The Daddy Surprise (Larger Print Love Inspired)

Excerpt. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eatenJoel 2:25Lyndon Point, Washington StateLucie Adams slammed on the brakes. A car honked behind her.The sight of the crumbling Victorian at the corner ofMain and Sea Breeze Way stole her breath. uMamaaaa!When the panic in her fiveyearold daughters voice registered, she murmured, Sorry, Chloe, honey. Its okay. You can relax.Lucie stared some more. Then, wearing a satisfied grin, she eased her foot off the brake.So far so good.As she rounded the corner, excitement bubbled inside her. She continued to stare in her rearview mirror at the housethe very shabby, onceuponatime magnificent Queen Anne Victorian she had discovered on this, her first drive through her soontobe new hometown.The house was perfect, but it needed so much work. She only had five months worth of funds in her savings account. Shed thought that would see her through, but nowshed need to make it stretch. Shed have to rethink the pricey extendedstay suite hotel where she and Chloe were rooming.Her excitement grew.Up ahead, real estate agent Edna Lyndons zippy, red convertible continued down the street. In her final peek in the mirror as she followed Edna, Lucie spied the corner of the wraparound porch, the turret above, the rusted iron fence hemming in the overgrown garden, and fell totally in love.Its perfect, she whispered.While the place was a mess, with peeling paint, faded and sagging shutters, broken gingerbread trim on the porch and missing fishscale shingles on the pitched peak of the turret, Lucie knew she could turn the place into the home of her dreamsNope! I dont have to turn it into anything.The Victorian already was the home of her dreams. Lucie wanted a fixerupper with lots of character for her and Chloe to live in, and to be the site for her new endeavor, the quilt and fabric shop she planned to open in Lyndon Point. This bedraggled treasure would clean up great.Her heartbeat sped up and hope kicked into high gear. She couldnt wait to ask Edna about the place.The sixtysomething Realtor pulled into a small, crowded parking lot on Sea Breeze Way, across from the Victorian on the corner. Lucie followed. As they crawled past the lines of cars, they found an empty spotthe only onein the farthest row. Edna gestured for Lucie to roll down her window.You take this one, dear, she called out. Shirley Wilcox will let me park behind her Tea & Sympathy shop about a block awayits a wonderful little place. Youll have to stop in when you get a chance. She waved toward the parking spot. Go ahead. Take this one. Itll only take a minute for me to get back. Ill meet you girls inside.Since Lucie had to wrestle her hungry fiveyearold out of the booster seat and herd her into the diner, one of those complex mothering maneuvers she performed hourly, she thanked Edna and focused on squeezing in between the SUVs on either side of the parking space. She grabbed her purse, freed Chloe, gripped the little hand and turned toward the quaint eatery.At Lucies side Chloe hippetyhopped, her pink sun hat flopping along, practically swallowing her little face in its shadow. Chloe loved the hat. Lucie? Not so much. But in view of their crosscountry move to Washington State and all the disruption it had forced on the fiveyearold, Lucie figured the hat wasnt worth a battle.Mama! I want chicken nuggets. Chloe rarely whined, but she was coming close now. Dyou think they gotThey have, Chloe.Oh, goody! Thats what I want. With barber cube sauce.Sigh. I dont know if they have chicken nuggets. I meant the right way to say it is Do you think they have, not Dyou think they gotBut, Mama! Chloes voice rose in pitch and volume. Its all the same.The meaning may be the same, but how you say it matters, too.Chloe yanked her hand free, crossed her arms and squared her chin. She glared, and when Lucie d