Nathan's Vow (20 page)

"Nathan, I have to use my gift
to help people.  Can you accept that?  I have to travel sometimes..."

"Do you have a problem with my
work?  I have late meetings.  I might miss supper, I travel now and then."

"I understand, but--"

"Then I can understand the
demands on your time.  Are you going to keep your interest in the craft
shop?"

She smiled--a full-blown, free,
radiant smile.  "Not if I'm going to live in L.A. with you."

He squeezed her tighter into his
chest.  "We're going to plan a beautiful beach wedding and then you're definitely
going to live in L.A. with me."

Gazing at him with the depth of
love overflowing from his own heart, she requested softly, "Say it
again."

He knew exactly what she meant. 
"I love you."

She stroked his jaw.  "I love
you, too."

Nathan bent his head to her lips
once more.  He'd reached for his star and found more joy and more love than he
ever could imagine.  Thanks to Gillian.  Thanks to her many gifts.  Thanks
mostly to her gift of love.

Epilogue

Fifteen
Months Later

Gillian waited for Nathan on the
patio.  The pool lights glowed through the water, the blue radiance a romantic
contrast against the black of night.  She lit five tapered candles on the table
next to the magnum holding sparkling grape juice.

When the sliding glass door opened,
Gillian's heart sped up as it always did whenever Nathan was anywhere near. 
"Hi."

His gaze swept over the violet silk
caftan that swirled in soft folds to her feet.  "Hel--lo.  Are we
celebrating something?"  He tugged down his tie, opened his shirt collar,
then wrapped his arms around her.

She smiled and unknotted his tie,
letting it hang loose around his neck.  "Yes, we are.  Remember Linda
Renfrow?"

"The runaway teenager."

"Uh huh.  Jake and I found her
today in Pasadena.  Once she'd run away, she was too embarrassed to call home
to say she'd made a mistake.  Luckily, we got to her before anything bad
happened."

"You never get tired of
finding people, do you?"

Not long after she and Nathan were
engaged, they'd invited Jake to dinner.  She and Jake had talked at length
about finding lost relatives as well as missing persons.  They'd decided with
Jake's skill and knowledge along with Gillian's "gift," they could
make a difference.  So she and Jake had formed a partnership and worked
together ever since.

She'd never tire of reuniting loved
ones.  "I hope Linda and her mother can work out their differences.  You
should have seen Linda's face when she saw her mother at the door with open
arms.  And her mother...  She was so happy."

Nathan brushed Gillian's cheek with
his thumb.  "You are, too.  You're glowing."

"That's because I had a
premonition."

His brows arched.  He knew she
didn't usually predict the future.  "A vision of what a wonderful night
we're going to have?"

"Not exactly."

"Are you going to tell
me?"

She nodded.  "I have to.  You
need to prepare." 

"For something good?"

She decided to stop the twenty
questions because she couldn't contain her excitement.  "In eight months
we'll be getting up at all hours for night feedings."

It took a moment for her meaning to
register.  "A baby?"  He lifted her, swung her in a circle, kissing
her at the same time.

When he set her down, she linked
her arms around his neck.  "I guess you're happy about it?"

"Ecstatic!  Wait until Dana
and Maddie hear."

"They'll be with us in June
when the baby's born.  Do you think they'll be jealous?"

"Maybe.  But we'll deal with
it.  Just as we've dealt with everything else."

Gillian had had a few run-ins with
Dana when the little girl had defied Gillian's authority, but through talking
and laughing and negotiating with Leona and Jean, the four of them had managed
to work out the situations.

"Do you know what I'd really
like to do tonight?" Gillian asked Nathan coyly.

"What?"

"Skinny dip."

His eyes sparkled with amusement,
love, and the passion that always burned brightly between them.  "Why,
Mrs. Bradley!  What will the neighbors think?"

"The neighbors won't know. 
We're surrounded by bushes and trees."  She unfastened his second shirt
button and then the third.  "Well?"

