by Francis Ray
The door opened. Her mother’s angry gaze went from Kara to Tristan beside her. “He get tired of you already?”
Kara felt Tristan tense beside her. “I tried to love you, tried to do what Daddy asked, but I can’t. I can’t live with hate.”
“You promi—”
“It’s over, Mother. I’ll set up a household account that should take care of the bills and give you a reasonable amount to spend,” Kara said calmly. “If you go over that amount, you’ll have to live with the consequences.”
“Now that you’re going to be rich, you want to forget about me,” her mother screeched. “That dress is new. So are the shoes and the jewelry. You ungrateful sl—”
Tristan said one precise word. “Don’t.”
Fear widening her eyes, her mother grabbed the lapels of her silk robe and staggered back.
“Tristan and I are engaged,” Kara said, and watched the disbelief, the unexpected anger in her mother’s face. She wanted Kara to be as unhappy as she was. Kara felt sorry for her. “Good-bye, Mother. I’ll send someone for my things.” Turning, Kara went back down the steps and got into the car.
“You all right?” he asked, backing up and pulling off. “Kara?”
Her smile was shaky, but it was there. “With your love, I’ll get there. My life is ahead of me, not behind me. I’ll forever regret that we can’t be close, but I thank God with every breath that I have you.”
“Always.”
She caught his hand. “Always.”
* * *
Half past ten Saturday morning Cade held Sabrina in his arms and thanked God for her. Sleeping on top of him, she stirred. He kissed the top of her head, murmured for her to go back to sleep. She had to be worn out. They’d made love most of the night. The thought brought a smile to his lips, and a hardening to his lower body.
He chuckled softly. Seems he couldn’t get enough of the woman who had captured his heart, and made life fun.
“What’s so funny?” Sabrina murmured, lifting her head from his chest to smile at him.
“A certain part of my anatomy can’t get enough of you,” he told her, sweeping the hair back from her face. It was easy to talk with her.
She grinned, wiggled. “You notice I’m not complaining.”
“No.” She was always there for him. “I didn’t know what living and loving really meant until you came into my life.”
Her smile trembled. She placed her hand over his. “Loving you is what I was destined to do.”
“I’m a blessed man,” he said, meaning it with all of his heart. “I’ve found what I wanted all of my life. I can’t help but wonder…”
“About the others?” she asked.
He nodded. She understood him so well. “I was going through the motions of living. Zachary was lucky, but what if the others were like me? I want to know the answers, but I realize it just doesn’t involve me.”
She tenderly palmed his face. “Together we’ll figure this out.”
“Together.” He had so much and it had all begun with the woman in his arms. “I love you. You fill my days with love and my tomorrows with happiness.”
She blinked back tears. “The best is yet to come.”
“And I’m looking forward to every incredible second.” He kissed her, loved her, eagerly looked forward to every precious moment ahead of them.
Epilogue
Carlton James was a happy man. He’d waited over thirty-eight years for this moment. His family was finally intact. With his wife by his side, his grin widened as he looked around the hospital room.
Stephen, looking almost like his old self, sat up in bed holding a Texas Rangers baseball cap that Cade had given him. At the moment Cade stood at the foot of the bed holding Sabrina’s hand as she held her mother’s. His son-in-law was beside his wife. The initial awkwardness when Cade and Sabrina first arrived had slowly disappeared. It was clear that love—Cade’s for Sabrina, and hers for her family—would help them get past the mistakes and pain.
“Cade, I hope you know what you’re getting into,” Stephen said with a teasing grin. “She’s bossy, opinionated, and can’t cook.”
“He knows and loves me anyway.” Sabrina gazed adoringly up at Cade. “And I love him.”
“I think you forgot stubborn,” Cade said easily. “I certainly have my job cut out for me and I’m looking forward to every incredible moment.”
“Just as I am,” Sabrina said.
“I’m happy for both of you,” her father said. “We appreciate you bringing her home, and asking for her hand.”
“I love Sabrina. She loves her family, and I hope…” Cade paused. His gaze moved from Sabrina’s father to her, then to her mother. “Her family will possibly become my family.”
Sabrina’s mother brushed tears from her eyes and faced Cade. “You are a part of this family. My bad judgment doesn’t negate that.” She lifted her hand toward his shoulder, paused, then lightly grasped his arm. “I always hoped and prayed that Sabrina would find a man who would love and honor her, a man she could trust and be proud of. You’re that man. I’ll never have to worry about her because I know she has you.” She swallowed. “And although you have her, I-I hope you don’t mind me still worrying a little bit about you.”
Cade stared at his mother, watched tears slide down her cheeks, felt the warmth and strength and love of Sabrina by his side. His mother had given him away, he had suffered because of it, but in adopting Sabrina, she had done what he couldn’t, protected and loved her and kept her safe until his heart found her. Priceless. His hand lightly covered his mother’s. “I don’t mind at all.”
Sabrina hugged Cade and her mother. Sabrina’s father joined in. Stephen gave a thumbs-up.
Carlton pulled his wife closer, wiped away her tears, and then his own. His family still might hit a bump or two, but they were going to be all right. His family.
Finally, his firstborn grandson had come home.
ALSO BY FRANCIS RAY
AGAINST THE ODDS SERIES
Trouble Don’t Last Always
Somebody’s Knocking at My Door
INVINCIBLE WOMEN SERIES
Like the First Time
Any Rich Man Will Do
In Another Man’s Bed
Not Even If You Begged
And Mistress Makes Three
If You Were My Man
THE GRAYSONS OF NEW MEXICO SERIES
Until There Was You
You and No Other
Dreaming of You
Irresistible You
Only You
GRAYSON FRIENDS SERIES
The Way You Love Me
Nobody But You
One Night with You
It Had to Be You
A Seductive Kiss
With Just One Kiss
SINGLE TITLES
Someone to Love Me
I Know Who Holds Tomorrow
Rockin’ Around That Christmas Tree
ANTHOLOGIES
Rosie’s Curl and Weave
Della’s House of Style
Welcome to Leo’s
Going to the Chapel
Gettin’ Merry
Let’s Get It On
Twice the Temptation
About the Author
Francis Ray is a New York Times bestselling author and a native Texan. She is a graduate of Texas Woman’s University and has a degree in nursing. Currently, she has more than forty books in print. You can visit her at www.francisray.com.
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
WHEN MORNING COMES. Copyright © 2012 by Francis Ray. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
www.stmartins.com
[Cover art credit is TK if we have e-rights for print cover art]
The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:
Ray, Francis.
When morning comes / Francis Ray. — 1st ed.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-0-312-68162-3 (trade pbk.)
ISBN 978-1-250-00986-9 (e-book)
1. Neurosurgeons—Fiction. 2. Adoption—Fiction. 3. Domestic fiction. I. Title.
PS647.A35W47 2012
813'.54—dc23
2012004639
e-ISBN 9781250009869
First Edition: June 2012
