kindness and love. It felt like such a betrayal to them both, but just as Lila had her reasons for leaving Sweet Springs without telling Mason about the baby, Addy had her own for keeping Lila’s secret. She’d feared Lila running off again and ending up living on the streets like Addy and her momma had for so many years.
“It does have a good ring to it,” Addy agreed, forcing her smile to remain intact.
The door to the old Victorian that had once been their foster home flew open. “Addy!” Lila exclaimed and flew across the porch with Mama Tully right on her heels.
They embraced, squeezing each other tight.
“Why didn’t you call to tell us you were coming?” Lila asked with a bright smile. “I would have had Finn moved out of your room and had your linens washed before you got here.”
If she had told Lila over the phone about the loss of her job, Lila would have spent time worrying over her. “I wanted to surprise you,” Addy said. It was also because she’d needed to prepare herself mentally. Returning to Sweet Springs meant facing those she’d hurt by having kept Lila’s secret all those years. She would take a day or two to mend her relationship with Mama Tully before doing the same with the Land
ers. “And I’m good with sleeping on the couch for a night or two.”
“Well, you certainly did surprise us,” Mama Tully said as she joined them. “And it won’t take any time at all to get Finn moved in with Lila.” Her expression softened, and she spread her arms wide. “Welcome home, Addy.”
Addy smiled, a sheen of tears filling her eyes. “Mama Tully.” She stepped forward into the embrace of the woman who had taken on the role of mother to a disenchanted young teen who had only seen the harsher side of life. A girl who had learned how to become a survivor the hard way, having spent part of her childhood on the streets of Atlanta, living in a beat-up old car with her momma. Her daddy, not a family kind of man, had taken off the moment he’d learned her momma was with child. When Addy was little, life had taught her to trust her instincts when it came to survival, and to always be strong no matter how scared she might be inside. Then, at thirteen, after child services had taken her from her momma because of her inability to provide a stable home for Addy, she’d been placed with Mama Tully, who had shown her what it was like to feel safe, to be able to trust in others, to trust in the Lord when times were hard. She had shown her there was more than one path to choose to travel in life. If not for Mama Tully and Mrs. Landers, her neighbor and close friend, helping to guide Addy, believing in her, she had no idea where she might have ended up in her life. Certainly not working in a field where she got paid to do what she loved. It was Mrs. Landers who had helped Addy discover her passion for baking, helping to pave her way to a career she loved. And how had she repaid her? By keeping Finn’s existence from her all those years. She didn’t deserve Mrs. Landers’s forgiveness, but she’d received it all the same.
“Let me take a look at you,” Mama Tully said, taking a step back. “You’re still as pretty as ever.”
While Lila hadn’t spoken to anyone after leaving Sweet Springs until returning recently Addy had remained in contact with Mama Tully and the Landers family, mostly over the phone. Her job kept her too busy to do much traveling, but more than that kept Addy from coming back as often as she might have liked to. It was the guilt of keeping Lila’s secret from those she cared about, the fear of letting something slip. She missed her occasional visits back to Sweet Springs so very much. It had been a hurt she’d learned to live with for Lila’s sake.
When the truth finally had come out that past summer, Addy had made her own heartfelt apologies to all involved. Everyone had eventually expressed forgiveness—except for Mason’s younger brother, Jake. Addy had built a special friendship with him through their many phone conversations and her occasional visits over the years. She mourned the loss of their bond more than she would have ever thought possible. If he weren’t away on a mission trip, one he’d gone on in Mason’s place so that his brother could remain in Sweet Springs with Lila and his son, she would have sought him out. Done whatever she could to earn his forgiveness and rebuild their friendship.
“Addy?” Lila prompted.
Mentally shoving her troubled thoughts aside, she said lightheartedly, “The wonders of makeup.” But it was true. Between the few fine lines that being almost thirty brought and the shadows beneath her eyes that came from several sleepless nights mulling over her future, she needed all the help she could get.
“And you’ve cut your hair.”
“It was time for my long hair to go.” She reached up to touch the dark, shoulder-length strands. “It’s an A-line bob. Shorter in the back, longer in the front.”
“It looks lovely on you, honey.”
“I agree,” Lila said. “It really goes well with the shape of your face.”
“Thank you,” she told them. “Mama Tully, you look wonderful. How are you feeling?”
“She has more energy than I do,” Lila said.
“I was so weak from being in that hospital and during my recovery afterward,” Mama Tully explained. “I don’t ever want to feel that way again. So I intend to keep moving and doing whatever it takes to keep my body strong.”
“I’m so sorry I wasn’t able to make it here to be with you sooner,” Addy said with an apologetic frown. To think of all the time she’d wasted hiring and then training an assistant to cover for her, only to end up not having a job at all.
“I know you would have been here if you could have been. Not to worry. I was in good hands,” Mama Tully assured her, looking to Lila and Finn.
“My daddy helped, too,” Finn stated proudly.
