Eileen Hinkle Rife – Excerpt – Part 2 of 2

Shannon here: Eileen Hinkle Rife shares her hero and heroine’s meeting from her Contemporary Women’s Fiction, Journey to Judah. Comment or answer the question at the end of any post dated Feb 23 – 25 to enter the drawing fro an e-book copy. Deadline: March 7th, 11:59 pm central time. Here’s Eileen:

• How do your hero and heroine meet? 

Maggie awoke from a deep sleep to notice the stranger beside her staring at her. Blushing, she coughed and shifted in her seat.
           “Please make sure your tray table is stowed, your seat is in an upright position, and your seatbelt securely fastened. We are beginning our descent into Mumbai,” the British flight attendant announced over the intercom.
            Maggie fumbled to obey the attendant’s directive as the passenger beside her spoke.
           “You were sleeping so long, I thought I might check your pulse,” the handsome man mused. “But just as I reached for your wrist, you woke up. Hi, my name is Gavin…Gavin Munsfield.” The congenial young man reached for Maggie’s hand. His square jaw was etched with five o’clock shadow and his eyes laced with fatigue, yet he smiled with a warmth Maggie had not felt for days.
            Still groggy, Maggie rubbed her eyes, then reached to shake his hand. “Uh, yes, uh…nice to meet you. I’m Maggie Osteder.”
          “Please remain seated until the seatbelt sign goes off. Then you may move about the cabin and retrieve your baggage from the overhead compartments,” the voice interrupted. “Thank you for flying British Airways. We hope you enjoyed your flight.”
           As Maggie pulled her purse from under the seat, Gavin continued, “So is this your last stop or do you have a long layover here?  In Mumbai, I mean.”
          “Long layover,” Maggie replied, somewhat irritated by the man’s incessant chatter and intrusion into her private affairs. She was single, a slip of a girl, yet possessing strength that belied her physique. She’d been warned to beware of men who might take advantage of her. Gavin seemed harmless enough, but she didn’t want to take any chances.
          “Ah, excuse me,” Maggie insisted, stretching for the overhead bin in the jumble of exiting passengers. She felt pain shoot up her right leg and realized someone had just stepped on her foot. She hoped this was not a foreshadowing of misfortune ahead. She had already endured a four-hour layover in London, misplaced luggage, and a nosy passenger trying to wheedle his way into her business. All she wanted was to get off the plane, enjoy a hot cup of coffee, if such a thing existed in Mumbai, and arrive in Chennai in one piece.   
           Maggie had waited ten years for this day. Now, at age twenty-five, she was finally on her way to India.
          “Perhaps I’ll see you again,” the towering man quipped, disturbing Maggie’s reminiscence.”
          “Excuse me?”
          “Who knows? We may run into each other again,” Gavin persisted as he gathered his camera and backpack and headed for the exit.
Maggie shook her head. Who IS he, anyway? Brushing her hair back and straightening her blouse, Maggie stepped off the plane and into the Mumbai terminal, an entire world apart from anything she had ever encountered. (excerpt taken from chapter one, Journey to Judah, Book One, Born for India trilogy)
About Eileen: “Healing words for hurting hearts,” is how Eileen Rife describes her books. Whether through fiction or nonfiction, Eileen wants readers to come away with love that extends beyond themselves, faith that can see the impossible, and hope that endures against all odds.
As a child, Eileen loved writing and telling stories. Walking to school every morning, she created characters then talked to them as she ambled down the road, which was often her way of dealing with grief and loss. After the death of her brother, Eileen learned to empathize with the underdog. Many of Eileen’s stories revolve around issues that many find difficult to talk about–death, homosexuality, sex trafficking. Through her characters, she offers readers an opportunity to draw close, peel back the layers of their own hearts, and examine what lies within.
And added to the mix—romance, always a romance around one corner or another!
An alumna of Christian Writers Guild and member of American Christian Fiction Writers, Eileen has published several nonfiction books, written newsletters, a marriage column, and over ten church dramas. Her byline has appeared in magazines, such as Discipleship Journal, Marriage Partnership, Mature Living, Christian Home & School, Drama Ministry, and ParentLife, as well as other print and online publications.
Her fiction works include Second Chance, Laughing with Lily, and the Born for India trilogy (Journey to Judah, Restored Hearts, and Chosen Ones). She is also a blogger with The Christian Post. She speaks to women’s groups, encouraging them to discover who they are in Christ and what part they play in His amazing story! She and her husband, Chuck, a licensed professional counselor and marriage/family therapist, also conduct marriage seminars for churches and organizations in the states and overseas. They have three married children and six grandchildren.
About the book – Journey to Judah:
One woman. One God. One passion. Into an exotic culture of 7.5 million people and 30 million gods, one woman resolves to follow her heart …
Could love await her, even in India?
Question: Have you ever been out of the country? If so,where? I not, where would you like to go?

Come back Feb 27th for Carla Olson Gade!