Felicia Mason - Sweet Accord

Matt glanced at her. “Uh-huh. Unless you flip the script.”

“And how would I do that?”

“Surprise me,” he said, opening his arms wide. “Do something unexpected and surprise me.”

Haley took the steps that put her in front of him, and stared him straight in the eye. This close, Haley could see that the shade of blue was more like a cloudless sky.

“Matt Brandon, I was truly blessed by the hymn you sang this morning. Thank you for that.”

His eyes widened and darkened. And then, taking advantage of the opening she’d presented, he kissed her.

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. LI, Yorktown, VA 23692.

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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Sing to the Lord a new song,

And His praise in the assembly of saints….

Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.

—Psalms 149:1, Psalms 150:6

Dear Reader,

Thank you for reading Sweet Accord. I hope you were in some way blessed by Matt and Haley’s story. I’ve wanted to write it for some time.

This is my first Love Inspired novel. It’s set in Oregon because I fell in love with that part of the country during several trips there. If I’ve made any errors, blame it on my head and not my heart. The town of Wayside and its history are fictional, but the details about the settlers who came to the Northwest following the Lewis and Clarke Expedition are true.

I hope to return to Wayside, and I hope you’ll take the trip with me. In the meantime, the next time you listen to Christian radio or a CD, I hope Matt and Haley will come to mind.

If you’d like to write, I’d love to hear from you. I can be reached at P.O. Box 1438, Dept. LI, Yorktown, VA 23692.

Blessings to you,

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

Epilogue

Landing the job at Community Christian Church had been easy. Convincing some of the dyed-in-the-wool traditionalists that hand clapping and foot stomping wouldn’t guarantee them a one-way ticket to hell was another matter entirely.

Matt knew he’d face resistance.

He just didn’t expect it to come from a twenty-seven-year-old blond beauty. From across the table he watched Haley Cartwright shoot down every one of his ideas. Of course, she did it with such grace and sweetness he could almost forgive her the interference. Almost.

“When we lift our voices in song, particularly praise song,” she said, “the melody should be one that would make angels weep.”

Translation: That raucous noise you call music will be sung in here over my dead body. Matt had to smile. The lady had a way with words.

“I don’t see anything funny about this impasse, Mr. Brandon.”

“Call me Matt,” he said. Again.

Everyone else had quickly done so. Well, everyone who supported him.

Tall and softly rounded, Haley Cartwright was what his grandmother would call a big-boned gal. Matt preferred to call her pretty. But right now, she was doing a fine job of frustrating him.

“And no, there’s nothing funny about this.” His gaze took in the other seven people at the table. “I’ve been hired to direct the choir. That’s my job.”

An arched eyebrow rose over big brown eyes. She’d apparently picked up the not at all subtle message that since he was doing his job, she should do hers.

“Many of the young people in this church are also in my Sunday school classes,” she said. “To see them influenced—”

“Haley, I think Matt has a point.”

All eyes turned toward the man at the head of the table who’d quietly taken in every point of the debate.

Haley’s shoulders slumped at the pastor’s words. Matt bit back a grin. Having an ally had its merits, especially when the ally was Cliff Baines, the shepherd of the Community Christian flock. Since Reverend Baines declared this round a draw, Matt couldn’t really claim a personal victory. But he’d won and that meant an inch in his favor in the tug-of-war with Haley.

“However,” Reverend Baines said.

“However?” Matt echoed.

Across the table, Haley folded her arms and glared at him, but a flare of triumph danced in her eyes.

The pastor nodded at them both. “I think a compromise is in order. Introducing some of Matt’s ideas into the service will be good for us. He’s right. That’s why we hired him. Community Christian needs a good dose of fire every now and then.”

Matt resisted the urge to poke out his tongue in a “so there” gesture at Haley.

“However, taking it slow will be better than turning the worship experience completely topsy-turvy.”

“I think that’s an excellent idea, Reverend Baines,” piped in Mrs. Gallagher.

Eunice Gallagher, church clerk, pastor’s secretary and all-around terrific lady, had been in Matt’s corner from day one. If now though, after an hour’s worth of wrangling, she advocated a compromise position, Matt knew enough to heed the warning.

It galled him to say it, but he offered a concession he knew would appease them. “I can jot down the lyrics of the compositions so you can review them if you’d like.”

“Well, that’s a terrific idea, but I don’t think that—”

Reverend Baines held up a hand. “Deacon Worthington, we’ve been up and down this road already. And we do have other agenda items today. I don’t think it’s necessary to have lyrics approved by council. This is, after all, a church. And we’re of one accord on the gospel.”

Matt gave a huge internal sigh of relief. The last thing he wanted to do was write music by committee. And with this committee, the church council, his chances of getting anything approved ranged from slim to none. The church council consisted of Reverend Baines, Eunice Gallagher, Haley who directed the Sunday school, the heads of the deacon and trustee boards and two at-large members of the church. As the newly hired choir director, Matt represented the newest blood on the staid council.