The Wonder of His Love: A Christian Romance (Fostered by Love Book 1)

by Kimberly Rae Jordan

  Noella wondered what it would be like to have a grandparent who doted on her like that. Since she’d never known who her father was, she’d never known about grandparents on that side. Her mother’s parents had disowned Noella’s mom when she’d turned up pregnant and wouldn’t say who the father was. Likely they had wanted her to marry the man and had thought she’d say who it was if they threatened to disown her. Obviously, they hadn’t known their daughter very well because she’d walked away and put herself through university on scholarships and student loans all while raising a baby. When Noella looked at just that part of her mom’s life, she realized that Tammy Crawford really was a remarkable person. It was just too bad she’d made so many mistakes in judgment that had led to heartache for both of them.

  Before she could say anything more, the whistle blew, and the game was underway. As they cheered on the team together, Noella felt the tension of the past couple of weeks begin to ease. She and Finn still had an awkward conversation ahead of them, but Noella was willing to endure that if it meant they might come to a place where they could once again consider dating and possibly more.

  “Can I give you a ride home?” Finn asked once their team had won and people were making their way to the exit of the arena.

  Without hesitation, Noella said, “Yes.”

  10

  Noella took a minute to find Erin and tell her of the change in plans. Erin gave her a tight hug and whispered that she’d be praying for her. As she left the arena with Finn, he stayed close to her side, taking her hand to help her over some places in the parking lot where snow had built up. As they reached a shiny cream-colored SUV, Noella glanced over at Finn.

  “Your new wheels?”

  “Yep. I had planned to go for a truck but changed my mind when I saw this baby,” he patted the door before opening it for her. “Just grab the handle there and step on the running board with your right foot. Then you can step up and slide onto the seat.”

  Noella did as he instructed and found herself seated with relative ease. She looked around as she waited for him to join her. It was obviously brand new with plenty of bells and whistles. This SUV was like the blinged out mama of Erin’s vehicle.

  Once Finn was behind the wheel, he started it up but didn’t immediately put it into gear. As soft Christmas music played from speakers all around the interior of the vehicle, Noella was surprised by how quickly warm air blew from the vents. The heat in her car seemed to take forever. Often not warming up until she’d reached her destination. She’d learned to bundle up and not rely on the car for heat. So not only was an SUV nicer for driving in winter, a new car definitely had its perks too.

  Around them, cars were pulling out of the parking lot, but they continued to just sit there. Noella wondered if Finn was waiting for her to say something. She had lots to say, she just had no idea where to start. Perhaps an apology was the best place.

  “Um…about the night we went to see the lights.” Noella stared out the windshield, unable to look at Finn as she struggled for words. “I realize that I…uh…kind of put the cart before the horse and dumped something on you that might not even have been…uh…relevant to what you were thinking about…me. I’m sorry about that.”

  “While, yes, it was a bit of a cart before the horse scenario, it was definitely relevant to our situation,” Finn said quietly. “It was already on my mind, but I just didn’t expect you to jump to that so quickly.”

  Noella looked over at Finn in surprise. “Marriage was already on your mind?”

  “As I’ve gotten older, I find I don’t like dating just for the fun of it.” Finn shrugged. “If I’m going to date someone, it’s because I’ve learned enough about them to think that maybe there’s a chance for something serious to develop.”

  Noella looked away. “I’m still sorry for dumping all that stuff about prenups and financial agreements on you.”

  “I need to apologize to you as well. Perhaps if I’d been more upfront about a few things, you wouldn’t have felt the need to bring that up.”

  This time, Noella shifted on her seat so she could see him more clearly. Thankfully, the lights in the parking lot helped to illuminate the interior of the car. “What do you mean?”

  “I know I gave the impression of being just your average everyday Joe with my job and where I live, but that’s not the whole picture.” Finn reached out to run his hands around the steering wheel and cleared his throat. “My family isn’t as well known here as they are in the UK, but if you were to Google the Kinnaird name, you’d discover that we are well-off. Very well-off.”

  Noella sat in stunned silence, not sure what to say. As it turned out, Finn didn’t wait for her response before continuing.

  “I wanted to be my own man and not always have to depend on my family’s money, so I came back to Canada since I had dual citizenship courtesy of my Canadian-born mother givin’ birth to me here. I drifted around for several years, taking some mechanics courses so I could do what I loved. It wasn’t until I settled here, though, that I decided to delve into my family’s money a bit more so I could set up a life for myself. I took some of the money tha’ had been dumped into accounts for me and used it to buy the garage where I work now. I also used it to buy tha’ rundown trailer park and fix it up. I never really talked about it because I wanted people to see me for who I was and not focus on my money.” He glanced over at her. “It kind of backfired with you, though. My grandmother helped me see that your reaction was likely a result of you wanting to make sure that you could take care of yourself because you didn’t entirely trust that I’d be able to do that.”

  Noella frowned. “Actually, that’s not quite what I was thinking.” She took a deep breath and then—with Silent Night playing softly in the background—Noella told him about her mom and how their life had been and how she’d ended up in foster care.

  When Finn reached for her hand, Noella turned hers over so their fingers could interlace. “I’m sae sorry you had tae go through that.”

