Love's Return: A Christian Romance (Protected By Love Book 1) Read online

  Love’s Return

  Protected By Love Series: Book One

  By:

  T.K. Chapin

  www.tkchapin.com

  Copyright © 2017 T.K. Chapin All rights reserved.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictionally. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or to actual events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with.

  Version: 10.31.2017

  ISBN:

  ISBN-13:

  Available Books

  By T.K. Chapin

  (Inspirational Christian Fiction & Romance)

  Diamond Lake Series

  One Thursday Morning (Book 1)

  One Friday Afternoon (Book 2)

  One Saturday Evening (Book 3)

  One Sunday Drive (Book 4)

  One Monday Prayer (Book 5)

  One Tuesday Lunch (Book 6)

  One Wednesday Dinner (Book 7)

  Embers & Ashes Series

  Amongst the Flames (Book 1)

  Out of the Ashes (Book 2)

  Up in Smoke (Book 3)

  After the Fire (Book 4)

  Love’s Enduring Promise Series

  The Perfect Cast (Book 1)

  Finding Love (Book 2)

  Claire’s Hope (Book 3)

  Dylan’s Faith (Book 4)

  Stand Alones

  Love Interrupted

  Love Again

  A Chance at Love

  The Broken Road

  If Only

  Because Of You

  The Lies We Believe

  In His Love

  Please join T.K. Chapin’s Mailing List to be notified

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  Dedicated to my loving wife.

  For all the years she has put up with me

  And many more to come.

  Table of Contents

  Note from the Author

  Prologue

  Chapter 1-Jessica

  Chapter 2-Jessica

  Chapter 3-Kirk

  Chapter 4-Jessica

  Chapter 5-Jessica

  Chapter 6-Jessica

  Chapter 7-Jessica

  Chapter 8-Jessica

  Chapter 9-Jessica

  Chapter 10-Jessica

  Chapter 11-Kirk

  Chapter 12-Jessica

  Chapter 13-Jessica

  Chapter 14-Jessica

  Chapter 15-Jessica

  Chapter 16-Jessica

  Chapter 17-Kirk

  Chapter 18-Jessica

  Chapter 19-Jessica

  Chapter 20-Jessica

  Chapter 21-Jessica

  Chapter 22-Kirk

  Chapter 23-Jessica

  Chapter 24-Jessica

  Chapter 25-Kirk

  Chapter 26-Kirk

  Chapter 27-Jessica

  Chapter 28-Jessica

  Chapter 29-Jessica

  Chapter 30-Jessica

  Chapter 31-Jessica

  Chapter 32-Kirk

  Chapter 33-Kirk

  Chapter 34-Jessica

  Chapter 35-Kirk

  Chapter 36-Jessica

  Chapter 37-Kirk

  Chapter 38-Jessica

  Chapter 39-Kirk

  Chapter 40-Jessica

  Chapter 41-Kirk

  Chapter 42-Jessica

  Chapter 43-Kirk

  Chapter 44-Jessica

  Chapter 45-Jessica

  Chapter 46-Kirk

  Chapter 47-Kirk

  Chapter 48-Jessica

  Chapter 49-Kirk

  Chapter 50-Jessica

  Chapter 51-Kirk

  Chapter 52-Jessica

  Chapter 53-Kirk

  Chapter 54-Jessica

  Chapter 55-Kirk

  Chapter 56-Jessica

  Chapter 57-Kirk

  Chapter 58-Kirk

  Chapter 59-Jessica

  Chapter 60-Kirk

  Chapter 61-Jessica

  Book Previews

  Other Books

  Bonus

  Acknowledgements

  About the Author

  Note from the Author

  Through careful prayer and consideration, I decided to write a Christian Romance series based around the topic of love. In today’s world, we have a whole lot of ideas on what love is, but rarely do we see God’s love transcended outward to others.

  This first book in the series entitled, Love’s Return, is about two people who have feelings for each other but part ways until a later date when their lives intersect with one another. This story mirrors the relationship we often have with Christ Jesus. As young believers, we fall quickly in love with our Lord, but for whatever reason, we end up falling away. Sadly, it’s often later in life when we lose a loved one or suffer a hardship that we come back face-to-face with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

  My desire through writing this inspirational Christian romance is to inspire your faith, warm your heart, and fill you with the hope that is only found in the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. May this story bless you in reading it as much as it has done so in me writing it.

  Sincerely,

  T.K. CHAPIN

  If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels,

  but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong

  or a clanging cymbal.

  1 Corinthians 13:1

  Prologue

  THE FIRST TIME I LAID eyes on Kirk was back in our senior year of High School while I was walking the track with Chloe. He was beneath the bleachers lip-locked with Vicky Haggar from the cheerleading squad. This wouldn’t have been an issue outside of the fact that he was dating my best-friend, Chloe. Not exactly a best first impression.

