Winter Winds Read online

  PRAISE FOR GAYLE ROPER’S NOVELS

  Winter Winds

  “In Winter Winds, Gayle Roper creates memorable, lovable characters and places them into an exciting, fast-moving plot that kept me turning pages to the end. It’s laugh-out-loud funny all the way through, and yet the message of hope and faith flows from the pages like a healing balm. This is Gayle’s best yet, and I’ve been an avid fan for years.”

  HANNAH ALEXANDER, AUTHOR OF THE HIDEAWAY SERIES

  “Romance, suspense, and feisty characters, coupled with important lessons in perseverance and forgiveness, make Gayle Roper’s Winter Winds an interesting read.”

  SYLVIA BAMBOLA, AUTHOR OF REFINER’S FIRE,

  TEARS IN A BOTTLE, AND WATERS OF MARAH

  “Skillfully blending humor and suspense, Gayle Roper explores the turmoil of relationships gone awry in a rapid-fire series of twists and turns that keep you turning pages. Winter Winds is a wonderful read!”

  CAROL COX, COAUTHOR OF TO CATCH A THIEF

  “Gayle Roper’s Winter Winds was a wonderful blend of heartwarming characters, hometown setting, humor, and intrigue. I loved this book and wanted to marry the characters off to my own kids!”

  COLLEEN COBLE, AUTHOR OF WITHOUT A TRACE

  Autumn Dreams

  “Autumn Dreams takes readers on a delightful off-season vacation to the Jersey shore of my childhood—complete with an ocean view and a delicious menu of characters. Cassandra and company face more than one stormy night before this romantic mystery concludes with a sunny splash. Enjoy the trip!”

  LIZ CURTIS HIGGS, BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF

  BOOKENDS AND BAD GIRLS OF THE BIBLE

  “When Gayle presses her peopled pen, a cast of heart-lively folks emerge. Colorfully arrayed in real-life pressures, you’ll recognize their struggles and feel their emotions. My greatest challenge was not to peek ahead, but I didn’t want to ‘awaken’ from this Autumn Dream.”

  PATSY CLAIRMONT, WOMEN OF FAITH SPEAKER AND

  AUTHOR OF STARDUST ON MY PILLOW

  “Gayle Roper has written another wonderfully entertaining book with characters that endeared themselves to me in the first few pages and a neatly woven theme that shows the wisdom of waiting on God’s perfect timing. Autumn Dreams was my third ‘season’ in Seaside and I can’t wait to return for the winter.”

  DEBORAH RANEY, RITA AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR OF

  AFTER THE RAINS AND A SCARLET CORD

  “Gayle Roper spins a memorable tale of romance and intrigue, embellished with a cast of heartwarming characters armed by faith and united by love against a threat to one of their own.”

  LINDA WINDSOR, AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR OF

  ALONG CAME JONES AND DEIRDRE

  “Master of romantic suspense Gayle Roper has delivered another winner in Autumn Dreams. Real characters with all their flaws and all their baggage fill the pages of this well-written book. Once you pick it up, you will not be able to put it down until you have come to the dramatic end!”

  LINDA HALL, AUTHOR OF STEAL AWAY,

  SADIE’S SONG, AND KATHERYN’S SECRET

  “I loved the first two books in Gayle Roper’s series. Now she’s done it again—wielding her powerful pen, creating captivating and compelling characters, a page-turning plot, and stirring action that inspires me to say, ‘More! More!’ I’m so glad this isn’t the end. Write number four quickly, Gayle!”

  KATHY COLLARD MILLER, SPEAKER AND

  AUTHOR OF PRINCESS TO PRINCESS

  Summer Shadows

  “Once again, Gayle Roper shows herself to be a master at creating compelling characters.”

  NANCY MOSER, COAUTHOR OF THE SISTER CIRCLE SERIES

  “Suspenseful drama, sweet romance, and breezy seaside setting … Gayle Roper’s Summer Shadows is ideal for summer reading.”

  DEANNA JULIE DODSON, AUTHOR OF

  IN HONOR BOUND AND TO GRACE SURRENDERED

  Spring Rain

  “Spring Rain is a heartwarming love story that doesn’t shy away from tackling tough subjects like homosexuality and promiscuity. Ms. Roper handles them with grace and compassion, never compromising the hope-filled truth of God’s Word while giving us a bang-up tale of romantic suspense!”

  LIZ CURTIS HIGGS, BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF

  BAD GIRLS OF THE BIBLE

  “Spring Rain contains all the mystery, suspense, and romance a reader could want. I also appreciated the story’s ‘something extra’: realism and candor. Thank you, Gayle, for speaking the truth in love!”

  ANGELA HUNT, BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE NOTE

  “This is a realistically portrayed story of love and forgiveness, filled with emotion and grace … A compelling read.”

  ROMANTIC TIMES MAGAZINE

  “Spring Rain weaves powerful lessons on contemporary moral issues into a wonderful story—a very powerful combination!”

