Nora's Guy Next Door

by Jo McNally

  She’s got everything under control...

  Making lists keeps Nora Bradford’s life neat and tidy...until her college-freshman daughter announces she’s pregnant and engaged. Luckily Nora knows how to fix a complicated situation. If that means moving to Gallant Lake, New York, where Becky and her fiancé live, that’s what she’ll do. Because Becky needs her. Nora just has to keep her distance from her new neighbor, Asher Peyton, who’s handsome, gruff and strictly off-limits. Falling in love again is not on Nora’s to-do list. Especially since she and Asher will soon share a grandchild...

  He stared deep into her eyes as if he was searching for something there.

  “You’re going all sappy on me again, Nora,” he said. “Don’t try to fix me. You’d be wasting your time. I gotta go...”

  “Asher.”

  “No, Nora. I have to go.”

  But he didn’t open the door. Instead, he turned toward her. She didn’t wait for an invitation, stepping in and leaning against his strong, hard chest. He hesitated, then folded his arms around her, and it felt so...right. She tipped her head back. His gaze fell to her lips and she silently begged him to finish the job this time and kiss her. Her whole body vibrated with the need of it. But he just rested his forehead on hers, shaking it back and forth.

  “No, no, no.” Was he talking to her or himself? “I am not going to kiss the mother of my son’s girlfriend, no matter how much I want to.”

  Dear Reader,

  When my husband and I met twenty-some years ago, neither of us had any interest in getting involved with someone new, because we were both coming off difficult relationships. But there was simply no denying the chemistry between us. Sometimes we’ll say we wish we’d met earlier in our lives, but honestly? We would have been different people then, and we could have easily just passed each other by. We were meant to meet exactly when we did.

  I wanted to write a story about how love brings us the people we need when we need them the most, and the result was Nora’s Guy Next Door. This book is the newest addition to what is now the Lowery Women series, about four smart, sassy women who are cousins as well as best friends. Each has a strong will, a quick wit and a loving heart.

  Loving thanks to my husband, friends and family, who encourage me every day. And a special thank-you to my amazing agent, Veronica Park of the Corvisiero Literary Agency.

  Wishing you forever love,

  Jo McNally

  PS: My hero is stuck in the anger phase of grieving for a lost child. If you’ve suffered the loss of a loved one and feel you might be “stuck,” please reach out to someone. Many community centers and houses of worship have grief support groups, or you can find one online. You’re not alone.

  JO

  McNALLY

  Nora’s Guy Next Door

  Jo McNally lives in coastal North Carolina with one hundred pounds of dog and two hundred pounds of husband—her slice of the bed is very small. When she’s not writing or reading romance novels (or clinging to the edge of the bed), she can often be found on the back porch sipping wine with friends while listening to great music. If the weather is absolutely perfect, Jo might join her husband on the golf course, where she tends to feel far more competitive than her actual skill level would suggest.

  She likes writing stories about strong women and the men who love them. She’s a true believer that love can conquer all if given just half a chance.

  You can follow Jo pretty much anywhere on social media (and she’d love it if you did!), but you can start at her website, www.jomcnallyromance.com.

  Books by Jo McNally

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  She’s Far From Hollywood

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  It’s only fitting that a book about a strong mom should be dedicated to a strong mom. My mom is an independent, jet-setting fashionista who makes ninety look like the new sixty.

  To Mom, with love and gratitude.

  Contents

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  EPILOGUE

  EXCERPT FROM THIS BABY BUSINESS BY HEATHERLY BELL

  CHAPTER ONE

  NORA LOWERY BRADFORD didn’t come close to losing her good Southern manners until the third time someone smacked their grocery cart into hers, nearly toppling a package of fancily frosted cupcakes. She spun on her heel, but the angry words died on her lips. The offender was an elderly lady, even shorter than Nora, pushing a cart loaded to the brim with Thanksgiving fixings.

  Bless her heart.

  Nora smiled and was about to wish her a happy holiday, but before she could speak, the woman rammed her cart into Nora’s again—on purpose!

  “What’re you doin’, sightseeing or something? Move over! Other people got things to do.” With that, the woman pushed on by, scraping her cart along Nora’s to drive home her point.

  Nora stood there for a moment with her mouth open, then rolled her eyes and pushed on. With Thanksgiving just two days away, the grocery store in Gallant Lake, New York, was mobbed with people. And the mob was cranky. Maybe she was biased, but people seemed just a bit more genteel back home in Atlanta. Unless, of course, you went grocery shopping on senior discount day—then all bets were off, Southern or not.

  The miserable weather wasn’t helping anyone’s attitude. Three inches of snow were on the ground when she arrived in the Catskills yesterday, and she was not happy about it. Oh, sure, the stuff looked like sugar frosting on the rooftops and tree branches, but the air was cold and raw.

