The Rancher's Redemption by Myra Johnson

Author:Myra Johnson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2019-02-05T19:27:02+00:00

* * *

Kent sat in his pickup for several long minutes after the parking lot had cleared. He’d come to church this morning mainly to keep his word to Erin. Never in a million years had he expected the service to affect him so profoundly. Called or not called, God is present, Erin had quoted the first time she’d shared a meal with him. Now it felt like God was doing the calling, and it scared Kent silly. He’d certainly surprised himself when he’d asked about meeting with the pastor, but it seemed like the next logical step. All these years of pretending he didn’t need to talk about Afghanistan—worse, pretending he didn’t need God—and all it had taken to crack his armor was the faith of one caring and beautiful woman.

Careful, Ritter. You just might be falling for the girl.

That was a puzzle for another day. As his dad always said, best not to put the cart before the horse. Kent needed to get his own life in order before he brought anyone else into it—especially Erin and her sweet little daughter. When Avery had taken his hand this morning, he’d almost lost it for real. He could still feel the tender compassion in the touch of those tiny fingers.

With a loud sniff, he worked on pulling himself together. Not a good idea to keep his hostess waiting. Besides, several hours had passed since his 5:00 a.m. bowl of cereal before morning chores. He felt like he could almost smell Erin’s ham and sweet potatoes from here.

When he parked in her driveway a few minutes later, Greg and the young woman Erin had introduced as her niece, Taylor, were sneaking around the front flower beds hiding eggs.

Greg ambled over, a basket handle draped over his arm. “Just in time. We could use some help.”

“Sure.” Whipping off his hat, Kent had Greg transfer as many colored eggs as the upturned crown would hold.

As he concealed his last egg at the base of the mailbox post, Erin stepped onto the porch. Her face lit up when she saw him. “Dinner’s on the table, guys. Let’s eat first, and Avery can have her egg hunt afterward.”

“All this for one little girl?” Kent smirked as he followed Greg and Taylor up the porch steps. Meeting Erin’s gaze, he added, “I have to admit, she’s a pretty special kid.”

“I think so, too.” Erin’s eyes said so much more than her words.

So she’d noticed his reaction in church. He checked himself to see how he felt about it and realized he was amazingly okay.

“Hurry up, Aunt Erin,” Taylor called from the dining room. “I’m starving!”

Erin showed Kent to the table. “Avery begged for you to sit next to her.”

“It’d be my pleasure.”

Nearly an hour later, with his stomach on the verge of exploding, Kent still couldn’t bring himself to refuse a second slice of blueberry pie. As Erin refilled his coffee cup, he looked up with an appreciative smile. “If you ever tell my mother I said so, I’ll deny it to my dying day, but your cooking beats hers by light years.

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