Holiday Homecoming (11 page)

Lena covered
her mouth with her hand as tears filled her eyes. “You can’t be
serious,” she said, finally. “That business is your baby…”

“It was,”
Alisa said, smiling as she reached for her friend’s hand. “And it’s
given me so much satisfaction. I love what I do, and I’m proud of
the business
we’ve
built, but I’ve had to sacrifice a lot of
time at home to make that happen. I don’t want to do that
anymore.”

“So what are
you suggesting?” Lena asked.

“Fifty-fifty
partners. I’ll still handle the buying and merchandising. I’ll
scope out new locations, and you manage the day-to-day
operations.”

Lena shook her
head as tears spilled down her cheeks. “You can’t just give me
fifty percent of your business, Alisa. That’s crazy.”

“I’m not
giving it to you. You earned it.” Alisa drew her into a hug. “You
were there for me every step of the way when I started the
business. You’re as responsible for its success as I am. It’s about
time you started to reap some of the reward.”

“I can’t
believe this,” Lena said, swiping at the tears sliding down her
cheeks. “This is the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me.”

“I told you a
long time ago,” Trey said. “Families take care of each other and
you’re one of us now. Hell, I can’t even remember a time when you
weren’t a part of this family.”

Lena covered
her face with her hands and cried softly. “I never imagined I’d
have all this. Sometimes, it just doesn’t seem real. To go from
growing up without enough to eat to having people who love me, a
home to call my own…” She looked at Trey, Sierra, and Alisa before
turning her attention to Jay, Victoria, and their daughter. “Y’all
changed my life in ways you can’t even begin to imagine. You taught
me how to believe in myself, to work hard and take pride in my
accomplishments. If I hadn’t learned to love myself, I never
could’ve believed that a man like Dom could love me.”

Dominic got
out of his chair and came around to Lena’s side of the table.
Crouching down in front of her, he said, “You deserve everything
you have, baby. If you hadn’t struggled, you wouldn’t have
appreciated this as much as you do.”

Alisa knew Dom
was right. She’d been born to wealth and she and her husband were
blessed with an embarrassment of riches, but it wasn’t until they
almost lost each other that she realized money and material
possessions didn’t matter if she had to live without him.

Lena hugged
Dominic, whispering, “I still can’t believe this.”

Jay and
Victoria got up and rounded the table. “Congratulations,” they
said, drawing her into a group hug.

Their
daughter, Ava, stood just behind them, waiting her turn to speak to
Lena, the woman who gave birth to her and gave her up for adoption
on the day she was born.

Lena reached
out her hands and Ava took them.

Watching their
relationship evolve over the years was so gratifying for Alisa. Ava
was a little girl when she learned that Jay and Victoria weren’t
her birth parents, but instead of being bitter and resentful, she’d
been curious. Lena was already a part of her life because she
remained so close to the Coopers over the years. At first, Lena was
terrified Ava would resent her for the choice she made, but she
invited the little girl to ask her the tough questions so they
could build a solid friendship.

“You said
something earlier,” Ava said, looking her birth mother in the
eye.

“What’s that?”
Lena asked quietly.

“You said you
don’t know where you would have ended up without this family. I
feel the same way.”

Lena hugged
her and whispered, “I’m so glad to hear you say that.”

With her arm
around Lena’s waist, she turned to the people seated around the
table. “I wake up every day feeling so lucky that I get to be a
part of this family. You may not all be related by blood, but
you’re closer than any family I’ve ever known.”

Lena kissed
her cheek and smiled. “You’re so right.”

“We all get so
busy. Sometimes we forget about the people we love, so we use the
holidays as an excuse to
catch up
.” Ava made quotation marks
in the air with her fingers. “I don’t have to do that with you
guys, ’cause you’re always with me. No matter what, I know you’ll
be there to cheer me on or pick me up when I need help. That’s what
family’s all about, right?”

Trey looked at
Liam, a smirk on his face. “I’d like to see ya top that.”

Liam held his
hand up and smiled at Ava. “You win, kid. From now on, you can
propose the toasts.”

Book Two –
Trade Off

Professional
hockey player, Aiden Cooper, should be happy. He’s been traded to
Nashville. But going home also means he has to face the truth. The
love of his life is married to his former best friend and new
teammate, and there’s not a damn thing he can do about it.

When Sela
Clarke finds out her former boyfriend, Aiden Cooper, is finally
coming home, she panics. How can she pretend she’s still in love
with her husband when the only man she’s ever loved is bound to
uncover the lie that tore them apart?

Release Date –
November 2012

Special
Edition – Holiday Homecoming

Trey Turner
and his wife, Sierra, are hosting a Christmas gathering for their
closest friends and family when an expected event forces them to
pull together and help one of their own through a crisis. Will
tragedy strike, forcing Trey to face his worst nightmare, or will
this holiday be the one that helps them all to heal?

