by T. K. Chapin
A Reason To Believe
A Reason To Love Series: Book Two
By:
T.K. Chapin
www.tkchapin.com
Copyright © 2018 T.K. Chapin All rights reserved.
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictionally. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or to actual events or locales is entirely coincidental.
This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with.
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Version: 08.30.2018
ISBN-13:
Available Books
By T.K. Chapin
(Inspirational Christian Fiction & Romance)
A Reason To Love Series
A Reason To Live
A Reason To Believe
Journey Of Love Series
Journey Of Grace
Journey Of Hope
Journey Of Faith
Protected By Love Series
Love’s Return (Book 1)
Love’s Promise (Book 2)
Love’s Protection (Book 3)
Diamond Lake Series
One Thursday Morning (Book 1)
One Friday Afternoon (Book 2)
One Saturday Evening (Book 3)
One Sunday Drive (Book 4)
One Monday Prayer (Book 5)
One Tuesday Lunch (Book 6)
One Wednesday Dinner (Book 7)
Embers & Ashes Series
Amongst the Flames (Book 1)
Out of the Ashes (Book 2)
Up in Smoke (Book 3)
After the Fire (Book 4)
Love’s Enduring Promise Series
The Perfect Cast (Book 1)
Finding Love (Book 2)
Claire’s Hope (Book 3)
Dylan’s Faith (Book 4)
Stand Alones
Love Interrupted
Love Again
A Chance at Love
The Broken Road
If Only
Because Of You
The Lies We Believe
In His Love
When It Rains
Gracefully Broken
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Dedicated to my loving wife.
For all the years she has put up with me
And many more to come.
Table of Contents
Note from the Author
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
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Book Previews
Other Books
Acknowledgements
About the Author
Note from the Author
God so loved the world . . . four words that most, if not all, Christians know by heart. It’s simple, yet so complex. I don’t believe I’ll ever fully understand the unsearchable and unfathomable depths of God’s love, but I am thankful for His love nonetheless. This new series, A Reason To Love, is a series that focuses on God’s love moving through us and unto others. Often, our most difficult times in life are the times God uses to mold and shape us, to make us something new. I know in my own life, I’ve never enjoyed the difficult times, but I would never trade the growth that came from them. The times when we feel we are being bathed in fire, I believe, are a refinement process the Lord is putting each of us through. He doesn’t make bad things happen, but He can and does use them for our own good and His glory.
In this second book, A Reason To Believe, we follow the story of Tyler and Olivia. Tyler is a solid man of faith who devotes himself to God in a lot of ways, but he still has a lot to learn. Olivia grew up in the church but never came to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. She’s a gal with a sketchy past and a longing for someone to truly love her. Tyler’s a man whose ideal type of woman he wanted to marry was never someone like Olivia. Can these two find love in each other’s arms? Or are they better off apart?
I pray this inspirational Christian romance inspires your faith, warms your soul, and fills you with the hope that is only found in the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. May this story bless you in reading it as much as it has blessed me in writing it.
Sincerely,
T.K. Chapin
Chapter 1
THE SUN WARMED OLIVIA’S CHEEKS as she stood in the garden. She cupped a hand over her eyes to shield the sunlight and to catch a glance at the car driving up the driveway toward her and her husband Bruce’s home. It was a blue sedan and she didn’t recognize the vehicle. A plume of dust followed the car as it came around the final curve of the dirt road. Close enough to see into the windshield now, she spotted a young blonde woman behind the steering wheel. She didn’t recognize her. As the car came the last few feet, Olivia could make out the expression on the woman’s face. It wasn’t good.
Removing her gardening gloves, Olivia tossed them into the wheelbarrow and headed out of the garden to go meet the stranger. It was high noon and Bruce wouldn’t be home for another eight hours. Her pulse climbed and her stomach whooshed as her whole body felt uneasy about her unexpected visitor.
The car came to a stop not more than a few feet from Olivia. The woman jerked the car door open and got out, slamming it behind her. Olivia flinched.
“Are you Mrs. Montgomery?”
“Yes.” The stranger knew who she was, but Olivia got the sinking feeling that wasn’t a good thing. “Can I help you?”
The woman removed her large oval dark-lensed sunglasses and let out a relieved sigh. Folding the sunglasses, she slipped them into her purse and came the rest of the way over to Olivia. The stranger shook her head in pity, tilting it as she raked a hand through her full-bodied blonde hair. “I’m Lisa—Bruce’s girlfriend.”
