Lois Richer - Perfectly Matched

Safe Haven

Former model Shay Parker has come home to Hope, New Mexico, seeking refuge from the nightmares that haunt her. Then she runs into childhood friend Nick Green. Rugged former football star Nick is the only one who makes Shay feel safe again. But he’s dealing with problems of his own, and Shay is more than willing to help care for his orphaned niece and aging mother. When Nick suddenly makes plans to leave Hope for a new job, what will become of the trust they’ve built? Can they look beyond the pain of their scarred pasts to trust the healing power of love?

“I used to love coming up here.”

Ahead of them stars twinkled and glittered like diamonds tossed onto a black velvet quilt. Nick kept his grip on Shay’s hand, just to make sure she was okay.

In truth, standing there with her, sharing this moment made his own breathing uneven. Beautiful Shay, so near he wanted to draw her into the protection of his arms, and ensure she knew she never had to fear again. But that would betray her trust in him. Besides, though he was her friend, he had no future to offer this wonderful woman.

Nothing more than friendship.

“Our star show is starting. See that?” She pointed upward, tracking a meteor as it flew across the sky. “And that. It’s like God is lighting the sky especially for us.” Shay’s eyes blazed with excitement.

She tilted her head sideways to rest it on his shoulder for a brief moment before she stepped away. “You’re the best friend I ever had, Nick.”

LOIS RICHER

began her travels the day she read her first book and realized that fiction provided an extraordinary adventure. Creating that adventure for others became her obsession. With millions of books in print, Lois continues to enjoy creating stories of joy and hope. She and her husband love to travel, which makes it easy to find the perfect setting for her next story. Lois would love to hear from you via www.loisricher.com, loisricher@yahoo.com or on Facebook.

Perfectly Matched

Lois Richer

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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Who then can ever keep Christ’s love from us? When we have trouble or calamity,

when we are hunted down or destroyed, is it

because He doesn’t love us anymore? And if we

are hungry, or penniless, or in danger, or

threatened with death, has God deserted us? No.

—Romans 8:35

Contents

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

Epilogue

Dear Reader

Questions for Discussion

Excerpt

Chapter One

“I hurt, Uncle Nick.”

“Aw, I’m sorry, sweetheart.” Nick Green tenderly shifted the weight of the little girl clinging to his neck as he stepped into the hospital hallway. “Is that better, honey?”

Maggie sighed and laid her head on his shoulder. “It’s okay.”

It was so not okay that a five-year-old accepted pain as part of her world. A blaze of anger seared his insides, quickly joined by uselessness and frustration. One drunken driver had inflicted so much pain on Nick’s family, leaving Maggie bereft of her parents and physically damaged. Not only had she sustained a host of internal injuries, but her legs had also been crushed in the accident. She’d endured many surgeries but she still couldn’t walk.

“You did very well with the doctors, darlin’,” he encouraged. “Now let’s go get some ice cream.” He needed it, to wash away the aftertaste of their unappetizing hospital lunch.

“Nick?” A voice with faint vestiges of an English accent made him stop.

“Yeah?” He turned around and blinked at the woman striding down the hall toward him. The hair gave her away—a glorious tumble of copper-colored waves and curls. But if the hair hadn’t done it, the famous emerald-green eyes in that heart-shaped face would have. He grinned. “Shay Parker’s back in town.”

“I always told you I would be back. But what are you doing here in Hope?” Shay tapped him playfully against the chest, her smile dazzling him. “You insisted Seattle was your home, yet here you are in New Mexico, and with such a beautiful lady.” Shay touched a finger to the end of the little girl’s tipped-up nose. “Who is this?”

“This is my niece, Magdalena. We call her Maggie.”

“Hello, Maggie. I’m Shay.” She held out a slender hand for the child to shake.

“Hi.” Maggie kept her hands tucked around Nick’s neck. But she did risk a smile before shyly pressing her head into her uncle’s shoulder.

“Maggie and I are going for ice cream,” Nick explained. “Want to join us?”

He knew she would. For as long as he’d known Shay, she’d never been able to resist ice cream. They’d met when they were twelve, the year she’d moved with her dad from England. When their friend Jessica had died, their shared grief had turned into a close friendship. Taller than most of their classmates, they’d played basketball, picked pecans on her grandfather’s farm and gone together to their senior prom. Shay had become an ardent supporter of Nick’s football prowess, and she’d actually encouraged his love of inventing and tinkering with machines while most of their peers scoffed.

And yet, as Nick studied her now, he realized he’d never fully appreciated her exquisite beauty. Pretty stupid considering Shay Parker had gone on to become a world-class model.

“I’d love some ice cream, Nick. I can hardly wait to get out of this place.” Shay glanced down the hospital hallway and faked a shudder.

“Us either. But why you?” Curious, Nick walked outside beside her.

“I need a break. I’ve been jumping through hoops to get privileges at this hospital,” she joked, touching the unblemished skin at her throat. “They act like physiotherapists are criminals.”

“It’s probably a security thing. I imagine they’re trying to be extra careful given the number of people the new mine is drawing into town.” Nick stopped at his truck, which was sheltered under a huge mesquite tree, the only one in the lot that had already bloomed. He’d managed to snag this shady spot by arriving for Maggie’s appointment with the traveling neurologist before sunrise. “Want to ride with us?” He glanced around. “I don’t see that red dream-mobile you always talked about owning,” he teased. “Change your mind about getting a convertible?”

“I think I’m beginning to. My car is in the shop. Again. So, yeah, a ride would be great.” Shay paused a moment to study the splashes of green dotting the desert landscape. “Don’t you just love the desert in spring?”

“April’s nice, yeah.” Nick paused a second to look around then focused on fastening Maggie into her booster seat before he held the front door open for Shay.

“It’s wonderful to walk around Hope freely, not like in the big city where you have to be on guard all the time,” she murmured, glancing around the parking lot.

Nick frowned. If Shay felt so safe here, why was she looking over her shoulder like that?