Their Family Legacy

by Lorraine Beatty

  It was the last thing he had expected. He’d seriously underestimated Mrs. Owen’s hatred of him. “And you agreed.”

  “At the time it was a simple choice. You were a faceless bad guy who had taken my beloved cousin’s life. I heard my aunt talk about how cruel and heartless you were to her each year. It seemed a small price to pay for giving my sons a home and a secure future. All I had to do was face a stranger for a few moments each year. Simple. Painless.

  “So you agreed with the sentence.”

  “No. I didn’t. I thought it was pointless and cruel, but I hadn’t arranged the punishment, my aunt had, and the court had approved it, so I assumed it was fair.”

  Jake’s chest ached with sympathy for her. He wasn’t the only one being punished by Mrs. Owens’s anger. Annie faced him finally and he held his breath.

  “Then I met you and nothing I’d been told turned out to be true. I started to discover things about my aunt that didn’t make sense. The more I got to know you, the more I started to feel like I’d sold my soul in agreeing to her condition.”

  He ran a hand down the back of his neck. He’d had no idea the burden Annie had carried all this time. “Why didn’t you tell me? I would have understood. I thought it was because you refused to forgive me for Bobby Lee. That it was too painful to be around me.”

  She rubbed her thumb. “I was ashamed. And I knew you’d resent me for keeping your sentence active for my own selfish reasons.” She met his gaze. “The longer it went on and the closer we became, the more ashamed I became. I knew it was wrong to agree to my aunt’s terms and wrong to keep turning a blind eye.” She wiped a tear from her cheek. “I’m so sorry. I wanted to end it, but I was afraid to let go of the security it offered.”

  “You should have told me. We could have worked it out. I would gladly have continued to meet that obligation so you could keep your home.”

  Annie shook her head. “I couldn’t let you be captive by her bitterness any longer.”

  There were shadows behind her eyes and he knew for certain that there was still more she wasn’t telling him. “What changed? Why did you suddenly decide to give up your home?”

  “I couldn’t live with the guilt any longer. You’re a kind, hardworking man, an educator respected by your peers. You don’t deserve to suffer another moment for something that was truly an accident. I’m sorry. I know you must hate me for using you the way I did. I’ve told you everything. Please don’t drag this out any longer.”

  “Are you saying you gave up this house and all that money just to set me free from that sentence?” A memory formed in his mind. Sharee and Harley urging him to fight. Could it be they were right? Had they seen something he had missed?

  “Yes. You’re a wonderful man. You deserve someone special, someone who will love you with all her heart.”

  He took a step closer, heart pounding. “Why?”

  She refused to meet his gaze. “Because your happiness is important to me.”

  His heart pounded in his chest with a fierceness he’d never experienced before, and the lump in his throat made it hard to breath. He took another step closer to Annie. “Why?” His emotions were so heightened, he could barely whisper the word. He stood only inches away, close enough to smell the fragrance she wore. His eyes scanned her from head to toe, praying for the answer he wanted to hear.

  Her gaze was fixed on his chest. “Because when you love someone, you set them free.”

  Jake closed his eyes, every nerve in his body vibrating with emotion. All the air in his lungs froze. “You did this for me? You gave up everything you care about, your home and security, because you love me?”

  Slowly she raised her face, her gaze connecting with his and he saw the love in her eyes. His entire body became motionless with wonder. “Annie, no one has ever sacrificed for me. No one has ever loved me that much.”

  “You don’t hate me?”

  Jake cradled her face in his hands. “I’ve loved you from the moment you opened that door the first day. It’s like I’ve been waiting for you my whole life.”

  She came into his embrace. “How can you after what I’ve done?”

  He stroked her hair. “How can you after what I’ve done?”

  She looked up at him, her eyes bright with love. “I forgave you a long time ago.”

  Jake brushed a few stray strands of hair from her forehead, reveling in the feel of her against his heart. “Tell me, how much do you love this house?”

  Her forehead creased. “I don’t. Truthfully, I’ve never been that fond of it, but it was a home no one could take away.”

  “Then how about moving into the one across the street?”

  “What are you saying?”

  “That there’s plenty of room for you and the boys, and it’s in need of some love and attention. It needs a family to fill the rooms. I love you, Annie. And I love your boys. Marry me.”

  Annie reached up and touched his cheek. “Yes.”

  He placed his hand over hers. “Are you sure?”

  “Absolutely.”

  He pulled her closer, kissing her with all the love and intensity he’d been holding in check. She clung to him as if afraid to let go. She ended the kiss, her breath coming quickly.

  “Jake, what if something should happen? What if...”

  He hushed her and gently touched her lips. “Don’t worry.”

  She smiled and placed her palms on his chest. “It’s a bad habit of mine you’ll have to get used to.”

