Love Inspired Historical January 2015 Box Set: Wolf Creek Father\Cowboy Seeks a Bride\Falling for the Enemy\Accidental Fiancee (97 page)

He could still see the question in her eyes. With each sentence, with each emotion she felt, their color changed. They searched his own intently. Did that penetrating look mean she was waiting to hear him declare himself, or was she afraid that he might?

“I would also like to hear that Max's
message
meant as much to you as Max himself. You want your imaginary hero to ride up and save the day, but when it comes right down to it, you do not believe that he will. So you take matters into your own hands. Max was not only a surprise, he was a statement.” He pulled her a little closer. “Grace, there
is
a man who will be your Max if you will only let him.”

She closed her eyes and sighed as the tears that had been pooled slid out of the corners of her eyelids.

He prayed they were tears of joy. He finished by leaning close to her ear and whispering, “And I want the reason that you wore the emeralds to mean that you want our betrothal to be as real to you as it has become to me.”

He stopped when she opened her eyes and smiled at him intimately, with a look he hoped she saved forever just for him...until he thought about what he was doing. He let go of her then and walked away from her. “I want all of that, my sweet life, even knowing all the while that it will not do.”

She did not follow him, but he knew what color her eyes had turned without even seeing them when she asked, “Brandon?”

“Grace, you have been sequestered and wrapped in cotton your entire life. You know only a third of my scandals. God would not take lightly your ruin by association with me.” He turned back to her and said quietly, “And neither would I.”

She ran across the room and threw her arms around his neck. He would not let her go now for all the wealth or fame in the world. And she did not seem to care. She whispered in his ear, “
Our
God has enough grace to blot out all of your dastardly deeds, my love.”

He held her even tighter when she called him her love, and then put her a little away from him.

“My darling, Grace, will you...” He stopped, let her go, then walked to the door and locked it.

He came slowly back to her, drew her into his arms and kissed her. He kissed her as he had at their betrothal ball, and she was breathless when he stopped.

He led her to the sofa in front of the fireplace and sat down with her, keeping his arm wrapped tightly around her shoulders. They were almost nose to nose, intently waiting for what the other would say. He whispered, “Finally, Grace, I want you to tell me you love me even half as much as I have come to love you. Will you marry me?”

“Oh, Brandon,” she cried. She pulled away a little so she could put her hand on his face. “I have loved you for weeks, but I promised I would not tie you to the betrothal. I misunderstood when I saw you kissing Lady Winslow...”

“She was kissing
me,
my dear.” His mischievous dimple appeared. “You will have to get used to it. Happens all the time,” he declared, while kissing her nose. “You are marrying an ex-rake, you know.”

“Brandon,” she said, furrowing her brows, “when I saw it, I thought we had gone on too long for you.” She moved her hand and rubbed his beautiful dimple. “When you sent Max, I dared to hope. But I did not know where to start. Knowing that you would be waiting for your emeralds to be returned to you, and knowing the lengths I went to to protect them, I hoped that wearing them today would get your attention.”

“Ah, we are back to understatement!” He kissed her again. “My sweet life, you always had my attention. And you have not yet answered my question.”

He stood and pulled her up gently with him. He put his hands on her waist and she rested her palms on his arms. There was nothing between them but honesty. “You told me that God could save me by His grace. Your life has been a testimony to me—not just now, but as far back as my first meeting with Lord Langdon, after meeting you. I was not able to lie to him because of you. Your scruples touched me.”

She smiled. “I have always known you had scruples, Brandon, from the moment you told me of your elopement.
I
had no need to know that for our connection, but you felt I needed to. I have trusted you implicitly and I promise you that you may trust me from now on.” She looked up at him with an impish grin. “I do not care how many people threaten to kill you.”

“Minx!” He tugged her into his arms and held her as if he would never let her go. “I want that grace you told me about, my sweet life. I want a marriage blessed by God, to be worthy of the blessing He has given me through you.” In her ear, he whispered, “
Will
you marry me, Grace?”

She pulled out of his arms, though he protested. She reached up into the spray of roses in her hair and pulled something out of it. In the center of her palm was the emerald engagement ring, which she handed to him a little shyly. “Yes, Brandon, I will marry you, with all my heart, forever.” And she buried her face in his chest.

He pushed her away gently. “You understand I do not intend to wait three weeks for the banns to be read and wedding gowns to be made and—”

“As soon as a special license can be obtained, my lord.”

“And I will be a reformed rake, so no more of these public displays of affection, my lady.”

“Lord Weston, you are perilously close to having your ears boxed.”

He laughed out loud. He took her hand and placed the ring on her finger. “I missed doing that the first time. I will not miss out on those things again, I promise you.” He put her hand through the crook of his arm, placed his free one on top and slowly started toward the library door. “You must not be troubled, when we announce our reengagement, if there are a number of women more than a little upset.”

“You may be a rake, but now you are
my
rake. And I do not share very well!” She stopped their pace and looked up at him lovingly. It took his breath away. “Never truly believing the emeralds were mine, I don't think I ever properly thanked you for them. I hope you know that I really do love them and will cherish them always.”

