Seth smiled. “Maybe not. But I need to prove something to myself. I want to be proud of who I am. I need to go back to my family and make amends. I need to tell them that I’m sorry I rejected them, ran from them. I need to try to repair our relationship.” His smile grew. “And I need to tell them about you and Abby.”
Seth sat up as straight as he could while in a hospital bed with a toddler on his lap. “And then, Laura Donovan, I’m coming back here. I plan to court you. To show you that I would make a good husband to you and a good father to Abby. I’ll wait as long as it takes to make you both mine.”
Laura stood and walked toward the windows. Seth wished he could see her face. At least then he would feel like he had a shot at guessing what she was feeling. Was she happy? Was she trying to find a way to let him down easy? Seth was pretty sure she was scared. He could deal with her fears. With enough time and patience, she would realize what he already knew—they were perfect together. They weren’t perfect people, but they could create something wonderful together.
“I won’t be here.”
Laura’s voice was quiet, but Seth heard her. “What?”
“I’m leaving.” She was still looking out that blasted window.
“Okay, where are we going?”
Laura did turn then. “We?”
Seth tried to impart every bit of his intention and will into his words. “Yes, we. I meant what I said, Laura. Unless you flat out reject me, I intend to pursue you romantically. I can’t do that if we’re living in two different places.”
Laura just looked at him like he was nuts. Seth felt a little crazy, to be honest. But he was meant to be with this woman. So he would put his trust and his faith in God and accept whatever this relationship brought his way.
“I—I don’t know where. I just know I need to go somewhere new. I was hiding. I went out into the world and it hurt me. So I ran home, to a place where there were no people to break my heart.”
Seth tried to be patient and let her finish.
“But that’s not living. Life is scary and hard. And wonderful. My dad never wanted me to stay on the mountain. He pushed me to go to college. He encouraged me to date. To experience the world. And I did. I met a wonderful man and we created an incredible daughter.”
Looking at Abby, Seth had to agree.
“And Josh wouldn’t want me to close myself off from the world. He would want me to be happy. For Abby to have the fullest life possible.” Laura looked upward and snorted. “I bet they have both been watching me from heaven. Probably yelling at me. Telling me to get up and go find happiness.”
She looked back at Seth, meeting his gaze directly. “I’m ready to do that. I’m going to find a nice place and I’m going to live there. Live.” Laura’s face looked intense, a fire in her eyes. “You said that you will go wherever I am. Me, too. I need you to know I would do the same for you.”
Her, too?
Laura moved to stand directly in front of Seth. She still looked determined, but also vulnerable. “I want to go somewhere and live again. With you.”
Seth felt all the tension leave his muscles. He reached out and held her face, palms of his hands resting on her cheeks.
He wanted to let her finish.
He wanted to kiss her.
“Abby and I want to be with you.”
Seth leaned forward and gently pressed his lips against hers. “I love you, Laura. I want to go slow. I want to be careful with you. But I don’t need time to know that I love you. And Abby.”
Laura’s smile wasn’t the least bit vulnerable now. “I love you, too, Seth. We both do.”
Seth didn’t need anyone to point out God’s hand in this development. He sent up a burst of gratitude. He dropped his hands from her face, moving them to hold hers between their bodies. “You know, I’m from a place in Oregon called Carter City. It’s a small town, but the people are wonderful. All in all, it’s not a bad place to live.”
Laura smiled her beautiful smile again, squeezing both of her hands. “Really, now? Tell me more.”
EPILOGUE
Two Years Later
Laura sat in the passenger side of the Jeep thinking about circles. Circles and cycles and circumstances that seemed random but had to have been preordained.
“What are you thinking about so hard, pretty girl?”
Seth’s voice was teasing and warm and happy. Laura loved that he sounded so incredibly joyful. He reached out and held Laura’s hand, keeping his other on the steering wheel of the SUV he was driving. He ran his thumb over a wedding ring. Her wedding ring. The one he had placed on her finger two days ago.
“I was thinking about the first time you drove up this mountain.”
Seth squeezed her hand. “If I ever needed proof that God exists, I have it. He surely sent me to find you.”
Laura snorted. He could be such a sap at times.
“That’s one way to look at it, I suppose. The other way would be that you drove up a mountain, found a crazy recluse and almost died.” She was teasing. Mostly. Though she had found peace and happiness since their ordeal on the mountain, she would never be able to entirely joke about the terror of those days.
“Laura.” Seth’s voice was loving and almost chiding. “I drove up a mountain alone and ashamed and came back down complete and free.”
Laura was silent for a moment. “You know, for a park ranger, you sure can say the sweetest things.”
