Laurel Blount - A Baby For The Minister

A minister with a heart of gold…

and a pregnant bride with no groom!

Jilted at the altar, Natalie Davis has no one she can turn to—until Jacob Stone steps in. The single minister’s drawn to the beautiful mommy-to-be and wants to help…even if it goes against his congregation’s wishes and could cost him his job. But when she refuses to accept charity, can he convince her she’s more than a ministry project?

LAUREL BLOUNTlives on a small farm in Middle Georgia with her husband, David, their four children, a milk cow, dairy goats, assorted chickens, an enormous dog, three spoiled cats and one extremely bossy goose with boundary issues. She divides her time between farm chores, homeschooling and writing, and she’s happiest with a cup of steaming tea at her elbow and a good book in her hand.

Also By Laurel Blount Booklist Title Page Copyright Introduction Dear Reader Bible Verse Dedication 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 Epilogue Extract About the Publisher

Love Inspired

A Family for the Farmer

A Baby for the Minister

Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk

A Baby for the Minister

Laurel Blount

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-1-474-08594-6

A BABY FOR THE MINISTER

© 2018 Laurel Blount

Published in Great Britain 2018

by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF

All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.

By payment of the required fees, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right and licence to download and install this e-book on your personal computer, tablet computer, smart phone or other electronic reading device only (each a “Licensed Device”) and to access, display and read the text of this e-book on-screen on your Licensed Device. Except to the extent any of these acts shall be permitted pursuant to any mandatory provision of applicable law but no further, no part of this e-book or its text or images may be reproduced, transmitted, distributed, translated, converted or adapted for use on another file format, communicated to the public, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.

® and ™ are trademarks owned and used by the trademark owner and/or its licensee. Trademarks marked with ® are registered with the United Kingdom Patent Office and/or the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market and in other countries.

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Her little son was absolutely perfect…

“He’s zonked. Our Ethan’s a great little sleeper.”

Our Ethan. A fresh wave of confused longing rose up in Natalie, painful feelings she had no idea what to do with.

“You’ve been sleeping pretty well yourself.” Jacob smiled at her. “I’m glad. You earned it.”

“You must be pretty exhausted, too.”

Dark circles shadowed his eyes, but when their glances met, he offered her another easy smile.

“Don’t worry about me. Not the first night I’ve spent at the hospital. Besides, I had the easy job.” His tired smile widened. “You were the superhero.”

“Not me.” Natalie shook her head. “I was scared to death.”

“That’s what makes it amazing. You pushed through the fear and pain with everything you had. It was one of the bravest things I’ve ever seen. Nope,” he said as Natalie started to speak. “No arguing. I was there. I saw it. Give yourself some credit, Natalie. You’re way stronger than you seem to think.”

Dear Reader,

Hello! I’m so glad you found your way to Pine Valley, Georgia. If you read my first book, A Family for the Farmer, then we’re old friends! If not, I’m so pleased you let me share A Baby for the Minister with you. Come sit down at the kitchen table, let me pour you a cup of tea and we’ll get ourselves acquainted!

I’m a Georgia girl, so I feel right at home in this small town! It was wonderful to revisit some of the characters from my first story, and I enjoyed helping bachelor Jacob Stone find his very own happy ending. And I don’t think the good pastor has anything to complain about, do you? After all, he didn’t just end up with a beautiful bride, but he got an adorable baby son to boot!

Getting to know Natalie was a delight, too. She’s a brand new Christian, still sorting through the mistakes of her past—and she’s had some unfortunate church-related experiences that make her leery of Jacob’s kindness. But with the help of the Good Lord (along with a bossy church secretary and a rambunctious billy goat), she and Jacob overcome all the obstacles to their happily-ever-after.

This story was such fun to write that I hope these old Georgia back roads lead me to Pine Valley for another visit or two. In the meantime, I’d love to hear from you! Drop me a line at laurelblountwrites@gmail.com or come look me up on Facebook. I’m always ready for a chat!

Laurel

For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over

and gone; The flowers appear on the earth;

the time of the singing of birds is come, and the

voice of the turtle is heard in our land.

—Song of Solomon 2:11–12

For my beloved parents-in-law, Lamont and Annette Blount, whose kindness, integrity and strength bless all who know them, and whose real-life love story is more inspiring than any I could ever write.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

About the Author

Booklist

Title Page

Copyright

Introduction

Dear Reader

Bible Verse

Dedication

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

Epilogue

Extract

About the Publisher

Chapter One

Pastor Jacob Stone strode down the carpeted halls of the unfamiliar church, hoping he was headed in the right direction. He’d told the nervous bridegroom he’d be back in five minutes, and he was way past that deadline now. “My notes for the budget meeting are in the blue folder, Arlene. Keep looking.”

“Good gracious, Jacob, this desk is like a landfill.” He could hear rustling through his cell phone as his elderly secretary rummaged through stacks of paper. “No wonder you can’t keep track of anything. Okay, I’ve found the folder. What am I supposed to do with it?”

“Make copies and take them to the conference room.” Jacob checked his watch. “Then just sit in for me until I get there. I shouldn’t be more than twenty minutes late. Twenty-five, tops.”

“ Five minutes late would be too much.” Arlene made a tsking sound. “You’re already on thin ice with Digby Markham because you skipped out on his businessmen’s luncheon last week. I really don’t see why you agreed to do this wedding. It’s not even at our church.”