French Waif (Castle Hart #4)

FRENCH WAIF


Twila Perot is miserable, her controlling but beloved grandmother is dead. Now grand-père insists that they must cross the cold stormy channel to London. He is taking her to the terrible pirate who her grandmother blamed for everything wrong in her life. Robert the Hawk was the reason she had no father, no sisters or brothers, no friends. Because of him, her mother wasn’t buried in the church graveyard. Grand-père says he cannot take care of a little girl and she will be better off there. She is lucky Earl Robert Yardley has ordered her to come live with him and his new wife. But it feels like her own heart is breaking.


Robert Yardley left the sea to find a port to rest his weary body and restless heart. He found both on the Isle of Mull and in the green eyes of his beloved, Lady Mary. Now rich and comfortable, all should have been perfect. But his new bride, believed barren by all, desperately wants children. When she learns of Robert’s scattered seeds, she begs him to welcome them all home to join them.


Then his orphaned daughter, Twila Perot, arrives with her grieving grandfather on his doorstep. Although there is an immediate misunderstanding that nearly frightens the pair away, there is no doubt when Robert sees the stubborn, gray-eyed girl that she is his own child.


An emotional Mary and Robert are eager to welcome her to join their unique family, but Twila takes a lot of convincing. They are all too nice and welcoming, and she struggles to accept that this strange fierce man and beautiful woman can really be offering her the home and happiness that she has always wanted. Then there are his other strange children that she will have to learn to trust and maybe love as well.


But can a little girl who has been raised to fear and hate a man ever call him papa and can a collection of scattered seeds ever become a true family?