Harlequin Superromance February 2014 - Bundle 1 of 2: His Forever Girl\Moonlight in Paris\Wife by Design (55 page)

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CHAPTER ONE

T
HE
EASTERN
SIDE
of the Sierra Nevada Mountains was the perfect setting for fleeing a funeral. The high drama of the granite peaks rising abruptly from low, jagged hills, the earthy scent of sagebrush and pine, the open space of the high desert, were naturally suited to thoughts of life and death.

Grandma Ruth had loved these mountains. She'd lived most of her life in them. Driving down the scenic highway, marveling at each gorgeous view, seemed a much better way to celebrate her life than sitting in a musty Reno funeral chapel. Samantha still wasn't sure how she'd ended up on this impromptu road trip. One minute she'd been listening to the pastor's words, and the next an outraged voice was screaming in her head that this service wasn't doing justice to Ruth. The rote text didn't describe the loving, vibrant grandmother she knew. Samantha couldn't stand it anymore, so she'd fled.

Running away wasn't like her. Samantha felt her forehead, wondering if she was getting sick. She was known for showing up, helping out and always doing the right thing. But instead she'd abandoned the funeral and then, from the parking lot, called work to let them know she wouldn't be in today. She'd cancelled all her meetings and now, instead of the many things she should be doing, she was speeding down this scenic highway to the ranch outside of Benson.

Her ranch. That idea would take some getting used to. Samantha smiled. In the past few years, Grandma Ruth had tried to get her to be more adventurous. Maybe leaving her the ranch was her last attempt to shake her granddaughter up a bit. “Well, Grandma,” Samantha said aloud to the mountains, “you have definitely stirred things up this time.”

Samantha turned up the volume on her iPod and let the strains of opera soar. Maybe it was melodramatic, but it had seemed like the only music appropriate for the splendor of this drive, the sadness in her heart and the emotion of this homecoming.

A few tears insisted on rolling down her cheeks. Samantha brushed them off and took a deep breath. All this crying wasn't her usual style. More evidence that it would do her good to be away for a few days, to see something other than the crowded streets of San Francisco and the busy conference rooms of Taylor Advertising. She pictured the ranch as she remembered it from childhood. It might make her sad to be there without her grandparents, but how amazing to see the ranch again after so many years. Growing up, it was the closest thing to a home Samantha had known.

She glanced at the keys on the seat beside her, hooked on a ring neatly labeled Rylant, Ranch House. What would the old house be like? Ruth had moved to Reno ten years ago—what had she left behind? And in what state? The will had promised Samantha four thousand acres of ranch: barns, house, outbuildings “and all items found on the premises therein.” She hoped some of those items included furniture or it was going to be a long night.

Copyright © 2014 by Claire Haiken

ISBN-13: 9781460326046

MOONLIGHT IN PARIS

Copyright © 2014 by Pamela Hearon Hodges

All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

® and ™ are trademarks of the publisher. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Trade Marks Office and in other countries.

www.Harlequin.com

When life hands you lemons…

You make lemonade. That's what Lynn Duncan believes. A single mother and nurse practitioner, she works at The Lemonade Stand, a unique women's shelter supported by various businesses. These include a physiotherapy service, where Grant Bishop, a landscape designer, takes his disabled brother.

When Grant and Lynn first meet they're intensely attracted to each other—but they don't see a future for themselves. They're too committed to the people they need to protect. For Lynn that's three-year-old Kara and the residents at TLS. And Grant will sacrifice
anything
for his brother. That might have to include a relationship with Lynn….

“Mr. Bishop?”

Turning, Grant recognized the woman approaching him at once. Her long hair was pulled back from her face, but the warm glow in her eyes was just as he'd remembered.

He'd told himself he'd imagined the woman's effect on him the last time they'd met—four years before. She'd had a wedding ring on back then. She didn't now.

“Lynn,” he said. She held out her hand. He took it. And didn't want to let go.

“You don't remember me,” he said, quickly shoving his hands into the pockets of his jeans as he faced her in the empty, fluorescent-lit hallway. He'd heard that The Lemonade Stand was beautiful, a haven, resortlike. The commercial beige tile and white walls didn't give him that impression.

“I do, actually,” she said. “Now that I see you. I recognized your name when you called, but I wasn't sure why. You're the one with the brother. Darin, right?”

