Lily of the Valley in May by Clare Revell

I’ll come over in a minute or two.”
    Faith ran towards them. Her parents turned as she reached them, hugging her tightly. Now she definitely owed him. Big time.
    ~*~
    Sitting in church in Kendal three days later, Joel was almost uncomfortably aware of Faith’s presence beside him and the effect she was having on him. It had been years since he’d felt this way, since he’d allowed himself to feel this way. Part of him told him it was time to put the past behind and trust again—just like he’d told El back in January. To allow himself love again.
    If he were honest, that’s what was starting to happen. All he wanted was to make her happy and be with her and his heart did beat faster when he saw her. In one way he didn’t want the book tour to end as it would mean no longer seeing her every second of every day. Not that he couldn’t come up with an excuse to pop next door, but it wouldn’t be the same as this.
    But the bigger part of him, the part that was in control, was afraid of that. He was scared to death of being betrayed, of allowing himself to be hurt, and not sure he’d survive it this time.
    Because, if he were honest, he knew deep down that he did have feelings for this woman. But she was running for her life—with someone who wanted her dead running after her, determined to pursue her to the ends of the Earth. Was he mad?
    Maybe he was.
    But the fact remained, Faith had come into his life and done something he hadn’t anticipated—and it wasn’t just breaking his taillight either. She’d started to heal his broken heart and helped him start living again. He shifted, the words of the sermon floating over him.
    Lord, is this feeling from You? It makes such a difference being with someone who loves You, too. Someone who will come to church with me twice on a Sunday and again mid-week because they want to, not because I insist on it. Someone I can read the Bible and pray with, like Faith and I have been doing each day. But until her ex is out of the picture, until I know she won’t betray me… I can’t allow myself to trust…
    After the service, he looked at her. The sun shone through the stained glass windows giving her blonde hair a red tint. He reached out and pushed a stray strand back. “So, I was thinking. How about we go sightseeing for a little before we go and check into yet another hotel?”
    “That sounds good. Anywhere in particular in mind?”
    He pulled her upright. “Oh yeah, somewhere I used to go a lot.”
    “Really? I didn’t think your family lived around here.”
    He took her hand as they walked out of the church. Such a simple gesture—one that assured her he was there, one that would annoy the cop walking behind them, and one that didn’t mean what his pounding heart tried to tell him it did. “They don’t. We came here a lot when we were kids to visit my aunt. She’s long dead now, but I have fond memories of this place. So when I need a place to write or work through writers block, I come here.”
    “Then I’d love to see it.”
    “Great. It’s not far, about a twenty minute drive. We can get something to eat there.”
    They drove into the country for just under the twenty minutes he’d promised. Joel parked the car as close to the entrance to the visitor’s center as he could and got out. He went around the other side of the car and opened it for Faith.
    “Thank you, Joel. You really are the perfect gentleman.”
    “It won’t last,” he said dryly. “Caroline said there was nothing perfect about me.”
    Faith shook her head. “She was wrong. It’s true no one can be perfect all the time, because that would be totally boring, but there is nothing wrong with you.”
    “I guess it would be boring.” He slid his hand into hers, his heart in his mouth as his fingers brushed against her side. Oh grow up . You are not a teenager on his first date. You’re a grown man who should know better and holding hands is nothing new . Truth was he didn’t want to