Her son squared his shoulders, his frown back in place. “I don’t want to leave. I like it here. I don’t care what happened at the trial. I don’t care that Dad wasn’t my real father.”
“How do you know about what happened at the trial?”
“I asked Adam. He told me.”
A wave of hurt crashed into her. She had been the one who had wanted to explain about what was said at the trial, but her son had preferred hearing it from Adam. She still needed to explain, and she didn’t want to have this discussion twenty feet off the ground with Noah and Rusty looking on. “Go back to the cottage now. We’re gonna finish our talk from last night. And when I get down, you better be there. No more running away.”
“Rusty, you, too.” Noah moved to the side so the boys could crawl past them.
Reluctantly the two left. After their departure, Cara glanced toward Noah to thank him for helping her. The words died on her tongue. The caring look he gave her wiped everything from her mind—even the fact she was in the top of a large tree. All she could focus on was the love in his eyes.
He tried to shift away to hide his expression. Cara caught his arm and stopped him. Hope flamed bright.
“Why were you so upset at the trial while I was testifying?” she asked, her question barely sounding around the love jamming her throat.
Pain tangled with the love she saw on his face. “I couldn’t protect you from what the defense attorney was trying to do to you. He was trying to destroy your reputation and all I could do was sit and watch while he did. I felt so helpless.”
She inched closer, lifting her hand to touch his firm jaw, a nerve twitching. “That’s what I felt while I listened to your testimony.”
“I’ve been thinking about what you said about that night at the party. How much did you have to drink?”
She thought back to the party and tried to count how many. She couldn’t get past three. “Three drinks and I don’t even think I took more than a few sips of the third one. That’s all I remember, then everything is a blank until I woke up.”
“I wonder if someone slipped some drug like Rufie into your drink.”
Stunned, Cara sank back against the tree trunk. “I just assumed I couldn’t handle alcohol. That was my first and last time drinking. And I was so ashamed by my behavior that I didn’t consider anything beyond that. All I wanted to do was get home and lick my wounds. It wasn’t until much later that I realized the full scope of what happened at the party.”
“Why were you ashamed? Because you made a mistake? Everyone makes them.” He closed the space between them.
“That’s what Laura told me, but what I did was wrong and I’m still facing the consequences of that action. Truthfully I never wanted my son to know the circumstances of how he was conceived.”
“So you didn’t plan to ever to tell him that he was adopted?”
“Tim insisted on it and I agreed to it. Tim wanted to be Timothy’s only father. He didn’t want his son wondering who his real dad was.”
“This past few months with the children has led me to believe the biological father isn’t what is really important. It’s the person who is there for the kids on a day-to-day basis, supporting them, loving them, disciplining them with a caring hand. Mine never was there, but Paul was.” He cocked a grin. “And now I know why Paul took all those children in. I’ve gained more from this arrangement than Adam, Rusty or Lindsay have.”
“More than that white SUV sitting in your garage?”
His smile grew. “I was getting tired of having to borrow your car to transport the children.”
“I didn’t see your Corvette. Where is it?”
“At the dealership waiting to be sold.” Noah ran his finger up her arm.
“You traded it in,” she said in a breathless voice, his touch producing a sharp awareness of him. “I thought you said something about getting an SUV in addition to the sports car.”
“Those days are behind me. I want to be the children’s foster parent on a permanent basis. I called the case manager up and told her to stop looking for a family to take them in.”
“When?”
“Thursday morning before we left for the trial. I was going to tell you afterward. But the time never seemed right.”
She had to take the risk. “I love you, Noah.”
“Then why did you want to leave me?”
“Because I couldn’t stay here and be around you when you didn’t love me. As much as I care for the children, I can’t do it.”
A smile lit his face. “So if I love you with all my heart, you will stay—” he slid his hands into her hair “—and marry me?”
“Are you proposing to me?”
“Yes.” He brought her to him, his mouth covering hers in a deep, soul-searching kiss. “I want to spend the rest of my life with you. You have shown me how faith and family can make a man rich beyond any monetary amount. I want to continue to explore both with you by my side. Cara Winters, will you marry me?”
“Hmm. I may have to think about that.”
“Good thing this isn’t a limited time offer.”
She laughed. “Well, I guess I’ll put you out of your misery.” She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him. “Yes, I’ll marry you for all the right reasons. Love.”
“I don’t want to wait long. How’s next month sound to you?”
“My, you move fast.”
“I’m almost thirty-six years old. I’d say I’ve moved slow.” Taking her hand, he laced his fingers through hers. “How do you think the kids will take the news about our marriage?”
“Hmm. Let me see. Are we talking about the same children who tried to get us together with that dinner?”
“I want to adopt them, including your son. Do you think they will agree?”
“I don’t know. The best way to find out is to ask them.”
He tugged on her hand. “Then let’s go together and talk to all of them about us being a family.”
EPILOGUE
“Can I have everyone’s attention?” Noah stood in the middle of his great room with Cara next to him. Draping an arm over her shoulder, he pulled her close as their crowd of friends quieted. “I have an announcement.”
