For the Love of Grace: A Christian Romance (The Callaghans & McFaddens Book 2) Read online

  For the Love of Grace

  By

  Kimberly Rae Jordan

  Copyright ©2017

  Kimberly Rae Jordan

  ISBN-13: 978-1-988409-11-5

  A man, a woman & their God.

  Three Strand Press publishes Christian Romance stories

  that intertwine love, faith and family.

  Always clean. Always heartwarming. Always uplifting.

  Cover designed by AMYGDALA DESIGN

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic or mechanical without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations being used in reviews or articles about the book.

  This is a work of fiction. The situations, characters, names and places are products of the author’s imagination, or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to locales, events, actual persons (living or dead) is entirely coincidental.

  This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment and may not be re-sold or transferred via any method to any other individual. If you are reading this eBook and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please respect the hard work of the author who has spent many hours creating this story for your enjoyment and purchase your own copy of this eBook. Please do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials by illegally downloading or sharing this eBook. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.

  Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

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  Table of Contents

  Note to Reader:

  Prologue

  1

  2

  3

  4

  5

  6

  7

  8

  9

  10

  11

  12

  13

  14

  15

  16

  17

  18

  19

  20

  21

  22

  23

  24

  25

  26

  27

  28

  EPILOGUE

  Note to Reader:

  Thank you for choosing to spend some time reading FOR THE LOVE OF GRACE. This is book two in The Callaghans & McFaddens series. Each book is a standalone story, but your reading experience may be enhanced by reading the previous books in the series. A HANDFUL OF FLOWERS is the prequel to the series, followed by A CHANGE OF HEART which is book one. Both are available through Amazon.

  I hope you enjoy reading FOR THE LOVE OF GRACE!

  ~Kimberly Rae Jordan

  Prologue

  Grace Anderson stared straight ahead at the white wall of the small hospital room. Until that morning, she had been convinced—totally convinced—that she would not be in this place again, watching as death took someone else she loved. She gripped her hands tightly around her phone and bit her lip. How was it that she had to make this decision? She had just turned eighteen—barely a legal adult—and now she was faced with making a life or death decision for the one person she loved above all others.

  Where was God in all of this? Why was He taking away all her family from her? The people she’d loved with all her heart were now gone. One by one. First her parents and now the only grandparent she’d ever known. She just didn’t get it. She just couldn’t figure out why God would do this. It was like her love was a curse.

  Swallowing past the lump in her throat, Grace pulled her chair closer to the bed and took her grandmother’s hand. She looked down at their clasped hands through blurred vision. Though her grandmother’s grasp felt fragile, Grace knew how strong it was. Whether she’d been kneading bread, stirring a batch of Grace’s favorite stew, pulling weeds in her garden or knitting a scarf, her hands had been steady and strong.

  Not anymore.

  “Grace?”

  She turned toward the sound of the soft voice and saw Emily Callaghan standing just inside the doorway of the hospital room, a look of concern on her face. Without waiting for an invitation, the older woman crossed the room to where Grace sat and bent to give her a hug. Grace held herself stiff for a moment then sank into Emily’s embrace.

  Since her grandmother’s cancer diagnosis three months earlier, Emily—her best friend, Makayla’s mom—had been there as a support for both of them. She’d gone with them to appointments, made meals and had been there for Grace as a shoulder to cry on more than once. But what she’d done more than anything was to assure her grandmother that they—the Callaghan-McFadden family—would take care of Grace. Emily and Steve had stepped in to help her grandmother prepare her legal affairs to make sure Grace’s future was secure.

  And now, as she prepared to make the most difficult decision of her life, Emily was once again by her side. Still holding her grandmother’s hand, she reached for Emily’s, praying as she did that the love she now had for Emily and her family wouldn’t cost them their lives. Maybe if she held part of herself back—if she didn’t let herself love them the way she had loved her family, if she didn’t let them become that important to her—maybe then they would be safe.

  As the last person to claim every part of her heart slipped away to heaven, Grace grieved the loss of her grandmother along with the dream she’d had of one day having a loving husband and children. She just couldn’t take the chance of loving someone so completely again.

  Whatever God’s plan was for her life, it had better not include any more loss.

  Her heart couldn’t handle it.

  “I think we should get married.”

  Grace looked up from her phone to stare across the restaurant table at Franklin Moore. “What?”

  “I know we haven’t really talked about it,” he said with a shrug. “I think it would be a good idea.”

  Saying they hadn’t talked about it was an understatement. When Franklin had first asked her out after they’d met at a church function, she’d let him know that she wasn’t in the market for a relationship. He’d told her that he wasn’t either, but there were times he needed a date, and he thought they looked good together. So they’d kind of fell into being a couple, and now it looked like it was going to be the same with getting married.

