âSo what do you think?â Chance asked.
Heâd hung several strands of Christmas lights, and Lynnâs old house was looking great. He was standing close to her and she could feel the warmth from his body through the down vest he wore. Sheâd helped him for the past hour and heâd been wonderful with her boys. And okay, the man smelled wonderful.
âMomma, donât ya got yor ears on? What do you think?â Jack asked, tugging on her arm. It was what she always asked him and Gavin when they werenât listening to her.
Boy, where had she been? âEar one and ear two are both on and ready to do their jobs,â she said lightly.
She hoped Chance hadnât noticed her embarrassing lapse. She stole a glance at him. He caught her looking and the wink he gave her said heâd noticed plenty.
was a 2004 Golden Heart finalist in the inspirational category, a 2006 Inspirational Readersâ Choice Award winner, a 2007 Golden Quill award winner and a finalist for the 2007 American Christian Fiction Writers Book of the Year Award. She praises the Lord each time someone votes for one of her books, and takes it as an affirmation that she is exactly where God wants her to be.
Debra is a hopeless romantic and loves to create stories with lively heroines and the strong heroes who fall in love with them. But most important, she loves showing her characters living their faith, seeking Godâs will in their lives one day at a time. Her goal is to give her readers an entertaining story that will make them smile, hopefully laugh and always feel Godâs goodness as they read her books. She has found the perfect home for her stories, writing for the Love Inspired line, and still has to pinch herself just to see if she really is awake and living her dream.
When she isnât writing, she enjoys taking road trips, reading and spending time with her two sons, Chase and Kris. She loves hearing from readers and can be reached through her website, www.debraclopton.com, or by mail at P.O. Box 1125, Madisonville, Texas 77864.
When I am afraid, I will trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can mortal man do to me?
âPsalms 56: 3, 4
This book is dedicated to my home church: Cowboy Church of Leon County. Thank you all so much for your huge hearts! You are changing livesâ¦mine included!
A special thank-you and dedication to our pastor, Tuffy Loftonâyou are a cowboy preacher with a true heart for God.
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Letter to Reader
Questions for Discussion
Chance Turner stepped from his truck as country singer Craig Morgan crooned âSmall Town USAâ on the radio. He was home in Mule Hollow, Texas, which definitely fit the songâs positive image of small-town life in the USA. A smile tugging at his lips, he reached into the truck bed for the large box his sister-in-law had instructed him to deliver to the church.
Colorful strings of Christmas lights overflowed from the box. Melody was late for work, sheâd said, and didnât have time to deliver the lights to the church secretary. That had been her pretense anyway, but Chance had no illusions about why sheâd asked him to run the errand for her. It was the church.
She wanted him to be as near the church as possible. She had hopes that being here would fix âhis problemââ¦if only it were that easy. He could have told her that seeing the church, being on the premises, wouldnât help him. In stead heâd done as Melody askedâit was easier that way. The last thing he wanted to do was talk about his problem.
And he didnât want to think about it either.
Pushing the dark thoughts aside he focused on delivering the lights. Heâd get this done, then heâd head back to the ranch, back to the solitude heâd come home to find. Just him and his horse, and the land that had been in his family for six generations. He wasnât the first Turner to contemplate the state of his life riding in the sanctuary of the vast Turner family ranch. Sanctuaryânot exactly something he deserved. Not when he couldnât see past the guilt eating at him.
Still, right now he needed what the solitude of the ranch offered him.
He wanted to ride across the pasture, just him and his horseâ¦but, before he could saddle up, he had lights to deliver.
Hefting the box into his arms he strode toward the quaint white church heâd attended off and on for the better part of his youth. His boots crunched on the white rock and his spurs jangled as he headed down the side walk toward the office. The squeals of kidsâ laughter, shrill with excitement, rode the chilly November wind. Chance had just reached the door when, like bulls out of the chute, two small boys pounded around the edge of the building. Trailing behind them was a monster of a dog.