He turned to her fully and cupped her face in his hands, then leaned down and kissed her tenderly. He kept his hands on her face and just stared a moment into her wondrous eyes. “My one and only life, the emeralds are family jewels. They will pass onto our children, then to our grandchildren. However, my darling, that will never be of concern to me.”

Grace looked at him with a puzzled expression, not understanding what he was trying to say.

“When we marry, my love, I know that every time I gaze into your beautiful green eyes, I will be looking at the
real
Weston emeralds.

“Remind me, what is that verse you told me about? ‘Without grace it is impossible to please Him...'”

“No, Brandon, it is without
faith.
”

“No, my sweet life, it is without
Grace.
”

* * * * *

Keep reading for an excerpt from WOLF CREEK FATHER by Penny Richards.

Dear Reader,

I have been so happy to share Brandon and Grace's journey with you. If you have read my other books, you know that the Regency Period comes to life for me! And I aspire to using that history to tell a story with a sincere, Godly message embedded in a wonderful love story.

It is here that I need to make an “author's note.” An author's note is where we get to explain our foibles. As you have read the story, you have never heard Grace or Brandon call each other fiancé(e). That is because the term did not become practice until the mid 1830s, almost twenty years after the date of this story. However, in order to reach a broader scope of readers, Love Inspired wished to use something more approachable in the title. It is common practice when writing historical fiction, but I wanted my avid Regency readers to understand how the word came to be used in the title of the book. I appreciate your forbearance.

With
Accidental Fiancée
I have been able to introduce you to my first rake, Lord Weston. The wonderful sense of humor that emerged from him because he
was
a rake was especially fun for me. And because he could never fall in love with someone who did not share that trait, Grace was sure to give him as good as she got! I grew up with a fun-loving family and my husband has a wonderful sense of humor. I hope you got a glimmer of how important that trait is to me through Brandon and Grace.

Though Brandon saw Grace's belief in God from the beginning, he also recognized the good she tried to do for others, which poured out from that belief. And even though her faith was something foreign to him, he did not ridicule it or ignore it. He watched her, studied her and ultimately realized she walked her talk. Therefore, he did not dampen her desire to tell him about God, but learned to embrace her spirituality as she did.

It was important for me to convey in the story Grace's question as to whether rakes were men who were rogues by nature, or turned into them by circumstances in their lives. Every day, we come into contact with others with not-so-nice labels on them, and we have the chance to touch them for God, to tell them about His grace. If we portray our belief in every aspect of our lives and to everyone we meet, He will put people in our paths. What a blessing for us!

It has been a while since my last book, so I am especially thankful you hung in there with me! I am privileged and blessed to be able to share what I love doing with you. God gets every bit of the glory for any way you were touched, because He is with me and behind me in each chapter and word. I pray the message of His grace will help you where you are today.

I love to hear from readers. Please let me know what you thought by visiting my website at
marymooreauthor.com
or by emailing me at
[email protected]
. I am also available on Facebook at
facebook.com/mmooreauthor
and on Twitter at
twitter.com/sugarbean1020
. I look forward to hearing from you!

God bless you,

Mary Moore

Questions for Discussion

1. A key theme throughout
   Accidental Fiancée
   was God's grace. List and discuss other themes or messages that resonated with you.
   
2. Did any one character strike a chord with you? Why or why not?
   
3. Comment on how God used very unusual circumstances to bring two people to love each other. Does it relate to any of your relationships?
   
4. Grace had good intentions when she decided to rescue Lord Weston. Have you ever tried to help someone and ended up making the original problem worse? Has someone ever gotten mad at you for trying to help him or her?
   
5. Why do you think it was so hard for Brandon to believe that his past could simply be washed away by God's grace? Did Grace's reminders give you any peace about it in your own life?
   
6. What does Ephesians 2:8 mean to you? How does it manifest itself in your daily walk? Do you believe that God's grace is sufficient for you? Why?
   
7. At one point, Grace asked herself if the ends justified the means in their decision to portray themselves as betrothed while in London. Have you ever struggled with that question and how did you resolve it?
   
8. Regency England had strict codes of conduct that seem silly to us today (i.e., having to marry someone because you were caught kissing her hand!). Has the moral code of today moved too far away from that time? Why or why not? Is there a middle ground? Explain.
   
9. Grace and Brandon go through two serious misunderstandings that are compounded by the actions they take immediately after. Do you handle misunderstandings any better than they did? How should they be handled?
   
10. Brandon was fortunate enough to gain Lord Langdon as a mentor. Has there been someone in your life you looked up to as a mentor? How did this person's counsel help you?
    
11. Grace thought no one in London would believe Brandon would marry her, because of her relationship with God. Have you ever been in a situation where you were looked down upon for your beliefs or felt as though you must hide them in certain situations?
    
12. Discuss one thing you really liked about the story.
    
13. Grace tried to live her life as God would want, so could not reconcile lying to the world about their engagement. What are some of the ways you refuse to compromise your beliefs?
    
14. Does Grace and Lord Weston's passion for helping the orphans of their day challenge you to want to help the orphans of our day?
    

We hope you enjoyed this Harlequin Love Inspired Historical title.

You find illumination in days gone by.
Love Inspired Historical
stories lift the spirit as heroines tackle the challenges of life in another era with hope, faith and a focus on family.

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