“They’re true.” He looked at her face briefly, then returned his gaze to the road. “I miss Abby. Maybe we should have brought her with us.”
Laura laughed. She couldn’t help herself. Abby had Seth wrapped around her little kindergartner finger. Like Laura, Abby had been blessed with a biological father who loved her. Like Laura, Abby had lost that biological father. And, like Laura, God had sent Abby a man—a new father—one who would love her with every bit of his being. Laura frequently gave Seth a hard time about his mushiness where Abby was concerned, but he would just smile and shrug his shoulders.
Of course, Seth wasn’t the only one. Abby was staying with Seth’s parents while he and Laura had their honeymoon at the cabin. They spoiled Abby about as much as Seth did. Actually, all of Seth’s family spoiled Abby. And Laura. From the second Laura and Abby had come to Carter City, they had been surrounded by grandparents and parents and brothers and sisters and cousins and nieces and nephews. It was unfamiliar and overwhelming and often exhausting. It was also wonderful. Laura delighted in the fact that Abby was growing up in the middle of such a large, loving family.
The terrain got slightly rougher and Seth let go of Laura’s hand so he could use both hands to drive. “Hey,” he said with a grin, “you wanna reenact our first meeting?”
Laura crossed her arms in mock irritation. “Very funny, Ranger.” She rolled her eyes at his satisfied smile. Feeling like her heart was almost too full of joy, Laura closed her eyes and said a prayer that had almost become instinctual.
Oh, God, I can’t believe You gave us this man. Thank You.
* * *
If you liked this story, pick up this Love Inspired Historical book from Victoria Austin:
Family of Convenience
Find more great reads at www.LoveInspired.com
Keep reading for an excerpt from Amish Safe House by Debby Giusti.
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Dear Reader,
Thank you so much for reading Seth and Laura’s story. This is my first book for Love Inspired Suspense. I’m a big fan of stories involving suspense, love and faith and am delighted to share this one with you.
Rocky Mountain Showdown is about trying to be safe in a dangerous world. It’s also about dealin
g with shame. My guiding Bible verse for this book was Isaiah 54:4. It talks about forgetting the shame of our youth. I love that thought—that today’s trials will become not just something of the past, but something in the past that we are able to forget.
This world is scary and hard and uncontrollable. Though I try not to, I mess up on a daily basis. I’m familiar with shame and regret and despair. But I’m also familiar with hope. With Jesus and His promise. It’s my sincere wish that you know Him, too.
I would love to hear from you. You can find my email address and social media links on my website at www.victoriawaustin.com.
Victoria Austin
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Amish Safe House
by Debby Giusti
PROLOGUE
Gunfire!
Julia Bradford’s pulse raced. “Kayla, where’s your brother?”
“He took out the trash.”
Julia rinsed the plate she was washing and glanced at the overflowing trash bag still on the floor by the kitchen counter, then peered through the window at the dumpster in the empty alleyway below.
Another round of gunshots. Her heart thumped a warning. She wiped her hand on a dish towel and hurried into the living area. “When did he leave?”
Her seven-year-old daughter clutched her doll and shrugged. Thankfully, Kayla seemed oblivious to the gang warfare that held this part of the inner city hostage.
“Come with me.” Julia reached for her daughter’s hand.
Kayla reluctantly rose from the floor, still holding her doll, and slipped her small hand into her mother’s. “Where are we going?”
“To Mrs. Fielding’s apartment.”
Kayla’s face broke into a wide smile. “Maybe she baked cookies today.”
If only all of life’s problems could be solved with a cookie.
“Hurry.” Julia ushered her daughter into the stairwell and up one flight of steps.
She knocked on the apartment door. “Mrs. Fielding?”
Relieved when the sweet neighbor with the warm gaze and understanding smile opened the door, Julia gently guided Kayla through the doorway.
“William’s outside,” she explained. “I heard gunshots.”
The older woman’s brown eyes widened. “Lord, protect that boy.”
“Can you watch Kayla?”
“Of course, dear.”
“Lock the door, Mrs. Fielding. The gangs have started following their victims into stairwells.”
“God help us.” The woman moaned as she pointed Kayla toward the table. “Sit there, baby. I’ll get you a cookie.”
Once the door closed, Julia waited to hear the click of the dead bolt fall into place before she raced down the stairs, pushed on the outer door and stepped into the cool night air.
A pop-pop-pop sounded, followed by a rapid burst of semiautomatic gunfire. Heart in her throat, Julia ran toward the sound.
“William?” She glanced into the alley, the neighboring apartment, the small grocery on the corner with its windows barred to stop the rampant crime.
