FINALIST! In the erotic romance category in the 2020 Orange County Romance Writer’s of American Book Buyer’s Best Contest!
Single dad romance.
Cal promised to wait for her. It was only for one year while Giselle pursued her dream job in Paris. Devastated when he marries someone else, she remains in Europe. When her failing eyesight forces her to abandon her work, she returns to Pine Grove–only to find that Cal, now a single dad with a young son, lives across the street.
Each nurses a broken heart and vows to never let that happen again. But a small boy brings them together in unexpected ways. Can they move beyond the past to rebuild trust and a future together? Or will the truth of what happened all those years ago keep them apart?
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Great Read April 1, 2019
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“What’s she doing here? She’s not moving into that house, is she?” he said to himself.
A frown drew the corners of his mouth down. His brows knitted, and anger tightened his chest. Hadn’t Giselle Davenport done enough harm? She didn’t belong here anymore. Why had she come back? It sure wasn’t because of him. Why hadn’t she stayed in Europe, where she belonged?
He had a life in Pine Grove now. Her return would spoil things. He’d been over Giselle since the moment she left, or at least that was what he told himself. He’d found someone else, married, and had a child. So, why didn’t Giselle stay in another corner of the world?
Drawn to her against his will, he stood there, transfixed, as the burly men hauled tables, chairs, and boxes inside.
“She can’t own the place. No. She must be renting. Probably only a brief stop on her way to Timbuktu for another fancy job,” he muttered to himself. And maybe breaking another heart? At least this time, it wouldn’t be his.
He watched her cling to the wrought iron bannister on the front steps. Frost from the night before made the concrete stairs slippery. Dressed in a short jacket, she wrapped her free arm around her waist.
“She never did know how to dress for winter,” he mumbled to himself.
In his head, he listed a dozen things he should be doing, but Cal couldn’t break his fascination with the scene unfolding across the street. He’d heard through the grapevine—the grapevine being his mother—Giselle had sold her family’s enormous Victorian home. He wondered how she’d get a giant house full of furniture into the tiny two-bedroom job.
Anger grew to bitterness. Why did Giselle have to come back? He’d been doing fine without her for the past six years. He had a life—almost a life. He had his son, their cozy little house, perfect for the two of them, and work with his father. He had everything he needed, right?
Wrong. Since his wife drowned in the Delaware, Cal hadn’t had a woman in his life. Jane had been reckless, ignoring his warning about the treacherous river. She’d been swept away by the strong current and smashed into a large rock. Unconscious, she’d fallen below the water and drowned before Cal could get to her.
Since then, his life had been laid out for him—work and taking care of his son. His parents helped out. Every week, Cal and Bobby shared Sunday dinner with his folks. Bobby looked forward to playing with Grandpa, and Cal enjoyed his mother’s cooking.
He’d settled into a comfortable routine, and now this—Giselle Davenport moving in across the street. The last thing he needed was her waltzing back into his life. Sure, he’d been crazy in love with her when she left to have a year working abroad. “A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Only for a year,” she’d assured him. Baloney! He knew different. Once she got a taste of Europe, she’d never come home.
They had agreed to date others during the year. Giselle had frowned when he’d suggested it but went along anyway. Who knew he’d be the first to find someone else? In his mind, Jane had only been a temporary fix. Things between them progressed faster than he’d wanted, and Jane became pregnant. So they married.
The night before his wedding, pain had stabbed Cal’s heart. While he did care for Jane, he still loved Giselle. Cal stepped up and did the responsible thing. While his marriage never satisfied him, deep inside, it had worked, more or less. Though he’d lost Jane, he had Bobby, an energetic, curious, exuberant force in his life. Cal adored his son, grateful to have him.
He rubbed his chin as he stared at her place. What did Giselle think? That they’d simply patch things up and start dating again? No way! She was a spider who’d hurt him beyond anything he could have imagined. She’d be lucky to get the time of day from him.
READ ALL THE BOOKS IN THE PINE GROVE SERIES. FIND THEM HERE
Joachim Books 