Finding Courage (Love's Compass Book 3) Read online

  Love’s

  Compass

  Book Three

  Finding Courage

  Melanie D. Snitker

  Finding Courage (Love’s Compass: Book 3)

  © 2015 Melanie D. Snitker

  Published by Dallionz Media, LLC

  P.O. Box 6821

  Abilene, TX 79608

  Cover: Blue Valley Author Services

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. Please purchase only authorized editions.

  For permission requests, please contact the author at the e-mail below or through her website.

  Melanie D. Snitker

  [email protected]

  www.melaniedsnitker.com

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents either are the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Love’s Compass: Book Three

  Finding Courage

  By Melanie D. Snitker

  All rights reserved

  Copyright © 2015 Melanie D. Snitker

  ASIN: B0143WYCHC

  To second chances

  and the courage to both

  extend and accept them

  Special Thanks

  I want to thank Franky, Crystal, and RJ for being my sounding board. I appreciate you ladies and couldn’t have written this book without you!

  I also want to give a shout-out to my amazing beta readers: Denny, Doug, Faith, Sandy, and Victorine. Seriously, you guys are amazing and I appreciate each and every one of you.

  Most of all, I want to thank my Heavenly Father. I have no idea what I’d do if it weren’t for the forgiveness and grace He extends to me each and every day.

  Contents

  Prologue

  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

  Epilogue

  Connect with Melanie

  Books by Melanie D. Snitker

  Prologue

  Avalon McNeil gently pulled a ripe tomato from the vine and set it in the basket she carried as the scent of the leaves filled the air. Taking a moment, she stopped to admire the orange clouds on the horizon as the sun began to sink out of sight. She wanted to get the last of the vegetables picked before it got dark and she didn’t have much time left.

  She needed to finish out here so she could get inside and check on dinner. Not that it really mattered. The odds her husband, Duke, would be home in time to eat it were small. A frown tugged on the corners of her mouth.

  Avalon sighed. Everything seemed so much simpler three months ago when they first got married.

  Duke’s face came to mind.

  She gathered three more tomatoes before a sound behind her caught her attention. When she turned, the image of her mother-in-law, Loretta McNeil, was so unexpected that Avalon jumped and dropped the basket.

  “Mrs. McNeil. I didn’t see you there.”

  She used the time spent retrieving the basket and three rogue tomatoes to compose herself.

  Loretta had been anything but friendly since Avalon and Duke had gotten married. No matter what Avalon did to try and defuse the situation, she came away feeling as though it had gotten worse.

  Avalon pushed some hair away from her eyes when she stood again and inhaled sharply. “What can I do for you, Mrs. McNeil?”

  The older woman stood, hands on her hips, her dark eyes throwing daggers at Avalon.

  “You’re destroying my son.”

  The words might as well have been a slap to the face. Avalon blinked in confusion. “What?”

  “Duke deserves better than you. All you’ve brought to this family is strife and heartache. If you love my son, you’ll pack your bags and leave.” Venom dripped from Loretta’s words.

  Avalon didn’t know it was possible to compress so much hatred into someone’s voice. She’d tried hard to get to know Duke’s family, to prove to them that she loved their son and would be a good daughter-in-law. Hearing those words shattered Avalon’s heart as surely as if the woman had struck it with a hammer. After coming from a family that respected each other, she wasn’t prepared for being the target of such hatred from someone she already felt so vulnerable around.

  She swallowed back her tears, refusing to give the woman the satisfaction of seeing her cry.

  Loretta narrowed her eyes, turned on her heel, and walked away.

  Avalon watched the woman’s car disappear before she headed to the back door, the garden forgotten. After leaving the basket of tomatoes on the counter in the kitchen, she made her way up the stairs to the second floor and entered the master bedroom. She collapsed onto their bed, her tears breaking through the walls she’d managed to erect to hold them at bay. The moisture added dark spots to the country blue quilt spread out beneath her.

  How had things gotten so complicated so quickly?

  Avalon would never forget the first time she saw Duke. Tired of working in fast food and retail, she’d seen a job opening on her way through Yuma. They needed someone to help teach during summer camps. She wound up working with children as the farms shared the importance of the local agriculture.

  Duke was speaking to a group of children, explaining the details of a craft they were about to do. Avalon had been instructed to carry over bowls of paint to set on the card tables for them to use.

  Even now, heat colored her cheeks when she remembered how she’d paid more attention to him than where she was walking. A dip in the ground caught her off guard and she’d tripped. Two bowls of paint flew through the air to splatter all over the grass at her feet, adding colorful spots to her legs and shorts as well.

  The children laughed. When Duke’s lips stretched into that relaxed, vaguely slanted smile, Avalon’s pulse sped up like a runaway train. He came forward to steady her, helped her retrieve the bowls, and assured her it wasn’t a big deal.

