Lois Richer - Meant-To-Be Baby

A soldier or a father?

Maybe he can be both in this Rocky Mountain Haven story

Pregnant and abandoned, Victoria Archer’s focused on helping with her aunts’ foster outreach program—not finding love. But there’s something undeniably charming about Major Ben Adams. Certain he’s not suited for fatherhood, Ben’s searching for a loving home for his recently orphaned nephew. But could he, Victoria and her unborn baby be the little boy’s perfect family?

LOIS RICHER loves traveling, swimming and quilting, but mostly she loves writing stories that show God’s boundless love for His precious children. As she says, “His love never changes or gives up. It’s always waiting for me. My stories feature imperfect characters learning that love doesn’t mean attaining perfection. Love is about keeping on keeping on.” You can contact Lois via email, loisricher@gmail.com, or on Facebook (loisricherauthor).

Also By Lois Richer

Love Inspired

Rocky Mountain Haven

Meant-to-Be Baby

Wranglers Ranch

The Rancher’s Family Wish

Her Christmas Family Wish

The Cowboy’s Easter Family Wish

The Twins’ Family Wish

Family Ties

A Dad for Her Twins

Rancher Daddy

Gift-Wrapped Family

Accidental Dad

Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk

Meant-to-Be Baby

Lois Richer

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-1-474-08554-0

MEANT-TO-BE BABY

© 2018 Lois M. Richer

Published in Great Britain 2018

by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF

All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.

By payment of the required fees, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right and licence to download and install this e-book on your personal computer, tablet computer, smart phone or other electronic reading device only (each a “Licensed Device”) and to access, display and read the text of this e-book on-screen on your Licensed Device. Except to the extent any of these acts shall be permitted pursuant to any mandatory provision of applicable law but no further, no part of this e-book or its text or images may be reproduced, transmitted, distributed, translated, converted or adapted for use on another file format, communicated to the public, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.

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www.millsandboon.co.uk

Version: 2020-03-02

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Victoria’s hand touched her stomach fleetingly.

“You still haven’t told your aunts.” It wasn’t a question.

“Don’t,” she begged quietly, and when it seemed Ben would argue, she turned her attention to Mikey. “Very nice,” she encouraged, hugging his tiny body close for a second before he wiggled away.

“C’n I ski?” he asked suddenly. “’Cause a boy in church tole me he skis with other kids an’ he ’vited me. Maybe he could be my friend?” he said wistfully.

“What a good idea.” Victoria looked at Ben and found him studying her with an intensity that made her uncomfortable. “Don’t you think?” she prodded.

“Uh, yeah. Skiing. Sure.” Ben’s gaze held hers for a second, then settled on Mikey. “We could do that, I guess.”

Mikey ran around the room, cheering. Victoria stayed put, staring at her hands, unsettled by the expression she’d seen on Ben’s face and her response to it.

He was a great guy. She liked him a lot. But there could be nothing between them but friendship. She was going to be a mom.

And soon Ben would leave.

And we know that all things work together for good to them who love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

—Romans 8:28

Dear Reader,

Hi there! Welcome to The Haven, where God works things together to help His children. I love the Canadian Rockies. There’s something about those craggy peaks and teal-blue lakes that reminds me that God is far bigger and more powerful than I can imagine.

Victoria needed to return to The Haven to recover her faith and trust in God—and in love. It wasn’t easy, until she accepted that God loved her. Period. Not because she earned it but because God is love. Ben, too, struggled with acceptance of himself and his past failures. He feared parenting his nephew because he might fail again. It took him some time to realize that’s why God’s in charge.

I hope you’ll return to The Haven for Adele’s story. This good-natured chef wants a perfect family, but maybe perfect isn’t part of God’s plan for her life at all.

Blessings,

Lois Richer

This book is dedicated to Dorothea, who always believed God would make a way.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

About the Author

Booklist

Title Page

Copyright

Introduction

Bible Verse

Dear Reader

Dedication

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

Extract

About the Publisher

Chapter One

“We have to do something.” Victoria Archer cradled her mug against her cheek and surveyed her two younger foster sisters. “ This time , we were able to run home in time to help Aunt Tillie and Margaret clean up from that burst pipe. But what happens if— when —they have another emergency and none of us can make it back so fast?”

“It is January in the Canadian Rockies,” Adele agreed in a gloomy tone. “And they’re predicting a storm. If the aunties had an accident—”

“Or got sick.” The awful thought silenced Olivia for a moment. “So what do we do?”

“I need to think about it.” Victoria rose. “I’m going for a walk.”

“Still proving you’re tough enough to take whatever comes, huh?” Olivia shook her head. “Even the weather, Vic?”

“I always think better when I walk,” Victoria defended.

“Wait. How’d you get here so fast, Victoria?” Adele studied her intently. “You live in Vancouver. When we spoke two days ago, you were settling some issue with a hotel in Toronto. Suddenly today you’re here.”