  The forecast for the week was snow, rain, wind, more rain, then snow again. Her cousin Amanda assured her that was typical for November, which was little comfort. No wonder people were so grumpy here in the North! She’d tried to convince Amanda and her husband, Blake Randall, to fly south for Thanksgiving with their kids, but they owned a large lakeside resort here and couldn’t be gone during a busy tourist weekend. So the family was gathering at their historic castle-turned-home, Halcyon, located right next door to the resort.

  Nora unfolded the store flyer she’d picked up at the door, trying to remember where the produce section was. The only good thing about being in Gallant Lake this week was that her favorite person in the whole world, her daughter, Becky, would be arriving later today. Somewhere along the line, Nora had failed as a proper Atlanta mother, because her debutante daughter had inexplicably fallen in love with the Catskills the first time she came here after Amanda and Blake’s wedding. It was disappointing, but not surprising, when Becky hopped the f
irst plane out of Georgia when Vassar offered her a scholarship.

  The produce section was even more crowded than the aisles, and Nora slowly worked her way through the veggies, taking in the dramas unfolding around her.

  A woman threw a round head of pale lettuce into her cart, glaring at the balding man by her side. “Of course your mother thinks iceberg lettuce is the best. Your mother wouldn’t know a romaine leaf if it bit her in the ass!”

  Two men leaned intently over a tomato display nearby. “Derrick, trust me. Vine-ripened tomatoes are better for salad than that monstrosity you picked up.” He gave his partner a wink. “I know you love the word beefsteak, honey, but bigger isn’t always better.”

  A young woman pushed a cart past Nora with a toddler in the seat and a little boy and girl in tow, all three complaining loudly. The girl stomped her feet.

  “I don’t wanna eat turkey! I wanna eat ice cream!”

  “You gotta eat turkey on turkey day, dummy.” Her older brother gave her a shove. “And you can’t have ice cream. You gotta eat pie!”

  The littlest one, sitting in the cart, started to scream, “No pie! No pie, Mommy! No pie!”

  The mother’s face was pinched and tired. Nora reached out, resting her hand on the woman’s arm. “Don’t worry, darlin’, these days will pass. Enjoy these babies while they’re young. Before you know it, they’ll be off to college like mine.”

  She got a tight smile in return. “Right now, it feels like that can’t happen soon enough, but thank you.”

  The family moved on and Nora headed for the fruit. Her empty nest in Atlanta was growing more lonely with every week that passed, and she spent far too much time just rambling around the Ansley Park home. She set a bag of oranges in the cart and tried to shake off her melancholy. No more pity party—she and Becky had big plans for the next few years.

  Becky always teased Nora about her penchant for planning and list making, but how else did things get done? Becky wouldn’t be laughing once Nora surprised her with the news that they would be spending three weeks in England next summer. Becky had always been a book lover, and finally she would get to visit all the places she’d dreamed of after reading about Narnia and Camelot and Hogwarts.

  It hadn’t been easy squirreling away that money, and without a careful plan and lots of lists, Nora never would have been able to make it happen. But she had enough saved now to give Becky her dream trip. Hopefully it would be the first of many mother-daughter adventures they’d share before Becky settled down and started her own family.

  Nora gave the lime in her hand a tight squeeze, trying to quell the whispers of doubt in the back of her mind. She and her daughter hadn’t spoken much lately, just a few texts and emails and the very rare call. Becky kept insisting everything was okay—she was just busy with freshman year. Nora dropped the lime into a bag with five others. She couldn’t shake the suspicion that her daughter was hiding something from her.

  A deep voice started cursing behind her as she reached for a bag of lemons. She glanced over her shoulder and spotted a tall, lean man in jeans and a faded flannel shirt. His gray-blue eyes were frosty with anger, but she couldn’t tell where it was directed, since he seemed to be alone.

  “Damned idiots. They’re nothing but stupid-ass idiots.” He roughly tossed a bag of apples into his cart, making it rattle, causing a few heads to turn. “Stupid, stupid, stupid...” Another bag of fruit landed in his cart with a bang, and he pushed it closer to hers.

  She couldn’t see a Bluetooth device in his ear, so he seemed to be having this conversation with himself. Flat out raging at himself, from the sounds of it. His face was sharp and angled, but the dark stubble along his jaw softened those lines just enough to make him strikingly attractive in a rough-hewn way. Layers of dark brown hair brushed his shoulders, and he reminded her of an aging rock star getting ready to smash a guitar somewhere.

  Nora gave herself a mental shake. She hadn’t looked twice at anyone since Paul’s death, much less ogled someone in a small-town grocery store. And this bad-tempered stranger was very much not her type. But still, she couldn’t take her eyes off Hot Produce Guy.

  “Can’t believe this stupid bullshit!” He reached for a pint of blueberries, and Nora knew the loose netting over the top of the box wouldn’t be enough to hold them if they were handled roughly. Blueberries were going to fly everywhere if he...

