Contents
Message to Readers
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Epilogue
Author’s Note
Coming Next in this Series
Search for Contentment by Marlene Bierworth
Other Books by Elaine Manders
Also:
About the Author
A Pursued Heart
Elaine Manders
Copyright ©2020, Elaine Manders
All Rights Reserved
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination, and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, other than known historical figures, is purely coincidental. Situations, places, and dates may have been moved around to fit the story. Except for review quotes, this book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, without the written consent of the author.
Scripture references are taken from the New King James Version (NKJV) of the Bible.
Cover Design: Virginia McKevitt
Also special thanks to Lisa Prysock and all my fellow authors in the Georgia Peaches Series for their encouragement and contribution to this series.
May every reader be blessed and the Lord be magnified.
Message to Readers
Dear Reader
Thank you for buying my books, reading them, and supporting Christian fiction—even if you just like a clean romance. Your cards, letters, emails, and reviews lift my spirit and motivate me to write the next book.
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Be sure to check out all of my books.
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Prologue
It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father put in His own authority. -Acts 1:7
One of God’s greatest blessings is to shield us from seeing the future. I’ve loved two women in my life. If I had trusted my foresight, I might have saved the first one’s life. Only by trusting God can I save the other one. – Benjamin Lucas
Steam fogged Ben Lucas’s bathroom, and he adjusted the shower temperature. Just enough time to shower and shave before Kelly arrived. He’d reached around to pull his sweaty tee over his head when the doorbell rang.
Muttering, he tugged the shirt down and jerked the shower lever off, then rushed down the hall. Whoever it was had better be quick. He never got unexpected visitors out here on the sleepy side of town, and he liked it that way.
It wasn’t really hot enough to work up a sweat. In fact, barely a week had passed since the last of the snow had melted, but Ben wanted the yard to be perfect. He and Kelly were getting married back there.
Ready to send the salesman on his way, he slammed the door open. Kelly stood on the stoop, her young son, Jamie, beside her. His irritation melted faster than the remaining snow. He didn’t even think to be surprised.
He pulled her across the threshold and into his arms, breathing in the familiar fragrance of her trendy, department store cologne. Somewhere in the haze of his brain he imagined what he must smell like, having just mowed the lawn. But she didn’t seem to mind as they kissed long and deeply.
“Yuk!”
Jamie’s high-pitched opinion pulled then apart, laughing. “Better get used to it, buddy, your mom and I are getting married next Saturday.”
Hands on Kelly’s shoulders, Ben held her at arm’s length and gazed into her beautiful, soft brown eyes. By this time next week, she’d be his wife. But what was she doing here now? “I was just getting ready to come pick you up.”
She flipped long, sun-kissed brown hair from her shoulder and gave him one of her please-go-along-with-me smiles. “We have to break the date. Some things I have to do…about the house. It’ll be late before I get through. Would you keep Jamie tonight? He…gets underfoot.”
Averting a glance, she tried to hide a look of something that didn’t belong in her eyes. Uncertainty? Fear? When her gaze returned to his, the look was gone.
“Sure, he can stay.” Ben ruffled the seven-year-old’s tawny hair. “We’ll bach it tonight. There’s a game on the TV. Go see if you can find it, buddy, and I’ll hustle us up some grub.”
Before Jamie darted off, Kelly grabbed him, hugging him tight enough to make the boy squirm.
She released Jamie and lifted her glance to Ben. That look was back in her doe-colored eyes and a film of tears. He took her hand and pulled her closer. “Is something wrong?”
Kelly laughed and pressed her other hand on top of his. She leaned in and nuzzled the side of his neck with a kiss, making him forget everything. Her arms found their way around his middle, and his mouth found hers.
She broke his hold. “Only God knows how much I love you.”
“Me too…I mean, I love you, too.” He ought to think of something better than that, but she had a way of muddling his thoughts.
“I have to go. There’s a lot to do.”
“Can I help?”
“All I ask is that you keep my son.” She took the two steps to the door.
He came up behind and reached around her to open the door. “We’ll pick you up for church in the morning.”
“I’ll be ready.” She brushed his lips once more and ran down the steps.
Ben closed the door and made his way to the bathroom. “Hey, buddy, watch the TV until I get out of the shower, okay?”
“’Kay,” Jamie said.
The water was cold now, but Ben had to make it short, so he lathered and was just pulling on his pants when the phone rang. Anyone but Kelly could wait.
Except Dave, his lawyer.
His swiped the phone with a still damp finger. “Yeah, Dave.”
David Sims sounded on the other end. “Ready to get married, Ben?”
“More than ready.”
