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Hometown Reunion
Lisa Carter
A single dad starting overIs this his second chance at love?Widowed ex-Green Beret Jaxon Pruitt comes home to face his toughest battle: reconnecting with his toddler son. He also makes an unwitting enemy of childhood friend Darcy Parks when he takes over the kayak shop Darcy hoped to buy! For little Brody’s sake, she’ll stay until summer’s end. But could a growing connection turn their temporary truce into an unexpected forever?
A single dad starting over.
Is this his second chance at love?
Widowed former Green Beret Jaxon Pruitt comes home to face his toughest battle: reconnecting with his toddler son. He also makes an unwitting enemy of childhood friend Darcy Parks when he takes over the kayak shop Darcy hoped to buy! For little Brody’s sake, she’ll stay until summer’s end. But could a growing connection turn their temporary truce into an unexpected forever?
LISA CARTER and her family make their home in North Carolina. In addition to her Love Inspired novels, she writes romantic suspense for Abingdon Press. When she isn’t writing, Lisa enjoys traveling to romantic locales, teaching writing workshops and researching her next exotic adventure. She has strong opinions on barbecue and ACC basketball. She loves to hear from readers. Connect with Lisa at lisacarterauthor.com (http://www.lisacarterauthor.com).
Also By Lisa Carter
Love Inspired
Coast Guard Courtship
Coast Guard Sweetheart
Falling for the Single Dad
The Deputy’s Perfect Match
The Bachelor’s Unexpected Family
The Christmas Baby
Hometown Reunion
Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
Hometown Reunion
Lisa Carter
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
ISBN: 978-1-474-08425-3
HOMETOWN REUNION
© 2018 Lisa Carter
Published in Great Britain 2018
by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF
All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.
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www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
“Why are you leaving, Darcy?”
“The longer I’ve stayed—maybe I’ve overstayed—the more lost I feel.” She averted her eyes. “Perhaps it’s time for me to see if there’s more out there.”
“Does more have to be out there? Not here?”
Her gaze returned to his. “I thought you’d understand, Jax. We’re both all or nothing people.”
“You want to know the real reason I didn’t return until now?” His heart drummed in his chest. “I didn’t think there could ever be a place here for me again.”
“But you’re home now, Jax.”
“Am I?” He studied her. “Will you forgive me, Darcy?”
His question was about so much more than what happened this afternoon.
She looked at him. “I’m here, aren’t I?”
“Can we get back to being friends?” He thrust out his chin. “We were friends, Darcy. Once.”
“Trust might be trickier than merely coming home.”
Jax tightened his jaw. “A chance is all I’m asking.”
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
—Matthew 11:28–30
Dear Reader (#uc971df9d-093c-5f87-80d3-e6dcde553aca),
Like Jax, have you ever struggled with guilt? Which have you found harder—to forgive someone else or to forgive yourself? Neither are easy.
Or like Darcy, have you ever felt second best or second choice?
But when Darcy embraces the person God made her to be and pursues the dreams God placed in her heart, only then does she gain real freedom and peace. Whatever dream God has placed in your heart, I pray you, too, will find the courage to pursue it.
Whenever you’re feeling second choice, read Isaiah 43 to see how much God loves you. He has redeemed you and called you by name. You have a place all your own in God’s heart. You have been chosen—you are His.
And what about dealing with guilt? True guilt drives us to repentance and helps us find our way back to what is right. False guilt, however, brings only condemnation, with no way out. True guilt leading to repentance brings freedom and healing. False guilt paralyses and enslaves.
This is a heavy burden we were never created to shoulder. Jesus took the heavy load of sin on the cross so that you don’t have to. He is the only one who can be our burden-bearer. It is in the laying down of our burdens that we find rest and peace in Him. I hope you will accept His invitation to come so that you, too, might experience true freedom, healing and restoration.
May we all find the strength to finally accept what is past, to fully embrace the present and to look to the future with hope-filled eyes.
Thank you for allowing me in this series of books to share with you a very special place and people dear to my heart on the Eastern Shore of Virginia.
