Hometown Hero's Redemption

by Jill Kemerer

  Sweat broke out on his forehead, but he didn’t dare wipe it away. He glanced her way, and she smiled. That smile did something to him. His nerves fled. Joy filled his heart. He tucked her hand more closely under his arm. His to protect. To cherish.

  “Do you take this man to be your husband?”

  “I do.”

  He slid the ring on her finger, meeting her gaze, promising her forever with his eyes.

  She was really his.

  The service went by in a flash. Drew and Lauren strolled down the aisle together, and before the bridesmaids and groomsmen joined them, he dragged her to the side.

  “Lauren?”

  “Yes?” Her teeth sparkled she was smiling so wide.

  “We’re married.”

  “I know.” She scrunched her nose, sounding awed.

  He claimed her lips, holding her close. He couldn’t believe he was privileged enough to spend the rest of his life with this amazing woman.

  “Okay, okay, break it up, you two.” Tony clapped him on the shoulder. The bridesmaids and groomsmen formed a circle around them. “We have a little surprise for you. It’s a tradition.”

  Chief Reynolds popped his head into the group. “For the record, I know nothing about this.” He waved and left.

  “You’re coming with us.” Tony grinned.

  Lauren elbowed Drew. “Do you know anything about this?”

  “Not a clue.” But he could guess.

  “Everybody to the station.”

  A gentle snow fell as they stepped outside, and Lauren laughed, still carrying her bouquet.

  “Are you cold? Take my jacket.” He shrugged off his tuxedo jacket and draped it over her shoulders. He slipped his arm around her waist and lifted her off her feet, carrying her the short distance to his truck, which had been decorated with balloons and a “Just Married” sign.

  “Did you do this?” Lauren asked.

  “Nope.”

  They stared at each other a minute in the truck and burst out laughing.

  “This is fun,” she said. “No one told me getting married was fun.”

  “It is. Getting married to you is fun.” He leaned across the seat and kissed her.

  A few minutes later they pulled up to the fire station. The garage doors stood open, and the bridal party and everyone on duty had lined up by one of the trucks.

  “Do I even want to know?” Lauren asked. Drew grabbed her hand and they ran inside.

  “Attention, everyone.” Tony raised his hands. “Our own Gannon the Cannon got married today. You know what this means.”

  They all solemnly nodded.

  “Drew, if you want the marriage to last, you need to kiss her on the fire truck.”

  One of the guys whooped.

  “I’ll kiss her for you, Drew,” another hollered.

  “Not on your life, Miggs,” Drew shot back. Laughter erupted.

  Tony brought Drew’s helmet over and handed it to Lauren. “Sorry, sweetheart, but this might mess up your hair.”

  “So it guarantees a lasting marriage?” She pretended to consider it. “I’ll take messed-up hair.”

  She set the helmet on her head, and Drew climbed onto the side of the truck. He held his hand out and hauled her up. Her body brushed his.

  “Go on already, Gannon. Kiss the girl!”

  He grinned, not taking his eyes off Lauren.

  And he kissed her.

  “How was that?” he asked.

  She glanced up sideways and bit her lip. “Umm...”

  His kiss wasn’t up to her standards? He’d show her. This time he captured her lips, luxuriating in her touch, and he didn’t let up.

  “Whoa, there. Get a room, you two!”

  He stepped down and held his arms wide. She jumped into them.

  “I have everything I’ll ever need right here in my arms,” he whispered into her ear.

  “You’re all I’ll ever need. I love you, Drew.”

  “I love you, too, Mrs. Gannon. Forever. I will never let you go.”

  * * * * *

  If you enjoyed Drew and Lauren’s story,

  pick up Jill Kemerer’s other books

  set in Lake Endwell:

  SMALL-TOWN BACHELOR

  UNEXPECTED FAMILY

  HER SMALL-TOWN ROMANCE

  YULETIDE REDEMPTION

  Available now from Love Inspired!

  Find more great reads at www.LoveInspired.com

  Keep reading for an excerpt from THEIR PRETEND AMISH COURTSHIP by Patricia Davids

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  Dear Reader,

  I’m fascinated by the life choices people make, and I admire individuals like Lauren and Drew, who chose professions requiring sacrifice. They each overcame difficult pasts to dedicate their lives to helping others. Lauren dealt with the heartbreaking reality of kids with few options, forced to choose between bad and worse. Although my life is far from the poverty and crime of the inner city, my heart goes out to anyone trapped in desperate circumstances. One thing I know—we all need a helping hand, a kind word, someone believing in us. May we all try to see the people around us through God’s eyes, the eyes of love.

  I love connecting with readers. You can learn more at www.jillkemerer.com and email me at jill@jillkemerer.com.

  God bless you!

  Jill Kemerer

  We hope you enjoyed this Harlequin Love Inspired story.

