“I did. Let me shower, then we’ll have breakfast together before you leave.”
“Sounds good.”
I walk over and kiss her before I disappear the back room. When we bought the house, Leah and I turned a room in the back of the house into a training room for me. It has everything I need to train, plus a shower. It was Leah’s idea; she didn’t want me stinking up the house with my sweaty clothes.
Leah and I dated in high school. She went on to college, where she took business courses while I trained to be a pro-boxer. It was my dream, even as a small child. I honestly believe I would have reached my goal of being world champion by now if life hadn’t interfered in the cruelest way.
After my shower, I return to the kitchen, and Leah is just finishing making breakfast. We eat together in the eat-in kitchen and talk over a breakfast of oatmeal, whole-wheat toast, and fresh strawberries. Leah knows that while she works I’ll spend the majority of my day training.
“What are your plans today?” I ask.
“I thought I would go to work, then stop by the store on my way home. I need to get a few things.”
“I can go to the store after my workout if you want.”
“Good, I need an ovulation kit and some tampons.” She smiles, and I know she is laughing on the inside.
I smile, too. I’m not going to the store for that kind of stuff. “Is there anything else you want me to do today?”
“After you go to the store?” she asks.
“Instead of,” I correct.
“Don’t want to go to the store?” she asks.
“No.”
“I didn’t think so. I have a shipment of books and supplies coming in today. Do you want to come over and help me put those away?”
“I can do that,” I say as I finish off my orange juice.
“Good, it’s going to be a significant delivery.” Leah stands and takes our empty bowls into the kitchen. I stand and follow behind her with the juice glass and empty coffee cups.
Leah turns around and hugs me. “I need to go before I’m late. I’ll see you around 6:00 p.m.?”
“Six it is. I love you, Sweets. Have a good day at work.”
“Have a good day at home.” She giggles. “I love you, Robert.”
Leah and our parents are the only people who call me Robert; everyone else calls me Bobby. I kiss her one last time, inhaling her scent of buttercream and vanilla. Since she owns a bakery, coffee shop, and bookstore combined, her scent is unique to her. “Be careful, Sweets, and I’ll see you at 6:00,” I say as I hold the door open for her.
“Sure you don’t want to pick up my tampons and ovulation kit for me?” she teases.
“Positive.” I watch as she gets into the Tahoe, buckles up, and pulls out of the driveway.
My phone rings and I’m surprised to see it’s from my trainer, Gus.
“Hey, Gus, what’s up?”
“I have some news.”
“Did Kennedy accept my challenge?” Abel Kennedy is the heavyweight champion.
“Haven’t heard anything back from him, and I won’t because you’re not a contender yet. Two years ago you were a contender; now you are opponent. Remember: This is your first fight in two years. Kennedy will ignore you until you do something impressive — in more than just one fight — that makes it impossible for him to ignore you. I’m calling to remind you of the scheduled fight for Friday, 8:00 p.m., in Chicago, against Bailey — John Bailey. Not that you need reminding, I should hope.”
I laugh and say, “He sounds like a sissy.”
Laughing, Gus says, “Don’t let his name fool you. They call him ‘Stone,’ because he hits like a rock. He’s a good fighter. You still have a reputation, so I was able to get him to fight you. He is a much better fighter than anyone else you would get a fight with after such a long layoff. If you can defeat him, I can get you a better fighter for your next fight. If you lose, it will be difficult to work yourself up to contender status. Remember: You lost one of your best fighting years to drugs. Make that two years: It took another year for you to recover from drug addiction and to get back into fighting shape.”
I think back to the year that I lost Jamie. It was by far the toughest year of my life. Leah and I both fell into comas after the car accident. When I woke up, I learned my daughter was dead and her funeral had already passed. Leah was still in a coma. I remember thinking that she won’t wake up and if she did wake up, she would blame me for the accident that took our Jamie from us, forever. I ran away and turned to drug abuse and addiction that almost killed me. Cheating on my wife was another huge mistake. I guess almost dying from a drug overdose is what ultimately saved me and saved my marriage. Well, not the overdose; what saved me was that Leah found me, with the help of the police, in the hospital. Luckily for me, Leah loved me unconditionally. She helped me detox, forgave my infidelity and encouraged me to fight again, although she hates it.
