Blue Moon Promise
ACCLAIM FOR COLLEEN COBLE
“Colleen is a master storyteller.”
—K
AREN
K
INGSBURY, BEST-SELLING AUTHOR OF
U
NLOCKED
AND
L
EARNING
“Suspense, action, mystery, spiritual victory—Colleen Coble has woven them all into a compelling novel that will keep you flipping pages until the very end. I highly recommend
Without a Trace.
”
—J
AMES
S
COTT
B
ELL, AUTHOR OF
D
EADLOCK
AND
A H
IGHER
J
USTICE
“Coble’s books have it all, romance, sass, suspense, action. I’m content to read a book that has any one of those but to find an author like Coble who does all four so well is my definition of bliss.”
—M
ARY
C
ONNEALY, AUTHOR OF
D
OCTOR IN
P
ETTICOATS
“Coble captivates readers with her compelling characters. Action-packed . . . highly recommended!”
—D
IANNE
B
URNETT
,
C
HRISTIANBOOK
.COM
“[
The Lightkeeper’s Ball
] has romance, mystery, secrets and a bad guy. Coble wows the reader with a fresh storyline. Readers will enjoy peeling back the layers and discovering this is more than your average romance book. The characters are strong not only in themselves but also in their faith.”
—
R
OMANTIC
T
IMES
,
4 STARS
“Coble’s historical series (
The Lightkeeper’s Daughter
;
The Lightkeeper’s Bride
) just keeps getting better with each entry. Coble has a strong feel for the time period (in this case, 1910) and has scripted believable characters in suspenseful situations.”
—
L
IBRARY
J
OURNAL
, STARRED
REVIEW
ALSO BY COLLEEN COBLE
A novella included in
Smitten
T
HE
L
ONESTAR NOVELS
Lonestar Sanctuary
Lonestar Secrets
Lonestar Homecoming
Lonestar Angel
T
HE
M
ERCY
F
ALLS SERIES
The Lightkeeper’s Daughter
The Lightkeeper’s Bride
The Lightkeeper’s Ball
T
HE
R
OCK
H
ARBOR SERIES
Without a Trace
Beyond a Doubt
Into the Deep
Cry in the Night
T
HE
A
LOHA
R
EEF SERIES
Distant Echoes
Black Sands
Dangerous Depths
Alaska Twilight
Fire Dancer
Midnight Sea
Abomination
Anathema
BLUE MOON
PROMISE
U
NDER
T
EXAS
S
TARS
COLLEEN
COBLE
© 2012 by Colleen Coble
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 registered trademark of Thomas Nelson, Inc.
Thomas Nelson, Inc., titles may be purchased in bulk for educational, business, fund-raising, or sales promotional use. For information, please e-mail [email protected].
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.
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are taken from the King James Version.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Coble, Colleen.
Blue moon promise / by Colleen Coble.
p. cm. — (Under Texas stars ; 1)
Previous title: The cattle baron’s bride
ISBN 978-1-59554-915-0 (trade paper)
I. Title.
PS3553.O2285C38 2012
813'.54—dc23
2011044565
Printed in the United States of America
12 13 14 15 16 17 QG 6 5 4 3 2 1
DEAR READER,
I
’m excited to share
Blue Moon Promise
with you. It is a very personal book to me, and I hope you love Lucy because you’re seeing a bit of me in her. All those control issues she has? Yep, that’s me. I’m a fixer and I mother my loved ones within an inch of their lives.
I came face-to-face with my serious defect this year. My dear Dave was diagnosed with an aggressive prostate cancer. I found myself vacillating between putting it in God’s hands and then jerking it back and wanting to fix it myself. So poor Lucy had to suffer through her own issues with lack of control until she came to the same place I did—where she realized how futile all that effort was. God is in control.
I recently came across Proverbs 16:9 again and saw it with new eyes. “A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the Lord directeth his steps.” I realized that no matter how much I might think I know the path I should take, only God knows the best journey for me. All I have to do is let go and trust him.
I think many of us are like Lucy. We say we trust God and are content to rest with what he has for us, but when the hard times come, we try to rely on our own strength way too often. God wants to carry our burdens for us. He wants us to trust him with our future. I’ve resolved to try to do a better job with that. How about you?
As always, I love to hear from you! E-mail me anytime at [email protected]. Let me know how you liked
Blue Moon Promise
. I pray you can take away a little insight into learning to trust God more.
Your friend,
Colleen
P.S. Dave is doing well following his surgery. And although the cancer had moved into the seminal vesicles, his first PSA was 0. So we’re rejoicing!
For my husband, Dave.
Your faith and courage under fire have been an
inspiration to all of us.
Love you!
CONTENTS
