The Awakening (13 page)

“It’s not that easy to get her child back. For God’s sake, it’s Christmas Eve tomorrow. It can’t be done,” the senator whispered.

Laura patted his hand, glancing at Caroline and Todd as she spoke. “You’ll find a way to make it happen. I have faith in you.” She turned when she glimpsed Andy, with Laura in tow, making his way toward her. “Excuse me. I need to congratulate the bride and groom. Oh, and Caroline, I expect that you’ll welcome her into your family.”

Caroline’s smile faltered, and she pushed through the crowd, excusing herself. Todd stood with the senator when Andy approached.

“Dad, Senator, meet my wife, Laura.” Andy wrapped his arm around Laura’s trembling shoulder, and he pulled her closer when Todd reached for her hand and kissed it. She yanked it away, and Todd strode off.

The senator’s face was a stony mask. “If you’ll excuse me, I have a call to make.”

Alexis stepped in and hugged Andy. He held her and then kissed her cheek. “How can I ever thank you? What you did… Alexis, I’m sorry I never expected you to help the way you did. You’re a true angel.”

She patted his arm and then reached out and touched Laura, who was standing off to the side awkwardly. “A mother and a child should never be separated,” she said.

When Alexis glanced at Andy, he saw something in that one look that resembled a profound sadness. Then it was gone. This time, when she looked at Laura and Andy, she smiled.

“You two look great together. And don’t you worry, Laura. Your son will be home tomorrow. But I have a plane to catch in the morning, so if you’ll excuse me, I need to go pack.”

Laura stopped her just as she tried to squeeze past. “Alexis, I’ve never had anyone do anything to help me, not like this. Thank you.”

Alexis patted her shoulder and made her way to the stairs, which she hurried up.

“Come on, I know you’re hungry. Let’s grab something eat.” Andy held Laura’s hand, guiding her to the dining room, where food covered the table. He dished up a plate for both of them and found them a quiet spot off the sunroom to eat in peace. The party was still in full swing when Andy led her upstairs to his room. He closed the door, and she hesitated just inside the bedroom. When she looked up at him, it wasn’t fear that he saw, but innocence. He strode toward her and slid his hands down her side, and then he led her into his large en suite.

“I want you to relax. Have a bath. There’s a nightgown for you to put on—I asked Jules to find it.” He gestured to the stacked fresh towels and a plain white nightgown, and then he left, pulling the door closed behind him.

Half an hour later, she opened the door and walked sheepishly out, holding her hands in front of the fabric. She glanced at the bed and blushed. “Which side would you like?”

“The left,” he said, and he watched her walk around and slip under the duvet, pulling it up. He smiled to himself. Of all the women he’d had, he had never in a million years imagined himself with someone this inexperienced.

Andy undressed and slipped in under the sheet. He moved on his side and hooked an arm around her waist to pull her firmly back into the cradle of his body. He felt her tension ease; she touched his hand, which rested on her stomach over her nightgown.

“This is really nice.”

“Go to sleep,” he said, feeling the tension build. God knew he would have loved to roll her over onto her back to seduce her, to feel her warmth. He could do it easily, but he wanted the decision made by her consciously, not because he knew how to stoke her fire.

She turned to face him. “When you showed up at Diana and Jed’s and asked me to marry you, I thought you were joking. Then I thought it was pity, and I did it to get Gabriel back. But I don’t want to be a burden. Or the other woman.”

He touched her lips with his, a slow, deep kiss. She touched his shoulders as he slid his hand down her stomach, to her hip and her thigh. She sighed, and he deepened the kiss as he slid up her nightgown and caressed her bare buttocks. She moaned and pressed her bottom against his hand. He couldn’t wait much longer, and he rolled her over onto her back, resting above her on his forearms. “This will be a real marriage, and you’ll be the only woman.”

Laura never dreamed she’d have a husband, let alone a man who looked at her the way Andy Friessen had. She felt hope, love, something she had never dreamed. With each touch, he taught her what it was like to be a woman. With each kiss, he had her feeling things she had never thought possible, and when she took him in her body, he completed her. Now, as he held her in the dark, she knew he’d do anything for her.

Chapter Twenty-Three

“We never finished any formal assessment, but here’s the preliminary information from a pediatrician who assessed Gabriel. He lists it all in there, but basically he notes a serious developmental delay, an inability to establish and maintain relationships with his peers, a serious delay in language development. He plays by himself, gets agitated, and screams in fits, and his foster parents were unable to comfort him. We can only assume how long the mother’s ignored this.” James Hill, the social worker, handed the manila envelope to Andy.

“You take a child away from his mother and stick him with a bunch of strangers in some shack that’s barely liveable, with how many other kids in the system, locking him in a bedroom—all that behavior sounds pretty normal to me.” Andy controlled his rage, but he didn’t much like how the social worker alluded to Laura as an unfit mother. “Wow, maybe you should ask yourself how and where a single mother who struggles to feed her kid, to shelter her child, and then work herself to the bone is going to afford any medical help—let alone get it. She didn’t have your resources, but you can bet she now has mine. I’ll make damn sure both are taken care of. But, Mr. Hill, please don’t ever make the mistake of judging my wife again.”

