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  Delivered with Love

  Delivered with Love

  Sherry Kyle

  Nashville, Tennessee

  Delivered with Love

  Copyright © 2011 by Sherry Kyle

  ISBN-13: 978-1-4267-0866-4

  Published by Abingdon Press, P.O. Box 801, Nashville, TN 37202

  www.abingdonpress.com

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form,

  stored in any retrieval system, posted on any website,

  or transmitted in any form or by any means—digital, electronic,

  scanning, photocopy, recording, or otherwise—

  without written permission from the publisher, except

  for brief quotations in printed reviews and articles.

  The persons and events portrayed in this work of fiction are the

  creations of the author, and any resemblance to persons

  living or dead is purely coincidental.

  Published in association with the Books & Such Literary Agency,

  Etta Wilson, 5926 Sunhawk Drive, Santa Rosa, CA 95409,

  www.booksandsuch.biz

  Cover design by Anderson Design Group, Nashville, TN

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Kyle, Sherry.

  Delivered with love / Sherry Kyle.

  p. cm.

  ISBN 978-1-4267-0866-4 (trade pbk. : alk. paper)

  1. Love-letters—Fiction. I. Title.

  PS3611.Y64D45 2011

  813'.6—dc22

  2010045590

  Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL

  VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible

  Society. All rights reserved throughout the world. Used by permission

  of International Bible Society.

  Printed in the United States of America

  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 / 16 15 14 13 12 11

  To Mom and Dad,

  with love

  Contents

  Acknowledgments

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Epilogue

  Discussion Questions

  Acknowledgments

  With special thanks and appreciation . . .

  To my wonderful Mount Hermon mentors, James Scott Bell and Brandilyn Collins, who not only helped me learn the craft of writing, but also gave me the self-confidence to finish this book.

  To my CWFI critique group—Ginny, Vicki, Tracy, Amy, and Richard. Thanks for your suggestions and encouragement.

  To Sarah, for her insight into the Capitola Police Department. Any errors are mine and mine alone.

  To Virginia Smith, for reading every word and giving me your honest feedback. My novel is better because of you.

  Thank you also to my cheerleader, critique partner, mentor, and friend, Karen O'Connor. I'm so glad God brought you into my life.

  To Etta Wilson, agent extraordinaire. Thank you for believing in me.

  To my wonderful editors, Barbara Scott and Ramona Richards, and the whole Abingdon team. Thank you for making my dream of a published novel come true.

  And thanks to my mom, Billie Hoffman; sister, Cindy Veenstra; and sister-in-law, Karyn Hoffman, who read my manuscripts and gave me feedback.

  To my four children—Carson, Brittany, Noah, and Grace. Thank you for understanding when Mommy needed to write another thousand words. What a gift from the Lord each of you is.

  And to my husband, Douglas, who has been by my side supporting me every step of the way. I love you.

  1

  The hum of well-wishers' voices swirled around Claire James as she stood numbly in front of the brick fireplace in her mother's cramped Los Angeles apartment. Her black dress, size six and at least two years old, squeezed the oxygen out of her lungs. Claire attempted to take a deep breath and willed herself not to cry. One minute at a time. That's how she would survive.

  She looked down at her feet to avoid eye contact with the so-called friends and family who came to pay their last respects. Where were these people when Mom was sick? Claire pushed the cynical thought to the back of her mind.

  The scuffs on her black sandals were a sad reminder of her life the past few years since her mother had been diagnosed with cancer. They had spent all her college money on chemo, radiation, and natural remedies to keep her mother alive. But in the end it hadn't mattered.

  She walked across the room and stood next to the small circular table in the corner that held the punch and dessert. Haley, her older sister, had insisted on a reception, saying that their mother deserved a party. Party? Yes, Mom loved parties, but today was not a day to celebrate. Claire bought the punch, while Haley baked a homemade chocolate cake with vanilla icing. The sweet smell turned her stomach. Her sister topped each of the two tiers with daisies, their mother's favorite flower. Claire picked one off the top and held it to her chest.

  "I'm sorry about your loss." Geraldine, the elderly lady from down the hall, startled her back to the present. She patted Claire's hand. "She suffered a long time."

  Claire nodded and blinked back tears. She hadn't seen her neighbor in quite some time.

  "Well, it's probably time for me to go." Geraldine straightened the pillbox hat perched on her head. "I need to feed my cats."

  Claire forced what she hoped resembled a smile. Geraldine's cats were fed better than some humans—including her. What she would do for freshly baked salmon instead of frozen dinners. The smell permeated the hallway every Thursday evening.

  "Bye, Geraldine."

  Claire glanced at the clock. Only half an hour more and she'd have the place to herself again.

  Each minute was an exercise in patience. The condolences, hugs, and empty words wore on her. She rubbed her moist forehead and swallowed. Suddenly, the room spun and her hands trembled. She needed to get out of there.