  He took her hand in his. “Then when trouble comes, we’ll hold on to each other, trust in the Lord and the three of us will walk through the valley together.”

  Epilogue

  Annie glanced across the Covenant Church fellowship hall, which had been decorated with tulle, garlands and fall flowers in shades of gold and lavender, her eyes finding the tall, handsome man in the tuxedo. Jake. Her husband. She smiled, her heart full to bursting with love for him. It had been a whirlwind courtship that lasted all of a few weeks. They’d scheduled the wedding for the weekend before Thanksgiving so they could have a short honeymoon and then be back in time to celebrate their first Thanksgiving as a family.

  Jake had been like a little kid looking forward to his first holiday as a dad. She watched as her sons, dressed in tuxedos, came to Jake’s side, looking like smaller versions of their handsome stepdad.

  Denise came up beside her and gave her a little hug. “This was one of the most romantic weddings I’ve ever seen. Watching those boys walk you down the aisle was so sweet.”

  Jake caught her gaze and started across the room. Denise stepped away as Jake came to her side. “Have I told you how beautiful you are, Mrs. Langford?”

  She slipped her arms around his waist. “A few times.” He kissed her forehead.

  “Are you about ready to go? We have a plane to catch.”

  “Yes. We should make the rounds and say goodbye.” He took her arm and steered her out of the hall. “But I need to talk to you first.”

  “Is everything all right?”

  “That’s for you to decide.” He stopped in a secluded corner. “I got a call last night from an old friend. He’s now the athletic director at a small college in Pensacola. He wants me to come and coach the team.”

  “Jake, that’s wonderful. It’s what you always wanted.”

  “Yes, but it would mean moving from Hastings, taking the twins from this school and their friends. It would mean losing another home, Annie. You’ve lost too many already.”

  Had there ever been a more kind and thoughtful man than her Jake? “No. I’ve moved a lot. Not the same thing. I meant it when I said I want you to be happy. I’ll go wherever your job takes us.”

  “And the boys?”

  “Moving to the beach? Are you kidding? They’ll be thrilled.” She slipped her arm in his. “Besides, they lo
ve you. As long as we’re together, they’ll be fine.”

  “Should I call him back? I told him I had a wedding to attend before I could give him an answer.”

  “Yes. Call him. Tell him you accept.”

  “I promise I’ll buy you any house you want.”

  “I’ve learned that it’s not the building that makes a home, but the people in it. Wherever you are is my home, Jake.”

  He pulled her close and kissed her with all the love he possessed. A kiss filled with promises of a bright future together.

  * * * * *

  If you loved this tale of sweet romance,

  pick up the first book

  in the Mississippi Hearts series

  from author Lorraine Beatty:

  Her Fresh Start Family

  Available now from Love Inspired!

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  Keep reading for an excerpt from The Amish Christmas Cowboy by Jo Ann Brown.

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  Dear Reader,

  I hope you enjoyed meeting Annie, another member of the Widow’s Walk group. Telling Annie and Jake’s story was one of the most difficult books I’ve ever written. It was also one of the most satisfying. Both of them are dealing with very real fears and painful pasts that keep colliding and complicating their relationship. Despite that, their attraction and respect for one another grows. But how do you forgive someone for a deadly mistake? How do you learn to trust someone who suffers from an addiction that will never be completely cured?

  Annie discovers that the strings attached to her inheritance come at too great a cost. Jake realizes that he must stand up and fight for what he wants. Before they can find their happily-ever-after, they both must learn to forgive and allow each other a second chance to get things right.

  I’m a big believer in second chances. A mistake, a failure or a bad decision can happen to any of us, anytime. Our job is to learn from it and move forward—not sit down and wallow in the pain. The only answer is forgiveness—of others and of ourselves. It’s the only path to love and peace.

  I love to hear from readers, so feel free to contact me at my website, lorrainebeatty.com, or like my author page on Facebook, Lorraine Beatty Author, or follow me @LorraineBeatty on Twitter.

  Lorraine

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  The Amish Christmas Cowboy

  by Jo Ann Brown

  Chapter One

  Harmony Creek Hollow, New York

  “Guess what, Sarah?”

  The last thing Sarah Kuhns wanted to do was play a guessing game with Natalie Summerhays, the oldest of the four kinder in the house where Sarah worked as the nanny. At ten, Natalie was poised partway between being a kind and standing on the precipice of becoming a teenager.

  “What?” Sarah asked as she wondered why anyone with small kinder would build a house with columns within a youngster’s reach from the bannister on the staircase curving above the elegant entry’s marble floors. She’d talked four-year-old Mia into letting Sarah pluck her off one fluted column. Ethan, who at five years old considered himself invulnerable, wasn’t willing to give up his attempt to touch the ceiling twenty feet above the floor.

  God, grant me patience, she prayed as she did often while watching the Summerhays kinder. Please let this be the last time I have to save these little ones from their antics. At least for today...

