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She ate two powdered donuts on the way to church. She really didn’t care that a sprinkling of sugar fell across her chest. But she brushed at it anyway.

  There seemed to be a bit more of a crowd as usual, but she managed to find a parking place a block away. As she exited her truck, she thought she heard music.

  Someone was singing. A bit off key, but singing, no less. It sounded like Eloise. It sounded like Oh Promise Me.

  She shook her head. Impossible.

  She let herself in the back door and made her way up the stairway and stopped just outside the choir loft. Quickly, she donned her robe, firmly clasped a hymnal in her hand, and waited for the music to stop. She hoped she could slip in undetected while the congregation was standing for a prayer. She waited.

  The music never stopped.

  She waited some more.

  Eloise was going on and on and on.

  She decided to peek through the door.

  She cracked it just a bit. All she could see were people. And more people. And more people. Reverend Halcomb sure had packed them in lately.

  “Lucki! Where in the world have you been?”

  Lucki jumped and the door opened more fully. She turned as Kathleen approached her from behind.

  “Just waiting for Eloise to stop singing that song so I can slip into the choir loft. What are you doing back here, Kathleen? You don’t sing in the choir.”

  “No, but I’ve been put in charge of finding you. I’ve looked everywhere. Finally saw your truck down the street. Don’t you realize everyone is waiting for you?”

  Lucki put up her hand.

  “This is ridiculous. This has to stop. Everyone has been talking in circles for days. What, is going on?”

  Kathleen stepped forward and jerked down the zipper on the choir robe. “Just get that thing off and come with me. You’ll find out soon enough.”

  For some reason, Lucki stepped out of the robe. She took Kathleen’s hand and let her lead her through the door to the choir loft and out around the altar to the front of the church. Then Kathleen slowly slipped away.

  There she stood. Center of attention. All eyes on her. What, in the world, was happening here?

  Everything around her was a blur. People were everywhere. And they started whispering. And was that her parents over there in their regular spot? And Reverend Halcomb, why was he strategically placed in the center of the altar area? In a much more formal robe than usual? And was that Pinky all decked out there, too? Just a few feet away? Smiling like a Cheshire cat? My what a pretty dress. But she’d never gone to church here before.

  And J.J.? Was that a suit and tie on the kid?

  What the heck was going—

  Lucki’s brain slammed still. She took another moment or two. She glanced around. Lamar Thompson was in better-than-his-Sunday-best, right smack dab in the center of the front pew, as always. Eloise was perched at the piano, a feathered hat upon her head and a broad smile widening across her face. Kathleen had taken a seat two rows back. Hannah and Louise were standing near the rear of the church. Missy even smiled at her from a third of the way back. Even Matt and Rick were here. Everyone was here. Except for Sam.

  A door creaked open then from the opposite side of the church. All eyes turned that way. And Lucki watched as the most handsome man in the world, all decked out in a nice black tux, stepped toward her. Her man.

  Sam.

  Suddenly, it all made sense.

  Suddenly, she knew exactly what was going on.

  Sam stepped closer.

  He took both her hands in his. He cleared his throat. The entire congregation of the United Methodist Church of Freedom, Tennessee took in a collective breath. And held it. Before he spoke, he reached up and swiped a finger across the corner of her mouth, then lifted it to his own and licked off a bit of sugar. “Powdered donuts?” He grinned and Lucki couldn’t help but relax. Then his face grew serious again.

  “Lucinda Stevenson, will you marry me? Today?” His voice echoed throughout the sanctuary. Lucki looked deep into Sam’s eyes. She wanted to say yes, right then and there, but could she? Surely, he was stating his intentions right here, in front of the entire town. He had to be serious, didn’t he?

  She glanced around again. Every face was glued in anticipation to hers. Waiting for her answer. The church swelled with a pregnant pause.

  The only thing she could do was look deep into her heart. And when she did, she realized what she’d known all along.

  She looked again to Sam.

  And breathed deeply.

  “Yes,” she whispered. “Yes, Sam, I’ll marry you.”

  The broadest grin she thought she’d ever seen spread across Sam’s face. In one fell swoop, he wrapped his arms around her and lifted her off her feet. “You have no idea how happy you’ve made me,” he whispered in her ear.

  He sat her down then, and looked longingly into her eyes. “I love you, Lucki. Only you.”

  “I love you, too, Sam.”

  “Do I need to explain what happened the other day?”

  Lucki glanced around her. Everyone was waiting. Her mother was dabbing at her eyes. She looked back at Sam.

  “No, darling. You don’t have to explain now. Later will be fine.”

  “Good. Because we have a wedding to go to, and we don’t want to be late.”

  “No. That, we surely don’t want to do,” she whispered back.

  Clasping her hand then, he led her toward Reverend Halcomb, who performed the ceremony with lightning speed. He knew the rules. The time was approaching noon. The congregation cheered at the kiss that sealed the deal. And Lucki and Sam embraced each other like there was no tomorrow.

