Chasing Hope

by Nancy Stopper

  There was nowhere else Justin would rather be.

  His mother took Hayley’s hand and tucked it in the crook of her arm to lead her new granddaughter down the aisle, a sprinkling of rose petals trailing behind them.

  The door behind him opened and Serena and Alexis stepped out. Alike but so different, too. He wrapped one arm around each of them and pulled them to him.

  “If you make me cry, Justin, I’m gonna hit you,” Serena said as she sniffled.

  He kissed each of his sisters on the forehead and then nudged them toward the aisle. “I love you both. Very much.”

  They both smacked him across the chest at the same time. It was their way, but he knew they loved him just as much. They stepped carefully down the stairs and walked toward the altar side-by-side.

  A throat behind him cleared. Justin swung the door open and stepped into the kitchen where Izzy was waiting. She was… he didn’t have the words. “Oh, sis.”

  Her form-fitting white gown fell easily to the floor and pooled at her feet. She looked like the ever-graceful ballerina that she was. Her hair was arranged on her head with curls framing her face. She was a grown woman now, but all he could see was his little sister, in her black and pink dance clothes, tumbling as she tried to spin in a circle. Begging her big brother to watch her dance. She clutched a simple bouquet in her left hand, the small pink flowers matching the one Mom had pinned on him an hour ago.

  Izzy sniffed and swiped beneath her eyes. “Don’t you dare cry. I can take everyone’s tears but yours.”

  He sucked in a breath. “I don’t care. You look beautiful. Tanner’s a lucky man.”

  “And I’m a lucky woman.”

  Izzy had come so far since the day she’d hobbled up the stairs of Mom’s house nearly two years ago, a career-ending injury leaving her unsure of her future. Now she had a thriving dance studio here in town. He couldn’t be prouder of everything she’d accomplished. She’d once said to him that at some point while Dad was hounding her about trying harder, his dreams for her future had become hers.

  Justin smiled at the memory of sitting beside Dad at one of Izzy’s dance recitals. Sometimes it was so hard to remember the good amid all the bad. But not anymore. Justin was focusing on the positive things in his life. Like the woman and two children waiting for him to walk his sister down the aisle.

  He offered his elbow. “Shall we?”

  She slid her hand onto his arm and he led her out the door, careful of the train that swept the floor at her feet, and down the three stairs.

  She stopped him.

  “Are you okay?” There was no way she’d changed her mind. He knew that about his sister for sure.

  She drew in a deep breath and closed her eyes. The gravity of what was about to happen wasn’t lost on him. He remembered his own wedding day, the nerves that settled deep in his gut the entire time he waited for Maddie, and how all of that faded away and the only person he could see was her from the moment she started walking down the aisle.

  He’d give Izzy all the time she needed.

  “I’m ready now.”

  She opened her eyes and looked at Tanner ahead at the altar. A huge grin broke out on her face and she took a step toward her future, Justin at her side.

  They’d barely made it halfway down the aisle before Tanner rushed toward them.

  Justin laughed. “I’m supposed to bring her to you.”

  “You were taking too long. I couldn’t wait another minute.”

  Justin looked down at his sister, tears pooling in her eyes. He took her hand and placed it in Tanner’s. “Take care of each other.”

  “We will.”

  As Tanner led Izzy the rest of the way to the man who would unite them, Justin slid into the seat beside Maddie. She wrung her hands in her lap, a handkerchief clutched in her fingers. He covered her hands with his and they didn’t have to say anything. He had no doubt they both were thinking the same thing.

  The rest of the ceremony was a blur of laughter and tears. A few moments later, he was leading his mother back down the aisle. “I’ll be back in a few, Mom. There’s something I need to do.”

  He’d clued Mom in to what he’d planned earlier. And he couldn’t wait any longer. As he turned, Maddie was coming down the aisle, Aiden on one side of her and Sofia on the other. Justin had coordinated with Wanda to make sure Sofia would be here.