“We already know Cara is pregnant and those ballplayers finally got what they deserved,” Peter shouted from the back. “That’s old news.”
Laura playfully punched her husband in the arm. “We just found out yesterday. That’s not old news.”
Timothy ran into the room with Rusty and Molly following him. Both boys came to a skidding halt in front of Noah. Huge grins welcomed him when he looked down at them. Somehow they knew he had wanted it to be a surprise.
“Okay. Enough stalling.” Jacob took Hannah’s hand. “I, for one, am hungry, but if you don’t quit being so dramatic, I’ll never have my say at the dinner table.”
A couple of the children giggled. Adam and Sean began to talk.
Alice brought her cane down on the hardwood floor. “Silence. Let’s give Noah a chance to tell us.”
“Yesterday afternoon I got the news that Cara and I will be allowed to adopt Adam, Rusty and Lindsay. We’ll be going to court next week to start the process.” And soon after that he would appear in court to finalize his adoption of Timothy.
Cheers broke out in the room.
Lindsay approached Cara and hugged her around the waist. “Does this mean we’re a family now?”
Cara smoothed the girl’s hair back from her face. “Honey, we’ve always been a family. This will just make it official.”
“Okay, let’s eat,” Jacob called out near the kitchen.
“You would think he was pregnant the way he thinks about food,” Noah muttered to Cara, then kissed her on the mouth.
As the crowd filed into the dining room, Cara stopped Noah. “Are you okay?”
He dragged her to him and framed her face. “You know me so well. I called Whitney this morning to wish her a happy Thanksgiving and the phone has been
disconnected.”
“Oh, Noah, I’m sorry. Are you going to have the P.I. try and find her again?”
“I don’t know. I thought she was finally accepting me back in her life, but I guess I was wrong. I’d even asked her to come for Christmas, and I thought she was really considering it.”
“C’mon, you two lovebirds. We can’t eat without the host and hostess,” Jacob said from the entrance into the dining room.
Noah started forward. The doorbell sounded above the noise. “Everyone is here, aren’t they?”
“Maybe Lisa changed her mind and decided to have Thanksgiving dinner with the boss after all.” Cara altered her direction and moved toward the foyer.
“You go sit down. I’ll get this.” Noah redirected her toward the dining room, then crossed the entryway to open the front door.
Standing on the porch was his sister with a black eye and a cast on her left arm. Shock whisked all words from his mind.
“Aren’t you going to ask me in?” Wariness and a bit of defiance marked her expression.
“What happened?”
“My latest boyfriend was showing his appreciation so I hightailed it out of there.”
Noah noticed several pieces of luggage behind Whitney. “Are you taking me up on my offer to move to Cimarron City? I have a guesthouse just waiting for a guest to stay in it.”
She nodded, tension in every line of her body. “Just until I get back on my feet and only if you let me carry my own weight around here. Otherwise, I’m out of here.”
He would take any amount of time with his baby sister. “Fine. I can live with that.”
Someone yelled from the dining room for him to come eat before the food got cold.
Whitney looked around him into the house. “If you just point me in the direction of the guesthouse, you can get back to whatever you were doing.”
“No.”
She blinked and stepped back. “Well, then—”
“I want you to come in and have Thanksgiving dinner with my family and friends.”
She shook her head, taking another pace back. “I don’t be—”
Noah crossed the gap between them. “You are part of my family. Please come in and meet everyone.”
She waved her hand down her body, indicating her jeans with holes in them and her old jacket with a rip in the pocket. “I’m not dressed to meet them.”
“Your appearance has capped off a great day. Please share it with me.” He held out his hand to her.
She stared at it for a long moment, shrugged and fit hers in his grasp. “What about my suitcases?”
“I’ll come back and bring them inside after I introduce you to everyone and give thanks to the Lord for such a special blessing.”
When Noah entered the dining room with his sister by his side, his family and friends suddenly stopped talking. He caught Cara’s gaze, and the smile that graced her mouth conveyed her love and support. With Cara and Jesus in his live, anything was possible, even the mending of his rift with his sister.
* * * * *
In October, be sure to read Margaret Daley’s
FORSAKEN CANYON,
available from Love Inspired Suspense.
And in 2009, look for Whitney’s story
in Love Inspired.
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
1. Noah felt he let down his sister when he couldn’t protect her from their father. Have you ever felt as though you’ve disappointed someone? What has helped you get through it?
2. Cara made a mistake when she was a teenager that she is still paying for. Although the Lord has forgiven her, she still has to face the consequences of her actions. When have you made a mistake and had to deal with the consequences? How did you seek forgiveness?
3. Because he knew what it was like to be separated from his sibling, Noah was determined to keep Adam’s family together. In order to do that, he had to step forward and do something he felt unequipped to handle—be a parent. What experiences have you been forced to handle when you didn’t have the right expertise? Who or what did you rely on for help?
4. Who was your favorite character? What about this character appealed to you?
5. Shame is a powerful emotion. Cara couldn’t get over the shame of what she had done as a teenager. It was what drove her away from Noah. How can your faith help you through feeling ashamed?