Release Date –
November 2012

Book Three –
Game On

When Brianna
Cooper accepts a position with the legal team at Titan Records, she
knows what to expect. She’s been friends with V.P. of Operations,
Ryan Spencer, since they were kids. He’ll try and talk her into
skipping out early and taking long lunches… it’s a good thing she’s
immune to his charm.

Ryan Spencer
has earned his reputation as a ladies man. He loves everything
about them, so much so that he’s never been able to limit himself
to just one. But when every guy in the office starts talking about
the gorgeous new lawyer with the killer smile, it makes Ryan wonder
how he can convince Brianna his days of playing the field are
over.

Release Date –
December 2012

Book Four –
Burn Out

As the
President of Titan Records, Evan Spencer knew he had big shoes to
fill when his father, Luc, retired and awarded him the top spot.
Fifty hour work weeks turned into eighty hours and his girlfriend,
Erika, gave him an ultimatum… either he make their relationship a
priority or she’s leaving him. He doesn’t expect her to follow
through on her threat, until she does.

Erika Carlton
knew his ex-boyfriend, Evan, would be at their friend’s wedding in
the Bahamas. One week in a tropical paradise with her ex could be
torture. It’s a good thing her new boyfriend is there to act as a
buffer.

Evan has a
plan. He has seven days and seven nights to prove to Erika that
he’s willing to do whatever it takes to salvage their relationship.
But when she shows up with a new man, Evan realizes he’s going to
have to step up his plan or risk losing her forever.

Book Five –
Fast Track

Teacher and
part-time artist, Anna McCall, is sweet, shy, and reserved. Living
in her famous father’s shadow is exhausting, which is why she
decides to get away from it all for a while. She retreats to their
family beach house for the summer, intent on painting, reflecting,
and regrouping after a messy break-up. She’s revelling in the peace
and tranquility until a famous race car driver moves in next door
intent on invading her sanctuary.

Justin Hunt
has one goal this summer, to forget the past year of his life ever
happened and if it takes a group of rowdy jocks, loud music, kegs
of beer, and bikini-clad women to help him forget, so be it. Too
bad his new neighbor seems intent on spoiling his fun by
distracting him from his mission.

Book Six –
Time Out

Rancher, Nick
McCall, loves the simple life. Wide open spaces, clean country air,
and sweet down-home girls. But when his mother asks him to
entertain their new house guest, a TV personality with a penchant
for bad boys, he’s wondering if it might be time to add a little
spice to his life.

Megan Moore
moved from Los Angeles to Nashville to accept a job on a country
music network, but she misses dating movie stars and riding around
in limousines. She promises her new agent, Avery McCall, she’ll
stick it out for the remainder of her one year contract, but she
intends to be on the first plane back home a minute after her
contract expires.

Nick knows
Megan’s only in Nashville for a short time, but that doesn’t mean
they can’t have a good time.

Book Seven –
Face Value

Real estate
developer, Lauren McCall, needs a new contractor yesterday. Someone
who’s good, fast, and reliable, but her only option seems to be her
friend’s deadbeat ex-husband. According to her friend, he’s a skirt
chasing, beer drinking, loser who’d rather play pool than play with
his kids, but desperate times call for desperate measures, so
Lauren gives him the job. She just hopes she doesn’t live to regret
it.

Tucker Brooks
knows his new boss doesn’t like him, and he doesn’t much care. He
knows his ex-wife will spew her venom to anyone who’ll listen, and
if Lauren’s naïve enough to believe everything she hears, so be it.
He’s determined to show up for work, get the job done, and avoid
the boss lady as much as possible. If only she’d stay the hell out
of his dreams.

Book Eight –
Blown Away

Ava Cooper
owns a successful Internet dating site. Her life’s work is to
connect people and hope they’ll fall in love, but she isn’t looking
for her soul mate. On the contrary, she’s a busy professional with
a full life. She has a great family, friends, and a cute little dog
who follows her wherever she goes. When she gets a private message
from a man who’s intrigued by her profile, she’s knows her
assistant, Tara, is to blame. She’s determined to help her boss
find a man, apparently against her will. Ava insists she isn’t
interested, but if this guy looks anything like his picture, he’s
bound to be someone’s Mr. Right.

When
architect, Brent Armstrong’s, brother emailed him a link to a
dating website, he thought he was just giving him grief again, but
when Ava`s picture appeared on his screen, he couldn’t breathe. He
knew that woman. For days he tried to get her image out of his
head, but when that didn’t work, he decided to swallow his pride
and send her a private message, hoping she`d remember him. When
hours turned into days, he had a choice to make. Should he let it
go, or give her a friendly reminder of the night she rocked his
world?