A Father's Promise

by Mindy Obenhaus

  Is he ready for fatherhood?

  He doesn’t think he deserves a family...

  But now he has a daughter.

  Stunned to discover he has a child, Wes Bishop isn’t sure he’s father material. But his adorable daughter needs him, and he can’t help feeling drawn to her mother, Laurel Donovan—a woman he’s finally getting to know. But can this sudden dad overcome a past tragedy that has him convinced he’s not meant to be a husband or a father...and make a promise of forever?

  “Where’s your baby?”

  “She’s with Rae.” Laurel poked a thumb over her shoulder. “I, uh, wanted to talk with you alone.”

  Sucking in a breath, Wes said, “Laurel, about that night—”

  “Sarah-Jane is your daughter.” Shoulders squared, she looked him in the eye.

  As his brain struggled to comprehend what she’d said, he simply stood there for the longest time. He must not have heard her correctly. “I’m sorry. Could you please say that again?”

  “No, I’m the one who should be sorry.” Shaking her head, she looked suddenly frazzled. “I’m saying this all wrong.” She drew in a deep breath and exhaled before tentatively meeting his gaze. “My daughter, Sarah-Jane. She’s your daughter, too.”

  Thoughts of the frightened infant he’d tried to console yesterday sifted through his mind, stealing his breath. With all the chaos, it wasn’t like he’d really gotten a good look at her. And then at the restaurant, he’d been so focused on Laurel. “You mean your—my—” He stared at the woman before him, laboring to comprehend. “We have a daughter?”

  It took Mindy Obenhaus forty years to figure out what she wanted to do when she grew up. But once God called her to write, she never looked back. She’s passionate about touching readers with biblical truths in an entertaining, and sometimes adventurous, manner. Mindy lives in Texas with her husband and kids. When she’s not writing, she enjoys cooking and spending time with her grandchildren. Find more at mindyobenhaus.com.

  Books by Mindy Obenhaus

  Love Inspired

  Bliss, Texas

  A Father’s Promise

  Rocky Mountain Heroes

  Their Ranch Reunion

  The Deputy’s Holiday Family

  Her Colorado Cowboy

  Reunited in the Rockies

  Her Rocky Mountain Hope

  The Doctor’s Family Reunion

  Rescuing the Texan’s Heart

  A Father’s Second Chance

  Falling for the Hometown Hero

  Visit the Author Profile page at Harlequin.com.

  A FATHER’S PROMISE

  Mindy Obenhaus

  Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

  —James 1:17

  For Your glory, Lord.

  Acknowledgments

  To my husband, Richard. You are the greatest gift I could have been given. Thank you for loving me despite my warts, supporting my dreams and encouraging me to fly. I love you.

  To Stacey Collier. Thank you for all of your input and allowing me to utilize both your career and your house for this story.

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Epilogue

  Dear Reader

  Excerpt from The Cowboy’s Missing Memory by Shannon Taylor Vannatter

  Chapter One

  Laurel Donovan had no reason to be anxious. After all, she’d been contemplating this day for weeks. Yet as she maneuvered her fourteen-month-old daughter’s stroller along the tree-lined streets of Bliss, Texas, Monday morning, she couldn’t shake the feeling that something was about to happen. Something big and life altering.

  Breathing in the crisp spring air, she cast the ridiculous notion aside and listened to Sarah-Jane’s happy babble instead. Laurel had never expected to be a mother, because to do that one typically had a husband, and Laurel wasn’t prone to romantic relationships. Matter of fact, they scared her. She’d had enough rejection for one lifetime.

  Unfortunately, she was human. And two years ago, the only faith Laurel had was in herself. But Sarah-Jane was a perfect example of what the pastor always said about God turning even our biggest mistakes into our greatest blessings.

