Jacob's Way (42 page)

Suddenly a small tapping caught her attention. Putting the brush down, she went to the door and opened it.

“Ben—what are you doing here?”

“Come with me,” Ben said. He was smiling faintly, and when she hesitated he took her hand and simply pulled her out of the room.

“Ben,” she whispered. “What are you doing? Everybody's asleep.”

“No, they're not. I'm not and you're not.”

Reisa had no choice but to follow him. He drew her down two flights of stairs, both of them tip-toeing instinctively. Ben turned down the hall. He finally pulled her into the smallest of the parlors where there was a fire burning in the grate. It sent up small tendrils of yellow and red flame and threw a warmth over the room.

“Ben, what are you doing bringing me down here?”

Ben suddenly reached out and caught both of her hands. “I've been having a talk with your grandfather.”

Suddenly Reisa grew very still. She looked up at him, and her heart seemed to beat more rapidly.

“About what?”

“Can't you guess?”

“N—no,” Reisa said, and then at once she knew for a certainty. But she waited for him to speak.

“I asked him if he would give you to me, Reisa. I want to marry you and spend the rest of my life with you.”

Somewhere deep within Reisa's being a warmth began to grow. She could not speak for the happiness that had come to her, and now she simply stood there looking up at him. When she saw that he was smiling at her in a peculiar way, she asked, “What did he say?”

Ben's smile became more pronounced. “What if he said no?”

She had no chance to answer for suddenly Ben swept her into his arms, and she came to him willingly. She had known for some time that she loved him, but she had not known for certain how he felt about her. Now all of that seemed irrelevant, and as his lips pressed against hers, she knew that she was a woman desired, and this sent a song through her body.

The kiss lasted long enough so that by the time Ben lifted his head, Reisa knew that she had found what her heart longed for.

“Jacob said he thought it was God's will. Will you have me, Reisa?”

A thought crossed Reisa's mind, and with her hand on his shoulder, she said, “Did I ever tell you about my
goose?”

Ben's jaw dropped. “I'm asking you to marry me, and you want to talk about a blasted goose?”

Reisa could not help but laugh. She felt as though she were made of feathers and fire on the inside. She could not help it and pressed her face for a moment against his chest. When she lifted her head, her eyes were glowing. “I know it doesn't sound very romantic, but there was an injured goose…” She told the story and finally when she finished, she said simply, “I wondered so many times if he found his way, and if he ever found his mate. I've heard they mate for life.”

Ben had listened with great joy. This woman was rich in a way a woman should be rich, and now she was showing him the mysterious glow of a softer mood. He knew that the old hunger in him for her would never grow less—and it would never be satisfied. Always she would have the power to stir him, to deepen his hungers and drive his loneliness away.

“I don't know about your goose, but I found my way. And it's for life. I'll never let you get away, Reisa.”

And then Reisa came against him. She put her cheek against his chest, and his arms went around her. They stood there for a long time, and he stroked her long raven hair gently. Finally he heard her whisper, “No, we will hold to each other, Ben, as long we live.”

Boris, his large eyes taking in the pair, walked over and lay down before the fire. His head nodded as the heat toasted his side, but hearing a slight cry from his mistress, he turned to take in the pair. For a long moment he studied them—then he grinned, exposing his sharp fangs. Finding everything to his liking, he yawned enormously, then closed his eyes and promptly went to sleep.

A Historical and Romantic Adventure

God's Handmaiden

Gilbert Morris

Gervase Howard is in her mid-teens when her working-class mother dies and she must go to live with relatives in service to a wealthy noble family outside of London. While learning various jobs, she is drawn to the eldest son, Davis. Her fascination with him grows deeper, but more hopeless, since the two are separated not just by class, but also by Davis's love for Roberta.

When Davis announces his engagement, he asks Gervase to join them as Roberta's maid. But instead, Gervase becomes a companion to Florence Nightingale and accompanies her to the Crimean War to create a corps of nurses. On the field, Gervase crosses paths with Davis, who has become disillusioned in his marriage and is drawn to her warmth and care. Both know, however, there is nothing more for them than friendship.

Upon her return to England, Gervase receives word that Davis has been seriously injured in a fall and is asked to nurse him back to health. As he regains consciousness, he reveals shocking news that plunges them both into danger.

Softcover: 978-0-310-24699-2

Pick up a copy today at your favorite bookstore!

The Spider Catcher

Value Edition

Gilbert Morris
,

Author of
The Courtship

He is a young Welshman who forsook the family shipbuilding business to study medicine … until, poised at the brink of a brilliant career, tragedy broke his heart and shattered his dreams.

She is the daughter of London's inner city, a woman-child weaned on life's harsh realities who has learned much about fending for her living and her virtue, but little of what it means to be loved.

Thrown together by circumstance, Rees Kenyon and Callie Summers head across the ocean toward a new life during the stormy beginnings of the American Revolution. As a new nation struggles for independence, Rees employs his medical knowledge to save lives, and his shipbuilder's skills to build the potent fighting vessel known as the “Spider Catcher.”

But it is Callie, whom Rees scooped up from the mud of the London streets, on whom his own life will soon depend…and who can help him find for himself the faith, hope, and love he has taught her.

Softcover 978-0-310-28798-8

Pick up a copy today at your favorite bookstore!

The Ultimate Journey.
The Impossible Decision.

Jordan's Star

Gilbert Morris

Bound for the Oregon frontier, Jordan Bryce and her new husband, Colin, a dashing ex-mariner, face danger from both man and nature: a deadly buffalo stampede … tragedy at a river crossing … hostile Indians … and hatred within their wagon train, escalating from bitter words to the point of bloodshed. All that separates the Bryce's party from disaster is seasoned leadership, the skillful guidance of Ty Sublette, and the hand of God.

For Jordan, the journey west is more than a trip into an untamed land. It is a passage from a teenage girl's romantic fantasies to the wisdom and character of womanhood. But nothing can prepare Jordan for the testing that awaits her beyond the journey's end. There, in the face of staggering circumstances, she will face an impossible decision … as two good men—one wounded by past grief, the other branded by his own impetuousness—struggle with the demands of faith and honor on behalf of the woman they love.

Softcover: 978-0-310-22754-0

Pick up a copy today at your favorite bookstore!

An Epic Story of War, Regret, Love, and
Forgiveness Set in the Post-Civil War South.

Edge of Honor

Value Edition

Gilbert Morris

Quentin Larribee is a surgeon—one of the best. But in the confusion of one of the Civil War's last, desperate skirmishes, the hands devoted to healing bring death to William Breckenridge, an enemy soldier in the act of surrendering. Now the deed haunts Quentin.

A bright future lies before him, with marriage to the lovely Irene Chambers and eventual ownership of her father's prosperous medical practice. But it cannot ease Quentin's troubled conscience. Honor compels him to see to the welfare of the dead man's family. Quentin moves from New York City to the little town of Helena, Arkansas, where he attempts to save the wife of Breckenridge and her children from financial ruin.

Edge of Honor
is an unforgettable novel of redemption and honor, where good is found in the unlikeliest places and God's unseen hand weaves a masterful tapestry of human hearts and lives.

Softcover: 978-0-310-28796-4

Pick up a copy today at your favorite bookstore!