With the added charges of violating the terms of her bail and arson with attempted murder, Sara was given a custodial sentence. From the look on her face, she hadn’t expected to actually get a sentence. Five years behind bars.
It didn’t feel like enough in May’s opinion, but she would happily take it. Part of Sara’s conditions once she was paroled was to be in intensive therapy and not to contact May and her family or her son and daughter-in-law. May hadn’t heard anything since Sara’s release. It was like she had ceased to exist in the woman’s mind.
That was how May wanted it. She didn’t want Sara Monahan hanging around scaring her children. That was not something they needed to see. At least everyone had seen through her façade and didn’t believe she was a little old lady or crazy. She had known exactly what she was doing and thought she could get away with it because there hadn’t been proper repercussions for her actions years before.
May hated the people who had raised Sara. They had made sure she didn’t stand a chance of being a decent human being.
And now the Monahan family was back. Will was not a little boy anymore; he was a high school senior about to go to college. And their daughter, their freshman daughter, was going on a date with him.
It felt so surreal.
Chris drove both Jaime and May to the movie theatre. May had asked if she could come along and see if she could catch Melissa. It was about time they caught up. May was keen to see how Sara’s daughter-in-law was getting on.
They arrived at the theatre and Jaime, for the first time in her teenaged existence, had put away her cell phone and looked eager to jump out the car. May scanned the people going into the theatre, trying to see if she could find Will.
It didn’t take much. May recognized Melissa immediately. She looked a little older and there were a few gray hairs but barely anything had changed. If anything, Melissa Monahan looked fitter and healthier than she had done before, even her hair was several inches shorter and in a different style. Beside her, Will practically towered over her, his russet-coloured hair thick and curly. He looked like a football quarterback with his frame, his biceps as thick as May’s thighs. That boy was going to grow into a very handsome young man.
May couldn’t believe how amazing Melissa looked. May herself was pushing fifty and was certainly going white with her figure now full of curves instead of the thin frame she had had before having children. Melissa probably wouldn’t recognize her.
As Jaime jumped out the car and ran over to Will. Will gave her a grin and went to meet her, hugging her closely. May climbed out the passenger seat and saw Melissa turn to her. The younger woman’s eyes widened in stunned amazement and she gasped.
“May?”
May grinned and waved. Melissa burst out in delightful laughter and hurried to her. They hugged, Melissa still beaming as she pulled back.
“My God, May! I can’t believe it. You look amazing!”
“Thanks.” May prodded her stomach. “Although I could do with losing a bit of weight.”
“Nonsense. You look great.”
“I was going to say the same about you.” May gestured at Melissa’s figure. “You look a size smaller.”
Melissa grinned and flexed her bicep.
“Zumba three times a week and running every day helped trim me down. Just what I needed.”
“It suits you.” May indicated her husband as he came around to join them on the sidewalk. “You remember my husband, Chris?”
“Of course I do.” Melissa turned her beaming smile onto Chris as they shook hands. “You look like you’ve kept yourself well.”
Chris grinned. May thought so, too. His hair was streaked with silver, he had grown himself a goatee and moustache combination and his body was firmer than it had been in his thirties. Chris looked after himself and he knew it.
May wasn’t about to complain. At fifty-one, Chris was the one making her keep up, not the other way around.
Melissa turned to her son and beckoned him over. With his arm around Jaime’s shoulders, Will strolled over to them.
“And I’m sure you remember my son, Will.”
“Of course we do.” May nodded at the boy. “Although not so little now.”
“And the days of running in front of cars is long behind me.” Will chuckled.
Jaime looked confused.
“What does that mean?”
“I’ll tell you later.” Will shook Chris’ hand. “Thank you for this, Mr. Campbell. I know it’s a little uncomfortable but I do appreciate it.”
“Let’s just say both my arms were twisted.” Chris answered, giving May a meaningful look. May laughed and nudged him.
“Oh, stop it. Jaime, take your young man in and enjoy yourselves. Text us when you’re out, that’s all I ask.”
“Fine, Mom.” Jaime tugged at Will’s hand. “Come on, Will.”
Giving his mother a final wave, Will followed after the teenager. May turned to Melissa, who was watching her son leave with a proud smile.
“Fancy a coffee, Melissa?”
“I’d love one.”
“Then I’ll leave you to it.” Chris kissed his wife. “I’ve got an appointment I need to keep.”
May knew all about it. Romanov wanted Chris to help broker a deal with someone from overseas who was coming to Baltimore for business. It was something Chris wasn’t about to turn down. Not with the money he got from it.
“See you later, love.”
Chris gave her one last look that had May’s toes curling and got into the car. The two women watched him pull away from the kerb.
“Sounds like it’s all go for him still.” Melissa commented.
“I’m afraid so. Even with all the money we have and our three children want for nothing, he still wants to work.”
