Gifts of Love by Crystal Stovall

Author:Crystal Stovall
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2002-05-15T00:00:00+00:00

Too restless to sleep, Jessie woke before sunrise and silently shuffled to the kitchen from the garage apartment. After brewing a pot of strong coffee, she wandered from room to room sipping the hot liquid. As she often did in her own home, she puttered—she fluffed the sofa pillows, straightened a picture, moved a ceramic figurine from a higher shelf to a lower shelf and stuffed a dusty, faded arrangement of silk flowers into a closet. Standing back, she let her gaze slowly travel across the living room, satisfied with the subtle changes.

Home. With each day she stayed, David’s home felt more and more like her own. The thought of returning to her always tidy, serene house caused her to grimace.

Jessie knew one way to eradicate the self-pitying thoughts before they conquered her mind—baking. There was something about the bread process—mixing, kneading, rising—that somehow soothed her troubled mind and helped her gain perspective.

Detouring by the nanny’s apartment, she exchanged her fleece robe for a yellow T-shirt and jeans, then went directly to the kitchen. Pulling out a selection of David’s cookbooks—which, judging by their pristine condition, were seldom used—she went to work.

After narrowing her choices to a half-dozen bread recipes, including everything from English muffins to chocolate croissants to rosemary focaccia bread, Jessie pulled the necessary ingredients and mixing bowls from the cupboards and started to work on a loaf of cinnamon bread.

Humming along with a popular Christian music CD, she mixed and kneaded the warm, elastic dough. Finding the push-and-pull rhythm soothing, she continued past the buzz of the timer.

Oh, Lord, she began, praying with the rocking motion. Help me to see the big picture. Help me to see where my life is headed, and if I’ve strayed off track, guide me back to You.

Overcome with emotion, Jessie’s eyes dampened. Was it so wrong to want it all—a career and family? Compared to finding her one true love, building a successful business had been easy.

“Hey, what’s got you up before dawn?” Standing in the doorway, David wore a cotton shirt and sweat-pants. With his brown hair messy and his eyes droopy with sleep, he appeared as huggable as a treasured teddy bear.

Jessie quickly pressed the back of her flour-covered hands against her eyes to wipe away any stray tears, before meeting his gaze. “Bread,” she said, as if he should know exactly what she meant.

He raised his eyebrows.

“I’m baking bread,” she repeated.

David stepped into the kitchen and poured himself a cup of coffee. “I can see that. What I want to know is why you’re baking bread at this hour of the morning?”

“There’s no better time,” she said, ignoring his probing gaze. “I’ve got a busy day ahead. As soon as Isabel wakes up, I thought I’d feed and dress her, and then I need to spend a couple of hours at the office.” She paused. “I’m assuming that since it’s your day off, you won’t need me to watch her.”

“You bet. Isabel and I have big plans,” David said.

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