His Secret Daughter Page 19

  Callie smoothed a golden curl off Maisie’s forehead. “It will be. It is.” She gave him a shy glance. “As long as we’re together.”

  Maisie crawled over Callie, hopping off the seat to the floor.

  He tugged Callie closer. “Together, forever.”

  With a happy sigh, she snuggled underneath his arm.

  He nuzzled her hair with his cheek. “You sure I have to wait till Thanksgiving to marry you?”

  “As it is, Miss GeorgeAnne is having a fit, Jake. We’ve only given the matchmakers two weeks to prepare.” But Callie’s smile belied her words.

  He huffed. “Sure as they were, you’d have thought they would’ve had everything ready, minus the date on the invitations.”

  She elbowed him. “Got to give ’em credit. They took one look at you and knew a good thing when they saw it.”

  He kissed her cheek. “So did I.”

  “Do you mind, Jake?” She bit her lip. “The flowers. The hoopla?”

  Taking her hand, he threaded his fingers in hers. “I don’t mind. I want the world to know how much I love Callie Rose Jackson.”

  She quirked her eyebrow. “Soon to be Callie Jackson McAbee.”

  “Not soon enough for me.”

  Bringing her hand to his mouth, he kissed the ring on her finger. “It’s a first for me, too. A five-minute ceremony with the justice of the peace isn’t the same.” His gaze locked on to hers. “This is the way it ought to be. It’s new for me. Beautiful. You know that, right? Everything I feel for you, it’s so much more than I ever—”

  “I know, Jake.” She took his face in her hands. “The past brought us to each other. There are no secrets between us. I understand about Tiff. It’s okay.”

  Jake searched her face. He’d spend his life making sure she never felt uncertain about her place in his heart. “I love you so much, Callie.”

  Her smile stole his breath. “I love you, too. The bestest.” Letting go of him, she leaned over and kissed Maisie’s head. “The mostest. The biggest.”

  Digging under the seat, Maisie didn’t look up.

  “Besides...” Callie gave him a sideways look. “It’s only two weeks. Then I’ll have you all to myself for seven days.”

  There was a sound of paper ripping.

  She glanced over to the floorboard. “Maisie? What have you got there, sweetie?”

  Maisie rose, a torn envelope in her small hand.

  Jake drummed his fingers on the wheel. “She was playing with that last week. I should have cleaned it up, but...” He rolled his tongue in his cheek. “Been a little preoccupied.”

  Her lips twitching, Callie took the crumpled envelope from Maisie. She examined the postmark and frowned. “What in the world? It’s dated almost three years ago. Postmarked Fayetteville.”

  “On my last trip to the base, I emptied out the post office box Tiffany set up.” He shrugged. “Just junk.”

  “It doesn’t look like junk mail to me, Jake.” Removing the key from the ignition, Callie slit open the envelope. She unfolded the paper inside. “This looks impor—” She gasped.

  He straightened. “What?”

  Tears swam in her eyes.

  “Callie?”

  “Oh, Jake.” She clasped the paper to her chest. “It’s true. I prayed... I knew it had to be true.”

  “What’s true?”

  She thrust the paper at him. “It’s a copy of a lab report. From an obstetrician’s office.” Her face transformed. “In Fayetteville, Jake. Fayetteville.”

  His hand shook as he took the paper from her.

  Callie’s eyes glistened. “The timing. Everything fits.”

  Almost afraid to read it, he scanned the document. “A prenatal office visit.” He looked at Callie. “Maisie?” he whispered.

  Callie took both his hands in hers. “She’s your daughter, Jake.”

  “She’s mine...” He cut his gaze to Maisie, happily playing in the foot of the truck with more unopened mail. His vision blurred. “She’s really mine.” Wonderment filled his voice.

  “For once, Tiff told the truth. She put your name on the birth certificate because you are Maisie’s father. She was already pregnant when she went to Atlanta.”

  “Will I ever know why she left in the first place?”

  Callie shook her head. “Tiff did inexplicable things. But I think she realized she’d made a mistake. I just don’t get why she came here instead of trying to fix things with you.”

  “A mistake she didn’t know how to fix.” He raked his hand over his face. “Actually, I get that part. Because of our childhoods... That’s the thing Tiffany and I understood about each other.”

  Callie’s features clouded.

  He squeezed Callie’s hand. “Until I met you, I didn’t believe anyone would ever forgive my mistakes and give me a second chance.” He gulped. “But no matter what she’d done, I would have taken her back. If only for Maisie’s sake.”

