A Love Surrendered (46 page)

Love,
Your very proud parents

Gabe’s lips trembled when the second sheet—the signed adoption document—fluttered to her lap, and with a choked sob, she shot into Patrick’s arms. He pulled her onto his lap
and tucked her close while she wept like a baby, eyes moist as Marcy wept along.

“Hey, squirt—we’re finally related,” Luke said, redness rimming his eyes and Katie’s.

“I call dibs on the first sisters’ pajama party at my house with all the girl cousins,” Faith shouted, prompting a roar of approval from the little girls in the room.

Gabe sat up, her awestruck gaze wandering the room while Marcy handed her a handkerchief. “Wow . . . this means you’re my sisters now, doesn’t it?” A glint of mischief lit in her eye. “Which means . . . ,” she leveled a smirk at Henry, “you have to call me Aunt Gabe.”

“Noooooooo . . . ,” Henry moaned, burying himself in the sea of trash.

“I think plain ol’ Gabe will be just fine, darlin’,” Patrick said, tilting her chin. He angled a brow. “Don’t you?”

“Uh . . . yes, sir,” Gabe said with a shy smile, so out of character that Marcy grinned.

Patrick shook his head and laughed. “Sweet saints, Gabriella Dawn,” he bellowed, “if I’d known adoption was going to change you this much, I’d have done it years ago.” His gaze shifted to Marcy, thinning into a stern tease. “And don’t say one word, Marceline.”

She kissed his cheek while Gabe sprang up to join the cousins on the floor. “Not even ‘I love you and you’re the most amazing man and father on the planet’?”

He grunted, his smile veering into a quirk. “No, darlin’,
that
you can say,” he whispered, brushing her lips with his own.

“Time for dessert and games?” Gabe tossed a paper wad at Henry while her “sisters” rose to pick up trash.

“After cleanup,” Faith said with a chuckle, collecting discarded paper and bows.

Marcy started to rise and Faith nudged her back. “Oh no you don’t—you two sit right there while the men pick up trash and we sisters oversee kids and dessert.” She waved a
hand toward the roomful of people. “Makes me tired just thinking about what you two started, so you need the rest.”

“Amen,” Patrick said with a chuckle, tucking Marcy close as the room cleared out. His sigh blew warm against her skin. “Faith’s right, darlin’, just look at what we started.”

She wrapped her arms to his waist, moisture blurring the Christmas tree into a haze of brilliant lights. “It’s hard to believe, Patrick, isn’t it? It doesn’t seem so very long ago that you and I were like Steven and Annie, poised to embark on the greatest adventure of our lives.” Her blissful sigh matched his. “A wonderful journey from the hand of a wonderful God.”

“Indeed,” Patrick said with a kiss to her cheek. “I shudder to think of such a journey without him, Marceline. He’s been our strength and our peace through many a trial, not to mention a world war, near death, and agonies of the heart only he could heal.”

“A threefold cord is not quickly broken,” she whispered, thinking of all the times she and Patrick had cleaved to God for their strength over the years. A touch of melancholy stole into her thoughts. “Patrick?”

“Yes, darlin’?”

“It’s been such a wonderful year . . .” She swallowed hard, unbidden tears suddenly springing to her eyes. “I . . . almost don’t want it to end.”

He shifted to face her, still able to flutter her stomach with the look of love in his eyes. “Yes, a wonderful year is over, Marceline, closing another chapter in our lives,
but
 . . .” He gave her a lingering kiss, and she tasted all the sweetness of the years when his mouth caressed hers. “We have a family of children who love us, a houseful of grandchildren who need us, and a God who’ll never forsake us. All in all . . . ,” his mouth trailed to hers, mingling with the salt of her tears, “it’s not an end, darlin’ . . . ,” he whispered, his words warm with promise. “Only a new beginning . . .”

T
o my incredible reader friends—when I count my blessings as an author, YOU are right at the top! It’s a privilege and joy to be both your friend and an author you read.

To Erica Hogan, Ashley Roberts, Carol Moncado, Emily Reilly, Kayla Hughes, and Eileen Jo Legat—winners of my contest to have a character named after them in this book—thank you, not only for your boundless enthusiasm and support, but your precious friendship.

To the Seekers—sisters all—when it comes to talent, humor, and support, you ladies rock!

To my agent, Natasha Kern, and my editor, Lonnie Hull Dupont—two of God’s many touches in my life—thank you for your faith in me.

To the great team at Revell, thank you for your patience and support—you guys are THE BEST!! Especially Cheryl Van Andel and Dan Thornberg for another great cover and Barb Barnes and Julie Davis, both of whom possess endless patience and a true talent for spit and polish.

To my prayer partners and best friends, Karen, Pat, and Joy—what a touch from God you are in my life!

To my aunt Julie; my mother-in-law, Leona; and my sisters, Dee Dee, Mary, Pat, Rosie, Susie, Ellie, and Katie for your love and prayers; and to my sisters-in-law, Diana, Mary, and Lisa—I am blessed to call you family.

To my daughter, Amy, my son, Matt, and daughter-in-law, Katie—true examples of God doing abundantly, exceedingly more than I ever hoped, thought, or prayed. I love you guys!

To my husband and best friend, Keith—
my
Patrick O’Connor—thank you for giving me my own personal romance novel on which to base Marcy and Patrick’s marriage. As Marcy says to Patrick midbook, I would be lost without you.

Julie Lessman
is an award-winning author whose tagline of “Passion With a Purpose” underscores her intense passion for both God and romance. American Christian Fiction Writers 2009 Debut Author of the Year and winner of 14 RWA awards, Julie Lessman was voted #1 Romance Author of the year in
Family Fiction
magazine’s 2012 and 2011 Readers Choice Awards, #1 Historical Fiction Author, #3 Author, #4 Novel, #3 Series, and Booklist’s 2010 Top 10 Inspirational Fiction. Julie resides in Missouri with her husband, daughter, son, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter. You can contact her through her website at
www.julielessman.com
, where you can also read excerpts from each of her books.

T
HE
D
AUGHTERS OF
B
OSTON

A Passion Most Pure

A Passion Redeemed

A Passion Denied

W
INDS OF
C
HANGE

A Hope Undaunted

A Heart Revealed

A Love Surrendered

Website:
www.revellbooks.com/signup

Twitter:
RevellBooks

Facebook:
Revell