It drove May mad that Chris still worked in a dangerous profession, especially now they had children. But Chris kept everything separate and May made sure that his work life and the children’s lives didn’t cross. They didn’t need to be used as targets. It was odd not being his personal assistant and rather being a full-time parent, being a taxi for three busy children who had what seemed like a million activities and making sure Chris’ life outside of work went smoothly. Chris took care of the money and she took care of everything else. It had worked very well after all these years.
May certainly wasn’t complaining.
She linked arms with Melissa and they walked down the sidewalk.
“I didn’t think you’d come back to the area. Not with your mother-in-law still living in the city. You said you’d never return if she was still here.”
“I know.” Melissa sighed. “We moved back about six months ago when Sara was moved to a care facility in Bethesda after breaking her hip. Apparently she’s been going blind for the last two years. It doesn’t look like she’ll be coming back to Baltimore soon.”
“She’s not tried to contact you since leaving jail, has she?”
“She tried. But every time was reported and she went back to jail for another month. It was two years before she got the message and left us alone. For about five years.”
“Five years?” May was half-expecting it to be sooner. “What happened then?”
“She ended up in the psych ward. John was still down as an emergency contact.”
“Jesus. What happened?”
Melissa shook her head.
“She’d fixated on her neighbor and her grandchildren, thinking she could be a new grandma to them. The neighbor had her arrested after she broke into the woman’s house and tried to take the youngest out in a baby carrier.”
May stopped and stared at her.
“Seriously? She didn’t learn her lesson the last time around.”
“I’m afraid not. She wanted John and William back in her lives and that wasn’t happening so she turned to others.”
May whistled.
“Wow. I had half-expected something but not that. What did John say about it?”
“He
was distraught. After a while I realized he was talking to her despite the court order not to. So, I reported both of them. I wasn’t having my son’s health jeopardized because his family couldn’t listen to a judge. We divorced not long after.”
“I’m sorry.”
Melissa shrugged.
“Don’t be. I realized not long after the trial that the marriage wasn’t going to last. It was just a question of when it was going to break down. I thought those five years would bring us together more and we could be a family again. Then Sara was released and started trying to contact us and it went to pot again.”
May hadn’t cared much for John before and she certainly didn’t care for him now.
“Sounds like you’re well rid of him.”
“I am.” Melissa smiled. “I’ve been with my fiancé for three years now. He’s a good guy and his mother’s a saint.”
“You got lucky there.”
“Yep, I did.”
May shuddered.
“I’m going to be Sara’s age at the time all this trouble started in ten years. I hope I don’t end up that crazy.”
Melissa laughed.
“I doubt you will. You’ve got a solid head on your shoulders.”
“I hope.”
Melissa slapped May’s arm.
“Oh, you. Will and I are well-adjusted and happy.” She nodded towards the theatre. “And it looks like Jaime’s stuck on him and vice versa.”
“Is that a good or a bad thing?”
“Depends on how strong this young love is.” Melissa giggled. “Let’s go before we witness them locking lips.”
May sighed dramatically and shuddered.
“Oh, the thought.”
The two women laughed and walked towards the coffee shop at the end of the block. May didn’t need to worry about Jaime. She had a feeling her daughter was going to be absolutely fine.
The end.
Marrying Her Asian Billionaire
A marriage of convenience, but can they find true love?
A complete romance story, brought to you by best selling author Mary Peart.
How far would you go to live your dream?
Kimone has always wanted to run a stand out toy shop, one where kids could come and play while their parents are out shopping.
While she’s managed to achieve that dream, financially she’s struggling, and it’s only a matter of time before her business goes under.
So when a handsome and mysterious Japanese-American billionaire proposes an offer to her, marry him and he’ll save her business, it’s kind of hard to refuse.
But what starts as a marriage of convenience for both isn’t all it seems.
When one of the two starts to gain real feelings for the other, how will things play out?
Find out in this one of a kind romance by best selling author Mary Peart of BWWM Club.
Suitable for over 18s only due to sex scenes so hot, you’ll want your own Asian man to marry.
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 1
Kimone sat crossed leg on the floor, the bills spread all around her. She had been trying to work out how on earth she was going to make the payment on the shop lease and stock up for the coming Christmas holiday and she had not worked it out yet. She was in over her head and she had no clue where to turn to. With a sigh, she reached for her lease agreement. She had been poring over it for the past half an hour and she could not find a loophole. The lease would be up in two weeks and if she could not find the money to renew it she would be out on her ear.
“Haw!” she screamed in frustration. It has been two years now since she had opened her toy store amid a lot of doubt from her mother and her best friend Dawn but she’d had the idea of a toy store that sold one of a kind handmade toys. She had been doing fairly well until the large toy store had opened up in the mall a few blocks over and her business had steadily declined. She had seen the ‘I told you so’ look on her mother’s face. Dawn had told her bluntly to put her degree in child psychology to good use and look for a job that would put food on the table and pay the bills. She had stubbornly refused to give up.
