Shannon here: Carrie Walker shares how she met her husband along with a romantic excerpt of her character’s meeting from her Contemporary Romance, Emma’s Hero. Comment or answer the question in this post to enter the drawing for a digital copy. Deadline: April 13th, 11:59 pm central time. Here’s Carrie:
I first laid eyes on the man that would be my husband during pre-season marching band rehearsal freshman year of high school. I was learning all the ins and outs of marching between yard lines and formations when he wheeled up on his bike to watch. He also was a member of band, but because of fall sports, wasn’t marching that year.
One look at the twinkle in his blue eyes paired with a mischievous grin and I somehow knew, deep in my bones, that he was my guy. He still doesn’t believe that, but it’s true. We didn’t officially meet until a few weeks after that. As it turns out, he was a youth leader at our church’s youth group and in charge of recruiting. He’d gotten word that I’d yet to join and added me to his list of recruits. The second he called there was no doubt in my mind that I’d be joining, but I may have let him work to convince me anyway 🙂
The hero and heroine in Emma’s Hero have a similar experience. Ben, a paramedic, sees Emma for the first time when he brings another patient to the ER. As soon as he lays eyes on her, he’s drawn to her, but circumstances prevent him from approaching her at that time. Four months later, they actually meet for the first time when he is paged to her home when she goes into labor before her scheduled c-section. Ben, of course, thinks it’s divine provision. Emma is not so sure.
Excerpt from Emma’s Hero by Carrie Walker:
A knock rattled the space, and Emma staggered toward the door, hunched over, mid-contraction. Halfway there, she stopped to breathe.
Another knock. She took the few remaining steps and heaved open the door. Pain wrapped itself tight around her stomach, and her hands found her knees. A drop of sweat trickled past her brow. The contraction eased, and she straightened to greet her guardian angel.
A dark-haired, attractive paramedic stood tall and attentive with an easy smile.
Emma blinked rapidly, and heat spread across her cheeks. Those kind blue eyes . . . Wait what was she doing? The baby! Tension rushed through her neck and shoulders. She opened the screen door, but the man didn’t move. He stood, staring at her.
What’s wrong with him?
He shook his head, and his warm smile greeted Emma as he entered the house. “Hi, I’m Ben Sullivan, the supervising paramedic on-call.” He nodded toward the SUV in the driveway. “I came as fast as I could. What’s your name?”
She spoke between gasps of air. “Emma Reynolds. H-help. Please.”
Medical bag in hand, he edged toward the sofa and motioned for her to join him. “How long have you been having contractions?”
Why did he want to sit on the sofa? There was nothing here to help deliver this baby. “We have to leave now. As I told the dispatch person, I have to get to the hospital.” Emma hung onto the doorknob, but the paramedic didn’t budge. Instead, he opened his bag and pulled out a digital tablet. She sighed and then shuffled to the sofa and sat beside him with clenched fists.
He put a hand on her shoulder, looking deep into her eyes. His steady gaze eased her growing tension. “The ambulance is a few minutes behind me. I’ll check a few vitals, get the essential information, and we’ll be ready to go.” Out came a blood pressure machine from his bag. “Has your water broken?”
Emma shook her head.
“Good.” He made a note and wrapped the cuff around her arm. “Try to hold still while the cuff inflates. Don’t worry. It takes a long time for most babies to arrive. In the worst case, I’ve delivered many babies. I’m sure that won’t happen though.”
Was this man insane? He couldn’t deliver her baby. Here?
“No. That can’t happen.” Emma shot up, cuff still in place. “You don’t understand. We have to leave now. I have a C-section scheduled for next week.” She stood her ground, hands on her hips. “We’ve got to go.”
Without a sound, the paramedic rose and guided her back to a sitting position, a smile in his eyes. “Miss Reynolds. I know I said to try to hold still, but I need you to try a bit longer than that.” The cuff around her arm tightened again as he re-inflated it with air.
Emma huffed and looked at the ceiling.
Question for Readers: Do you have a hobby that you’d love to see a main character share?
About Carrie: Carrie Walker lives in Michigan with her husband and seven children. From her ten years serving as a high school youth minister, adventures around the globe, and raising a family, many stories have been knit within her heart.
As an avid reader she pens what she loves to read, contemporary stories that bring hope to a hurting world. Weaving romance among story lines of characters in struggle, she aims to show God working in all situations. When she’s not playing board games with her husband, shuttling kids in the Walker bus or wishing for snow, Carrie can be found at the keyboard bringing those stories to life.
Carrie’s writing has been recognized in many contests. Her debut novel, Emma’s Hero, placed in the ACFW Crown Award, Monroe Walton Center for the Arts Award, and won the 2020 ACFW First Impressions Contest. Learn more & connect:
Carrie’s Website Carrie’s Facebook Carrie’s Instagram
Carrie’s Amazon Page Carrie’s Bookbub Carrie’s Goodreads
About the book – Emma’s Hero:
“God won’t give me more than I can handle? I’m pretty sure He just did.”
After a year of loss and bad choices distance Emma Reynolds from her lifelong beliefs, she finds herself pregnant and alone at a twenty-week ultrasound, hearing the words “incompatible with life.” When her son, Theo, survives birth, she fights to give him the best care possible. As each day passes, Emma’s love for Theo grows—along with her fear of losing him. She can’t understand why God allows her son to suffer.
Seventeen-year-old blogger, Mason Hughes, feels lonely and worthless after his father left their family years ago. When he ignores his mother’s push to “contribute to society,” she volunteers him to help Emma each week. Wishing he’d applied for any other job, Mason has no choice but to grocery shop and practice his rusty social skills with a mother and son he doesn’t know.
Paramedic Ben Sullivan has earned himself the title of “most eligible” bachelor among his friends as they continually set him up on blind dates. While he’d love to avoid the uncomfortable events, his heart can’t help but seek the one thing missing in his life—a marriage like his parents have. If only he could find the woman himself.
As Theo’s tiny life connects them to each other, their loneliness breaks under the love of community, and they will never be the same.
Can’t wait for the drawing? Worried you won’t win?
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Emma’s Hero – Amazon Emma’s Hero – BarnesandNoble
Come back April 5th for Mary Pat Johns!
biking
Oh, this could be fun! Thank you for responding!
Hey Carrie, glad to have you here. I love flea marketing, crafting, and repurposing. Those hobbies are always fun for me to see in books.
I love those ideas! I could totally see a crafty character repurposing things. Wheels turning … 🙂
I’m intrigued by your book. Would love to win. 🙂 Not sure of an activity I’d like to see because reading and writing are my main interests. Crochet is too but it seems like it’s been done a lot. Good luck with your book. The recognition by ACFW is impressive. (I went to conference last year.)
Thank you so much. I was at the conference too! It’s such a wonderful conference. Don’t discount reading and writing 😉 some of my favorite characters do those!
Hm…maybe scrapbooking or hiking (might be more fun) 🙂
If they have my level of talent when diving into scrapbooking it could be VERY entertaining lol
I have a winner! Cathy Shouse won the drawing. I appreciate Carrie for being my guest and everyone else for stopping by.