“What changed?”
“A stern talking-to by some meddling friends. When Tanner and Bryce came to see me in the hospital, they said things I didn’t want to hear. But they got me thinking.”
He took her hands in his. “Over the last few days, I’ve come to realize some things. First, Liam isn’t going to remember his mother, no matter what I do to keep her memory alive. He’s just too young.”
He drew in a deep breath. “Second, in trying to honor my wife’s memory, I’ve neglected what I know her wishes would be.”
“And what’s that?”
“To do what’s best for both Liam and me. That’s having you in our lives.”
He squeezed her hands. “I love you, Jasmine. And I’m asking if you’ll marry me. If you won’t say yes to Liam’s cute little note, will you say yes to my heartfelt proposal?”
Warmth surged through her as if a geyser had erupted inside. Behind her eyes, pressure built. And heat. Several seconds passed before she recognized the sensation for what it was.
No, she wasn’t going to cry. She’d experienced hardship and sorrow. She’d seen death. Many times. She railed in anger. She punched things. She stormed off to be alone and gain control over her emotions.
But she didn’t cry. Not ever.
That was exactly what was happening, though.
The heat built. Tears overflowed her lashes and trickled down her face.
“Jasmine? What did I say?”
“I’m sorry.” At least she wasn’t doing the ugly cry she’d seen on some women, eyes squeezed shut and face contorted. It was just these silent, stubborn tears making rivulets down her cheeks. “I’m not upset. I’m happy.”
And that was the problem.
She handled adversity with amazing strength. But this wasn’t adversity. It was joy. Maybe one reason she never cried was because she’d never been this deliriously happy.
She swiped at the tears streaming down her face. “How about if I say yes to both?”
As he pulled her to her feet, Liam returned to the kitchen holding his latest Lego creation. He raised it for their inspection.
Colton took it from him and looked at it from every angle. “This is a pretty amazing house. Did you do this all by yourself?”
Liam nodded, a big smile climbing up his cheeks, and Jasmine offered her own praise.
Courtship was going to be different with a little one. And when she and Colton entered marriage, it would be as a threesome. Not what she’d envisioned for her life.
But she wouldn’t have it any other way.
She watched Colton hand him back the miniature house. “What are you going to have him call me?”
“Anything he wants.”
“Even if it’s Mommy?”
“Especially if it’s Mommy.”
Liam ran off to his room to play. After wrapping her in his arms, Colton pressed his lips to hers, then pulled back. Hesitation filled his eyes. “Are you sure you’re ready for this?”
“I’m positive.”
“You’re giving up your freedom.”
“It’s a small price to pay for what I’m getting in return.”
He searched her eyes. “And this is what you want?”
“I want you. And I want Liam.” She heaved a sigh. “Shut up and kiss me.”
All his hesitation dissolved. He pulled her closer. When he slanted his mouth across hers, her knees went weak.
There was nothing borrowed about this kiss. It was hers and hers alone.
Colton was hers.
And he always would be.
One hundred percent.
EPILOGUE
Colton walked down the sidewalk with Jasmine’s hand in his. The Valley River flowed lazily by on his left. On his right, a soft blanket of lawn stretched upward. A brief shower had passed through while they’d been in church, and the landscape now shone with a post-rain brilliance.
Behind them, Bryce and Andi carried on a conversation. Paige and Tanner brought up the rear. Four children danced down the path ahead of them, one several heads taller than the other three. They’d all finished a picnic at Konehete Park. Now the kids were having trouble containing their excitement over a promised playground visit.
“Slow down.” Colton used his authoritative parent voice. “You’re getting too far ahead of us.”
Liam cast a quick glance over his shoulder before turning back around to corral his younger playmates. As Colton watched his son give directions, then shift from instructor to buddy, he couldn’t stop his smile. If he hadn’t lived those agonizing months himself, he’d never believe the joyful, energetic boy in front of him had ever been the sad, silent child who’d occupied his home three and a half years ago.
And during those dark weeks after Mandy’s death, he would never have anticipated that in a few short years Liam would have a perky, dark-haired little sister.
Just past the tennis courts, the kids made a sharp right to follow the path that led away from the river. They knew the way to the playground. They’d been there often enough. Picnics in the park, followed by playtime, were a regular occurrence for all of them.
Andi and Bryce had been the first to announce their good news. Three months later, Paige had learned she was expecting. Three months after that, Jasmine had awoken nauseated.
For a full trimester, all three women were in one stage or another of expanding bellies and raging hormones. Tanner had insisted it was something in the water. Colton had sat back in wonder, amazed at the unexpected blessings God had brought into his life.
When they reached the fenced playground, Colton’s little girl slid her hand into his and pointed.