  Being a single mother wasn’t easy, though, especially when you had no family. And while Laurel’s grandmama Corwin had cared for her after her mother passed away, Sarah-Jane would have no one if anything happened to Laurel. She’d become a ward of the state, and Laurel couldn’t let that happen. She had to do everything in her power to make sure her daughter would be taken care of by people who loved her, whether she was with Laurel or not.

  The late-April sun warmed her face as they approached Rae’s Fresh Start Café in the heart of Bliss. The breakfast, brunch, lunch and specialty coffee place had become a daily staple for Laurel even before Sarah-Jane was born. No one but Rae could make decaf coffee taste as good as its caffeinated counterpart. And the amazing brew had sustained Laurel throughout her pregnancy.

  Her daily visits had also provided her with three of the best friends she’d ever known. Thanks to Bliss’s ad campaign to lure younger folks to the aging town, Rae, Laurel, Paisley and Christa had arrived within a year or so of each other, all looking for a new beginning. And not a one of them had ever judged Laurel for being single and pregnant. Instead, they’d embraced her, walking with her through her pregnancy and beyond. Which was why Laurel had insisted on this morning’s meeting.

  “G’morning, Laurel.” Rusty Hoffman paused his sidewalk sweeping in front of the Bliss State Bank building. “And how is Miss Sarah-Jane doing today?” Leaning against his broom, the stocky middle-aged man with brown eyes and black hair peppered with a hint of gray smiled down at her daughter.

  “Happy to be outside and on the move.” Laurel pulled back the stroller’s canopy to reveal a wide-eyed Sarah-Jane staring blankly at the man.

  “Well, I can’t say as I blame her,” Rusty said. “The Lord’s given us a fine morning.”

  “He sure has.” Laurel took in the cloudless sky, grateful that God had led her to Bliss, where bankers weren’t too pretentious to sweep sidewalks and streets were built around two-hundred-year-old live oaks. Back in Dallas, they would have cut down the trees in the name of progress.

  Laurel coaxed Sarah-Jane to wave goodbye before continuing across the street to the courthouse square. Brick buildings dating back to the late 1800s still lined two of the streets surrounding the square. Some had been painted in bright colors indicative of the Victorian era, while others remained in their natural state. Their charm, coupled with the ancient live oaks and magnolia trees that encircled the courthouse, were what had initially drawn Laurel to Bliss nearly two years ago.

  After the death of her grandmother, a pregnant Laurel had been eager for a new beginning. Someplace she could call home. And like the town motto said, everyone needed a little Bliss in their life.

  Her daughter chattered and clapped her hands as they moved off the curb to cross to
the café.

  “You know where we’re going, don’t you, baby?”

  Laurel had been pondering her daughter’s future almost from the moment she’d discovered she was pregnant. And after a recent bout with the flu had Laurel envisioning all sorts of horrible scenarios, she was determined to take steps to ensure her daughter would be cared for. So today was the day she was finally going to ask her friends, all of whom were single, if they would consent to raise Sarah-Jane in the event anything happened to Laurel.

  Halfway across the street, the hairs on the back of her neck suddenly prickled, and a sense of dread had her feeling as though she was moving in slow motion. Then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw a red Crown Victoria rounding the corner. Another glance had her realizing it was coming straight toward her and Sarah-Jane.

  She tried to run but couldn’t seem to make her feet move.

  “Look out!” she heard someone yell.

  Fear tried to close in around her, but she couldn’t allow that to happen. She had to protect Sarah-Jane.

  As the car inched closer, she propelled Sarah-Jane toward the curb. The stroller had barely left her grip when the vehicle struck Laurel. She rolled onto the hood of the car, only to tumble off again when the driver slammed on the brakes a split second later.

  Air whooshed out of Laurel’s lungs. She lay there, momentarily dazed, the shaded asphalt cool beneath her fingers and cheek. Her breath returning, she mentally evaluated her body parts, then opened her eyes and lifted her head to see people gathering on the sidewalk.