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  Their Pretend Amish Courtship

  by Patricia Davids

  Chapter One

  “You are going and I don’t want to hear another word about it, Fannie. Nor from you, Betsy. Do you hear me?”

  When Fannie’s mother shook a wooden spoon at one or both of her daughters, the conversation was over.

  “Ja, Mamm.” Betsy beat a quick retreat out of the kitchen.

  Fannie glared after her. The little coward. Without her sister’s help, Fannie had no chance of changing her mother’s mind. Seated at the table in her family’s kitchen, Fannie crossed her arms on the red-checkered tablecloth and laid her head on her forearms. “Ja, Mamm, I hear you.”

  There had to be a way. There just had to be.

  “Now you are being sensible.” Belinda Erb turned back to the stove and continued stirring the strawberry jam she was getting ready to can. “I will write to my mamm and daed tomorrow. They insist on sending the money for your bus ticket. I expect you’ll be able to leave the middle of next wee
k. It will be a relief to know one of us is helping Daed look after Mamm while she recovers from her broken ankle.”

  “A week! That isn’t much time to get ready to go to Florida.” How was she going to come up with a plan to keep from going in a week?

  “Nonsense. It’s plenty of time. You have two work dresses and a good Sunday dress. What else do you need?”

  Fannie sat up and touched her head covering. “I need another kapp or two.”

  Her mother turned around with a scowl on her face. “What happened to the last one I made you?”

  “I lost it.”

  “When you were out riding like some wild child, no doubt. It’s time you gave up your childish ways. Anna Bowman and I were just talking about this yesterday. We have been too lenient with our youngest kinder, and we are living to rue the day. She is putting her foot down with Noah, and I am doing the same with you. When you come back from Pinecraft at Thanksgiving, you will end your rumspringa and make your decision to be Amish or not.”

  Fannie had heard about Anna’s plans to see Noah settled and she felt sorry for him, but she had her own problems.

  Her mother turned back to the stove. “I have given up on seeing you wed, though it breaks my heart to say so.”

  Here came the lecture about becoming an old maid. She wasn’t twenty-two yet, but she had been hearing this message since she turned nineteen. That was how old her mother had been when she married. Why did everyone believe the only thing a woman wanted was a husband? “Betsy isn’t married and she is two years older than I am.”

  “Betsy is betrothed to Hiram. They will marry next fall.”

  Fannie sat up straight. “When did this happen?”

  Why hadn’t her sister mentioned it? Betsy and Hiram had been walking out together for ages. Fannie thought Hiram would never get up the courage to propose.

  “Hiram came to tell your father and me last night.”

  “Then why does Betsy want to go to Florida?”

  Fannie’s mother took her time before answering. “She loves her grandparents and wishes to spend time with them while she can. As you should.”

  After pulling the jam off the stove, Fannie’s mother came and sat beside her at the table. “Why are you so dead set against going?”

  Fannie knew her mother wouldn’t approve of the promise she’d made. “I have made plans with my riding club for this summer.”

  “Your horses and your club won’t take care of you when you are old. Mamm writes that there are plenty of young people in Pinecraft during the fall and winter. You may want to stay longer.”

  “Young people but no horses.”

  “Enough about horses!” Fannie’s mother rose to her feet. “You have chores to finish and I must get these jars of jam done. It’s a wedding gift for Timothy Bowman and his bride. Timothy’s mother told me they plan to leave on their wedding trip after the school frolic.”

  Fannie clamped her lips together. Her mother wanted to change the subject. It wouldn’t do any good to argue; Fannie knew she’d only be wasting her breath. She left the room and found her sister gathering clothes off the line in the backyard. Fannie joined her, pulling down stiff wind-dried pants and dresses. “Mamm said you went and got engaged to Hiram.”

  “It was time. I’m not getting any younger.”

  “That’s a poor reason to marry.”

  “It’s reason enough for us. We are content with each other. You are blessed to have this opportunity.” Betsy clutched a pillowcase to her chest. “I have always dreamed of seeing the ocean. I can’t imagine how big it must be. Hiram has no desire to see the sea.”

  “Doesn’t he have a desire to please you?” That, in a nutshell, was what was wrong with getting married.

  “It would be an expense we couldn’t afford. Perhaps someday.”

  “I would gladly send you in my place, but I don’t imagine Hiram would be happy about...that...” Fannie’s words trailed away as an idea took shape in her mind. “That’s it. I need a Hiram.”

  “What are you babbling about now?”

  It was so simple. “Betsy, would you go to Florida if I couldn’t? What if Mamm decided you should go instead of me? Would Hiram understand?”

  “He knows we must honor our elders. I would gladly take your place, but Mamm has her mind made up.”

  “If she knew I was being courted, she would bend over backward to keep me here. She is desperate to see me wed.”

  “She’s desperate to see you interested in any young man instead of your horses. Who is courting you? Why didn’t you tell me about him?”

