The Envelope (Texas Hearts Book 1)

Description

What if you couldn’t let yourself fall in love for fear that you might accidentally destroy that person’s life? And what if, when you finally opened your heart, you learned that the one you loved was running away from the exact call of God that you were running toward?

Sheila Carson is a Kindergarten teacher in Dallas, Texas, estranged from her family while struggling with feeling more and more dissatisfied with her job. For the same reason she’s avoided her family like the plague these past few years, the last thing she wants to do is get into a relationship with a man. So she does what she can to avoid the new fifth-grade teacher, a handsome, fun-loving man named Hank Johnson who seems determined to make inroads with her.

Hank finally succeeds on the day that Sheila’s favorite student, Diana, goes missing, and he agrees to help Sheila look for her after school. Finding Diana means finding out that she’s being taken care of by her aunt Rosa, whose career is less than family-friendly, to say the least. And that discovery leads to Sheila getting involved with Diana on a personal level that ultimately endangers her teaching career.

In the meantime, she and Hank deepen their connection, even as Sheila feels more and more certain that God is calling her to the foreign mission field. But, like Sheila, Hank is hiding his own past wounds, wounds that have created a fear that seems insurmountable. Wounds that happened on the mission field. Wounds that have led Hank to the conviction that God doesn’t care for him as he once believed.

His fear and hidden anger toward God tear him away from the woman he thought God had brought to him to be his partner in life. He is hanging to his faith by a thread, even while Sheila’s faith strengthens to the point that she can forgive the vengeful actions that Diana’s father has taken against her . . . leading to a miraculous work of God in the little girl’s family.

This victory cannot erase the pain of Hank’s abandoning their relationship, which she has to carry it with her as she prepares for her first trip overseas. If only he would find the envelope . . .

This forgotten envelope is the key to pushing Hank to overcome his fears . . . and ultimately, admitting his true feelings for Sheila. The message the envelope contains is the key to Sheila being able to forgive herself for the tragedy that has embittered her siblings toward her. It may even be the key for reconciliation with her family.

But time is short, and the envelope must be found, and be delivered at just the right time . . .

This story is a full-length, Christian romance novel at around 85,000 words, and the first book in Emily Josephine’s series, Texas Hearts.