by Lisa Jordan
His dreams can all come true...
but only if his ex-wife will agree!
Jake Holland’s peaceful dairy farm is a sanctuary—one he wants to share with other worn and weary veterans. He just needs one more piece of land to start his program...and it belongs to Tori Lerner, his ex-wife. A collaboration could benefit them both, but with a past full of secrets between them, is there any hope for renewed love?
“Tori, I want you to meet someone special.”
Claudia gestured to Jake. “This is Jacob Holland, the eldest son of my dearest friends. Jake, this is my niece, Victoria Lerner.”
Lerner? Of course. Did he really expect anything different?
The whisper of a memory filtered through his mind, but he forced it back into the dark corner where it belonged. Remembering equaled pain, and he’d had enough heartache to last a lifetime.
“Victoria.” Her name slipped past his lips in a mix of a whisper and a gasp.
Victoria’s clover-green eyes tangled with his. She wore a pink sundress that complemented her pale skin. She lifted her hand. “H-hi, Jake.”
So maybe she wasn’t as confident as she appeared.
Good.
He didn’t need to be the only one feeling like he’d been kicked in the gut.
She smiled, creasing the dimples in her cheeks that could charm an ornery bull.
But not him.
Not anymore. He was immune. Had to be. It was his only protection against the devastation she was capable of causing.
Lisa Jordan has been writing for over a decade, taking a hiatus to earn her degree in early childhood education. By day, she operates an in-home family childcare business. By night, she writes contemporary Christian romances. Being a wife to her real-life hero and mother to two young-adult men overflows her cup of blessings. In her spare time, she loves reading, knitting and hanging out with family and friends. Learn more about her at lisajordanbooks.com.
Books by Lisa Jordan
Love Inspired
Lakeside Reunion
Lakeside Family
Lakeside Sweethearts
Lakeside Redemption
Lakeside Romance
Season of Hope
Visit the Author Profile page at Harlequin.com.
Join Harlequin My Rewards today and earn a FREE ebook!
Click here to Join Harlequin My Rewards
http://www.harlequin.com/myrewards.html?mt=loyalty&cmpid=EBOOBPBPA201602010002
SEASON OF HOPE
Lisa Jordan
Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
—Matthew 11:28–30
In memory of my grandparents, Charles and Lillian Camp, whose planted seeds of authentic faith created a spiritual legacy that has been passed down to future generations.
Acknowledgments
Thank you to those who brainstormed, answered research questions and prayed me through the completion of this book: Susan May Warren, Rachel Hauck, Beth Vogt, Melissa Tagg, Alena Tauriainen, Jeanne Takenaka, Michelle Lim, Richard and Mindy Obenhaus, Tari Faris, Tracy Jones, Kariss Lynch, Andrea Nell, Michelle Aleckson, Tara Sleeman, Josh and Valerie White and my WWC church family.
Thank you to my fairy-godmother agent, Rachelle Gardner, and my awesome editor, Melissa Endlich, for your continued support and guidance as I grow as a writer. Thank you to the Love Inspired team for your role in making this book happen.
Thanks to my husband, Patrick, and our sons, Scott and Mitchell, for your continued support and being my best cheerleaders. I love you always and forever.
Thank you, most of all, to my Heavenly Father for allowing me to live my dream and always giving me rest for my soul. Without You, none of this would be possible.
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
Dear Reader
Excerpt from The Amish Bachelor's Baby by Jo Ann Brown
Chapter One
Jake hated betrayal.
Six years in the military fighting against injustice, terrorism and the oppression of the weak prepared him for great battles. But he didn’t expect to be fighting one in his own backyard. For something that had been promised to him, to his family. By one of his own.
But Claudia wouldn’t do that.
Would she?
No way.
She wouldn’t be the first person to break her word...
Still, there had to be a good reason. It wasn’t like her to go back on a promise, especially to family.
Well, he might not be family by blood, but Claudia Gaines had been his mother’s best friend since college. And like a second mother since tragedy stole his five years ago in a freak accident.
Jake sucked down a breath, just enough for his heartbeat to slow in his ears, and rapped weather-beaten knuckles against the red-painted door.
Midmorning June breezes stirred Claudia’s collection of colorful wind chimes, creating a symphony of low-toned woods clamoring with high-pitched metal. Just enough sound to rouse memories of the scorching desert sun, the air veiled with smoke and sand, the look of hopelessness in the faces of people trapped by a tyrannical government, and the night his life changed forever.
The night of ultimate betrayal that set him on a journey to bring hope to those courageous soldiers clawing for a way out—an escape from their private wars that raged long after returning home.
A journey that hit too close to home.
No wonder he’d taken to stretching out on his back deck and listening to the crickets and cows. Where the stillness served as a balm to the echoes in his head he couldn’t seem to deafen.
