Someday List (Jubilant Soul Book #1)

Hawkins Adams Stacy

Description

Rachelle Covington has it all. A fabulous home, a handsome and prestigious husband, two beautiful children, and a place in the upper crust that's quite comfortable. But her life is not all it's cracked up to be. When her husband goes away on business trip and the kids are sent off to the grandparents for a month, Rachelle takes up the challenge of a dying friend to start a list of things to do before she dies. She heads back to Jubilant, Texas, to reconnect with her past, her purpose, and herself. But when her ex shows up in town looking very fine and very single, Rachelle must confront feelings she thought she'd long buried. Will she give up everything to recover the past? Or will she find a reason to plan for the future?The Someday List is an honest look at what makes us who we are and what can throw us off track. Author Stacy Hawkins Adams writes with a voice that is fresh, sincere, and completely real. Her characters jump off the page and into her readers' hearts.

Informations

• Publié par: Baker Publishing Group
• Date de parution: 01 janvier 2009
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781441203656
• Langue: English

Extrait

We ve all read the happily-ever-after fairy tale, but The Someday List makes us feel what it s like on the other side of the rainbow, when the fairy-tale marriage comes apart.
Virginia DeBerry and Donna Grant Bestselling authors
Stacy Hawkins Adams writes with verve, humor, and poignancy about one woman s quest to find her own voice with courage and wit. In The Someday List you will find wisdom and truth.
Adriana Trigiani Bestselling author of the Big Stone Gap series, Lucia, Lucia , and Very Valentine
Stacy Hawkins Adams creates a heart-wrenching story with strong, lovable, and all-too-human characters. The Someday List gives us all hope that God truly is in control.
Jacquelin Thomas National bestselling author of Jezebel
In perhaps her best book yet, Stacy Hawkins Adams paints a vivid picture of God s redemption in the face of our failures-past and present. Rachelle Covington has everything a woman could want. Or so she thinks until a close friend announces she s dying, forcing Rachelle to think about what could have been . . . and who she really is. Readers will enjoy the suspenseful conclusion as Rachelle chooses between yesterday and someday. Get comfortable for this one and buy a copy for a friend.
Marilynn Griffith Author of Rhythms of Grace
Stacy Hawkins Adams has done it again! Her new series examines the real life issues of long lost love and marital discord through appealing and relatable characters that will leave readers thinking about their own Someday List.
Sherri Lewis Bestselling author of My Soul Cries Out and Dance Into Destiny
Other books by Stacy Hawkins Adams
Speak to My Heart
Nothing but the Right Thing
Watercolored Pearls
Jubilant Soul
Book One
The Someday List
A Novel
Stacy Hawkins Adams

a division of Baker Publishing Group Grand Rapids, Michigan
2009 by Stacy Hawkins Adams
Published by Revell a division of Baker Publishing Group P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287 www.revellbooks.com
Printed in the United States of America
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means-for example, electronic, photocopy, recording-without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Adams, Stacy Hawkins, 1971-
The someday list : a novel / Stacy Hawkins Adams.
p. cm.-(Jubilant soul ; bk. 1) ISBN 978-0-8007-3266-0 (pbk.) 1. Married women-Fiction. 2. Conduct of life-Fiction. 3. Family-Fiction. 4. Texas-Fiction. I. Title. PS3601.D396S67 2009 813 .6-dc22 2008039422
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture is taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION . NIV . Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.
Scripture marked NLT is taken from the Holy Bible , New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
To my sister, Patsy Scott, for serving as a modern-day Lazarus, and reminding those who know and love you that God can, and still does, work miracles.

