by Lisa Carter
Charlie’s eyes flickered at the movement of her hand.
And for the first time since being pulled over, something besides anger stirred her heart.
His uniform looked crumpled. His hazel eyes appeared tired. Red-rimmed. As if he’d spent an anguished night since she walked away from him at the hospital.
Which was just too bad. She hadn’t exactly had a fun night herself. But she smoothed out the ticket against the fabric of her skirt. A muscle ticked in his lantern jaw.
She held the paper to the light of the sun. And read—per his instructions—aloud. “‘I love you.’” She looked at him.
His Adam’s apple bobbed in his throat. “Please read the rest, Evy.”
Lips pursed, her eyes dropped to the paper. “‘Throwing myself on the forgiveness of the court—’”
His arms fell to his sides. He leaned forward. His posture rigid.
Evy’s pulse hammered. She refocused on the ticket. “‘I’m sentencing myself to the protective custody of my favorite librarian—’”
Her lips twitched. “Get real, Charlie. I’m the only librarian you know.”
“The only librarian I want to know.” Jaw tight, he pointed his chin at the paper in her hand. “There’s more.”
She cleared her throat. “‘...sentencing myself to the protective custody of my favorite librarian, if she’ll have me.’”
Evy studied his set face. The hazel in his eyes had darkened to green. His brow puckered. Their eyes locked. Her stomach did somersaults at the look in his eyes.
She recalled Mrs. Davenport’s words about the way Charlie Pruitt looked at her. The look he aimed at her now. A look that set her heart aflutter. A look that curled her toes. A look that almost made Evy believe.
Her gaze fell to the paper. His handwriting blurred. Treacherous tears threatened to have their way with her. She swayed.
Charlie reached out his hand and then dropped it to his side. “Evy...”
As if he were afraid to touch her. She sniffed. He ought to be afraid.
Yet his voice vibrated with the same longing she felt for him. The hope. The vulnerability. The fear.
She swallowed hard and read the signature line. “‘Captured by Love, Deputy Charles Everett Pruitt the Third.’”
A meadowlark trilled from an adjacent field. A lone white farmhouse lay in the distance. And beyond the tree-filled horizon, a tidal creek gleamed like diamonds in the early morning sun. Beckoning. Waiting.
Nowhere on the Shore was ever very far from the water. Her gaze returned to Charlie.
He’d taken off his hat. “I focused on the wrong things first. But I see you, Evy Jane. I see you for who you are.”
“Evy or Jane? Who am I, Charlie?” She tilted her head. “Who do you see when you look at me?”
“I see you as both.”
Tears sprang to her eyes. She wrapped her arms around herself. The engine made cooling noises.
He moved closer, blocking the wind. “I see a woman made stronger by a tough childhood. A woman refined by the loss of her brother. Her character is as beautiful as her face.”
She bit back a sob.
Once again, he reached for her and hesitated, his hand hanging midair between them. Her heart accelerated. She wanted him to touch her, to love her.
He must’ve seen something in her face because, biting his lip, he touched her face anyway.
She closed her eyes and pressed her cheek into the palm of his hand.
“You are the smartest woman I know. Too smart for the likes of someone like me.” His voice went husky. “You’ve made me into a Jane man for life. An Evy Jane man.
“And I think—” his voice trembled “—I think you’ve always seen me, too. Really seen me for who I am without the badge.” Charlie shrugged his broad shoulders. “I wasn’t sure there was a me without the badge until I met you.”
His dark hair glistened in the sunlight. “You saw past the Charlie Pruitt I wanted the rest of the world to believe was the real me.”
Charlie’s eyes dropped. “You saw the me who loves Bonanza. Who loves small-town Eastern Shore life. You saw past the hurt and bitterness.”
He laid his hat on the roof of the car. “Saw straight to my heart, where I yearned to find something and someone to believe in again. Made possible because first, you believed in me when I’d lost faith in myself.”
She picked up his hat and turned it around in her hands. “I get how you want to serve and protect. SuperDeputy. I admire how you’re always there for the people fortunate enough to be called your friends.”
His eyes watered. “If I’m SuperDeputy, it’s only because of the super God within me. When you walked away last night, I finally understood this great love I feel inside for you. And today, when Sawyer called to tell me you’d gone? I lost all pride as I realized how desolate I’d be if you disappeared from my life forever.”
Charlie propped his hands on either side of her body against the car. “Please don’t go, Evy. Don’t leave your brother and the many people who call you friend.” He took a ragged breath. “Please don’t leave me—even though I totally screwed up everything between us. Give me another chance to prove how much I really, really love you.”
“It’s always about proof with you.”
“Could you ever forgive me? Believe in me again?”
She trembled, holding the hat between them.
