Heart of Gold
ADVANCE ACCLAIM FOR
HEART OF GOLD
“Robin Lee Hatcher is one of my favorite authors, and
Heart of Gold
was another can’t-put-it-down story. I loved it and am sure you will too.”
— F
RANCINE
R
IVERS
,
N
EW
Y
ORK
T
IMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF
R
EDEEMING
L
OVE
“You can never go wrong with a romance by Robin Lee Hatcher. She has a gift for finding the heart of a story, bringing her characters to life and making a reader care. She has done it beautifully in
Heart of Gold
. Her hero and heroine were as real to me as good friend. Though they had challenges, they dealt with the things that kept them apart with wisdom and honesty, carried along by a gripping story that was impossible to put down.”
— M
ARY
C
ONNEALY, AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR OF
O
UT OF
C
ONTROL
“Robin Lee Hatcher has done it again!
Heart of Gold
is an incredible story of deep conviction and spiritual growth, all blended with romance and a touch of sassy heroine thrown in for good measure. I could hardly put it down and found myself longing for more when the story drew to an end.”
—T
RACIE
P
ETERSON, BEST-SELLING AUTHOR OF THE
S
ONG OF
A
LASKA AND
S
TRIKING A
M
ATCH SERIES
“Thoroughly enjoyable and sprinkled with delightful sigh-worthy moments,
Heart of Gold
explores what it means to not only love from the heart, but to see others—and love them—with the heart of Christ.”
—T
AMERA
A
LEXANDER, BEST-SELLING AUTHOR OF
T
HE
I
NHERITANCE AND
A L
ASTING
I
MPRESSION
HEART
OF
GOLD
R
OBIN
L
EE
H
ATCHER
© 2012 by Robin Lee Hatcher
All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or other—except for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Thomas Nelson. Thomas Nelson is a registered trademark of Thomas Nelson, Inc.
Thomas Nelson, Inc., books may be purchased in bulk for educational, business, fund-raising, or sales promotional use. For information, please e-mail [email protected].
Publisher’s Note: This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. All characters are fictional, and any similarity to people living or dead is purely coincidental.
Scripture is taken from the King James Version of the Bible.
Scripture noted NLT is taken from the
Holy Bible
, New Living Translation, © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Hatcher, Robin Lee.
Heart of gold / Robin Lee Hatcher.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-1-59554-488-9 (trade paper)
I. Title.
PS3558.A73574H43 2012
813’.54--dc23
2011044566
Printed in the United States of America
12 13 14 15 16 17 QG 6 5 4 3 2 1
Fire tests the purity of silver and gold,
but the Lord tests the heart.
—P
ROVERBS
17:3
NLT
Contents
J
ANUARY 1864
Covington House, Virginia
“Am I doing the right thing, Adelyn? Is this truly God’s will for us?”
Delaney Adair didn’t believe his dearly departed wife could hear his words or read his thoughts in heaven. Nothing in Scripture led him to believe she could. But it always seemed to clear his head when he “talked” with her this way, the same way they had talked over everything— matters large and matters small—throughout their marriage. Especially matters pertaining to their daughter.
“Shannon has grown even more beautiful than you remember her. She has a good heart. She likes to help others. But she is also quick to judge, even more so since the war began. I fear her pride will be her downfall. Perhaps I’ve spoiled her.” He shook his head. “No, I know I’ve spoiled her.”
Would his daughter forgive him for taking her away from Covington House, away from her friends and neighbors?
We’ll have a new life in Grand Coeur. Shannon will make new friends. And there won’t be so many reminders of a past that is gone for good. For her . . . or for me
.
Despite the number of years that had passed since Adelyn’s death, Delaney felt the loss of his wife afresh. How he missed her. How blessed he’d been in his choice of helpmeet. He’d married not only the woman he loved but an heiress. Adelyn, the daughter of a wealthy planter whose family’s roots went deep into the Virginia soil, could have had her pick of a hundred young men in Southern society. That she’d chosen Delaney Adair, a second-generation American of modest means with a desire to serve God, still amazed him.
He let his gaze roam the room, remembering how lively and happy their home had been. Parties and barbecues and balls and hunts. Adelyn had been a perfect hostess, and she’d loved others, no matter their status, without discrimination or hesitation. Such a charitable heart. Such a perfect minister’s wife.
I wish I knew what you would say to Shannon if you were here now, Adelyn. How would you counsel and guide her? How would you help her to make better choices? How can I help her learn to trust God with her future and to follow His will in humility?
“Yes, I have spoiled her. May God make up for my shortfalls and soften her heart toward others.” He drew in a breath and closed his eyes. “Tender her heart, Lord. May she not be so quick to judge. May she not be so determined to stumble over a stool in her path that isn’t really there. Fill her heart with love and let her know love in return. Take us safely across this country to our new home, and help us both to make a difference for Thy kingdom. Nevertheless, may Thy will be done. In Christ’s name. Amen.”
M
AY 1864
Shannon Adair leaned close to the door as the stagecoach slowed, trying to catch her first glimpse of Grand Coeur, wanting it to be more than she had any right to hope it would be. She’d said good-bye to everything and everyone she loved in order to come with her father to the Idaho Territory. She was both scared and excited now that the dirty, bone-jarring, difficult, and sometimes treacherous journey was at an end.
The coach jerked to a stop, and the driver called down, “Grand Coeur, folks.”
Shannon glanced toward her father, seated across from her.
The good reverend gave her a weary smile. “We are here at last.”
“So it would seem.”
The door opened, and the driver offered his hand. “Let me help you down, miss.”
“Thank you.” Shannon placed her gloved fingers in the palm of his hand. “You are ever so kind.”
The driver bent the brim of his dust-covered hat with his free hand, acknowledging her comment.
Once out of the coach, she turned a slow circle, taking in her surroundings.
Her stomach plummeted. This was Grand Coeur? Merciful heavens! It was not
better
than she’d hoped. It was
worse
than she’d feared.
The street they were on was lined on both sides by unpainted wooden buildings of various shapes and sizes. The boardwalks in front of the buildings were uneven, sometimes nonexistent. And the hillsides that surrounded the valley had been stripped clean of trees, undoubtedly for the wood used to throw up this ugly, sprawling gold-mining town of more than five thousand souls.
“Oh, Father,” she whispered. “Whatever shall we do here?”
“Don’t look so despairing, Shannon.”
She turned to find her father had disembarked from the coach and now stood nearby.
“We knew it would be different from home,” he said. “And we are needed here.”
More than they’d been needed in the war-torn South, where he’d ministered to his flock and she’d been able to help nurse the injured?
As if he’d heard her unspoken question, he said, “I have always tried to answer God’s call, even when I don’t understand it completely. Would you have me do differently now?”
“No, Father.”
The lie tasted bitter on her tongue. She
would
have him do differently. She would have him decide to go back to Virginia, to recognize that God wanted him to be there to help rebuild when the war was over. When the South no longer had to fight for its existence, the Confederacy would need men like her father. He was a natural leader with a head for governing and a heart for the kingdom of heaven. He was strong in his faith and able to forgive and show others the grace of God.