Excerpt
Chapter 1
Shelby
Shutting off my car, I stare at the two-story
house I used to call home. It looks the same as it did when I left. The deep
blue is still vibrant, even more so now against the backdrop of the gray sky
behind it. The white porch is still welcoming, with flowers hanging from the
banister.
My grandmother and I would spend hours
planting flowers in those boxes during the summer. When she passed away during
my sophomore year of high school, I made sure to keep up the tradition in her
memory. It looks like, in my absence over these last fifteen years, someone
else had taken over the job.
Looking at the bright blooms growing wild,
hanging over the sides of the boxes, I wonder if Granddad hired someone to
plant them for him when he left to live in Florida. He never mentioned that he
cared about the flowers we planted. Honesty, I don’t remember him mentioning
them. Growing up, I didn’t even think he noticed, but now, looking at the
blooming buds that are artfully arranged, I know they meant something to him
after all.
“Mom?” Turning my head, I look at my son
Hunter and force a smile as aching pain and regret slice through my chest.
“Sorry, honey. I spaced out. Do you want to
unpack tonight, or do you want to wait until tomorrow, kiddo?”
Looking over his shoulder, he eyes the boxes
and suitcases piled in the back then looks at me. I hate the sadness I see in
his eyes. I hate I’m the cause of his pain. I know he misses his father
already, and I know that at ten years old, he doesn’t understand why we’re no
longer together even if it’s been over two years since we separated and
divorced.
“Tomorrow,” he grumbles, and I feel that ache
in my chest expand. He hates me for moving him across the country. Away from
his friends, away from everything he knew. And I hate myself a little bit, too,
for failing miserably at keeping my family together. I just hope this move will
be a new start for us.
“Tomorrow,” I agree softly, unhooking my belt
and opening the door.
Rounding the hood of the van, Hunter has
already made it to the porch and is waiting at the top of the stairs, with his
eyes pointed over my shoulder. Stopping, I look behind me as rain soaks through
my clothes. I can’t believe how much the town has changed and grown. When I’d
left home, you could see the sound from the front porch of my grandparents’
home. Now, the view is blocked by houses that have been built up side-by-side
across the road. The street looks more like a New York City block, rather than
a street in small-town Alaska.
“Is it always raining?” Hunter’s voice breaks
into my thoughts, and I turn back toward him and take the steps slowly,
noticing they are rotting out in a few spots. Something I will have to fix
soon.
“Not always, but this is a rainforest, so I
guess the answer in some ways is yes,” I tell him, when I make it up to the
covered porch.
His brows draw together over his blue eyes,
making him look like his father, as he asks, “This is a rainforest?”
“It is.” I want so badly to reach out and run
my finger down his cheek, but I keep my hand locked at my side. I don’t know
exactly when it happened, but some time ago, he stopped wanting my affection.
Stopped being my little boy.
“Really?” he asks curiously, with wide eyes.
“It doesn’t look like a rainforest,” he states, and he’s right; it doesn’t look
like what you might imagine a rainforest would look like.
“It doesn’t look like one, but it is all the
same.” I smile, and his eyes move over my face then to the view, and his face
loses the curiosity it held a moment ago.
He turns, muttering, “Whatever.”
Biting my lip, I take the key the lawyer
mailed me out of the front pocket of my jeans, put it in the lock, and turn.
The door opens with a loud creak and dust rises up from the floors. A loud
alarm sounds, making us both jump. Running into the house, I look frantically
for some kind of alarm system, finally finding the small white box off the door
in the kitchen. Flipping the panel open, I stare at the numbers.
“What’s the code?” Hunter yells over the
siren, covering his ears.
“I don’t know,” I yell back, pressing in every
single number combination I can think of, but none of them work.
“Is it in the papers in the car?”
“Maybe,” I yell, then run for the door and
down the stairs to the van. Swinging open the back door, I shove three boxes
out of the way before finding the one I’m looking for. Ripping off the tape, I
shuffle through the contents and scan the papers the lawyer sent, searching for
the code, but stop and look over the hood of the van when the alarm goes quiet.