  Izzy wasn’t the only one getting a new daughter today.

  Justin leaned in and pressed his lips to Maddie’s. It wasn’t nearly enough but it would have to do until they were alone later. “I have a surprise. For all of you.”

  Sofia’s deep brown eyes glinted with excitement. “A surprise?”

  Many of the shadows that haunted Sofia had faded in the months since she had been visiting with them. Hopefully this would chase the last of them away. He scooped up the little girl, her laughter infectious as she settled on his hip. He grabbed Maddie’s hand and she clutched Aiden’s with her other and he led his family to a table off to the side.

  The rest of the guests were mingling around Tanner and Izzy, so he knew he had a little bit of time. Once he got everyone settled, he withdrew the stack of papers from his pocket. “I met with Wanda yesterday.”

  Maddie’s smile fell. The process to become approved foster parents had been grueling, and there were times Maddie had equated it to the months of finding out she wasn’t pregnant again and again. But this time, they were navigating this journey side by side, and little did Maddie know, they’d reached the end. “What now? Did they lose another form or did they need yet another recommendation?”

  He smiled and extended the papers. “Nope.”

  She unfolded the stack and he could tell the minute she saw the bright red “Approved” stamp across the top sheet. Her eyes widened and her gaze locked with his. “Really?”

  “Yep, really.”

  “I can’t believe it. It’s finally happened.” She leapt to her feet and threw her arms around him. The kids, reacting to Maddie’s exclamation, jumped up. “What? What?”

  He and Maddie crouched down to look Sofia and Aiden in the eye. “We found out today that we got approved to have Sofia live with us full time.”

  Aiden hugged Sofia and she hugged him back. And then Justin wrapped his arms around all three of them. His family. It had been a long journey, getting his family to this point, and all it had taken was a little hope that everything would work out exactly like it was meant to be. And as he looked at his two kids, he couldn’t agree more.

  * * *

  I hope you enjoyed Justin and Maddie’s story. Chasing Hope is Book 2 in the Harper Family series. All of the stories are stand-alone complete stories with a guaranteed happily-ever-after. But come back over and over to see old friends and meet new ones.

  If you enjoyed this book, I would be extremely grateful if you’d leave a short review on Amazon. Reviews help other readers find my books and are especially helpful to new author.

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  Join my fan group to talk about my books and participate in exclusive giveaways!

  Turn the page to find out which of the Harpers will find their happily-ever-after next! And after that, want to read more about the Harpers? Check out the three chapter excerpt of Chasing Dreams. And want to read the series that started it all? After that you’ll find excerpts from the books of the Oak Grove series.

  *** Help a KU author... If you borrowed this book, don’t reset your book to the first page. Did you know that if you do, the author does not get paid for your read? Thanks ***

  THE NEXT HARPER FAMILY NOVEL... Chasing Trust

  Serena Harper was rocked by the news that her father had not only had multiple affairs for most of her childhood but that she had a half-sister she hadn’t known about. But she’d met her sister and had been impressed with her positive outlook on life. If only Serena could say the same for herself. Knowing what she did about her father, her trus
t in men has been shaken.

  Enter Chase, a world-traveling photo journalist who doesn’t stay in one place for too long. His life has been a sequence of necessities, and doing what needed to be done to get by, but the fly-by-the-seat-of-his-pants lifestyle is starting to wear on him.

  When he meets Serena, he knows immediately that she’s the wide-eyed girl he’d met all those years ago. The muse that inspired his career. But is he ready to lay down roots in a single place? Is she ready to trust a man who never stays in one place for very long. It’ll take Serena learning to trust again if they have any chance for a future together.

  Want to know when Chasing Trust will be released, sign up for my newsletter!

  Join my fan group to talk about my books and participate in exclusive giveaways!

  Turn the page for an excerpt from Chasing Dreams, book 1 in The Harper Farmily series. After that’, you’ll find an excerpt of One Last Risk, book 1 in the Oak Grove series. The Oak Grove series features the Bennetts, Rachel’s family!