  Claire wove through the maze of people and out the back door to find privacy in her mother's old Volkswagen. The seventy-plus-degree weather hit her in the face as she slid inside the car resting by the curb. She opened the windows, leaned her head against the headrest, and sat in a crumpled heap, wishing her mother was there to remind her to sit up straight.

  "Claire," Haley's saccharine voice called through the passenger side window a few minutes later. "Please come out. The Thompsons are leaving."

  Mr. Thompson and his wife made a striking couple. Wealthy. Happy. Put together. A life her mom never had.

  "Claire? Answer me," her older sister demanded.

  "Thank them for the casserole. And tell them good-bye for me." A moan escaped her lips.

  "All right, but come out soon." Haley tapped the front window wi
th a manicured fingernail. "Mr. and Mrs. Morris and the Williamses are ready to leave too. I don't want to stand at the door by myself."

  Haley never did anything by herself. The sound of Haley's stilettos clicking against the pavement grew distant. Her sister had handed over their mom's care to Claire and eloped the summer after the cancer diagnosis. It broke their mother's heart. Mark, her sister's husband, hadn't even come to the funeral.

  Neither had her father. But why would she expect him to come? Dad hadn't been around since she was a baby.

  Claire's throat tightened as the tears cascaded down her cheeks. She dug through the glove compartment looking for a tissue. Something white caught her eye.

  Claire fingered the old envelope. Her mother's maiden name was scrawled across the front with her deceased grandparents' former address in San Diego. She ran her fingers over her mother's neatly penned name and mentally calculated how old she would have been in 1972. Seventeen. It was hard to imagine her mom as a teenager—young and vibrant—a contrast from the way she looked in her last days.

  Strange. Why would her mother keep an old letter?

  Claire shuddered and her eyes filled with fresh tears. I miss you, Mom.

  She pulled the letter from the envelope. Would her mom want her to read it? Her pulse quickened as the words drew her in.

  "Dear Emily . . ."

  2

  One year later

  She never thought the letter would get her fired.

  Claire stood in the kitchen in front of the restaurant manager with her mouth hanging open. She tucked her pen behind her ear and slipped her order pad into her apron pocket.

  "It wasn't my fault Mr. Matley's pinkie finger got burned." Claire's heart sank. "He lifted his hand as I was pouring the coffee."

  "Claire, the point is he was burned." Her boss pushed his thick black glasses higher on his nose with his right index finger. His moist forehead glistened in the fluorescent light of the restaurant. The smell of hamburgers on the grill wafted through the air.

  During the months she had worked at the diner, Claire discovered food service wasn't her forte, but it paid more than the clothing shops at the mall. She averaged fifteen percent in tips, and her co-workers told her it had more to do with her looks than her ability to waitress, a fact she knew to be true. But it didn't take away the sting of their words. What else could she do?

  "I need this job, Mr. Sutherland," Claire begged. "Can we give him a free lunch?"

  She raised her brows and bit her lip. Today was the anniversary of her mother's death, and she was having a hard time concentrating. Her mind kept reciting the words of the letter she had discovered the day of her mother's memorial. And now she may have lost her job.

  "You know as well as I do that Mr. Matley exaggerates, but he expects me to take action. He's one of my best customers." Her boss planted both hands on his hips. "Besides, you're late every day and I've had other customers complain about your service." He exhaled loudly. "You're distracted, Claire. Your mind is not on your work."

  Her heart raced. Where would she find another job? "Is there anything I can do to change your mind?" She reluctantly met his gaze.

  "I'm sorry." Mr. Sutherland's forehead crinkled with genuine concern. He slid his hands in the front pockets of his black slacks. "Please gather your things." He turned and walked through the door that led him out of the kitchen to the room filled with customers.

  Claire followed him, untied her apron, and threw it on the counter. She reached in the left pocket and clutched the dollar bills and small change she had earned from the busy lunch hour. A familiar nausea somersaulted through her belly.

  "Look on the bright side." Vivian, a middle-aged waitress, stood behind the counter cutting an apple pie into thick pieces, her upper arms jiggling with each slice of the knife. "Now may be the right time for you to pursue your dreams." She placed two pieces on separate plates. "You're college material, Claire." Vivian reached over and gave Claire's shoulder a squeeze. "Take care of yourself. I'm going to miss you."

  Claire watched as Vivian's ample body lumbered through the maze of tables toward an older couple. Pursue my dreams. She bent down behind the counter and grabbed her cardigan sweater and purse. Her only dream at the moment was to get out of the restaurant as fast as she could.

  "Good riddance," she muttered as she pushed the door open. The sun beat down as she inhaled the smoggy air.