“What was the code?” I ask Hunter, when he steps out onto the porch.
“I don’t know.” He shrugs, looking over his
shoulder into the house, like he’s waiting for someone to come out, which makes
me frown.
“Did it just stop?” I question, slamming the
van door. His eyes come back to me and he shakes his head then starts to open
his mouth to say something else, but is cut off by a deep voice.
“I turned it off.”
It takes one breath to realize who just
stepped out of my grandparents’ house. One breath for every moment I spent with
the man standing before me to flash through my head. Two seconds for me to feel
my world come to a stop.
The boy I once knew is gone. There’s nothing
boyish about Zach Watters anymore. His jaw is now sharp, the stubble on it
giving him a rugged look while accentuating his full lips. His dark hair has
silvered around the edges, drawing attention to his expressive hazel eyes that
look like they hold a thousand stories. His red and black plaid shirt is
stretched tight across broad shoulders, giving a glimpse of the muscles it’s
covering. He’s still every bit as beautiful as he once was, only more so now
that time has aged him, taking him from a handsome boy to a gorgeous man.
Swallowing, I look at my son then back again.
“Thanks,” I whisper, and Zach’s eyebrows pull together as he sweeps his gaze
over me. I have no doubt that I too have changed, but unlike him, time hasn’t
been good to me. I’ve gained a few too many pound from eating my feelings over
the last year. My skin has lost its youthful glow, and my hair has grown out at
the roots without my bi-monthly maintenance appointments.
“Shelby?” he asks, but all I can do is confirm
with a nod, since my mouth has dried up and I can’t find my voice. “Jesus.” His
eyes widen as he looks down at Hunter then back toward me. “What are you doing
here?”
“My… my son Hunter and I are moving in,” I
stutter, caught off guard by his presence. I wasn’t stupid enough to believe I
wouldn’t see him when I moved home, but I had convinced myself that seeing him
would be on my terms, or sporadic at best.
“What?” he whispers, leaning back on his
boots, crossing his arms over his chest.
Ignoring his question, I start to move back
toward the stairs, asking, “Do you mind giving me the code for the alarm? I’m
sure it’s somewhere in the papers the lawyer sent, but...” I stop and look to
the left when Zach’s name is called. Standing on the porch of the house next
door is a woman I know he got with a few months after I left. A woman he
married soon after she gave birth to their twins. A woman I used to call my
friend.
A woman I now hate.
I absently hear him say something to her, but
the nausea turning my stomach and the sadness prickling my skin have me moving
quickly up the steps, focusing on not falling over as I move past him. “Never
mind about the code. I’m sure I’ll find it. Thanks for shutting off the alarm,”
I mumble, as I walk through the door.
“Mom.”
“Come on, honey. Let’s have a look around, and
then we need to get to the store.”
“Mom,” Hunter repeats, sounding confused. I
plaster a fake smile on my face.
“The pizza place we drove past has the best
pizza I’ve ever tasted. We could do that for dinner.”
“Mom.”
“Right here, honey.” I laugh, even though that
laugh feels like glass edging down my windpipe.
Studying me for a long moment, he finally
mutters, “Pizza sounds good. I’m gonna call Dad before we go, and tell him
we’re here.”
“Sure,” I agree, watching him pull out his
cell phone and walk toward the kitchen. I didn’t agree that he needed a cell
phone at his age, but like all things with his dad, there was never any kind of
conversation. He didn’t ask what I thought about it; he just did what he wanted
to do.
I hear a familiar throat clear. “You’re back?”
Zach asks from behind me, making my shoulders slump forward and my eyes slide
closed briefly.
“Yeah.” I turn to face him and wrap my arms
around my waist, feeling my stomach twist into knots. When I left town, we
didn’t fight, didn’t yell at each other, didn’t say things we would end up
regretting one day. I just knew there was too much pain between us to make what
we had left work, and Zach, knowing the same, didn’t put up a fight when I told
him my plans.
“You're staying here?” he asks, and I nod.
Running a hand over his head as his eyes move to the right, where Tina had been
moments ago, before bringing his gaze back to mine. “The code for the alarm is
one, two, three, four. I told Pat to change it, but you know Pat,” he mutters,
and I nod, knowing exactly how stubborn Gramps was. Shoving his hands into the
front pocket of his jeans, his voice drops. “I’m really sorry about Pat.”
“Thanks.” I hold myself a little tighter. His
eyes drop to my arms around my waist and soften before moving up to meet mine
once more.
“If you need anything, I’m next door.” He
lifts his chin in that direction, and my world stops again.
“Pardon?” I breathe.
“I live next door.”
Okay, maybe I should have guessed that, since
Tina was over there, but I didn’t, and this is not good… as in really not good.
There is not one damn thing I can do about it, though, unless I want to load
Hunter back into the van and live out of it for the next year or so, which I
don’t think will win me any brownie points with my son.
“Cool,” I whisper pathetically, with nothing
else to say. Something familiar-looking and soft slides through his features,
making my stomachache twist again, but this time in a way I haven’t felt in a
long time.
“Well…” I pause, needing this encounter to be
over. “Thanks again for turning off the alarm. I wish we had time to catch up,”
I lie. “But I need to get to the store before it closes, and then I need to get
Hunter some food. Growing boys don’t do well without food,” I ramble, as I put
my hand to the door, wanting so badly to shove it closed.
“Sure.” He nods then looks over my shoulder,
into the house. “Nice meeting you, Hunter.”
“You too—” Hunter looks between Zach and me.
“Mr. Watters, honey,” I mutter, answering his
unspoken question, as he comes to stand at my side with his cell phone in his
hand.
“You too, Mr. Watters.”
Zach’s
eyes come to me and his face softens once more. “See you around, Shelby.”
“Yeah, see you around,” I lie again, since I
plan to pretend he doesn’t exist from this moment forward. I wait, even though
I don’t want to, until he is walking away to close the door then stand there
for a moment, trying to process what just happened.
“How do you know him, Mom?” Hunter asks.
“When I was younger,” I say, turning to face
him, “we were friends.” I shrug, looking toward the stairs. “My room used to be
in the attic—it’s the best room in the house—and if you make it there before
me, I’ll let you have it.” I raise my brows before taking off in a sprint up
the stairs, listening to my son, who I haven’t heard laugh in weeks, giggle as
he runs up the stairs behind me.
“Wow, this is awesome.”
Looking over my shoulder at Hunter I smile as
he walks into the room with wide eyes. “I told you it’s the coolest room in the
house.” I used to love hanging out up here when I was a teenager. The vastness
of the space, with its angled ceilings and four large skylights, was a cool
place to spend time. Looking at my son now, I can see the excitement in his
eyes as he wanders around the room.
“Do you think I could get a telescope?” he
asks, looking up at the cloud-covered sky through one of the skylights.
“Definitely.” I bump my shoulder with his as I
walk past him toward the couch in the corner that’s covered with a sheet and
pull it off. “We may also want to find a cover for this thing while we’re at
it,” I say, looking from the floral-covered couch to his scrunched up face.
“Yeah.” He nods, moving to the bed, where he
rips off the sheet that is covering the mattress. “I can’t wait to tell Dad
about this. He’s going to think it’s so cool,” he mutters, and I bite my tongue
to keep from saying, No, your dad will definitely not think it’s cool.
Max, Hunter’s father, grew up wealthy. He
never owned anything that had been used. Even when we got married, he insisted
I sell the Victorian house I bought when I graduated college, wanting instead
for us to buy a newly built house in a cliché subdivision, where all of his
friends lived. Shortly thereafter, he insisted I sell all of my old furniture,
things I had bought secondhand and refurbished over the years. At the time, I
was blinded by hope and love, so I didn’t think anything about it. But over
time, I slowly realized I was no longer the person I used to be. I had turned
into a trophy wife who lived in a show home and neither of us had any real
character.
“Mom,” Hunter calls, bringing me out of my
thoughts, and I turn to look at him and notice he has a stack of photos in his
hand. “Who’s this?”
“That’s my mom,” I say softly, while walking
over to where he’s sitting on the bed, holding out a picture of my mom and me.
In the photo, we’re sitting outside on the porch, with our arms wrapped around
each other, smiling at the camera.
“You look like her,” he says thoughtfully.
“You have her eyes and hair.”
“You think so?” I ask, looking at my mom, who
had to have been about my age when the photo was taken. She was beautiful, with
long dark blonde hair, big blue eyes, and a smile that lit up the world.
“Yeah.” He nods then looks at me, and asks
quietly, “Do you miss her?”
“Every day.” I nod, taking the photo from his
hands. “She gave the best hugs,” I say, fighting back the tears I feel creeping
up my throat. My mom and dad both died in a plane crash when I was fifteen. My
father was the owner and pilot of a local adventure company, and he had taken
my mom with him to drop off supplies to some men who were bear hunting out at
one of the islands. On their way back into town, the weather shifted, and their
plane went down on one of the mountains. Neither of them survived. That’s when
I moved to Cordova to live with my dad’s parents.
“Do you have any pictures of your dad?”
I pause, trying to recall if I’ve ever really
spoken to Hunter about my parents, if Max ever asked about them, but I can’t
think of a single time. “There are a few downstairs on the wall. I’ll point
them out to you.” I lean into him a little then stop when his arm wraps around
my shoulders, surprising me. “I love you, kid,” I whisper, not surprised when
he doesn’t say it back, but happy that his arm tightens ever so slightly.
“I’m starving.” He chuckles releasing me when
his stomach growls loudly, breaking the moment.
“We can’t have that.” I laugh, standing from
the bed. “Let’s go to Joe’s. Hopefully, the pizza is still awesome. If not,
you’re gonna have to suffer and eat it anyway, ‘cause the store is probably
closed by now.
“Is there such a thing as bad pizza?”
“I guess we’ll find out,” I murmur, and then
head out of the room and down the stairs, grabbing my purse as we leave.
When we make it to Joe’s, I find nothing has
changed in the years I’ve been gone. The owner Joe, an older Korean gentleman,
is still in the back making the pizzas, and his wife Kim is still working the
counter, gossiping about everything and everyone. While we wait for our pizza,
Kim talks my ear off, telling me about the people in town, including Zach, who
she informs me is not only a cop, but also the sheriff. She also tells me that
Zach is single. He and Tina supposedly got divorced nine years ago, and Zach
has had full custody of both his kids since then. I tell myself I don’t care
that Zach is no longer with Tina, but I still feel some relief knowing I won’t
have to witness seeing them together.
“Can I sleep in my room tonight?” Hunter asks,
as I finish off my third slice of pizza and wipe my mouth with a paper towel.
“I don’t mind, but everything in the house
needs to be washed. So if you want to sleep up there, we have to get your stuff
from the van.”
“I’ll get it, and then we can bring in
everything else too.”
“You want to clean out the van?” I ask, not at
all excited about lugging stuff up three flights of stairs.
“Yeah.” He nods again, taking his half of the
pizza box lid that he used as a plate to the trash bin.
“If that’s what you want,” I agree, regretting
those words an hour later as I head out for the last box. My arms and legs are
tired from carting everything inside and up the stairs. I haven’t worked out in
the last year, and I can feel it now as every muscle in my body protest.
Stopping when I hear a door close, I hold the
box in my hands closer to my chest and look toward the house next door. I spot
a handsome blond boy, who looks a lot like Zach, hopping down the steps, with
Tina following close behind. Ducking down, I hide and watch them as they get
into an old pickup truck, only coming out of hiding when they drive off.
Having over fifteen years to deal with the
adoption of Samuel should make it easier to see Zach’s other children, but it
doesn’t. I still feel bitter about the situation. I know it’s the fact that
Zach’s children were born a little over a year after Samuel, meaning Tina got
pregnant not long after I left town. So not only did Zach have a relationship
with Tina, but he built a family with her and kept the kids they had together.
Heading back into the house with the final
box, I wonder how I’m going to do what I’ve been doing for the last fifteen
years. It was easy to block out thoughts of Zach when I was gone, but now that
I’m back and living next door to him, I wonder if it will be as easy to ignore
the feeling in my chest that coincides with thoughts of him.
~*~*~
Grabbing my quilt from the end the my bed, I
carefully balance my Kindle and glass of wine in one hand as I open the sliding
glass door in my room and step out onto the balcony. Tonight is one of the
first nights it hasn’t rained since we moved in, and I have been looking
forward to sitting outside under the stars with a good book all day long.
Grabbing my glass, I take a sip then look to the left when the sound of rock
music starts up and light flutters across the back deck next door, making me
wonder if Zach’s room is off the balcony like mine.
Pushing that thought away, I turn on my Kindle
then proceed to get lost in someone else’s happily ever after.
“Shelby.” Jumping, some of the contents from
the glass in my hand sloshes out over the side and runs down my fingers as I
swing my head to the left, where Zach is leaning on the banister, his eyes on
me. A short glass full of dark liquid is in his hands, and the light casts a
glow behind him.
“You scared the crap out of me,” I gripe,
holding my free hand over my rapidly beating heart.
“I’ve been standing here awhile,” he mutters,
then takes a swig of his drink. “I thought you would have noticed.” He rolls
the glass between his hands while looking at me intently, making me fight the
urge to squirm in my chair.
“When I’m lost in a good book, the world could
crash down around me and I wouldn’t notice.” I shrug, taking a sip of wine,
using the moment of reprieve as an excuse to look away from him, but realizing
for the first time that I don’t know the man standing across from me. Yes, he
looks a little like the guy I dated years ago, but he also seems more intense,
like he has the weight of the world on his shoulders. He’s definitely not the
easygoing kid I dated in high school.
“How are you guys settling in?”
Pulling my legs out from under me, I rest my
Kindle on the edge of my lap and turn to face him fully while adjusting the
blanket.
“It’s going to take a little bit to get
everything cleaned up. I didn’t know Gramps was such a hoarder until now. I
think I’ve thrown out about ten thousand issues of National Geographic, along
with a hundred empty boxes and every single item you can possibly buy from an
infomercial,” I reply, then smile when he laughs a deep rumbling laugh and
leans a little farther over the railing between us, causing another plaid
shirt—this one blues and yellows—to tighten across his wide chest.
“You didn’t keep them? You never know when you
might need an automatic potato peeler.”
“I thought about it, but if I did, I wouldn’t
have anywhere to put my shoes, since all of it was stacked up on the floor in
his closet, everything unopened.” I smile, watching him grin for a moment
before the smile slides away and his eyes move beyond me to the forest that
sits behind the house.
“I’m gonna miss him. I know he’s been gone
from town for years, but I’ll miss our talks,” he mutters, then looks up at the
sky for a moment before meeting my gaze once more. “Why’d you come back? Last
time I talked to Pat, he told me you were planning on following him down to
Florida.”
His words catch me off guard, since Gramps
never told me he kept in contact with Zach. But then again, I never asked. I
shouldn’t be surprised they kept in touch, since they we’re close when I was
home, and were obviously neighbors before Gramps moved to Florida. Plus, Zach
is the sheriff in town. Yet, it still feels strange that he knows about me,
while I know nothing about him.
“I was.” I let out a breath, adjusting the
blanket around my shoulders. “But I had to wait until…” I trail off, not
wanting to talk about my divorce to anyone, especially not him. “Then when
Gramps passed away, there was nothing for me in Florida, so I decided to come
back here instead.”
“You didn’t want to stay in Seattle?”
“No, I needed something different, so when I
found out Gramps left me his house, I just knew I needed to come back here,” I
whisper the truth. Ever since I read the will and found out this house was mine
to do with as I please, I had a feeling in my gut that I couldn’t get rid of.
