Felicia Mason - Gabriel's Discovery

For all his talk about being willing to wait for a wife and family that would eventually come, the fact of the matter was simple: Gabriel Dawson was lonely.

Not the sort of loneliness that made people do irrational and potentially dangerous things. He instead suffered from the same affliction that plagued a lot of single people his age: the “no one to talk to at the end of the day” blues.

That just wasn’t the sort of thing a single minister liked to broadcast, particularly given the matchmaking penchant of some of his parishioners.

FAITH ON THE LINE:

Two powerful families wage war on evil…and find love.

ADAM’S PROMISE—

Gail Gaymer Martin (LI #259)

FINDING AMY—

Carol Steward (LI #263)

GABRIEL’S DISCOVERY—

Felicia Mason (LI #267)

REDEEMING TRAVIS—

Kate Welsh (LI #271)

PETER’S RETURN—

Cynthia Cooke (LI #275)

PROTECTING HOLLY—

Lynn Bulock (LI #279)

is a motivational speaker and award-winning author. She’s a two-time winner of the Waldenbooks BestSelling Multicultural Title Award, has received awards from Romantic Times, Affaire de Coeur and Midwest Fiction Writers, and won the Emma Award in 2001 for her work in the bestselling anthology Della’s House of Style. Glamour magazine readers named her first novel, For the Love of You, one of their all-time favorite love stories, and her novel Rhapsody was made into a television film.

Felicia has been a writer as long as she can remember, and loves creating characters who seem as real as your best friends. A former Sunday school teacher, she makes her home in Virginia, where she enjoys quilting, reading, traveling and listening to all types of music. She can be reached at P.O. Box 1438, Dept. SH, Yorktown, VA 23692.

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For my FAITH ON THE LINE editors and sister authors:

Carol, Cynthia, Diane, Gail, Kate, Krista, Lynn

To God belong wisdom and power; counsel and understanding are His…. He reveals the deep things of darkness and brings deep shadows into the light.

—Job 12:13 and 22

Susan Carter—The widowed single mom is busy running the Galilee Women’s Shelter and raising twins. She doesn’t have time for romance…until she meets the new pastor.

Gabriel Dawson—Good Shepherd’s new pastor is tall, dark and handsome, setting the hearts of many female parishioners aflutter. But he only has eyes for one woman.

Hannah and Sarah Carter—Susan’s six-year-old twins want a daddy, and they’ve found the perfect man for the job!

Evie—The battered woman in expensive clothes who’d arrived at the shelter one night brought more danger than anyone had expected.

Frank Montgomery—The mayor of Colorado Springs joins Gabriel in a city-wide prayer vigil to pray for peace in his troubled city.

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

Epilogue

Letter to Reader

Gabriel Dawson definitely had a way with the ladies.

From her vantage point standing near a booth selling warm kettle corn, Susan Carter watched the minister work the crowd. Every gray-haired matron at the annual Labor Day picnic in the park managed to find her way to Gabriel. And with good reason.

The Reverend Gabriel Dawson, M. Div., former marine and current pastor of Good Shepherd Christian Church, undoubtedly claimed a spot as one of Colorado Springs’s most eligible bachelors.

Every one of those mamas and grandmamas fawning over him knew it, too. In the time since she’d started her vigil, Susan had spied more than one matron slip the minister a business card or a photo, undoubtedly with full dossiers printed in miniature listing the many and varied accomplishments of their single daughters, granddaughters and nieces.

For just a moment, Susan considered approaching him about participating in the fund-raiser for the women’s shelter. The event could use a bachelor in the auction who would guarantee active and high bidding. Her friend and co-worker Jessica Mathers had already secured a number of impressive date packages for the gala that would benefit the Galilee Women’s Shelter. If he’d agree to it, Gabriel Dawson sure would be an attractive addition.

She assessed him. Handsome didn’t even come close to describing the man.

Tall, at least six-three, and muscular, Gabriel was a big man who inspired confidence just by looking at him. Though named for the archangel devoted to God, the penetrating black eyes and well-groomed shadow beard and mustache of this earthly Gabriel gave him dark good looks.

No, Susan decided. When she called on the good reverend to lend his support to her cause, it wouldn’t be for a one-night gig enjoyed only by a single highest bidder. She wanted far more from him than a smile and to see that powerful physique decked out in black-tie.

But my, my, my what a sight that would be.

Suddenly a little warm, Susan fanned herself with one of the programs distributed at the picnic entrance. She had to remember to stay focused on the mission. Reverend Dawson couldn’t be a date for the shelter’s fund-raiser. That would never do because Susan wanted something more from him—she was in the market for a long-term commitment.

From the corner of his eye, Gabriel watched Susan Carter scoping him out. She’d been at it for a while now, and he was mighty curious about what she was thinking.

“And I just think it would be wonderful to have you over for dinner after church this Sunday, Pastor.”

“Yes, that sounds lovely,” he answered Mrs. Hardy with a pat to the elderly woman’s hand. With most of his attention on Susan, Gabriel lent just half an ear to sweet Mrs. Hardy, a longtime member of the church.

“We eat at four o’clock,” she said. “And my lovely granddaughter Samantha will be visiting that day from Denver. Won’t that be nice? She’s a doctor, you know. A pediatrician. She loves children.”

The not-so-subtle hint and definite accent on that last part gave him pause.

With a sinking feeling, Gabriel turned his full attention to Mrs. Hardy. Had he just agreed to have dinner with her and her family, including someone named Samantha?

By necessity, in his nine months at Good Shepherd, he’d gotten rather adept at avoiding the obvious setups from his parishioners. It seemed they all wanted to see him walking down the aisle with a bride they could claim as first lady of the church. He wasn’t the first pastor of color for the diverse congregation, but he was the first single one they’d ever had. His lack of a spouse apparently didn’t sit well with some. They wanted to see their pastor happily married, and from the look of things the last few months, there existed a never-ending supply of would-be brides.