His Unexpected Family
After a heartbreaking tragedy, youth pastor Jesse Parker stopped believing he had anything to offer kids. Working with the boys at Wranglers Ranch, heâs slowly beginning to trust himself. And when he meets widow Maddie McGregor and her young autistic son, his connection with little Noah and his pretty mom is instant. Maddieâs heart is as guarded as his own, but as he spends time with the McGregorsâhelping Maddie in his granâs quilt shop, caring for rescued puppies, and bringing mother and son closer togetherâhe rediscovers his purposeâ¦including an Easter holiday surprise of renewed faith and love.
âI donât like to talk about my past,â Jesse said.
âMe, neither.â Maddieâs focus rested on something beyond the laundry room. âIâm trying to concentrate on the future, on my new life.â
âAs a widow, you mean?â Jesse didnât quite understand why but Maddie had suddenly tensed, as if whatever was in her past was painful.
âMore as a new person, an independent person who is strong enough to build a good life for herself and her son.â She frowned. âIâm trying to forget my past butâsometimes it seems like there are things youâll never be able to forget. Do you know what I mean?â
âYes.â He nodded. âIn a way I suppose Iâm trying to do the same.â
âTo forget the boy you feel you failed.â Maddie said it gently, as if she thought the words would hurt him, but it wasnât the words that hurt Jesse. It was knowing heâd failed Scott.
âYou have such a way with my son,â she said.
âHeâs a great kid.â He felt a bubble of pleasure in having shared something so personal with Maddie.
Chapter One
âThatâs not Dadâs peanut butter.â Eight-year-old Noah looked shocked by his own blurted words. He quickly ducked his chin into his chest.
âWe could try it.â Fully aware of how much the busy Tucson grocery store aggravated her sonâs autism, Maddie McGregor hesitantly suggested, âYou might like this kind.â
âI like Dadâs kind. So do twenty million other people according to ads.â Noah always recited facts heâd memorized. âDadâs rule was, buy the bestseller.â And he always quoted his fatherâs rules.
Noahâs hands were fluttering, a sign of his mounting agitation. Changing peanut butter brands right now wasnât worth it. Maddie set the jar back on the shelf reluctantly. She was giving in to Noahâs rules. Sheâd vowed to stop doing that. But it had been a long day and giving in was easier than dealing with his upset behavior for the rest of the evening.
âTwenty million people could be wrong.â His expression said arguing was futile. âOkay, you choose.â She almost groaned when Noah selected the same oily brand his father had preferred. So much for her goal to break free of the past.
âYou should give the other kind a try,â a male voice suggested. âItâs the one with the nut on top and if youâre going to eat nut butter, you need many nuts.â
âMany nuts eating nuts. Ha!â Noahâs burble of laughter erupted, then died away.
Maddie turned to find a pair of twinkling blue eyes studying her from an angular sun-tanned face atop a lean, lanky cowboy. Her first thought was how carefree he looked. Her second turned to envy of his confident, relaxed stance. He looked so comfortable in his world.
When she noted a fan of tiny creases beside his eyes her envy died. He, like everyone else, no doubt had some story of past pain. She wondered half-absently what that story was before noticing the manâs short cropped hair was the same shade of gold as a tropical sandy beach sheâd once dreamed of visiting. And his shouldersâwell, that broad width was the perfect place for a girl to rest her head.
Not this girl, of course, butâMaddieâs cheeks burned as she visualized her late husband Liamâs berating if he knew her shameful thoughts.
Forget him. Youâre breaking free of the past, remember?
But how to do that when her self-confidence was nil?
âIâm a peanut butter expert, maâam.â The strangerâs smile coaxed her to respond to his joke. âTrust me, that brand tastes way better than the one the boy and twenty million others mistakenly prefer.â