In the Stars_The Friessens Read online

  “Well, then I guess you’ve made your choice and saved me from giving up a piece of myself and what I wanted. You know I would have thrown Chicago away for you.”

  He took in Charlie, seeing who she was and knowing that this life here, his life and what he wanted, was exactly the kind of life she didn’t.

  “You would have been miserable,” he said.

  She stepped back and nodded, then turned and started walking toward the campus. Now he just needed to talk to Evie, get her to listen to him, to give him a chance.

  If he had to, he’d even grovel.

  Chapter 14

  “You sure you want to do this?” Bill asked Evie. His dark hair was in bad need of a cut, but then, they’d all let everything go as of late. The lines at the sides of his eyes had deepened, but his worry seemed to have lessened overnight, since her parents had decided to give up the battle and close the barbecue restaurant down for good. Her dad was returning to butchering, and for now he was putting his dream of something bigger on hold. Evie was hopping a Greyhound to Oklahoma to see her sister Paige, get her head screwed on straight, and find something there that would give her some meaning.

  A job would help, an actual check, and then she’d see whatever else happened, but sometimes distance was the best thing to heal a broken heart.

  “You know what, Dad? This is exactly what I want to do, and there’ll be more options there for me. Sometimes change is a good thing. Don’t worry. You and Mom take care.” She hugged her dad again, and he lifted his hand as she boarded the bus.

  Her bags already loaded underneath, she found a seat halfway to the back at the window. Evie stuck her purse on the other seat so no one else would join her and then leaned her head against the window and listened to the rumble as the bus started and the doors closed. The bus pulled away, and instead of being happy, she wanted to weep, because she was leaving behind not just her best friend but, she realized, the love of her life. Only now could she admit it to herself, and she couldn’t stick around and wait for him to figure out what he wanted only to watch him date and get close to someone else. It was cruel, and she couldn’t tell him how much she wanted him, because she saw how freaked out he was.

  The bus jerked and slammed its brakes, and she heard a horn honk. The door opened, and the driver was yelling at someone. Then there were footsteps.

  “Evie!”

  Her feet hit the floor, and she sat up, seeing Danny on the bus. What the hell? She was about to scoot down and hide when he saw her and started her way, turning to the driver.

  “She’s right here,” he said.

  Then the driver was saying something to Danny, and Evie didn’t know what to do or say. For the first time in her life, she was speechless.

  “You were going to run out on me,” he said, and a slow smile touched his face.

  She knew she was staring like a fool. “Uh, Danny, not sure what this is…” She looked around, taking in all the curious faces.

  “We’re on a schedule here,” the driver called out. “I need you to get off the bus.”

  Danny just stared at Evie and shook his head. “Not without my girl,” he said.

  “Danny, what the hell are you doing?” She gritted her teeth. “I’m going to Oklahoma, and…”

  He was shaking his head. “You’re running out on me is what you’re doing.”

  “Ma’am, are you staying or getting off the bus?” the driver said, and Evie didn’t know where to look.

  “Danny, you need to get off the bus,” she said. “I told you already—”

  “You need to forgive me for not seeing that you were right in front of me,” he said. “Don’t leave, Evie. We’ve been friends for a lot of years, and I’ve loved you, but what I didn’t want to admit was the fact that I love you not just as a friend but as something more. When I think of my future, imagining it without you, it’s darkness and nothingness. You in my future is what I want, the only way I want it.”

  Evie was taking in the faces around her, and an older woman across from her was gesturing to Danny.

  “If you don’t go with him, I will,” the woman said.

  This was crazy, and Evie was suddenly standing. Danny had her purse and was herding her down the steps. The driver followed, and she gestured to her bags underneath. He pulled them out and dumped them on the sidewalk. She didn’t need to look up to know that everyone on the bus was watching them, her. Then Danny had her bags, the driver was in the bus, and it was pulling away.

  Danny tossed her bags in his Bronco, which she hadn’t noticed. It was pulled in at an odd angle ahead of where the bus was parked.

  “Danny, this is crazy. You can’t just pull me off a bus and say the things you did to me and expect me to—”

  “Shut up,” he snapped, and she wanted to take a step back as he slid his hands over her cheeks and stepped closer. “I have something to say to you, and I want you to listen to me. I love you, Evie Wetzel, and I don’t know what’s going to happen in the future or what problems or obstacles or crazy hours or lost sleep will happen as I work for my law degree, but what I do know is that I have loved you and I couldn’t even admit it to myself, and I want you beside me through all of this.” He pressed a kiss to her lips, and he was still holding her face.

  She rested her hands on his wrists, reeling from what he was saying. “And Charlie?” she said, but he was shaking his head.

  “I’m sorry, she’s not who I want. It’s you, and I couldn’t even admit it. I thought I was being honest with you when in fact I was lying to myself.”

  She stepped back and pulled away, letting Danny’s hand fall. This was crazy. “Danny, you can’t expect me to just drop everything and stay, and…” She was leaving because she couldn’t stand the thought of seeing him with another woman, but she needed a job still.

