Leap of Faith (La Flor #1) Read Online Free

invokes. The adrenaline starts pumping through our veins as we step out onto the field and we look around. The stadium is full of fans, most are dress in red, white, and blue but there are other colors mixed in. Coach has us warm up for several minutes and then we’re called to the sidelines.
    It’s game time.
    We line up, place our right hand over our hearts, and the other on our teammate’s left shoulder. As the singer starts to sing the National Anthem and I proudly sing along with her giving it my all, I look up into the crowd and I find Jake. He looks at me and he smiles proudly.
    I’m here on the field with Julia but he’s supported me the whole way here. We made it.

    Life was perfect for us. Our family was beautiful, happy, prospering, and we were considering expanding the Duval family by one more. Our dreams were coming true and we had forever.
    But life always has a way of changing even the best-laid plans. Life decided she had other plans for us, and in the blink of an eye, our perfect world unraveled.
    Tragedy struck.
    Our “forever” lasted six years, nine months, and five days. On 26 April 2008, I got that dreaded knock on my door that changed my life and shattered my dreams. That day, I lost Jake and a piece of my heart.
    At age twenty-five, I was left a widow with a daughter to raise.
    A week later, we flew across the ocean to bury my husband in Texas.
    Two weeks later, I started vomiting.
    About a week after that, I discovered I was pregnant.
     

 
     
Fall 2012-Grangersville, Texas
    “Rylee! Hurry up or you’ll be late for your first day of school!” I yell to my daughter. “If you don’t get down here in the next five minutes, I’m haulin’ your butt myself. How will you like having your Momma takin’ you to school on your first day?”
    Having a teenage daughter is hard work. I don’t know how I made it to adulthood without my momma killing me. Rylee—that girl is just like me. She may not be my daughter by blood, but she’s my daughter in every other sense. Like now, she’s taking her sweet ol’ time getting dressed. Everything has to coordinate from the top of her pretty head to her toes.
    I guess my momma and I are to blame. Momma taught me to always be presentable and never leave the house looking a disaster. When we dress nicely, we feel good about ourselves, and the way we look reflects on our husbands. I followed that mentality into my marriage with Jake and I made sure to never embarrass my husband with my appearance. Don’t get me wrong—Jake thought I was the most beautiful woman in the world, even when I looked like crap and was sick as a dog. But, appearances do count in the world and my momma wanted me to be prepared.
    Even now, I still keep in shape. Partly for work but even then, I enjoy a long run and a weight session every now and then. Rylee and even Skylar are the same way—I guess the tradition continues with my girls.
    “I’m comin,’ Momma. It’s my first day and I’m the new girl. Like you say, perfection takes time and effort. I can’t go to school lookin’ like a dork. The horror it’d be if my outfit doesn’t match,” I hear coming from Rylee’s room upstairs.
    Yup, she’s my daughter alright.
    “ I’m ready, Momma,” Skylar says from the breakfast table where she’s munching down on a bowl of Apple Jacks. How that little girl prefers Apple Jacks to Lucky Charms, or any of the other more sugar-infused cereals, still baffles me, but at least she’s happy and semi-healthy. “Rylee takes forever to get ready, Momma. I never take that long.”
    I laugh to myself as I hear these words from my little princess’s mouth. This little darlin’ is well on her way to emulating her big sister and her momma. At the age of two, she started dressing herself and refused to wear clothes she didn’t pick out; she has her own sense of style. Skylar manages to mix polka-dots and stripes, layers her clothes, loves her sparkle and always wears pink in some