No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead.
Philippians 3:13 NLT
Table of Contents
Prologue
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
The Someday List
1
Acknowledgments
Prologue
R achelle fumbled with the bouquet of yellow roses and locked eyes with him. Her flowers sagged from thirst.
The simple gold band she clutched stuck to her sweaty palm. Instead of a flowing white gown, she wore the black pencil skirt and short-sleeved white silk blouse that, until today, had served as her choral ensemble uniform.
Her groom was dressed in his standard singing attire too-white collared shirt, black tie, and black slacks. He had removed the diamond earring from his left earlobe, his goatee was freshly cut, and as far as she was concerned, he had never looked finer.
Between the two of them, the worldly goods they possessed amounted to less than what Rev. Prescott likely paid to have his preaching robe cleaned.
And yet, she knew this was right. The right time, the right place, and the right man, even if she had to marry him in secret. One day they would look back on this elopement with tenderness and pride, telling their children about their union in an empty church sanctuary, not far from the university they would graduate from in six months.
He smiled at her and arched an eyebrow, questioning the delay in her response. The minister repeated himself.
Rachelle Marie Mitchell, do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?
She smiled. Her beloved didn t have to worry about her having second thoughts-not when she felt this way.
I do, Reverend Prescott, she said. I do.
1
R achelle Mitchell Covington felt both giddy and guilty.
In twenty-four hours she would be completely alone and she couldn t wait.
No worries about temporary empty-nest syndrome-she was happy to let her parents deal with two preadolescent know-it-alls for half of the summer. And no need to feign an interest in her husband s wants, work, or even his world.
For the first time in their eleven-year marriage, she and Gabe would be away from each other for more than a week. When he informed her that he had agreed to speak at a medical conference the week before he left for a medical mission trip, she knew he expected her to complain. Rachelle had frowned for his benefit, but also bit her lip to keep from cheering.
Though it was already steamy outside this morning, the temperature inside Houston s Intercontinental Airport left her longing for her cashmere coat. Rachelle shivered and smiled when Tate and Taryn, looking like they had stepped off the pages of a Children s Wear Digest catalog, turned to wave one last time before passing through the security gate and approaching a waiting airline employee.
The young woman in the crisp navy and white uniform would escort them to their direct flight to Philadelphia.
The fifth and third graders had been trying to whine their way out of their annual summer visit with Rachelle s parents for two days, because they would miss their friends, feared boredom, and believed Gram would have way too many rules. Rachelle had reminded them again this morning that, despite those perceived hardships, they had no problem enjoying the regular outings, video games, and other treats they enjoyed during their stay.
When Tate and Taryn disappeared around a bend that led to Terminal A, Gabe turned toward Rachelle and motioned with his head that he was ready to go. He and Rachelle walked briskly toward the parking deck without touching or talking.
Gabe walked a stride or two ahead of her, as if he were on a mission. He tempered his gait as they neared his SUV, and he unlocked the doors with his key chain device.
I m not going into the office this morning since I ll be flying out early tomorrow, he said without looking toward Rachelle. Let s grab breakfast at Olivette.
Rachelle scrambled for an excuse, but none presented itself. She hadn t mentioned that she soon would be leaving too, for a weekend trip to the West Coast. It didn t matter that he didn t know. He wasn t going to be home anyway.
That s fine, she finally said about breakfast, although he had already steered his Mercedes in the direction of the hotel restaurant.
They rode in silence during the half-hour drive and didn t speak until the waitress asked for their order.
Rachelle sighed and responded by rote. He ll have smoked salmon and a bagel with a side of fresh fruit.
Gabe nodded and looked up at the waitress. She got it right.
Salmon and bagel with a side of fruit, the waitress repeated, lodging the order in her memory.
Rachelle leveled her eyes at Gabe. Order for me.
He peered at her over the rim of his glasses. How would I know what to order for you?
Rachelle didn t feel like playing along with his public politeness today. She sat back and folded her arms.
Try.
The waitress shifted from one foot to the other and turned her gaze to a nearby bank of potted plants.
Gabe s nostrils flared and he clenched his teeth. Just order something already.
If you can t do it, I guess I m not hungry, Rachelle said.
Gabe opened the leather-encased menu and glared at the offerings. Seconds later, he pushed it into the waitress s face. Startled, she grabbed it before it landed on the Oriental rug beneath the table.
Bring her an omelet with ham, mushrooms, and cheddar cheese.
The waitress nodded and left quickly, her reddish-brown ponytail swaying with each step. Rachelle knew the young lady had to be wondering how a couple could fight over a breakfast order. If she had asked, Rachelle would have assured her this skirmish was overdue.
Since she had received Jillian s unsettling invitation three weeks ago, Rachelle s tolerance for just about everything had plummeted. With the kids away for the next month, she didn t have to contain herself. Gabe should be thankful he was leaving for a business trip tomorrow.
He laid his linen napkin across his lap and stared at her.
Rachelle challenged him with her eyes. She wanted him to care enough to question her, to probe why she was being defiant.
But just as she knew what to order for his meal, she knew he wouldn t take the bait. He was his usual, detached self-enveloped in skin that was a smooth, savory brown and as self-absorbed as a two-year-old who