Introduction

“Filled with Texas charm and the healing power of love.”—Debbie Macomber, #1 New York Times bestselling author

Emily Rose may be in the tiny West Texas town of Callahan Crossing for the moment, but it’s just a rung on her ladder to success. Her work at the Callahan Crossing historical society will look good on her ever-growing resume. Little does she know that Chance Callahan has decided that he can convince her to stay—both with the town and with him. As he helps Emily restore the town’s history after a devastating fire, can he help her uncover the value of love?

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Excerpt

Man meets woman. Man loves woman. Man marries
woman.

Chance Callahan looked down at the three cartoon scenes
he’d drawn on some scratch paper a few days earlier. A scruffy
cowboy and pretty lady running from an old building, a raging
fire behind them. Pretty lady smiles at tired, dirty cowboy, and
his heart pounds out of his chest, stars in his eyes. Beautiful
bride and love-struck groom standing before the preacher.
If only it were that simple.

It was only the second of February, and he already had
spring fever.

Shaking his head, he turned his attention back to the notes
he’d made that afternoon while he and the insurance claims
adjuster inspected the old museum. As a building contractor,
Chance had figured out before the man arrived that the
structure couldn’t be saved.

Which meant the Callahan Crossing Historical Society
meeting tonight was going to be about as cheerful as a coroner’s
inquest. He wished he could tell them—and his pretty
lady—that the building could be repaired at a reasonable expense.
But it couldn’t. It had suffered too much damage from
the fire that had ravaged their small town a week earlier.
The building was almost a hundred years old, and most
of it had been affected in some way by the fire. The whole
thing would have to be brought up to current fire and health
codes. It would cost far more than what the insurance would
cover.

In many ways, worrying about a museum when a third of
the town had been destroyed seemed just plain wrong. So
many families had lost everything; some both their homes
and businesses. Ranchers and farmers had lost livestock,
pastures, and miles of fencing.

The only blessing was that no one had been killed or seriously
injured. Though badly shaken by the experience, folks
would pick up and get on with their lives. Most planned to
stay in Callahan Crossing. But a few had no way—or no
heart—to rebuild and had already moved away.

His mom felt that opening the museum again after a
decade-long closure would lift folks’ spirits. She thought it
might even bring in a little money from tourism and give the
town a boost. Particularly if it was done right this time, with
good displays and organization instead of a bunch of odds
and ends thrown together in a jumble.

He didn’t see how that little ol’ museum could do much
for the town, but setting it up would keep Emily Rose Denny
around for a while. And that was something he wanted.
Badly.

Satisfied that he’d included everything in the report, he
clicked the print icon on the computer screen and waited as
the laser printer zipped out thirty copies. He didn’t know
how many people would be at the meeting tonight, but he
believed in being prepared.

He couldn’t think of any suitable options for the museum
right off the top of his head, though surely there must be
some. He owned a building downtown that he’d been fixing
up, but it was four times the size of the one they’d planned
on using. His mom had been concerned because they’d barely
had enough items to put in the old one. They had less after
the fire. Even if he offered to donate his building, it wouldn’t
be suitable. Two big rooms with a handful of odds and ends
would look dumb. And it sure wouldn’t draw tourists.

For now, Emily was busy trying to salvage what she could,
but he didn’t know how long that would last. Though only
part of the building had burned, there was extensive smoke
and water damage to the contents. He doubted there was much
worth keeping. They might have to abandon the whole project,
and she’d skedaddle back home fast as greased lightning.
He’d find a way to stop her from heading back to San Antonio,
even if he had to propose marriage to do it. Courting
her first would be better, of course, but sometimes a man
had to charge out of the chute to win the prize.

And hope he didn’t land in the dirt instead.

Leaning his head against the back of the chair, he closed
his eyes and pictured the pretty blonde who had been hired
to reorganize and redesign the museum.

Chance had first met Emily during the fire. The chief had
ordered the Callahans and a few other volunteer firefighters
to canvas the town and make sure everyone had evacuated.
At that point, it was impossible to control the wind-whipped
grass fire that had become a mile-wide inferno. They could
only try to save lives.

The smoke had been so thick that he almost didn’t see
her van outside the museum. When he told her to leave, she
promptly ordered him to carry out some boxes she hadn’t
gotten to. She hadn’t been exactly bossy, just determined to
save precious local history, old pictures, and historical documents
that had been gathering dust for decades. Foolhardy,
he supposed. Especially when it wasn’t her town’s history
she was trying to save. But if they hadn’t done it, everything
would have gone up in flames. That whole section of the
museum had been completely destroyed.

He’d sent her to his parents’ house at Callahan Ranch,
only to see her again late that night with his mom and sister
helping at the shelter their church had set up.

