A Love of Her Own

An Historical Christian Romance

By: Ramona Levacy

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

She laughed out loud, picturing the syrup from her pancakes sliding down the sides of Judd Taylor’s arrogant head. Her brother-in-law, the older brother of her now-dead husband, stood there in his sheriff’s uniform, looking at Bess as if she were the dirt on the bottom of his highly-polished boots. She patted her pregnant belly and took a deep breath. “You haven’t given me a chance,” she told his clean-shaven chin, unwilling to stretch that extra distance to see into his black, penetrating eyes. He was so tall. “You don’t know me,” she continued when he just stood there, wrapped in the thick silence. Judd pushed the creamy Stetson to the back of his head and frowned even more. His black eyes glittered at her. “That’s the point, Bess,” he drawled, his voice deep and rumbly, sending shivers through her. “But you’re going to trust me enough, someday.” She bit her lip to keep from crying out. How could she tell him she’d never had the luxury of trusting anybody? “Your brother loved me,” she reminded him instead. The vein in Judd’s strong jaw twitched. He studied Bess until she felt as if his hands had reached out and touched her cool skin, leaving scorch marks. “You look wilted, cupcake. Better lie down, get some rest.” Before she could argue, he swiveled on one big foot and disappeared out the front door, leaving Bess feeling awkward and unsettled. She walked down the hall to the simple room her mother-in-law had provided when Bess showed up at her door unannounced just days before. Lying on the cool sheets, she thought about the crowded rooms where she’d struggled to find quiet space growing up in the orphanages and foster homes that made up her youth. Her hand went to her belly again. No matter what happened between herself and Judd Taylor, she promised, her baby’s life would be different. This Christian romance, set during the Vietnam era, tells the story of a young war widow who meets her match in her taciturn brother-in-law. When secrets from her past threaten the future of her unborn child, Bess has to find the strength to trust someone other than herself for the first time in her life--and hope that her past doesn't shatter what is turning out to be a promising future where she just might finally belong.