  He pointed to the almost artistic rainbow of color on the grass. “It’s not half bad,” he told her. “You might start a new camp tradition.” Then he winked.

  Maybe it was silly, but in that moment, Avalon knew her heart belonged to him.

  He was the most handsome man she’d ever seen. At five foot seven, he didn’t tower over her, yet he captured her attention like no one else ever had. His arms and back were wide and thick, the muscles built up from working the farm since he was a child. Duke exuded strength.

  It wasn’t his potency that had drawn Avalon to him. It’d been his hazel eyes. Brown with green and gold flecks, they changed intensity depending on his moods or thoughts.

  Avalon loved the job. The chance to work side-by-side with Duke every day had been a great way to spend the summer. She woke up each morning bursting
with anticipation at seeing him again. The attraction they shared was like electricity that traveled between them whenever they were near each other.

  Avalon frowned. It was scary how quickly things could change.

  The sun dipped below the horizon. The room was dark except for what light filtered in from the hallway outside. Avalon didn’t know how long she lain there before she heard Duke walking up the stairs. He flipped the light on in their room and Avalon squinted against the brightness.

  “Avalon? Are you okay?”

  She attempted to scrub the tears from her cheeks but knew she must look like a mess. With a shrug, she sat on the side of the bed.

  Duke sat next to her and put an arm around her shoulders. “Did something happen?”

  Avalon struggled with what she should and shouldn’t tell Duke. Loretta made no bones about her dislike of her new daughter-in-law.

  Since she and Duke married less than two months after they met, Avalon couldn’t blame Loretta for not being happy. Goodness knows, Avalon hadn’t told her own family for reasons she didn’t want to think about. Loretta tried to persuade Duke to end the relationship because Avalon had no clue what it took to run a farm like theirs. Duke refused to listen.

  Once they married, she’d insisted on Avalon calling her Mrs. McNeil and was anything but welcoming. Oh, she did her best to act happy around Duke. But if he wasn’t there, she dropped all pretenses, her true opinion of Avalon and their marriage clear. The temperature fell twenty degrees when she was in the room.

  Avalon tried to develop some kind of relationship with the woman, only to meet a dead end and nasty comments — all made when Duke wasn’t there to witness them. She’d tell him what happened later, and that caused blowups within his family. Duke’s father, Rudy, sat in misery while his younger brother, Calvin, took his mother’s side. The arguments were horrible and it always put Duke in a difficult place.

  After a time, she quit reporting the incidents to him because she hated to see how much stress it placed on him. Loretta always had a convincing argument against Avalon’s accusations and she’d wondered whether Duke believed her anyway.

  Now, she tried to decide whether to share what had Loretta told her that night. Duke’s face was a picture of concern and it melted away her hesitation.

  ~

  Duke’s chest ached with the tension that started there and spread throughout his body. Avalon still wasn’t talking. What happened while he was gone?

  He was just about to say something when she took a deep breath and began to speak, her voice shaky.

  “Your mom came by to talk to me today.”

  Fantastic. It seemed like every time his wife and his mother were in the same room, daggers flew. And both came to him with different stories about the other.

  It was frustrating. Especially when any confrontation led to arguments that made his head hurt.

  If his mom came to see Avalon, it couldn’t have been good. He resisted the urge to sigh. “What did she have to say?”

  Her voice breaking, Avalon told him about the encounter. Before she was finished, new tears made her cheeks glisten.

  He had a hard time believing that his mom would actually tell her that he deserved better than Avalon. His mom was blunt, rude, and pushy. But to go to that extreme? It would be a new low for her.

  At the same time, he saw no reason why Avalon would make something like this up. She was visibly upset and his instinct to protect her warred with his brain as he tried to make sense of what was happening.

  He and Avalon had more arguments in the last month than he cared to admit. Most were over something his parents said and whether or not he was trying to avoid the situation.

  Duke worked long, hard hours to support his family. He enjoyed farming — it’d been a part of his life since he was a child. Yet, when he got home late, it only seemed to irritate Avalon more. When he walked into the house and didn’t see her in the kitchen or living room, he’d been afraid she was angry at him. His relief was short-lived, however, when he heard about his mother’s visit.

  He didn’t need this tonight. He was physically and mentally exhausted. Was it too much to ask to come home for a relaxing evening with his wife?

  When he didn’t respond to her concerns immediately, her quiet crying turned into a sob. That was one thing he couldn’t stand: To see his wife upset like this. He tightened his arm around her. “Avalon, don’t believe a word my mom told you. She’s trying to manipulate you. She’s trying to pit us against each other. Sweetheart, you can’t let her get to you like this.”