  Two years later when I was twenty, I decided to relocate from Albany, New York, to Spokane, Washington. Kirk had found out about the big journey across country through mutual friends and approached me about road tripping together. I quickly rejected him. When he offered to pay for all the gas, I couldn’t help but give in. With over 2,000 miles to reach Spokane and a strong desire not to rely on my parents anymore, I knew his gas money would help me in the long run. I was on my way to Spokane to stake a claim in my independence from my parents and to work at a software company as a receptionist. Kirk had been into hockey and hoped for a chance at the big leagues by trying out for the Spokane Chiefs.

  Through the long journey across the country, somewhere between Buffalo and Cleveland, I suspect, Kirk and I became friends. During our time together on the road, we laughed about Mrs. Bovey, our ninth-grade English teacher who hated children far too much to be teaching them in a school. We also shared our hopes and desires for the future.

  When we finally arrived in Spokane five days after we left our hometown, I not only had a handful of memories from our road trip but a longing for something more for us. The trip had given me a chance to see past the façade he had put on in high school and see the real Kirk. At one stop along the way, at a gas station out in the middle of nowhere, he opened my car door for me. Then another time, he grabbed me my favorite candy bar without my even having to ask. When I became tired of driving, he’d willingly take over even if he was tired. Beyond those sweet gestures, I learned of a man who held a lot of regret over his checkered past. He had high hopes to start afresh
and make a new life for himself in Spokane. Beneath all the muscles, I found a man with a big heart.

  I couldn’t give into my desire to see him again, though, or to possibly have a relationship. He was, after all, Chloe’s ex-boyfriend. I dropped him off at the bus stop where his friend was picking him up and said goodbye for what I thought was forever.

  Chapter 1-Jessica

  FIVE YEARS AND TWO JOBS later, I was on my way to work when I stopped in at a favorite local coffee shop of mine downtown, Milo’s, for an extra boost of caffeine. I had already been running late for work as it was, sleeping through all three of my alarms. There was a reason to the madness. It was all due to my friend Isabella, who had kept me up half the night on the phone. She was like me, single and living on the hopes of someday being swept away by a gallant gentleman who would show us the love we needed. We talked last night about how miserable she was being single in a world full of married men, the only single ones being creeps. I understood the pain of loneliness, but only to a certain degree. My singleness was part of who I was. It had almost become a friend. Sure, I wanted someone to love and hold, but I had to trust the fact that God was in control and knew my heart. Plus, I had my work, which filled much of my time.

  Standing in the coffee shop near the counter, I waited for my order. I had on my new white pea coat I had just picked up the other day at the mall. When I saw it hanging on the rack on my way through Macy’s, I instantly fell in love with it. It went perfectly with my red bucket hat, which I was also wearing. Scrolling through emails on my phone as I waited for my coffee, I felt the pressure of the day catching up with me. Already several new messages. Two from Micah, my boss, one from the graphics department on a design mock-up, and a reply from a pastor I had interviewed a couple of months back. Working at a startup magazine was anything but easy, but I loved every second of it. Not only was I a writer and reporter, but my boss, Micah’s, go-to person for whatever he needed. Sometimes, it meant donuts and coffee on my way into work, and sometimes, it meant writing ten articles in five days and spot-checking the print run at two o’clock in the morning, four hours before it went to print. It was hard work, but it carried purpose and I thrived on purpose.

  “Kirk,” the barista said behind the counter, setting a cup down.

  It took a moment for the name to register in my mind, but when it did, my heart leapt as I lifted my eyes to find the face that went with the name. I didn’t think about him often, but when he did brush across my thoughts, it was always with fondness for the time we’d shared together on the car trip five years ago. Over the years, the man had stayed with me in the depths of my soul, along with regret. Regret over the fact I hadn’t pursued him the day I dropped him off at the bus stop. We hadn’t spent time together before our car ride, but the time we did share over the trip was something special and close to my heart still to this day.

  Surveying the coffee shop, I held onto the short string of hope I had carried all these years. It was like a loose thread from a piece of clothing that I knew if I pulled, it would unravel the whole thing. I refused to part with it. There was no certainty that Kirk still lived in Spokane, but it didn’t stop me from holding onto the possibility. My friend Chloe, back in Albany, hadn’t spoken his name in years, understandably, and I’d never found his name on the Spokane Chiefs’ roster (I checked every season), but still … I refused to part with the string.

  “Thanks,” a man said, his voice rugged, worn.

  Chapter 2-Jessica

  LIFTING THE COFFEE FROM THE counter, he turned and our eyes caught.

  Something like a soft, warm summer rain washed over my soul as I looked into his familiar brown eyes. Immediately, it was as if the car trip had just ended and those same feelings of wanting something more were present in my mind, in my heart. For what felt like an eternity, I just stood there looking into his eyes, shocked that I had finally found him after all this time. As I looked upon his face, I finally noticed something. He looked different. He had sprinkles of gray throughout his hair and held a weariness in his eyes that reflected a distant pain.