Nestled between a national forest and a man-made lake, the lakefront community of Shelby Lake in northwestern Pennsylvania was a far cry from the Middle East. He preferred hanging out on his family’s dairy farm spanning across most of Holland Hill on the edge of town.
His place of security.
Although he disliked coming into town on a regular basis, for once, though, he was thankful for Gossiping Gwen at the feed store. Otherwise, he might not have learned about the sale until it was too late.
He needed that land. He had a promise to keep. To atone for sins of his past.
But without Claudia’s land, those promises would remain unfulfilled, and that was a risk he just couldn’t take.
What was taking her so long to answer the door?
Cupping his hands around his eyes, Jake peered through the slit in the curtains hanging on the other side of the glass, but he couldn’t see much. His barn boots clomping against the painted gray planks, Jake crossed the wide covered porch, ducked his head under one of the hanging red geraniums and peered around the side of the house to see if her car was parked in the garage.
Not only was her cherry-red SUV parked in the driveway, but also a champagne-colored Lexus sat behind it.
Claudia had company.
At least he knew she was home.
He flung a leg over the railing and jumped down, missing the hot pink peoni
es blossoming in the side flower bed. Gravel crunched beneath his feet as he strode to the back porch, where the storm door stood open. Childish giggles streamed through the screen followed by barking.
Claudia didn’t have a dog...
Jake opened the door and stepped into the pristine mudroom that smelled of fabric softener. Toeing off his boots, Jake called, “Claudia?”
“Jake? That you?” She appeared in the doorway to the kitchen, wearing a sleeveless blue dress and leather sandals. She dropped the dish towel she’d been holding into a basket on the washing machine and opened her arms for a hug.
Jake walked into her embrace, breathing in scents of vanilla and baked bread, and allowed himself to relax. For half a second, he’d worried something had happened to her, and he couldn’t bear losing her, too. His family had suffered too much loss over the past five years. Claudia had been the glue that held them all together.
“I knocked on the front door, but you didn’t answer.”
“Knock? Since when does family need an invitation?” She released him, then grabbed his hand and pulled him toward the kitchen. “Come in and grab some coffee. There’s someone I’d like you to meet.”
Jake removed his sunglasses and hooked them on the edge of his gray T-shirt. He pulled off his tattered Ohio State ball cap, stuffed it in the back pocket of his jeans and finger-combed his hair quickly as he followed Claudia.
A childish squeal followed by giggles and more barking sounded overhead as footsteps thundered across the ceiling. He squinted gritty eyes against the bright sunshine pouring through the open kitchen window, over the sink and onto the ceramic floor tile. “I can’t stay for coffee. I just need to talk to you for a minute.”
“Sure, honey, but conversation is always better over coffee.” She poured coffee into three red stoneware mugs and handed one to him.
With one hand gripping the back of the wooden kitchen chair, he sipped the dark roast she favored. The first sip went down smooth, warming his stomach. He released a sigh, feeling a little more relaxed since Gwen had shared her news. Claudia would assure him all was well and she intended to make good on her promise.
He’d stressed out for nothing.
Needing the caffeine jolt to his weary system, Jake gulped a mouthful of coffee, caught a movement out the corner of his eye and turned.
He stiffened.
Jake choked, shooting the bitter brew out his nose and across the white tablecloth. His eyes watered, and his chest burned as his lungs seized. Still coughing, he scrubbed a hand across his tired face.
Claudia pounded him on the back and handed him a towel.
He wiped his eyes and tried to scrub the coffee off the front of his T-shirt, but it was no use.
Heat scalded his neck and crawled across his cheeks. Bracing both hands against the back of the chair, Jake closed his eyes and forced air into his lungs.
A moment later, he dared a glance and wished he could turn back time to thirty minutes ago when he debated between calling Claudia or stopping by. If he’d known, he wouldn’t have stepped foot on the property.
What was she doing here?
And today of all days?
Struggling for composure he didn’t feel, Jake straightened all six feet two inches of himself and stood with his shoulders back, chest high, feet apart and hands clasped in front of him.
Claudia crossed the room and linked her arm with the wide-eyed woman frozen in the archway between the kitchen and living room. In her arms, she held a small child with blond hair who tucked her face in the woman’s neck. A Yorkie with a black-and-tan coat wearing a pink collar sprinted over to Jake, sniffed his feet and then put her paws on Jake’s leg.
“Tori, darling, I want you to meet someone special.” Dragging the woman over to the table, she gestured to Jake. “This is Jacob Holland, the oldest son of my dearest friends. Jake, this is my niece Victoria Lerner and my great-niece, Annabeth. She belongs to Tori’s sister, Kendra, who is currently deployed overseas. And that troublemaker begging to be picked up is Poppy.”
Lerner? Of course. Did he really expect anything different?
The whisper of a memory filtered through his mind, but he forced it back into the dark corner where it belonged. Remembering equaled pain, and he’d had enough heartache to last a lifetime.