  Chapter One

  Tanner Ross snapped his hand back, dropped the ball, and smacked it with his paddle. It flew over the net, barely nicking the back corner of the table before flying by Samuel. Tanner threw his hands in the air. “Yes. Ace.”

  “Aw man, no fair.” Samuel sulked as he laid his paddle down on the ping-pong table. The like-new table had just been donated to the center last week. “I’ll get you next time.”

  “I bet you will. Takes practice. And now that we have one of our own, you’ll have plenty of time.” Tanner rounded the table and wrapped his arm around the thin boy’s shoulder. Jason’s House had been good for Sam in the six months since he’d moved to Cedar Hill. The center had become a safe place for him to grow and thrive.

  That was what Jason’s House was all about—giving at-risk kids a glimpse into the life they could have instead. Tanner couldn’t have asked for more fulfilling work, but the hours were long and not every day was fun and games like today. More days than not found him chasing down one of the teens who called the center their second home, keeping them on this side of the law. He’d hoped that Cedar Hill was far enough from the influence of the city, but more than once, he’d driven through the worst parts of Philadelphia in search of a kid.

  But Tanner never lost hope. If he could save just one child, keep one mother and father from having to bury their son or daughter, he’d done what he set out to do. It was days like this that reminded him that all kids can be good—they just need a safe place to prove to themselves and everyone else that they weren’t destined for that other life.

  Sam stepped back and tilted his head, like he wasn’t sure what he was looking at. “Why you all dressed up today?”

  Tanner brushed his hand down his sleeve and fiddled with his pressed khakis. Yeah, this wasn’t his normal dress. The last thing he wanted to do was alienate the kids, make them think he was one of the adults out to get them. So jeans and a T-shirt were typically the dress code. “Got a meeting. I hate wearing these clothes.”

  “Then why do you?”

  Tanner never missed an opportunity to teach the kids. And this was one of them. “Respect. I’m meeting with the sheriff and the mayor. What do you think they’d think if I walked in wearing ripped jeans and a tee?” Tanner gestured to Sam’s clothes.

  “Yeah, maybe. I don’t understand why everyone don’t just wear what they want.”

  “I know, Sam. Someday you will.”

  “I hope not.” He laughed and Tanner crooked his arm around the boy’s head and scrubbed his fist in Sam’s hair.

  “Tanner!” His assistant, Monica, tapped her watch from across the room.

  He glanced up at the clock on the wall. “Crap. I’m really late. Rematch?”

  “You got it.” Sam fist-bumped Tanner and then smacked him on the back as Tanner rushed across the room.

  “You’re incredibly late,” Monica said as he hurried into his office. She held out a necktie, already knotted into a loop.

  “Do I really have to wear that?” He caught himself. Hadn’t he just answered that exact question for Sam?

  “You’re meeting with the mayor and the sheriff and you’re asking them to stick their neck out. What do you think?”

  “Yeah, I know.” As much as he loved his job, this was one of the worst aspects of it. Begging for his kids to be given a chance to turn their lives around. But it was a hoop that he would jump through over and over if he needed to. And that was why he huffed out a breath and pulled the tie over his head. He fastened the tight button at his neck and adjusted the knot. Monica folded his collar down and straightened the knot before heading to his desk.

  She shoved a pile of papers in his arms. “You’ll need these. You did finish the grant applications and sent them off last night, didn’t you?”

  “Yes.” His answer wasn’t as confident as he would like. Did he actually send them? He’d been so exhausted last night that his head had nodded at the kitchen table while he was putting the finishing touches on the applications. He remembered having to retype mistakes more than once in the forms requesting funds to keep the center open for the next two years and complete some of the much needed projects.

