The Deputy's Unexpected Family. Patricia Johns
Чтение книги онлайн.

Читать онлайн книгу The Deputy's Unexpected Family - Patricia Johns страница 2

Название: The Deputy's Unexpected Family

Автор: Patricia Johns

Издательство: HarperCollins

Жанр: Короткие любовные романы

Серия: Comfort Creek Lawmen

isbn: 9781474085557

isbn:

СКАЧАТЬ Reader,

      It’s hard to wait for blessings, isn’t it? We get impatient, and when we see others enjoying the blessings we pray for, it can be hard. In this book, Harper has to make her peace with the love and romance she wishes she had in her life in the face of her younger sister’s wedding.

      When my husband and I got engaged, we told our church family. There was a woman who was a few years older than me—a single mom. She threw her arms around me with a genuine hug, and she said, “I’m so happy for you! May God bless me, too!” That stuck with me, because she was so gracious, so lovely, so genuinely happy for the joy of others, and I thought, I want to be like her.

      It might not be easy, but I’ve made it a habit now that when others reach my goals before I do to say, “I’m happy for her! May God remember me, too.” Because I’ve learned that just because God has blessed one person, doesn’t mean His plans for anyone else have diminished.

      If you’d like to connect with me, you can find me on Facebook, Twitter, or on my blog, PatriciaJohnsRomance.com. I’d love to see you!

       Patricia Johns

      To my husband,

      my very own Happily Ever After. And to our son, who is old enough now that he really hates being left out of book dedications!

      Contents

       Cover

       Back Cover Text

       About the Author

       Booklist

       Title Page

       Copyright

       Introduction

       Bible Verse

       Dear Reader

       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

       Chapter Fifteen

       Epilogue

       Extract

       About the Publisher

       Chapter One

      Harper Kemp stood in the center of her disheveled shop, Blessings Bridal, gaping at the mess. She had arrived two hours before any of the other shops on Sycamore Avenue opened for the day, hoping to get a little paperwork done, but had walked into this.

      The front display window was edged in the sharp lace of broken glass and a chill autumn wind whisked into the shop. The cash register hung open, empty, and several voluminous gowns clung to the mannequins in tatters. Whoever had done this had slashed through the delicate material, leaving the floor littered with beads. The front display case had been smashed, and the velvet nests that once held tiaras, clasps, bejeweled belts and the like now lay vacant, peppered with glittering glass.

      Her heart slammed in her chest, and she pulled her ginger curls away from her face as she took it all in. Why hadn’t the alarm gone off when this happened?

      Comfort Creek was a small town with an inordinate number of cops roaming the streets due to a county-run sensitivity training course based in the town. It was supposed to be the safest community in Colorado due to their overabundance of officers patrolling the town while they completed their sensitivity training. Tell that to whomever had robbed her.

      “Oh, Lord...” It was a prayer, but she was still too stunned to know what to even ask for. She pulled her tortoiseshell glasses off her face and glanced down at her phone. She’d just called the police and given the pertinent information. They’d be here soon, she was assured. She ran a hand through her fiery curls. A few months ago, Harper got custody of her four-year-old goddaughter, Zoey, when her best friend, Andrea, died in a car accident, and she felt like she’d just found her footing again with a daughter to raise...now this.

      Harper stepped over the broken СКАЧАТЬ