Drew turned his focus back to Riley and smiled. “You really scared me, squirt.”
“I’m sorry, Mr. Drew.” She stood in front of him and with her index finger, motioned for him.
Drew knelt in front of the child.
Riley placed her tiny hands on Drew’s cheeks. “My Mommy told me you had a little girl who was the same age as me.”
Drew’s gaze remained on the child. He never blinked. “That’s true. Her name was Heidi.”
Riley looked up toward the ceiling as a tear slipped from the corner of her eye. “I’m sorry she’s not here anymore.”
“I’m sorry, too.” Drew’s voice trailed off into nothingness.
Janie considered her daughter as Riley studied Drew’s face.
“I think me and Heidi would have been really good friends. Don’t you?”
Drew immediately scooped Riley into his arms, burying his face into her shoulders. Seconds later, he pulled back and wiped his eyes with his forearm. “I think you would have been lifelong friends.”
Janie pressed her palms against her chest. She wanted to remember this moment forever. Watching Drew and her daughter made her heart full. If she didn’t confess her feelings now, she’d lose her nerve. “Riley came here to apologize, but I’m here for completely selfish reasons, Drew.”
Two lines creased in his forehead as he stood. “What do you mean?”
She took his hands, pulling him closer. “You can’t give up your dream of owning an outdoor adventure center, just like I can’t give up on my happily-ever-after. I love you, Drew Brenner. I want to share every adventure life has to offer with you.”
A slow grin parted Drew’s lips. “What are you saying, Janie?”
Ignoring the flip-flops deep in her belly, she pulled in a steadying breath. No longer the timid and frightened woman, she felt strong in Drew’s presence. He gave her strength. “I’m not saying—I’m asking. Will you marry me, Drew?”
Squeals and clapping echoed inside the cabin. “Yeah! That was awesome, Mommy!”
Drew’s eyes widened and fixed on Janie. “Hey, I thought I was the one who was supposed to ask?” He winked before he swept Janie into his arms and gently pressed his lips to hers. “I love you, too. There’s nothing in life I want more than to share my life with you and Riley.”
Epilogue
Drew squinted in the bright sunlight as he watched Janie steady her core before gripping the final rock of their climb. Janie. His wife. After she’d surprised him with a wedding proposal eleven months earlier, Drew’s world had been a whirlwind of wedding plans and arranging for the grand opening of Rocky River Camp and Outdoor Adventures.
Their ceremony was held outside on a picturesque day. The couple had exchanged vows in front of family and friends on the opening day of their new partnership. It seemed the perfect venue as the two set off on the most exciting adventure of all. The scars on her arms no longer kept a secret, Janie had worn a striking sleeveless wedding dress with a stunning beaded, deep-V neckline.
Janie hoisted herself up with a sense of self-confidence Drew had seen blossom over the past year. “I did it!” She planted both feet on the ground in front of her husband and placed her hands on her narrow hips.
“I never had any doubts, Mrs. Brenner.” Drew scooped his bride into his arms and twirled, both laughing. “I have a feeling being married to you will be one big adventure after another.”
With her feet back on the ground, Janie’s eyes grew serious. “Do you think you’re ready for that, Drew?”
He nodded. “I know when you and Riley first came to Whispering Slopes you and I were both kind of a mess. Of course, I was a bigger mess.” He chuckled. “But seriously, I had always believed everything in life could be planned. Then the accident changed it all. Living life without a road map seemed too risky. I needed to know what tomorrow would bring.” Drew reached for his wife’s hands. “You made me realize life doesn’t always turn out the way we planned, but that’s okay because it does go on. You brought me back to life, Mrs. Brenner.” He lightly pressed his lips to hers. “So to answer your question, yes, I’ve never been more ready.”
A smile parted her lips. “Well, you better hold on to those climbing boots, Drew. I’m about to take you on the most exciting adventure of all.” She tilted her head. Janie pulled his hand and gently placed it across her stomach. “I went to the doctor today. We’re going to have a baby, Drew.”
“What? How—”
Janie laughed.
“I’m sorry. I mean...I don’t know what I mean. A baby! We’re going to have a baby?” Drew paused for a second, allowing the news to take hold and his heart rate to slow. He gently brushed Janie’s hair away from her face and stared into his wife’s eyes, now peppered with tears. “Well, it looks like with God’s help, our dear friend Mrs. Applegate’s plan went exactly how she had hoped.”
* * *
If you enjoyed this story, don’t miss Jill Weatherholt’s next emotional romance, available next year from Love Inspired!
Find more great reads at www.LoveInspired.com
Keep reading for an excerpt from With All Her Heart by Kat Brookes.
Dear Reader,
Welcome back to Whispering Slopes! I enjoyed writing this story about Drew and Janie—two people who learned that life doesn’t always turn out the way we planned.