  A man with dark hair knelt beside Sarah-Jane’s stroller, concern marring his handsome features as he talked to her. And he—looked familiar.

  The car door creaked open then, and a woman shrieked.

  “I killed her! Oh, help me, I killed her!”

  Laurel knew that voice just as well as she knew the vehicle that had struck her. She rolled onto her back as the ninety-three-year-old shuffled alongside her in tennis shoes that were whiter than her hair.

  “Mildred Godwin!” Laurel ground out the name.

  “Ack!” The woman, who was so small she could barely see over the steering wheel, pressed a hand to her chest. “You’re alive! Thank You, Lord! You’re alive!”

  “Mildred—” Laurel sat up, grateful the nonagenarian had a tendency to drive at a snail’s pace. Though in the moment, it had seemed much faster. “—you know you’re not supposed to be driving. How on earth did you get your keys? I thought your son locked them up.”

  “Ladies—” Drenda Kleinschmidt, owner of Bliss Antiques and Gifts and wife of Laurel’s pastor, helped Laurel to her feet “—are y’all all right?” Concern filled her blue eyes as they assessed Laurel.

  “I’m fine.” Laurel continued to wait for Mildred to respond about the keys.

  Instead, the older woman pursed her bright red lips together and looked away, suddenly sheepish.

  “Mildred...?” Hands on her hips, Laurel was not about to budge until she had an answer. The woman was a hazard to the entire town.

  “I—” The woman lifted one slight shoulder. “I had an extra set.” She glanced at Laurel. “And my Muffy was hungry for some of that special cat food. You know, the kind they advertise being served in a crystal bowl. Muffy loves it so much, and I was all out.”

  “That is no excuse. You could have killed me and my daughter.” The mere thought had Laurel pressing a hand to her stomach.

  A siren wailed in the distance, and Mildred’s hazel eyes went wide. “They’re comin’ for me.” She latched onto Laurel’s arm with a death grip. “Please, don’t let them take me. I’d never survive in jail. I’m just an old woman. Please.”

  “Mildred, I highly doubt you’re going to jail.” Drenda, the epitome of a sweet spirit, wrapped an arm around the older woman and patted her frail shoulder.

  Confident that Drenda could handle things from here, Laurel pried Mildred’s surprisingly strong fingers from her forearm and started toward her daughter. Her steps slowed when she, again, laid eyes on the man beside the stroller.

  The sun glinted off his dark hair, and when he looked up, his gaze locked with Laurel’s.

  Her breath caught in her throat. Why would he be in Bliss?

  She absently rubbed her left temple. Maybe she’d hit her head, after all, because she was obviously seeing things.

  “Laurel!” From out of nowhere, Christa and Paisley rushed toward her.

  Behind them, Rae paused beside the guy at the stroller. She said something to him, then proceeded to unhook Sarah-Jane and pick her up.

  “We just heard what happened.” Christa’s hazel eyes surveyed Laurel from head to toe. “Are you all right?”

  “Yes, I just—”

  Things grew quieter as the police cruiser pulled up and that obnoxious siren finally stopped.

  All of this chaos was making Laurel’s head swim. “I just want to see my daughter.”

  Paisley slid an arm around Laurel’s waist. “Of course, you do, darlin’. Come on.”

  Christa took the lead, parting the group of onlookers who’d gathered. Unlike in Dallas, things like this didn’t happen in Bliss every day, so, naturally, all of the commotion had garnered quite a crowd. By noon, the entire town would likely know what had happened, and the story would, no doubt, make the county’s weekly newspaper.

  “Sarah-Jane is perfectly fine.” Rae bounced the child in her arms. “All the commotion had her fretting for a little bit, but that’s all.”

  Laurel reached for her daughter and hugged her to her chest. “Thank You, God for protecting my baby.” Tears spilled onto her cheeks of their own volition. Burying her face in Sarah-Jane’s neck, Laurel breathed in her sweet fragrance. Everything really was all right.