“Victoria.” Her name slipped passed his lips in a mix of a whisper and a gasp. He swallowed and reached down to scoop up the furry animal begging for attention.
Victoria’s clover-green eyes tangled with his. She set down the child, who gave Jake a shy glance before running into the other room.
Poppy wiggled in Jake’s arms, and he set the dog on the floor so she could chase after the little girl.
Victoria’s manicured fingers smoothed the top of her sleek head and toyed with the ends of her caramel-colored braid resting in front of her left shoulder like one of his niece’s Disney princess dolls. She wore a pink sundress that complemented her creamy skin and white strappy high heels. She crossed one foot over the other and lifted her hand. “H-hi, Jake.”
So maybe she wasn’t as confident as she appeared.
Good.
He didn’t need to be the only one feeling like he’d been kicked in the gut.
She smiled, creasing the dimples in her cheeks that could charm an ornery bull.
But not him.
Not anymore. He was immune. Had to be. His only protection against the devastation she was capable of causing.
With hands laced tightly in front of her, Tori looked at him with the soulful eyes that cinched his insides.
Give me strength.
He stuffed a hand in the front pocket of his faded, muddy Levi’s and dragged the other through his hair that was about two weeks past needing a trim. He spiked a finger on a stray piece of hay. Feeling the effects of being awake since 4:00 a.m., Jake forced out a breath.
Claudia watched them with puckered brows and narrowed eyes. “What’s going on? You two know each other?”
Jake shot a look at Tori, who dropped her gaze to the floor, then looked at her aunt. “We met years ago when I worked at the NCO club on base where Kendra—” she waved a hand toward Jake “—and Jake had been stationed. I spilled a tray of drinks on him and he was a perfect gentleman about it, helping me to keep my job.”
That’s it? That’s all she was going to say? What about—
Claudia swatted his chest. “You never mentioned you’d met my beautiful niece.”
“I didn’t know she was related to you until now.”
“Small world, huh?”
And getting smaller by the second...
“Something like that.” He turned to Tori. “So, Victoria, what brings you to Shelby Lake?”
Before she could reply, Claudia pulled out a chair and tugged on Jake’s arm. “Jake, have a seat. I need to talk to you.”
“Me, too, but I’d prefer to do it privately.”
“Okay, but hear me out first. Since it involves Tori, too, I’d like her to stay.” Instead of sitting, Claudia opened a bottom cabinet near the stove and pulled out a small frying pan. She grabbed a carton of eggs from the fridge and set them on the counter. “Want some breakfast, Jake?”
Jake caught her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. “I’m fine. Really. Can we talk? I need to get back to the farm.”
“Of course.” She smiled, then caught the corner of her lip between her teeth. Reaching for the half-empty coffeepot, she refilled his cup. “Let’s sit.”
Tori pulled out a chair across from his, her expensive designer perfume wreathing him, jostling more imprisoned memories clamoring to be freed.
Feeling trapped, Jake had no choice but to oblige. The quicker they talked, the faster he could retreat to the farm.
Claudia sat between them, folded her arms on the table and looked at Jake. “I know why you’re here.”
“You do?”
“Yes, and it’s not what you think.” She covered his hand. “I’d never go back on my word, especially with your family.”
“Then what’s going on? When I stopped by the feed store, Gwen said your land had been sold.”
“That woman needs to find better use of her time than spreading rumors and half-truths. After Dennis was diagnosed with cancer, we needed money for medical bills. Owning a business had its perks, but health insurance...well, that’s a different kind of animal. I went behind my husband’s back to see my brother, Frank. We haven’t been close for many years, but I had no other choice—Dennis was my world. I sold the land and the house to Frank with the condition I’d have first option to buy it back should he choose to sell.”
Jake clenched his teeth and forced himself to stay calm. “You should have come to us. We could’ve worked something out.”
Claudia cupped his cheek and shook her head. “With all you guys have been through with losing your mother, your dad’s back surgery and rebuilding the farm after the tornado nearly destroyed everything? You had enough on your plate without my problems, especially after Tuck lost his wife... No, I couldn’t burden you with this.”
“But you’re family, too.”
“I just couldn’t, okay? Besides, Frank came through for me. Dennis and I stayed on Holland Hill until he became too ill to keep up with the mowing and house maintenance. Moving into town allowed us to be closer to the hospital. In the year since he passed, I’ve been buried in grief and paperwork to get his life insurance checks. But before I could buy back the property, Frank passed away from a heart attack. Two months ago.”
“I’m sorry.” Jake glanced at Tori, who kept her gaze on her untouched coffee mug and traced the rim with her finger. “So that means...”
She looked at him, her eyes sad, yet almost...determined. “I own the property.”
“You’ve got to be kidding.”
“All of my father’s assets have been divided between my sister and me. I’m now the owner of the house and property Aunt Claudia mentioned.”