Unlikely Hero
Page 19
She was. That was the most amazing thing. She might not have the happily-ever-after that Nolie did, but she’d rediscovered her faith and with it came a whole new world of useful things to do.
Her life wouldn’t be focused solely on work and ambition any longer. She’d be happy, even if Brendan wouldn’t be a part of her future.
“All of this—” She gestured at the room, which was emptying now but seemed to still hold on to the happiness that had filled it. “Putting on this wedding has changed me. For the better, I hope.”
He smiled. “Me, too.”
“You mean now you appreciate all the work that goes into putting on a wedding?”
“I’ll never be impatient with a wedding planner again, I promise you.” His eyes grew serious. “But that’s not all.” He shook his head. “I thought I could go on the way I was. I thought I could suppress the memories of my parents along with my anger. I thought I could live for my work.”
Something about his intent look had set up a fluttering inside her, as if her whole being trembled in response. “You don’t feel that any longer?”
“Not since you.” He captured her hands, holding them in a warm clasp. “Knowing you, caring about you—I had to face what I was doing. Once I had, I knew I couldn’t live that way any longer.”
He was echoing what she’d been thinking. Once she’d known him, she couldn’t live in her nice safe world of work any longer. She’d had to have more.
“Knowing you forced me to confront the darkness inside me.” For an instant his eyes looked so bleak that her heart wept for him. Then he shook his head. “You were right. I hadn’t trusted God with it. I just kept asking Him to take my anger away, instead of realizing that I could depend on Him to control it.”
Her fingers closed on his. “I knew that all along, you know. I knew it wasn’t possible for you to hurt anyone.”
“Then you knew me better than I knew myself.”
His voice had deepened with emotion, and her tears threatened to spill over again. God had healed the wounds the past had inflicted on them. She really couldn’t ask for anything else.
“I was just thinking—” he lifted their clasped hands to his lips and pressed a kiss against her fingers “—do you suppose that our wedding could be a little less perfect than Nolie and Gabe’s?”
She could only stare at him, seeing the flame in his eyes as he held her hand against his cheek.
“I love you, Claire. Now, and forever. Maybe we’re not there yet, maybe you need more time. But I don’t. I know I want a life with you, if you’re willing to take a chance on a man with a past like mine.”
The love that pulsed through her seemed to sweep everything else from its path. “There’s nothing chancy about it, Pastor. You must know that.” She cradled his cheek with her palm. “I love you. Forever.”
It was a promise, as solemn and joyous as the ones they’d take in front of God one day. For both of them, the past was just a prologue to the life God planned for them together.
ISBN: 978-1-4592-0485-0
UNLIKELY HERO
Copyright © 2005 by Martha Johnson
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All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.
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*Hometown Heroes
†Caldwell Kin
**The Flanagans
Table of Contents
Books by Marta Perry
About the Author
Title Page
Epigraph
Dedication
Letter to Reader
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
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Copyright