She flopped backwards and laid there staring at the quaint pink stucco roof. The building was small and looked more like a cottage than an actual store and she had gotten the idea of it being an oversized doll house. She had set up a small cozy corner where there was storytelling and tiny tea parties with actual drinks and pastries. She had even had the idea of having a toy drive where she bagged toys to give to the less privileged children in the neighborhood. Now she stood to lose all that because she could not come up with the money to renew her lease.
Kimone had always been able to look on the bright side no matter how dark it looked but right now she was seeing no way out. She placed her hands on top of her head, mussing up the already wild raven black curls. It was a Sunday and she had taken the time out to come when the shop was closed to the public to try and come up with a solution but so far there was none forthcoming.
Her belly rumbled suddenly. She realized she had not eaten since she had grabbed a bagel and a cup of black coffee and it was now a little bit past four in the afternoon.
She had wanted to pack some sort of a picnic but had forgotten to do so because her mother had called and was talking to her about some crisis at the retirement home she volunteered at three times a week.
“I think dear Mrs. Bradley is going deaf,” she had said in a hushed voice even though she was at home and therefore far away from the home. “And that lazy son of hers has left her there and not turned the black of his eyes to come back and see how she is doing.”
Kimberly Bailey had been widowed at a very early age and had to bring up her daughter alone and prided herself on doing a good job. She had retired from teaching Middle school for the last two years and had occupied herself with doing volunteer work in the retirement home nearby where she teaches the occupants pastry baking to embroidery.
She took the various complaints of the residents personally and made sure the relatives did their part, even if she had to compel them to do so. She was a force to be reckoned with and her forthright manner was very refreshing in a place where people were told what they wanted to hear.
Kimone was used to her brutally frank manner and had adopted it herself.
“Mom, I am sure you will find a way to make sure he plays his part,” she had told her in fond amusement.
“You can count on that,” she had sniffed. “Any idea what you are going to do yet?”
Kimone knew she was referring to finding a solution to her financial woes and she answered lightly. “Not yet, but I will.”
“I still think you should apply to the school for a teaching position,” her mother had said for the umpteenth time. “It’s not too late darling.”
“Mom, I will be fine,” Kimone forced herself to remain calm. “You were the one who told me to follow my dreams.”
“Me and my big mouth,” she had grumbled. “Ok dear, see you later.” She had reminded her.
She had left the apartment soon after determined to find a solution to her problem but so far nothing.
With a deep sigh she stood up and stretched her tired muscles. She had not exercised this morning because it had gotten too cold out and she had not felt like putting on extra layers to go and run the usual three miles.
She wandered around the store absently tidying areas that little fingers had gotten untidy and setting a cute black doll with a smock on and a pleasant grin on her chubby waxed face in the corner where it was supposed to be. She had set up a promotion to see how many toys she could sell during the holidays but only a trickling of customers had responded. She was getting a flogg
ing from big corporations, she thought wryly, pushing back her heavy black curls. Note to self, I need to visit the hairdresser; her hair was getting out of hand.
She finished tidying up and with her belly growling more aggressively she decided that it was time to go home, the problem would still be there tomorrow.
*****
Her tiny apartment was her pride and joy. It was situated in a part of town that looked more rural than urban and she prized the isolation and the fact that she had a small back yard garden where she planted her vegetables and even had several fruit trees. Now that it was almost winter, the place looked bare and desolate and her leaves had started falling to the ground.
She glanced at the grocery list still stuck to the fridge and with a groan she remembered that she was supposed to have gone grocery shopping. Oh well, she thought with a shrug, there is always tomorrow or she could always go and raid her mother’s well stocked cupboard.
She made herself some canned soup and a ham and cheese sandwich and sat in the living room, mindlessly watching TV.
She had grown up knowing that there was nothing she could not do if she put her mind to it. She’d had the idea of opening a toy store with a difference, a place where children and parents could go to and enjoy themselves, not just come in, buy a toy, and leave but actually spend some time playing. A place where usually busy parents actually got a chance to spend some time with their children; a place where they were home away from home. The concept had sounded lovely in her head but not something that the loan officer at the bank could actually work. He had told her with a condescending smile that maybe she should think of something else because that did not sound very feasible. “And a beautiful lady like you would not want the hassle it takes to open a business that is guaranteed to fail,” he had smiled at her ingratiatingly. Kimone had felt like throwing the ice cold water he had offered her in his florid face. A loan officer with no vision, she had thought in contempt as she slung her oversized bag on her shoulder and left.
Love In Arms_BWWM Romance Page 14