скачать книгу бесплатно
Twice Upon a Time
Lois Richer
Twins are double the trouble. And between his work at Weddings by Woodwards and his boys, widower Reese Woodward is convinced he doesn't have time for love. Then he meets Olivia Hastings–his sister's bridesmaid, and a woman with troubles of her own. The betrayals from Olivia's past make her wary of closeness.Yet who could resist the twins–or their father? Though neither is looking for love, Olivia and Reese's attraction continues to blossom. And soon, they just might find a second chance at love, and a doubly blessed happily-ever-after.
“I’m surprised you remembered my name,” Olivia teased Reese.
“Of course I remember your name.”
“You didn’t earlier.”
“Well, I was focused on two small troublemakers. So my brain was occupied elsewhere. If you had kids you’d understand how easy it is to get side-tracked.”
If she had kids—
I was a wife and mother once, her heart cried out. Until my family was stolen from me.
What would it be like to be part of a family again, to work with kids again, to find the connection that would make her part of something? Olivia longed to find out—but still feared some newspaper reporter would figure out who she’d been and run another story about her pitiful past.
Reese’s sister Sara had been the first person Olivia had trusted in a very long time. And even Sara didn’t know the whole truth.
The jury was still out on trusting Reese.
LOIS RICHER
likes variety. From her time in human resources management to entrepreneurship, life has held plenty of surprises. She says, “Having given up on fairy tales, I was happily involved in building a restaurant when a handsome prince walked into my life and upset all my career plans with a wedding ring. Motherhood quickly followed. I guess the seeds of my storytelling took root because of two small boys who kept demanding, ‘Then what, Mom?’” The miracle of God’s love for His children, the blessing of true love, the joy of sharing Him with others—that is a story that can be told a thousand ways and yet still be brand-new. Lois Richer intends to go right on telling it.
Twice Upon a Time
Lois Richer
For the Holy Spirit, God’s gift, doesn’t want you to be afraid of people, but to be wise and strong, and to love them and enjoy being with them.
—II Timothy 1:7
This book is dedicated to dads who love when it
isn’t easy, try when they have no strength left and
come running when you most need them.
Yours is a rich legacy.
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Epilogue
Question for Discussion
Chapter One
Iwas that happy once.
Olivia Hastings slipped away from the crowd at the hilltop wedding reception to regain her peace of mind. She set her bridesmaid bouquet on a rock before wandering farther downhill and away from the laughing guests.
A few moments of solitude were all Olivia needed.
“We’re not s’posed to come here.”
That childish warning, barely audible, floated toward her on the soft summer wind, rousing her curiosity. The Woodward twins?
Olivia kept walking, stepping carefully around thistles as she followed the voices. The twins, Brett and Brady Woodward, were the bride’s nephews. They’d taken part in a fundraiser Olivia had directed last month. The twins had stolen the show, though their father hadn’t bothered to see it.
Reese Woodward was busy, his sister Sara claimed. Olivia thought he was too busy.
“Uncle Cade said he caught fish in here when he was a little boy.”
The stream! Olivia picked up her pace downhill, over hillocks topped with cropped grass, not caring that her silk dress would probably be ruined.
Two four-year-old boys near water spelled disaster.
“I want to catch a fish.”
“No, Brett. Uncle Cade said…”
His voice dissipated. Olivia strained, but couldn’t see the boys. She glanced around to call for help and realized no one would hear above the wedding reception music. Anyway, the wind would carry her voice away. She’d have to manage on her own. Olivia felt certain that, given the love she’d witnessed the Woodward family lavish on the twins, one or another of Denver’s famous wedding-planning family would soon come looking.
“Brett, you can’t go in. Daddy said—”
“You boys get away from that water,” Olivia yelled in her sternest tone, praying she wouldn’t be too late. She stubbed her toe on a rock and bit down to smother her cry as she climbed over it, using both hands to speed her descent.
There. She could see them. Brady hovered at the edge of the water, obviously uncertain about his next move. But Brett already had one shoe off.
“Hey!” Olivia shouted, waving her hands. Brady saw her, smiled and waved back. Brett was wading in. “No!”
But in the next moment Brett tumbled face-first into the swiftly moving water. When it looked like Brady would go in after him, Olivia threw caution aside and raced downhill, ignoring the stabs and jabs of anything that tried to impede her progress.
Brady teetered on one leg, about to lose his balance. Olivia plucked him up and sat him on a big rock several feet from the water’s edge.
“Don’t you dare move,” she ordered. “I can’t see Brett.”
Big, fat tears tumbled down chubby cheeks. Brady pointed.
“There.” He sniffed. “He’s not swimming.”
Brett lay facedown in the water, floating farther away.
“I’ll get him, Brady, but don’t you move. Promise me.”