I hope you have enjoyed taking this journey with me, Brody, Darcy and Jax. I would love to hear from you. You may email me at lisa@lisacarterauthor.com or visit www.lisacarterauthor.com (http://www.lisacarterauthor.com).
Wishing you fair winds and following seas,
Lisa Carter
This book is dedicated to Daniel and Debbie Riley. Thanks so much for your friendship. And even after all these years, a special thank you for still making me feel at home every time I visit the Eastern Shore.
Contents
Cover (#u03757bc9-4f3a-5c64-9dc5-78d8ac307823)
Back Cover Text (#udf9fafa5-4ef3-50ac-bcad-9ecc4215384b)
About the Author (#u5aa6b0ec-31d6-5469-8573-9af756ab5d93)
Booklist (#u29bd0e62-a906-591c-afbd-f713aa99b7d9)
Title Page (#u374a65e9-4a23-5394-8fe2-040e6164ce30)
Copyright (#u0a41df18-5374-5ea5-be21-2dfb9a50c7d2)
Introduction (#u7d400a78-9802-550a-9839-61e3e0daa910)
Bible Verse (#ue4511a28-1e97-5d15-898a-7fd40b4070da)
Dear Reader (#u7cff6dda-2286-5d86-a901-2dc9522f68dc)
Dedication (#u9f404488-338d-526d-afe3-9864d0f5b13a)
Chapter One (#u95fdd212-25c2-5b66-a155-b9c01da69492)
Chapter Two (#ueb5818bc-8c4a-5f05-be1d-caf119e287e5)
Chapter Three (#uc571e2e0-2fd8-5955-bc32-70111ceb5859)
Chapter Four (#udcbc07dc-9b93-5191-ab43-1eb3fb03a60d)
Chapter Five (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Six (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Seven (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eight (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Nine (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Ten (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eleven (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twelve (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Thirteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Fourteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Fifteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Sixteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Seventeen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eighteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Extract (#litres_trial_promo)
About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter One (#uc971df9d-093c-5f87-80d3-e6dcde553aca)
Stepping out of his Ford 250, Jaxon Pruitt winced as his knees creaked. At thirty-two, he was already nothing but a washed-up old man. A failure.
He glanced at his two-year-old son, Brody, strapped in his car seat. Correction—Jax was a washed-up, thirty-two-year-old dad.
After all these years, he was back where he’d begun, at Kiptohanock Kayaking. The shop was on the seawall, sandwiched between the marine animal hospital and the Coast Guard station.
From the adjacent harbor, a slight breeze wafted. Recreational and commercial fishing boats bobbed in the marina. And the once familiar scent of briny seawater filled his nostrils. At the sound of a loud caw, both he and Brody looked skyward. Overhead, a seagull performed an acrobatic figure eight.
As Jax reached to unbuckle the harness, Brody shrank into the seat. The toddler’s brown eyes went wide, piercing Jax’s heart. A former Green Beret, he’d always known what to do on any given mission, but Jax didn’t know how to fix things with the son he barely knew.
He had no clue how to be not just a father, but Brody’s father. He’d messed up everything with Adrienne, and now he had no idea how to help Brody deal with her loss.
Brody closed his eyes and stuck his thumb into his mouth. With a click, Jax released the seat buckle, and Brody’s eyes popped open. But the thumb remained in his mouth. Giving the child space, Jax backed away. His work boots crunched on the crushed-shell parking lot.
Seizing his chance, Brody scrambled out of the crew cab like a convict desperate to escape Alcatraz. Despite short toddler legs, he jumped to the ground in a move that made his airborne-qualified father proud.
But those days were behind Jax. He fought the urge to give in to the despair dogging him since his commanding officer had pulled him aside to deliver the life-changing news of his wife’s death.
“Wanna go home,” Brody whispered.
Jax wanted to go home, too. If only he knew where home resided. That was the reason he’d brought his son to the small fishing village in seaside Virginia where he’d grown up.
Was this a giant mistake? A ten-year combat veteran, he hadn’t called any place home in a long time. And with Adrienne gone, perhaps home was a place that no longer existed for him.
