Within Striking Distance by Ingrid Weaver

Author:Ingrid Weaver
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Private Investigators, Man-Woman Relationships, Contemporary, General, Romance, Adoptees, Fiction, Stock Car Racing
ISBN: 9780373185269
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2009-07-31T16:00:00+00:00

Dean returned his attention to Becky. His forehead furrowed. “So, have we met before, Becky?”

“Not that I remember.”

“Then you must look like someone I know. I’ve heard people say that everyone has a double somewhere.”

“You might have seen Becky’s picture,” Jake said. “She’s a model.”

Dean raised his eyebrows. “Oh?”

“There are ads all over the place with Becky modeling blue jeans.”

“I guess that explains it. You’re certainly lovely enough to be a model, Becky.”

“Thank you. All the credit for that goes to my parents.”

A trim, blue-eyed woman moved to Dean’s side and slipped her hand through the crook of his elbow. “Did I just hear you calling someone lovely?”

Even if Becky hadn’t recognized the woman’s face from NASCAR coverage, she would have known this was Patsy Grosso by the way she fit so perfectly next to Dean. The couple had gone through a rocky period in their marriage but had reconciled last year. It was obvious by their body language they adored each other.

Becky’s adoptive parents had broken up more times than she could have counted. Their reconciliations hadn’t lasted long. The brief periods of peace in the house had been laced with tension that would continue to build until the next argument.

Oh, how she’d wished her parents could have been like the Grossos.

It was mind-boggling to think that this couple actually could be her parents.

Dean’s face softened into a smile as he leaned over to give his wife a kiss. “You did, Patsy. This is Becky Peters, Jake’s date.”

Patsy smiled and shook Becky’s hand. “My husband was right. You’re a beautiful young woman. Jake, why haven’t you brought her around before?”

“Becky does a lot of traveling for her work,” he replied.

“Becky’s a model,” Dean said. “Jeans.”

Patsy’s gaze sharpened. “You’re the woman in the jeans posters!” she exclaimed. “Imagine that, we have a celebrity in our midst.”

Becky was startled that Patsy would consider her a celebrity when Dean and Kent were so famous. The Grossos must be down-to-earth people, she thought happily. They would probably welcome their daughter no matter who she was. “The campaign is getting a lot of good placements.”

“Those ads are everywhere. No wonder I thought I’d seen you before.”

“It’s a common reaction,” Jake said. “Happens a lot.”

He was right, Becky thought. She often met people who knew her face because of her ads. Yet she couldn’t help thinking there might be more to the recognition Dean and Patsy had felt.

Did they see a resemblance to themselves or someone in their family? Or perhaps they sensed a blood tie. Could they really be her parents?

She’d been excited by the possibility for months, but there was a huge difference between merely thinking about it and meeting the couple in person, feeling their palms against hers as they shook her hand, watching them smile, hearing their voices…

Oh, God, yes. She wanted to be their daughter. Please, let it be true.

To have a mother again, someone to hold when the world got mean, or even when things were good. Someone who would listen to her fears without laughing and wouldn’t be afraid to say what she thought.

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