“’Kay.”
“Good boy.” Olivia stepped into the stream. Moving as swiftly as possible, she kept going, though the water was icy cold against her warm skin. In seconds her thin dress was soaked and she was chilled.
Olivia ignored it as she’d learned to ignore the pain of loss that so often gripped her heart. When she was deep enough, she began swimming. It seemed to take forever, but finally she was able to grab a corner of Brett’s white tuxedo and tug him into her arms.
Moving as fast as she dared over the sharp yet slippery rocks, Olivia carried the still body to shore. She laid Brett flat and began lifesaving maneuvers she’d learned years ago in a Red Cross class. While she worked, she prayed, vaguely aware that Brady was bawling at the top of his lungs. At least he hadn’t moved.
Neither had Brett.
Olivia kept working. Finally the boy responded, spewing a mouthful of water all over her before he gasped for oxygen.
“Thank you, Father,” she whispered, holding him as the last of the water gurgled out and his breathing grew more normal.
“No, thank you.” Reese grabbed his son’s shoulders and helped him sit up. When Brett tried to stand, Reese wrapped him in his arms and held on, eyes squeezed shut. His chest heaved with the exertion of running downhill. Beads of sweat dotted his forehead. His gray-white face looked like an ice sculpture as he hugged the shivering little body against him.
Olivia stayed silent for a few minutes, but finally she touched the shoulder of the man who’d played best man to her bridesmaid in his sister’s wedding. His eyes flew open and he stared at her as if awakening from a nightmare.
“Come on, we need to get away from here.”
“Yeah. I know.” His voice grated, frosted with fear.
Olivia understood that horrible choking awareness that a child you’d protected and adored since birth, a child you would sacrifice your very life for, had almost been snatched away.
Only in her case, there was no almost.
“I’m cold, Daddy,” Brett stuttered, his teeth chattering.
“The water comes from snow on the mountains.” The leashed tension in Reese’s voice chastened the young miscreant into silence as he carried the boy to safety.
Olivia followed them, picking her way back along the water’s edge. Her feet screamed a protest, but she ignored it, smiling when Brady blubbered with joy at the sight of his bedraggled twin.
“He’s fine, Brady.” She led them to a massive boulder that felt deliciously warm to the touch. “Reese?”
“Yeah?” He looked at her, his blue eyes dark as storm clouds.
“He can sit down here.” She touched the rock, but Reese didn’t move. His arms remained locked around his child. “Brett’s cold, Reese. We have to warm him up.”
The frantic father studied her for a moment before he looked down at the boy he held. He seemed unable to let go.
“Brett is all right, Reese. But he’s cold and wet and we need to fix that.” She didn’t want to frighten Brett, but his shivering bothered her. She stood on tiptoe and whispered in Reese’s ear. “You’re scaring him. Put him down, okay?”
He looked at her as if she’d asked him to move mountains.
“Put him down, Reese. I only want to help.”
He finally nodded, loosening his grip by degrees until at last Brett had been lowered to the big rock she’d indicated. But Reese remained close by, obviously not quite trusting her with his precious child.
Olivia’s heart ached to comfort him some other way, but she was only his wedding partner. So she smiled, then began removing Brett’s shirt and pants.
“Come on, sweetheart. Slip out of these wet things. We’ll let that big old sun warm you up.” When she fumbled, Reese helped, but his stiff, jerky actions gave away his distress.
After a moment, Reese moved toward Brady. His hand shook as he reached for the boy’s fingers and a strangled breath squeezed out from his throat at the contact.
“Brady’s fine, Reese. Everything is all right now,” Olivia soothed softly, hoping to reassure all of them. As she brushed damp brown curls off Brett’s forehead, she couldn’t resist pressing a kiss against his sweet cheek. “Feeling better, sweetheart?”
“K-kind of.” He stared up at her, his spiky lashes stuck together. “Are you going to take off your dress? It’s wet, t-too?”
“I’m fine.” She suppressed a shiver. “Brady, slip off your jacket, will you? Brett needs it to warm up.”
Once Olivia had Brett buttoned inside the white jacket, she gave way to her own weakness and sank down beside him, smothering a groan at the sweet heat of the stone against her skin. Still Reese hovered, silent and grim, holding Brady close.
“It’s okay,” she repeated softly. “It’s okay.”
Several minutes passed before Reese nodded. He drew an audible breath, then sat Brady next to Brett. He cupped his palm around each miniature chin, forcing his sons to look at him.
“What were you doing, Brett? Uncle Cade told you not to come down here.”
“Y-yes. But I wanted to catch a fish. I almost d-did, too,” he chattered, his chin thrusting out with pride.
Olivia’s heart lurched at the thought of what might have been. Anika had been four when—
