Then Came Heaven by LaVyrle Spencer

This was LaVyrle Spencer's last book, published in 1997. I love her books and I hope she's doing well in her retirement. Then Came Heaven has got to be one of her sweetest books. Eddie Olczak is in his thirties and his children aren't even in their teens when his wife is killed in an accident (she wasn't fast enough crossing train tracks) and he and his two daughters are shattered. His family lives in a small town in the upper midwest somewhere, a very catholic town that is mostly first and second generation polish immigrants. He is the janitor for his church; he rings the bells everyday, cleans the parochial school and basically does everything the nuns don't do. He feels especially close to one of the nuns, a thirty-year-old woman named Sister Regina. Sister Regina has begun to have doubts about her vocation as a nun and begins to have feelings for Eddie. What follows is a lovely yet interesting love story. Perfect ending to a wonderful career for Mrs. Spencer.