Tina Leonard - A Father's Vow

Isabella Trueblood made history reuniting people torn apart by war and an epidemic. Now, generations later, Lily and Dylan Garrett carry on her work with their agency, Finders Keepers. Circumstances may have changed, but the goal remains the same.

Lost

One twin. Ben Mulholland desperately needs a bone marrow donor to save his little girl, Lucy. The brother Ben never knew he had is Lucy’s best, maybe only, chance. If he can just track him down...

Found

The miracle of hope. Caroline St. Clair has loved Ben forever and she’ll do whatever it takes to ensure he doesn’t lose his precious daughter. In the process, old wounds are healed and flames of passion reignited. But the future is far from secure.

Finders Keepers: bringing families together

“I can’t wait any longer to dance with you,” Ben murmured.

Carolyn drifted into his arms. Pressing her face against his shoulder, she said, “How many times have you called to check on Lucy?”

He laughed, and they moved to the music, a seamless union of man and woman. “Only once, thank you. She wants me to bring her a flower from the bride’s bouquet.”

“I’ll go snatch one before Lily tosses it to the crowd.”

Ben framed her face with his hands and looked into her eyes. “Don’t go away, Carolyn. I have a confession to make.”

She stared, lost in his suddenly serious expression. “I’m listening.”

“The thought occurred to me that this could have been us if we’d gotten married.” He leaned to brush his lips against hers. “I guess what I’m trying to say is, you’ll always be part of my soul.”

“Ben, don’t,” she said quickly, “because I—I’m—”

He put his chin against her forehead, holding her close. “Only putting up a brave front?”

Dear Reader,

I was immediately intrigued when I was asked to participate in the TRUEBLOOD, TEXAS series, because A Father’s Vow deals with the issue of how much a father is willing to do for his child.

And isn’t that a central theme that plays through most of our lives? I love the guardian aspect of a father’s role in his child’s life. In this romance we get to see Ben Mulholland’s strengths—and even get a peek at his desperation and fragility—as he takes the role of front-and-center player in his daughter’s life.

As readers, we love to meet and read about big, strong men who fight so hard for their kids! Ben Mulholland is based on real-life fathers I have seen. There’s the dad who shows up in his suit after work, holding a younger baby in his arms, while he coaches soccer. Or the one who works two jobs so that the bills are paid. The dad who mentors and takes the time to lay his hands across another child’s shoulders to say, “I’m here for you.”

Hopefully, I’ve captured the meaning that a father has in his child’s life in this book. I hope you enjoy it. Please visit me at www.tinaleonard.com and let me know!

Love,

Tina Leonard

www.millsandboon.co.uk

THE TRUEBLOOD LEGACY

THE YEAR WAS 1918, and the Great War in Europe still raged, but Esau Porter was heading home to Texas.

The young sergeant arrived at his parents’ ranch northwest of San Antonio on a Sunday night, only the celebration didn’t go off as planned. Most of the townsfolk of Carmelita had come out to welcome Esau home, but when they saw the sorry condition of the boy, they gave their respects quickly and left.

The fever got so bad so fast that Mrs. Porter hardly knew what to do. By Monday night, before the doctor from San Antonio made it into town, Esau was dead.

The Porter family grieved. How could their son have survived the German peril, only to burn up and die in his own bed? It wasn’t much of a surprise when Mrs. Porter took to her bed on Wednesday. But it was a hell of a shock when half the residents of Carmelita came down with the horrible illness. House after house was hit by death, and all the townspeople could do was pray for salvation.

None came. By the end of the year, over one hundred souls had perished. The influenza virus took those in the prime of life, leaving behind an unprecedented number of orphans. And the virus knew no boundaries. By the time the threat had passed, more than thirty-seven million people had succumbed worldwide.

But in one house, there was still hope.

Isabella Trueblood had come to Carmelita in the late 1800s with her father, blacksmith Saul Trueblood, and her mother, Teresa Collier Trueblood. The family had traveled from Indiana, leaving their Quaker roots behind.

Young Isabella grew up to be an intelligent woman who had a gift for healing and storytelling. Her dreams centered on the boy next door, Foster Carter, the son of Chester and Grace.

Just before the bad times came in 1918, Foster asked Isabella to be his wife, and the future of the Carter spread was secured. It was a happy union, and the future looked bright for the young couple.

Two years later, not one of their relatives was alive. How the young couple had survived was a miracle. And during the epidemic, Isabella and Foster had taken in more than twenty-two orphaned children from all over the county. They fed them, clothed them, taught them as if they were blood kin.

Then Isabella became pregnant, but there were complications. Love for her handsome son, Josiah, born in 1920, wasn’t enough to stop her from grow-ing weaker by the day. Knowing she couldn’t leave her husband to tend to all the children if she died, she set out to find families for each one of her orphaned charges.

And so the Trueblood Foundation was born. Named in memory of Isabella’s parents, it would become famous all over Texas. Some of the orphaned children went to strangers, but many were reunited with their families. After reading notices in newspapers and church bulletins, aunts, uncles, cousins and grand-parents rushed to Carmelita to find the young ones they’d given up for dead.

Toward the end of Isabella’s life, she’d brought together more than thirty families, and not just her orphans. Many others, old and young, made their way to her doorstep, and Isabella turned no one away.

At her death, the town’s name was changed to Trueblood, in her honor. For years to come, her simple grave was adorned with flowers on the anniversary of her death, grateful tokens of appreciation from the families she had brought together.

Isabella’s son, Josiah, grew into a fine rancher and married Rebecca Montgomery in 1938. They had a daughter, Elizabeth Trueblood Carter, in 1940. Elizabeth married her neighbor William Garrett in 1965, and gave birth to twins Lily and Dylan in 1971, and daughter Ashley a few years later. Home was the Double G ranch, about ten miles from Trueblood proper, and the Garrett children grew up listening to stories of their famous great-grandmother, Isabella. Because they were Truebloods, they knew that they, too, had a sacred duty to carry on the tradition passed down to them: finding lost souls and reuniting loved ones.

Tina Leonard is acknowledged as the author of this work.

Many thanks to Marsha Zinberg and Susan Sheppard, who helped me make this book the best I could make it.

Also, my sincere thanks to Peggy Hoffmann (aka Kate Hoffmann), without whom I’m pretty sure I would never have been able to write this story. Thanks, Peggy—it was fun!

And to my kids, Lisa and Dean, who are patient with their never-Betty-Crocker mom. I love you.

Contents

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN