The Ex-Wife
Megan McNeil is genuinely happy to escort her little girls to their fathers wedding in Kauai, Hawaiieven though she feels like a third wheel. One gorgeous groomsman definitely disagrees. But are they both carrying too much baggage to begin a new romance?
The Best Man
Devlin Marshall wont let anything spoil his buddys big daynot even his own rocky marriage. Secrets and mistrust have divided him from his Amy, but the love in the air seems to be catching
The Sister
Family comes first. Deep down, Gabi Foster knows it, but this holiday is hurting her career. Can a sweet, sexy surfing instructor convince her that love is worth more than a business deal?
Praise for
New York Times bestselling author
Shannon Stacey
The perfect antidote for the winter doldrums.
Staceys family drama is equal parts steamy romance and coming-of-age story.
RT Book Reviews on All He Ever Dreamed
Shannon Stacey is one of my favorite contemporary romance authors. Herbooks are always full of fun, warm characters, great small towns
and really sexy relationships.
USA TODAY on All He Ever Desired
A fun read with characters you latch on to
and dont want to let go of.
USA TODAY on Slow Summer Kisses
Praise for USA TODAY bestselling author
Jennifer Greene
Greenes lowcountry romance is heavenly, filled with memorable characters [and] Southern charm.
RT Book Reviews on The Baby Bump
Distinctive characters and witty dialogue
make this one a sweet, delightful read.
RT Book Reviews on Little Matchmakers
Praise for USA TODAY bestselling author
Barbara Dunlop
A charming, laugh-out-loud holiday story
Dunlops characters are passionate,
multilayered, warm and funny.
RT Book Reviews on
The Billionaire Who Stole Christmas
Fun, fiery and utterly delightful.
RT Book Reviews on An After-Hours Affair
SHANNON STACEY
New York Times bestselling author Shannon Stacey lives with her husband and two sons in New England, where her two favorite activities are writing stories of happily ever after and riding her four-wheeler. You can contact Shannon through her website, www.shannonstacey.com, or visit her on Twitter and Facebook. You can also email her at shannon@shannonstacey.com.
JENNIFER GREENE
USA TODAY bestselling author Jennifer Greene has sold over eighty books in the contemporary romance genre. Her first professional writing award came from RWAa Silver Medallion in 1984followed by over twenty national awards, including being honored in RWAs Hall of Fame. In 2009, Jennifer was given the RWA Nora Roberts Lifetime Achievement Award. Jennifer is currently raising two Australian Shepherds, is married to her own personal hero and lives in orchard country near Lake Michigan. Visit her website at www.jennifergreene.com.
BARBARA DUNLOP
USA TODAY bestselling author Barbara Dunlop has written more than thirty-five novels for Mills & Boon, including the acclaimed Colorado Cattle Barons series for the Mills & Boon Desire line. Her sexy, lighthearted stories regularly hit bestsellers lists. Barbara has twice been short-listed for Romance Writers of Americas RITA® Award. Visit her website, www.barbaradunlop.com.
Snow Day
Heart of the Storm
Shannon Stacey
Seeing Red
Jennifer Greene
Lands End
Barbara Dunlop
www.millsandboon.co.uk
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Heart of the Storm by Shannon Stacey
Seeing Red by Jennifer Greene
Land's End by Barbara Dunlop
Heart of the Storm
Shannon Stacey
Contents
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER ONE
NOTHING MADE DELANEY WESTCOTT happier than four oclock coming around on the last business day of December.
Being the deputy municipal clerk in her hometown of Tuckers Point, Maine, was usually a low-key job she enjoyed, but the stampede of people whod realized it was the last day to register their vehicles would try the patience of a saint. And Delaney was no saint. Even after four years in the office, she had to brace herself for the panicked rush between the Christmas and New Years holidays.
Highway robbery if you ask me, Mrs. Keller muttered, slapping her checkbook down on the counter, just as she did every single year.
Delaney half expected the leather checkbook cover to creak and release a plume of dust and moths when the woman opened it. How was your Christmas, Mrs. Keller?
I would have spent less on presents if Id remembered you were going to rob me blind again.
Every year, Delaney thought again. Did your grandbabies enjoy the holiday?
Mrs. Kellers face, as worn and creased as her checkbook cover, softened. They sure did.
I heard Courtney had the croup again. Is she feeling better?
That baby takes after her mother, she said, shaking her head. I swear my Becky spent half her childhood bent over a pan of hot water with a towel draped over her head. Now she has to do the same thing with Courtney.
By the time Delaney finished processing Mrs. Kellers registration renewal, the woman had forgotten her complaints and she even offered a Happy New Year on her way out. When you worked with the public in the town youd grown up in, it didnt take very long to get everybodys numbers. Mrs. Keller had a reputation for being cantankerous, but she was a marshmallow when it came to her grandchildren.
Ten minutes later, Delaney looked up to take the paperwork from the last customer of the year and almost laughed. Mike Huckins had a rumpled and frazzled look about him that went beyond the post-holiday haze the rest of the town was in. Having a two-week-old baby would do that to a man.
Sandy called me in a panic, Mike said. She totally forgot we had to register the car this month.
At least you guys have a good excuse. Delaney took the handful of crumpled papers from him and smoothed them out. Hows Noah?
Loud. But hes doing good.
And Sandy?
Mike sighed. Shes exhausted, of course. But shes doing good. You should stop in and visit for a while if you get a chance.
I will. New moms dont get a lot of company.
They sure dont. Brodys coming in Sunday, though, for an overnight visit.
Delaney froze, except for her fingers, which curled into fists and crumpled a paper shed just smoothed.
Sandy hasnt seen her brother since we all went to Vegas for our wedding, Mike continued, so you can just imagine how excited she is.
Unlike Delaney, who hadnt seen him in the five years since his mother handed her the note hed left, telling Delaney he loved her, but he was leaving town and wasnt coming back. So sorry.
But now he was coming back to Tuckers Point.
She went through the very familiar process of renewing Mikes registration while he talked about their new baby, but part of her mind couldnt let go of the fact Brody was returning to town.
Even through locking up the office and driving to the market, she couldnt stop thinking about him, which made her angry. He hadnt cared enough to tell her he was leaving town, so he wasnt worth thinking about. Shed done enough of that crying herself to sleep every night for weeks after hed left. So he was going to his sisters overnight. Big deal. Delaney would simply put off visiting Sandy until she was sure he was gone and, since she planned to spend the weekend curled up in front of her television, there was no chance shed run into him.
She was surprised to see how full the parking lot was, even for a Friday afternoon. Then she remembered it was New Years Eve and figured there was a run on booze and snacks. Surprisingly, there had also been a run on bread and milk, she found as she wandered up and down the aisles a bit.
Did the weather forecast change while I was at work? she asked Cindy, the cashier, when it was her turn to check out.
Cindy rolled her eyes. Not that Ive heard. A little snow, but everybodys stocking up like the ice storm of 98s on its way back through.
That was a doozy, for sure. And now that she was a volunteer for the town emergency shelter, should it need to be open, she hoped they wouldnt have another storm like that anytime soon.
She took the scenic road home, which took her along the coast for a few miles before turning back inland to the house shed grown up in and had rented from her parents since they made the decision to move to Florida three years before. Driving calmed her and she desperately needed that. She needed to leave thoughts of Brody in her past, where they belonged.
Pulling off into a scenic area, she pulled a granola bar out of one of her grocery bags but, after a moments hesitation, she traded it for the candy bar shed bought on impulse. This day definitely called for chocolate therapy.
Unfortunately, off in the distance beyond the gray winter ocean, she could make out part of the roof of the Ambroise estate, which never failed to make her think of Brody. It was a beautiful place, set out on a jutting piece of land, and she used to daydream about winning the lottery and buying it. Brody could quit fishing and theyd fill the place with kids.
It hadnt worked out that way for anybody. Sophie Ambroise had passed away and, thanks to working in the town hall, she knew the place had been rezoned from residential to commercial. Somebody would turn it into a hotel, she thought. Brody had left town and Delaney certainly hadnt won the lottery.
With her mood matching the turbulent waves below her, Delaney pulled her car back onto the road and headed for home. She was going to spend the weekend with her television, a couple of good books and the gallon of ice cream that had simply jumped into her cart.
Come Monday morning, shed go back to work and Brody would go back to wherever hed come from. Life would go on.
* * *
THE PLAN WAS simple. Fly into Portland on Sunday and rent a carupgrading to an all-wheel-drive model in deference to the snowand then drive into Tuckers Point. Once hed done the ooh-and-ah thing over his newborn nephew, hed spend the night and then drive right back out again Monday morning.
Brody Rollins didnt intend to spend one minute longer than he had to in his hometown. Hed left the place five years ago, and he hadnt thought anything could drag him back again. Then his only sister, Sandy, had her first child. Her need for her brother to see baby Noah had, over several phone calls, overcome his reluctance to ever step foot in Maine again.
Even though the Welcome to Tuckers Point sign was as familiar as the area it welcomed him to, Brody relied on the rentals GPS to guide him off Route 1 and through town. It was a blessing that Sandys husband, Mike, worked for the town instead of fishing, so they had a small house in a residential section away from the harbor. Not the picturesque marina for the tourists, but the rough and dirty harbor the lobster boats called home. Sandys residence wasnt necessarily in the postcard-pretty part of town, but it wasnt one of the run-down houses by the docks theyd grown up in, either.
He finally found the placea small, tidy Cape with green shutters, set back from the roadand pulled up the driveway, parking behind the well-used navy sedan Sandy had described. After killing the engine, he climbed out and stretched his back, inhaling deeply.
At least the frigid temperature and falling snow neutralized the smell. The briny air, reeking of fish and desperation, was so pervasive hed bought himself all new clothes when he left town because he was convinced he could still smell Tuckers Point no matter how many trips he made to the Laundromat.
At the time hed made do with stiff, coarse jeans and thin T-shirts from the discount store. Now his jeans were almost as soft as his merino-and-cashmere-blend sweater, and the soles of his boots werent worn through. He didnt squander his money on fancy labels, but what he did buy was good quality and made to last.
Brody was halfway up the walk when the front door opened and, despite his reluctance to return to Tuckers Point, his heart squeezed at the sight of his sister. It had been two years since hed seen her, and being a wife and new mother had changed her. She had the soft, rounded look of a woman whod just had a baby, and her long, brown hair was pulled into a ponytail. She was a little pale and had dark circles under eyes the same soft shade of green as his, but he guessed that came with the new, first-time-mom territory.
She hugged him fiercely. I cant believe youre here!
Ive missed you. He squeezed her back, then chuckled when an angry shriek echoed through the house. I guess its time to meet my nephew.
Sandy led him to the bassinet set up in the living room and lifted Noah out. His volume level didnt go down any but his sister passed Noah to him, anyway. Brody held the tiny bundle of ticked-off baby, looking down into his face. It was red and scrunched up, and Brody thought he was cute as hell.
He looks just like you do when youre hungry, he said, smiling at his sister.
Funny. She took the baby, changed him, and then curled up at one end of the couch. Will this bother you?
Nope. His sister breastfeeding her son wouldnt bother him anywhere near as much as the ear-splitting decibels the miniature kid was presently producing.
He walked to the window, giving her a little privacy while she got Noah settled. It looks like its changing over to ice. And the winds picking up.