At twenty-nine years old, he was ready to settle down. Unfortunately,
the eligible females in the area—at least the type
he might want for a wife—were few and far between. Over
the years, he’d dated almost every single woman in the county
who seemed the least bit interesting. And almost as many
from the neighboring counties. But he never took anyone out
more than a few times. Better to hurt their feelings early than
to let them get their hopes up and hurt them worse.

He’d quickly learned that many women were more attracted
by the Callahan wealth and name than they were by
him. He wanted what his parents had; what his sister, Jenna,
and her new husband, Nate, had—a deep and lasting love that
would weather the ups and downs, the good and the bad.

He’d never experienced more than a passing fascination
with a woman until he met Emily Rose. With her, it had been
love at first sight. Well, maybe at second sight, since it was so
dark from all the smoke the first time that he hadn’t gotten
a real good look at her.

When he walked into the church shelter about 1:00 the next
morning, he’d been filthy from fighting the fire, exhausted,
hungry, and heartbroken by the devastation he’d seen. She
glanced up and gave him a smile that almost knocked him
over. He looked into her gentle, deep blue eyes and thought,
She’s the one.

He didn’t know if the Lord had been speaking to him, or
if he’d heard the whisper of his own heart. It didn’t much
matter. He intended to ride his pony down this trail and see
where it led. Lord willin’, it wouldn’t be off a cliff.

Besides working at the museum, Emily had spent numerous
hours helping at the shelter. She was a total stranger who’d
only arrived in town a couple of days before the fire, but she
cheerfully served meals and helped distribute donated food
and clothing. Both yesterday and today when he’d taken a
break from the cleanup efforts and gone to the shelter for
lunch, he’d spotted her holding someone’s hand, giving another
a shoulder to cry on, or praying with people.

Other than when he met the insurance man at the museum,
he’d spent the past two days piling up debris and ashes with
his bulldozer and loading them into his company dump truck
to be hauled away to the new landfill.

He and Emily both had been putting in such long hours
that he hadn’t had a chance to talk to her alone for more
than a few minutes. How was a man supposed to get to know
the woman he wanted to marry if they couldn’t spend time
together without everybody and their uncle listening to the
conversation?

“Lord, I sure would appreciate it if you could make a way
for Emily to stay here a while. I can’t shake the feeling that
you sent her here for me, that there’s going to be something
good between us. But we’ll never find out if she hightails it
back to San Antonio.”

Stacking up the copies of the report, he slipped them into
a blue manila folder and set it on top of the big U-shaped oak
desk. If he hustled, he could take a shower before walking
across the yard to the ranch house for the meeting. Stinking
like diesel fumes, soot, and sweat wasn’t the way to make a
good impression on a woman, particularly a city gal who was
probably used to men in expensive suits and smellin’ purty
from fancy cologne.

Scooping ground coffee into the coffeemaker, Emily spotted
Chance through the window as he walked toward the ranch
house. She straightened the hem of her light orange sweater
and brushed a piece of lint from the matching slacks. Then
she silently told herself to quit primping.

He opened the back door, stepped into the kitchen, and
flashed her a smile. “Hi, darlin’. Am I late?”

“Right on time.” If any other man called her darlin’, she’d
punch him. Somehow it didn’t sound disrespectful coming
from Chance; it seemed sweet and sincere.

Slightly over six feet tall, with the physique of a construction
worker, the handsome builder and cowboy had an easygoing
charm that spoke more of confidence than pride. He was a man
comfortable with himself and his place in life. He was also one
of the most kindhearted, godly men she had ever met.

A drop of water glistened in his dark brown hair, and
she caught a light, refreshing hint of aftershave as he leaned
against the cabinet next to her. His bright turquoise shirt
emphasized his dark tan. He laid a blue manila folder on the
counter. “Did Mom get my message?”

“She didn’t mention it.” Emily put the coffee scoop back
into the can, snapped on the lid, and moved it toward the
back of the counter in case they needed to make more later.
She removed a package of yellow and green striped paper
napkins from a paper grocery sack, then folded it up and
laid it on the counter, revealing the answering machine. A
red 1 blinked up at her, so she pushed the play button. At
the sound of his voice saying, “Hi, Mom,” Chance reached
over and deleted the message.

“I don’t have good news.”

Emily flipped the switch on the coffeemaker, turned to face
him, and looked up into clear, green eyes filled with concern.
Her heartbeat quickened. “How bad is it?”

Before he could answer, his mother swept into the kitchen,
wearing her usual Wrangler jeans and cowboy boots with a
light green silk blouse, strand of pearls, and pearl earrings.
Her strawberry blonde hair curled softly about her face. Sue
Callahan smiled when she saw her youngest son. “Oh, good.
You made it.” She stopped in front of him and studied his
face. “What’s wrong?” she asked quietly.