  The box hit the bottom of his cart and big, fat berries exploded up out of it, rolling in a hundred directions across the tile floor. People started shouting and dancing around. The little girl who’d been screaming for ice cream a few minutes ago was now gleefully jumping up and down, popping blueberries with her feet like she was making wine. A grumbling murmur rolled through the produce section as people tried to figure out where the berries were coming from.

  Hot Produce Guy, oblivious to the chaos he’d created, was clearly having a very bad day, and Nora quickly devised a plan to help him. After all, she was a planner. That was what she did. She tossed her store flyer into his cart, covering the incriminating half-empty container. He looked up sharply, but she lifted a finger to her lips before he spoke. He followed her eyes toward the angry mob looking for a culprit and winced when the little girl leaped on a fat rolling berry.

  Nora gave him a wink and gestured with her head. He followed her without a word. They didn’t stop their carts until they were safely in the bakery section. When he turned to face her, she had to tip her head back to meet his eyes, but she was used to that. Some days it seemed everyone on the planet was taller than she was.

  “So what was the problem with the angry holiday zombies back there?”

  That voice. Gravelly, deep and seriously sexy. Forget his looks, it had been that rough voice spitting out swear words a minute ago that made her breath hitch. That was why she’d rescued him. She shook off her rare case of insta-lust and did her best to look unaffected.

  “Someone’s blueberries were causing pandemonium. And you seemed to be having a bad enough day without facing a zombie attack right before Thanksgiving.”

  His face reddened. “Calling this a bad day is an understatement.”

  “The holidays can be tough. Is there anything I can help with?”

  He looked at her in surprise, then shook his head. “My son just told me...” He rubbed the back of his neck. “He did something so stupid I can’t even think straight.” He looked up at the ceiling and heaved a sigh, blinking a few times before looking back at her. His blue eyes softened for a moment so brief she thought she might have imagined it.

  “How old is your son?”

  “Old enough to know better.”

  “I have a teenage daughter, so I can relate. Sometimes we just have to let them learn from their own mistakes. Even when it drives us crazy.”

  She thought about how furious she’d been when Becky came home a year ago with that dreadful tattoo on her forearm after spending the summer in Gallant Lake. Nora had nearly had a stroke right there in the airport. It was just a tiny heart-shaped padlock, but still. A tattoo! On her daughter’s perfect alabaster skin! What would people think if they saw it? What if it affected her career? And why a padlock of all things?

  “Yeah, well, that sentiment might look nice on a greeting card, but here in the real world that’s not how it works.” The vulnerability was definitely gone from his eyes now. He was angry. With her. “It’s my job to make sure my kids are...” He stuttered and took a breath. “I mean, my kid. I have to make him understand what needs to be done. Whether he likes it or not.”

  He gripped the cart so tightly his knuckles were white. Nora prided herself on being able to solve problems, but she was out of her depth dealing with rage this intense. It was time to extricate herself from this conversation with a complete stranger.

  “Well...I...I should be going.” She couldn’t help making one last attem
pt to cheer him up. Becky always called her Little Suzy Sunshine. Nora was never sure if it was a compliment or not. “You know, someday you and your son will look back at this and laugh.” He started to disagree, but she held up her hand. “Our children will always be our children, no matter how old they get.”

  “Really? More greeting-card platitudes? I hope you didn’t raise your daughter to believe all that ‘the sun will come out tomorrow’ nonsense. News flash—some children aren’t always our children. Sometimes they...” His mouth was set in a hard line. “Never mind. I don’t know why I’m still standing here talking to you.”

  People didn’t usually get under her skin so easily, but this guy had Nora’s temper up in mere minutes. “I’m pretty sure you were going to thank me for helping you.”

  He stared at her long enough to make her skin warm.

  “I know your type. You’re a fixer. You could have minded your own business and everything would have been just fine. But you’re one of those that can’t help butting in. Well, now you can butt out. I sure as hell don’t need your sugar-coated advice today.”

  He gave his cart a hard shove, sending more blueberries bouncing out of the container in his wake. Nora’s hand fluttered up to rest over her heart as he left. She tried never to curse, even to herself, but there was no other way to say it—Hot Produce Guy was an asshole. She glanced around in guilt, as if someone might have heard her unkind thoughts. Then she regrouped. Becky would be in Gallant Lake tonight. And they were going to have another talk about removing that horrid tattoo.

  * * *

  THREE HOURS LATER, Nora was stomping down the sidewalks of Gallant Lake. Alone. While she’d been shopping and dealing with Grumpy Hot Produce Guy, plans had changed. Becky wouldn’t be arriving until Thanksgiving Day now, instead of tonight. And she’d informed Nora by text. This day was not going at all the way she’d planned it.

  Amanda finally chased her out of the house. “Your pacing and muttering is driving me crazy, Nora. Take my car and go into the village so you can do your pacing where I can’t see you. Have you ever been to Caffeine Cathy’s Coffee Café? Go check it out and keep yourself busy.”