Jim looked at it a moment before he clasped it. “Why? Why now?”
“Because I don’t need you. I’m going back to teaching next semester.”
“Same school? Same job?”
Rich nodded. Laura had told his mother and Jim surely already knew. “I was on leave of absence. My position is still there.”
Jim put his other hand on Rich’s shoulder. “You said you might be able to forgive, even if you couldn’t forget what I did, what I said to you.”
“I did say that.”
Jim released a long breath, avoided Rich’s eyes. “I know who took the money. He’s paid for it. And a lot of other things.”
Rich looked at Archie still sitting on the floor. He was staring at his windmill, his face pale and his lips trembling. Rich was almost sorry for him. “I might forgive him, and you, someday, but I’m here because of Mother.”
Jim glanced at Archie, then back at Rich. “Fair enough. We can begin there. Let’s go see her. She’s missed you.”
They went together, Jim’s hand still on Rich’s shoulder.
Also from Jessie Salisbury and Soul Mate Publishing:
ORCHARD HILL
Deserted by her husband, Jocelyn fled home to the family orchard to recover and wait for her divorce to be settled. It is harvest time, and among the Nova Scotian apple pickers is Yvon, handsome, virile, devil-may-care, and more than willing to help Jocelyn forget her unfaithful spouse.
But:
There is also Adrian, her caring long-time friend and attorney. He could not speak of his love for her while she was married, but now she is free and he is ready to bring her back where she belongs. And willing to combat Yvon for her affections.
Available on Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/kssf9hh
A HEART MENDED
Wilfred has a broken heart. Betrayed years ago by his young wife and severed from his life work by a heart attack, he has retreated to a resident youth camp to hide and impart his love of nature to mostly uncaring campers. Too hurt to ever love again, too much in pain to care, he has retreated from the world to await his inevitable death.
But Shannon knows better. As the camp nurse, she understands his physical pain, and as she has learned to know, and deeply love, him, she has found the parts he keeps hidden. She knows he is a caring, gentle soul, a good man who could be healed, if he would let somebody help him, but he is rejecting her offered love.
Robbie is a sad reluctant camper. Left by his parents while they vacation, bullied by his bigger cabin-mates, he can’t swim, hates baseball, but likes butterflies. His love of the outdoors catches Wilfred’s attention, but Robbie is the son of Wilfred’s ex-wife.
Robbie stands between Wilfred and Shannon, pulling them together and driving them apart, until Robbie is trapped in a burning barn with only Wilfred to get him out.
Available on Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/nkdkaq9
15 TALES OF LOVE
Love comes in many forms: first sweet love, second chances, seniors seeking quiet companionship, and it faces many obstacles:
Beth-Anne must decide if her journalistic integrity is more important than capturing that intriguing lawyer.
Rose-Ellen has faced too many tragedies in her life to easily accept an offered love, especially since he, too, has many injuries.
Arlena has a sometimes gift of being able to see events occurring near by, and it turns most men away. Will she use her knowledge to help a lost child, and lose that handsome EMT as well as her reputation?
Naomi has been abandoned too many times in her life to believe Tom when he says he will return. Can she find faith?
Candace is a new forest ranger finding peace but still bitter from lost love. Logan awakens her desires, but he is cool and distant, too involved in his work to notice. Until she puts on a pair of gold sandals.
Available on Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/zhl2q52
LEAVE ME MY CONVICTIONS
It is 1973.
The Vietnam War is dividing the country, college campuses are being disrupted, and families are being torn apart by dissension. Even love is being questioned.
Earl, totally against the war and tired of arguing with his traditional-minded family, wants to stay in school and pursue his degree, but he can’t. Shortly after their last heated argument, his father died of a heart attack, and they are all blaming him because of his involvement with the campus unrest.
Seeking to find peace, and settle the doubts and conflicts in his mind, Earl has taken on his father’s job of logging with a team of horses–a job he knows well but hates and has vowed to never do again. It seems to him to be the only way he can prove himself, to himself and to them, especially his brother who has served in the war, that he is not what they think.
But there is Davida–beautiful, coolly blonde, and dedicated to campus takeover and a new constitution. She is urging Earl to come back to school and what she believes in; to love her and free himself from outdated traditions.
And there is Marty–the quiet girl from his past. Her openly offered love has no strings attached. She is telling Earl to do what he believes is right for him, for them, and his family, to be true to himself.
To do that, he must conquer a recalcitrant horse, convince those around him he is as patriotic as they are, if in a different way. And he must face the storm in his own heart and choose between two loves.
Available on Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/lpf2km6
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