  “So it wasn’t that I wanted you to be rich enough to take care of me, I just needed to know that you wouldn’t want my money to support your lifestyle.” Noella’s shoulders slumped. “I should have trusted what I knew about you already. I knew…I know…that you would never do that. It was just the situation with your truck that kind of triggered things for me. My mom ended funding more than one vehicle for a boyfriend or husband whose bank account was dry. That wouldn’t have been so bad if the guys had actually stuck around or if they’d done what they could to help her out in other ways. But it seemed that once they realized how much money my mom made with her job, they constantly had their hands out, and she constantly gave them what they asked of her because she craved their love. I just wanted to make sure that in a marriage and, if the worst happened, a divorce, that the money I’d earned myself was protected. I never wanted what was yours, and I didn’t expect you to take care of me. I can take care of myself just fine.”

  “But what if I want to take care of you?” Finn asked. “What if I want to buy you a car? Or a house? Or pay for the whole cable bill by myself?”

  At a loss for words, Noella just stared at him. Given the shift of financial balance, she was now scared that he might see her as trying to take advantage of him. She still needed those boundaries so he knew that wasn’t the case. Biting her lip, Noella pressed the hand he wasn’t holding into a fist against her thigh.

  “I would still want a prenup so you’d know I wasn’t after your money and a financial agreement so I’d feel like I’m contributing to the household.” She chanced a glance at him, hoping with all her heart that he wouldn’t see this as her not trusting him. She did trust him—as much as she loved him—but she needed to be able to be a financial partner with him if this was going to work for her.

  “If that’s what you need, I’m fine wi’ that.”

  Noella looked at him in surprise. “You are?”

  As their gazes met, Finn smiled. “I guess you haven’t fig
ured out yet that I’m willin’ to agree to pretty much anythin’ when it comes to getting a future with you.”

  For a moment, Noella felt as if the breath had been squeezed from her lungs. What he was hinting at was so much more than she had ever allowed herself to dream as possible in a relationship and marriage. “Maybe we could come to some compromises as we see where things are going.”

  That got her another smile. “I can definitely work with that.” He squeezed her hand. “I’m going to have to tell my gran that her prayers were answered. She said she’d be prayin’ for us when we talked for the first time since our date. I think it went pretty well.”

  “I agree.” Noella smiled at him, relieved that the knot that had been ever-present in her stomach since that Thursday night had finally loosened. “I’d love to hear more about your gran. She sounds like a wonderful woman.”

  “She is. In fact, despite having tried to guilt me into returning to Scotland for Christmas just two weeks ago, she urged me to come back here after hearing about you and what had happened on our first date. I think she likes you.”

  Noella’s hand gripped Finn’s more tightly as she turned to look out the windshield, swallowing hard. She wasn’t sure why the idea of Finn’s gran liking her had brought tears to her eyes, but it had. Any future with Finn would involve his family which—if things went as she hoped—would eventually make them hers too. And from how Finn had talked about them over the past year, they were what a family should be to each other.

  “Are ye okay?” Finn asked, his voice gentle.

  Noella swallowed again then turned to face Finn. “Your family just sounds so wonderful. I never really experienced anything like that until I went to the Johnsons, but I had a hard time trusting that they could love me when my own mother couldn’t.”

  Finn lifted their joined hands and pressed a kiss to the back of her hand. “There are so many wonderful things about you that make you very easy to love, Noella. I’m sure they discovered that just as I have.” Noella felt her heart stop at his admission, but Finn just continued on, leaving her to wonder if she’d misunderstood what he’d said. “If your mother was unable to love you—or love you enough—that was a problem with her, not you. And if you’ll let me, I’ll spend each and every day proving that to ya.”

  Noella bent her head as the tears fell. In her mind, she’d known that, but her heart…oh, how it ached at times with the memory of being abandoned. Finn’s words—his inadvertent admission of love—were like a balm to her wounded heart.

  Suddenly he pulled his hand from hers and got out of the SUV. Before Noella registered what was happening, her door swung open. She turned to face him as he said, “In my old truck, may she rest in peace, I would have been able to hug you inside the cab, but in this thing that’s much more difficult.”

  He took her hands and helped her out into the snow once again. Without hesitating, he pulled her into a hug, tucking her head beneath his chin. Though their thick jackets were a buffer between them, Noella felt a closeness of their hearts that more than made up for it.

  Then, with his hands resting along her sides, Finn bent his head and whispered, “May I kiss you, love?”

  Noella lifted her head in answer to his question. Then, as the wind blew around them, sending the snowflakes that had fallen earlier dancing into the air, Finn pressed his lips to hers in a kiss so gentle that Noella felt tears prick her eyes once again. In his arms and with his kiss, she felt safe and treasured by this wonderful man.

  ***

  Finn brought his vehicle to an abrupt stop in the driveway of Noella and Erin’s house. He’d promised to be there almost half an hour earlier but a last minute issue at the garage had delayed him. Moving quickly, he jogged up the sidewalk and rang the doorbell. When the door swung open, Noella’s smiling face was the first thing he saw.

