A Place to Call Home
Lawman Joe Sheehan is desperate to bond with the daughter heâs just discovered he has. But as a virtual stranger to twelve-year-old Amelia, the task seems impossible. Until Claire Conley moves to town. A social worker renovating a mansion into a foster home, Claire is the first person to get through to Amelia. Falling for the single dad was not on Claireâs to-do list. But with Joe and Amelia around, the house finally starts to feel like home. Claireâs ready to fight to convince Joe that together theyâve done more than fix a houseâ¦theyâve built a family.
A splash and a scream echoed off the main house.
He ran toward the pond as Claire surfaced, spluttering and laughing.
âCome on in.â
He gave her his best âyouâve got to be kidding meâ look.
Laughing, she splashed him. âItâs just a little cold water.â
Joe took a deep breath and dived in, surfacing beside her.
âAre you worried about the meeting?â he asked when his breath had regulated.
âYes.â
âDonât give up. I donât know if youâre that good with all kids, but if it wasnât for you, Amelia and I would still be deadlocked in the silent treatment.â
She smiled. âThank you. I needed the reminder of why itâs so important.â
âI have the feeling that youâre too stubborn to give up, anyway.â
âOh, you do know how to sweet-talk me, Joe Sheehan.â She clambered out of the pond.
As he watched her, he realized he really liked her and he hadnât felt that way about someone in a long time. The doors to his heart had been firmly closed. Seemed now there was just a crack in the door, enough to thinkâ¦maybe.
Dear Reader,
Thanks so much for spending some time in Red Hill Springs, Alabama! The name of my fictional small town is inspired by real-life springs, where the waters have been flowingâand providing respite and relief for weary travelersâfor hundreds of years.
Each of the Sheehan siblings is facing challenges, but through faith and with love, they will learn that sometimes broken dreams lead to family blessings. If you liked The Dad Next Door, please join me back in Red Hill Springs in October for the next book in the Family Blessings series.
Iâd love to hear from you! I can be reached at my website, stephaniedees.com, or via email at [email protected].
Stephanie Dees
Award-winning author STEPHANIE DEES lives in small-town Alabama with her pastor husband and two youngest children. A Southern girl through and through, she loves sweet tea, SEC football, corn on the cob and air-conditioning. For further information, please visit her website at stephaniedees.com.
Yet still I dare to hope when I remember this: The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is His faithfulness; His mercies begin afresh each morning.
âLamentations 3:21â23
For Melissa Endlich and Melissa Jeglinski
Thanks for keeping the faith.
Chapter One
Claire Conley stood on the overgrown lawnâthe Alabama humidity wilting her hair, flies circlingâas she confronted her legacy. The antebellum plantation house sheâd inherited from her father looked nothing like the pictures the lawyer had sent her. Well, to be fair, there was a porch. And it did have huge columns. But that was where the similarity ended. What had looked like pristine white paint in the photo was gray and peeling. The yard was a tangle of weeds.
Tears stung in her eyes. Sheâd sold everything she owned and driven fourteen hours on coffee and adrenaline, dreams buzzing in her head. For this?
This worn-out, falling-down piece of...history?
She tried to push the long, shaking sob back to where it came from and failed. She didnât know what sheâd been hoping. Her biological father had never given her a thing. This was just more of the same.
She didnât hear the truck coming up the drive until the door slammed behind her. She spun around.
He looked hard. Hard muscles, hard expression, head shaved military style, a shadow of stubble along his jaw. A hint of a dimple creased his face, but she couldnât see his eyes.
Those were covered with silver aviator glasses.
She was suddenly, painfully, aware of the fact that sheâd chosen to stay on the road instead of stopping to eat in Somewhere, Georgia, and had the evidence of it smeared on her comfiestâthreadbareâjeans.
âIâm looking for Claire Conley.â He didnât raise his voice, but still, it carried.
She nodded, not sure she could speak around the lump in her throat. âThat would be me.â
âIâm Joe Sheehan.â The guy walked closer and dug into his jeans pocket, coming up with a key. âYour fatherâs attorney asked me to give this to you. Heâs out of town for a few weeks.â