“Yes, he did,” Mama Tully agreed. “Now grab your suitcase and we’ll take this reunion inside. I’ll pour us some sweet tea to sip on while we catch up.”
“Suitcases,” Addy clarified with an apologetic smile. “I’ll be staying longer than I had originally planned to. That is, if it’s okay with you, Mama Tully.”
She scoffed. “As if I’d have any objection to your staying on longer.”
“I’m so happy to be able to spend more time with you and Lila and Finn. And I’ll be able to help Lila with anything and everything she still needs help with for the wedding.” She looked to her friend. “Your big day is going to be here before you know it.”
“Um... Addy,” Lila began uneasily, something very akin to worry replacing her warm smile, “there’s been a change of plans for the wedding. I was going to call to let you know, but Mason and I are still ironing out the details.”
“The wedding’s still on, though?” She looked from Lila to Mama Tully, trying to read their expressions. What she saw there was masked unease.
“We’ve decided to push the wedding back until spring,” Lila explained.
“So Uncle Jake will be out of his wheelchair and can dance, too,” Finn happily supplied.
Addy’s heart gave a start at his words. She whipped her gaze back to Lila. “Out of his wheelchair?” she said in what came out as a panicked demand.
Her friend frowned. “Jake encountered a bit of trouble while he was building that schoolhouse in the Republic of Congo.”
Addy felt her heart pounding in her chest. “What kind of trouble?” she asked, not sure if she really wanted to hear the answer. The thought of Jake having an accident serious enough to land him in a wheelchair was almost too much for her to bear.
“He got shot,” Finn said matter-of-factly.
“Finn,” Lila said in gentle warning.
“Shot?” Addy croaked, her hand flying to her mouth. That went far beyond her imagining.
“And broke his leg,” Finn added with a nod, clearly not picking up on his mother’s desire for him to remain silent on the matter.
“Jake was shot?” Addy replied, shock at the news muddling her thoughts.
“He’s going to be okay,” Mama Tully said, giving Addy a soothing pat on the arm.
Lila nodded. “The doctor expects him to make a complete recovery physically.”
Physically? Why did that word have to stick out like a sore thumb? Then another word shoved that one aside. Shot. Addy glanced worriedly in the direction of the Landers place, which lay just beyond the orchard that lined Mama Tully’s side yard.
“When did it happen?” Addy asked, the words pinched with emotion. How? Why? The fearful questions swarmed about inside her head. Ones she refrained from asking with Finn within hearing range. Oh, Jake.
“Finn, honey,” Mama Tully said, “why don’t you and I carry some of your aunt Addy’s things into the house for her and start getting her room ready for her stay here?”
“Okay,” he replied. “What do you want me to carry?”
Addy attempted to shake free of the surprise that filled her. “You can be in charge of carrying Peaches inside.”
“You brought Peaches?” he exclaimed.
“I thought she might like a vacation, too,” she answered. “And your Gramma Tully said it was all right to bring her.”
“She’s my grandkitty,” her foster mother said. “Of course she
’s welcome to stay here, too. What would you like me to carry in for you?”
“There are only two suitcases and a carry-on. Lila and I can get those,” she told her. One had her clothes, the other the gift she’d bought for Lila and Mason along with crafting supplies for making wedding favors.
“If you’re sure,” Mama Tully replied.
“I am. Finn can carry Peaches in,” Addy said, forcing her gaze not to drift off toward the orchard. “He looks strong enough for the task.” The very thought that Jake had been shot had her stomach twisting in knots. It was made even worse that things were still so strained between them. When she’d last seen Jake the prior fall, they’d had so much fun together. Even during their phone calls, they were constantly laughing, thoroughly enjoying each other’s company. Until Jake had found out about her part in keeping Finn’s existence from his family. She understood his anger. Accepted it. That didn’t make the news of his having been hurt any easier. She couldn’t bear the thought they might never laugh together again.
“I am,” Lila’s son said, drawing Addy back to the moment.
She looked over to see Finn flexing his currently nonexistent muscles in demonstration.
Laughing softly, Mama Tully said, “I’ll go on ahead into the house and put Honey and Grits in their room until they’ve had a chance to be introduced to Peaches.”
“If it ends up being a problem having Peaches here—”
Her foster mother waved a hand of dismissal, cutting Addy off. “Don’t even think it. They’re going to love her. Honey and Grits are quite fond of the Landerses’ barn cats. So now that that’s settled, I’ll go prepare them for meeting their new friend.” Turning, Mama Tully scurried away toward the house.
Addy hoped her foster mother was right. That settling in wouldn’t be too much of a challenge for her sweet kitty or for the pups.
Lila moved to stand beside her. “They’ll be fine,” she said assuredly, clearly having read Addy’s troubled thoughts. “Those dogs are the biggest, sweetest four-legged babies I’ve ever met. Peaches will have them wrapped right around her little paws in no time at all.”