  “Ah'm sae sorry ah'm late.” When Noella’s smile grew wider, Finn knew that his accent had deepened as it was wont to do when he was stressed or emotional. He relaxed as he realized she wasn’t upset with his late arrival and returned her smile. “You enjoy my accent just a bit too much.”

  “It’s definitely part of your charm,” she admitted with a wink as he stepped into the house. She gave him a hug and a quick kiss. “We do need to get going, though.”

  It didn’t take too long to get the bakery boxes loaded into the back of his SUV. They made a stop at the shelter to drop off a couple of the boxes before heading to the church with the rest. Thankfully, the traffic wasn’t too bad which was likely due to the fact that the malls and stores were now closed for Christmas Eve.

  He’d spent some time on Skype earlier when his family had called him up to share their Christmas Eve gathering. For a few minutes, he’d longed to be with them and had regretted not taking his dad up on the offer of their family’s company jet. Even now as he turned into the parking lot of the church, he contemplated asking Noella if she might like to take a trip to close out the year. Spending New Year’s Eve in Edinburgh with his family and Noella would be wonderful. He really wanted Noella to meet his gran, and he didn’t want to take the chance that the older woman wouldn’t still be with them in the next year.

  He pushed aside those thoughts for the moment. Right now he was going to celebrate Christmas Eve with the woman he loved.

  They took the remaining boxes and carried them down to the basement of the church where Erin was working with several women and a handful of men to set up tables with the cupcakes on them. She waved them toward an empty table and instructed them on how to set the cupcakes on the display stands that were on the table.

  Erin looked more distracted and tense than Finn had ever remembered seeing her before. He wondered if something was going on with her. He made a note to ask Noella about it later because if there was someone who would know, it would be her.

  Once they were done, the three of them went upstairs to the sanctuary. They found seats near the back so that they could get downstairs quickly once the service was over. He didn’t know how many people would stay since many would likely have family plans or places to be, but for those that didn’t, they would have a place to linger for awhile longer.

  Finn led the way into the pew followed by Noella then Erin. He rested his arm on the pew behind Noella and turned his attention to the front of the church. A string quartet was playing Christmas carols, and Finn allowed the beauty of the music to take him back to the church they had attended on Christmas Eve in Edinburgh each year when he’d been much younger.

  He looked down at Noella when he felt her shift against him.

  “Scoot down a bit,” she whispered.

  Finn glanced up to see a dark-haired man standing at the end of the pew looking down at Erin. He quickly moved another foot or so down the pew, thankful there was no one else beside him. Was this man the reason that Erin had been so out of sorts downstairs? Before he could bend down to ask Noella, a man called the congregation to worship with a reading from the Bible.

  They sang a Christmas hymn then watched as a young girl lit an Advent candle while a teenage boy gave another reading. Interspersed between more candle lightings were Christmas hymns and some special music and other readings. Even though Finn missed his family, he wasn’t experiencing any homesickness because he knew with a certainty that this was his home now. And it wasn’t just about the woman tucked up against his side, but also his business and the people who worked for him there and the trailer park and the people he’d come to know as they’d moved in. Add to that friends like Erin, Tennyson and Forrest and any doubts he might have had about making this city his home were gone.

  As the service ended with a candle lighting while they sang Silent Night, Erin exited the pew with the dark haired man. Noella followed right behind her so Finn did as well.

  “Finn, Noella, this is James Dawson,” Erin said when they’d joined her in the basement. “James, this is my sister, Noella Crawford, and her boyfriend, Finn Kinnaird.”

  “Dawson?” Noella as
ked. “As in Joanna Dawson?”

  “Yes,” the man said as he shook her hand. “I’m her grandson.”

  Finn watched as Erin and Noella exchanged looks, clearly part of that communication was that they would talk later. Which was probably a good thing as they began to hear movement from the sanctuary above. Quickly Erin put them all to work behind tables to help with serving. There was a wonderful aroma of coffee in the air, and Finn would’ve loved a cup, but it was too late to get anything right then.

  He enjoyed talking with people as they came to his table and when no one needed him, he would watch Noella interact with people at her table. A couple of times she glanced his way and caught him staring. He’d just grinned and given her a wink. Oh, what she did to his heart!

  They’d spent most evenings together over the past couple of weeks, and he’d enjoyed every minute of it. One night they’d even gone back to see the lights again. Kind of a do-over of their first date. He couldn’t remember a time when he’d been happier. Given their rocky start, it could have gone either way, but he was so glad for Gran’s sage advice and prayers as well as Noella’s willingness to talk to him again.

  Once the last of the guests had left, they quickly cleaned up with a handful of others then left the church building. They were headed to the Johnsons for a light Christmas Eve dinner and some time together. They would be there again the next afternoon for dinner and then they’d head over to the trailer park for a dinner in the evening. A couple of women in the park had volunteered to cook the turkeys Finn and Noella had bought, and the others who were coming would contribute side dishes.

  As they pulled to a stop outside the large home that the Johnsons owned, Finn put the SUV into park but didn’t turn it off. He swallowed, suddenly feeling nervous.

  “Can we talk for just a minute before going in?” Finn asked as he switched on the interior light and turned to look at Noella.