“Thank you, Charlie,” Julia spat out, her hands fisted. Anger at her ex-husband bubbled up anew.
More gunfire, peppered with angry shouts.
Where’s Will?
She turned left at the intersection, then right onto a side street. Her gut tightened. Halfway down the block two bodies lay sprawled on the roadway. Dark swaths of blood pooled on the pavement.
Fear tangled her spine.
William!
She wanted to scream his name, but her outcry would draw attention to a fourteen-year-old enamored of punk teens and twentysomethings who flaunted knives and guns and endless cash.
She blamed Charlie, her ex, who was serving time. So much for fatherly love. The only thing he had provided for his children was a heritage of crime.
Slipping into a nearby alleyway, she peered at the thugs marked with tattoos and piercings milling around their fallen comrades.
More shots. A man gasped, his face caught in the headlights of an oncoming car. He clutched his chest and collapsed to the pavement. Just that quickly, the rival gangs scattered.
Footsteps sounded. Julia held her breath and narrowed her gaze, trying to determine who was approaching.
Her eyes widened.
William!
She stepped from the darkness and grabbed her son’s hand. “Where were you?”
“Mom, please.” He jerked free.
“You snuck out.”
“I told Kayla.”
“You didn’t tell me.”
She glanced back. Three men stood staring at them. Julia’s heart lurched. She motioned William forward. “Go home. Now.”
Footsteps slapped the pavement behind them. She turned again. Her heart stopped. The men were running toward them.
“Hurry, Will.”
With his long legs and easy gait, her son moved ahead of her. They turned left at the corner and right at the next intersection. Her lungs burned. She gasped for air.
William climbed the stairs to their apartment building and plugged in the code. The door clicked open. He disappeared into the stairwell.
Julia followed him inside and up the stairs. He stood at the door of their apartment, fumbling with the key.
Shouts sounded below.
“Where is he?” Male voices. “Where’s that punk kid? David’s friend. He saw it all go down.”
Another voice, coming from the same group. “I know his apartment number. Follow me.”
Heavy footfalls pounded the stairs.
Julia’s heart stopped. She reached around William and jiggled the key. The door to their apartment opened. She shoved him into the living room, slammed the door behind her and engaged the lock.
“Hide, Will. In the bathroom.”
She grabbed her cell phone off a side table and followed her son through the bedroom to the bath beyond, locking both doors behind them just as the gang members crashed through the front door and entered the apartment.
“Lay down.” She motioned William into the tub. “Cover your head with your hands.”
Trembling, Julia punched 911 into her cell. “The Philador gang,” she said, breathless, once the operator answered. “Three of them...in my apartment.”
She gave the address, the words spilling out one after another. “My son and I...locked in the bath. Hurry.”
Angry shouts. Glass shattered. A heavy object clattered to the floor.
God, can You hear me? Protect my child.
Julia pushed her weight against the bathroom door, hoping it would hold. Her heart raced. A roar filled her ears.
If only the police...
Sirens sounded.
Would they get there in time?
Voices in the bedroom. Something or someone rammed the bathroom door.
“You’re dead, punk.”
William glanced up, his face twisted with fear.
Another crash to the door.
She thought of her daughter with Mrs. Fielding in the upstairs apartment.
Keep them safe.
“Police!” a voice shouted.
A shot, followed in a nanosecond by another. A scream. Then the scurry of feet.
Someone pounded on the door. “Ma’am, it’s the police. Unlock the door.”
Could she trust the voice? Could she trust anyone?
Will climbed from the tub, his cheeks wet with tears, his nose running. He touched her hand.
She saw his lips move, but she couldn’t understand what he was saying.
He nudged her aside, undid the lock and slowly opened the door.
Hands grabbed both of them and pulled them through the bedroom, past two bleeding bodies on the floor, past the group of officers huddled around another gang member. His wrists were cuffed behind his back. Curly black hair, a mustache and goatee, deep-set eyes that stared at her as they passed.
Recognition flickered in the back of Julia’s mind.
A female officer introduced herself and held up a badge. “We’re taking you someplace safe.”
Julia shook her head. She reached for William and pulled him close. “My son?”
“He’s going with you.”
“Kayla? My...my daughter—”
“Where is she, ma’am?”
“Upstairs.”
Without letting go of William’s hand, Julia climbed the stairs, pulling her son behind her. The officer followed.
“It’s Julia.” She tapped on Mrs. Fielding’s door. “I need my daughter.”
The door cracked open. Mrs. Fielding peered through the narrow crevice.
“Where’s Kayla?”
“Mama!” The child yanked on the door. Her eyes widened as she glanced at the throng of police swarming the stairwell. “What’s wrong, Mama?”
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