6. Family Ever After is partly a story of abandonment. Noah was abandoned by his mother and father. Adam, Rusty and Lindsay were abandoned by their father. How does a person work her way through the feelings generated when a loved one abandons her? How can the Lord help? What Bible verses can a person read to help cope with the situation?
7. What is your favorite scene in the book? Why?
8. Cara helps Noah discover the importance of the Lord in his life. Have you helped someone find his way to the Lord? How did you do it?
9. People in the town judged Cara. I used the verse from John. “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” We often find ourselves judging someone, sometimes unjustly. How can we avoid doing that? Are there other verses to help us with judging people?
10. Noah thought if he could avoid having a committed relationship, he wouldn’t be hurt or disappointed. He never wanted to risk his heart again…but life is full of risks. What risks have you taken? Were the risks worth the rewards?
11. It was important for Noah to remain in control of his life. As a child, he’d felt as if his life was out of his control. When have you felt your life was like that? Have you turned to the Lord and given control over to Him? What Bible verses help you deal with this situation?
12. I picked the verse from Psalm 37:39 (“But the salvation of the righteous is of the Lord: He is their strength in the time of trouble.”) as the one at the beginning of Family Ever After. Why do you think I chose that verse? Is the Lord the first one you turn to when you have a problem? What does finding strength in the Lord during troubled times have to do with this story?
SPECIAL EXCERPT FROM
Love Inspired
Marcus Palermo’s simple ranch life gets complicated when a beautiful stranger introduces him to the son he never knew he had. Could Lissa Hart’s happily ever after lie with the little boy and the rugged rancher?
Read on for a sneak preview of
the last book in the BLUEBONNET SPRINGS miniseries,
THE RANCHER’S SECRET CHILD,
by Brenda Minton!
CHAPTER ONE
A car door slammed and a child’s laughter rang out, followed by a woman’s voice. The horse beneath Marcus Palermo skittered across the arena, forcing him to hold tight. He managed a quick look in the direction of the visitors. A woman, tall with dark hair. A little boy with chocolate brown hair who seemed all excited as he headed for the arena as Marcus made a last-ditch attempt at controlling the horse.
He had a few seconds to wonder where this woman and boy had come from and how they’d found the place, an old farm situated down a long dirt drive and hidden from view of the road by a copse of trees. He’d only recently purchased the old Brown farm and few people knew he lived here.
The boy shouted something as he ran toward the makeshift arena that Marcus had built with cattle panels. The horse jerked his head forward and took a few running bucks across the dirt-packed pen. Marcus’s hat flew off. He’d just bought that hat and he liked it. He tightened his legs, but the horse had the upper hand. The black-and-white paint gelding twisted and, with a final hard buck, sent Marcus flying. As he hit the ground he remembered that he really didn’t like ranching all that much.
After a minute he sat up, rubbing the back of his neck where it hurt the most. Slowly he became aware of a couple of things. First, the horse he’d been attempting to ride had moseyed on over to the fence. The traitor had his head down like a big old puppy dog so the kid could pet him. The woman’s gaze left the boy and the horse and shifted his way, nervous and a bit guilty.
Considering s
he was partially to blame for his bad exit off the horse’s back, she could have at least asked if he was okay. But, no, she only managed to look sheepish as she ran her hand down the horse’s neck. The little boy seemed more curious than anything.
“No, don’t worry, I’m fine,” he muttered as he came to his feet.
He limped across the arena and grabbed the horse’s reins because he was a little jealous of the attention the animal was getting. He moved the gelding away from the fence and away from the hands of the visitors. The woman moved her sunglasses to the top of her head and narrowed her blue eyes at him. He must be getting better at offending the fairer sex. It had taken only two minutes for him to earn her displeasure. “Did he break your leg?” the little boy asked.
Marcus glanced at the kid. He was maybe five, with chocolate-brown hair and big eyes. Those eyes widened a bit, the normal reaction to Marcus’s face. Because it was a kid, not an adult staring at him, Marcus had sympathy. He half turned, giving the little boy his good side.
“No,” he said answered roughly. “It would take more than that to break me.”
“I bet it would,” the boy said in awe.
Marcus hoped the woman and kid weren’t fans with the misplaced idea that he welcomed uninvited guests to the ranch for sightseeing. But the woman didn’t appear to be an admiring fan. She didn’t look like the type of woman who had ever witnessed a professional bull ride, let alone knew who the champions might be.
“Is there something I can help you with?” He looked down at the little boy and back at the woman, because there was something familiar about her.
She was taller than average, with long, dark hair, and had high cheekbones that made him think she had Native American ancestry. But she had startling blue eyes. The blue of a winter sky. Those eyes were boring into him like he was a bug and she couldn’t figure out what kind. So obviously not a fan.
Fine with him. He didn’t need fans. In fact, he didn’t need much of anything or anyone. Which was exactly why he’d picked this property, several miles off the beaten path and far enough away from his siblings that they wouldn’t always be in his business.
Family Ever After Page 18