Liam stepped up next to her. “Lacey wants you to push her on the swings.”
Although she was two years old, Colton’s daughter spoke very little. It wasn’t that she didn’t know how. With a protective big brother who anticipated her every desire, she probably didn’t feel the need.
Paige grinned. “Swing time with Daddy sounds like a great idea.” She turned toward Tanner and waved her hands in a shooing motion. “The ladies have more scheming to do.”
Colton laughed. It was that time again. The three couples had done combined family vacations for the past three years. From what he’d overheard, this year’s plans involved renting a motorhome.
He led his two friends toward the swings, then lifted Lacey into one. Soon Tanner’s son swung on one side of her, Bryce’s on the other. Being the only girl in their foursome had never seemed to bother Lacey.
When Colton sought out the women, they were seated on one of the park benches, huddled over their cell phones. Paige said something and passed hers to Andi, who then showed it to Jasmine. Probably an interesting travel destination.
Paige had completed her degree and gotten her teaching certification. Next week, she would finish her first year as a fifth-grade teacher. Andi was still managing her party store and doing special events decorating.
Of the three women, it was Jasmine’s path that had taken the greatest deviation. After she and Colton had gotten married, she’d given up her job with Burch Security and gone to work part-time for the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office. Nine months later, Lacey showed up. Jasmine took temporary leave and never went back. She’d said she would. Someday.
Colton hadn’t pushed. She stayed plenty busy chasing around two active children, besides volunteering at MountainView and assisting Andi with the occasional decorating job. During the time she’d been a full-time mom, Liam had flourished. Lacey also seemed to enjoy having her around.
When Colton looked at Bryce, he, too, was watching the three women.
Bryce spoke without looking at him. “What do you think they’re planning?”
“A cross-country trip. Or maybe Canada. Just a guess.”
Tanner nodded. “I wouldn’t mind s
eeing Canada again.”
“Yeah.” Colton knew where his friend’s mind had gone. The same place his own had—the two-week rafting and backpacking trip the three of them had taken years ago. That had been when they were young, single guys, without the responsibilities of wives and children.
Bryce sighed. “Remember when vacations meant hang gliding, rock climbing or finding some other way to pit ourselves against the forces of nature?”
Tanner’s response held a touch of nostalgia. “Yeah.”
“You guys ever miss it?”
Colton didn’t have to think about his answer for long. “Miss it? Sometimes. Regret where I am now? Not a chance.”
He was married to an amazing woman. He had a happy, well-adjusted son. Both were blessings he’d never expected to receive. As if that wasn’t enough, his world was enriched even further by a beautiful little girl.
Regrets? Not a one.
He wouldn’t trade the life he had now for all the wealth in the world.
* * *
If you enjoyed this exciting story of suspense and intrigue, pick up these other stories from Carol J. Post:
Shattered Haven
Hidden Identity
Mistletoe Justice
Buried Memories
Reunited by Danger
Fatal Recall
Lethal Legacy
Available now from Love Inspired Suspense!
Find more great reads at www.LoveInspired.com
Keep reading for an excerpt from Cold Case Christmas by Jessica R. Patch.
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Dear Reader,
I hope you’ve enjoyed our final visit with our Murphy friends. At the suggestion of both my editor and my critique partner, I decided to change it up and have the heroine protecting the hero rather than the other way around.
Colton’s life was shattered with the sudden loss of his wife, then was turned upside down again when someone threatened his son. When circumstances brought Jasmine into his life, though, he found that sometimes God allows healing to come from unexpected sources.
Jasmine had a difficult time accepting the idea of a personal God who would allow bad things to happen to those who serve Him. But sometimes God delivers His people from the storms, and other times He walks us through them. In both situations, when we look for it, we can see the hand of a loving Heavenly Father.
I pray God’s blessings on your life and peace through whatever storms you face.
Love in Christ,
Carol J. Post
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Cold Case Christmas
by Jessica R. Patch
ONE
A country a version of “Holly Jolly Christmas” played inside Chief Deputy Sheriff Rush Buchanan’s Bronco. His coffee steamed from the insulated thermos and sleet pelted his windshield. Blue lights flashed and cast eerie shadows over Shepherd Rock Lake. Wind jostled his vehicle as he slid his hands into his lambskin gloves. Nothing about this moment was “holly” or “jolly.”
He opened the door and braved the nasty weather. East Tennessee had its perks, though. Splendor Pines was the gateway to the gorgeous Smoky Mountains, capped in white at the moment. But now, in the darkness, with the mountains shadowing the horizon, everything appeared sinister, especially with the headlights shining on the rusted and mud-caked car they’d dragged from the lake.