  Except...

  Lifting her head, she looked at Rae. “Where’d that guy go?”

  “What guy?” Rae tucked a strand of brown hair that had escaped her messy-yet-oh-so-cute updo behind her ear.

  “The one by Sarah-Jane’s stroller. Tall, dark hair. You were talking to him.”

  “Oh, that was my brother Wesley.” She waved a hand. “He went back to the café to keep an eye on things for me. He was actually on his way to the hardware store when he saw you push Sarah-Jane out of harm’s way, and, thankfully, stop the stroller before it hit the curb. That was some quick thinking on your part, by the way.”

  “Wait.” Laurel was growing more confused by the second. “That was your brother?”

  “Wesley, yes. I told you he was coming to visit.” Rae’s brow puckered. “Are you sure you’re okay, Laurel?”

  Wesley was Wes? If that was the case, then, no, she wasn’t okay. Because, unbeknownst to him, Wes was Sarah-Jane’s father.

  * * *

  Wes Bishop needed purpose in his life, and since he’d retired from the navy two years ago, that purpose had been lacking. He wanted to help others, to serve—which was why he’d contracted with the Servant’s Heart relief organization to manage their shelter construction program in Iraq. From the moment his friend and former master chief, Eddie Perkins, had presented him with the opportunity, Wes had been all in. Yet when he agreed to come to Bliss, Texas, to visit his sister, Rae, before leaving, he never imagined he’d find his past. A past void of any kind of relationship with God. Yet even though they’d known each other for only one fleeting night that never should have happened, Laurel had left an indelible impression on his heart.

  He pushed through the door of his sister’s café, still not quite believing what he’d just witnessed. Everything had been such a blur out on the street. The stroller, the car, the woman. Yet while he thought he recognized the voice, he hadn’t been certain until Laurel’s gray-green eyes collided with his. In that moment, his heart stopped as unwanted emotions washed over him. Excitement, regret... Yeah, he had enough regrets to choke a horse.

  Giving himse
lf a stern shake, he decided to keep busy by gathering up the half dozen white coffee cups that had been abandoned when the local ranchers got wind of the accident and rushed outside. According to Rae, her Fresh Start Café was their morning gathering place. Check the herd, then head to Rae’s for coffee, discussions of the weather and the latest gossip.

  Well, they would have had plenty to gossip about if Wes had acted on his instincts. When he realized it had, indeed, been Laurel out there, the urge to protect and comfort her had surged within him. Instead, he tamped it down and forced himself to return to the café.

  Thankfully, she was all right. And her spunk was, obviously, still intact. The way she laid into that elderly driver... He couldn’t help chuckling. Not that he didn’t feel for the old lady, but it sounded like she had it coming.

  Moving behind the antique wooden counter, a remnant of the building’s former life as a saloon, he set the cups into the gray bin designated for dirty dishes, guilt tightening his gut. He should not have been so happy to see Laurel. Not only was he moving overseas in just a little under a month, but the woman had a baby. Something that had initially given him pause. But the little thing couldn’t have been more than nine or ten months old. Not that he knew much about babies. Still, there was probably a husband in the mix. Yet that didn’t stop Wes’s pulse from kicking up a notch when Laurel’s gaze met his. The same way it had the first time he’d met the confident—not to mention beautiful—accountant with long, honey-blond hair and eyes that sparkled when she laughed.

  He grabbed a rag and returned to the now-empty table to wipe it down. He was glad Laurel had found happiness and no longer had to face the world alone. A husband, family... It fit her. And Wes respected her too much to ever reveal their secret.

  Still, it might be best if he steered clear of her to prevent any awkward situations. Besides, he didn’t need the onslaught of what-ifs that were bound to invade his thoughts. There were no what-ifs in his world. He’d determined a long time ago that he would never marry, never have a family... Those were things he didn’t deserve. Not after what he’d done to his parents.