A Love So Strong

A Love So Strong
Arlene James

In need of a wife, Pastor Marcus Wheeler was sure God would send him a good woman - anyone except Nicole Archer.Though she was kind and beautiful, she was far too young and unconventional to be a proper minister's wife. She couldn't possibly be the one for him. But the more time he spent with Nicole, the more he marveled at her strength and spirit.Nicole made juggling school and family responsibilities seem easy, yet Marcus knew he could help ease her burdens - and make her smile. Sometimes God's plan isn't what one expects.

“I’m worried about you.”

“I appreciate that, Marcus, more than you know.” Nicole reached tentatively for his hand, willing him to understand what she couldn’t seem to come right out and say. “Soon things will be different. My brother and I will move away from my father and be free to go where we want…see who we want.”

Marcus opened his mouth as if to argue, then he blinked. The next thing she knew, he was jumping out of the car.

“Say hello to Beau for me,” Marcus prattled cheerfully, striding away.

Nicole blew out a short breath. What was that about? Had the mere suggestion that she’d like to date him sent him running for the hills?

At first, Nicole was disheartened, then realized there was plenty of time to change his mind. She was sure Marcus cared, and maybe one day he would get used to the idea….

ARLENE JAMES

says, “Camp meetings, mission work and the church where my parents and grandparents were prominent members permeate my Oklahoma childhood memories. It was a golden time, which sustains me yet. However, only as a young, widowed mother did I truly begin growing in my personal relationship with the Lord. Through adversity, He blessed me in countless ways, one of which is a second marriage so loving and romantic, it still feels like courtship!”

The author of over sixty novels, Arlene James now resides outside of Dallas, Texas, with her husband. Arlene says, “The rewards of motherhood have indeed been extraordinary for me. Yet I’ve looked forward to this new stage of my life.” Her need to write is greater than ever, a fact that frankly amazes her, as she’s been at it since the eighth grade!

A Love So Strong

Arlene James

And this I pray,

that your love may abound still more and more

in real knowledge and all discernment.

—Philippians 1:9

For Lauren, because granddaughters

are one of God’s greatest blessings,

and Granna loves you very, very much.

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Letter to Reader

Questions for Discussion

Chapter One

“Happy birthday! Happy birthday, Marcus!”

Marcus Wheeler lifted his hands and addressed the two dozen or so assembled guests.

“You shouldn’t have gone to so much trouble. The church already gave me a nice monetary gift. A man blessed with that and a family such as this can’t ask for more.” He grinned, then added, “But I’m mighty appreciative, all the same.”

“Good grief, man. We have six sisters between us,” Vince, husband of Marcus’s sister Jolie and scion of the boisterous Cutler clan, stated ruefully. “Did you really think your two sisters and my four would let your birthday slip by without a family celebration?”

Everyone laughed, and the rippling sound warmed Marcus to the very center of his soul. Not so long ago he’d been struggling to hold on to some semblance of his fractured family, and now, thanks to his two younger sisters—especially Jolie, the eldest of them—he had more family than he could keep track of.

“So far as I can tell,” drawled Kendal Oakes, husband of Marcus’s youngest sister, Connie, “the Cutlers don’t let any excuse to celebrate get past them.”

This elicited more laughter and a general chorus of “Amen, brother!”

An only child himself, Kendal confessed to Marcus that he still didn’t seem to know what to make of the loving horde who were the Cutlers, but after almost a year as a member of the clan, he was more at ease. Even his daughter, Larissa, who would be three in a couple months and was often overwhelmed by too much stimulation, had relaxed into the midst of what had proven to be a loving, sheltering family.

It was also a growing family, with Jolie and Vince expecting their first child in late June. Marcus knew that Jolie would be as wonderful a mother to her own child as she had been to her nephew, Russell, Connie’s thirty-month-old son, in his first year when Connie couldn’t take care of him.

“Can’t have too much celebration,” Connie murmured, smoothing Russell’s bright red hair as he leaned against her leg, eagerly awaiting his piece of the birthday cake.

Marcus couldn’t have agreed with her more. So much had changed in the past two years.