  “I have to go.” Fannie shoved the clothes in her arms at her sister. There was only one fellow who might help her.

  * * *

  “Noah, where are you? I need to speak to you.”

  Working near the back of his father’s barn, Noah Bowman dropped the hoof of his buggy horse, Willy, took the last nail out of his mouth and stood upright to stare over his horse’s back. Fannie Erb, his neighbor’s youngest daughter, came hurrying down the wide center aisle, checking each stall as she passed. Her white kapp hung off the back of her head, dangling by a single bobby pin. Her curly red hair was still in a bun, but it was windblown and lopsided. No doubt it would be completely undone before she got home. Fannie was always in a rush.

  “What’s up, karotte oben?” He picked up his horse’s hoof again, positioned it between his knees and drove in the last nail of the new shoe.

  Fannie stopped outside the stall gate and fisted her hands on her hips. “You know I hate being called a carrottop.”

  “Sorry.” Noah grinned as he caught the glare she leveled at him.

  He wasn’t sorry a bit. He liked the way her unusual violet eyes darkened and flashed when she was annoyed. Annoying Fannie had been one of his favorite pastimes when they were schoolchildren.

  She lived on the farm across the road where her family raised and trained Standardbred buggy horses. Noah had known her from the cradle, as their parents were good friends and often visited back and forth. Fannie had grown from the gangly girl he liked to tease at school into a comely woman, but her temper hadn’t cooled.

  Framed in a rectangle of light cast by the early-morning sun shining through the open top of a Dutch door, dust motes danced around Fannie’s head like fireflies drawn to the fire in her hair. The summer sun had expanded the freckles on her upturned nose and given her skin a healthy glow, but Fannie didn’t tan the way most women did. Her skin always looked cool and creamy. As usual, she was wearing blue jeans and riding boots under her plain green dress and black apron.

  He preferred wearing Englisch jeans himself. He liked having hip pockets to keep his cell phone in, something his homemade Amish pants didn’t have. His parents tolerated his use of a phone because he was still in his rumspringa. He knew Fannie used a cell phone, too. She had a solar-powered charger and allowed other Amish youth to use it if they didn’t have access to electricity.

  “What do you need, Fannie? Did your hot temper spark a fire and you want me to put it out?” He chuckled at his own wit. He and his four brothers were volunteer members of the local fire department. Patting Willy’s sleek black neck, Noah reached to untie the horse’s halter.

  “This isn’t a joke, Noah. I need to get engaged, and quickly. Will you help me?”

  He spun around to stare at her in shocked disbelief. A marriage proposal was the last thing he’d expected from Fannie. “You had better explain that remark.”

  “Mamm and Daed are sending me to live with my grandparents in Pinecraft, Florida, until Thanksgiving. I can’t go. I’ve told my folks that, but they insist. Having a steady beau is the only way to get them to send Betsy instead.”

  At least Fannie wasn’t suffering from some unrequited love for him. He should have been relieved, but he was mildly annoyed inste
ad.

  He opened the bottom half of the Dutch door leading to the corral and let his horse out. Willy quickly trotted to where Fannie’s Haflinger mare stood on the other side of the fence. The black gelding put his head over the top rail to sniff noses with the golden-chestnut beauty.

  Noah began picking up his tools. “I hear Florida is nice.”

  Fannie grabbed the top of the gate. “Are you serious? My grandparents get around on three-wheeled bicycles down there. They don’t have horses. Can you imagine staying in a place with no horses?”

  He couldn’t, but he didn’t think much of her crazy idea, either. “I’m not going to get hitched to you because you don’t want to go to Florida.”

  Indignation sparked in her eyes. “What’s wrong with getting hitched to me? I’d make you a goot wife.”

  She stepped back as he opened the stall gate. “Fannie, you would knock me on the head with a skillet the first chance you got. You have a bad temper.”

  “Oh!” She stomped her foot, and then sighed heavily. “I do have a temper, but I wouldn’t do you physical harm.”

  “Small consolation considering how sharp your tongue is. Ouch! Ow!” He jumped away from several imaginary jabs.

  Her eyes narrowed. “Stop teasing. I don’t want to actually marry you, dummkopf. I said engaged, not married, but I guess it doesn’t have to be that serious. Walking out with me might do. If not, we can get engaged later. Anyway, we will call it off long before the banns are announced and go our merry ways.”

  He didn’t like being called a dumbhead, but he overlooked her comment to point out the biggest flaw in her plan. “You and I have never acted like a loving couple. Your parents would smell a rat.”

  “Maybe, but maybe not. Mamm has been telling me for ages that it’s time I started looking around for a husband.”

  He closed the stall gate and latched it. “Better go farther afield for that search. The boys around here all know you too well.”

  She wasn’t the kind of woman he’d marry. He might enjoy teasing that quick temper, but he wouldn’t want to live with it.