“You just haven’t met the right woman.” She smiled, but it faded as she went into a coughing spell. Covering her mouth with one hand, she gestured toward the glass of water on her nightstand with the other.
He handed her the glass, watching her as she took a few long sips. When the coughing subsided, she handed it back to him and he returned it to its resting spot.
“How long can you stay, Troy?”
He heard the weariness in her voice as she asked the question, and the familiar pangs of guilt wrenched his lower abdomen. “I’ll be here for a while, Mama Jeannie. I just took a job here in town.”
A bit of the old sparkle returned to her gray eyes. “Really? Where?”
“I’ll be working over at the Chance spread as a lead rancher. Great benefits, good pay.”
She nodded. “Benefits, you say.” She paused. “I’m sure you know Robyn is still there, don’t you? Only she’s ‘Dr. Chance’ nowadays.”
“I know, Mama Jeannie.” Yes, he was well aware that his junior-year girlfriend was still in Grandeza. “In a town as small as Grandeza, there are very few secrets.”
“Even for someone who only comes through once in a blue moon, huh?”
He grimaced. I guess I had that coming. “What are you getting at?”
“I’m not getting at anything.”
He tilted his head, giving her a look.
“I’m serious. Why should I meddle in your life? Fate always takes care of things. You’ll see.”
He sighed and gave the only acceptable reply. “Yes, ma’am.”
She yawned, then snuggled down deeper into the mound of pillows. “I’m tired, Troy. Will you stay around for a while, until I take a little nap?”
He nodded. “I’ll be here.”
Her droopy eyes slipped shut a moment later. Standing, he leaned over her and placed a soft kiss on her weathered brow. She’d lived eighty-nine years, and in that time, she’d buried her husband and her only biological son, and seen more than her share of hardships. While Mama Jeannie and Uncle Carver got along pretty well, their contact with each other was infrequent at best. Despite his wandering ways, Troy loved his grandmother fiercely. The two of them were the only living members of this branch of the Monroe family tree.
Sitting back down, he watched her sleep as he pondered what fate had in store for him.
Can I finally find what I’m looking for?
A true home?
Copyright © 2019 by Eboni Manning
ISBN-13: 9781488034435
Spark of Desire & All for You
Copyright © 2019 by Harlequin Books S.A.
The publisher acknowledges the copyright holders of the individual works as follows:
Spark of Desire
Copyright © 2019 by Sheryl Lister
All for You
Copyright © 2019 by Leslie Wright
All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this ebook on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 22 Adelaide St. West, 40th Floor, Toronto, Ontario M5H 4E3, Canada.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
® and ™ are trademarks of the publisher. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office and in other countries.
www.Harlequin.com
Spark of Desire ; All for You Page 41