  Motioning with her hands, she called to Ethan again, “Komm, kind.”

  His head jerked around, and he grinned as the kinder often did when she spoke to them in Deitsch. For some reason, they found the words she used at home funny. She had no idea why.

  Ethan’s blond hair fell into his blue eyes, and he reached to push it aside. With a yelp, he began to slide down the column.

  Sarah leaned over the bannister, praying it wouldn’t collapse or her glasses wouldn’t slip off and crash to the floor. She caught the little boy’s shirt as he dropped past her. He shrieked, and she wrapped her fingers in the fabric. With a big jerk that resonated through her shoulders, she flipped him across the rail and into her arms. The motion knocked her from her feet, and she sat hard on a step.

  Her heart hammered against her ribs as she held the little boy close. He shook, and she cuddled him to her. Maybe he understood how he could have been hurt.

  Then she realized he was laughing! He thought the whole thing had been fun. When he squirmed to get out of her hold, she tightened it.

  She felt sorry for the four kinder who always were looking for ways to be noticed. Their parents were busy—Mr. Summerhays with his businesses and his racehorses and Mrs. Summerhays redoing her wardrobe and the house every two to three months—and they paid little attention to their kids. Even when one or more acted outrageously, the mischief seldom registered with their busy parents.

  Carrying Ethan down the stairs while leading Mia by the hand, Sarah said, “You told me you wouldn’t climb the columns again.”

  “We didn’t climb them,” Mia said with the aplomb of a four-year-old attorney arguing a legal loophole in a courtroom. “We got on them up there.”

  Sarah resisted rolling her eyes as she put Ethan on his feet. The youngsters nitpicked everything. In the nine months since she’d taken the job as nanny, she’d learned to be specific when setting parameters for them. Apparently, she hadn’t been specific enough.

  How her friends in the Harmony Creek Spinsters’ Club would laugh when she told them about this! They were getting together that evening to attend the second annual Berry-fest Dinner to benefit the local volunteer fire department. She wondered if her friends had guessed that she told them less than a quarter of the “adventures” her charges got into each day. She tried to head the kinder off before they were hurt, but didn’t want to hover over them. Being overprotective wasn’t gut for anyone. She knew that too well.

  “Sarah!” Natalie stamped her foot. “Did you hear me?”

  “Just a minute.” Frowning at the younger kinder, she ordered, “No more getting on the columns anywhere.”

  “From floor to ceiling?” asked Ethan.

  “And everywhere in between. No getting on the columns. Understood?”

  Ethan and Mia glanced at each other, then nodded.

  “Sarah!” Natalie crossed her arms over her bright red T-shirt. “Sarah, are you listening?”

  Watching the two little ones skipping across the fancy rug that cost more than the farm where she lived with her two brothers, Sarah sighed. She faced the impatient ten-year-old who’d inherited her mamm’s glistening black hair and gray eyes. Someday, N
atalie would be a beauty like her mamm, but with her lips compressed, she looked like the kind she was.

  “I’m listening.” Sarah smoothed her black apron that had gotten bunched against her dark green dress when she’d kept Ethan from falling. For a moment, she wondered what Alexander, the fourth Summerhays youngster, was up to. She would check once she listened to Natalie. Checking her kapp was in place, she asked, “What’s up, Natalie?”

  “Did someone order a cowboy?”

  Stunned, she stared at the girl. “Why would you ask me that?”

  “Because there are cowboys on the porch.”

  She struggled not to frown. The kinder had played plenty of pranks on her when she first began working for Mr. and Mrs. Summerhays. Childish practical jokes like a whoopee cushion beneath her and spiders in her glass. She’d laughed along with them, until they’d stopped. Or she’d thought they had.

  When she’d been offered the job, she’d seen it as a gift from God. It provided her with an open window into Englisch lives, allowing her to learn what she’d need to know if she decided to move away from the Harmony Creek settlement. Her stomach clenched. She didn’t want to leave her brothers or the wunderbaar friends she’d made since they moved to northern New York last year, but being baptized meant surrendering her dream of helping others.

  That dream had been born the day she went to visit her daed in the hospital after a serious barn accident. He’d lost his right arm, and she guessed he might have given up if it hadn’t been for the nurses and physical therapists who’d believed in him. Watching them, she’d decided she wanted to learn to do such work, but that would be impossible if she became a full member of the Amish church. However, a job like a volunteer EMT might be allowed.

  “Natalie,” she began.

  “There are cowboys out there!” insisted the girl. “If you don’t believe me, look for yourself.”

  Sarah took a quick glance at the top of the wide door to make sure someone hadn’t rigged a bucket of water on it. The fancy door was hinged in the middle, and she kept a close eye on the other side...just in case. The August heat battered her like an open oven door.