Something telling me that I needed to come back here.
“This is a good town,” he murmurs, but the
look in his eyes is saying something I can’t quite figure out.
“This is the last place I remember being
really happy. I hope that I can make it that way for Hunter,” I say quietly,
and his face softens.
“He looks like you.” His words and tone catch
me by surprise and I sit up a little taller. Never in a million years would I
have thought I’d be sitting on my granddad’s deck in the middle of the night
talking to Zach about anything. Definitely not about my son.
“You wouldn’t say that if you saw his dad,” I
return honestly. “When he was a baby, he looked like me, but not any more.”
“He has your eyes and your smile.” He pauses,
taking a drink from his glass. “He seems like a good kid.”
“He’s the best kid.” I take a sip of wine,
trying to keep whatever it is I’m feeling right now in check.
“I… I think I saw your son. Um, the other day.
He looks like you,” I tell him, wanting to take the words back after I say
them, because I don’t want him to think I was spying on him.
“He looks like his mom, but has my
personality, which I can’t decide if it’s a good thing or not. My daughter,
Aubrey, on the other hand, looks like me, but is sweet down to her core. Where
she gets that sweetness, I have no fucking clue.”
“Oh.” I bite my lip, trying to figure out what
to say to that. The Zach I knew was a good guy, sweet even. Tina, however, was
mostly bitch, and I honestly don’t even know why we were friends. Then again,
growing up here, there weren’t a hundred girls to choose from. My graduating
class had five girls in it, and none of them liked Tina, which meant none of
them really liked me either.
“I better go in,” he says abruptly, cutting
into my thoughts, standing to his full height. “I need to be to the station
early tomorrow.”
“Sure… uh… have a good night.” The urge to say
something that will make him stay hits me hard, and it takes everything I have
in me to keep my mouth shut.
“You too, Shelby. And be careful when you’re
out here reading. Louie’s out and about around this time of night, searching
for food.”
“Louie?” I question, scrunching up my nose.
Cordova never had homeless people before, and I can’t imagine it would now.
“Louie’s a black bear. Normally, he sticks to
the woods, but he’s been known to nap on the decks now and then.
“Oh, man.” I jump up, looking around for any
sign of Louie, not sure how I could forget there are bears out here, since we
are in Alaska. “What’s funny?” I frown, turning to face him when I hear his
deep laughter.
“You’re in Alaska, babe. You lived here for
years. You know there are bears out in those woods.” He nods to the trees.
Babe. Why, oh, why did that word make
butterflies erupt in my stomach?
“I know that, but I forgot.” I shake my head
and watch his face soften once again.
“Still sweet as pie,” I think I hear him say,
but can’t be sure, because his voice dropped to a low rumble that I felt skid
across my skin.
“Well, I’m gonna go in too,” I blurt, picking
up my Kindle and wine glass. “Have a good night.” And with that, I duck my head
and go back into my room. Closing the door I lock it behind me then hurry and
get into bed where I try to forget once more about Zach Watters.
~~**~~
“Hello?”
I answer the phone, still half asleep, then look at the clock and notice that
even though it’s light out, it’s barely 6:00 a.m.
“Shelby, I’ve called three times,” Max, my
ex-husband, says into my ear, and I pull my pillow over my head with thoughts of
suffocating myself with it.
“It’s only six, Max. I haven’t gotten out of
bed,” I grumble, tossing the covers back and sitting up. “What’s going on?”
“I want to fly out there this weekend,” he
states, and I fight the urge to toss my phone across the room or scream at the
top of my lungs.
“This weekend?” I verify, rubbing my face. “We
haven’t even been here a week.”
“I have a few days off and would like to see
Hunter.”
I sigh, considering him and his request. “Our
stuff is going to be delivered in two days. Then I start my new job next week,
and Hunter has swi—”
“You’re not keeping my boy from me,” he cuts
me off, and I can tell by his tone that he’s mad and likely pulling at his
ever-present tie in annoyance. Something I make him do often.
