by Natalie Ann
Copyright 2019 Natalie Ann
All Rights Reserved
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner without a written consent.
Author’s Note
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
The Road Series-See where it all started!!
Lucas and Brooke’s Story- Road to Recovery
Jack and Cori’s Story – Road to Redemption
Mac and Beth’s Story- Road to Reality
Ryan and Kaitlin’s Story- Road to Reason
The All Series
William and Isabel’s Story — All for Love
Ben and Presley’s Story – All or Nothing
Phil and Sophia’s Story – All of Me
Alec and Brynn’s Story – All the Way
Sean and Carly’s Story — All I Want
Drew and Jordyn’s Story— All My Love
Finn and Olivia’s Story—All About You
Landon Barber and Kristen Reid – All of Us
The Lake Placid Series
Nick Buchanan and Mallory Denning – Second Chance
Max Hamilton and Quinn Baker – Give Me A Chance
Caleb Ryder and Celeste McGuire – Our Chance
Cole McGuire and Rene Buchanan – Take A Chance
Zach Monroe and Amber Deacon- Deserve A Chance
Trevor Miles and Riley Hamilton – Last Chance
Matt Winters and Dena Hall- Another Chance
The Fierce Five Series
Gavin Fierce and Jolene O’Malley- How Gavin Stole Christmas
Brody Fierce and Aimee Reed - Brody
Aiden Fierce and Nic Moretti- Aiden
Mason Fierce and Jessica Corning- Mason
Cade Fierce and Alex Marshall - Cade
Ella Fierce and Travis McKinley- Ella
Fierce Family
Sam Fierce and Dani Rhodes- Sam
Byrce Fierce and Payton Davies- Bryce
Love Collection
Vin Steele and Piper Fielding – Secret Love
Jared Hawk and Shelby McDonald – True Love
Erik McMann and Sheldon Case – Finding Love
Connor Landers and Melissa Mahoney- Beach Love
Ian Price and Cam Mason- Intense Love
Liam Sullivan and Ali Rogers - Autumn Love
Owen Taylor and Jill Duncan - Holiday Love
Chase Martin and Noelle Bennett - Christmas Love
Zeke Collins and Kendall Hendricks - Winter Love
Troy Walker and Meena Dawson – Chasing Love
Jace Stratton and Lauren Towne - First Love
Gabe Richards and Leah Morrison – Forever Love
Blake Wilson and Gemma Anderson- Simple Love
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Being strong doesn’t make you a hero, but doing what is right does.
Gemma Anderson has always been the ugly duckling of the family. Overweight, shy, and picked on...not just by friends, but by family. She turned to food for comfort, which only compounded her misery. As an adult, she’d had enough of her lonesome life and decided in order to break out of her horrible habits and routine, she had to move away, or risk being alone forever.
Blake Wilson had one of the most dysfunctional lives of anyone he’d ever known. He grew up just wanting a stable family home life and knew if he ever got it, he’d have to avoid the drama of his current family. He enlisted in the service, then went into law enforcement. He’d always wanted to do right by people and prove he was nothing like his family. Now if he could only find the right woman.
Table of Contents
Prologue
Begin Fresh
Peace of Mind
Sexy and Sweet
Change of Pace
Kind of Boring
Happy for Her
Feel Wanted
The Right Direction
Perfectly Adorable
Never Good Enough
White Doves
What I Want
Feel Faint
Scare Himself
Bad Enough
Taunting Her
Toughen Her Up
Idea of Love
An Embarrassment
Same Parameters
Stronger Than That
Comfort You
Avoid Confrontation
Actually Loved Me
Epilogue
Prologue
“Gemma, dinner will be ready in an hour. Go finish up your homework now, if you want.”
“I’m almost done. Can I stay in the kitchen and help you, Mom?” she asked, eying the food on the counter. She was hungry, but it seemed like she was always craving something. Sometimes it wasn’t only food she was craving, but that was all she ever got.
Besides, maybe she could find a way to convince her mother to let her have a snack to satisfy her. She’d learned to show those puppy dog eyes enough to get what she wanted.
“No, I don’t need any help with dinner tonight. It’s easy, but I’d like to have space in the kitchen. If you’re done with your work, then go play in your room.”
“But, Mom,” she said.
“No whining. And you aren’t going to convince me to give you anything to eat. You don’t need it and I don’t need to hear any grief from your father tonight either. Your room if you’re done with your work.”
Gemma sighed and closed her math book. She was done. She’d been done for ten minutes but was just trying to find a way to stay in the kitchen in hopes for some food. But hearing her mother mention her father made her want to leave.
She knew she’d never be good enough in her father’s eyes. In anyone’s eyes.
