A soldier or a father?
Maybe he can be both in this Rocky Mountain Haven story
Pregnant and abandoned, Victoria Archer’s focused on helping with her aunts’ foster outreach program—not finding love. But there’s something undeniably charming about Major Ben Adams. Certain he’s not suited for fatherhood, Ben’s searching for a loving home for his recently orphaned nephew. But could he, Victoria and her unborn baby be the little boy’s perfect family?
LOIS RICHER loves traveling, swimming and quilting, but mostly she loves writing stories that show God’s boundless love for His precious children. As she says, “His love never changes or gives up. It’s always waiting for me. My stories feature imperfect characters learning that love doesn’t mean attaining perfection. Love is about keeping on keeping on.” You can contact Lois via email, [email protected], or on Facebook (loisricherauthor).
Love Inspired
Rocky Mountain Haven
Meant-to-Be Baby
Wranglers Ranch
The Rancher’s Family Wish
Her Christmas Family Wish
The Cowboy’s Easter Family Wish
The Twins’ Family Wish
Family Ties
A Dad for Her Twins
Rancher Daddy
Gift-Wrapped Family
Accidental Dad
Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk
Meant-to-Be Baby
Lois Richer
ISBN: 978-1-474-08554-0
MEANT-TO-BE BABY
© 2018 Lois M. Richer
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.
By payment of the required fees, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right and licence to download and install this e-book on your personal computer, tablet computer, smart phone or other electronic reading device only (each a “Licensed Device”) and to access, display and read the text of this e-book on-screen on your Licensed Device. Except to the extent any of these acts shall be permitted pursuant to any mandatory provision of applicable law but no further, no part of this e-book or its text or images may be reproduced, transmitted, distributed, translated, converted or adapted for use on another file format, communicated to the public, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.
® and ™ are trademarks owned and used by the trademark owner and/or its licensee. Trademarks marked with ® are registered with the United Kingdom Patent Office and/or the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market and in other countries.
Victoria’s hand touched her stomach fleetingly.
“You still haven’t told your aunts.” It wasn’t a question.
“Don’t,” she begged quietly, and when it seemed Ben would argue, she turned her attention to Mikey. “Very nice,” she encouraged, hugging his tiny body close for a second before he wiggled away.
“C’n I ski?” he asked suddenly. “’Cause a boy in church tole me he skis with other kids an’ he ’vited me. Maybe he could be my friend?” he said wistfully.
“What a good idea.” Victoria looked at Ben and found him studying her with an intensity that made her uncomfortable. “Don’t you think?” she prodded.
“Uh, yeah. Skiing. Sure.” Ben’s gaze held hers for a second, then settled on Mikey. “We could do that, I guess.”
Mikey ran around the room, cheering. Victoria stayed put, staring at her hands, unsettled by the expression she’d seen on Ben’s face and her response to it.
He was a great guy. She liked him a lot. But there could be nothing between them but friendship. She was going to be a mom.
And soon Ben would leave.
And we know that all things work together for good to them who love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
—Romans 8:28
Hi there! Welcome to The Haven, where God works things together to help His children. I love the Canadian Rockies. There’s something about those craggy peaks and teal-blue lakes that reminds me that God is far bigger and more powerful than I can imagine.
Victoria needed to return to The Haven to recover her faith and trust in God—and in love. It wasn’t easy, until she accepted that God loved her. Period. Not because she earned it but because God is love. Ben, too, struggled with acceptance of himself and his past failures. He feared parenting his nephew because he might fail again. It took him some time to realize that’s why God’s in charge.
I hope you’ll return to The Haven for Adele’s story. This good-natured chef wants a perfect family, but maybe perfect isn’t part of God’s plan for her life at all.
Blessings,
Lois Richer
This book is dedicated to Dorothea, who always believed God would make a way.
Contents