I always liked the saying, “Man plans, God laughs,” because we can’t always plan everything. Life can be messy and full of disappointment. People aren’t perfect, but that’s okay. And the past doesn’t have to determine our destiny. Instead, we can choose to focus on God’s promises and allow Him to direct our steps rather than trying to control everything.
So today, let go and let God! He’ll surprise you with new opportunities and dreams you could never even imagine, just like He did for Drew and Janie.
I love to hear from readers. Please visit my website and sign up for my newsletter at jillweatherholt.com. Or email me at [email protected]. I’d love to chat with you.
Jill Weatherholt
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With All Her Heart
by Kat Brookes
Chapter One
The key will be under the flowerpot, where I’ve always kept it. Nothing’s changed.
Lila Gleeson glanced at the screen of her cell phone, her stomach in knots as she reread Mama Tully’s text message from that morning. That last statement couldn’t be more wrong—everything in her life had changed since she’d left Sweet Springs, Georgia, some nine years ago. She was no longer the young girl who had been tossed about in the foster system, yearning so desperately for a family of her own, for the love she’d always been denied.
She was a grown woman of twenty-seven now. A single mother who, unlike her own parents, made certain her child knew just how very much he was loved. Eight-year-old Finn was her life’s biggest blessing.
Her misty gaze lifted, once more taking in the charming old Victorian house that had been her home for three and a half years of her teenage life. It had been the first time she’d ever felt truly wanted. And, oh, how she’d missed Mama Tully. It had taken seven years to gather up the courage to contact her foster mother after she’d run off in the middle of the night, pregnant and guilt-ridden. This would be the first time she’d seen Mama Tully, as plans for her to visit Lila and Finn where they lived in Hillyer, Alabama, hadn’t worked out as they had hoped.
The rear passenger door of her Jeep Cherokee opened. A second later, her son’s dark head poked around the rear of the vehicle where she stood trying to tamp down the rush of emotion she
felt at being back in Sweet Springs again. At being home again. “Should I take my backpack in with me?” he asked sleepily.
They had started out right after lunch, expecting a four-hour or so drive to Sweet Springs. Thanks to road construction they’d encountered along the way, and a late stop to stretch their legs and have dinner, they had arrived more than two hours behind schedule. Lila had called Mama Tully when they’d stopped for dinner along the way to check on her. But by the time they’d arrived at the hospital shortly before 7:00 p.m., Mama Tully had been sound asleep, recovering from her burst-appendix surgery and the subsequent peritonitis she’d suffered at just fifty years old. Lila had decided to let her sleep, leaving a message with the on-duty nurse that they would return the next morning.
Slipping her cell phone back into her purse, Lila smiled warmly at her son. “We won’t be going anywhere else this evening, so you might as well take it inside with you.”
“Okay,” he said, disappearing around the side of the Jeep.
Emotion filled her when she thought about the choices she had made at seventeen, what that choice had taken from her son. Finn was her world. Just as his father had once been. She had tried so hard to set aside her memories of Mason Landers and the special times they had shared together. Tried to leave the past where it needed to be—in the past. But, apparently, love didn’t work that way. It held firm, rooting deep. As did the regret of what might have been. She just prayed that time, along with what Mason must have seen as her betrayal of their love, had helped him to move on.
A part of that dream had been to follow in his father’s footsteps. Sharing the Lord’s word with others as a preacher, which, according to a statement Mama Tully had made a few years before, was what exactly what Mason had been doing with his life. Not that Lila ever directly inquired about him. It was better not to, lest Mama Tully hear something in her voice that might give away Lila’s heart’s yearning for the boy she’d left behind. Man now, she mentally corrected herself, just as she was a grown woman.
Thankfully, Mason was thousands of miles away in Chile, sharing the word of God. Lila had learned that from Addy, her onetime foster sister and now her forever best friend. That was something Lila was pretty certain he might not have had the opportunity to do if she had remained in Sweet Springs after she’d found out she was carrying his child. People would have judged Mason for not practicing what he wanted to preach. His family, although incredibly kind and loving, would have been hurt deeply by the shame their son would have brought down upon them. Most especially Reverend Landers, Mason’s father, who had sadly passed away a few years after Lila had left town.
She hadn’t wanted to hurt any of them. They’d all been so good to her. She’d had to live with this choice for nine long years and would continue to do so for the rest of her life.
Sighing, Lila raised the rear lift gate of her SUV. Her son was busy gathering up the colored pencils and tablet he had entertained himself with for a good part of their trip. Mason’s son. Finn was, at least according to her long-held memories and the wallet-size senior picture she’d taken with her the day she’d left Sweet Springs, the spitting image of the father he’d never known. Something that was both comforting and heartache inducing at the same time. It was as if Mason was still a part of her life, even though she had given him up a long time ago. Not because she’d wanted to. It was what she’d needed to do for all of them, and it had broken her heart.
