Elizabeth Maddrey

One of the things I’ve been looking forward to since opening my scuba shop is leading groups to dive in all the amazing spots around the globe. The Galapagos and Great Barrier Reef are calling.

First things first, though. I figure we’ll start off with the Caribbean.

Which is why I’m headed down to spend some time scouting resorts and dive spots on the various islands. I’ve chartered a yacht, complete with a captain who, I’m told, knows everything there is to know about diving down here.

Of course, when I booked the trip, I pictured a grizzled old pirate at the wheel. What else was I supposed to imagine when I was told their name was “Sonny”? Imagine my surprise when I get to the dock and the captain is definitely not a man.

Sunny—short for Sunshine—is the best there is. And she’s got at least ten years on me, so it’s not like there can be anything romantic. Older women have never been my vibe.

So I’ll spend the time with her, alone on the boat, and soak up all the things she has to teach me. And do everything in my power to ignore just how good she looks while she does it.

It’s only three weeks.

What can go wrong?

Past hurts and insecurity mean they both prefer the background, but a chance at love shines a light too bright to escape.

A vegan alpaca farmer, a ranch hand, and an accidental pregnancy.

I never questioned my decision to marry Faith the day she turned eighteen.

She needed to get out of her situation at home and, at nineteen, I already knew everything about everything, so in my mind it made perfect sense. We’d been pals for years.

I loved her.

She had no idea.

But she was desperate for somebody to rescue her, and a marriage of convenience with me was a better—safer—choice than anything else she could find.

Since I lived away at college, no one even had to know. It worked great until the end of the semester.

And then she walked out.

And I let her.

I occasionally do some digging, just to check that she’s okay. And every now and then I think about the divorce papers I drew up but never sent.

Now she’s here. Literally on my doorstep. Begging me, once again, for help.

And I hate that I still love her.

Even after fourteen years.

What will it take for an everyday Joe to find love with a former starlet?

He needs a wife. She wants to belong. Nobody has to fall in love.

At the end of summer, sixteen years ago, we promised we’d keep in touch. And I did.

She didn’t.

I spent a year reaching out to her in every way imaginable, desperately clinging to the future we’d planned while we walked hand-in-hand on the beach. When July rolled around again, I waited eagerly, for her family’s return.

They never came.

She never came.

I blamed her. I blamed myself. I blamed my big, involved family who are basically royalty on this island our ancestors found. After a while, I forgave her and moved on.

Of course I did.

Carrying a torch for sixteen years would be ridiculous.

So the fact that she’s come back to the island, apparently to stay? Doesn’t matter to me at all.

Maybe I’ve been asking God why, but I figure He’s got some kind of plan.

I can probably learn to accept her as a member of our little town, but that’s where it has to end.

My heart’s still too shattered to risk breaking it again.

Struggling with infertility? As a Christian, how do you work through the hurt, anger, frustration, pain, and sorrow? Where is God's hope and joy?

A widow, a widower, and some matchmaking daughters.

I never figured that I’d be someone who fell for a damsel in distress.

I see my share of hurting and wounded people in my job at the island health clinic. Wanting to help and heal is why I went into medicine.

So why is Teresa different?

No idea.

All I know, is that she’s come into my clinic twice now with injuries that can’t possibly have been accidental, no matter what she said at the time.

I want to protect her.

I’ll do whatever it takes.

Even if what she needs most is a marriage of convenience.

She renovates old houses. Can he restore her heart?

A heart attack reunites him with the one who got away. But is he too married to his job to invest in a second chance at love?