Apple Blossom Bride

Apple Blossom Bride
Lois Richer

After a car accident, Ashley Adams came home to Serenity Bay to heal her broken body - and her broken spirit.Her former teen crush, Michael Masters, was the last person she expected to see in town…and he was even handsomer than she remembered. Planning the town's winter festival brought Ashley back in contact with the dedicated single dad, and Ash found herself falling for him all over again, as well as his darling daughter.Yet pain-filled memories of the past threaten their budding romance. Only Ashley's search for the truth can lead them to love beneath the blossoms….

“Are you sure you won’t have dinner with me sometime?”

Ashley shook her head, smiling. “I don’t think so.”

“Why?”

The bald question took her by surprise.

“Because.”

“That’s not an answer.” Michael kicked at a stone on the ground before meeting her gaze. “I’m not looking for anything more than a friend I can talk to. My daughter’s great, but sometimes it’s nice to talk to another adult.”

“I’m sure there are lots of adults you can talk to.”

“But not you?”

She shrugged. “I won’t be here that long. Just enough time to put my world back together again.”

He nodded, his dark eyes full of empathy.

“Believe me, I understand that. If you want to talk, call me.”

“And you’ll make time in that busy schedule of yours?”

He lifted her hand, brushed his lips against her knuckles. “I’ll make time for you.”

LOIS RICHER

Sneaking a flashlight under the blankets, hiding in a thicket of Caragana bushes where no one could see, pushing books into socks to take to camp—those are just some of the things Lois Richer freely admits to in her pursuit of the written word. “I’m a book-a-holic. I can’t do without stories,” she confesses. “It’s always been that way.”

Her love of language evolved into writing her own stories. Today her passion is to create tales of personal struggle that lead to triumph over life’s rocky road. For Lois, a happy ending is essential.

“In my stories, as in my own life, God has a way of making all things beautiful. Writing a love story is my way of reinforcing my faith in His ultimate goodness toward us—His precious children.”

Apple Blossom Bride

Lois Richer

I am holding you by your right hand—

I the Lord your God—and I say to you,

Don’t be afraid; I am here to help you.

—Isaiah 41:13

This book is dedicated to my dad. I love you.

Contents

Prologue

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

Epilogue

Letter to Reader

Questions for Discussion

Prologue

Seventeen Years Ago

“How can they do it, Pip?”

Ashley Adams scrubbed at her cheek, struggling to eradicate tears that wouldn’t stop flowing. Sobbing made her hiccup. She had to pause to catch her breath before she could get out her next question.