  But he couldn’t worry about that now. If he didn’t leave, he’d be late for the mayor. And no one was late for the mayor. If only he could find his keys. He shuffled through the piles of papers that cluttered his desk. One of these days, he’d get around to straightening this office. But every time he thought about tackling the daunting task, something else came up. Like a new ping pong table and a chance to hang out with the kids. That was why he’d become a social worker in the first place—he wanted to make a difference in kid’s lives. The center had seemed like the perfect way to reach them on a level he just hadn’t been able to while working for social services in Philadelphia.

  “Where in the heck are my car keys?” He flung open the desk drawers only to find more clutter and no keys. After checking the last one, he slammed it shut and flopped into the chair.

  “Tanner?”

  He raised his head to Monica, who dangled his keys from her fingers.

  He dashed across the room, snatched them away, and hustled out the door. “Thanks.”

  “Tanner!” Monica’s shout followed him down the hall.

  He spun around. “What? I’m late already.”

  His briefcase now swung from her hand. Daggone it, he’d lose his head some days if it wasn’t attached. He hustled back to her. “Sorry. Thanks. Won’t happen again.”

  She chuckled. “Yes, it will.”

  Yeah, it probably would.

  Fifteen minutes later, he was sitting across a small conference table from the mayor, feeling like a kid being called to the principal’s office. He fiddled with the papers in front of him, and then dropped his hands to his lap, rubbing the palms on the fabric to wipe off the sweat.

  He stared at the mayor as the awkward silence grew. The man was probably the same age as Tanner’s father and had a comfortable way about him that put people at ease. But nothing could calm the nerves building in Tanner’s gut with each minute that passed.

  “Sheriff Ballard got detained but he’ll be here shortly. How have you been, Tanner?”

  “Good. Good.” He appreciated the mayor trying to calm his nerves, but his heart had no chance of slowing from its rapid pace until he knew for sure that Sandra wasn’t headed into the juvenile court system.

  “How’s Hayley?”

  He smiled. Tanner couldn’t help but brag about the best thing he’d ever done in his life. “She’s good. Looking forward to going back to school. And she’s been bugging me about taking dance lessons.”

  Raising Hayley had been easier when she was younger, when the toughest challenges had been getting her to eat her chicken nuggets when she was crying for macaroni and cheese. When she called him in every night to chase the monsters out of her closet. But an eight-year-old girl was a completely different thing altogether. All he knew about dancing was wh
en he snuggled up close to a woman in a club, her body brushing against his as they moved to the deep beat of some drum and bass. And that certainly wasn’t the type of dance Hayley was talking about. He was way out of his league.

  “You should check out the new dance studio on Chestnut Avenue. The owner is a former New York dancer who grew up here in Cedar Hill. Hometown hero comes back and all.”

  “Is that right?”

  “Yeah. I knew her father.” The mayor’s face fell. “He died a few years back.”

  Thankfully, the sheriff burst through the door at that moment, saving Tanner from making any more small talk. “Sorry I’m late. Tanner, Mayor Presley.”

  Tanner stood and shook the sheriff’s hand. “Good to see you, Sheriff Ballard.”

  “Call me John.”

  “Okay, John.”

  They sank into chairs and the mayor opened his folder. “Now that introductions are out of the way, let’s talk about Sandra Dixon.”

  Tanner launched into the speech he’d rehearsed last night. “I met Sandra over a year ago when her dad brought her into the center. She’d been sneaking out at night, drinking and doing drugs. She was out of control. She was defiant at first, but over time, she warmed up to us at the center. She’s participated in group sessions twice a month, and her grades have steadily improved in summer school.”

  “Then how do you explain her participating in a robbery?”

  He sucked in a deep breath. That was the same question he’d asked her when she sat in his office, tears streaming down her face, the day after her father had bailed her out of jail. “She didn’t participate. She was just sitting in the car. The guys were friends from her old life in the city, and she didn’t know they were going to rob the shop owner. As soon as she realized what they were doing, she tried to leave, but they wouldn’t let her.”