A Bungalow For Two
Carole Gift Page
PEACE, QUIET AND…LOVE?Sculptor Frannie Rowlands figured some time alone at the windswept shore was all she needed to recover from a creative slump–and from her father' s and sisters' weddings. But when a near disaster brought her handsome neighbor to the rescue, Frannie realized that solitude wasn' t the only thing that was good for the soul….At his tranquil beach house, Scott Winslow discovered he could live the simple life he craved. Now the reclusive billionaire had unexpectedly found something else there: a woman who had no idea who he was, a woman who might be able to love the real Scott–if only she would let herself….
“Scott, why don’t you just come with me to church?”
His brows furrowed. “No, Frannie. I can’t. I’m not ready for that.”
“Not ready for what? Mingling with the rest of humanity? What’s wrong with you, Scott? Why do you avoid people? Who are you hiding from?”
Scott pushed back his chair, sprang to his feet and strode over to the window. “You don’t understand, Frannie.”
“Then explain it. We’re friends, Scott, and yet I feel like you’re a stranger.”
He gazed out the window, then back at her. “Someday I’ll tell you everything. But until then, you have to trust me. That’s all I can say right now.”
CAROLE GIFT PAGE
writes from the heart about issues facing women today. A prolific author of over 40 books and 800 stories and articles, she has published both fiction and nonfiction with a dozen major Christian publishers, including Thomas Nelson, Moody Press, Crossway Books, Bethany House, Tyndale House and Harvest House. An award-winning novelist, Carole has received the C.S. Lewis Honor Book Award and been a finalist several times for the prestigious Gold Medallion Award and the Campus Life Book of the Year Award.
A frequent speaker at churches, conferences, conventions, schools and retreats around the country, Carole shares her testimony (based on her inspiring new book, Becoming a Woman of Passion) and encourages women everywhere to discover and share their deepest passions, to keep passion alive on the home front and to unleash their passion for Christ.
Born and raised in Jackson, Michigan, Carole taught creative writing at Biola University in La Mirada, California, and serves on the advisory board of the American Christian Writers. She and her husband, Bill, live in Southern California and have three children (besides Misty in heaven) and three beautiful grandchildren.
A Bungalow for Two
Carole Gift Page
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
No soldier in active service entangles himself
in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may
please the One who enlisted him as a soldier.
—2 Timothy 2:4
In loving memory of Jason Michael Williams.
February 13, 1981–April 11, 2001
With a heart for God, a passion for life,
great devotion to his family and friends
and an insatiable appetite for adventure,
Jason touched countless lives in countless ways.
All who knew him loved him.
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
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Epilogue
Letter to Reader
Chapter One
Andrew Rowlands was dreaming. An odd dream really. He was about to be married to the lovely Juliana Pagliarulo, but he couldn’t find his darling daughters. Surely the wedding couldn’t begin without them. He darted among his smiling, well-attired guests, inquiring, “Have you seen my daughters?”
No one had.