At just ten years old she was the only sibling with red hair. Auburn, her mother called it, but in her eyes it was red when her sister and brother were blondes. Blondes just like her parents were.
But no. Gemma had to get her hair and green eyes from her father’s sister. The sister that everyone said was the black sheep of the family because she chose to never get married. Gemma had been told plenty of times to never bring that subject up and she hadn’t. Though she had no idea why she couldn’t.
She loved her Aunt Julie. She didn’t care if Aunt Julie was married or not. But what she did care about was that her aunt paid more attention to her than her parents did at times.
Aunt Julie never judged her. Never told her to stop eating and go out and play more. Never told her that she was too shy and weird. Or that she had no friends and never would.
No. Her Aunt Julie was her best friend and she didn’t care if her sister Amelia told her that was wrong. Not everyone could be tall and thin and athletic like Amelia was. At just twelve Amelia was a star in every sport she played. And she played everything she could.
Then there was her younger brother, Andy. At eight he was the apple of their father’s eye. Even named after him. Andrew Jr. Andy could do nothing wrong in her parents’ eyes either. That, and he was the baby too...just another mark in his favor.
She’d always wondered how she ended up in the family the way she did, but it’s not like she could change it.
“Fine,” Gemma said, gathering up her books and stalking out of t
he room. She had Twinkies in there anyway under her bed and would have one.
She grabbed her Barbie dolls out of their house and started to change their clothing. She really didn’t like playing with them and often wondered why they never made a Barbie that wasn’t skinny with long beautiful hair. Why couldn’t one be normal? Have shorter legs, maybe a little thicker. Even shorter hair that was hard to style. Not even fashionable clothing.
Nope. All these Barbies looked just like what she expected Amelia would resemble when she was older. Nothing at all like Gemma figured she’d look like as an adult.
It’s not like there was anything she could do about the way her dolls looked, so she set about playing with them as usual. Playing house the way she thought a home should be.
She must have lost track of time because she heard her sister’s and brother’s voices now. Must be her father picked them up from their practices and dinner would be soon.
Pushing her dolls back in their house, she looked around for the two Twinkie wrappers and stuffed them under her bed with the other wrappers she’d hidden there too, then made her way down for dinner.
“Figures you’d come running like always,” Amelia said to her, smirking as she pushed the chair back to sit at the table. “Someone actually beat you to their seat.”
Gemma just shot her sister a dirty look. “I knew it was time for dinner with all the noise you were making.” What she wanted to add was how they couldn’t do anything until the prince and princess arrived, but she’d never been bold enough to say that.
“She’s probably just hungry like always,” Andy said, pulling his chair out.
She sat down next to her sister while her mother brought over a big bowl of spaghetti and her father carried over the bowl of meatballs. Garlic bread and salad were already on the table. She wanted to reach for the bread but learned a long time ago that she’d get her hand slapped if she tried to reach for food before it was time to pass it around.
So she sat there patiently, then filled her plate with spaghetti, two meatballs and a slice of garlic bread. She passed on the salad knowing that Amelia would fill her plate with that. Amelia ate like a rabbit half the time anyway. Where was the enjoyment in that?
“Are you trying to hibernate for the winter or something?” Andy asked, laughing. “It’s still a few months away.”
Gemma already had a mouthful of food and turned to look at her brother, wondering what he was talking about now.
“She doesn’t get it,” Amelia said to Andy, laughing. “Good thing we aren’t having sausage tonight. Gemma might mistake one of her fingers for the meat.”
Gemma felt her face start to fill with heat. With shame. Everyone always picked on her. No one understood her.
She ignored them, pushed the tears from her eyes and continued to eat. Crying didn’t do anything but make her father start in with her siblings.
If she thought her parents would come to her defense and tell Amelia and Andy to stop...well, she’d learned that never happened either.
No one ever stuck up for her.
No one ever seemed to care one way or another about anything other than making her the joke of the family.
Begin Fresh
Eighteen years later
Gemma pulled down the driveway and parked in front of the small log cabin. She hadn’t been here in years and was looking forward to this.
Looking forward to starting her life over.
To moving on from her last job.
From her family and the friends she thought she had but realized she never did.
To begin fresh.
She got out of her car and started to walk toward the front door of her Aunt Julie’s second home in Lake Placid.
Aunt Julie never married, but then again, she traveled all the time and never sat still. Her job as a pharmaceutical rep had her changing territories and companies all the time. Moving up and moving on to better things.
Once, Gemma had asked her aunt if she was gay and her aunt had almost laughed her out of the room. Then she’d said, “Just because a woman is single doesn’t mean she’s gay. And if I were gay, I’d be proud of it and flaunt my lover in front of your stuck-up mother and my tight-assed brother. But in this case, I just put my career first.” Then her aunt had smiled and said, “But don’t think I lack for companionship. I just keep my affairs discreet. There’s no use getting any more judgment from our family.”