Funny how life worked, she thought in reflection. Mason had left Sweet Springs to go off into the world and share the word with others, while she had just returned to the place that had once been her safe haven, so very distanced from the religion she had come to know during her time there as a teen. Lord knew she’d never intended to come home again, because that was what Sweet Springs had once been for her—home—but Addy hadn’t been able to get the time off from her job to be there. So Lila had come in her stead, as she was off from school for summer break. She cherished that part of being a teacher, because it allowed her to spend more time with her son.
Overwhelmed by the flood of memories and resurfacing guilt, Lila fought the urge to get back in the car with her son and drive away. It was only her love and deep concern for her dear, sweet foster mother that kept her from doing just that. The memory of her foster mother and the unconditional love and support she had shown her over the years brought the burn of unshed tears to Lila’s eyes. Not that Mama Tully had asked for any help. She was all about giving, never taking.
Lila had turned away from prayer years before, but she felt the unexpected urge to send an anxious plea heavenward. Not that she thought the Lord would be eager to receive any requests from someone who had turned her back on Him, giving up church and avoiding prayer because she felt so much guilt about everything that had happened. She had gotten pregnant outside the bonds of marriage, no matter how much she and Mason had loved each other; she experienced tremendous guilt because she had walked away from that love with a secret that had changed her entire life. Guilt for keeping Mason’s son from him for all those years. But for the first time in what felt like forever, she truly felt the need to pray.
Lord, please give me strength as I prepare to face the life I gave up. A life I still long for, even after all these years.
Lila also knew she had to prepare herself for Mama Tully’s reaction when she finally met Finn. A face she’d only seen in pictures. Ones Lila had specifically chosen, sending Mama Tully mostly faraway shots where her son’s resemblance to Mason wasn’t as noticeable. Probably a futile effort to guard the secret she’d kept for so many years, because Mama Tully of all people knew how deeply she’d felt about Mason.
It had taken seven of the nine years she had been away to gather up enough courage to make contact with her foster mother and try to mend fences. Mama Tully had planned to come visit them the previous July, but Finn had come down with chicken pox, which Mama Tully had never had, so she’d regretfully had to cancel her trip. They’d talked about her trying again, maybe over the holidays, but Honey and Grits had come along and things just hadn’t worked out. So this visit would be their first meeting.
With a deep, fortifying breath, Lila began unloading their bags.
“How’s it going up there?” she asked as she placed her suitcase onto the ground beside her.
“I packed everything away except for two pencils. They rolled off my seat,” her son explained, his head dipping down as he bent to search for them.
“You can look for them tomorrow,” she told him. It was late, and he was tired.
“But I need them to finish my picture.”
Finn had been working diligently on a drawing of a sunlit sky over a field of flowers for Mama Tully. Something to brighten up her hospital room. “You can finish it in the morning before we leave for the hospital.”
“Okay.”
Lila sifted through their things to find Finn’s suitcase. As she did so, she replayed the phone call she’d received from Addy in her mind. “Mrs. Landers called to let me know Mama Tully’s sick, Lila,” her best friend had said, her voice thick with emotion. And the hospital had made it clear that they couldn’t release Mama Tully to go home unless she had someone there with her. So that would be Lila now and Addy as soon as she could arrange the time off work.
If only she had still been living in Sweet Springs, Lila thought regretfully, Mama Tully would never have waited so long to go to the hospital. Lila would have made certain of it. However, because of the life choices she had made at seventeen, she hadn’t been there when her foster mother had needed her the most. And while they had worked toward mending their fences, there was still so much they needed to work through. That would have to wait, though, because her focus needed to be on getting Mama Tully better again.
She lowered her son’s suitcase onto the gravel drive next to hers and then turned to look at the butter-yellow house with its dark green shutters and white trim. H
ome. Not that it was her home any longer, but that was what this place still felt like in her heart. The rightness of it made her want to weep.
“Ready,” Finn said as he joined her behind the Jeep, his camo-print backpack strapped onto his back.
Grateful for her son’s timing, as she needed to keep her emotions in check, she nodded. “Ready.” Grabbing the raised handles of their suitcases, they started up the walkway leading to the old Victorian. As soon as they stepped foot onto the porch, excited barking erupted from somewhere inside.
“That must be Honey and Grits,” Lila said, not missing the smile that spread like a wildfire across her son’s face. Finn had always wanted a dog of his own. Unfortunately, their apartment complex didn’t allow pets. This was his chance to experience what it would be like to have a dog—or in this case two—to care for.
According to Mama Tully, the dogs would be in capable hands until Lila could get there to take over, not that she needed to take on that responsibility. Lila had insisted otherwise. It was such a small thing to do for the woman who had done so much for her. Granted, Lila had no experience with animals of any kind. But, really, how hard could it be to feed and play with a couple of tail-wagging pups?
Two very excitably loud pups. She hurried to retrieve the house key from under the flowerpot.
A Home for Her Daughter Page 19