Marta Perry - Mission - Motherhood

Steve studied her, frowning a little. He remembered her well, even though she’d been three years behind him in school. Maybe she’d stood apart because of the fierce ambition she’d shown even then.

She’d used that single-minded determination of hers to take the big city by storm. From what he could see, apparently she’d made it, despite all the obstacles there must have been for a girl from Texas with no money.

And now, Caitlyn Villard had grown into a beauty—if you liked women who were sophisticated, even icy. But the important thing wasn’t how she looked. What was crucial was whether she could be a mother to her twin nieces.

Homecoming Heroes: Saving children and finding love deep in the heart of Texas

Mission: Motherhood—Marta Perry (LI#452)

July 2008

Lone Star Secret—Lenora Worth (LI#456)

August 2008

At His Command—Brenda Coulter (LI#460)

September 2008

A Matter of the Heart—Patricia Davids (LI#464)

October 2008

A Texas Thanksgiving—Margaret Daley (LI#468)

November 2008

Homefront Holiday—Jillian Hart (LI#472)

December 2008

has written everything from Sunday school curriculum to travel articles to magazine stories in more than twenty years of writing, but she feels she’s found her writing home in the stories she writes for Love Inspired.

Marta lives in rural Pennsylvania, but she and her husband spend part of each year at their second home in South Carolina. When she’s not writing, she’s probably visiting her children and her six beautiful grandchildren, traveling, gardening or relaxing with a good book.

Marta loves hearing from readers, and she’ll write back with a signed bookmark or her brochure of Pennsylvania Dutch recipes. Write to her c/o Steeple Hill Books, 233 Broadway, Suite 1001, New York, NY 10279, e-mail her at marta@martaperry.com, or visit her on the Web at www.martaperry.com.

Special thanks and acknowledgment to Marta Perry for her contribution to the Homecoming Heroes miniseries

Bear one another’s burdens,

and so fulfill the law of Christ.

—Galatians 6:2

This story is dedicated to the Love Inspired sisters

who worked on this continuity series—

Lenora, Brenda, Pat, Margaret and Jillian.

And, as always, to Brian, with much love.

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

Epilogue

Questions for Discussion

It had taken ten years in New York City to eliminate all traces of Texas from Caitlyn Villard’s voice. It took only a week in Prairie Springs to bring it back again.

Had she really just said y’all to the kindergarten teacher and her own twin nieces? Caitlyn stepped out into the courtyard of the Prairie Springs Elementary School. She was greeted by a blast of air hot enough to wilt her hairstyle and melt the makeup from her face.

“Um, ma’am?” The warm drawl came from above.

She looked up. A lanky man clung to the top of a wooden stepladder, a paint can in one hand and a dripping brush in the other. “You might want to move out of range a bit.”

“Sorry.” She took a few steps away, standing under the shade of the roof overhang. She had obviously forgotten just how hot Texas was in July.

Through the window she could see into the room where Amanda and Josie sat at a round table with Sarah Alpert, who was assessing their readiness to start kindergarten in September.

That was still two months away. By the time the twins started school, she would be back in New York, picking up the threads of her interrupted life. Back on the fast track to partner at Graham, Graham and Welch, one of the Big Apple’s most prestigious law firms. This interval in Texas, helping her mother cope with the aftermath of her sister’s death, would be a memory.

“You brought the girls in for their first taste of kindergarten, did you?”

Caitlyn blinked, as startled as if the spindly potted shrub next to the door had made a personal remark. The painter had descended—tall, lanky, wearing the scuffed boots, blue jeans, western belt and ball cap that were almost a uniform here.

“I beg your pardon?” It was a tone designed to freeze unwelcome attention.

“The twins,” he said, as if she was a bit slow on the uptake. “I bet they’re excited about starting kindergarten in the fall.”

His eyes, intensely blue in a lean, tanned face, now held amusement. They also seemed vaguely familiar.

“I’m sorry. Do I know you?”

“Well, now, I reckon I’m just not as memorable as I thought I was.” He didn’t look as if he believed that, in spite of the aw-shucks expression he wore. He tipped the ball cap politely. “Steve Windham. Prairie Springs High School. Ring any bells?”

She had to dredge through memories she’d happily buried a long time ago. “Steve Windham. I guess so. You were a senior when I was a freshman, I think.”

Actually she knew, but she didn’t intend to pander to the man’s self-conceit. He looked far too pleased with himself already.

She let her gaze wander over what had to be at least six feet or more of solid muscle. Steve had been the star athlete of his class, and he still looked it. He’d been the valedictorian, too, and probably voted most likely to succeed.

“That’d be about right,” he agreed. “That was way too many years ago, I guess.”

“And after high school you became a housepainter, did you? I thought I remembered that you had an athletic scholarship to one of the big schools.”

That was typical of Prairie Springs. People just settled down to live the way their folks had, instead of getting out into the world and making a mark. Being a painter was fine, if that was what you really wanted, but it was hard to believe someone with Steve’s intelligence and talent hadn’t had any bigger goals.

Steve’s right eyebrow cocked, giving him a quizzical look. “I don’t guess there’s anything wrong with painting. It’s an honest day’s work. So what did Ms. Caitlyn Villard turn out to be?”

She hadn’t meant to insult the man, and realized maybe she had been a little judgmental. It wasn’t any of her business how Steve Windham spent his life.

“I’m an attorney in New York.”

That eyebrow lifted a little higher. “Only now you’re back in Prairie Springs. Going to practice law here, are you?”

She hoped the horror she felt at his suggestion didn’t show on her face.

She managed what she hoped was a polite smile. “You’ll have to excuse me. I think the teacher is ready for me to come back in.”

He nodded, still with that faintly amused grin on his lips.

She hurried away, aware that he stood there staring after her, with his thumbs hooked nonchalantly in his belt.

Get out of Prairie Springs. That had been her only goal back in high school.

Well, now she’d come full circle. Getting out of Prairie Springs was her only goal now.

Sarah Alpert, the kindergarten teacher, gave Caitlyn a welcoming smile as she reentered the classroom. A slim, fine-boned redhead, she seemed to exude warmth, and her casual jeans and shirt made the situation feel less formal for her young prospective students.