Courageous Love: A Christian Romance Novel (The Hawaii Love Series, #1) (17 page)

“You see, it started with Athena, actually.” Michelle continued talking as they approached the wide front porch, walked over to the swing and sat down. Daniel followed, sitting down next to her, not wanting to miss the rest of the funnel cake story and not wanting to miss another moment of this exciting evening.

“Because Athena wouldn’t bond, we stayed awake all night trying to encourage her to interact with her foal. Athena gave birth around,” Michelle cocked her head to one side and put a finger on her chin, trying to remember. Daniel again felt a shock of electricity as long brown hair brushed against his arm. “3:30? I think it was around 3:30 in the morning. So, because it was so late by the time it was all done, maybe around 4:30 or 5:00,” Michelle went on, “it wasn’t quite time for breakfast, but we were all starving. So Kahili decided to make a treat. She wanted to make something quick and easy that could be eaten for a snack, like a doughnut. And she was out of all the ingredients. So instead of doughnuts, we got funnel cakes, which she fondly named Famous Foal Funnel Cakes.”

Michelle looked over to Daniel to see if he was still listening. His eyes were fixed on hers, and he just smiled. As the night air mingled with the sweet smell of Kahili’s cooking, their eyes locked and for a moment everything stood perfectly still. Michelle looked past the rugged exterior of this man, past his family history and uncertain future and glanced deep into his eyes. In that moment, she swore she saw his soul, a soul full of goodness, kindness and love. A soul of a strong, caring Christian man. She saw the soul of a righteous, God loving man and it touched her deeply.

In that same moment, Daniel looked past Michelle’s walls, past her fierce independence and cool distance. Instead, he saw the little girl inside her that still yearned for the good Christian man. He saw the scared, lonely woman who feared raising a child alone, and he knew that he was meant to be sitting with her on that porch swing at that very moment. He didn’t know why. But he knew that everything was exactly as it was supposed to be.

Michelle pulled herself free from his eyes, feeling scared and excited at the same time. “Anyhow, you sure did a great job.” She tried quickly to change the subject.

Daniel too felt the awkwardness of tumbling into Michelle’s eyes. “Thanks. It was really cool. You are very lucky that you got to experience ranch life. I would love to have been raised on a ranch instead of in the city.”

“Yeah,” Michelle laughed, relaxing a little more. “But you had the excitement of the city. The mainland has so much to offer that the islands don’t. I mean you could travel, go to the mountains, you got to see snow, ice skate, all that fun stuff that an island girl never gets to do.”

Daniel leaned back and looked up at the stars. “That’s true. I did get to experience a lot of that. But I never got to spend evenings breathing in air like this.”

“Well,” Michelle went on. “I guess we all long for what we never had.” The two sat in silence as the cicadas sang their sweet tunes in the background. “And, ranch life isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. I mean, I did have some great experiences. But I also had 4:00 a.m. feedings, stall cleanings, training, raising up ...”

Michelle stopped suddenly as she placed her hands on her flat stomach. “All the things that I will be doing again very soon ...” Her voice trailed off as she got lost in her thoughts.

Daniel knew immediately what she was talking about. But before he could say anything, Kahili’s voice cut through the silence. “Famous Foal Funnels are ready! Come and get them!”

The ranch hands appeared on the porch out of nowhere. They wiped their feet and headed into the house with Larry behind them. Larry stopped, looked over at Michelle then at Daniel. His expression was unreadable to Daniel, but he knew he better keep his distance from Michelle. The last thing Daniel wanted was to cause more trouble for her with her father. Besides, he was only here for a few more hours. He figured he could stay out of trouble at least ’til morning.

The family sat around the table in the dim early morning light. The sun was far from coming up, yet it cast a soft blue hue across the dark sky. Kahili had turned the lights on in the kitchen and the smell of freshly brewed coffee and hot tea welcomed Daniel and Michelle as they found their seats.

“Great job tonight, son,” said George, reaching across the table for a funnel cake. “First time, eh?” He smiled as his bright blue eyes twinkled. George placed the funnel cake on his plate and covered it with powdered sugar, picked up his steaming cup of hot coffee and brought it to his lips. Daniel marveled at how much this man looked like a farmer. He had the straw hat, the white hair and the deep creases of hard work and sun etched into his leathery skin. And yet there was a gentleness about him. Daniel looked from George to Larry and then to Michelle. He figured that gentleness must have skipped a generation.

