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      MILLS & BOON

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      You whom I took from the ends of the earth and called you from its farthest corners, saying to you, “You are my servant, I have chosen you and not cast you off;” fear not, for I am with you, be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my victorious right hand.

      —Isaiah 41:9–10

      To Bette, who has been my spiritual mentor

       and always my dear friend!

       And to my family, for all your love and support.

      Contents

      Chapter One

      Chapter Two

      Chapter Three

      Chapter Four

      Chapter Five

      Chapter Six

      Chapter Seven

      Chapter Eight

      Chapter Nine

      Chapter Ten

      Chapter Eleven

      Chapter Twelve

      Chapter Thirteen

      Chapter Fourteen

      Chapter Fifteen

      Chapter Sixteen

      Chapter Seventeen

      Chapter Eighteen

      Chapter Nineteen

      Chapter Twenty

      Chapter Twenty-One

      Letter to Reader

      Chapter One

      Colin loosened the knot of his tie and glanced around the elaborately decorated office, pacing the floor as if it were a bad day in the dugout. He couldn’t imagine why his new employer wanted to meet him away from the radio station.

      Ellis Chapman sauntered through the entrance and extended his hand. “Nice to see you again, Colin. How’s the shoulder recovering?”

      “I finished therapy last month. It will never be able to take the rigors of baseball again, but it’s doing fine, thanks.” He had met the staunch icon of the community at several media functions over the years, before the career-ending rotator-cuff surgery forced him off the field. From there, he had moved into a temporary sports-announcing job, where he’d discovered his life’s dream—spreading God’s word over the sound waves.

      “And the job? Is it what you thought it would be?”

      When he became bored with sitting on the sidelines during the off-season of baseball, Colin had accepted Chapman’s invitation to host a Christian radio show, where the spiritual and emotional challenges provided unexpected rewards on a daily basis. “I’m not missing sports nearly as much as I feared I might.”

      His boss grasped Colin’s hand and enthusiastically pumped his arm. “Good,” he said, motioning for Colin to follow him into his private office. Colin sank into the soft leather chair and waited for the point of the meeting to surface. “I’ve been meaning to talk to you about one of the topics you discussed on your show. We have a few skeptics in the community who think Christian broadcasting is no place for a retired baseball player. I think you’ve opened a lot of eyes to the fact that there are Christians everywhere, even in professional sports.”

      Feeling as if there was more Mr. Chapman had to say, Colin straightened his back, suddenly thankful for the privacy. If he was going to be fired, he didn’t want an audience.

      Before Colin could cut in Ellis added, “I have an interesting proposition for you.”

      That didn’t sound too promising. Anything that started with interesting had to mean trouble. He was likely being demoted to the minor leagues of radio. Whatever that meant, Colin wasn’t interested in another career change.

      Mr. Chapman rambled on about needing to boost the ratings for the radio and the readership for the newspaper. Apparently advertising had dipped into the danger zones on both.

      “We need to do something to grab the audience, and timing is critical. The board has been tossing about ideas, which brought you to mind.”

      Colin decided Mr. Chapman must have listened to his talk on “Financial Responsibility for Christians.” He supposed he didn’t blame him for doing what he had to do in order to keep his acquisitions in the black. Cutbacks were common with the economy in a slump. Three years ago, the Denver Gazette had been on the verge of bankruptcy. Ellis Chapman had bought it and turned it around, adding newspaper publishing to his communications conglomerate. Failure wasn’t in Chapman’s vocabulary and Colin highly respected him.

      Chapman’s assistant slipped into the room and quietly filled crystal goblets with sparkling water. “Pardon the interruption, Mr. Chapman. Miss Post’s car broke down and she’s going to be late. She sent her apologies.”

      Chapman shook his head, but his expression indicated he truly cared about the misfortune of the woman, whoever she was. “Thank you.” He stood, stuffing his hands

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