The crunching of tires on gravel turned Rush’s attention from the car and the pit in his gut. Sherriff Troy Parsons parked beside him and climbed out. He frowned and flipped his collar over his ears. “Well?” he asked in his gruff voice.
“It’s a Jaguar. Deputy Tate ran the plates. It’s hers.”
Troy grunted. Rush didn’t need to expound. Marilyn Livingstone had driven a Jaguar and she’d been missing since Christmas Eve seventeen years ago.
“Remains inside?”
“Skeletal. I think DNA is going to confirm it.”
“Any other remains?”
“No.”
Troy cocked his head, studied the vehicle dripping with water and debris. “Theories?”
Rush had plenty. But speculating aloud wasn’t smart. Especially with the small crowd that had gathered. He moved closer to Troy, his mentor and father figure after Dad became a shell of the man he once was. “I know rumors say she ran off with a man that Christmas Eve.” One of many she’d been whispered to have had affairs with. Not all were lies. Rush had witnessed it with his own eyes on the very night Marilyn vanished. Only Troy knew his secret.
Troy hunched in the cold and rolled his toothpick around lips that were hidden by a dark mustache and beard. “You want to call the Livingstones? Or would you rather not deal with talking to the eldest daughter?”
“You can say her name.” Nora. The woman Rush thought he was going to marry. Then Marilyn went missing and metaphorically, so did Nora. She retreated into herself and broke things off just before she left for college. Rush sighed, took his flashlight and trudged through the snow to the car. A crime scene tech was photographing and collecting materials. “Find anything?”
“A round, silver cuff link and partial remains of a man’s masquerade mask.”
Could they have belonged to the man Rush had seen Marilyn with that night? He turned to Troy. “How do you want to proceed?”
“I don’t know why she’d be out this far from home with the biggest event of the year going on, but it turned into a tragic accident. Pretty cut-and-dried, don’t you think?”
Seemed so. “Suppose we’ll know more once Gary can examine the bones. Course he won’t be able to determine cause of death if it’s drowning,” Rush said.
“What else would it be? Other than maybe the impact of crashing into the lake knocked her out. I’ll be honest, I hope that’s the case and she wasn’t conscious when the waters took her. But let’s leave it to Gary. He ought to be rolling in soon.”
Rush agreed.
“We need to call Joshua,” Troy said. “He’ll want to know we’ve discovered his wife.” Joshua Livingstone owned the biggest resort and lodge in Splendor Pines. A powerful man, but one of the kindest Rush had ever known. He’d handled the many rumors about his wife with poised grace. Which—if Rush hadn’t witnessed Marilyn kissing a man in a Phantom of the Opera mask that night of the annual Christmas Eve Masquerade Ball—he wouldn’t have believed. What kind of man wouldn’t have a meltdown over his wife cheating on him? Numerous times—if all the tales were true.
Rush adjusted his wool collar; icy beads had steadily slicked down his neck, but he didn’t mind. His wh
ole body was flushed. “I guess Nora will come home.” Granted she came every Christmas Day, but only for the day. Rush had to share some of the blame for that.
“You ready?” Troy asked.
Was anyone ready to see the person they thought they’d have the rest of their lives with? “I’ve moved on, Troy.”
“And your last date was?”
“Six months ago with Brandy Walker.” She was sweet. Lived in the neighboring town. They met at a church singles social. But he hadn’t felt a spark. Would he ever? Would he always be a lonely bachelor living in a house too big for one man on the side of the mountain?
Troy grunted. “I know Nora was a pretty little thing. Still is. But at some point, you’re going to have to stop comparing other women to her. Who’s to say you’d even have a thing in common with her anymore?”
The downside to father figures. They felt the license to say whatever and whenever. And however. “I’m over Nora Livingstone. Not finding the right woman has nothing to do with her and everything with God’s timing.” Which was slower than Grandma Buchanan’s homemade sorghum. “Sometimes I wish you weren’t my mentor,” he deadpanned.
“Sometimes I do too.” Troy smirked. “I’ll call Joshua and give him the news. Merry early Christmas.”
“And a happy New Year to no one,” Rush muttered.
Troy shook his head and climbed back inside his vehicle to make the call, leaving Rush to the wreckage. The body. Why would you leave Nora and Hailey, Marilyn? She may not have been faithful to her husband, but she’d doted on her girls.
New gawkers arrived with local media.
“Is that Marilyn’s car?” a few asked.
“Poor Joshua.”
“He’s probably relieved to be rid of that...”
Insults, opinions and gossipy speculation rode on the wind, slapping Rush’s face with frozen fingers. Gossip murdered the spirit. He’d witnessed it happen to his own father. Over ten years now and he’d never returned to pastoring or part-time law enforcement no matter how hard Rush and the rest of his family prayed. Dad had chosen to hide from everything and everyone.
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