Four Little Blessings

by Merrillee Whren

• ISBN13: 9780373874699
• ISBN10: 0373874693
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-02-01
• Publisher: Steeple Hill

Summary

Make That Five BlessingsThe four little noisemakers who'd moved next door to Wade Dalton came with a bonus: their beautiful aunt. Raising the children herself due to some tough circumstances, Cassie Rankin impressed Wade with her selflessness and her beauty. But she was also at least a dozen years his junior--she was too young for him, wasn't she? Besides, Wade came with a secret that would only make life harder for Cassie and the children he'd come to adore, which meant keeping his distance. Something those four little blessings weren't about to let him do!

Excerpts

Shrieks of childish laughter pierced the air, and Wade Dalton frowned. So much for the peace and quiet he'd been expecting on Florida's Amelia Island. He surveyed the expanse of sand dunes swaying with sea oats. Too tired to get up from his lounge chair and check out the source of the laughter, he leaned back on the cushion and closed his eyes. The late-morning sun, warming his face, reminded him that he should be glad he was alive.After the battles of the past year, a little unplanned noise shouldn't bother him. God must have a purpose for his life.As he took a deep breath and let the salt air fill his lungs, something hit him on the head. He opened his eyes and jumped up from the chair. A red, white and blue beach ball rolled across the gray tile patio. Adjusting his glasses, he bent over to retrieve the ball. When he straightened, three cherubic faces came into view. Eyes wide, three children were cowering behind the Indian hawthorn bushes growing next to the stucco wall that separated his patio from the town house next door.Holding the ball under one arm, he approached the children, who wore shorts and T-shirts. They stood stair-step fashion from shortest to tallest. He expected them to run, but they remained fixed in the spot. Their eyes grew wider as he drew nearer.He stopped on the small patch of grass at the edge of the patio and stared at the children. "Does this belong to you?"A little girl with sun-lightened streaks in her shoulder-length dark-brown hair gazed at him with cocoa-colored eyes. Tiny freckles dotted her cheeks and nose. The tallest of the trio, she appeared to be the oldest. She pointed at the boy standing closest to the dunes. "Jack threw it."Wade looked down at the boy. "You must be Jack.""Yes, sir." The boy, who sported a buzz cut that made his blond hair nearly invisible, vigorously nodded his head. Hunching his shoulders, he took a step back. He pointed his finger at the middle child, a little girl with chin-length straight brown hair and eyes the color of coffee with cream. "It's her ball. It's her fault. She wouldn't share.""What's goin' on here?" A female voice with a sugary southern accent--the same as the children's--made Wade look up.A young woman with a toddler at her heels emerged from behind the wall. She wore a loosely fit aqua tunic that stopped just above her knees. A cascade of chestnut curls fell around her shoulders.Wade's heart nearly stopped, and his mouth went dry. All he could do was stare.Before he could answer, the younger of the two girls spoke. "Jack threw my ball and hit that man."The young woman scooped up the toddler in her arms. "I'm terribly sorry the kids are bothering you, sir." She extended her free hand. "I'm Cassie Rankin."Wade continued to stare. He couldn't put together a coherent thought. His heart was hammering, and his brain refused to work. Still no words formed on his lips. He'd never been so dumbstruck."Are...are you okay?" The young woman wrinkled her brow as her gray eyes studied him.Nodding, he gathered his wits and shook her hand. He tried to laugh, but all he could manage was a sorry excuse for a chuckle. "Yeah. I'm Wade Dalton. Nice to meet you. I... You took me by surprise. And the children...""Well, they won't be bothering you anymore.""Is he gonna whup us?" Jack asked, cowering behind the older girls.Color rose in Cassie's cheeks as she glanced at the little boy. "No, Jack."Wade wondered why the boy had asked a question like that. Did the woman abuse the children? And who was she, anyway--the babysitter, the nanny? Surely they weren't hers. She seemed much too young to have a child the age of the older girl. Still, the child did resemble her. Questions crashed through his mind like the breakers on the beach."Sorry about that," she put in, before Wade could say anything. Obviously still embarrassed, she peered at him through long, dark lashes. "Are you