Cheryl Wolverton - A Father's Love

Cover Page

Excerpt “What did you feed them for lunch?” Kaitland demanded. She set Maddie down and gathered Bobby to her. “Cookies,” Max quietly admitted. “And milk.” “That’s all?” Kaitland’s eyes widened. “They seemed to like it,” he added defensively. Cradling a child in each arm, Kaitland shook her head. “It’s nap time. I need to put them down, and then we’ll talk about their schedule.” “Their schedule? You make them sound like army recruits.” “You really don’t know anything about babies, do you?” Max ran a weary hand through his hair. “You know I don’t But I’ve sent for someone from the agency at the church. They’ve assured me that…” His eyes suddenly narrowed. “Which brings me back to my original question, Kaitland. What are you doing here?” “Surprise,” Kaitland said brightly. “I’m the new nanny.”

About the Author CHERYL WOLVERTON Growing up in a small military town in Oklahoma where she used to make up stories with her next-door neighbor, Cheryl says she’s always written, but never dreamed of having anything published. But after years of writing her own Sunday school material in the different churches where she’s taught young children, and wanting to see more happy endings, she decided to give it a try and found herself unable to stop. Seeing so many people hurting, afraid to reach out and accept God’s forgiveness, inspired her to begin writing stories about God’s love and forgiveness in romances, because, she says, “We can’t truly have happily ever after, if we don’t have that happily-ever-after relationship with God, too.” Cheryl now lives in a small Louisiana town and has been happily married for fifteen years. She has two wonderful children who think it’s cool to have a “writing mama.” Cheryl would love to hear from her readers. You can write to her at P.O. Box 207, Slaughter, LA 70777.

Title Page A Father’s Love Cheryl Wolverton www.millsandboon.co.uk

Epigraph Trust in Him in all things. Pour out your heart before Him. God is our refuge. — Psalms 62:8

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

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Three

Acknowledgments

Dear Reader

Copyright

“What did you feed them for lunch?” Kaitland demanded.

She set Maddie down and gathered Bobby to her.

“Cookies,” Max quietly admitted. “And milk.”

“That’s all?” Kaitland’s eyes widened.

“They seemed to like it,” he added defensively.

Cradling a child in each arm, Kaitland shook her head. “It’s nap time. I need to put them down, and then we’ll talk about their schedule.”

“Their schedule? You make them sound like army recruits.”

“You really don’t know anything about babies, do you?”

Max ran a weary hand through his hair. “You know I don’t But I’ve sent for someone from the agency at the church. They’ve assured me that…” His eyes suddenly narrowed. “Which brings me back to my original question, Kaitland. What are you doing here?”

“Surprise,” Kaitland said brightly. “I’m the new nanny.”

Growing up in a small military town in Oklahoma where she used to make up stories with her next-door neighbor, Cheryl says she’s always written, but never dreamed of having anything published. But after years of writing her own Sunday school material in the different churches where she’s taught young children, and wanting to see more happy endings, she decided to give it a try and found herself unable to stop.

Seeing so many people hurting, afraid to reach out and accept God’s forgiveness, inspired her to begin writing stories about God’s love and forgiveness in romances, because, she says, “We can’t truly have happily ever after, if we don’t have that happily-ever-after relationship with God, too.”

Cheryl now lives in a small Louisiana town and has been happily married for fifteen years. She has two wonderful children who think it’s cool to have a “writing mama.” Cheryl would love to hear from her readers. You can write to her at P.O. Box 207, Slaughter, LA 70777.

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Trust in Him in all things. Pour out your heart before Him. God is our refuge.

— Psalms 62:8

The shrill cries woke him.

Multimillionaire bachelor Max Stevens rolled over in bed and listened.

It couldn’t be the television since his twin brother, Rand, and Rand’s new wife, Elizabeth, were on an extended honeymoon. Besides, the sound of the TV wouldn’t reach his suite of rooms.

None of the staff at the house he shared with his brother would dare turn on a TV while on duty. And gauging from the sky’s pale light it was probably about 6:00 a.m.

Cats, he decided. Despite the gardener’s attempts, strays had obviously gotten onto the grounds again and were fighting. Max pushed himself up in bed, the silk sheet sliding down his chest and pooling at his waist. It looked as if he would have to break up the fight himself since he could still hear the noise down on the patio.

Swinging his bare legs over the edge of the bed, his toes sank into the lush tan carpet. He slid his feet into slippers and grabbed his silk robe, shrugging it on over his paisley shorts. He doubted anyone was up yet. However, in a house this size, he could never be certain of not running into the staff. It was safer to stay decently covered.

As he walked to the balcony, he rubbed a weary hand over his face. This was not how he liked to be awakened early in the morning. He had a hard day of work ahead of him. Stevens Inc. was planning two more store openings across the country and with Rand gone, all the extra work fell to Max. Not that he begrudged Rand his vacation for a moment. Rand had been in a tailspin after losing his wife, Carolyn, almost two years ago. Blind and bitter, it had taken his occupational therapist, Elizabeth, who was now Rand’s wife, to lead him back to the living. Eventually, Rand’s sight improved and he began working at the office. Max had been grateful for Rand’s help again. He wholeheartedly approved of his brother’s extended honeymoon before coming back to work full-time. Max had held down the fort for over a year, what difference did a few extra months make?

Still, it would’ve been nice to have been done with his morning devotions and prayer before this interruption. His whole day would feel off-kilter now.

Padding down the balcony stairs, Max followed the wrought-iron railing around the curve to the patio below. But when he turned the corner, he stopped and stared in stunned amazement

“Sarah!” It was his housekeeper’s fault. It had to be. “Sarah, where are you!”

He continued to stare, rooted to the spot until he heard hurried footsteps. “Oh, mercy,” the housekeeper said.

Her gasp told him he’d been wrong. “Do you have grandkids?”

“Certainly not. You know my husband and I wouldn’t keep that a secret.” She stood by him and stared too.