You'll Think of Me Read online

  ACCLAIM FOR ROBIN LEE HATCHER

  “You’ll Think of Me is like a vacation to small town Idaho where the present collides with the past and it’s not clear which will win. The shadows of the past threaten to trap Brooklyn in the past. Can she break free into the freedom to love and find love? The story kept me coming back for just one more page. A perfect read for those who love a romance that is much more as it explores important themes.”

  —CARA PUTMAN, AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR SHADOWED BY GRACE AND BEYOND JUSTICE

  “Hatcher is able to unravel emotions within her characters so brilliantly that we sense the transformation taking place within ourselves . . . readers will relish the warmth of . . . the ranchland.”

  —RT BOOK REVIEWS ON KEEPER OF THE STARS

  “Hatcher fans will be left smiling and eagerly awaiting her next novel.”

  —CBA RETAILERS + RESOURCES ON KEEPER OF THE STARS

  “True to the contemporary romance genre, Robin Lee Hatcher’s Keeper of the Stars will satisfy romance fans and give them a joy ride as they travel the road of pain and forgiveness to reach the happily-ever-after.”

  —BOOKTALK AT FICTION 411

  “Robin Lee Hatcher weaves a romance with heart that grabs readers and won’t let go. Whenever You Come Around pulled me in from the get-go. Charity Anderson, a beautiful, successful author with a deadline and a painful secret, runs into Buck Malone, a handsome, confirmed-bachelor cowboy from her past, and he needs her help. I was captivated, and I guarantee you’ll be rooting for them too.”

  —SUNNI JEFFERS, AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR OF HEAVEN’S STRAIN

  “A heartwarming and engaging romance, Whenever You Come Around is a splendid read from start to finish!”

  —TAMERA ALEXANDER, USA TODAY BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF TO WHISPER HER NAME AND FROM A DISTANCE

  “A handsome cowboy, horses, and a hurting heroine make for a winning combination in this newest poignant story by Robin Lee Hatcher. A gently paced but delightful ride, Whenever You Come Around will take readers on a journey of healing right along with the characters. Readers will feel at home in Kings Meadow and won’t want to leave.”

  —JODY HEDLUND, BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF LOVE UNEXPECTED

  “First loves find sweet second chances in Kings Meadow. Heartwarming, romantic, and filled with hope and faith, this is Hatcher at her best!”

  —LISA WINGATE, NATIONAL BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE STORY KEEPER AND THE PRAYER BOX ON WHENEVER YOU COME AROUND

  “In Whenever You Come Around Hatcher takes a look at the pain of secrets that kill the heart. But love indeed conquers all. Robin Lee Hatcher is the go-to classic romance author.”

  —RACHEL HAUCK, AWARD-WINNING, NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE WEDDING DRESS

  “Robin Lee Hatcher has created an emotionally engaging romance, a story of healing and self-forgiveness wrapped up in a package about small-town life and a cowboy who lives a life honoring God. I want to live in Kings Meadow.”

  —SHARON DUNN, AUTHOR OF COLD CASE JUSTICE AND WILDERNESS TARGET ON WHENEVER YOU COME AROUND

  “Whenever You Come Around draws you into the beauty and history of the horse country of Kings Meadow, Idaho. With every turn of the page, Robin Lee Hatcher woos readers with a love story of a modern-day cowboy and a city girl. Buck and Charity rescue each other from the lives they had planned—lives limited by fear. Instead, they discover their unexpected God-ordained happily ever after. A discerning writer, Hatcher handles Charity’s past heartbreak with sensitivity and grace.”

  —BETH K. VOGT, AUTHOR OF SOMEBODY LIKE YOU, ONE OF PUBLISHERS WEEKLY’S BEST BOOKS OF 2014

  “Whenever You Come Around is one of Robin Lee Hatcher’s pure-romance best, with a heroine waiting for total redemption and a strong hero of great worth. I find myself still smiling long after the final page has been read.”

  —HANNAH ALEXANDER, AUTHOR OF THE HALLOWED HALLS SERIES

  “Whenever You Come Around is a slow dance of letting go of the past and its very real pain to step into the light of love. It’s a story that will wrap around your soul with the hope that no past is so dark and haunted that it can’t be forgiven and overcome. It’s a love story filled with sweetness, tension, and slow fireworks. Bottom line, it was a romance I couldn’t—and didn’t want to—put down.”

  —CARA PUTMAN, AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR OF SHADOWED BY GRACE AND WHERE TREETOPS GLISTEN

  “In Love Without End, Robin Lee Hatcher once again takes us to Kings Meadow, Idaho, in a sweeping love story that captures the heart and soul of romance between two people who have every reason not to fall in love. With an interesting backstory interspersed among the contemporary chapters, and well-drawn, relatable secondary characters, Hatcher hits the mark with her warm and inviting love story.”

  —MARTHA ROGERS, AUTHOR OF THE SERIES WINDS ACROSS THE PRAIRIE AND THE HOMEWARD JOURNEY

  “Love Without End, the first book in the new Kings Meadow Romance series, again intertwines two beautiful and heartfelt romances. One in the past and one in the future together make this a special read. I’m so glad Robin wrote a love story for Chet who suffered so much in A Promise Kept (January 2014). Kimberly, so wrong for him, becomes so right. Not your run-of-the-mill cowboy romance—enriched with deft writing and deep emotion.”