  “You were running away,” he stated.

  She was going to deny it, but then he went down on one knee on the sidewalk, and she was in horror, watching. “Danny, what the hell are you doing? People are watching. Get up!”

  But he wouldn’t. In fact, he reached for her hand, and she took in the faces of strangers, amused and watching.

  “Evie, I’ve loved you forever, and I can’t imagine a future without you. I don’t want a future without you. Will you marry me?”

  She felt her jaw slacken, and she stared at Danny as if he’d lost his mind. Then she realized he didn’t care who was watching them as he waited for her to say something. “Get up right now,” she whispered loudly.

  A smile touched his lips as he stood, and his eyes filled with the sparkle that had made her fall in love with him.

  “Danny, this is crazy. You’re in school, and I don’t have a job…” She saw that he was waiting, and she gestured again at him, at a loss for words.

  He lifted his hand and ran it over her chin, stepping closer. “Evie…” he prompted her, and she just stared into those deep, intensely blue eyes, which she could have spent a lifetime looking at.

  “Okay,” she finally said, and then she was in his arms.

  He was swinging her around, and she slid down his body as his lips found hers out there on that sidewalk in downtown North Lakewood where everyone could see.

  When he let her down, his arms still around her, she said, “You know I don’t have a job.”

  He steered her to his Bronco. “Funny thing about that. Since you’re going to be part of my family, there’s this little job that happens to have your name on it with my mom and dad, where we’re going to be living on the ranch.” He had lifted her into the passenger side of the Bronco, and he leaned in and kissed her again.

  “You just asked me to marry you so I’d take the job and you can keep me around,” she teased, then smiled.

  “Yeah, you just keep telling yourself that, Evie,” he said. Then he kissed her again.

  Please Leave a Review & Series Reading Order

  I hope you enjoyed reading In the Stars and enjoyed reading about Danny and Evie. Coming next
is a FREE novella of Danny and Evie’s wedding. And if you’ve all been wondering about Cat and Xander, their wedding is coming up next in mid march in another FREE novella I will be sending your way.

  * * *

  If you enjoyed IN THE STARS, then I’d love it if you could go back to the retailer you purchased this ebook from and leave a review, if you are not sure what to write, just a few kind words and what you enjoyed about the book. CLICK HERE TO LEAVE A REVIEW!

  * * *

  My books have all been edited and proofed, editors, proofreaders, and I are all human. And it surprises me still the countless eyes that may have missed something, it doesn’t happen often, but it happens. If you spot a typo, please email me at [email protected] and let me know. Also, I would like to thank everyone who has emailed and told all their family and friends about my books. If you’d like to know more about my other books, please scroll to the next section or visit my website at www.LorhainneEckhart.com.

  There will more books to come from the Friessens, but one of the emails I receive quite often is the reading order and where to start. For those of you who haven’t been following along, I’ve listed below all the books in reading order in this big family romance series. Start with the worldwide bestseller THE FORGOTTEN CHILD, which is now translated in German & French. And coming soon in Chinese. All of the short stories are now available for FREE at all retailers.

  Reading order:

  THE OUTSIDER SERIES

  The Forgotten Child

  A Baby And a Wedding (Short Story) FREE

  Fallen Hero

  The Search (Short Story) FREE

  The Awakening

  Secrets

  Runaway

  Overdue (Short Story) FREE

  The Unexpected Storm

  The Wedding

  THE FRIESSENS: A NEW BEGINNING

  The Deadline

  The Price to Love

  A Different Kind of Love

  A Vow of Love

  THE FRIESSENS

  The Reunion

  The Bloodline

  The Promise

  The Business Plan

  The Decision

  First Love (Katy)

  Family First

  Leave the Light On

  In the Moment

  My Brothers Keeper, A FREE Friessen family novella

  In the Family

  In the Silence

  In the Stars

  In the Charm

  * * *

  All the best,

  Lorhainne Eckhart

  The Friessens are back!

  In the Moment - What happens when you meet a man you can’t take home to meet your parents? Release date: November 30, 2017

  Click here to order your copy of IN THE MOMENT!

  More upcoming Friessen Books!

  IN THE FAMILY - Those we love always come home. Release date: December 22, 2017

  Click here to order your copy of In the Family, A Friessen Family Christmas

  IN THE SILENCE - In the silence, love hears everything. Release date: January 25, 2018

  Click here to order your copy of In the Silence

  IN THE STARS - Now that he's found her, he'll do anything to have her. Release date: February 13, 2018

  Click here to order your copy of In the Stars

  IN THE CHARM - He's used to having everything he wants. This time it won't be so easy. Release date: March 30, 2018

  Click here to order your copy of In the Charm

  * * *

  Stay tuned for more from the much-loved big family romance series!

