“I love you, Kelsey Sinclair. Please forgive me.” He cradled her face in his hands and caressed her cheekbones with his thumbs. His heart pounded as he waited for her to answer.
“You’re forgiven,” she finally whispered. “I love you, too.” Her gaze dropped to his mouth.
“May I kiss you?”
“Please do.”
He closed the distance between them and brushed his lips against hers. She tasted like coffee and smelled like lavender. Her body fit nicely against his, and holding her in his arms was the sweetest antidote to his heartache.
As the blanket dropped from her shoulders and she slid her arms around him then clutched fistfuls of his T-shirt, he deepened the kiss, showing her how much he loved her. How much he cared and how much he wanted to be with her.
A muffled screech and the sound of a palm slapping the window interrupted them.
Kelsey pulled away and rested her forehead against his. He sneaked a glance over her shoulder. Adeline stood at the living room window, grinning at them while she smacked her palm against the glass.
“Why don’t you come inside and say hello to our daughter?”
“I thought you’d never ask.”
Lacing her fingers through his, she led him into the house. Adeline squealed with excitement, then turned from the window and took her first tentative steps toward them.
“Oh my.” Kelsey squeezed Landon’s hand. “Look at her go.”
“Come here, cutie pie.” Landon opened his arms, and Adeline toddled into them. Her slobbery, toothy grin made his heart expand. He picked her up, then drew Kelsey into an embrace, sandwiching their baby girl in a gentle hug.
Now that she’d discovered how to walk, Adeline had zero interest in being held. She screeched and pushed against Landon’s arms.
He chuckled then set her free. She toddled back toward the toys scattered across the living room floor.
Kelsey slid her arm around Landon’s waist, and they stood together, staring at their beautiful little girl.
“Thank you.” The warmth reflected in Kelsey’s eyes nearly took him to his knees.
“For what?”
“Thank you for never giving up on me. On us.”
“I’ll be forever grateful that you had the courage to show up on my porch that night. Adeline and I are blessed to have you.” He leaned down and brushed her lips with his own. “You’ve taught me that love is worth fighting for.”
Epilogue
Two years later
Sunlight filtered through the trees and spilled across Gage and Skye’s backyard, bathing everything in a buttery golden glow. Children giggled and hollered, romping around the grass and taking turns on the new tire swing Gage had suspended from a sturdy tree branch. Connor challenged Drew to a duel with a foam pool noodle, their exuberant yells punctuating the warm late-summer evening.
Kelsey stood on the deck, smiling as Landon set Adeline down and she immediately went after an inflated beach ball one of the other kids had left behind.
Drew offered a casual wave from the grill, where he was adding slices of cheese to the burgers cooking. Once upon a time, she’d have avoided a gathering like this. But ever since she’d married into the Chambers family in an intimate ceremony last winter, she’d looked forward to their casual get-togethers, especially when they included the Tomlinsons. Tonight, she’d brought a tray of deviled eggs and a pan of homemade brownies to add to the abundant spread of food filling the card table on the far side of the deck.
She gasped as Landon’s broad hands slid around her waist. He nuzzled her neck, sending goose bumps dancing down her arms.
“Sorry, Mrs. Chambers,” he murmured. “I’m having trouble keeping my hands to myself.”
Kelsey covered his hands with her own, sighing as he kissed her below the ear.
She turned to face him, then looped her fingers behind his neck. “I have something to tell you. Something good, and I can’t wait another second.”
Landon slid his hands around her waist while his smoldering gaze searched her face. “Tell me.”
“I’m pregnant.”
His broad smile stretched wide. “When did you find out?”
“I took about four pregnancy tests, then I confirmed it with the doctor this afternoon. She found a heartbeat and estimated I’m about ten weeks along.”
“Sweetheart, that’s incredible.” He leaned in and kissed her tenderly. “I’m so happy.”
She pressed her palm against the golden stubble clinging to his jaw. When he deepened the kiss, a delicious shiver swirled through her.
One of the guys whistled, and Landon pulled away, then swept her into his arms and swung her around in a circle.
When he set her down, he turned and faced the backyard. “Hey, everybody, guess what?”
Their families circled up, shushed the kids, then swung expectant gazes their way.
“We’re pregnant.” He took Kelsey’s hand in his and thrust them both into the air.
Landon’s parents reached them first, hugging her then congratulating Landon.
The next few minutes were a blur of more hugs and handshakes and a few high fives from the little kids.
Adeline ran across the lawn toward them as fast as her little legs could carry her. At almost three years old, she had zero fear and constantly kept Kelsey on her toes.
“Hi, Mommy.” She grinned and flung her body into Kelsey’s legs.
“Hi, baby girl.”
Kelsey tried to pick her up, but Landon got her first.
“I’m not your baby.” Adeline pooched out her lower lip. “Me big.”
“You are big,” Landon agreed. “And you’re going to be an amazing big sister.”
“Sister?” Adeline’s questioning blue eyes slid toward Kelsey.
“Yes, your mama has a baby growing in her tummy. One day, a long time from now, the baby will be born and you will be a big sister.” Landon gently tapped the end of her nose with his finger.