  “You don’t love me, Franklin,” Grace reminded him. She set her phone down on the table and gave him her full attention.

  “You don’t love me, either,” Franklin responded. He had also put his phone down, so he clearly felt this was important. “But I still think it could work.”

  Grace wondered why she wasn’t shooting down the idea right off the bat. Most likely because she was getting tired of people asking when they were going to get married since they’d been dating for a couple of years already. “I don’t want children.”

  “I don’t either.” Franklin pushed his empty plate toward the middle of the table and leaned forward on his arms. “I think we get along pretty good. I’m not interested in a love match. My parents say they love each other, but it has constantly been one fight after another. You’ve seen them together.” Franklin grimaced, his handsome features twisting. “I prefer what we have.”

  Grace shuddered as she recalled the two meetings she’d had with his parents. It had been horribly uncomfortable to be around the sq
uabbling couple. Thankfully, they spent most their time in places other than Winnipeg, so Grace had only met them twice in the two years she and Franklin been dating. They had been a shocking contrast to the loving marriage she’d seen from Steve and Emily Callaghan. Maybe a marriage to Franklin would fall somewhere in the middle. They wouldn’t have the loving, close relationship like Steve and Emily’s, but they also wouldn’t fight like Franklin’s parents.

  “Can I get you anything else?”

  Grace glanced up at the blonde waitress standing beside their table. “Nothing for me thanks.”

  “What would you recommend for dessert, sweetheart?” Franklin asked with a wink.

  Grace wondered if that would change once they were married, but somehow she doubted it. Thankfully, she didn’t really care if he flirted with other women. If she loved him, it would be different, but since she didn’t, all she did was roll her eyes at his interaction with the waitress.

  Once he had placed an order for a brownie sundae, Franklin brought the conversation back to getting married. “If you agree, I’ll get a ring for you. Unless you want to pick it out for yourself.”

  “How about I pick it out for myself?” If there was no sentiment attached to the ring, she might as well pick out something she liked.

  “Sounds good. Just let me know when you’ve found what you like, and I’ll buy it for you.” He grinned. “And then we can post a picture and make it Facebook official.”

  Grace laughed. “Yep. Gotta make sure we get it up on all our social media.”

  As they went on to discuss the wedding itself, Grace mulled over what she was going to say to Makayla and Tami. They had objected to her relationship with Franklin almost from the start. Finding out she was going to marry him, they would no doubt raise even more objections. Too bad they were going to fall on deaf ears. Her deaf ears. In the five and a half years since her grandmother’s death, she hadn’t changed her mind about love and the risk it carried.

  But later that night, in her room in the apartment she shared with Tami and Makayla, Grace had a moment where she mourned what marrying Franklin would mean. Though she’d never let her herself dwell on a future where she’d be marrying for love, in the dark of night, she let herself mourn the loss of it.

  And the man who might have loved her.

  1

  “You’re fired.” Bennett McFadden didn’t often have the need to say those words, and they left a bad taste in his mouth. The man in front of him opened his mouth as if to reply, but Bennett cut him off with a slash of his hand. “I want you and your crew off the premises within the hour.”

  “Bennett. C’mon, man.” Stanley Timmons crossed his arms. “I told you that it was just some new kid, and I’ll make sure he’s gone. There’s no need to sever our arrangement.”

  “There is every need,” Bennett said as he brushed back the edges of his suit coat and put his hands on his hips. “You are full of excuses and placing blame everywhere but where it belongs. On you. If the kid didn’t know what he was doing, then you’re not training your guys like you should. That’s on you. Not the kid. The guys working for you deserve a better supervisor. If you’d taken responsibility for what happened here today, we’d be having a different conversation. This isn’t the first time you’ve done it on our sites, but I guarantee it’s the last.”

  The man looked like he was going to blow his top, but Mitch stepped to Bennett’s side and a few of their guys also moved closer. Finally, Stanley gave a curt nod then shouted over his shoulder. “Pack it up.”

  “We’ll mail out your payment for the work done by the end of the week.” As the man stalked away, Bennett turned to Mitch. “Get that kid’s information because I have a feeling he’s going to be losing his job. If he seems trainable, see if we can find a spot for him. I’m going to call Evan at Master Kitchens to see if they have a crew that can help us out.”

  Mitch nodded. Bennett wasn’t sure his brother supported his decision one hundred percent, but Bennett believed in dealing with companies who treated their employees respectfully. He wasn’t upset at the kid for the error. Mistakes happened to everyone. The kid had apologized profusely for making the wrong cuts for the countertop, so he hadn’t deserved to get thrown under the bus. Stan hadn’t had a qualified supervisor on site to make sure that the poorly trained guys he was sending out didn’t make mistakes. That was definitely on him.