She’d cracked a grin when her aunt said that five years ago. If anyone was used to being judged, it was her Aunt Julie. Maybe that was why her aunt took Gemma under her wing so much growing up. She must have known exactly what Gemma was going through.
And if there was one person who understood Gemma’s need for a change in her life, it was her aunt. Which was why her aunt put a good word in for her when Gemma said she wanted to move away from her hometown of Colonie, just outside of Albany in Upstate New York.
Her aunt had contacts and reached out to the school district here when Gemma saw there was an opening for a middle school English teacher. Gemma interviewed and got the job and here she was, the first week of July ready to start her new life.
Her aunt told her there was no reason to look for a place yet, to stay at her cabin that was hardly ever used. Gemma took the offer gladly. She had enough to do moving and getting used to the area before committing to an apartment right now.
She pulled out the key her aunt had mailed her and opened the front door, then switched on a light. As a kid, she’d loved coming here in the summer and spending a week with her aunt. Amelia and Andy never got to spend a week with their aunt, and Gemma loved it even more for that reason.
As soon as the light came on, Gemma knew something was off. Instead of everything being nice and neat and orderly like her aunt kept things, it looked like someone had been staying in the place.
There was a blanket on the couch all crumpled up and some newspapers on the coffee table.
“Hello,” she called out. Should she leave right now? She wasn’t sure what to do. “Is anyone here?”
There was no answer, so she took a chance and walked into the kitchen. When she saw wrappers in the garbage along with some paper plates and napkins she knew she wasn’t imagining things.
She pulled her phone out and called her aunt right away. Thankfully she answered on the first ring. “Hi, Gemma. Did you get to the cabin already?”
“I’m here, Aunt Julie. You said you were going to have someone have it all set up, right?”
“Yes. Is it all dusty and musty smelling? They were supposed to be there last week to clean it up for you.”
That’s what she was afraid of. “It looks like someone has been here. Not cleaning either.”
“What do you mean?” her aunt asked.
“A blanket was left on the couch along with some newspapers and there is trash in the garbage. Like someone was staying here and ate and left it.”
“What are you doing in the cabin then?” her aunt shrieked. “Get out and call the police.”
“There’s no one here,” Gemma said. “And the food smells rank so I’m thinking no one has been here in a few days.”
“It doesn’t matter. Go back in your car and lock the doors and call the police. Let me know right away what is going on. I’m so sorry, Gemma. It’s the last thing you needed to deal with moving there. Here you are making all these great changes in your life and don’t need to be concerned about a safe place to stay.”
She hadn’t been thinking of that. Great. “You aren’t helping matters any, Aunt Julie. I’m in my car now. I’ll call nine-one-one and let you know what I find out. Don’t worry. I’m sure it’s nothing.”
At least she hoped so. It’s not like the place was trashed or anything looked to be missing. Then again she hadn’t really looked, as she got out of there as fast as she could when her aunt yelled at her.
***
Blake Wilson pulled up behind the State Trooper vehicle in front of the small log cabin. The place was s
et back from the road a bit, but not completely remote. There were other houses on the street, but it was not unheard of for a hiker to stumble across a place that looked empty and camp for a night or two.
It’s the only reason he was called to investigate. It seemed to be happening a lot lately. No damage was ever done, but it looked as if someone stayed a night or two for free.
“What do we have here?” he asked Matt, one of the young troopers.
“Not much. Looks like someone got into the place a few nights ago. I talked to Gemma and she said she didn’t walk through the whole place. From the smell of the food I’d say they are long gone. Probably stayed a night or so, same as before.”
“Gemma?” he asked.
Matt pointed to the woman leaning against her car looking at her phone.
What a sight she was. Probably five foot five and nice and curvy. Not some toothpick woman, but someone toned in all the right places. Someone who obviously took very good care of herself in the process.
Long brown hair with hints of red in it as the sun was beating down on her. It was pushing eighty-five at the moment and she didn’t look to even be sweating. Calm women happened to be his thing.
He walked over to the lovely lady. “I’m Investigator Wilson. Is this your property?”
She looked up fast, her green eyes bright and clear as an emerald on the Queen’s finger. Not a nerve out of place, which was surprising considering she called 911 for a break-in.
“It’s my aunt’s cabin. I’ll be living here though.”
“And you are?” he asked. “Your aunt’s name too.” He’d pulled out his notebook, ready to write.
“Gemma Anderson. My aunt is Julie Anderson. I called her when I got here. She had sent someone over to clean and I could tell right away that cleaning wasn’t the only thing that had been done.”