  “I love you, Mrs. Kirk,” he whispered in her ear.

  “And I love you, Dr. Kirk,” she whispered back. “By the way, may I ask where you’ve been all week?”

  She pulled back far enough to look into his eyes.

  “Memphis,” he replied. “I hired another physician for the office. Now I’ve got more time for you and J.J. And besides, we’re going on a honeymoon for the next two weeks and I’ll need someone here.”

  “Honeymoon?”

  “Jamaica.”

  “Really?”

  “Umhmm. .” He nuzzled her closer and kissed her lips again.

  “Hey you too.” J.J. pulled on Sam’s coat. “We better get moving.”

  Lucki looked at Sam, questioning. What other surprises were in store for her today? “Moving?”

  Sam glanced at his watch. “You know, he’s right. We’ve gotta get going.”

  “To Jamaica?”

  Sam smiled. “No, silly. To the reception. It’s at Buddy’s. If we want to beat the Baptists, then we better get moving. .

  Lucki took Sam’s hand and grinned. Finally, everything in Freedom was back to normal.

  The End

  Maddie James writes:

  Thril ing romance!

  Edgy suspense...

  And some downright funny contemporary romance.

  Maddie James published her first book in 1997, a Kensington Precious Gems Romance (writing as Kim Whalen). She went on to publish six books with Kensington, one large-print hardback reprint with Thorndike, and currently has fourteen novels and novellas published with Resplendence Publishing, and two reprints with Turquoise Morning Press. As a non-fiction writer she has several dozen articles in print, including syndicated newspaper pieces, journal articles and a magazine column. She has written or edited numerous books and book chapters in academia. Her latest non-fiction venture is a cookbook featuring family stories and recipes.

  www.maddiejames.com

  www.maddiejames.net

  www.maddiejameslifeunedited.com

  Connect with Maddie at:

  Twitter: @maddiejames

  Facebook: www.facebook.com/maddiejames1

  MySpace: www.myspace.com/paprbackriter

  This had al the makings of a very bad idea....

  “Please let this work out,” she whispered and sent up a sm
all prayer. “I need this to work out.”

  Stopping briefly in front of the door, Gracie inhaled deep then exhaled long, twisted the dead-bolt, and opened the door fully. She extended her hand without even really looking. “Mr. Price, I assume?”

  Then she did look. Up. And up some more. Her eyes met the most unbelievable sea-blue eyes she’d ever seen. Finally something touched her palm.

  “Oh!” She dragged her gaze away from his and glanced downward to her hand, now in his. His hand was warm, his handshake firm.

  “Grace Hart?”

  “Oh, yes.” She looked back into his face. “Yes, I’m Grace Hart. Mr. Price?”

  He nodded and she took in more of his features. Dark brown hair, chiseled, high cheekbones, and those eyes. .

  “Yes,” he answered. He stepped inside and she closed the door behind her, then felt it push open again against her rear.

  “Forget something, Dad?”

  Carson Price turned and so did Gracie. An imp of a child stood in the doorway, staring past her. The little girl’s head held a mass of light brown curls which, if left loose, would most likely tumble halfway down her back. Oh my, what she would have given, as a young girl, for curls like that. Oddly enough though, this child’s locks were caught up in a dusty, Louisville Cardinals baseball cap, which contrasted sharply with the Sunday-best frill she wore.

  Gracie bent slightly to look the girl more closely in the face. “Well,” she finally said, pushing out her hand,

  “I’m Grace. What’s your name?”

  “I’m Iz—”

  Carson Price bolted forward. “Isabella,” he returned, grasping the child’s hand. “Ready?” He snatched the ball cap off his Isabella’s head. Gracie registered a sharp glance of annoyance from the child and the stern, warning stare back from the parent as he quickly stuffed the ball cap into the back pocket of his khaki pants. “We’ll take a look at the shop first, then the apartment,” she continued.

  “That’s fine,” Carson Price replied.

  “Unless, of course, you’d rather wait until your wife.”

  He shook his head. “No wife, just us.”

  Gracie nodded. “Oh. Well, right this way then.” She extended a hand toward the front door. Carson Price led the way, daughter in tow, and Gracie found herself watching those nicely fitting khaki’s from the rear until he opened the door and held it for her to pass through. No wife. This wasn’t a good sign.

  No indeedy.

  She decided right then and there, that renting to Carson Price was a bad idea. A very bad idea.

  Falling for Grace

  by

  Maddie James

  Now Available in Print and Kindle Formats

  www.amazon.com

  www.turquoisemorningpress.com

  Coming in August, 2010

  Turquoise Morning Press

  www.turquoisemorningpress.com

  Raeliksen

  by debut author

  Renee Vincent

  A sensational tale of love in a time stricken with loss.

  www.reneevincent.com