  “Jess?” he said, a small smile dawning on his face and bringing life to his eyes. Hearing my name never sounded so good.

  “Kirk … it’s been a long time.” My wandering eyes couldn’t help but notice a scar on his right eyebrow as I took in his face. His gaze never left me, yet he said not a word. After a few moments had passed, I asked, “How have you been?”

  He didn’t reply, just stood there with his coffee in his hand and looking at me, seemingly trying to take it all in as if he had been looking for me too.

  A second passed.

  Becoming increasingly awkward, I adjusted my footing and asked, “What happened to you, Kirk?”

  He swallowed, his eyes leaving me. “Life.”

  Already pressed for time, I regretted the fact there weren’t even five minutes to sit down and talk. The barista called my name.

  “I’m running late for work, but I want to catch up. I really do.”

  His piercing brown eyes found mine again, making me feel as if he saw right into my soul. He didn’t reply to my comment about wanting to catch up. He was probably as surprised as I was about running into each other.

  Digging through my purse, I pulled out my card and handed it to him. When he took the card, his hand brushed against my skin, and my stomach flipped just at his touch. Grabbing my coffee from the counter, I wanted to touch him once more, so I reached out and touched his hand with my card in it.

  “Please, Kirk. Let’s get together. I’d love to catch up on the last five years.”

  “Okay.”

  With coffee in hand, I headed for the door. I was halfway out the door when I turned back to look at him. I watched as he sat down at a table, and my heart felt as if it was ripping at the seams. I didn’t want to leave the coffee shop. Part of me worried he wouldn’t call and he’d be lost again. Praying, I asked God to calm my soul and let His will be done.

  Chapter 3-Kirk

  SEEING JESSICA AT THE COFFEE shop that morning was the first time I had felt something other than pain in years. It was if a part of me had awoken from a dark sleep. She was a diamond caught in the sands of time, distant, far-reaching, and forgotten until now.

  Taking a drink of my coffee, I turned my head in the hopes of catching a glimpse of her on her way out, but she was already gone. My eyes moved from the doorway to the long-stretched window that spanned the entirety of the wall of the coffee shop. As I watched people coming and going down the sidewalk, I thought about Jess. I hadn’t seen her since our car trip, and the version of me from then was so different, so foreign. She doesn’t know me anymore. This singular thought echoed through my body and soul. The guy I was when I stepped out of her car felt a million miles away from the man I was today.

  It was hard to wrap my head around my life before Bethany, before Scott, before all the heartache.

  Twisting my gold wedding band on my ring finger, I glanced down at the business card Jess had given to me. As much as it felt good to see her, I didn’t want to relive the last five years in conversation. The past is where she’s from, and the past is where she’ll remain.

  Standing up, I took my coffee and left her card on the table.

  Chapter 4-Jessica

  HIS SMILE STAYED IN THE forefront of my mind through the rest of the morning at Faith Builders Magazine in downtown Spokane. I checked my phone every hour as I waited for a text or call, but a part of me already knew it’d never come. At five thirty that evening, I left my desk on the fourth floor of the Steamtown Business Plaza and headed out on an assignment to a little church on the South Hill near my apartment. I was meeting the pastor and his wife to cover an upcoming story on their new church.

  “Remember, these are old friends of mine. Treat them like family,” Micah said over the phone through the speakers in my car as I made my way to the church.

  “I’ll make sure of it, Boss.”

  “Thanks, Jessica.”

/>   Hanging up, I pulled up to the curb, roughly a block away from the church. The church had recently moved from a church inside the pastor and his wife’s house to an old concert hall downtown. Pastor Randy and his wife, Kelly, were excited to finally have a building, and it was the reason we were eager to do a story on them. Through our research, Micah and I had found that the readers of Faith Builders had adored the last article I wrote up on a church that had moved into a barn out in Chattaroy, just a few minutes outside Spokane. I knew stories like these helped cultivate and grow not only our readers’ faith, but our own. When the magazine first started up and Micah interviewed me a year and a half ago, he had informed me that he finds that stories which inspire us at the magazine are the same stories which inspire the readers. A truth proven true over time.

  Getting out from my car and onto the sidewalk, I slung my tote bag over my shoulder and fed the meter. The sun was already on its way down and the October night was hinting at its arrival as I tightened my coat around me on my walk down to the church. Arriving at the entrance, I spotted the sign in the window of the storefront. Lifeway. Grabbing the door handle, I went inside. Walking through what appeared to be a storage room, I followed the handwritten signs pointing the way and came to a dimly lit hallway. Proceeding cautiously, I walked until I found an open door in the hall. Knocking lightly on it, I pushed it open a fraction more and saw a man sitting behind a desk.