  “We’ll talk at the office later,” Bennett said to Mitch. “I have to get back and meet with Ethan.”

  “Okay,” his brother said with a nod. “I’ll stop by after I make sure things are on track here.”

  Twenty minutes later, Bennett pulled his truck into the spot reserved for him at the C&M Builders office and put it into park. After turning the engine off, he sat for a moment, trying to calm the anger that still pulsed through him. He’d hoped the drive from the job site to the office would have been enough time to settle down, but apparently it wasn’t. Not many things made him this angry, but seeing that guy treat the kid who worked for him so badly had pushed several buttons.

  Normally, he wouldn’t have been aware of what had transpired, but he’d happened to stop by the site since he passed it on his way to the office from where he’d been at a meeting. The first thing he’d heard as he’d stepped into the building had been a voice raised in anger, shouting one expletive after another. Then he’d seen the young kid cowering before Stanley as if he was afraid of being hit. That had been the last straw.

  Mitch had arrived right behind Bennett, having been alerted by the site supervisor that something had happened. In another situation, Bennett would have let Mitch take care of the problem, but the anger that had taken hold of him had demanded he take action. So he had, but the anger still hadn’t abated which made him wish he had time for a trip to the gym for a sparring session with a punching bag.

  Finally, after letting out a long breath of air, Bennett opened the truck door, wincing at the wall of heat that greeted him. It was an exceptionally warm day for late June in a city where temperatures were still pretty moderate at that time of year. And the heat only added to his agitation because it made him feel sweaty and sticky, and he still had at least five hours to go before he could change out of the suit he wore.

  Eager to get into the air-conditioned building that housed the C&M Builders’ office, Bennett quickly retrieved his briefcase from the back seat of the truck and headed for the door of the large brick building. As he walked into the foyer area, his stride faltered and what remained of his anger fizzled out when he spotted the woman sitting behind the receptionist desk.

  Grace Moore looked up as he approached her. He saw right away the toll that the past month had taken on her, and he was surprised that she was back at work already. With her blonde hair pulled back, the dark circles under her blue eyes were more pronounced, even with the makeup she wore, and her face bore a gauntness that he’d never seen on her before. Thankfully, it seemed the injuries she’d sustained—which had consisted of cuts and bruises—in the accident had healed. At least the visible ones.

  “Good morning, Grace.” Bennett set his briefcase on the desk, gripping the handle. “I didn’t realize you were going to be in today.”

  “I don’t have anything else to do.” Grace shrugged as her gaze slipped from his. “I figured I might as well come to work.”

  Bennett frowned, understanding why the bubbliness of her personality was absent but missing it all the same. “As long as you’re sure you’re up to it.”

  “I’m sure,” Grace picked up the stack of papers in front of her and tapped them against the desk. “I need something to keep me busy.”

  Though he didn’t want her to be back to work too soon, Bennett could see how she might need time where she had something besides grief to occupy her thoughts. “I’m glad you’re back.” He lifted his briefcase off the desk. “We’ve missed you, but we’d understand if you need to take more time off.”

  Grace’s gaze met his briefly before she no
dded. “Thank you.”

  “I’ll talk to you later.” With one last glance at her, Bennett headed down the hallway.

  “Good morning, Bennett.”

  Bennett spotted Ethan Collins, his sister’s fiancé, coming out of his office. “Hey, Ethan.”

  The man fell into step beside Bennett as he walked toward the back of the building where his office was located. “How did your meeting go this morning?”

  “Fairly well.” Bennett stepped into his office and set his case down beside his desk.

  Ethan followed him into the room and went to stand behind one of the chairs in front of Bennett’s desk, his hands gripping the back of it. “Sorry I couldn’t take that meeting.”

  Bennett shrugged out of his jacket and hung it up. As he rolled up his sleeves, he glanced over at Ethan. “Don’t worry about it. That’s why it works well to have both of us available to do things like this. Besides, it was more just an information session so we can prepare the bid next month.” Bennett dropped down on his chair and let out another long breath. “How was your meeting?”

  Ethan sat down across from him and began to fill him in on the meeting he’d had. As the man talked, Bennett acknowledged again how fortunate they’d been the day Ethan had sent his application to C&M Builders. And not only for the company’s sake. Just a week ago, Ethan had proposed to Makayla and—no surprise—she’d said yes. Given the rough month they’d been through with Grace, it had been welcome news.

  “Did you know that Grace planned to be in today?” Bennett asked after Ethan had finished the report of his own meeting.

  Ethan shook his head, his mouth tightening. “Makayla said Grace called her on the way to work to let her know she was going to be in.”

  Bennett wasn’t sure how he felt about it. Of course, Grace was a grown woman and could make her own decisions. No one else could really determine for her whether it was time for her to return to work or not. “I just don’t want her to overdo things.”