“Even if you don’t love me, can you find it in your heart to let me love you, Evy?” He took the hat from her and threw it on the ground. “And I pray maybe one day, you’ll learn to love me, too.”
She lifted her chin. “I don’t see that happening, Charlie.”
His face constricting, he let go of her. “E-Evy...” he stammered. “I—”
“You don’t have to prove anything to me. And I don’t see myself learning to love you one day. It’s too late for that.”
He inhaled sharply and stepped back.
She grabbed his hand. “Because I already love you.” A tear too long suspended fell from her eye and tracked onto her cheek.
He caught the teardrop, and it quivered on the tip of his finger. “You love me?” He said it like he’d never believed anyone ever would.
“Oh, Charlie.” She clasped his face between her hands. “I love you. I’ve always loved you, and I always will.” His beard stubble sandpapered her palms.
He crushed her against him. “Oh, Evy,” he whispered. “My dearest, truest love.”
She glanced skyward at the clear, cloudless blue sky. “Would you look at that?” Smiling, she opened her hands, palms up. “Is that rain?”
Evy stretched forward on her tiptoes. “Maybe time for that rain check?”
Charlie lowered his head. “Definitely, Miss Shaw.” His gaze gentled.
Her lips parted. His kiss was tentative, like he expected her to pull away.
But she draped her hands around the back of his neck, drawing his mouth firmly onto hers. And nothing else mattered to Evy in that moment. Nothing but her love for Charlie and his love for her.
Taking a breath, she patted his shoulder. “I used to think I fell hopelessly, totally in love with you somewhere over a plate of egg rolls.”
“Egg rolls?” He played with a tendril of her hair. “And here I believed it was because of my Eastern Shore charm, country-boy good looks and SuperDeputy uniform.” He gave her a winsome, lopsided smile.
She cocked her head. “Think again.”
He quirked his eyebrow. “Not a badge bunny, Miss Shaw?”
She peeked at him over the top of her glasses.
“How about because of my witty repartee?” He grinned. “Or my incisive analysis of the classics?” He frowned. “And what do you mean about used to?”
She rolled her eyes at
him but snuggled into his towering frame. She brushed an imaginary speck of dust off the lapel of his uniform. “You, Charlie Pruitt, had me at the ring tone for Bonanza.”
Epilogue
Charlie knew himself to be the most fortunate man alive.
As he glanced around the Pruitt family Thanksgiving table, his gaze alighted upon Evy’s upturned face. Her eyes sparkled behind her glasses as his dad became chatty about Zane Grey novels to Bradford Shaw—who, of all people, was also a die-hard Western fiction fan.
Evy winked at Charlie. He watched his mother interact with the coolly elegant Ursula Shaw.
That morning in October, he’d given Evy an official escort back to Kiptohanock from the bridge.
He’d turned on the siren. All the way home. Like a triumphal procession. Because he didn’t care who knew—the most wonderful woman on the planet had decided to become his.
That same day, Evy phoned her parents and told them what she’d done. How she felt. Where she intended to live the rest of her life. And she invited them to be a part of that life if they wanted.
Bradford and Ursula Shaw got on the next plane for Baltimore. They drove from Maryland to Kiptohanock. And there they remained, choosing to spend the rest of their sabbatical getting reacquainted with their daughter.
It had been an awkward reunion at first. Especially when she introduced her brother to them. The aloof Dr. Ursula actually broke down. Which sent Evy into tears. Bradford Shaw apologized for not being willing to take brother and sister both so long ago.
Sawyer had been gracious. Charlie wasn’t so sure he could’ve forgiven as easily the long years of separation and resulting anguish. But when he beheld Sawyer holding Daisy in his arms, Charlie understood that to do anything less would only spoil Sawyer’s ability to enjoy the gifts God had given him now.
Charlie realized that in their own way—the surprisingly inarticulate way of people who were supposed to be masters of the English language—her parents indeed loved Evy. Even if they sometimes failed to communicate how much.
The last month had been healing for Evy. She blossomed into the woman Charlie suspected God always intended her to be. She’d stopped doing that melding, invisible Romulan cloaking-device thing.
Yes...thanks to Evy, he’d acquired an appreciation for all things Trekkie.
He’d grown a lot also. In his faith. And in his great love for a particular librarian.
The book club successfully finished its fall session. Emma turned out to be his personal favorite, too. The women expressed a desire to continue with another series after the holidays. And he wasn’t above admitting to a certain fondness for the waxy smell of lemon polish these days, either.
Who knew an adrenaline junkie like him could fall for a bookworm gal like Evy? She read him like an open book. Which was fine by him.
Because aside from God, Evy Jane Shaw made everything true and right in his life.
Although he had a sneaking suspicion—occupational hazard—next time she might pick something like Tolstoy. At the thought, he bit back a groan. War and Peace. Seriously?