Olivia froze. Disbelief clouded her mind, and she took a step back.
“What?”
“I’ve been seeing your husband for five years, ma’am.”
Olivia shook her head, not able to believe what the woman was saying to her. “No. I don’t believe you. You have the wrong man.”
“Oh, yeah? He has a little brown mole on his inner left thigh.�
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Clasping a hand over her mouth, Olivia fought back tears as she gasped. “How could he do this again? How could he do this to me?” She was thinking out loud, ignoring the fact that Lisa was still there. “He barely has enough time for dinner . . .”
The woman walked over to Olivia’s rose bushes sticking out from the garden and let her fingers glide across the tops of the red petals. She glanced back at Olivia. “He finds time for what he wants to do.”
Heat from her anger started to well up in Olivia, not just toward Bruce but this tramp. “What’s the point of telling me all this? And who are you?”
Lisa paused and then turned and came back over to Olivia. “Bruce is too scared to tell you. He fears you’ll hit him over the head with one of your cast-iron skillets or something.”
Olivia would like to do a lot more than that right now. Tears pushed through and she wiped them. “Who are you?”
“I already told you. I’m Lisa. I’m the love of your husband’s life. It’s time you two broke up so he and I can finally be together without worry.”
Tears started down Olivia’s cheeks. “But who are you? How did you meet my husband?”
She started toward her car, ignoring the questions. Lisa paused before getting in her car. Holding the driver-side door, she peered up into Olivia’s eyes. “He met me when he was in the grocery store picking up a sandwich for his lunch, if you really care to know the details.”
With that, Lisa got in her car and left. As her taillights faded in the dust behind the car, Olivia dropped to her knees. Her heart ached with a pain that was deep and lasting. Had her husband really been cheating on her for five years? Was it true? Again? Could he have been seeing this woman for so long without her knowing? Her cousin Rachel’s words came echoing in her thoughts. She’d warned Olivia on several occasions that all men were the same. They took what they wanted and they didn’t care who they hurt in the process. But Bruce had been so different. He had been special in the beginning. Olivia kept wanting to tell herself it wasn’t real, but the truth fought against her.
When Olivia heard Bruce’s car pull up outside later than expected that evening, she grabbed her cast-iron skillet from the coffee table. She went over and stood by the door, raising it up above her head, just like he had told Lisa she would do. Barbaric? Yes, but whatever Bruce wants, Bruce gets. She was ready to strike her cheating, no-good husband. She listened as he pushed the key into the door’s lock, then the doorknob turned. He came walking in. All her anger and determination melted away in an instant. She wanted to swing, to hurt him, to make him feel just a tiny portion of what she was feeling right now, but she couldn’t do it. When he turned and looked at her, then the pan, then back at her, she dropped the skillet on the floor and started to cry.
“What is the meaning of this?” Anger and a bit of fear lit in his eyes. He slammed the door behind him. “I work all day to come home to my wife with a skillet in the air, ready to hit me?”
Olivia’s throat closed up, her chest knotted, and she couldn’t speak a word in that moment. Picking up the skillet, she walked through their living room and headed for the kitchen as he continued to belittle her with horrid comments. She stopped listening and just kept thinking of Lisa’s face and how she had been so bold to come out to visit her. Five years. The two words echoed through Olivia’s mind, slicing and dicing all her good memories with Bruce.
Then, Olivia worked up the courage inside to say it. Stopping, she turned to Bruce. “Lisa came by this afternoon.”
He stopped his tangent. He looked remorseful, but little good that did at a time like the present.
“She was very pretty, Bruce. Prettier than the last one.”
“Stop.”
Olivia walked over to the island in the kitchen and leaned her arms on top of it as she directed her gaze toward him. Her tone of voice stayed level as she spoke. “I don’t think she knows about Michelle from a couple of years ago. At least, she didn’t act like it. She acted like you two were it for five beautiful years.”
“You don’t understand, Olivia.” His tone was much gentler now, even genuine. He let out a sigh and raked a hand through his hair. “We’re in love.”
“You’re a fool, Bruce. An absolute fool!” She took a breath, then let her nerves calm for a moment. “But then again, I was a fool too, a fool to stay with you after the first affair. Or was it your second, since you cheated on me and Lisa with Michelle? I have to hand it to you, Bruce. That must’ve taken skill, deceiving three women at one time. Or are there more lucky ladies? Why would you ever stop at three?” She paused, sorrow filling her. “What was I thinking? Once a cheater, always a cheater.” Walking out of the kitchen, Olivia walked down the hallway and into her and Bruce’s bedroom. She opened the closet door and pulled out an already packed suitcase she had prepared earlier. Bruce followed her into the bedroom.
