Reuniting His Family
A Father’s PromiseRhys Maddox wants nothing more than custody of his two sons. Released from prison after a wrongful charge, the widowed dad will do anything to bring his boys home where they belong. But that doesn't include falling for their former social worker. Now leading an outreach program for families in transition, Renee Delacroix can't escape the tall, dark and intriguing single dad…or his adorable little boys. But Rhys is determined to go at it alone. Until one incident that may cost him what he wants the most. Now it's up to Renee to save him…if she can make him see she's just what he needs to complete their forever family.
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A Father’s Promise
Rhys Maddox wants nothing more than custody of his two sons. Released from prison after a wrongful charge, the widowed dad will do anything to bring his boys home where they belong. But that doesn’t include falling for their former social worker. Now leading an outreach program for families in transition, Renee Delacroix can’t escape the tall, dark and intriguing single dad...or his adorable little boys. But Rhys is determined to go it alone. Until one incident that may cost him what he wants the most. Now it’s up to Renee to save him...if she can make him see she’s just what he needs to complete their forever family.
“Look, Dad, it’s her!”
What was Renee doing here? Filling in for another volunteer, she told him when she entered the amusement park.
So he wasn’t the only one she helped in her job.
Seeing the way Renee smiled down at his sons told him he wanted to be more than part of her job.
“Hey, Dad, can I go with my friends and our teacher?” Owen asked.
Rhys bit back the no that sprang to his lips and stifled his disappointment. His son would have more fun with his friends, and that was what this day was about.
“How about you, Dylan?” he asked his other boy. “Do you want to go with your friend?”
“No. I like being with Miss Renee. It’s kind of like being with Mommy.”
Rhys swallowed hard. In some ways, it was how things might have been for Dylan in their family if he hadn’t messed up. In other ways, it wasn’t at all the same. He and Renee... He didn’t know what their relationship was. But one thing was certain. He wanted to find out.
Thank you for choosing to read Reuniting His Family. I hope you enjoyed Rhys and Renee’s story and, if you’ve read my other Love Inspired books, returning to Paradox Lake and catching up with other residents.
We’re all shaped by our pasts. In Renee’s case, it’s having grown up the youngest in her large, loving, extended family, and her experience doing mission work in Haiti. For Rhys, it’s having been shuffled from foster family to foster family and his brushes with the law. Too often, we let preconceived notions generated by our pasts hinder the happiness our Lord wants for us. But, as Renee and Rhys show, with His help we can move beyond those notions.
To keep in touch with me, please sign up for my author newsletter at JeanCGordon.com. And feel free to email me at [email protected] or snail mail me at PO Box 113, Selkirk, NY 12158. You can also visit me at Facebook.com/JeanCGordon.author or Tweet me @JeanCGordon.
Blessings,
Jean C. Gordon
JEAN C. GORDON’s writing is a natural extension of her love of reading. From that day in first grade when she realized t-h-e was the word the, she’s been reading everything she can put her hands on. Jean and her college-sweetheart husband share a 175-year-old farmhouse in Upstate New York with their daughter and her family. Their son lives nearby. Contact Jean at Facebook.com/jeancgordon.author or PO Box 113, Selkirk, NY 12158.
The Lord takes care of those
who are as helpless as children. When I was in great need, He saved me.
—Psalms 116:6
To my critique partners, Chris and Bonnie,
for aiding my research for this book with their invaluable knowledge of the New York State foster care, family court and social services system.
Contents
Rhys Maddox looked across the small room at his broken dream. The dream he’d shattered. His boys stood in the doorway with a woman who wasn’t their mother. Owen was a miniature copy of himself. Dylan had so many of his mother’s features, it made his heart bleed.
“Mr. Maddox?”
He looked at Renee Delacroix, the Essex County Child Protection Services’ worker he’d been sitting with.
“This is Suzanne Hill, Owen and Dylan’s foster mother,” she said.
Rhys strangled the shudder that began when the word foster formed on Ms. Delacroix’s lips. Those memories were behind him and would be behind his boys soon, too. He stood and offered the woman his hand, glad for the opportunity to break away from Ms. Delacroix’s scrutiny and the knowledge that she stood between him and his sons.
“Mrs. Hill,” he said, warmed by her wholesome freshness, a contrast to Ms. Delacroix’s glacial beauty. “It’s good to meet you in person.”
“Suzi, please,” she said, smiling.
“Suzi, then.”
Today’s half hour with the Child Services’ worker was his second meeting with Ms. Delacroix since he’d come to Paradox Lake to claim his sons. Yet they were still Mr. Maddox and Ms. Delacroix.
He released Suzi’s hand. “May I?” he asked, glancing from Dylan to Owen, uncertain what he was asking for.
Suzi looked over his shoulder toward the table where he’d been sitting.
Ms. Delacroix must have given the okay.
He ruffled nine-year-old Owen’s hair. “How’s it going, buddy?”