She quirked her adorable little lips to one side. “How many wake ups?”
Kelsey laughed. “A lot of wake ups.”
Landon pretended to count on his fingers. “More than two hundred.”
Adeline heaved a dramatic sigh. “Can’t wait that long.”
Landon chuckled. “It does take a long time to grow a baby, but we’ll be busy getting ready. Mom and I will need your help, because babies need a bunch of stuff.”
Adeline pondered this, then she squirmed in Landon’s arms. “Me get down.”
“All right.” Landon kissed her forehead and set her on the ground. She took off squealing and laughing as she tried to catch up with Connor, Charlotte, Macey, and Laramie and Jack’s little boy, Sam. Gage and Skye’s son, Theo, clung to the tire swing chains, giggling while Gage pushed him.
Connor had talked his cousins into a game of tag while the adults put the finishing touches on the meal and grabbed drinks.
Landon looped his arm around Kelsey’s shoulders and pulled her against him. “I’m so happy with you.”
She smiled up at him. “I’m so happy with you, too.”
“We’ve had a couple detours along the way, but I wouldn’t want any life other than the one we’re building together.”
She pressed up on her toes and kissed him again. “Thank you for giving me the family I’ve always wanted.”
He brushed one more tender kiss to her lips before his mother politely cleared her throat. “Let’s go, you two. We’re ready to say the blessing.”
They corralled the children and formed a circle in the yard beside the deck. Kelsey surveyed their group and silently thanked the Lord for bringing her into this community. Even if she had come dragging her feet, kicking and screaming.
It had been a long road finishing her commitment with the navy. She’d missed Landon and Ade
line fiercely. Some days, she was so sad and lonely in Hawaii without them she could barely do her job. Landon and Adeline had come to visit her twice, and they met in California twice.
Once she separated from the navy, she’d moved back to Colorado and enrolled in nursing school right after they got married. Although this little one growing inside her was an unexpected surprise, she wasn’t the least bit upset about having to change her future career plans. She’d finish nursing school before he or she was born. Even if she couldn’t start working right away, she was content to let God’s plans for her unfold one day at a time.
Because, like her mother had told her, God’s plans for her were much better than anything she could come up with on her own.
* * *
If you enjoyed this story by Heidi McCahan, be sure to read her other romances set in Merritt’s Crossing:
Their Baby Blessing
An Unexpected Arrangement
Available now from Love Inspired!
Keep reading for an excerpt from An Unexpected Amish Harvest by Carrie Lighte.
Dear Reader,
Have you ever faced a difficult situation that you desperately wanted to avoid? I find that in those hard seasons, I’m eager to skip ahead, as if it’s possible to outrun my circumstances. I tend to cling to the illusion that I’m in control.
I faced a challenging turn of events while I was writing this book. I wanted to skip the hard stuff, but I couldn’t. God had things to show me in the middle of a difficult season, and while I longed for a different outcome, He equipped me to trust in Him. I’ve been reminded often that He is our hope and the One we can run to, no matter the circumstances.
Thank you, readers, for supporting Christian fiction and telling your friends how much you enjoy our books. I’d love to connect with you. You can find me online: www.facebook.com/heidimccahan, www.heidimccahan.com or www.instagram.com/heidimccahan.author. For news about book releases and sales, sign up for my author newsletter: www.subscribepage.com/heidimccahan-newoptin.
Until next time,
Heidi
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An Unexpected Amish Harvest
by Carrie Lighte
Chapter One
“You’re so thin!” Susannah Peachy’s stepgrandmother, Lydia, exclaimed as they embraced each other. “I hardly recognize you.”
It had been nine months since twenty-three-year-old Susannah had visited the small but growing Amish district in New Hope, Maine. At that time, she’d weighed about forty or forty-five pounds more than she did now, so her figure had been much rounder. Her face had been fuller, too. But she still had the same caramel-brown eyes, long, straight nose and thick brunette hair that was so curly that not even pulling it back into a bun could tame it. By the day’s end, it always seemed to fluff up from her scalp, lifting her prayer kapp and making her appear slightly taller than she had in the morning. So it was a bit of an exaggeration for Lydia to say she hardly recognized Susannah, although she supposed it was a surprise for the older woman to see her so much thinner.
“I might look a bit different but I’m still the same person I was before,” Susannah assured her. “Being thinner doesn’t make me any different on the inside. Kind of like wearing that cast on your arm doesn’t make you any different.”
“I wouldn’t be too sure of that. Having this cast on my arm makes me a lot grumpier,” Lydia confessed. “Not because I’m in pain, but because I want to accomplish more than I’m able to, which frustrates me. I feel so restless. When I get into that kind of mood, I have to stop and remind myself how blessed I am that I only fractured my wrist when I fell. I could have broken a hip! So I have nothing to complain about—especially since you’ve kumme to help me.”