His parents agreed to park the RV until after the Christmas Eve wedding. Which couldn’t arrive fast enough for him. His family welcomed Evy into the fold.
Including her chow mein noodle substitution for cornbread dressing. And Ursula Shaw’s crème brûlée instead of his mother’s usual pumpkin pie.
But hey, the crème brûlée, in his opinion, was spot-on. The Pruitt family Thanksgiving had gone forever international. And he for one couldn’t have been happier about it.
His brothers pretended shock that Charlie could snare a gorgeous—and totally above his pay grade—woman like Evy Shaw. Didn’t he know it.
Jokes erupted, via Skype and texts, about his impending nuptials, such as, “There’s a new sheriff in town, and her name is Evy.”
“Cell mates for life,” Will teased earlier that morning. “Might as well laugh as to cry.”
“Keep it up, Willster,” Charlie threatened. “Your turn is coming, and I have a feeling I’ll have the last laugh then.”
But behind their ribbing, Charlie sensed their genuine regard for Evy.
He gazed around the dining room table. All the Pruitts had managed to phone home today. Jaxon and family, stationed in Europe. Ben, out at sea. Sister Anna from Texas.
Only Will, the never-serious brother, made it home for turkey this year. And leave it to Will somehow to elicit a chuckle from Evy’s highbrow mother over cranberry sauce.
So many blessings. His family. A fulfilling job. His home.
And most especially Evy, his forever love. Charlie jumped up to help Evy clear the dinner table.
In the kitchen, he placed his hand at the small of her back. “I’m in over my head, Miss Shaw. I could use your help.”
She smiled. “I’ll wash, Deputy. You dry.”
“But first...” He steered her out of the kitchen and into the study. “I meant I’m in over my head in love with you.”
She laughed and snuggled into his embrace. “I’m never too busy for a library patron like yourself.”
“I’m a work in progress, remember?”
“Aren’t we all?” she teased.
“I’m going to need a lot of tutoring. A lifetime of it.”
“That, Charlie Pruitt, will be my pleasure.” She patted the window seat cushion.
He feigned outrage. “You’re marrying me for this reading nook, aren’t you?”
“That among other things.”
“Prove it. What other things?”
She tilted her head. “Always got to prove everything with you. But if you must know...here goes my last secret.”
“Last secret, huh?” He smiled. “No more secrets between you and me. After all, I’ve taken an oath to serve and protect.”
“Seems like I’ve heard that line before, Deputy.” She looked at him over her glasses. “But it’ll be worth the wait, I promise.” Her hand edged toward the glasses.
He beat her to the punch, pushing her glasses higher on the bridge of her nose with his index finger. “How about giving me a hint? Please?”
She fluttered her lashes. “You’ll have to carry on as best you can, because I’m afraid you can’t see me in my dress until the wedding.”
“Now that...” His lips brushed across hers. “That is a secret worth waiting for.”
And it was.
* * * * *
If you loved this tale of sweet romance,
pick up these other stories from author
Lisa Carter
COAST GUARD COURTSHIP
COAST GUARD SWEETHEART
FALLING FOR THE SINGLE DAD
Available now from Love Inspired!
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Keep reading for an excerpt from SECOND CHANCE ROMANCE by Jill Weatherholt.
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Dear Reader,
As soon as I turned in Coast Guard Sweetheart to my wonderful editor, Melissa Endlich, she said, “You’ve got to bring Sawyer and his sister together again.” And so, two books later, I have.
Readers often ask whom I model characters upon. My characters aren’t based on just one person, but an amalgamation of several people from whom I borrow certain physical or emotional characteristics to create a wholly fictional “person.” There is also some truth to the idea that there is a little part of the author in each character, as well.
Like Evy, I’ve loved books since before I could read. One of my great childhood memories is finally getting my own library card when I was five years old. I still
remember the first book I checked out—Thumbelina. The library has always been a haven for me. I get a happy feeling wandering among the stacks.
When I was in the sixth grade, I had a friend named Tina. She and her brother were living with their grandmother after the death of their parents. When Tina’s grandmother died, she and her brother were sent to separate foster homes. I will never forget the sadness and fear on Tina’s face their last day together at our school. I never saw or heard from Tina again. I’ve always prayed that she and her brother found each other one day. And so was born Evy and Sawyer’s story.
The theme of this book is wounded hearts. Is there a balm that can soothe hurting souls? There is—and His name is Jesus. It is the love of God and the blood of Christ that makes the wounded whole.
I hope you have enjoyed taking this journey with me, Charlie and Evy. I would also love to hear from you. You may email me at [email protected] or visit www.lisacarterauthor.com.
Wishing you fair winds and following seas,
Lisa Carter
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