  Other Works Available: The Wilde Brothers

  Friendly Fire

  —“I wish I could find a man like the Wilde Brothers.” - Tina

  —“Read the whole thing in one day. A page turner from start to finish. Makes me wish I lived in Idaho.” – Diane

  In FRIENDLY FIRE, after a roadside bomb ends his career in the marines, Logan Wilde struggles to put his life back together, taking a job as a sheriff in a small Idaho town. He expects a quiet, peaceful life that will bore him to tears. Until he walks through the door of Julia Cooper's cafe.

  * * *

  From the moment the new sheriff walks into Julia’s cafe, she fights the attraction from the new sheriff, a man she recognizes is ex-military and has baggage that comes along with it. Even though she’s never felt this way for another man, Julia isn’t willing to take a chance with Logan. No she’s convinced herself she needs stability, someone average, someone who has never handled a gun. Except when her daughter disappears its Logan who’s there for her, it’s Logan she turns to, and Logan who turns the town upside down searching for her.

  * * *

  But what Logan realizes is the disappearance of her daughter may not be as it seems, and while Julia waits on the sidelines she wonders if she’ll ever be able to trust again and open her heart and take a chance on love.

  Click here to download FRIENDLY FIRE

  Read Excerpt from Friendly Fire

  Don’t choke, don’t hesitate, the voice in his head urged over and over as Logan Wilde pounded the ground, kicking up dust and sand as he ran through the field, his finger locked on his rifle. As the squad leader, he was never supposed to go first, but he wanted—needed—to; even though his heart was pounding. Adrenaline surged through his veins like cool liquid from an IV. Sweat made his T-shirt and uniform stick to his chest, a second skin…and the smell, it was something he might never forget. The dirt and grit scraped his lungs, his nose, his mouth. He had been told he would get used to it eventually.

  The heat and dirt and grunge didn’t get to him, though, no matter how uncomfortable they were. What got to him was the guilt and worry, needing to be first through the door, because if anyone was going to take a bullet, it had to be him. These were his men. He had trained them, and they were his brothers.

  He hunkered down, resting his rifle on the sandy mound and looking through his scope, eyeing the roadblock ahead as his marines took their position. His men all knew what to do. Many of them were still kids, but they trained together and lived together, and they knew each other better than most families. To Logan, these men were family. He didn’t have to look to know that Sergeant Mike Duffy was manning the tank-mounted machine gun or that Corporal Jeff Starly had his back.

  He gave the order right before a high-pitched whistle caught his attention—then there was a flash, heat and pain. His muscles seized at the long, rough droning sound, intense pain ripping through his leg. He gasped, fighting past the sense of being strangled. He couldn’t get his breath. His eyes were open, and he was on his back, staring up at the light blue sky. Was it the sky? He blinked. The sound was deafening; everything happening in slow motion. Where was the brightness, the obscured sun, and the colorless desert? It made no sense, this dingy, speckled ceiling.

  He blinked again. The buzzing kept going on and on, irritating him. It just wouldn’t stop. His heartbeat was a booming sound in his ears, and something twisted around his legs, pulling him down. This time, he couldn’t get away. He was drowning, he was sure. Something had him, and he thrashed and fought. There was a crash, then silence. No noise, no buzz—nothing. He just stared. Logan blinked, trying to make sense of what he was seeing.

  He took a breath, beads of sweat rolling off his forehead as he tried to swallow past the dryness in his throat—his heart hammering in his chest. When he went to lift his hand, twisted in the sheets, he yanked it free and heard the cloth tear. He was naked, out of breath as if he’d been running for miles, and he was drenched with sweat. His face, his chest, even his hands were damp. He stared at a spot on the wall and then lower, to a shattered black alarm clock in the corner, then to his gun on the nightstand beside him.

  Logan Wilde lowered his face to his hands and scrubbed hard over a day-old beard. “Get a grip,” he muttered, his hands trembling as he tried to shake off the dream that returned every time he closed his eyes. He never knew when the dream would hit him. It always crept
up on him, sucking him back into the insanity of war. It took him a minute now, as he stood on shaky legs, staring at the plain, boxlike bedroom, his clothes stacked on a three-drawer dresser, before it started to come back to him. He had taken a job in MacKay, a small town, part of a ranching community nestled in a charming valley with Idaho’s nine highest peaks right at its back door.

  This should have given him peace. MacKay had everything he wanted, everything he needed. He had told himself over and over that this would be good for him. He took in the rumpled double bed, nightstand, and dresser that had come with the older two-bedroom house he was renting at the edge of town. It was all he needed, since it was already furnished with everything, including a coffeepot in the kitchen. It was perfect, no stress, easy: So why was he still having these damn dreams?

  He sat back on the edge of the bed, the mattress dipping, and lowered his head in his hands. He ran his fingers roughly through his short, rumpled hair and over the back of his head. His damn hands still wouldn’t quit shaking. He held them up in front of his face, worried for a minute that he’d see blood; and let out a sigh of relief when he didn’t. He blinked, sweat rolling off his brow and down the bridge of his nose. His large, calloused, tanned hands should have been steady and sure and solid—instead he felt like some wet-behind-the-ears kid.