“What time do we leave?”
“We fly out Friday morning at 8:00. Make sure your dad is going, and I’ll get him a seat.”
“I’ll call him and get back with you. Leah’s dad may want to go to.”
“Meet me at Upper Cut tomorrow morning for your workout, and do your homework on John Bailey before the fight. There’re some online videos of him that I want you to watch.”
“Sounds good, see ya tomorrow.”
Note
David Bruce allowed me to use a few anecdotes from his books. The Josephine and Carl Bruce anecdotes appear in his book The Kindest People: Be Excellent to Each Other (Volume 5). It can be downloaded free; search for it on the web. The Mister Rogers anecdote appears in The Kindest People Who Do Good Deeds: Volume 2, which is available for sale.
Martina Donna Ramone and David Bruce allowed me to use the story about playwright and screenwriter Charles MacArthur and his wife, actress Helen Hayes, and the death of their daughter, Mary, from polio. It appears in their book Honey Badger Goes to Hell — and Heaven. It can be downloaded free; search for it on the web.
By the way, David Bruce wanted me to put this here:
“In January 2015, I, David Bruce, had over 11,000 free downloads of my books (many are permanently free) and approximately 100 sales. To whoever bought 50 copies of my books on 11 February 2015, thank you. PS: I love you.”
I support Indie Authors. If you read this book, please take the time to go on the purchasing site and give it a review. Independent authors count on your reviews to get the word out about our books. Thank you for taking the time to read our books and taking the extra time to review them. We all appreciate it very much.
Disclaimer: People and places in this book have been used fictitiously and without malice.
Acknowledgments
My husband, Rex: Thank you for supporting me and for coming with me on this ride. What a year it has been! I will always love you.
My Children: Carey, John, Derek, Nikki, Chastidy, Rex, Brittany, Amanda, and Katie: Thank you for reminding me what is important every single day. I love you.
My Grandchildren: Desmond, Samantha, Autumn, Evan, Derek, Dayquan, Darius, Draden, Alyssa, Hailey, Lucca, Tanner, Giovanni, Cain, Lelila, Kylie, DeVonte’, Adrienne, Amaya, Dominic, Damien, Caden, and Gemma: Thank you for reminding me that I am somebody; I am your grandma and nothing else matters. I love you all.
My sisters and brothers: George, Martha, Rosa, Carla, and Frank: Thank you for your support. I love you.
My other brother, David: Without you, I wouldn’t have been able to publish the first book. Thank you for making my ideas better and for all you do. Editing, proofreading, polishing, formatting, ideas, articles, and research websites. See, I do pay attention. Thank you. Thank you for pushing me until I get it right. Maybe someday, I’ll learn the right place to put the commas. I love you and I can never thank you enough.
Thank you to my daughters Brittany and Amanda Kennedy: Thank you for all your help at book signings, and with the book swag. I couldn’t have done them without you.
Christina Badder, Owner and Operator of CBB Productions: My P.A., and friend. Thank you for taking care of all of my promotional needs. The blog tours, author spotlights, book cover reveals, give-a-ways, Rafflecopters, Thunderclap campaigns, ARC’s, and everything that I don’t know that you do or things I forgot to mention. I hope you know how much I appreciate your hard work and dedication.
Thank you to my Beta readers: Cathy Stotts, Lorraine McDonald, Natalie Neck, Nichole Taggart, Raelynn Chambers, Heather Ross-Cicio, Dove King Bailey, Heather Osborne, Heather Leach Schrader, Heaven Potter, Lou Ann Mohler, Jenni Crawford, Jessica King, Rhiannon Matthias, Sherry Gainey, Nimia Bradford, and Melissa Harvey. I appreciate you all, more than you know. I appreciate your honest opinions and reviews. I love the bond that we have developed and I appreciate that I can trust you.