  BOB DAVIES, NORTH AMERICAN DIRECTOR, EXODUS

  INTERNATIONAL

  “Gayle Roper is in top form with Spring Rain. Her storytelling skills make this one a page-turning experience readers will love.”

  JAMES SCOTT BELL, AUTHOR OF

  BLIND JUSTICE AND FINAL WITNESS

  NOVELS BY GAYLE ROPER

  SEASIDE SEASONS:

  Spring Rain

  Summer Shadows

  Autumn Dreams

  Winter Winds

  THE AMHEARST MYSTERIES:

  Caught in the Middle

  Caught in the Act

  Caught in a Bind

  This is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogues are products of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  WINTER WINDS

  published by Multnomah Books

  © 2004 by Gayle G. Roper

  eISBN: 978-0-307-78168-0

  Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from:

  Holy Bible, New Living Translation © 1996. Used by permission of

  Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved.

  The Holy Bible, New International Version (NIV) © 1973, 1984 by International Bible Society, used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House

  Published in the United States by WaterBrook Multnomah, an imprint of The Doubleday Publishing Group, a division of Random House Inc., New York.

  MULTNOMAH and its mountain colophon are registered trademarks of Random House Inc.

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without prior written permission.

  For information:

  MULTNOMAH BOOKS

  12265 ORACLE BOULEVARD, SUITE 200

  COLORADO SPRINGS, CO 80921

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Roper, Gayle G.

  Winter winds / by Gayle Roper.

  p. cm. — (Seaside seasons; bk. 4)

  1. Clergy—Fiction. 2. Spouses of clergy—Fiction. 3. Separated people—Fiction. 4. Seaside resorts—Fiction. I. Title.

  PS3568.O68W56 2004

  813′.54—dc22

  2004000276

  v3.1

  For Frank and Margaret Wilder

  who exemplify the gift of hospitality

  and model the love of Jesus

  Acknowledgments

  My deepest thanks to:

  Nancy Ferguson Notaro, owner of Harbor Light Christian Bookstore, Ocean City, New Jersey, who was so gracious in sharing the workings of a resort town bookstore and hosting a book signing for me.

  Josie Haines, manager of the Mustard Seed Christian Bookstore, Exton, Pennsylvania, who let m
e wander around her store and eavesdrop and who introduced me to the pink sheet.

  Chris and Peggie, pharmacists at the Ocean Pharmacy, Ocean City, New Jersey, who shared their pleasure with life in a nonchain pharmacy.

  Reverend Don Phillips, Ocean City Baptist Church, Ocean City, New Jersey, who told us all about life as a pastor in a resort town church with its fluctuating summer attendance and stable winter congregation.

  Julee Schwarzburg, my editor par excellence, who makes everything better.

  My prayer board, who encourage me, keep after me, and most important, pray for me.

  Chuck, my husband, who wandered around Ocean City with me one winter weekend, asking all the good questions that I hadn’t thought of.

  Be kind and compassionate to one another,

  forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

  EPHESIANS 4:32, NIV

  Contents

  Cover

  Other Books by This Author

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Acknowledgments

  Epigraph

  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

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Epilogue

  Author’s Note

  Discussion Questions

  Also Available From Multnomah Books

  One

  COME ON, TRUDY, sweetheart. Stand tall. You can do it.”

  As she raised her hand with the treat in it, Dori MacAllister smiled encouragingly at her little Dandie Dinmont. The dog in turn cocked her ears, watched the hand with the treat, but didn’t move.

  “Come on, Trudy, baby. Do it for Mommy.”

  Do it for Mommy? Gag! Dori had promised herself when she spent way too much money to buy Trudy that she’d never become one of those weird ladies who talked to their animals like they were mentally impaired babies.

  And here she was, talking to the little beige terrier as if she were a canine Rain Man.

  Dori cleared her throat. “Stand tall, Trudy,” she ordered in the sternest voice she could muster.

  Trudy immediately went up on her hind legs.

  Dori blinked. That was all there was to it? She thought of all the time and money she’d spent on dog obedience classes and the mixed results. Trudy always performed wonderfully before everyone there, but at home she only obeyed when she felt like it.

  Dori pictured herself in class. She had always spoken firmly there, and Trudy did as asked. It was only at home she made a fool of herself with baby talk. With a sigh of disgust, she got to her feet. Just another proof that she needed a life.

  The phone rang, and she stared at it for a moment. What if it was Bill Fralinger asking again for a date? Couldn’t the man take a hint? Five refusals ought to make him realize her disinterest, or so one would think.

  The answering machine kicked in after the fourth ring. “Dori, I’ve got to talk to you! It’s an emergency! Call—”

  She launched herself at the phone, heart in her throat. “Phil! It’s me. What’s wrong?” Not Trev. Please let it not be Trev.

  “You’ve got to come at once,” Phil said without preamble. “It’s Pop.”

  Dori’s stomach dropped. Before hearing “It’s Pop,” she’d thought that a stomach dropping was just a phrase writers used to convey distress. Now she knew it was a real sensation. “What’s wrong?” she managed to whisper.

  “Heart attack, we think.”