“Stay here in the house, Olivia. You can keep it.”
Suitcase in hand, she shrugged. “Why would I want the house?”
“Your garden. I know you love it. We should both have something we love. Lisa is like my garden.”
“How dare you compare that homewrecker to my beautiful garden!”
He grabbed her arm, stopping her. “Look at you. When I found you, you had nothing going on in your life, and I gave you a home and a purpose! You’re nothing without me.”
“Maybe so, but I’d rather be nothing without you than stay and be nothing with you. You did brighten my life up back in the day, and I will never deny that. It’s time I moved on, like you already have. Go be with the woman you love. I don’t know a whole lot in this life, but I know enough to know I don’t deserve this. Goodbye, Bruce.” Pulling free of his grip, she walked out of the room and out of his life.
With each mile Olivia drove further south and away from Colville, away from Bruce, she felt better. She wondered after the last time he had cheated if he’d do it again. A part of her must’ve suspected he would, thus the reason she’d held onto the signed divorce papers for three years. After Michelle, she did hold a thread of hope that he wouldn’t do it again, that things would work out, but today, it became clear to her that he’d never change. Not only did he do it again, but he had kept this Lisa gal for years. He’d had her through the entire Michelle debacle. Olivia was wrong yet again, just like she was wrong about Ryan, about Seth, and about Champ. So many men, so many mistakes. She knew something was wrong with her and her ability to pick men. There was no denying that truth anymore now. Every man she met and fell in love with ended up letting her down. This one was the worst and the longest investment of her life. She had wasted seven years with Bruce and was now over thirty years old. The thought of dating was preposterous. Some girls just don’t get lucky in life, and Olivia was now convinced she was one of those unlucky ones. Wiping hot tears from her cheeks, she pushed a strand of her long, layered brunette hair behind her ear and focused on the road.
As an hour passed, sleep began to gnaw at her, but she resisted the best she could. She needed to reach Spokane, to reach her parents’ house for the walk of shame up the pathway to their front door. They hadn’t been on speaking terms for years, but she knew they’d take her in without hesitation. Rolling down the window, she let the cool night air flood into the car to wake her up. The chill of the air pressed against her cheeks, bringing up her level of consciousness. She thought of Bruce and her heart ached again. Olivia’s dreams and plans for life had gone up like a vapor of water, returning to the place they’d once come, her heart. She wept bitterly. Rolling up the window as the air became too cold, she began to get sleepy again, her eyelids becoming heavier each time she blinked. Olivia longed to get to her destination as soon as possible. Then suddenly, she awoke as her car went off the road and into the darkness. She was driving through a field. She grabbed the steering wheel, trying to gain control, but it was too late. She hit something hard, and the car flipped and rolled, knocking her unconscious.
Chapter 2
S
TARING UP AT THE CEILING as Tyler sat on his couch in the apartment above his bowling alley, he tried to count the tiles as he waited for his brother, Jonathan, to come out from the bathroom. He had his brother over for their weekly business meeting to discuss an important matter in regard to Willow Design, the company they had started shortly after Jonathan’s wife, Marie, had passed away years ago. God was blessing the business and they were looking at several properties in Spokane to lease office space. Life was good, but for Tyler, he still felt an ever-increasing longing in his heart for a wife and a family.
Emerging from the restroom, Jonathan shut the door behind him and walked toward Tyler.
“Kylie and I are taking Rose and Peter to Silverwood tomorrow. You should come with us. It’d be fun.”
Tyler’s lips curved into a smile. “That sounds nice, but I’ll let you and your family enjoy this one, Brother. Plus, I have a reservation at The Inn At The Lake for tonight.”
Jonathan’s eyebrows rose and he sat on the couch beside Tyler. “You’re going out to Diamond Lake? Really? I didn’t think you were a ‘relax at the lake’ type of guy.”
A light laugh escaped Tyler’s lips. “You’re right. I’m not. But I recognize the need to change that, so I’m taking some time off to clear my head.” Pulling out a pamphlet from his pocket, he handed it to Jonathan. “There’s some good fishing out there and I haven’t fished in a long time. I probably won’t be available until next Tuesday or so. If there’s an emergency, you can look up the inn and call me. I’m not sure about cell reception out there.”