Whatever Tomorrow Brings (The Californians 1)

LORI WICK

T H E CALIF O R N I A N S

This book is dedicated to my parents, Harland and Pearl Hayes, whose life together began in the Hawaiian Islands. Thanks Dad and Mom for the years of love and support, in times of laughter and in times of tears. I think the world of you both.

Other Books by Lori Wick

A Place Called Home Series

A Place Called Home

A Song for Silas

The Long Road Home

A Gathering of Memories

The Californians

Whatever Tomorrow Brings

As Time Goes By

Sean Donovan

Donovan's Daughter

Kensington Chronicles

The Hawk and the Jewel

Wings of the Morning

Who Brings Forth the Wind

The Knight and the Dove

Rocky Mountain Memories

Where the Wild Rose Blooms

Whispers of Moonlight

To Know Her by Name

Promise Me Tomorrow

The Yellow Rose Trilogy

Every Little Thing About You

A Texas Sky

City Girl

English Garden Series

The Proposal

The Rescue

The Visitor

The Pursuit

The Tucker Mills Trilogy

Moonlight on the Millpond

just Above a Whisper

Leave a Candle Burning

Other Fiction

Sophie's Heart

Pretense

The Princess

Bamboo & Lace

Every Storm

White Chocolate Moments

The Taylor and Donovan Families-1871

The Taylor Family-

William Taylor

Wife-Mabel (May)

Children-Marshall Riggs (Rigg)

Jeffrey Taylor

Gilbert Taylor

Nathan Taylor

The Donovan Family-

Patrick Sean Donovan II (Patrick)

Wife-Theresa

Children-Kaitlin Donovan

Patrick Sean Donovan III (Sean)

Marcail Donovan

Maureen Donovan Lawton Kent-sister to

Patrick Sean Donovan II

Percy Lawton-Son to Maureen Kent

one

Hawaii-January 1871

Kaitlin Donovan smiled as the mid-morning sun hit her full in the face. She'd slipped from her shoes and stockings while hiking among the trees and now, as she moved toward that hot globe in the sky, her toes sank into the pure smooth sand of the beach. She walked until she was just short of the Pacific Ocean waves that lapped in easy rhythm at the shore.

The seemingly endless horizon stretched before her and the wonder of it, a wonder that never waned, made the breath catch in her chest. Kaitlin was content to stand and stare for a long minute before she walked a lazy path down the shore line.

Coming to the beach always brought her thoughts to God in a very special way. Today was no different. The vast expanse of water made her think of His overflowing love and the sand beneath her feet reminded her of a verse in Psalms that said God's thoughts of her were as numerous as those tiny grains.

Some 50 yards up the beach Kaitlin stopped her tour of the shore line and looked once again out to sea. The rest of the world felt so far away and, in actuality, it was. But it was more than just the miles, of this she was positive, even though her remembrance of a home before this one was vague.

Her parents sometimes spoke of their life before the mission but until recently none of what they said had been of much interest to Kaitlin. She couldn't imagine living anywhere else and she believed herself to be content, but there was a restlessness rising within her that she'd never experienced before. It was both confusing and exciting, as if something special was about to happen. But she couldn't think of what that something might be so there was never any relief from those restless feelings when they occurred. She prayed and tried to place her restless heart into God's loving hands; and peace came, as she knew it would.

Much too soon the sun rose until nearly straight overhead and Kaitlin knew it was time to be home for lunch. She'd just laced her shoes when she caught sight of a couple walking along the shore. Kaitlin recognized them immediately as two of the village young people who attended her father's services. Normally she would have called out and waved but seeing their hands linked together made her hesitate.

What would it be like to have someone hold your hand? It wasn't the first time such a question had occurred to Kaitlin and, as always, she looked down at her own hands. But again, as in times past, she found no answer as she examined her long fingers.