Susannah suspected there were a number of young women in New Hope who could have assisted her maternal grandfather’s wife, but clearly Lydia preferred Susannah’s company. Her grandfather, Marshall Sommer, had always doted on his only granddaughter, too. And, of course, Susannah loved them both very much, as well. But if she’d had her way she wouldn’t have come to visit her grandparents in Maine. Instead, they would have returned to Dover, Delaware, to visit Susannah and her father, along with her brother and his family.
However, when Lydia broke her wrist and asked Susannah to come and keep house and cook for the farm crew during harvest season, she couldn’t say no. It would have been unthinkable to refuse to help a family member in need, especially since her grandparents were getting up there in age. Only the Lord knew how many more opportunities Susannah would have to spend time with them.
Besides, it wasn’t as if she was going to be overwhelmed with work. The crew consisted of only four men; two were local and the other two were Lydia’s fourteen-year-old twin great-nephews, Conrad and Jacob, who were coming from Ohio. Which meant Susannah would actually be cooking and keeping house for fewer people here than she usually helped her sister-in-law cook for back in Delaware. So in a way, coming to her grandparents’ farm might feel like a holiday visit by comparison. Especially since Susannah shared her grandparents’ fondness for Maine.
Yet she was already counting the days until she could go home. Today was Friday and the crew was scheduled to begin harvesting on Monday. They’d spend three or four weeks picking potatoes, depending on how often it rained during that time. That meant at a minimum, she’d see her former suitor, Peter Lambright, at least two or three times in church, which met every other week. But as far as she was concerned, that was two or three times too many.
“You must be hungerich after being on the road since the wee hours of the morning,” Lydia said, interrupting her thoughts. “I made a peanut-butter pie. I had to hide it in the fridge behind the lettuce so your groossdaadi wouldn’t see it and ask me for a piece before you arrived. Let’s have a slice with tea before supper. You can fill me in on all the news from Dover.”
Susannah hesitated. “Denki, but I’m not hungerich. I’ll wait until supper to eat, but I’ll have tea with you.”
Lydia lowered her silver, wire-framed glasses and peered at Susannah. “But I thought peanut-butter pie was your favorite? That’s why I made it. It might be a little lumpy because I had to mix it using my left hand, but I think you’ll still enjoy it.”
Susannah didn’t want to explain that she’d gotten into the habit of only eating dessert once a week. Usually she ate it following a light meal, not in the late afternoon before she’d even had her supper. But she appreciated how much time and effort it must have taken for Lydia to make the pie with one arm in a cast. She figured this one time she could indulge in a taste…especially since she was serving it, so she could cut herself a little piece. “Your pie is always appenditlich and it was thoughtful of you to make it for me. I guess a smidgen wouldn’t spoil my supper,” she said. “If you go sit in the living room, I’ll be right in with it.”
After putting the kettle on the gas stove, Susannah removed the pie from behind the lettuce on the bottom shelf of the diesel-powered refrigerator. As soon as she saw the white creamy custard topped with a crumbly peanut-butter-and-powdered-sugar mixture, her mouth watered.
She set it on the countertop, remembering when she’d spent the summer in New Hope a year ago, Lydia would make a peanut-butter pie at least once a week because she knew it was Susannah’s favorite. Lydia didn’t like the pie nearly as much as Susannah and Marshall did, so the two of them would more or less split it over the course of a couple of days. The only other person who could make such a delicious peanut-butter pie was Susannah’s mother, who had died four years ago.
Mamm didn’t take very gut care of her health, she thought sadly. Neit
her had her father. That’s why last winter Susannah had changed their diet. Her father was overweight, too, and he’d briefly been hospitalized for complications from his diabetes. The Englisch doctor indicated if he didn’t get his blood sugar under control, he could suffer kidney, nerve or eye damage, or cardiovascular problems.
At first, Susannah’s efforts to help improve his health were met with resistance. Surprisingly, the pushback didn’t come from her father; it came from her sister-in-law, Charity, who had remarked, “How can bread be unhealthy when I make it myself? It’s not as if it’s store-bought and full of preservatives. And the Lord made corn and potatoes, so they must be gut for us.”
Susannah had shared what she’d learned about eating whole grains, nonstarchy vegetables and protein, as well as “good” fats and dairy. And all of it in moderation. But Charity continued to turn up her nose at the dishes Susannah prepared until she saw how the pounds seemed to slide right off her and her father’s blood-sugar readings stabilized. Then Charity helped Susannah peruse cookbooks from the library for healthier meal ideas and recipes, too.
“I’m hallich to be losing weight because now I have more energy,” Susannah had told her. “But I’m especially hallich that the dokder said if Daed keeps these habits up, he might be able to stop taking his medication.”
Still, there were a few members of her church district who were worried about Susannah’s weight loss. She’d been mildly overweight for most of her life, so some people initially assumed she was ill. Others expressed concern that she was focusing too much on external appearances, or was becoming hochmut. High-minded. Proud. Not merely about how slender she had become, but also about the knowledge she had gained, even though she never flaunted her weight loss or offered nutritional advice unless someone asked her for it. However, after the novelty wore off, they became accustomed to how she looked and what she ate or didn’t eat for lunch after church or during other community events. And eventually they stopped making comments, much to Susannah’s relief.
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