by Leah Atwood
“Pregnancy suits you,” he told her. “You’re glowing.”
“It’s not the pregnancy.” She covered her hand with his. “It’s a life full of great friends and family, and getting to share that life with you.”
Love the Come to Me Series? Consider these books next:
Come to Me Joyful- A Come to Me Bonus Novella
Kate Jergens presents her life as the picture of perfection to everyone outside her close-knit circle. Old insecurities prevent her from letting people see who she really is. As the holidays approach, events cause those insecurities to reappear.
When Luke Tatum catches his co-worker, Kate, with her guard down he realizes he doesn’t know her as well as he thought. As he discovers who Kate really is behind her mask of flawlessness, his admiration for her grows and he finds himself more drawn to her.
When faced with the possibility of losing someone she loves, Kate's faith wavers. This Christmas season, will she accept support from the man who loves her or will she push him away?
The Always Faithful Series- A Come to Me spinoff series
That Was Then-
When her mother died, only one person came to mind for Meg Bailey to call. Wyatt Deluca—U.S. Marine, first love, ex-husband.
Seven years have passed since they've seen one another. To fulfill a parting promise to always be there for Meg if she needed him, Wyatt--scarred, broken, and in need of healing--returns to his small hometown of Lilston, Pennsylvania.
He went to comfort Meg. In Meg, he finds solace. Can time heal their battered spirits and restore their lost years?
This is Now-
Widowed for nearly a year, Janie Stroud is lost. All she can do is take each day as it comes. Every smile, each peel of laughter, the rare days without tears—all give her hope of one day finding a new normal, whatever that may be. Can normal even exist for a twenty-five-year-old widow?
After a tragic helicopter crash claims Mike Stroud’s life in the final weeks of a deployment, Evan Jergens takes seriously his vow to look after Janie, Mike’s widow. He considers her a second sister, and he’d do all he could to make her life better in the aftermath of Mike’s death.
Over time, their feelings shift from friendship to something more, but neither wants to love. Evan sees himself as a cripple with little to offer as a husband and is eaten by guilt for falling in love with his best friend’s widow. Janie’s afraid to love again and set herself up for the risks that come with it.
What will it take to break through their barriers and live in the present?
When It’s Forever-
Jared Scott should have been on the helicopter that crashed and killed his best friend. The guilt of knowing Mike might still be alive if Jared had been on that flight sent him on a path of destructive behavior. Eventually, he cleans up his act, but that doesn’t free him from the consequences.
Sybil Hollis has spent her life searching for love in all the wrong places, but would she even know it if she finds it? And commitment? She knows nothing about sticking around when times get tough. All her life she’s been taught it’s easier to run away from problems or drown them in habits.
Until the day she faces a lifetime commitment from which she can’t escape. With Jared at her side, can Sybil discover what love means when it’s forever?
Note from Leah
Dear Reader,
When I started Come to Me Alive, I had no idea that it would turn into a series, but God had other plans. I mapped out Come to Me Free and Come to Me Again, but again, God had other ideas. In Come to Me Free, events happened that changed the entirety of Come to Me Again and brought us Dominic and Maisy. Their story is one of love and acceptance, of finding your worth in Him. As Dominic and Maisy discover, anyone can feel the warmth of God’s embrace if they just allow him in.
The Come to Me series has touched my life in ways I never could have imagined. I thank you for joining me in following the lives of Bryce, Sophie, Jay, Caroline, Rob, Dani, Adam, Elle, Gracie, and of course, Gram. While this is the last full novel in the series, there is a bonus Christmas novella, Come to Me Joyful, in which we catch up with Kate, Sophie’s best friend. You can read an excerpt immediately following this note. And who knows, maybe the whole crew will show up again down the road.
Until next time,
Leah
“Come to Me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28
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Come to Me Joyful Excerpt
After the clock hands hadn’t moved in five minutes, Luke decided they must be broken. At least that’s what he told himself because if time was moving that slow for real, suffice it to say, he was in trouble.
His gaze shifted to the clock again. Victory! The hand finally moved. If he hadn’t been in a meeting surrounded by his colleagues, he would have pumped a fist in the air. All right, so he didn’t have the best attitude about this conference, but who schedules a three-day conflict resolution seminar to start the Monday after Thanksgiving? An out of town one, at that.
Didn’t the powers-that-be in corporate have families or a non-work related activities? Nah, they’re married to their careers. Luke tapped his company-provided tablet and attempted to find his place in the notes. He’d tuned out somewhere between “for the next fifty minutes” and “practice resolution techniques through role-playing workplace simulations”.
He really hoped he hadn’t heard the lecturer correctly. Role-play, really? He was a thirty-year-old professional. The men and women he supervised were accountants, not high on the chart for creating conflict within the office. But no, somebody, somewhere thought because he’d been promoted to a managerial role that he should attend the conference.
“I need two volunteers.” The lady in charge—Mrs. Houser, he remembered after a brief glimpse at the outline on his tablet—peered around the room that reminded him of a college lecture hall. “You, in the blue sweater, come to the front.”
Luke cast a look around the room to see who the unlucky person was, only to realize with horror that he was the sole individual in the room of sixty people who wore a blue sweater. Forcing a smile for the benefit of setting a good example, he marched to where Mrs. Houser stood.