He tipped her chin up.  "I
want to make love to you under the moon and stars and watch your eyes light up
with the fire I feel every time I look at you or think about you."

She sighed because she felt so well
and truly loved.  "I love you, Nathan."

"And I love you. 
Forever."

Gillian nestled against him,
reveling in the strength of his arms around her, the solid beating of his
heart.  The day they married on the beach, Nathan had vowed to touch forever
with her.

 To touch forever.

 What a wonderful vow, a vow they'd
make every day of their lives.  And keep.  Together.  For a lifetime and
beyond.

*****

FROM
THE AUTHOR:

Nathan's Vow, the first book in my Search For Love series,
was one of my favorite books to write. It was first published with Silhouette
Books under the title Adam's Vow. My heroine is a psychic whose intuition is
all-important to her. I have relied on my intuition all my life. I have also
explored energy work for physical problems. So writing about Gillian's gift
came easily. I liked these characters so much that they appear again in Jake's
Bride. Jake, a secondary character in Nathan's Vow, became the hero of his own
book. Throughout all my books, I attempt to keep the emotion of my characters
as the focus. My intention is always to touch my readers' hearts and urge them
to believe in happily-ever-after. Since this book was first published, I've
gone on to write many more novels, making the USA Today List, the Borders Group
Bestseller List and the Amazon Contemporary Romance Bestseller List. Living in Pennsylvania with my college sweetheart and three cats, I spend most days writing, editing,
cooking and gardening. I draw inspiration from music, the farm in my back yard
and my hummingbird garden. Relationships have always fascinated me and I look
forward to writing about them for a long time to come. For more about me and my
latest releases, including excerpts, photos and short stories, please visit my
websites at www.karenrosesmith.com or www.karenrosesmithmysteries.com.  To keep
in touch day to day, follow me at Facebook (search Karen Rose Smith Author), on
Twitter @karenrosesmith and on my blog—Cats, Roses...and Books!

*****

KAREN
ROSE SMITH BOOKS AVAILABLE
IN E-BOOK FORMAT

FINDING
MR. RIGHT
Series

Kit
and Kisses, Book 1

Forever
After, Book 2

When
Mom Meets Dad, Book 3

Falling
For Her Boss, Book 4

Toys
and Baby Wishes, Book 5

Love
in Bloom, Book 6

Ribbons
and Rainbows, Book 7

Wish
on the Moon, Book 8

SEARCH
FOR LOVE
Series

Nathan's
Vow, Book 1

Jake's
Bride, Book 2

Always
Devoted, Book 3

Always
Her Cowboy, Book 4

Heartfire,
Book 5

Cassidy's
Cowboy, Book 6

Her
Sister, Book 7

EVERYDAY
LOVE
Short Story Series

Everyday
Cinderellas, Vol. 1

Everyday
Prince Charming, Vol. 2

Everyday
Romance, Vol.3

A Man
Worth Loving

Garden of Fantasy

Abigail
and Mistletoe

Writing
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Watch
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Wish
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Nathan's
Vow

Always
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Falling
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Jake's
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When
Mom Meets Dad

*****

Excerpt
from
HER SISTER

Search
For Love
series, Book 7

Prologue

Where is Lynnie?  Where did she
go?

In her mind, five-year-old Clare
Thaddeus called to her little sister—
Come back, Lynnie.  Please come back.

The huge policeman crouched down in
front of Clare's mother at the sofa and said in a deep, slow voice, "Mrs.
Thaddeus, I know you're terribly upset.  But I need details.  We've got an hour
before daylight.  If your daughter wandered outside—"

Clare's father, who'd been talking
to another man in blue, glanced at her, and Clare huddled down deeper into the
big green armchair.  Her dad didn't come to her but rather went to her mom,
sank down beside her and wrapped his arm around her.  Then he spoke to the
officer.  "Our daughter, Lynnie, is three.  She would never go outside
into the dark on her own."

"Tell us again where you were
last night," the policeman demanded in a not-so-nice voice.

"I worked late, preparing a
brief."

