Renee Andrews - Finally A Bride

“Just friends” is just perfect

...until love finds her at Willow’s Haven

Her dreams of love haven’t worked out, but veterinarian Haley Calhoun intends to grant an orphaned boy’s wish. She’ll heal Eli’s injured puppy—while resisting his charming counselor, Gavin Thomason, at the children’s home. Still mourning the loss of his wife and baby, Gavin believes he can’t commit again. But in losing their hearts to Eli, will Haley and Gavin discover they’ve found the family they need?

RENEE ANDREWS spends a lot of time in the gym. No, she isn’t working out. Her husband, a former All-American gymnast, owns a gym and coaches gymnastics. Renee is a kidney donor and actively supports organ donation. When she isn’t writing, she enjoys traveling with her husband and bragging about their sons, daughters-in-law and grandchildren. For more info on her books or on living donors, visit her website at reneeandrews.com.

Also By Renee Andrews

Love Inspired

Willow’s Haven

Family Wanted

Second Chance Father

Child Wanted

Finally a Bride

Healing Autumn’s Heart

Picture Perfect Family

Love Reunited

Heart of a Rancher

Bride Wanted

Yuletide Twins

Mommy Wanted

Small-Town Billionaire

Daddy Wanted

Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk

Finally a Bride

Renee Andrews

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-1-474-08243-3

FINALLY A BRIDE

© 2018 Renee Andrews

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.

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www.millsandboon.co.uk

Version: 2020-03-02

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Delight thyself also in the Lord:

and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.

—Psalms 37:4

“I need to get back.”

She knew better. He didn’t need to get back; he needed to get away.

But she wasn’t giving up that easily.

“Today, you were an entirely different person when we drove to the farm, like someone I’d actually like to have as a friend. But then you were downright rude, and for the life of me, I can’t figure out why.”

If possible, his jaw clenched tighter. Then he closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the seat.

Haley had no idea if he was praying...or counting to ten.

Either way, he’d made her angry.

“Gavin, I’m volunteering my time for this program, and it’s going to be a lot of time, from what I can tell. Maybe I should ask if they can get someone else to work with me. If you don’t want to...”

“No, I want to do this. And what happened at the barn had nothing to do with you,” he growled, his tone filled with heated emotion.

How could she work with this bear of a man?

Dear Reader,

I’ve wanted to write Haley’s story for quite some time, from the moment she was introduced in Bride Wanted and again in Yuletide Twins. She was the classic “always a bridesmaid, never a bride.” I hope you enjoyed seeing her dream finally come true.

My goal for this story was to portray how much we need God in all of life’s circumstances, not only when people exceed our expectations, but also when they let us down. Haley had been hurt in the past. Gavin, too, losing everything he cared about in the span of a few hours. But life often disappoints. God never does.

As always, I welcome prayer requests from my readers. Write to me at Renee Andrews, P.O. Box 8, Gadsden, AL, 35902 or through my email at renee@reneeandrews.com and I will gladly lift your requests to our Heavenly Father in prayer.

If you would like to keep up with me, my family, my books and my devotions online, please sign up for my newsletter and join my Facebook page: www.Facebook.com/AuthorReneeAndrews.

Blessings in Christ,

Renee

This book is dedicated to

our youngest son, Kaleb Zeringue, and

his beautiful wife, Kaiyla Zeringue. May God

bless each and every day of your life together.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

About the Author

Booklist

Title Page

Copyright

Bible Verse

Introduction

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

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Epilogue

Extract

Chapter One

“Is he going to die?”

The little boy’s wailing question echoed down the hallway of Claremont Veterinary Services.

Her first day flying solo as Claremont, Alabama’s resident vet, and Haley Calhoun feared she was about to witness a little boy losing his best friend.

Why hadn’t Doc Sheridan waited one more day to retire?

She’d pray to God for guidance, but they weren’t exactly on speaking terms so she held that thought in check.

“Oh, dear, that doesn’t sound good, does it?” Mae Martin petted Snowflake, her finicky Turkish Angora, who was curled up on the exam table. The huge cat’s green eyes grew wide, as if she were extremely annoyed by the little boy’s cries.

“No, it doesn’t.” Haley hoped her sole employee, Aaliyah Smith, could assess and handle the situation long enough for her to complete Snowflake’s annual checkup. “Mrs. Martin, Snowflake is doing fine, other than the dry-skin issue. Aaliyah has the omega fatty acid supplement I recommended up front if you want to purchase that when you check out.” She delivered the statement as quickly as possible, since the cries from the lobby had turned into pitiful, sucking whimpers.