“I finished my investigation into Jamie’s adoption, and it’s been approved.” Ben had thought the adoption would have to take place after he and Kelly married. Silence hung between them for several seconds. “If you’ve changed your mind—”
“No. Dave, I just wasn’t expecting it so soon. I’m ready, but it is a little jarring to learn I’ve just become a legal father. You are coming to the wedding, aren’t you, Dave?”
“Sure, Ben. I’m here for you, man.”
“Thanks.”
“Are you still planning on moving to Atlanta?”
“Right after Kelly and I get back from our honeymoon to Cancun. Jan and Bill Garland, next door, will take care of Jamie, and when we get back, all three of us will be off.”
Dave laughed. “Leave it to an accountant to measure everything down to the minute.”
“It won’t be at the minute, but we’ll leave soon after. I have to report in May.”
A swish sounded over the phone, foll
owed by another of Dave’s chuckles. “The warmest part of the year.”
“So?”
“They don’t call it Hotlanta for nothing.”
“I expect we’ll get acclimated in time. You come visit sometimes.”
“I will. I travel through the Atlanta airport a lot.”
“Call ahead, and we’ll have you for dinner. We’re getting a house in one of the suburbs. And, Dave, thank you for all you did to get the papers through on Jamie. Kelly will be thrilled.”
“Kelly already knows. I hope I didn’t let any cat out of the bag. She might have wanted to tell you.”
Kelly knew? Why didn’t she tell him at the door? “I won’t let on, Dave, and thanks again.”
Ben decided not to tell Jamie until Kelly was present. This was something the three of them should share. Maybe that’s why she didn’t tell Ben.
Well, a father was responsible for feeding his kid. He trekked to the kitchen and assembled what little he had for supper.
“Better eat up.” Ben nudged the fruit cup closer to Jamie’s plate.
The boy nibbled on a wiener. “We have hotdogs sometimes with buns and slaw.”
Ben’s mouth quirked a grin. Leave it to kids to be honest. “Sorry, I didn’t have buns, and slaw is beyond me.” He had fried some potatoes, the only other thing left in the pantry. Maybe he should have ordered pizza.
Jamie’s small fingers worked to get the plastic lid off the fruit cup. “Mom said everything was fixed so you could ‘dopt me after you get married.”
Ben took the fruit cup. They ought to make the lids easier for a child to open. He took his time to pry the top off, stalling for time to choose his words carefully.
Jamie was an abused child. Kelly had married his father straight out of high school because she had to. Jamie was three months old when Craig Moon started shaking and striking the baby. When Kelly intervened, he turned his rage on her. When Jamie was six, Kelly mustered the nerve to leave Craig. They were divorced, but she couldn’t get rid of him.
Incredibly, though he’d been arrested twice for child abuse, he was given visitation rights.
When Ben started dating Kelly, he knew if the relationship grew, it would include Jamie. The boy drank up his attention like a parched flower. With a great deal of patience, he’d drawn Jamie out of his shell. He’d taken the boy camping, fishing, and taught him to play ball. Did all the guy things Kelly couldn’t.
Ben finished ripping the plastic lid off, contemplating how to tell the boy without exactly telling him. “Your dad signed the papers giving up his parental rights, so your mom and I should have the adoption papers soon.”
“And I won’t have to go with him anymore?”
There was so much fear remaining in Jamie’s voice, Ben scraped the chair back and moved around the table. He lifted the boy in his arms. “That’s right. I’ll be your dad from now on.”
Jamie’s arms tightened around Ben’s neck and he felt tears on his cheek—his and Jamie’s.
They overslept the next morning, and Ben chided himself, but it was a night of celebrations of sorts, though Jamie didn’t know the adoption was final. Probably didn’t matter. He was still at the age when a promise was as good as a deed.
But he shouldn’t have let Jamie stay up playing computer games. Cereal would have to do for breakfast. The doorbell caught him before he reached the kitchen.
Kelly must have decided to join them here. Eagerness quickened his steps to the door.
A policeman stood on the stoop. That was enough to give anyone a jolt, and Ben held his breath, not able to speak.
The officer took off his hat. “Are you Ben Lucas?”
Ben nodded.
“Kelly Moon’s neighbor said you’re engaged to Mrs. Moon.”
Ben finally found his voice. “That’s right. Won’t you come in?”
“No.” The officer looked down at his hat. “I hate this job.” He raised his gaze. “I regret to tell you your fiancée was killed last night.”
Ben swallowed. The words hung in the air, not penetrating to his brain. “An accident?”
“No accident. Her ex murdered her.”
“But you have him?”
“He’s dead. It was a murder/suicide. I’m sorry, Mr. Lucas. We can’t locate any other relatives.”
“I…I’ll take care of…everything.”
Ben closed the door and stumbled to the bedroom. Why did you let this happen, God?
But God didn’t do this—an evil man did.