“There was a lot more damage than we first thought.” He
spoke softly, so no one in the next room would overhear them.

“The insurance company only covers what it costs to restore
the building to the way it was before the fire. It won’t pay for
bringing it up to code. And that’s going to cost a lot.”

He tapped his finger on the folder. “I wrote up a detailed
report and made copies for everybody.”

Frowning, Sue opened the refrigerator and removed a pint of
half-and-half, pouring it into a yellow pottery pitcher. She set
it beside the matching sugar bowl and containers of French vanilla
and hickory nut powdered creamers near the coffeemaker.

“Can we use the insurance money to buy another building?”
“You should be able to since you didn’t have a mortgage.

Though you may need to use some of the money to demolish
the current building. It’s going to be an eyesore.” He glanced
at Emily, then focused on his mom again. “I’m sorry to spring
this on you right before the meeting. I left you a message, but
you hadn’t checked the answering machine.”

“We were late getting home from town, and I didn’t think to
look at it. Ramona left early to get her hair fixed, so she missed
your call. I doubt I’d have solved the problem even if I’d known
about it sooner.” Sue took a deep breath, releasing it slowly.

“We’ll just have to pray about this. At least some of us will. If
we’re supposed to do this thing, God will provide a way.”
She looked at Chance again and tipped her head. “You
look beat.”

“I am. But I’ll be fine after a good night’s sleep.” He glanced
at the two Texas sheet cakes sitting on the counter. “And if
I get some of that cake.”

“You’re putting in too many long hours. You should have
taken a few more days to rest between fighting the fire and
starting on the cleanup.”

“The sooner we get done, the quicker folks can start rebuilding.
I’m only pitching in for a little while. Yesterday and
today, the only ones working were the county road crews and
me and my driver. But the state is sending in several teams
with bulldozers and trucks. They’re supposed to arrive tomorrow.

Work crews from the prisons at Colorado City and
Abilene will come in daily to remove dead trees and pick up
what the bulldozers can’t.

“Despite all the help, with a hundred houses burned, counting
those two in the country, plus the gin and the businesses
we lost, it’s going to take months to clear all the debris.”

“After you finish with that, you’ll be working just as hard
helping people rebuild. You’re pushing yourself too much,
son.”

“I’ll be busy, but it will be fun and not nearly as tiring. I’ve
already gotten several calls from folks who had insurance. I
have a meeting scheduled in the morning with one family. I
anticipate more soon, so I won’t be running full throttle on
the cleanup.”

Sue shook her head and looked at Emily. “I’m glad my
boys have a good work ethic, but sometimes they take it a
little too far. Like their father.” She focused on her son again.
“I’ll move you up to the beginning of the meeting so you can
go home and get some sleep.”

“Thanks, Mom. I appreciate it.” Chance waited until his
mother walked out of the room, then turned to Emily. He
rested his hands lightly on her shoulders. “Don’t start packing
your suitcase yet. We’ll think of something to get this
project off the ground.”

“Only if you can work miracles. I’ve seen the Historical
Society’s budget and treasurer’s report. They don’t have any
money to add to what they’ll get from the insurance.”

“Have faith,” he said softly. “I don’t think God brought
you here just to make you go back home again so fast.”

“I hope you’re right.” When he dropped his hands to his
sides, she was surprised by a sudden intense feeling of loss.

A hug would be nice right about then. But she wasn’t about
to tell him that.
... view entire excerpt...

Discussion Questions

1. Before Chance met Emily, he had dated a lot of different women, but none never more than twice. Do you think he should have taken more time with some of them to see if their relationship would deepen into love?

2. Chance fell in love with Emily the first time he saw her. Do you believe in love at first sight? Do you think God orchestrated their meeting?

3. What do you think of Chance's reaction when he learned that Emily had slept with her boyfriend before she became a Christian?

4. Emily felt driven to climb to the top of the ladder in her chosen profession, partly because of her personality and partly because her parents demanded it. How big a role should parents' expectations play in their child's career?

5. Emily was a city-girl through and through until she met Chance, the Callahans, and the people of Callahan Crossing. How hard do you think it would be to make the switch from city to small town, or vice versa?

6. What should Emily have done when she found the box with the mementos of Aidan's and Margaret's relationship?

7. Emily pushed toward her career goal, certain that it was the path God wanted her on. When we're confident that God has opened doors for us, is it wise to step back now and then and seek confirmation that we're still doing what He wants? Has God ever made it clear to you that you should do something different?

8. Chance decided that he was being arrogant to insist on living in Callahan Crossing after they were married and forcing Emily to give up her career dreams. Was he right?

9. If she had chosen to take the job at the Dallas museum, do you think Chance could have been happy if he moved away from his family? Have you had to deal with a similar situation?

Weblinks

»	Publisher's Book Info
»	Author Sharon Gillenwater's web site

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