Andy waited for the social worker to leave, and he shut the front door behind him. He turned to join his wife and her son in the library, but he stopped when he spotted Aida outside the room, smiling at Laura, who was on her knees beside the Christmas tree with Gabriel beside her, playing with the train that circled the track. Gabriel stared at the mountains of gifts wrapped with shiny bows and paper that glittered. Andy moved beside Aida, and when she gazed up at him, there were tears in her eyes. For the first time ever, she smiled at him, showing her crooked teeth, and then patted his arm. “Merry Christmas, Andy, and bless you and your family. You did right by her. You did right, bringing a mother and child together. You take of her and Gabriel.”

“Oh, I will. I care for her.” He didn’t look at Aida but felt his heart leap when Laura glanced up and met his gaze in a private moment that was theirs alone, a glimmer of peace and hope in her eyes.

“Oh, I think you more than care for her. Her, too. Love lives there.” She patted his chest where his heart was. “You may not realize it yet, but you’re building something deep and meaningful that will last a lifetime.”

The old cook walked away.

“Merry Christmas, Aida, and thank you.”

She paused for a second and glanced over her shoulder, giving him an amused smile. “There’s hope for you yet, Andy Friessen,” she said, and then she retreated into the kitchen.

Andy joined his wife and stepson on the floor beside the tree. He kissed the top of her head, and when she smiled up at him with those glimmering green eyes and Gabriel reached out and took his hand, grinning with innocence and such love, Andy knew that he’d been given the greatest gift.

Thank you so much for reading
THE AWAKENING
.

If you enjoyed
THE AWAKENING
,
then I’d love to ask you a favor and have you go back
to
Amazon
and provide a
n honest
review
.

Authors live and die by their reviews
,
so the few extra seconds it takes you
to leave a review
really help
s
us authors out.

Although this book and all my books have been edited and proofed, editors, proofreaders and I are all human. If you spot a typo, please email me at
[email protected]
and let me know. Also, I would like to thank everyone who has emailed and told all their family and friends about my books. And if you’d like to know more about my other books please scroll to the next section or visit my website at www.LorhainneEckhart.com
.

All the best,

Lorhainne Eckhart

The Forgotten Child, The Friessen Legacy Series, Book 1

#1 Bestseller in Westerns

If you enjoyed Walk the Right Road Series then be sure to check out Lorhainne Eckhart’s Bestselling Western Romance,
The Forgotten Child

How do you tell a man there is something wrong with his child?

Praise for
The Forgotten Child
…

From Romance Junkies

Lorhainne Eckhart proved herself yet again by pulling you in with a heartfelt story and keeping your attention with the passion that fills the pages. This is by far one of the best books I have read.

Page Turner!! ... Brad is just sick with worry over losing Emily and Katy but has he lost them forever?? You definitely have to read this book to find out. I was hooked from the first page to the last. Excellent!!

Louise Jolly, Bookaholic

Lorhainne Eckhart is a new author to me, but she is definitely going on my list of authors' books to lookout for because she turned my world and emotions upside with this compelling, realistic story of heartache and unconditional love between a man and a woman, a man and his son, and a woman and a little boy who she quickly grows to love.

~BlackRaven's Reviews

READERS FAVORITE 5-Star Review: A real page turner … with a fast moving plot. A must read!

Reviewed by Brenda C. for Readers Favorite

Overview:

Emily Nelson, a courageous young mother, ends a loveless, bitter marriage and strikes out on her own. She answers an ad as a cook and live-in caregiver to a three-year-old boy on a local ranch. Ranch owner Brad Friessen hires and moves in Emily and her daughter. But Emily soon discovers something’s seriously wrong with the boy, and the reclusive, difficult man who hired her can’t see the behavior and how delayed his son is. So Emily researches until she stumbles across what she suspects are the soft signs of autism. Now she must tell him, give him hope, and help him come to terms with this neurological disorder—to take the necessary steps to get his child the help he needs.

As their lives become intertwined, their attraction is unavoidable—a connection sparks between them. But just as they’re getting close, Brad’s estranged wife, Crystal, returns after abandoning the family two years earlier. Among the shock and confusion is one disturbing question Brad can’t shake: How does Crystal know so much of his personal business, the inner working of the ranch, and Emily’s relationship with his son?

Crystal must’ve had a plan, as she somehow gains the upper hand, driving a wedge in the emotional bond forged between Brad, Emily, and the children. The primary focus for care and therapy of three-year-old Trevor is diverted. The lengths to which Crystal will go, the lies, the greed, just to keep what’s hers, are nothing short of cold and calculating. Emily’s forced out of the house. Brad fights to save his boy, to protect what’s his, and struggles over his greatest sacrifice—Emily, and the haunting question: Has he lost her forever?

To download a sample or purchase
The Forgotten Child
simply click
here
.

A Baby And A Wedding,
Book 2

A Friessen Legacy
Bridge
Short Story