Thank you to “Brenda’s Street Talkers,” for pimping my books, making teasers and banners, and just for the support I receive from you every day.
Thank you to Beth Maddox at Cover It Up Designs for the book cover. I love your work and your vision.
Missy MacKenzie Swain, owner of Noodle Noo Jewelry/Watches. Thank you for making and crafting my professional book swag. I love your framed charms, bookmarks, and key chains. To see Missy’s designs, go to Noodle Noo via Facebook. Thank you, and I look forward to seeing what else you come up with.
Thank you to all the bloggers who shared in the author’s spotlight and the blog tour for Mending Hearts. I appreciate you more than you know.
A very special thank you to my fellow author friends who help me every day, even when you don’t realize you are: Diane B. Jones, C.M. Hutton, Arden Aoide, David Bruce, ML Steinbrunn, Savannah Grey, and Layla Stevens for teaching me things that I am clueless about. I love each of you.
Raelynn Chambers: Thank you for your endless support and for having the cutest name ever. You inspired little Raelynn in my book and I love her and you.
All my family, friends, internet friends, and the Manatee County Jail nursing and corrections staff: Thank you all for your support and ideas. I have used many of your names in Mending Hearts.
My close family and very close friends: You may recognize many names and places in Mending Hearts. I had so much fun incorporating family names and some of my favorite places into this book. You all have definitely helped inspire many of the characters in this book.
To my readers: Thank you a million times over for reading and reviewing my books. Thank you to my loyal readers who have followed me from the beginning and to those who are new to my books.
About the Author
When I first started writing, I wanted to write about real people that others could relate to with real life problems and real jobs. I love to read about the billionaire 20-something-year-old, but knew this wasn’t the kind of story I want to write. When my first trilogy, The Starting Over Trilogy, took form, I was thrilled to be able to make the book as close to realistic as I could.
I wanted to touch on real-life problems. Not because I want to show the weakness in my characters, or to show the disturbing truth, but because I wanted to show my characters’ strengths. The Starting Over Trilogy dealt with domestic violence. A problem all too familiar for too many women and men.
Then came The Freedom Trilogy, a spinoff of The Starting Over Trilogy. My book started off with the All-American military family and the real problems some face during deployment. I picked my daughter’s brain and used her real emotions during the deployment stage. Thank you, Amanda.
I was also fortunate enough to add another real crisis in this series: drug abuse and addiction — problems all too common in the county I reside in and all across the globe. I had a very dear online friend who opened up and shared her very sad story with me. I attempted to make Molly’s drug problem as realistic as I could. I’m not one to judge and much like my characters in my book, I try to be understanding in realizing that everyone deals with stress differently. I know that life isn’t fair and we all are not born equally. I won’t mention any names, for it’s not my story to tell, but a BIG THANK YOU goes out to my friend and informant. You know who you are and please take a bow. You are truly amazing and my hero.
I hope in my future books I am able to continue to write about problems most of us face while continuing to give my characters their Happily Ever After.
One a lighter note: I moved to sunny Florida in 2006 and never looked back. I love fresh squeezed lemonade, crushed ice, teacups, wineglasses, non-franchise restaurants, ice cream cones, boating, picnics, cookouts, throwing parties, lace, white wine, mojitos, strawberry margaritas, white linen tablecloths, fresh flowers, and Pinterest. I also love to read and write and to spend time with my family.
My books, thus far, have been inspired by the things I love and the people who influence me, every single day, to be a better person.
You may follow me on:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Brenda-Kennedy-Author
https://twitter.com/BrendaKennedy_
[email protected]
https://www.goodreads.com/author/dashboard
https://www.pinterest.com/brendakennedy06/
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