“I'm impressed.” Grant smiled. “You were his nurse for one day. You've got a good memory.”

“Darin was memorable. So what can I do for you?” Lynn asked, that not-quite-smile he'd remembered curving her lips, and hitting him where a guy only liked to be hit when he could do something about it.

He'd hoped she'd remember him, too, and she had. More important, she'd remembered his brother. With enough affection to pull strings and get Darin into their physiotherapy program?

The Lemonade Stand was the only option he had. This had to work.

Dear Reader,

Welcome to The Lemonade Stand. Life hands all of us challenges; happiness comes through the choices we make in the face of those challenges. And sometimes the choice that brings happiness is the decision to reach out for help.

I know that sometimes life feels as though there are no options left. No hope for true joy.

And then there's a place like The Lemonade Stand, a very special shelter for women.
More
than a shelter. It's a place that shows women that they have the right to be happy.
Wife by Design
is the first of a series called Where Secrets Are Safe—and that refers to both the secrets that some women hide
before
they come to the Stand and the secrets, the hidden selves, they're able to reveal and explore once they're there. I am deeply committed to these books. And to the hope that the decent men and women at The Lemonade Stand have to offer. There is true joy and deeply peaceful happiness available to every one of us.

Because, after all, when life hands you lemons, you can choose to make lemonade!

Please let me know what you think of this book. And join me in the fight against domestic violence, which afflicts a shocking number of women in this country and worldwide. You can reach me at
www.tarataylorquinn.com
.

Tara Taylor Quinn

WIFE BY DESIGN

Tara Taylor Quinn

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

With sixty-five original novels, published in more than twenty languages, Tara Taylor Quinn is a
USA TODAY
bestselling author. She is a winner of the 2008 National Readers' Choice Award, four-time finalist for the RWA RITA® Award, a finalist for the Reviewers' Choice Award, the Booksellers' Best Award and the Holt Medallion, and she appears regularly on Amazon bestseller lists. Tara Taylor Quinn is a past president of the Romance Writers of America and served for eight years on its board of directors. She is in demand as a public speaker and has appeared on television and radio shows across the country, including CBS
Sunday Morning.
Tara is a spokesperson for the National Domestic Violence Hotline, and she and her husband, Tim, sponsor an annual in-line skating race in Phoenix to benefit the fight against domestic violence.

When she's not at home in Arizona with Tim and their canine owners, Jerry Lee and Taylor Marie, or fulfilling speaking engagements, Tara spends her time traveling and in-line skating.

Books by Tara Taylor Quinn

HARLEQUIN SUPERROMANCE

1309—THE PROMISE OF CHRISTMAS
1350—A CHILD'S WISH
1381—MERRY CHRISTMAS, BABIES
1428—SARA'S SON
1446—THE BABY GAMBLE
1465—THE VALENTINE GIFT
  “Valentine's Daughters”
1500—TRUSTING RYAN
1527—THE HOLIDAY VISITOR
1550—SOPHIE'S SECRET*
1584—A DAUGHTER'S TRUST
1656—THE FIRST WIFE**
1726—FULL CONTACT*
1793—A SON'S TALE***
1811—A DAUGHTER'S STORY***
1829—THE TRUTH ABOUT COMFORT COVE***
1853—IT'S NEVER TOO LATE*
1877—SECOND TIME'S THE CHARM*
1889—THE MOMENT OF TRUTH*

HARLEQUIN SINGLE TITLE

SHELTERED IN HIS ARMS

HARLEQUIN EVERLASTING LOVE

THE NIGHT WE MET

HARLEQUIN MIRA

WHERE THE ROAD ENDS
STREET SMART
HIDDEN
IN PLAIN SIGHT
BEHIND CLOSED DOORS
AT CLOSE RANGE
THE SECOND LIE**
THE THIRD SECRET**
THE FOURTH VICTIM**

*Shelter Valley Stories
**Chapman Files
***It Happened in Comfort Cove

Other titles by this author available in ebook format.

To the women whose pictures line the wall of my private office at The Lemonade Stand:

Penny Gumser, Phyllis Pawloski, Leeanne Williams, Patricia Potter, Lynn Kerstan, Kim Barney and Paula Eykelhof.

Each of you plays a vital role in my Lemonade recipe.