“You’ll be our person in charge. Sit down here.” She pointed to the oval table that was front and center. “This will be your office.”
“I think it’s an improvement over my current one.”
The people in the room laughed and Mrs. Houser smiled. To her credit, she had a sense of humor. She scanned the room again. “Who will be our disgruntled employee? Katherine, would you mind?”
Hey, why does Katherine get a choice, and I was volun-told? His mental grumbles ceased when he saw that Katherine was Kate Jergens, one of his two bright spots of this confounded conference. Her long blonde hair hung straight to the middle of her back. Not a strand was out of place—never for Kate, who always had it completely together.
When he’d first moved to Lafayette four years ago, he’d had something of a crush on her, but what man didn’t? Kate was beautiful, inside and out, the consummate girl-next-door. He’d first met her when he’d visited a friend’s church. He and Kate had recognized each other from work and it started a conversation between them. Even though he’d ultimately chosen to attend a different place of worship, that one visit to Kate’s had broken the ice between them at work.
They’d become acquaintances, and then friends. Several times he’d thought about asking her out, but the timing was never right, and lately, she seemed to keep a distance most the time. Regardless, he enjoyed being in her presence. Kate infused joy in everything around her. Even now, she smiled at him as she stood on the other side of the table.
“Katherine, you’re to be an employee approaching your supervisor regarding a problem with another employee.” Mrs. Houser tapped a finger to her
chin. “Let’s say Johnny Doe turns his reports in late every Friday. In turn, this makes you late with your reports, which reflects poorly on you. You’ve already talked to Johnny, but with no change in his actions—what do you say to your boss?”
Kate looked at him with sapphire blue eyes. She lifted a fist, knocked on a pretend door.
“Come in.” He could play this game. It wasn’t so bad. “What can I help you with today, Ms. Jergens?”
“There’s a problem I’d like to discuss with you regarding Mr. Doe.” Taking a chair from the front row, Kate pulled it to the table.
He crossed his hands and put on a solemn, all-business expression. “Tell me what’s going on?”
After Kate had answered, he proceeded to ask further questions to flesh out the details of Step One-Identify the Problem. Mrs. Houser nodded with approval.
Ten minutes into the exercise, she excused them to return to their seats. “Wonderful job demonstrating the steps for conflict resolution. Thank you for your participation.”
From her seat, Kate turned her head and flashed him a grin. Oh yeah, that alone was worth the trip to the head of the class. His mind wandered again, and he planned his evening. The hotel served a continental breakfast and Sinclair Industries provided a catered lunch. That left him on his own for dinner, or supper as they called it in the South.
A few of the guys asked him to join them at the brewery after today’s sessions, but he didn’t feel entirely comfortable with that idea. Last time he’d gone out with them, he’d been the designated driver and had been teased mercilessly for not drinking. The ribbing he could tolerate—he was secure in his life choices, but the truth was—he simply hadn’t enjoyed himself.
“That is all for today.” Mrs. Houser’s concluding words snapped Luke back to the seminar. “Tomorrow, we’ll discuss what to do when the resolution steps still don’t work. Until then, you are dismissed.”
Hallelujah. Among the clamoring of chairs moving and people standing, Luke rushed to power off his tablet then slipped it into the padded pouch of his backpack. A shadow crossed in front of him, and he looked up to see Kate, her sweet smile directed at him.
“Nice job, earlier.” She laid a manicured hand on the table. “I think you made an impression on Nancy, I mean Mrs. Houser.”
“Thanks, I think?” He lifted a brow, twisted his mouth. “I didn’t realize the two of you were on a first-name basis.”
A soft, musical laugh danced off her lips. “When I started at Sinclair, she was the human resource manager for the Lafayette office. She hired me and played a pivotal role in me getting the resource training position last spring.”
“Yet she calls you Katherine?” Casting a wink, he couldn’t resist baiting her.
She scrunched her nose, gave an indifferent shrug. “She doesn’t believe in nicknames.”
“Katherine does have a nice ring to it.”
Her gaze narrowed, but her eyes still sparkled with humor as she shook a finger at him. “Don’t think about it. Kate, it is.”
“How about Katie?”
A wistful look with a small frown flickered on her face, but she quickly blinked it away and shook her head. “There’s only one person who can get away with calling me that and it’s no one here.”
Other Available Titles
Contemporary Romances
Come to Me Series
Come to Me Alive
Come to Me Free
Come to Me Again
Come to Me Joyful (Bonus Novella)
Modern Conveniences Series
Love In a Fix
Calling Love
Lost in Love
Waiting on Love (Bonus Novella)
Always Faithful Series
That Was Then
This Is Now
When It’s Forever
Jasper Lake Series
Not This Time
Treasure Harbor
Complete Collection
Standalones
Table For One (Novella)
A Summer Homecoming (Novella)
Historical Romances
Brides of Weatherton Novellas
After the Rain
Fire and Ice
Winds of Change
Dancing on Dew
Texas Wildflowers Novelette Series
Free to Love
Free to Heal
Free to Protect
Free to Serve
Free to Roam
Free to Forgive
Mail-Order Short Stories and Novelettes
The Ultimatum Bride
A Man to Be Proud Of
Their First Noelle
The Not Quite Mail-Order Bride
The Mail-Order Bride’s Quilt
Riches of the Heart
The Most Wonderful Bride of the Year