Dana Corbit - An Unexpected Match

Haley stared at Matthew. “I’m really sorry for letting Lizzie—I mean Elizabeth—miss her nap.”

“It’s not just that,” Matthew countered. “It’s everything.”

She waited for him to list her infractions, but he didn’t, so she could only guess that there were many. “I know I’m a bit…unconventional…”

“To say the least.”

Haley swallowed. “I can do better. I’ll do things your way. I need this job.” She needed Elizabeth, too. It was probably pitiful to admit it, but she never felt more valued than she did by a child who needed her care.

“I’m sorry, Haley. I don’t think—”

“But I love her, Matthew.”

He opened his mouth to say something, then closed it. Haley studied him, waiting. Had she said the one thing that would make a difference?

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started telling “people stories” at about the same time she started forming words. So it came as no surprise when the Indiana native chose a career in journalism. As an award-winning newspaper reporter and features editor, she had the opportunity to share wonderful true-life stories with her readers. She left the workforce to be a homemaker, but the stories came home with her as she discovered the joy of writing fiction. Winner of the 2007 Holt Medallion competition for novel writing, Dana feels blessed to share the stories of her heart with readers.

Dana lives in southeast Michigan, where she balances the make-believe realm of her characters with her equally exciting real-life world as a wife, carpool coordinator for three athletic daughters and food supplier for two disinterested felines.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

—Romans 15:13

To my nieces Alyssa, Christine, Jennifer, Stephanie, Elizabeth, Margaret and Catherine, and nephews Joel, Matthew, Ethan and Eyan, some of whom already have been bitten by the writing bug. Never be afraid to tell the story of your heart. And to Mike Waltersdorf and the whole gang at Biggby Coffee in Novi, Michigan, for cheering me on while I was writing on deadline and making sure the vanilla lattes were nice and hot.

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

Epilogue

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

“Is there a Haley Scott here?”

Haley glanced through the storm door at the package carrier before opening the latch, letting in some of the frigid March wind.

“That’s me, but not for long.”

The blank stare the man gave her as he stood on the porch of her mother’s new house only made Haley smile. In fifty-one hours and twenty-nine minutes, her name would be changing. Her life, as well, but she couldn’t allow herself to think about that now.

She wouldn’t attribute her sudden shiver to anything but the cold, either. Not with a bridal fitting to endure, embossed napkins to pick up and a caterer to call. Too many details, too little time—and certainly no time for her to entertain her silly cold feet.

“Then this is for you.”

Practiced at this procedure after two days back in her Markston, Indiana hometown, Haley reached out both arms to accept a bridal gift, but the carrier turned and deposited an overnight letter package in just one of her hands. Haley stared down at the Michigan return address of her fiancé, Tom Jeffries.

“Strange way to send a wedding present,” she murmured.

The man grunted and shoved an electronic signature device at her, waiting until she scrawled her name.

As soon as she closed the door, Haley returned to the living room and yanked the tab on the envelope. From it, she withdrew a single sheet of folded notebook paper.

Something inside her suggested that she should sit down to read it, so she lowered herself into a floral side chair. Hesitating before she unfolded the note, she glanced at the far wall where wedding gifts in pastel-colored paper were stacked. Her stomach tightened as she read each handwritten word.

“Best? He signed it best?” Her voice cracked as the paper fluttered to the floor. She was sure she should be sobbing or collapsing in a heap, but she only felt numb as she stared down at the offensive piece of paper.

The letter that had changed everything.

“Best what?” Trina Scott asked as she padded into the room with fuzzy striped socks on her feet. “Sweetie?”

Haley lifted her gaze to meet her mother’s and could see concern etched between her carefully tweezed brows.

“What’s the matter?” Trina shot a glance toward the foyer, her chin-length brown hair swinging past her ear as she did it. “Did I just hear someone at the door?”

Haley tilted her head to indicate the sheet of paper on the floor. “It’s from Tom. He called off the wedding.”

“What?” Trina began but then brushed her hand through the air twice as if to erase the question. “That’s not the most important thing right now, is it?”

Haley stared at her mother. A little pity wouldn’t have been out of place here. Instead of offering any, Trina snapped up the letter and began to read. When she finished, she sat on the cream-colored sofa opposite Haley’s chair.

“I don’t approve of his methods.” She shook the letter to emphasize her point. “And I always thought the boy didn’t have enough good sense to come out of the rain, but I have to agree with him on this one. You two aren’t right for each other.”

Haley couldn’t believe her ears. Okay, Tom wouldn’t have been the partner Trina Scott would have chosen for her youngest daughter if Trina’s grand matchmaking scheme hadn’t gone belly up. Still, Haley hadn’t realized how strongly her mother had disapproved of her choice.

“No sense being upset about my opinion now,” Trina told her. “I kept praying that you’d make the right decision, but I guess Tom made it for you. Now we have to get busy. There are a lot of calls to make.”

Suddenly, tears that had been slow in coming were pouring down Haley’s cheeks. Humiliation made her skin burn. How could she stand in front of the church and announce that her wedding had been canceled? But her problems went beyond embarrassment over a ceremony that wouldn’t happen and gifts that would need to be returned.

“Oh, Mom. What am I going to do? I quit my job. I gave up my apartment. I was supposed to move into Tom’s place right after the wedding.”