Part 83 (2/2)
”But he just got home,” Gerald protested.
”Can't we stay?” Phillip moaned.
”Now, boys,” August said, putting them from his knee. ”You must always mind your mother and me. Sometimes your safety or lives might depend upon it. Right now, your mom simply wants to talk to me, but obeying her is always important. Do you understand?”
The boys sobered at August's serious tone. ”Yes, Daddy.”
With a smile, August broke the somber moment. ”Good. Now, you run and play, and when I'm done talking to your mother, I'll come help you build something with your blocks.”
The boys scampered off to their room, discussing at great length their plans for the toy building project.
”You have such a loving way with them,” Beth remarked. ”I'm amazed that you've never spent much time with children.”
”There were never any around to spend time with. There was Julie, of course,” he said, ”but I was a child as well. I've always known, though, that I wanted to be a father. I've always wanted a house full of children and a home full of love.”
”I feel like I've got so much to learn about you,” Beth said wistfully. ”You've never told me much about Nome or your sister. It's another part of you that I know nothing about.”
August nodded. ”Just remember, there's a great deal I don't know about you, either. But we have all the time in the world.”
Beth frowned for a moment, remembering the war that engulfed the world. ”It's a rather frightening time. The world is in such conflict. So many young men are dying to give us freedom and a future. It cuts my heart to imagine waving my sons off to war. I pray I never have to know that feeling.”
”Yes,” August said, remembering that he once wanted to be one of those marching away to war. ”I've never looked at it quite that way. I was angry at G.o.d because He wouldn't let me be one of those going off to serve. I never thought of how it affected anyone but me. Now that two little boys I love could well face that responsibility, I feel the same way you do. I want to protect them and keep them far from the reaches of such a monster as war.”
”Do you suppose the world will change so very much in the years to come? I mean after the fighting is over and the men have come home,” Beth questioned.
”War always changes things,” August said thoughtfully. ”I remember reading about World War I. It seemed so far away and unimportant. Somebody else's war, I thought. Somebody else's land and people. But it wasn't that way, and neither is this. We're every bit as much a part of those who are fighting as they are of us. We give them a reason to fight, a reason to win. They need us, just as we need them.”
”Is it selfish to want a good life with you and the boys, in the face of the adversity our soldiers are living with?” Beth inquired.
”I don't think so. I believe it's just as they would expect. Life goes on, and just as one war is over, another begins. Whether it's on a battlefield or in a hospital bed, it's a never-ending cycle, and G.o.d's hand is upon all,” August replied.
”Then our destiny is in His hands, and nothing the world does or doesn't do will change that,” Beth said with new certainty.
”That it is,” August agreed and added, ”A future with G.o.d's loving protection doesn't seem at all frightening.”
Beth nodded and reached across the table for August's hand. His warm fingers wrapped around her own, and Beth knew there truly was nothing to fear. With G.o.d and a good man at her side, the challenges of the world seemed to shrink under a shroud of faith.
Destiny's road would be G.o.d's road, and though the way might hold pitfalls and obstacles, Beth and August would travel it together, always guided by the Creator of it all.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS.
MARY CONNEALY.
Mary Connealy writes romantic comedy with cowboys. She is a Christy Award finalist and a Carol Award winner. She is the author of the La.s.soed in Texas Trilogy, the Montana Marriage Trilogy, and the Sophie's Daughters Series.
Mary lives on a Nebraska ranch with her husband, Ivan, and has four grown daughters: Joslyn (married to Matt), Wendy, Sh.e.l.ly (married to Aaron), and Katy. And she is the grandmother of two beautiful grandchildren.
CATHY MARIE HAKE.
Cathy Marie Hake is a Southern California native. She met her two loves at church: Jesus and her husband, Christopher. An RN, she loved working in oncology as well as teaching Lamaze. Health issues forced her to retire, but G.o.d opened new possibilities with writing. Since their children have moved out and are married, Cathy and Chris dote on dogs they rescue from a local shelter. A sentimental pack rat, Cathy enjoys sc.r.a.pbooking and collecting antiques. Since her first book in 2000, she's been on multiple bestseller and readers' favorite lists.
TRACIE PETERSON.
Tracie Peterson, bestselling, award-winning author of over ninety fiction t.i.tles and three non-fiction books, lives and writes in Belgrade, Montana. As a Christian, wife, mother, writer, editor and speaker (in that order), Tracie finds her slate quite full.
Published in magazines and Sunday school take home papers, as well as a columnist for a Christian newspaper, Tracie now focuses her attention on novels. After signing her first contract with Barbour Publis.h.i.+ng in 1992, her novel, A Place To Belong, appeared in 1993 and the rest is history. She has over twenty-six t.i.tles with Heartsong Presents' book club (many of which have been repackaged) and stories in six separate anthologies from Barbour. From Bethany House Publis.h.i.+ng, Tracie has multiple historical three-book series as well as many stand-alone contemporary women's fiction stories and two non-fiction t.i.tles. Other t.i.tles include two historical series co-written with Judith Pella, one historical series co-written with James Scott Bell, and multiple historical series co-written with Judith Miller.
KATHLEEN Y'BARBO Bestselling author Kathleen Y'Barbo is a multiple Carol Award and RITA nominee of forty-five novels with almost two million copies of her books in print in the US and abroad. A tenth-generation Texan and certified family law paralegal, she has been nominated for a Career Achievement Award as well a Reader's Choice Award and several Top Picks by Romantic Times magazine. A member of American Christian Fiction Writers, Romance Writers of America, and a former member of the Texas Bar a.s.sociation Paralegal Division, she is currently a proud military wife and an expatriate Texan cheering on her beloved Texas Aggies from north of the Red River.
If you enjoyed The Alaska Brides Collection.
look for The Brides of Chance.
Available wherever books are sold.
If you enjoyed.
The Alaska Brides Collection.
look for The New England Romance Collection Available wherever books are sold..
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