“I’m not saying you can’t see him, Max,” I
clarify, wishing I had at least one cup of coffee before this conversation.
“I’m just explaining to you that we’re trying to get settled in here. Can you
wait a few weeks before you come out?”
“Such fucking bullshit. I can’t believe you
moved to Alaska, of all goddamn places. A boy should have his dad in his life.”
My heart stutters and I feel my pulse skyrocket. We didn’t have a custody
battle, but I wouldn’t put it past Max to take me to court to gain custody of
Hunter if I step out of line in his eyes.
“Max,” I soften my voice as I walk to the
kitchen, “you know we talked about this. You can come see him anytime, and in a
couple years, he can fly out to see you whenever he has a break,” I say, then
drop my voice even lower. “We agreed on him living with me at least until he’s
sixteen. After that, he can choose who he wants to live with.”
“I miss you both.” He sighs, making me roll my
eyes. I know he doesn’t miss me. I know this, because he’s been dating woman
after woman since I asked for a separation. For all I know, he was dating
before that. Hell, the last year I spent under the same roof as him, he hardly
spared me a glance. Hunter later suffered from his lack of attention, when we
lived in the same town after our separation. With Max, it’s always about him
getting his way.
“Max, please just wait a few more weeks, and
then you can come and stay as long as you like,” I offer, the words leaving a
horrid taste in my mouth. I will do whatever I have to in order to keep my son,
though, including putting up with his dad in my childhood home for more than a
few days.
“Fine, when?”
Closing my eyes, I whisper, “Next month.
Whenever you like. Just let me know, so I can make sure I don’t make plans for
Hunter. I know there are a few camps here he’s interested in.”
“Fine. Where is he now? I called his cell
phone, but he didn’t pick up.”
“Sleeping. Like I said, it’s only six here,
and he was up late talking to his friends back in Seattle on Skype.”
“You really shouldn’t let him stay up so late,
Shelby,” he scolds, sounding disapproving, and again, that’s not a surprise.
“It’s summer, Max, and his ‘late’ is ten, not
three in the morning,” I mutter, wondering how the hell I put up with him for
so many years. “I’ll have him call you when he gets up.”
“Don’t tell him I’m coming out. I want to tell
him that myself.”
“Will do,” I grumble, looking at the coffee
pot and begging it to hurry up.
“Talk to you later.”
“Talk to you later,” I agree, setting the
phone down on the counter. I make myself a cup of coffee and take it out to the
back deck, drinking it while the morning sun beats down on me.
New from Aurora Rose
Reynolds!
Wide Open Spaces
releases August 2016!
Add to your TBR at: http://bit.ly/1PDVZsf
Blurb
That
moment your life changes.
That
moment that changes your life.
That
moment you love someone more than you love yourself.
That
was the moment we gave our son up for adoption and the moment I was left bare.
A wide-open space that would forever be empty.
There
are moments that define you as a person, moments that prove just how strong you
are, moments you push yourself to keep going forward when all you really want
to do is give up. It was in one of those moments when I reached out and found
him waiting for me.
When
Shelby Calder left home fifteen years ago, she never planned on returning to
the Alaskan town she left behind. But after the death of her grandfather and a
bitter divorce, she hopes going home will be a fresh start for her and her
ten-year-old son.
Zach
Watters has made a lot of mistakes in his life. But when he sees Shelby Calder,
looking more beautiful than ever, standing outside her childhood home, he
promises himself that letting her go won't be a mistake he ever makes again.
Some
things never change and love is one of them.
About the Author:
Aurora
Rose Reynolds is a navy brat who's husband served in the United States Navy.
She has lived all over the country but now resides in New York City with her
Husband and pet fish. She's married to an alpha male that loves her as much as
the men in her books love their women. He gives her over the top inspiration
everyday. In her free time she reads, writes and enjoys going to the movies
with her husband and cookie. She also enjoys taking mini weekend vacations to
nowhere, or spends time at home with friends and family. Last but not least she
appreciates everyday and admires it's beauty.
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