  Her green VW bug, faded by years in the sun, sat at the far end of the parking lot. Each step toward the vehicle she inherited from her mother made the cramp in her stomach tighten. She opened the car door, threw her purse and sweater on the passenger seat, and slid inside. Her head fell forward against the steering wheel. Why couldn't she forget the contents of the letter?

  Claire reached over and opened the glove compartment. The tattered white envelope wedged underneath the owner's manual mocked her. She pointed a finger at the object of her ire.

  "I lost my job because of you."

  She spoke to the paper as though it had a life of its own. In a way it did. The letter held clues to her mother's past. She couldn't rest or keep her mind on her work or on anything else, for that matter, until she knew who wrote it.

  Now she was not only out of a job, but she had to go home and face her sister as well. Haley might be sympathetic, but her sister's lazy, no-good husband would be mad. He counted on her tip money to support his drinking habit. And today would be the last day she'd have any to give him.

  The engine revved after the third try. She flicked on the radio. Kenny Chesney sang "There Goes My Life." Perfect. The sad ballad matched her mood. She backed out of the parking lot and drove the long way home.

  "You're home early," Haley called from the worn chenille sofa in the small family room.

  "Business was slow." Claire cringed at the lie.

  Haley sat absorbed in her favorite soap opera. Her feet, covered in her fuzzy pink slippers, hung over the side of the couch. Ever since she'd been laid off from her corporate job a couple of weeks ago, her signature stilettos had gathered dust in the closet. The only difference between her and her sister, at the moment, was the severance package Haley's former boss had offered. Would her sister see it that way?

  Claire needed time to plan her next move. She slipped into her bedroom and closed the door. Even though she'd lived with Haley and Mark for the past year since her mother passed away, this place was never home. She looked around her sparse room. A twin bed, a small dresser, and a desk filled the space against walls that were a dull shade of gray. She had never felt the urge to decorate. All that mattered was the framed picture of her, her mom, and her sister on the end table she'd had since childhood. She sat at her desk, turned on her refurbished computer, and scanned the job openings on the online edition of the newspaper.

  She was tired of being a waitress, but was she qualified to do anything else? If she pursued her dreams as Vivian had suggested, she'd go to college and become a nurse. But what was the point of dreaming? She couldn't pay for college, and Mark and Haley would never let her live under their roof for free.

  Sleep. That's what she needed at a time like this. Claire shut off her computer and slid into bed.

  "You were what?" Haley stopped stirring the big pot of spaghetti. "You were fired?"

  The smell of Italian spices filled Claire's nostrils. She pressed her fingers against the Formica countertop. "It wasn't my fault. Mr. Sutherland wouldn't budge."

  Haley threw her an accusing look. "Your rent's due in a couple of days."

  "I know. Can you talk to Mark for me?"

  "Mark's going to freak out, Claire! And then you know what happens."

  Guilt coiled through Claire. "Maybe he won't. Maybe not this time."

  Haley snorted. "Dream on. When he drinks, he . . ." She shook her head and looked away.

  He drank every night. Why did her sister put up with it? "Why don't you do something about it, Haley?"

  "Like what? Leave?" Haley gripped the wooden
spoon. "Maybe my vows mean something."

  "Nobody heard you say your vows. You eloped!"

  Haley shoved the spoon aside and turned on Claire. Her cheeks flushed pink. "How was I supposed to have a real wedding? Mom was too busy going to chemo appointments to even notice me."

  Claire gritted her teeth. "Yeah, you're right. Why didn't Mom plan a wedding when she was fighting for her life?" Not to mention who drove Mom to all those appointments. Haley had no business walking away to get married.

  Haley's mouth tightened. "I know what you're thinking, Claire. It's the same old same old with you. For your information, it was less of a burden for Mom to take care of one daughter than two."

  "Don't give me that, Haley. You ran off for yourself, no one else."

  "At least I did something with my life." Haley yanked open a drawer and grabbed at silverware. "You've been moping around ever since Mom died."

  Claire glowered at her sister's pink slippers. "Since when is being on my feet all day in a restaurant moping around?"

  Haley's hands shot up. "When's the last time you went out with friends? Or on a date?" She clattered the silverware on the table.

  No. They were not going there. Claire threw open a cabinet and lifted out three plates. She busied herself placing them on the table just so.

  "Claire." Haley's voice softened. "You've grieved long enough."

  "And you didn't grieve at all." Claire whirled on her. "And now look who you're stuck with—Mark."

  "Did I hear my name?" Mark staggered into the room.

  "Honey, Claire has something to tell you." Haley's eyes narrowed. She ambled over to her husband and wrapped her arms around his waist.

  "Yes, I do." Claire folded her arms across her chest. "I got fired today." She grinned at Haley, challenging her to deal with her husband.

  Mark swore under his breath. He paced the length of the kitchen and ran a hand through his greasy brown hair. "No rent money, no room. Period." His thick drawl indicated he'd hit the bottle already.