A Kiss, a Dance & a Diamond by Helen Lacey

Author:Helen Lacey [Lacey, Helen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2018-01-11T13:55:04+00:00

Chapter Eight

Nicola had a hard week. She spent as much time with Johnny as she could, as well as working at the restaurant and making peace with Mr. Phelps. She found herself in the clear, with nothing owed and all charges against Johnny dropped. Of course, she knew why.

Kieran.

A veritable knight in shining armor.

He’d stopped by the house several times during the week. Once with Jonah on the phone to go over plans for the fishpond, and once to hang out with the boys—both of them this time—to watch a movie and help make a cart for Johnny’s fishing tackle. And then again to bring takeout from O’Sullivan’s because she’d had a particularly long day at the restaurant and both boys had been misbehaving one afternoon. The boys had made plans to go fishing, and Marco’s enthusiasm was beginning to outweigh his nerves, or so it appeared. Her gratitude toward Kieran was growing daily. He had patience and showed genuine care for her nephews. And with every visit, every conversation, she felt just a little less alone. She knew he was working and fitting the visits in between his shifts at the hospital, and she appreciated his attention to both Marco and Johnny. The problem was she was getting used to him stopping by, and that in itself presented a problem. Because they were friends.

That’s all...

He’d said as much to Johnny the night they’d collected him from the police station. The night they’d almost made love. The night she’d experienced true passion for the first time in forever and had responded like a woman who was hopelessly and completely in love. Except that she wasn’t. She couldn’t be. She’d stopped being in love with Kieran fifteen years ago. To go back to that...it was crazy thinking.

She’d made plans to sleep with him and then forget all about him.

Simple.

Not...

Because a woman could never forget the first man she’d loved.

“Everything okay, Nicola?”

She looked up from her task of peeling cling wrap off an assortment of dishes and smiled. Gwen O’Sullivan was on the other side of the counter, watching her, her brows angled curiously.

“Of course,” she said and kept working. “And thank you for the invitation today. The boys are delighted to be here.”

The invitation to attend Gwen’s birthday celebration had come from Kieran—via his mother, she suspected—and, once the boys knew it was being held at the ranch and that there would be pony rides for the kids and an assortment of other activities, they had insisted on going. And, since Nicola was keen to see them happy, she hadn’t been able to refuse the invitation.

“I’m delighted to have you here,” Gwen said and smiled. “Not that I’m keen on turning sixty, but I’m loving the fact that my children and grandchildren are here to celebrate it with me. And friends—old and new. And some, like yourself, a little of both.”

Nicola smiled warmly. She genuinely liked Gwen, and being around the older woman made her miss her own mother so much she ached inside.

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