  Fear shafted through her, and she leaned against the wall to keep herself upright. Pop! Sturdy, invincible Pop, the man who with his wife Honey had raised her, the man who stood as grandfather to her, as close as or closer than any blood grandparent could ever be.

  “How bad?” She held her breath, afraid of the answer.

  “It’s too soon to tell.” Phil’s voice shook. “He’s got tubes and wires and oxygen and…” He had to stop and clear his throat before he could continue. “You’ve got to come, Dori.”

  “N-no, I can’t.” Not even for Pop. Her conscience and her emotions clashed, and she began to shake.

  “He asked for you.”

  Was that anger she was beginning to hear in his voice? “Oh, Phil.”

  He must have heard her hesitation, her distress. “Look, Dori, you know I’ve never pried.” Yes, he had. Scads of times. “I figured whatever happened was your personal business, but it’s time to come home. He needs to see you.”

  “Phil, you just don’t understand.” She heard the slide toward whining in her voice and flinched.

  Trudy whimpered. Dori turned and saw her standing on the sofa, front feet planted on the arm, watching intently. Somehow she had caught Dori’s distress and was worried. Dori swooped her up and cuddled her close, drawing comfort from the animal even as she dodged her relentless pink tongue. There was no question; the little sweetheart was worth every penny.

  “I can’t leave Trudy,” Dori said, then flushed at how inane and unfeeling that comment sounded, given the circumstances. But she knew how to worry over Trudy. She had no idea how to respond to the devastating news about Pop.

  “Who’s Trudy, and why in the world not?”

  “Who would take care of her?”

  “Dori, is Trudy your dog?”

  “I told you about her last time we talked, didn’t I?”

  “Yeah, I just forgot her name. Now listen closely because this is what you do. You put her in a kennel. You give her to a friend. You take her to the pound.”

  “What?”

  “Dori, she’s a dog. We’re talking about Pop here.”

  “You think I’m a terrible person.” Dori found she had tears in her eyes. She hated to cry because it meant losing control, but if she was going to shed tears whether she wanted to or not, she might as well make use of them. She sniffed loudly into the phone.

  “Are you crying?” Phil demanded, outrage clear in his voice.

  She gave Trudy a teary grin. Worked every time. Someday he was going to be putty in the hands of the right woman.

  She looked around her small living room with the soft peach walls; the moss green carpet; the peach, russet, and green floral love seat; and the two white wicker chairs with pillows that matched the sofa. She didn’t want to leave its security and safety, but with an inward sigh, she admitted she had to go east.

  “Come on, Dori. Enough is enough.”

  She closed her eyes and nodded, even though he couldn’t see her.

  She’d been seven when she met Pop, nineteen when she left him. She had taken her heart and run to save herself, and though she hadn’t intended it, she knew that Pop had paid a stiff price for her emotional retreat. Honey, too. For six long years, she’d stayed away, and, coward that she was, she’d planned to extend her absence indefinitely.

  But how could she do that in light of, “He asked for you”?

  She sighed. Much as she hated to admit it, Phil was right. Enough was enough. “I’ll catch the red-ey
e.”

  “Good girl. Let me know your arrival time, and I’ll meet you.”

  “You needn’t bother. I’ll rent a car.”

  “I’m picking you up. No arguments.”

  Dori stood unmoving in the living room of her San Diego apartment long after Phil hung up. It wasn’t until Trudy complained about being hugged too tightly that Dori moved. First she called for her airline ticket and got a compassionate fare leaving at eleven-thirty that evening, arriving in Philadelphia at nine-thirty tomorrow morning. Next she called Meg Reynolds, owner of Small Treasures and her boss.

  “Oh, Dori, I’m so sorry,” Meg said as soon as Dori told her about Pop. “Take as much time as you need. I’ll be fine.”

  “Thanks, Meg. I—” Dori stalled. Meg knew more of her story than anyone, and she alone could understand Dori’s mixed feelings. She tried again. “I want to be there for Pop, but—”

  “But you’re afraid you’ll see Trev.”

  Dori closed her eyes. There it was, spoken brazenly and boldly. “I’m scared to death,” she confessed, her voice a mere whisper. “What would I say? What would I do?”

  “Ah, Dori, don’t underestimate yourself. You’ll manage fine. I have every confidence in you.”

  The affirming words were a balm on Dori’s unsettled spirit.

  When she’d first moved to San Diego six years ago, she was in dire need of a job. She went to a mall, thinking that surely someone there would need a sales clerk. What she found was Small Treasures, a gift shop with the most creative inventory she’d ever seen. She spent two hours looking at all the lovely items, yearning for the money to buy some of them, knowing it would be a long time before she had discretionary money of the type she was used to.

  Then she’d taken a deep breath and forced herself to ask for a job. “Your inventory is so wonderful, even I could sell it,” she said. “Please.”

  Meg Reynolds, a short, dark-haired woman of indeterminate age, not only hired her; she trained her, taught her, and gave her ever greater responsibility until Dori was now Meg’s right hand with a small percentage of the store in her name.