“Thank you sir,” said Daniel, filling his coffee cup from the carafe on the table. He knew he had a bus to catch in just a few hours and figured coffee was probably not the best idea. But he didn’t care. He felt so comfortable, so at ease in this house and with these people. At least with most of these people.

“So, you’ve never been on a ranch before?” George went on, wanting to know more about this stranger in his granddaughter’s life.

“No sir,” Daniel said. “Never.” He didn’t want to share too much but George just stared, waiting for more information. “I’m an actor, not a farmer.”

After a little more prodding, Daniel filled George in on his family history, his career and how he ended up at Trinity Ranch. “So I’ll be heading back to Honolulu in the morning so I can get back to California.”

George watched Michelle as Daniel finished talking. She had been silently playing with her food the entire time. When Daniel finished talking, Michelle stopped picking at her cake and sat still. She kept her eyes on her plate while her head was lost in thought. She didn’t want Daniel to go. It was crazy, she knew. But she had enjoyed having him on the ranch.

She knew it would be hard coming back to Haleiwa, back to her home and especially her father. She knew it would be difficult facing her past and the uncertainty of her beloved grandmother’s future. But somehow, having Daniel here had made it easier. She was definitely physically attracted to him, there was no doubt about it. But Michelle knew it was more than that. She had felt so comfortable around him. She had opened up about her past, her fears and her pregnancy. And she had done it with ease. The only other person she had ever been able to talk to like that was God. And it had been a long time since she had been that honest and open with God. What was it Lilo had said to her in the hospital? Trust that God had the right man picked out for her already and that he will bring that man into her life?

Michelle lifted her eyes slowly toward Daniel. He sipped his coffee slowly as George watched them both. Maybe, just maybe Michelle thought, God
had
brought the right man into her life. And maybe he was sitting in front of her right now.

“Well,” George said, interrupting Michelle’s thoughts. “That’s a shame. There’s so much more to see her. Perhaps you’d reconsider.”

Daniel placed his cup on the table. “Oh, thank you, sir, but ...” he stalled, not wanting to offend George, Larry or Elizabeth. But especially, Daniel didn’t want to say anything to make Michelle think he didn’t want to stay. “Thank you, but I really do have to.” He paused as all eyes stared at him. “In fact, it’s getting late, I really should try to get an hour or two of sleep before I catch that bus.”

Daniel stood up from the table and thanked Kahili for her fine cooking and then thanked Larry and Elizabeth for their hospitality. He looked at Michelle and smiled. “Thank you, again, for everything,” he said sheepishly.

The rest of the family watched as Michelle looked up and smiled softly. “You’re welcome. Have a safe trip.” She looked back down at her plate and began playing with her food again as Daniel made his way upstairs.

After a few moments, Kahili and Mave began cleaning the dishes while Larry and Ano got ready to start another day on the ranch. Elizabeth and George stayed at the table with their coffee while the sun started peeking through the farmhouse windows.

Michelle rose from her seat, too tired to stay up any longer. “I’m gonna head back to bed for a while.” She walked around the table and kissed George on the cheek. “Goodnight Grandpa.” She went over to Elizabeth. “Please wake me when you are ready to go see Lilo. Goodnight Mother.”

Michelle walked over to Mave and Kahili and gave them each a kiss on the cheek, bidding them goodnight before she disappeared upstairs. The two women continued cleaning the dishes as George and Elizabeth sipped their coffee and smiled mischievously at each other. The sun beamed through the kitchen and caught the sparkle in both of their eyes as they nodded their heads silently in agreement, both thinking the same thing and knowing exactly what to do about it.

###

If you would like to find out what finally happens between Michelle and Daniel,

Click here to purchase book 2
Perfect Love

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T
hanks for allowing me the opportunity to provide a little hope in your search for love and some inspiration in your everyday life.  I hope you enjoyed
Courageous Love
and that it exceeded your expectations.  I would love to hear what you thought of it.  As an Indie author I depend on word of mouth to spread the word about my books and I would appreciate any comments you would like to make.

If you enjoyed this book, you may want to check out my other Christian Inspirational and Romance books by going to
http://KelseyMacBride.com
.

Kelsey MacBride