  “I know.” She sniffed and used the tissue he handed to her to blow her nose. “I wish we could ban her from our house. When we go to theirs, I expect to be treated like dirt. But I shouldn’t have to put up with it at my own home.”

  “What do you want me to do, Avalon? I work for them. Our house is in the middle of their land. We can’t just ignore them or pretend they aren’t there.”

  Avalon rubbed her temples as her blue eyes slid shut. “I get that.” She paused and fixed her eyes on him. “I wish she could see how toxic she is to everyone around her.”

  The weight in the pit of his stomach went from the size of a golf ball to something more like a bowling ball. His wife wanted him to fix everything, and he couldn’t. He didn’t know how. Their home and source of income rested with his parents. Why couldn’t she see that? This job was necessary for him to support his family.

  He reached for her hand. “It’s only been a few months. Give them time to get to know you.”

  Avalon sat up straighter. “I’ve given them time. I’ve tried, Duke. They don’t want to get to know me.” Her voice rose. “She said I should leave. Doesn’t that tell you anything?” She pulled her hand from his and jumped to her feet.

  Duke clenched his jaw and stood stiffly. “I’m trying, Avalon. But I can’t be here all the time to monitor whether my mom comes to the house or not. I have to work.”

  “You always have to work.” Her words were quiet, but there was no mistaking them.

  He hit the bedpost with the palm of his hand. “It’s my job, Avalon! I’ve tried to explain to you what I do. The hours are long, but there’s nothing I can do about that.”

  She put a hand on her hip, and her face reddened. “How are we supposed to solve anything if you’re never here?”

  Her accusation stung. She had no idea how badly he wanted to come home to her at the end of the day. He looked forward to Sundays all week when he didn’t have to go out in the field.

  Yet, at the same time, he dreaded coming home now because he knew she’d be upset with him. Inevitably, something came up that made him late, and he’d end up messing up her dinner plans.

  He leveled his gaze on her. “It’s my job. The hours are late, but this is the way it’s going to be. You may as well get used to it.”

  The second the words were out, and he saw anger mixing with regret in her eyes, his stomach fell to the floor.

  Her voice quiet, she said, “I’m not sure I can do this.”

  Suddenly, everything around Duke was silent. Blood rushed in his ears and his heart stuttered painfully in response to her words. “If it’s that hard, then maybe we made a mistake.”

  Unable to wait long enough to see how his words affected her, he turned and left the room. Somehow, his feet managed to carry him out of the house. His mind was a mess as he realized everything he had was hanging off the edge of a cliff and he couldn’t possibly pull it all back in before something fell.

  The warm evening air hit his face as he stepped onto the back porch and headed for the garage. He yanked a key from its hook and sat down on one of the two ATVs. In moments, he was racing across the property, wind blowing in his face.

  Duke tried to go over what had just happened, but his thoughts refused to be organized. So he let his mind go numb, willing the tension to leave his body.

  He had no idea how long he spent riding around the property. By the time he got back, his brain was s
till muddled, but he felt like he could handle a conversation better without reacting as strongly as he had.

  He locked the ATV up and headed inside again. With each step upstairs, he calmed his thoughts and steeled himself for the conversation they were about to have.

  The last thing he expected to see was an empty bedroom and a white piece of paper resting on the quilt. He wiped his palm on his jeans and chewed the inside of his cheek as he lifted the note.

  Duke,

  I’m sorry for all the trouble I’ve caused you and your family. I think you need space. I know I do.

  Don’t worry about me.

  Avalon

  Surely she hadn’t really left. He tossed the paper, barely aware that it fluttered back down to its spot on the bed. “Avalon?” He took the stairs three at a time and rushed into the kitchen. A basket full of tomatoes sat on the counter but he didn’t see his wife anywhere. “Avalon!”

  Duke yanked the front door open. As his feet hit the porch, he scanned the driveway for her car. He stopped short when his eyes focused on the vacant space while dread settled in the middle of his chest. He couldn’t lose her. Not like this.

  Duke pulled his phone out of his back pocket and dialed her number. It rang twice and then went straight to voicemail.

  His arms fell to his sides as he continued to stare into the darkness that led Avalon away from their home. From him.

  Chapter One

  Nearly three weeks later, Avalon gripped the steering wheel in front of her, knuckles white. Her nails dug into the plastic cover as the tips of her fingers grew numb with the effort. None of those sensations compared to the way her stomach clenched. She swallowed, willing the bile to stay where it belonged. Thank goodness her lunch had been a light one.

  With deep, even breaths, Avalon attempted to calm her nerves as her heart threatened to beat its way right out of her chest. It didn’t work. God knew she needed a healthy dose of His strength to get through the day.