Leona Karr - Rocky Mountain Miracle

She was thoughtful for a moment. “I guess I’ve been waiting to fall in love with a man my soul could love.”

He fell silent. What could he say? Her words completely disarmed him, and he couldn’t bring himself to make light of her admission. Her sincerity was without question. She would never marry lightly, or hold back any of herself. The man who captured her heart would have to be someone worthy of that love. He swallowed hard. “You deserve the best, Allie. Don’t settle for anything less.”

A native of Colorado, the author has always been inspired by God’s magnificence, and she delights in using mountain valleys, craggy cliffs and high, snow-tipped peaks as a setting for many of her books. She began writing professionally in 1980 and has enjoyed seeing more than thirty of her romance books in print. The theme of “love conquers all” is an important message in all her stories.

Even though Leona contracted polio the year before the vaccine was approved, the blessings in her life have been many. “Wheeling and dealing” from a wheelchair, she has helped raise four children, pursued a career as a reading specialist and recently, after being widowed for five years, found a new love and soul mate in her own “Love Inspired” marriage. She strives to write stories that will enrich the spiritual lives of those who read them, and is grateful to the many readers who have found her books filled with warm, endearing characters like those in Rocky Mountain Miracle.

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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For I know the plans I have for you, saith the Lord, plans for good and not for evil, to give you a future and hope.

—Jeremiah 29:11

With love to my husband, Michael, my friend, sweetheart and beloved soulmate

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

Letter to Reader

Thick stands of ponderosa pine trees hugged a narrow mountain road winding upward into the Colorado Rocky Mountains. Allie Lindsey’s hands tightened on the steering wheel as her thoughts raced ahead.

A few miles more and she’d be meeting Scott Davidson again for the first time in nearly six years. When they were both in high school, the two of them had spent the summer as teenage counselors in a youth church camp, and Allie had had a crush on the good-looking young man. She smiled inwardly as she remembered an adolescent kiss that had sent her heart pounding on the last night at camp.

After that summer, Allie had lost track of Scott when he and his younger brother, Jimmy, quit coming to Colorado to spend summers with their divorced father, and instead remained in California with their mother. But now Scott was back. Allie gave her chin a determined lift and mentally braced herself for the confrontation with him that lay ahead. As she navigated the twisting road in her blue Chevy she went over in her mind once again the events of the day before.

“What do you mean, we have to cancel the church camp?” Allie had stared at the church secretary as if she’d suddenly taken leave of her senses. “You can’t mean it, Harriet.”

The older woman sighed, “I’m afraid so.”

Allie couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She’d stopped by the church to help with last minute preparations for the summer camp only ten days away. For months, the junior youth group had been raising money to spend two whole weeks in the Colorado Rockies at a place called Rainbow Camp. Anticipation was like a live wire sending sparks in every direction as twenty boys and girls, ages eight to twelve, prepared for the June camp.

Allie was a middle school counselor for Denver public schools, and she knew how important this outing was for some of the city kids. Although they lived in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains, most had never camped out beside a mountain brook, breathed pine-scented air or sang songs around a dancing campfire.

“We got this in the mail today.” Harriet handed her a letter.

Allie’s greenish-blue eyes widened in disbelief as she read it. Mr. Sam Davidson who owned the land and buildings that had been used by churches and charity groups for years had recently died. His son Scott was cancelling all summer reservations in lieu of making preparations for selling the mountain property. Allie remembered Scott’s father, Sam Davidson, as a generous soul who was extremely patient with the hordes of young people who flowed in and out of his camp all summer.

“Apparently Mr. Davidson passed away several weeks ago but no one notified us,” she added. “I guess the lawyers were waiting to see what his son was going to do. And now we know,” Harriet said with a tightening of her lips. “I just talked to Reverend Hanson on the phone. He’s out of town attending a regional conference in New Mexico, and won’t be back until next weekend. He knows that at this late date there’s no chance of finding other accommodations, so he says to break the news as gently as we can.” Harriet looked at Allie hopefully. “Maybe you’re the one to do it. I mean, with your background and all.”

“Oh, sure.” Allie shoved a long strand of honey-brown hair behind her ear. “I know exactly how to break a bunch of kids’ hearts.” She read the letter again, and then straightened her shoulders. “Well, I suppose it has to be done.”

Breathing a prayer that she would handle the situation as well as possible under the circumstances, Allie walked slowly down the stairs to a full-length basement room used for all kinds of church activities.

As she approached the door, she could hear Lily Twesbury’s voice enthusiastically describing various wildflowers to be seen in mountain meadows and along the riverbeds. “We’ll have lots of fun hiking all over the place, and making our own nature books to bring back home.”

Some of the kids clapped and cheered, sending daggers straight into Allie’s heart. As inconspicuously as she could, Allie slipped to the back of the room. As she stood there, looking at the circle of children sitting on the floor, her eyes settled on Randy Cleaver’s dark head.

Randy was a ten-year-old boy who had been on the streets most of his life because of a home situation with alcoholic parents. Allie knew the boy from escapades that had sent the wiry little troublemaker to her counseling office at school. Randy was tough as nails. A real handful. Just recently he’d been put in a foster home with church-going guardians who thought that sending him to church camp might help straighten him out. Now that hope was down the drain.

She had been the one to convince the boy that he ought to give summer camp a try, but she wasn’t sure he’d agreed for the right reasons. A city kid, raised in one of the toughest neighborhoods, Randy showed little appreciation for wildflowers and nature studies. But he’d been surprisingly cooperative when it came to washing cars in order to earn money for the outing. She hated to think how he might act out his disappointment.