His gaze swept the room that was to be theirs and landed on a black metal wastebasket. When he’d asked Kelly how she wanted to change the bedroom before she moved in, she said the wastebasket had to go. He focused all his rage on that basket.
After kicking it across the room, he stomped it again and again until it was a flattened mess of metal and paper. In less time than it had taken him to destroy the wastebasket, evil had snuffed out a beautiful and loving woman, taken his future, his heart—
The door slammed open, jerking him around. Jamie stared at him with frightened doe-like eyes—her eyes.
Ben’s knees buckled and he fell to the floor. A power greater than himself stretched his arms out to the little boy.
Jamie slammed into him, and they clung to each other.
The next week passed in a fog. Ben might as well have been a robot, mechanically doing all the things that had to be done. Monday morning he stood at the window, staring at a vibrant spring day and seeing nothing. He should have been on his honeymoon.
“Time to get up, Jamie. You’ll have to help me pack today.”
Grief came by degrees for both of them. Denial. Anger. Acceptance. The numbness in the pit of Ben’s soul must be acceptance, but he’d be working on that a long time.
Ben felt a tug on his pants and wasn’t surprised to find Jamie beseeching him with those large, brown, soulful eyes. The child hadn’t been more than a few steps away from him during the whole ordeal. He’d crawled into Ben’s bed at night.
“What’s going to happen to me? Wh…where am I going?” Jamie’s lips trembled on the words.
Ben picked him up and took him to the sofa. He set Jamie on his lap. “You’re not going anywhere, buddy. Remember, I showed you the adoption papers. I’ll put them in a picture frame and hang it in our new house in Atlanta.”
The muscles in Jamie’s throat quivered as he gulped. “So you’re going to keep me?”
She had known. All I ask is that you keep my son. She had known there’d be a confrontation and had brought Jamie to him to keep him safe—possibly to save Ben, too.
“Sure I’m keeping you. I’m your dad.”
Ben had already worked out the anger—at Craig, at God, at himself for not protecting her. Nothing was left but hope that good would always triumph evil.
Somehow God had given him peace—and a son.
Chapter 1
Atlanta, Georgia, Six Months Later
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. -Proverbs 3:5
My life was all planned out for the next three years. Then I met a man named Ben.
-Rebecca Atkins
Rebecca Atkins looked around the Sunday School classroom and then down to her clipboard. She liked matching faces to names—the best way to remember them. There was Ted Green, the teacher, a divorced man with three children who lived across the country. Janice Marshal, a divorcee with two children and trying to make ends meet on a waitress’s wages and tips. Carla and Marsha Zimmerman, never married sisters, both hoping to be. Sammy Lyons, a mentally challenged man who lived with his mother. And Darcy Harkins, Rebecca’s best friend, never married like her.
While Ted read the scripture that went with the lesson, Rebecca let her gaze linger on the newest member of the class, Ben Lucas. She didn’t know anything about him except what he’d written on his enrollment card—and that his eyes were the softest and saddest gray she’d ever seen.
He was an accountant and had offered
his services to needy members or carpentry jobs the church needed, though he wasn’t skilled in that area.
Rebecca appreciated anyone willing to give of themselves. She could well relate to the scripture where the prophet said, “Here am I, send me.” She’d done that herself when she’d moved to this church last year and asked if there was a singles department. Somehow, she’d volunteered to organize and direct it.
She’d never planned on being a leader, but that’s the way it always happened. She’d been happy in her job as a chemist in one of the city’s top chemical companies. Then she’d sent in her resume to Bay Pharmaceuticals for the position of director of Research. No one was more surprised than she when she got it, and now, after a six-month orientation program, she’d landed in the company’s office building in the heart of the city.
It meant she had to move, but with her increased income she’d taken a spacious apartment in the high-rise near work.
But she also had to change churches and decided on Parkview Baptist, a smaller church in the nearby suburb of Haven. She’d divided the new Singles Sunday School into four classes. Young Adults, ages eighteen through twenty-five. It was the largest for obvious reasons. Twenty-six through forty was her group and made up of far too many divorced young people, only half of whom came regularly. Forty-one through sixty was a small group which included divorced and widowed. Finally, the sixty-plus, made up mostly of widows.
She bowed her head for the closing prayer, still wondering about Ben Lucas, and petitioned God to watch over him, though the reason wasn’t exactly clear to her.
Ted ended the prayer and cleared his throat. “Before we leave, I think Rebecca has another project for us.”
She got up and stepped into the middle of the circle. “One of our older church members had a stroke recently—Al Simmons—some of you may know him. He’s able to come home, but his house has to be renovated to his new limitations—wheelchair ramp, widened doorways. Things like that. I need carpenters and workers who can take orders from carpenters.”
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