  —LYN COTE, AUTHOR OF HONOR, QUAKER BRIDES, BOOK ONE

  “No one writes about the joys and challenges of family life better than Robin Lee Hatcher, and she’s at the top of her game with Love Without End. This beautiful and deeply moving story will capture your heart as it captured mine.”

  —MARGARET BROWNLEY, NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR

  “Love Without End, Book One in Robin Lee Hatcher’s new Kings Meadow series, is a delight from start to finish. The author’s skill at depicting the love and challenges of family has never been more evident as she deftly combines two love stories—past and present—to capture readers’ hearts and lift their spirits.”

  —MARTA PERRY, AUTHOR OF THE FORGIVEN, KEEPERS OF THE PROMISE, BOOK ONE

  “I always expect excellence when I open a Robin Lee Hatcher novel. She never disappoints. The story here reminds me of a circle without end as Robin takes us through a modern-day romance while looping one character through a WWII tale of love and loss and the resurrection of hope and purpose. Love Without End touched my heart and guided me to some wonderful truths of how God’s love is a gift and a treasure.”

  —DONITA K. PAUL, BESTSELLING AUTHOR

  “A beautiful, heart-touching story of God’s amazing grace, and how He can restore and make new that which was lost.”

  —FRANCINE RIVERS, NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR, ON A PROMISE KEPT

  OTHER NOVELS BY ROBIN LEE HATCHER

  The Heart’s Pursuit

  A Promise Kept

  Heart of Gold

  Autumn’s Angel, a novella found in A Bride for All Seasons

  KINGS MEADOW ROMANCE SERIES

  Love Without End

  Whenever You Come Around

  Keeper of the Stars

  WHERE THE HEART LIVES SERIES

  Belonging

  Betrayal

  Beloved

  THE SISTERS OF BETHLEHEM SPRINGS SERIES

  A Vote of Confidence

  Fit to Be Tied

  A Matter of Character

  Copyright © 2017 by Robin Lee Hatcher

  All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or other—except for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

  Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Thomas Nelson. Thomas Nelson is a register
ed trademark of HarperCollins Christian Publishing, Inc.

  Thomas Nelson titles may be purchased in bulk for educational, business, fund-raising, or sales promotional use. For information, please e-mail [email protected].

  Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are taken from New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)

  Publisher’s Note: This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. All characters are fictional, and any similarity to people living or dead is purely coincidental.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Names: Hatcher, Robin Lee, author.

  Title: You’ll think of me / Robin Lee Hatcher.

  Other titles: You will think of me

  Description: Nashville, Tennessee : Thomas Nelson, 2017.

  Epub Edition March 2017 ISBN 9780718085957

  Identifiers: LCCN 2016047255 | ISBN 9780718085940 (softcover)

  Subjects: LCSH: Single mothers--Fiction. | Widows--Fiction. | GSAFD: Christian fiction. | Love stories.

  Classification: LCC PS3558.A73574 Y68 2017 | DDC 813/.54--dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016047255

  Printed in the United States of America

  17 18 19 20 21 LSC 5 4 3 2 1

  To my Abba-Father, who holds me in His

  arms, even when I am unaware.

  * * *

  Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor. For if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to the one who falls when there is not another to lift him up. Furthermore, if two lie down together they keep warm, but how can one be warm alone? And if one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart.

  Ecclesiastes 4:9–12

  * * *

  Contents

  Acclaim for Robin Lee Hatcher

  Other Novels by Robin Lee Hatcher

  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

  Epilogue

  A Note from the Author

  Discussion Questions

  Missing Daddy, Missing Pieces

  About the Author

  Chapter 1

  APRIL

  RENO, NEVADA

  Brooklyn Myers sat on the narrow stretch of lawn beside the brick apartment building, watching her ten-year-old daughter. On this balmy Saturday afternoon, Alycia lay on her stomach in the grass while reading a book they’d checked out at the library that morning. Reading, thanks to the public library, was one habit that Brooklyn not only approved of but could afford to encourage. When a mother and child survived on a waitress’s salary, toys and other gadgets were a luxury. As was most everything else.

  A headache threatened, and Brooklyn closed her eyes, rubbing her temples with her fingertips. Thank goodness she didn’t have to work today. She’d put in a lot of overtime in recent weeks and was in need of rest. Rest that always seemed just out of reach.

  “Brooklyn?” Esther Peterman called from the second-story landing. “May I join you?”

  Brooklyn looked toward the stairwell. “Of course.”

  The rail-thin woman flashed one of her brave smiles before slowly heading down the final flight of stairs, a folded lawn chair clasped in one hand. She was only in her late forties, but she moved as if she were eighty.

  Brooklyn’s heart clenched at the sight. As far as she was concerned, Esther was—and had always been—a godsend. She couldn’t begin to imagine how she and Alycia would have managed over the past decade without this kindly neighbor. Or how they were going to manage without her in the future.