  Callie cupped his cheek in her palm. “I know that about you, Jake McAbee. Yours is the most loving, forgiving heart I’ve ever known.”

  But Tiffany hadn’t known it. He felt a tremendous sadness for the pain she’d gone through. Alone by choice. The suffering she’d endured.

  “I misunderstood,” Callie mused. “She didn’t fear Brandon because he was Maisie’s father.”

  Jake nodded. “She was afraid of him because she’d taken his money.”

  “Because she finally found the courage to walk away from the obsessive hold he had over her.” Callie knotted her hands. “She feared he’d take his revenge on Maisie.”

  “If he couldn’t have Tiffany, nobody would?”

  “During her final days, Tiff talked about you a lot, Jake. She said she never wanted you to know the truth. And that she was sorry. I thought she meant she never wanted you to know you weren’t Maisie’s father. That she was sorry you weren’t Maisie’s father.”

  Jake’s eyes drooped.

  Callie hugged his arm. “But now I think she meant she didn’t want to hurt you with the truth about her relationship with Brandon. And she was sorry for betraying you. I know that doesn’t excuse what she did, but I hope it helps a little.”

  “It does.” He took a cleansing breath. “I made mistakes, too. I didn’t love her the way she needed to be loved. Until I met you and God, I didn’t understand what love should look like.”

  “The only one who could love Tiff the way she needed to be loved—who can love any of us the way we need—is God.” Callie bit her lip. “At the end of her life, I think Tiff finally discovered Him for herself. I pray so.”

  Jake sighed. “I don’t understand why life turned out the way it did for Tiffany.”

  “There are things I believe we’re not meant to truly understand this side of Heaven. But I believe He can bring beauty even out of such incredible brokenness.”

  Jake turned his mouth into her palm. “And He has.”

  “My daddy.” Maisie crawled over Callie. “’Appy juice.”

  Opening the truck door, he eased out. Maisie raised her arms to him. He held her close.

  When Callie stepped out, he opened his embrace. His girls, right where they belonged, next to his heart. And Jake, where he belonged, next to theirs.

  Nash came out onto the porch.

  “Let’s go tell Dad.” Callie gave him a quick kiss on the cleft in his chin. “He’ll be so glad to hear the news.” Together, they went to greet him.

  Jake had arrived with nothing. Now he had a family. A beautiful bride. A wonderful daughter. Nash.

  Thank You, God.

  Jake had come home. Not just to Truelove or Apple Valley Farm. He’d found the love of a good, good Father.

  And the true home for which they’d all been made.

  * * *

  If you loved this tale of s
weet romance,

  pick up these other stories

  from author Lisa Carter:

  Coast Guard Courtship

  Coast Guard Sweetheart

  Falling For The Single Dad

  The Deputy’s Perfect Match

  The Bachelor’s Unexpected Family

  The Christmas Baby

  Hometown Reunion

  Available now from Love Inspired!

  Find more great reads at www.LoveInspired.com

  Keep reading for an excerpt from Season of Hope by Lisa Jordan.

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  Dear Reader,

  Welcome to Truelove, North Carolina—Where True Love Awaits. This new romantic series is set in the breathtakingly lovely Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina.

  Though the course of true love doesn’t always run smooth, never fear. The Truelove matchmakers are there to make sure everyone finds their true happily-ever-after.

  The heart of this story is about a man searching for someplace to belong. He’s seeking love and purpose. He’s searching for home. This story is also about trusting God. With the good. With the bad. With everything.

  Home. What images does that word create in your mind? For some, the memories are good. For others, memories of home are extremely painful.

  But I believe the longing for home is at the core of who we are as humans.

  As Jake discovers at Apple Valley Farm, no matter how tragic the past or present, God has a place of belonging for each of us. And I believe no matter where you’ve been, no matter where you are right now, no matter what you’ve done—that God can take what is broken and make it into something beautiful. In fact, I think He delights in bringing beauty out of brokenness.

  Why did I write this story? Because it is my prayer that no matter where you’ve been, no matter where you are right now, no matter what you’ve done—that you will ultimately find in Him your home. The happily-ever-after for which you were truly made.

  I hope you have enjoyed taking this journey with Callie, Jake and Maisie. I would love to hear from you. You may email me at lisa@lisacarterauthor.com or visit www.lisacarterauthor.com.

  In His Love,

  Lisa Carter

  We hope you enjoyed this Harlequin Love Inspired story.

  You believe hearts can heal. Love Inspired stories show that faith, forgiveness and hope have the power to lift spirits and change lives—always.

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  Season of Hope

  by Lisa Jordan

  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 peonies 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.