has been a writer for as long as she can remember. This prolific author of romance novels for both the inspirational and traditional markets began her career at age ten, when she won a story contest conducted by a national childrenâs magazine. Today, in addition to penning her heartwarming stories of love and faith, Irene keeps quite busy with her âday jobâ as senior manager of corporate communications for a Fortune 500 company. In her spare time, she enjoys performing in community musical theater productions.
Irene finds writing for the Love Inspired line especially rewarding because, âInspirational romances allow me to focus on the three things that lastâfaith, hope and love. It is a special pleasure for me to write about people who find the greatest of these without compromising the principles of their faith.â
The author and her husband, Tom Gottliebââmy own romantic heroââreside in St. Louis, Missouri.
âIâm sorry, Maggie, butâ¦I just canât go through with it.â
Maggie Fitzgerald stared in shock at the man standing across from her, his words echoing hollowly in her ears. He looked like Jake West, the man sheâd loved since she was sixteen years old. But he didnât sound like that Jake. Not even close.
Maggie felt a cold chill crawl up her spine despite the Midwest heat and humidity, and she wrapped her arms around her body for warmth. He was only an armâs length away, close enough to touch, and yet she suddenly felt more alone than ever before in her life. Because always, through all the losses in her lifeâher mother, her father, and just three weeks before, the tragic deaths of her sister and brother-in-law in a smallplane crashâsheâd still had Jake. Heâd been her friend for as long as she could remember, and though their relationship had transitionedâquite unexpectedlyâto romance, their friendship remained strong and sure.
But now he was leavingâless than five weeks before she was scheduled to walk down the aisle as his bride. It was inconceivable. Incomprehensible. But true. The stoic expression on his face told her so more eloquently than his words.
The knot in Maggieâs stomach tightened as she sank down onto the couch, her legs suddenly too shaky to support her willowy five-foot-six, hundred-and-tenpound frame. Nothing in her twenty-four years had prepared her for thisâ¦this betrayal. Maybe that was a harsh term. But what else could you call it when the man you loved bailed out just because things got a little rough?
Even in her dazed state, however, Maggie had to admit that âa little roughâ wasnât exactly an accurate description of the situation. The sudden responsibility of raising six-year-old twinsâone of whom needed ongoing medical careâwasnât a minor complication. Not when theyâd planned to spend the first ten years of their marriage child-free, exploring some exotic new corner of the world each year on vacation, living the adventures theyâd always dreamed of. It was a situation that demanded huge compromises, and Maggie knew it marked the death of a dream for both of them. But she had wanted to believe that Jake would realize there simply was no other option. As their only living relative, Maggie had to take her sisterâs girls. But clearly Jake hadnât been able to accept it. And where did that leave her?
Apparently alone.
As Jake sat beside her and reached for her hand, she glanced at him with dazed eyes, blind to the anguish in his. The strongly molded planes of his dear, familiar face were only a misty blur. When he spoke, the appealing, husky cadence of his voiceâedged with that smoky quality that was distinctly hisâsounded suddenly foreign to her ears, and his words seemed to come from a great distance.
âMaggie, Iâm sorry,â he whispered, knowing the words were inadequate, his gut twisting painfully at the wretched, abandoned look in her eyes.
So was she. Ever since her sixteenth birthday, when their relationship changed foreverâfrom childhood friends to sweetheartsâsheâd never even looked at another man. Sheâd built her whole future around Jake. A future that was now crumbling around her.
âThisâ¦situationâ¦doesnât change how I feel about you,â he continued when she didnât respond. âButâ¦well, I guess I never expected a ready-made family. It would be badââ He cut himself off and deliberately changed the term. âHardâ¦enough if they were normal kids. But theyâve just lost both parents, and Abby has years of medical treatment ahead of her. And what about our plans for seeing the world? For not being tied down by responsibilities, at least in the beginning? And Iâm not ready to take on the responsibilities of parenthood. I just feel soâ¦trapped,â he finished helplessly. With a sigh, he reached for her cold hands, his gaze locked on hers. âDo you understand at all?â