  Her temples throbbed, the headache full blown now.

  Esther arrived at her side and unfolded the lawn chair. “What a beautiful day.”

  “I couldn’t agree more.” Brooklyn tilted her face toward the sun, hoping its warmth would ease the pain in her head—and in her heart.

  When Esther spoke again, she sounded wistful. “I suppose San Diego will be just as lovely.”

  “I’m sure it will be. And you’ll be with your family.”

  “Yes.” Her friend drew a long breath and let it out on a sigh. “But they might as well be strangers. I haven’t seen my cousins in years.”

  Brooklyn reached over and took hold of Esther’s hand, gently squeezing it with her own. “I wish . . . ,” she began, then let the rest go unsaid.

  “I know, Brooklyn. I know.”

  Esther Peterman was the first person Brooklyn had met when she moved into this low-income apartment building over ten years ago. She’d been eighteen, pregnant, and all alone in a strange city. Chad Hallston, her husband of only a few months, had left Brooklyn soon after learning they were to have a baby. Esther and her husband, Joshua, had become the closest thing to family Brooklyn had ever known. But prostate cancer had taken Joshua, age sixty, three years earlier, and now bone cancer was taking Esther.

  It seemed so unfair.

  “God has this,” Esther said softly. “I’ll be all right, and so will the two of you.”

  Brooklyn swallowed the lump in her throat.

  “Have you found someone to watch Alycia when you’re at work?”

  She shrugged, unwilling for Esther to take on that worry. But honesty wouldn’t allow her to leave it alone, and finally she shook her head.

  “I’ll keep praying.” Esther spoke with confidence, although her voice was weak. “God knows what you need. He will provide.”

  Real faith was another blessing from Esther. Before meeting her, all Brooklyn had known were rules, restrictions, and God’s wrath. She’d lived in expectation of the Almighty slapping her down whenever she displeased Him—which she had been guaranteed to do on a daily basis. That was the God Brooklyn had learned from her father. But Esther had introduced her to a God who loved her, to a Savior who had willingly died for her, to a Spirit who renewed her mind and gave her strength.

  “It’s going to be all right.” Now it was Esther’s turn to squeeze Brooklyn’s hand. “You’ll see.”

  From behind them came a male voice. “Hey. Are one of you ladies named Myers?”

  Brooklyn twisted in her lawn chair. “I am.”

  “Got a delivery for you.” He held up a legal-sized overnight envelope. “Need you to sign for it.”

  Brooklyn frowned, unable to imagine any reason for express mail. She wasn’t behind on her rent or her cell phone bill. Her few friends lived right here in Reno, and she never shopped online.

  “Are you sure it’s for me?” she asked as she stood.

  The young man, dressed in a cotton shirt and shorts, looked at the large envelope again. “Brooklyn Myers. M-y-e-r-s. Apartment 12B.”

  Alycia appeared at her side. “What’ve you got, Mom?”

  “I don’t know,” she answered her daughter. Then to the deliveryman she said, “That’s me.” She walked toward the breezeway where he stood, Alycia following along.

  He handed her the stylus, then held the device toward her. She scribbled her name on the small screen, hoping it w
asn’t required that it actually look like her signature.

  “Here you go.” He took back the stylus and replaced it with the envelope.

  “Thank you.” She watched him stride toward the parking lot.

  “What is it, Mom?” Alycia asked again.

  “I’m not sure. Just a lot of papers, it feels like.”

  “Oh.” Disappointment laced the word before her daughter returned to the grass and her book.

  Brooklyn’s gaze lowered to the sender’s address on the thick envelope. Hodges, Thurber, and Williams, Attorneys-at-Law, Miami, Florida. Why would some lawyer in Florida send her overnight mail? Her stomach clenched with sudden nervousness as she flipped the envelope over.

  THUNDER CREEK, IDAHO

  Derek Johnson stopped at the northeast corner of his three-acre farm. Since buying the property six years earlier, he’d slowly cultivated more and more of it, changing the land from pasture to neat rows of vegetables. In addition, a small apple orchard—six trees planted by a previous owner—sat in the northwest corner of the property. Eventually, he planned to expand the orchard, adding more apple trees and other kinds of fruit as well. Maybe next year.

  In the beginning he’d sold his produce on weekends from booths at farmers’ markets or from the back of his pickup at popular spots along the highway. But for the last two growing seasons, after receiving his organic certification, he’d been able to sell direct to a couple of small-town grocery stores. It had definitely made his life easier and his income slightly more certain.

  One of his favorite books on the subject of organic gardening for profit said it was possible, if done properly, to make a living of sixty thousand dollars or more per year on one and a half acres. Perhaps that was true, but as of yet he wasn’t finding it that profitable. Besides, he wanted more than simply to make a living. He wanted to expand, to experiment, to offer the best produce available in this county and the ones surrounding it.

  His gaze shifted to the neighboring land. All ten acres of the Hallston property lay in a tangle of weeds and bare ground. There was so much he’d be able to do with those additional acres once they were his. Another six months and he should have the down payment required by the bank.