When Charlotte said the words ‘I do’ she never thought her marriage would only last for sixteen years, but it did. After her husband left her and their three girls, she was forced to move back to her hometown of Newport, Washington. Closer to family and a new life, she begins to settle with the reality that she might just be done with men until one day everything changes. A man of God? And he’s moving in next door? Sounds too good to be true, but that doesn’t stop her from daydreaming of what life could be like with a man like that. Will Charlotte find love in the arms of a neighbor? Or will she be destined to live alone? From the best-selling Inspirational Christian Romance Author T.K. Chapin comes a story of hope, faith and love that will keep your fingers turning the page to see what happens next. One Saturday Evening is book three in the Diamond Lake Series by T.K. Chapin.
Targeted Age Group:: 18 and above
What Inspired You to Write Your Book?
The Diamond Lake series did very well from the get go so I knew God was calling me to make this series into seven books, each a day of the week. All of the books connect with the Inn at the Lake, the original scene that inspired the series.
How Did You Come up With Your Characters?
Every character in my book has traits of people I know or have met in life. In this book 'the neighbor' Charlotte meets has a lot of hardworking traits like my dad.
Book Sample
Prologue
When I uttered those sweet words, ‘I do,’ I thought it would be forever. My forever only turned out to be sixteen years. That’s life though. It’s full of the unexpected. Right when you think you have a handle on things, something disastrous happens, like your husband leaving you one day for no apparent reason. Why’d Bradley leave? I don’t know. Maybe it was the three children we had and the toll it took on my body, or maybe he just got bored with me. I don’t like thinking it was because of either of those two things, but he left, no matter the reason.
He left me with an ‘I don’t’ and three souls to take care of by my lonesome self. With Bradley gone, along with his income, I was forced to move back to my hometown of Newport. That was two years ago now. It’s by no means perfect here, but the town and air have a flavor that reminds me of my childhood days roaming the streets and playing with friends, and I like that feeling.
Chapter 1
Though I had come to terms with being alone, my heart longed to be loved. The morning cups of coffee and Bible reading were truly my greatest joy in life, but in the back of my mind, I knew just how sweet the mornings were with a husband by my side. My heart had been conditioned for too long to know what it felt like to always have someone there for me—whenever I woke up, whenever I came home, and most painful of all . . . whenever I pillowed my head to sleep at night. Now, even two years later, my heart still has a longing for the companionship and love. I never dreamed I’d be in the situation I found myself in.
Everything changed without my even knowing it on the last day of school for my three daughters. I was sitting in my kitchen one early morning, reading my Bible and taking sips of my coffee with a dash of hazelnut creamer, when I suddenly heard the sound of a truck backing up outside. Curious, I left my Bible and cup of coffee on the kitchen table to go investigate.
Opening the front door, I peeked out and spotted a moving truck next door at Mr. Finley’s old place. Mr. Finley had been a local resident of Newport from as far back as I could remember into my childhood, but he had died a few summers before I moved back to town with the girls. His once large and vibrant four-story house stood on a beautiful and well-kept acre and a half just off Diamond Lake. It now stood vacant, with overgrowth and a slouching roof on one end. My mother had told me when I asked about the property that the children didn’t want to sell it, but they felt it was better left alone. It piqued my interest, to say the least, to see a moving truck over there.
“Mom?” a familiar voice startled me from behind, breaking me out of my thoughts.
“Yes, dear?” I asked, whipping around to see Emily, my sixteen-year-old, tilting her head as she looked at me from atop the stairs.
“Have you seen my lip gloss?”
I shook my head and stole one more glance out the door toward Mr. Finley’s. I saw a man this time. He was coming around the back of the moving truck. He looked about my age, and though the distance was great between my front door and him, I could tell he was attractive. Probably married. Closing the door and my thoughts, I turned around and went upstairs to help Emily find her lip gloss.
As Emily, along with Tristan, my ten-year-old, and Bailey, my seven-year-old, piled into the SUV that morning, I noticed the brown-haired mystery man coming out of the back of the moving truck with a couple of boxes stacked in his arms. Two more men were there now, but they were still in the truck. Squinting, I could see they were positioning an old baby grand piano onto rollers. A warmth of love from my past rushed over me at the sight of the piano. It reminded me of the piano my grandfather would play when I was a child when all our family would gather for the holidays. Those days were some of the best memories I had in my life. The world made sense back when I was a child, but I didn’t know it did until I grew too old to appreciate it.
“Mom!” Emily startled me out of my reminiscent state as I stood at the driver side door staring at the moving truck. Shaking it off, I climbed into the driver’s seat and made eye contact with my beloved, but bossy, daughter in the rearview mirror.
“Yes, Emily?”
“I can’t be late. I have to turn in that extra credit to Mrs. Platt.” Her eyes drifted over to Mr. Finley’s house and the moving truck I was looking at only moments earlier. “Who’s moving in next door?”
“I’m not sure.” My eyes found their way back over to see the piano rolling down the ramp. Who was this new mysterious guy who’d moved in next door? I wasn’t sure, but I planned to find out.
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