Patricia Davids - Love Thine Enemy

Cheryl relished the strength and the feeling of safety Sam’s embrace gave her. She rested against his tall, strong body, gathering comfort from his arms around her. It felt so right. She had promised to stay as long as Sam’s daughters needed her, but what on earth was she getting herself into?

She was so close to falling in love with this man. The earthy, masculine scent of him filled her with hopes and dreams she didn’t fully understand. The tender way he stroked her hair left her feeling strangely content. It would be so easy to let herself love him.

was born and raised in the farm and ranch country of central Kansas. As a tomboy with four brothers, Pat spent an idyllic childhood where horses, softball, church activities and books formed the foundations of her rich imagination. Today, Pat works as an R.N. in the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit), spoils her grandkids and tries to find time to write down the stories roaming around in her head. She is president of her local RWA chapter and believes that helping new writers learn the craft is the best way to repay the people who helped her. After seven years of writing, she sold her first book to Steeple Hill in June of 2004. Dreams do come true—as long as you chase after them with hard work, determination and faith.

A time to weep, and a time to laugh;

a time to mourn, and a time to dance.

—Ecclesiastes 3:4

With endless thanks to my critique partners,

Deborah and Theresa. You girls rock!

So many words—so little paper.

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

Letter to Reader

Questions for Discussion

Cheryl Steele planted her hands on her hips. “Angie, in order to attend your wedding, I have endured the wrath of my director, risked losing the best role of my career and traveled miles out of my way. At this moment, I’m very close to regretting all that effort.”

In the small dressing room at the back of an old stone church on the outskirts of Wichita, Kansas, Cheryl’s sister ignored her ire. “You will go out to the ranch, won’t you? For me?” Angie coaxed again. “It’s practically on your way.”

“It’s fifty miles out of my way.” Exasperated by her younger sibling’s persistence, Cheryl tried changing the subject. “Your veil isn’t straight. Let me fix it.”

“My veil is fine. You didn’t answer my question.”

“Yes, I did. Two dozen times in the past two days. The answer is, no! Now, hush.” Cheryl adjusted the veil then stepped back and gazed in poignant wonder at the vision in satin and lace before her.

“Well?” Angie demanded.

“You look…radiant…beautiful…. I don’t think I can find the right words. Jeff is a lucky man. I hope he knows it.”

A mischievous grin curved Angie’s lips. “He does. I tell him every chance I get.”

Cheryl chuckled. “I bet you do.”

Angie’s smile faded. “Please say you will go out to the ranch before you leave the state. For me. Consider it a wedding present.”

Cheryl sighed. “You don’t give up, do you?”

“Not when it’s important.”

“There’s nothing important about a few acres of grass and some rundown buildings in the middle of nowhere.”

“It was our home. Our family is there.”

“No! It was never a home after Mom died!” Cheryl shouted, then realized she was overreacting. She drew a deep breath and tried for a calmer tone. “I’m sorry. That ranch was the place we were stuck at until Cousin Harriet took us away. She gave us a home, and you are all the family I have left.”

Irritated by her sister’s persistence, Cheryl turned away and busied herself with the satin ribbons of Angie’s bouquet of fragrant yellow roses. “I don’t know why you keep harping on the subject.”

“Harriet wanted you to go back, Cheryl. It was the last thing she asked of you before she died.”

“I know.” Cheryl’s anger drained away replaced with an aching sense of loss. She owed everything to Harriet Steele.

The day their mother’s cousin had descended like a whirlwind to defy their grandmother and whisk both girls away from the ranch had been like something out of a fairytale. At first, Cheryl had been terrified their grandmother would come and take them back. But after a month in Philadelphia, Harriet had called Cheryl and Angie into her study and told them they were to live with her for as long as they liked. She had granted them an opportunity of a lifetime—a chance to live where no one knew them—where no one looked down on them—where no one hit them ever again.

And she gave Cheryl an even greater gift—the opportunity to study ballet. Harriet had passed away five years ago, a month before Cheryl debuted in her first major role, but Cheryl knew that every step she danced, every triumph she achieved in her career, she owed directly to that staunch, remarkable woman. Knowing that she had failed to honor the woman’s last request left a bruised place in her heart.

Cheryl glanced at her sister’s troubled face. This was Angie’s wedding day. She should be happy today. She deserved that and much more.

“Why is it so important to you?”

“Because I see that you need closure, even if you won’t admit it. You’re still hiding. You’re still afraid, and it isn’t healthy.”

“I’m not afraid.” Somehow, her words didn’t carry the conviction she had hoped for.

“Then you’ll go?”

“No.”

“Not even for me?”

With her sister’s disappointment so painfully clear, Cheryl found herself wavering. “It’s not like Doris would welcome me with open arms. Besides, if she didn’t care enough to come to your wedding, why should I make an effort to see her?”

“Grandma Doris is stuck in the past. She can’t…or won’t…move on with her life. Seeing you, perhaps gaining your forgiveness, it could help. As for Jake—”

“Stop it!” Cheryl’s anger came roaring back to life and she cut her sister off with a raised hand. “I don’t want to hear another word about those people. Not one word!”

Angie caught Cheryl in an unexpected quick hug. “Oh, Cheryl, where we come from is part of what makes us who we are. Changing your name didn’t change that.”

“Now you sound like a psychologist.”

Drawing back with a little laugh, Angie said, “That’s because I’m studying to become one, remember?”

“I thought you were going to treat kids. I’m twenty-six years old, sis. Four years older than you.”

Sadness settled over Angie’s features. “You may be older, but in some ways you are still a hurting little girl. I would go back and change things if I could. So much of it was my fault.”

Cheryl took her sister’s face between her hands. “Don’t ever say that. The blame belongs to Dad and Jake and Doris. They were the adults. You were a child.”

“You were a child, too.”

“I was old enough to know what I was doing. I don’t regret anything.”

“If that were true, you wouldn’t have cut yourself off from Grandma Doris and Jake after Dad died. You can’t let unresolved issues from the past ruin your life.”