One Year Later “Bring it home, Em!” Gabe yelled from the field. Celina stood, howling and clapping as Emma pumped her arms and legs as she careened toward home plate. Celina’s parents, as well as Gabe’s, were all in attendance at every game. Emma’s cheer team packed the stands each week. It was her first year playing softball, and Gabe was her team’s coach. Emma made her way back to the dugout to congratulations and high-fives from her team. With the extra practice she got most afternoons with Gabe, she was shaping up to be a star player at the young age of five. When the cheering of the crowd subsided, Celina took her seat again. The first trimester of pregnancy was exhausting, and her body reminded her often. Gabe caught her attention a few minutes later as he walked back toward the dugout and made a motion as if he were drinking from a cup. Celina rolled her eyes and lifted her thermos in the air. The thing was huge and excessive, but it kept Gabe happy. He was always fussing
Sara Williams wasn’t always Sara Williams. Twelve years ago, she was Liz Jennings—small-town nobody and best friend of Ian Hart. The only future she could imagine included him, but after one tragic night, she’s forced to flee her home and leave behind the best friend she secretly loves.Ian Hart was sure of two things. He was in love with his best friend, and he’d do anything to protect her. As teenagers, they made a pact to run away together, but when she left town without him, Ian spiraled into a storm of anger.Now she’s back with a new name and a dozen secrets. When they’re forced to work together, the things they don’t say threaten to shatter any hope that they could regain their lost trust. Meanwhile, a town of busybodies are stirring up trouble, and Sara is a sitting duck while her biggest threat is on the move. What if the monster she’s running from steals their happily ever after?A homecoming story about forgiveness that’s sure to touch your heart.****/****Liz stared at a
Twelve Years LaterSaraSara slowed her steps as she neared Andrew Spiker’s office. The Spiker Law Firm was small but conveniently located adjacent to the Cherokee County Courthouse in downtown Carson. Andrew was an old high school friend, and it seemed he was doing well for himself.Sara jammed the pad of her thumb into the sharp edges of her front teeth. The small bite of pain distracted her from the gnawing worry she felt in her middle.She could’ve refused to come, but curiosity killed the cat. She was only human, and she couldn’t live the rest of her life without knowing why Mr. Garrison had asked her to come back here. Enough years had passed that any threat to her life had grown dormant but not died. The men she hid from had been securely locked up or scattered to the four winds for over a decade, and that should’ve been a comfort to her.The door was heavy, but she pushed her way into the office where a familiar face awaited her.Tracy Sawyer sucked in an excited breath and st
IanIan set his jaw tight to restrain his protest. If he had any control over his own choices right now, he’d walk out of this room and never look back.At least, that’s what he should do. But he’d made a promise years ago that he intended to keep. Granted, he hadn’t known what he was promising at the time. Now that it was time to settle up, Ian wanted to curse the old man.He couldn’t hear half of what Andrew was saying. Seeing Liz again had captivated his attention.Correction, Sara.She looked amazing. Gorgeous, poised, and confident. She looked like she had life wrapped around her finger.She’d managed fine without him. Why did it hurt to see her doing so well? Probably because she didn’t need him as much as he’d needed her. He had wanted to pave the way for her to chase all her dreams, and it looked as if she’d managed just fine without him.He’d recognized Liz the moment she’d walked through the doorway, but he hadn’t expected her to be such a knockout. He’d always been attracte
IanThe truck door slammed, locking Ian inside the silent cab. He missed his old truck. The door had creaked and protested with the scrape of metal on metal each time he’d taken out his frustrations on it. His new, luxury pickup was a joke.Ian shoved the gear into reverse and peeled out of the parking spot without hesitation.The stop sign not twenty feet from where he’d parked really took the heat out of his storm-and-run, but he used the pause to call his friend, Jake. The one he’d now refer to as the Keeper of Secrets.Jake’s voice pounded through the speakers of Ian’s truck after the first ring. Deputy Jake Sims was always on alert.“What’s up?”“Oh, nothing. I’ve just been informed that I’m the first line of defense for a ghost. Anything you wanna tell me about Liz Jennings, brother? Or should I say Sara Williams?”There was a pause on the line before Jake stammered, “Um, I…”“Save it,” Ian barked. “Meet me at the hardware store.”“Now?” Jake asked.“Now.”“Yes, sir.” Jake liked
SaraSara snuck out of her room at Bernard’s Hotel before sunrise. She wasn’t always so cautious, but being back in the place where her lifelong game of hide-and-seek started made her want to take advantage of the cover of darkness to leave the hotel.She’d packed light and hadn’t left much of anything in her apartment in Memphis. She’d moved more than half a dozen times since leaving Carson, and this move was proving to be simple so far. Not as simple as that first move, but two suitcases now held everything she owned.Following the GPS on her phone, she drove beyond the town’s limits and slowed as she turned onto the last drive her navigation device recognized. It was a gravel road almost completely covered by trees, and there wasn’t a house in sight.Sara checked her mirrors and kept her gaze darting to one side and the other. No one was around, but she’d been living a life of caution for too long to give it up now.A dirt road with a mailbox at the end caught her attention. It was
IanIan hadn’t looked for Sara before making his way into the bathroom where he’d worked most of the day before.There had been long hours of silence while they worked yesterday, and today was starting out to be the same. He hadn’t heard a peep from Sara since he came in, and he hadn’t made a quiet entrance.The woman working just a few rooms away had been on his mind the entire day, and sometime during the mountains and valleys of his thoughts, he’d decided he should make a point to start calling her Sara. His Liz was gone, and calling her Sara made her a stranger.She was a stranger, really. He didn’t know Liz any more than he knew Sara, so what difference did it make what he called her?He’d silently practiced asking Sara what she wanted him to pick up in town for dinner, or what she wanted for breakfast. In his mind, he’d asked her what she did for a living now and why she’d left in the night when they were eighteen years old.He’d been installing the new flooring for half an hour
SaraSara wouldn’t let him see her cry, so she stormed off to her room like a coward. Ian had never upset her before, but there was a first time for everything now that she’d broken his trust.She heard him call her name—her old name—and she almost turned to him before a fresh sob choked her and urged her on. She needed a barrier between them, so she closed the bedroom door with too much force.Alone in the tomb she’d created for herself, she let the sobs break free. Once again, the decision she’d made to leave him behind hit her in the back like the sharp point of a knife. Why had she left him? In thinking that she was giving him the freedom he deserved, she’d bent a vital part of the man she loved—his faith. Any faith he had in her or the Lord was gone.She understood why he was angry with her, but not God. There had been times in her lonely years that her relationship with Christ had been her only comfort. How had Ian abandoned his faith after all they’d been through together as ki