"Until five a.m.?"

"Yes, until five a.m.  As I told
you, I always check the girls' rooms before turning in.  Lynnie wasn't in her
bed.  I woke my wife.  We looked through the whole house and then we called
you."

Clare had been sleeping in her
brand new room.  They'd moved in here—she studied her hand and counted her
fingers—five days ago.  Boxes were still stacked down here and upstairs.  The
house was okay.  There were more rooms for her and Lynnie to play hide and
seek.  But she didn't like being alone in her own room at night.  She'd liked
it better when she and Lynnie had slept in the same room.

Earlier she'd thought she'd heard
Lynnie's door open...thought her sister was going to the bathroom and might
come in and crawl into bed with her.  But she'd been
so
sleepy.  She and
Lynnie had been running through the hose sprayer all afternoon in the backyard
while Mommy unpacked.  She was supposed to watch her sister.  She was always
supposed to look out for Lynnie.  That's what big sisters did.

Where had Lynnie gone?

Then Clare remembered the blue car
that had driven down the alley in back of the yard lots of times.  The man had
stopped once and watched them.  But she'd thought he might be one of their new
neighbors who just wanted to say hi.

Should she tell the policeman?

He was so big, and he looked mad.  Her
dad looked mad, too, as he asked, "Why do you want to question me and my
wife separately?"

"That's just the way we do it,
Mr. Thaddeus."

Although she was scared of the two
big men in blue uniforms, she knew her mommy and daddy wouldn't let them hurt her. 
Policemen helped, didn't they?  They were going to help find Lynnie.

She slipped off of the chair, went
over to the sofa and tugged on her mother's arm.  "Mommy, when I was
playing—"

The doorbell rang.

"Are you expecting
someone?" the policeman asked, his brows arched.

Not sounding at all like herself,
her mother answered, "I called a friend."

"Before or after you called
us?"

Her mother's face turned red. 
"
After
, of course."

"Mommy."  She tugged on
her mother's arm again while one of the policemen went to the door.

Her mother took Clare's hand. 
"Not now, honey.  Natalie's going to take care of you for a little while
so we can talk to the officers."

"But, Mommy—"

Her mom's best friend, Natalie
Barlow, rushed into the living room looking as upset as her mom and dad. 
"What can I do?"

Her father answered quickly. 
"Can you take Clare upstairs?  And can you call our old neighbors?  Maybe
they'll help search.  I've got to get out there looking, but I have to finish
answering questions first."

Natalie gave Clare a weak smile and
took her hand.  "Come on, honey.  Let's go upstairs for a while."

Her mom kissed her.

Her dad gave her a nod.

She tried again.  "When I was
playing with Lynnie—"

Tears fell down her mom's cheeks. 
Her dad said, "Not now.  Go upstairs with Natalie."

What she had to say wasn't
important.  The man in the blue car didn't matter.  Only Lynnie mattered.

As Clare followed Natalie upstairs,
she got very afraid.  What if the policemen couldn't find Lynnie?  Is that why
her mommy was crying?  Because she didn't think they could?  Was that why her
dad was mad?

Natalie bent down to her.  "I
don't want you to worry.  Everything's going to be all right."

But Clare knew better.  If Lynnie
didn't come home, nothing would ever be right again.

****

Chapter
One

"I'm not taking it back.  I
bought it with my own money."  Shara Thaddeus stared at her mother
defiantly, standing her ground.  At sixteen, she was Clare's payback for the
trouble Clare had given her parents when
she
was sixteen, though
certainly not for the same reason.

At thirty-two and a single parent,
Clare didn't know what to do with Shara any more than her parents had known
what to do with her.  She'd rebelled because she'd wanted their attention. 
Any
of their attention.  All of their attention.  When Lynnie had been around,
Clare had loved her and protected her and been her big sister.  But after she'd
disappeared, it was as if Clare hadn't existed.  Everything was always about
Lynnie.  And Clare had just wanted her parents to realize that although her
sister was gone,
she
was still there.