An Honest Life

An Honest Life
Dana Corbit

A preacher. A deacon. That was the kind of man nurse Charity Sims planned to marry. Which is why her lovesick behavior around Rick McKinley, the contractor building a family center for her church, so confused her. He refused to go to church, let alone lead one. So what if he was handsome and charming? They couldn' t be more different.Infuriating as Rick was, Charity' s mission was clear: Help him see the light of church. As a loner who depended only on himself, he' d be tough to reach. But Charity was determined, even though she knew she risked her own strongly built convictions– about the man who should have her heart.

Levity glimmered in Charity’s eyes. Rick was tempted to tell his best knock-knock joke just to see her laugh again.

But he waited too long, and she started moving closer to the church entry, away from him.

She glanced at her watch. “I need to grab this…stuff and get home,” she said. “I have to work tonight.” With a wave, she turned and pulled open one of the double-glass doors.

Rick waved back, wishing he could think of an excuse to stall her. The way she blurred the clear lines around his personal boundaries, he should have been wishing she would disappear until the building dedication instead of hanging around and distracting him.

Climbing back on the ladder, he still couldn’t help observing when her car pulled out of the church lot. And more than that, he couldn’t help wondering when he’d see her next. Or hoping it wasn’t too long.

DANA CORBIT

has been fascinated with words since third grade, when she began stringing together stanzas of rhyme. That interest, and an inherent curiosity, led her to a career as a newspaper reporter and editor. After earning state and national recognition in journalism, she traded her career for stay-at-home motherhood. But the need for creative expression followed her home and, later, through the move from Indiana to Milford, Michigan. Outside the office, Dana discovered the joy of writing fiction. In stolen hours, during naps and between carpooling and church activities, she escapes into her private world, telling stories from her heart.

Dana makes her home in Grand Rapids, Michigan, with her husband, three young daughters and two cats.

An Honest Life

Dana Corbit

www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)

No man has ever seen God; if we love one another,

God abides in us and His love is perfected in us.

—I John 4:12

To my grandmother, Jane Bowley,

who shares my love of romance and whose own

story of lifetime love inspires me.

A special thanks to the following people

for lending your expertise to this story:

Angela Jacobson, R.N., labor and delivery nurse;

Lisa Cardle, R.N., neonatal intensive care nurse;

Dr. Steven Naum, M.D., hand surgeon;

and Duane Rasch and Jon Tuthill, licensed builders.

Any mistakes contained within are my own.

Dear Reader,

I really enjoyed revisiting the people of Hickory Ridge Community Church in this story. These characters have become so real for me, their ties to each other so powerful, like those in the church of my childhood. Though not perfect, they care for each other and worship together.

Writing Charity Sims’s story was a special joy because Charity has so much to learn about life, matters of the heart and, especially, God’s love. Who better to teach her than the reluctant hero, Rick McKinley? This story is about living An Honest Life before others and in our own hearts. Through God’s love we can finally find peace.

I love hearing from readers. You may write to me at P.O. Box 120044, Grand Rapids, MI, 49512, or contact me through the web site http://www.loveinspiredauthors.com.

Dana Corbit

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 One