The door swung open and Isaac’s fists immediately clenched. Brad Hall strode in confidently, but faltered when he saw Isaac sitting at the counter. “Oh, um.” He backed toward the door. “What happened to the hot girl working here this morning?”
Isaac stood and folded his arms across his chest. “That hot girl is my fiancée and I’d appreciate you never looking at or talking to her. We clear?”
Brad nodded quickly, though his eyes betrayed that the weasel would be all over MacKenzie, given any sort of chance, even if he did think she was engaged. Isaac hated the entire crooked Hall family, especially Brad. He never wanted to think about the fact that Brad was Isaac’s nephew’s biological father. Taz had a real father now in Haley’s fiancé, Cal Johnson, and if Brad even glanced in Haley’s direction Isaac wouldn’t have to kill him—Cal would do it for him.
He blamed himself all the same for the damage Brad had inflicted on Haley. He should’ve pummeled Brad repeatedly years ago. Haley still didn’t know about the one time he had thumped Brad, but it had accomplished the goal—Brad promised never to touch Haley again. If the police chief had given Isaac grief for months, such as tickets for going a mile over the speed limit, well that was one of the hazards of living in a small town that was firmly in the Hall’s back pockets.
Brad hurried to the door and swung it open. “See ya,” he mumbled on his way out.
Isaac didn’t respond. He growled and paced the small lobby of the store. Luckily there were no customers to see his agitation. What if Brad ran into MacKenzie? He would smooth talk her and do anything he could to worm his way into her good graces. The thought made Isaac want to rush out and find her so he could protect her. He thought about MacKenzie’s quick retorts and smiled. Maybe she’d tell Brad off before he got a chance to manipulate his way into her heart.
Hopefully Brad would believe they were engaged. Isaac stopped pacing. His heart thudded loudly in his chest. He’d told Brad they were engaged. It was only to protect MacKenzie, but what if she found out? She would not like that, not one bit. Oh, no. Flipping the switch so the open sign dimmed, Isaac wrote a hurried note, Be back in 15, shoved it in the window and locked the door behind him. He needed to find MacKenzie before Brad did.
Buy or read more of The Protective One here.
Book excerpt of Silver Cascade Secrets
Sneak Peek of Silver Cascade Secrets by Rachelle J. Christensen
Chapter One
“Again!” a little girl squealed as she brushed leaves off her pants.
I smiled and continued digging in the flower bed, planting tulip bulbs. Silver maple trees lined the sidewalks of Silver Cascade Park, where I worked five days a week as caretaker. My nails were bad because I didn’t like gloves, and I had perpetual dirt stains on my knees, but it was my dream job.
I watched the girl sail into the pile of leaves and seconds later run to a man screaming, “Again! Again!”
As I wondered if they were father and daughter, a woman approached and hugged the girl. The man put his arm around her in a side hug, and they talked for a few minutes before the woman left with the little girl.
Hmm, didn’t seem like a divorced couple, but then my people-watching skills had proven that there was always more than meets the eye. The man sauntered down the sidewalk. I thought I heard him humming something. Carpenter jeans with a good fit were a weakness of mine, and his retreating form was straining my eyes, so I put some muscle back into the flower bed and grabbed another handful of tulip bulbs.
A few minutes later, a light wind picked up several leaves and sent them skittering across the sidewalk. The points of the maple leaves made a distinct sound, signaling that autumn had taken root in Boise, Idaho. I watched the leaves swirl and ignored thoughts of raking and leaf blowing.
I saw someone out of the corner of my eye and noticed that the man had come back and was on his hands and knees, searching through the grass. His carpenter jeans had a dark wash, which complimented his olive-toned skin. He appeared to be in his late twenties, maybe a few years older than my twenty-five years. I approached him, kicking a few leaves up as I walked.
“Not to ask the obvious, but did you lose something?”
He looked up. “Yeah, my keys.”
“I’m Jillian Warren, Silver Cascade Park caretaker and finder of many sets of lost keys. Would you like some help?”
He stood and brushed his hands on his pants then held out his hand. “Travis Banner. I’d love some help, because it helps to have keys if you want to drive home.”
With a laugh, I shook his hand then knelt in the grass and began combing through the leaves. I stole a few glances in his direction. With dark hair and stubble along his jawline, he reminded me of Hook on my favorite TV show, Once Upon a Time, minus the sexy accent. “I saw you playing with that little girl. Is she your daughter?”
“My niece. I’m not married, but I like playing favorite uncle.”
“It looked like you were definitely in the running.”
Hook, or Travis, looked even better with that info, and I had to remind myself I was searching for keys, not a date.
“Four-year-olds are pretty easy to please.” He nodded toward the flower bed I’d been digging in. “So do you like your job? The park is beautiful, by the way.”
“Thanks. I do enjoy working here. I graduated in landscape architecture, and this seemed like a great stepping stone into the field. My grandma was a bit underwhelmed— not many bragging rights— but I really do like it more than I thought I would.” I ducked my head, embarrassed at all the information I’d just given a stranger. Well, I knew his name, so he wasn’t a complete stranger.
Travis met my gaze, picking up on my admission. “It’s okay to love your job, even if it’s different from what everyone else expects. I’m a diesel-engine mechanic. My white-collar dad definitely didn’t approve of me donning the blue collar, but I love what I do and hope to have my own shop one day.”
My hands stilled in the leaves, and I looked at Travis. He had dark-brown eyes unlike Hook, so surely he couldn’t be an evil villain. “It’s so nice to talk to someone who understands.”
He paused, brushing a hand across the stubble on his chin. “I was thinking the same thing.”
My heart felt jittery, and a rush of heat came to my cheeks. “Um, don’t laugh, but I’m going to use my favorite trick to try to find your keys.”
He raised his eyebrows. “I can’t make any promises. I might laugh.”
I shrugged. “Fair enough.” Glancing behind me, I saw the remains of the leaf pile Travis had been tossing his niece into. The leaves crunched under my feet as I walked to the pile; I kicked some of the leaves then backed up a few paces. Travis was hot, so it was worth embarrassing myself to find his keys. I lay flat on my belly and squinted at the millions of blades of grass and crumbled leaves scattered in the distance. A few strands had come loose from the knot of hair I’d fixed earlier, so I tucked them behind my ear. I heard Travis chuckle but ignored him and continued using the Warren Secret Spy Method, angling my head so my view skimmed along the ground.
Leaves crunched beside me, and I looked over to see Travis mimicking my pose. He winked at me. “I know this trick. My brother and I used to do it to find stray marbles in the gravel.”
“Most kids know it, but most adults have forgotten.”
“Or maybe they have more pride than we do.”
I giggled and rolled over in the leaves, moving to a different vantage point. The sun chose that moment to break through the mass of cumulus clouds scattered across the sky. The leaves turned from red to golden, and I caught a glint of metal about ten feet in front of me.
“Aha!” I shouted and jumped up, keeping my eyes trained on the sparkle I’d seen. When I picked them up, the keys jingled together. “Found ’em.” I dangled the keys triumphantly as Travis approached.
“Thanks, Jillian.” Travis held out his palm, and I dropped the keys into it. “You’re amazing.” His tone was light, but I chose to
find a deeper meaning in his words.
“Glad to be of service.”
“I really appreciate you helping me out.” Travis pocketed his keys. “There’s this great café a couple of blocks down. They serve the best Mexican hot chocolate. Could I treat you to some?”
“I love The Sugar Cube. Let me just finish up with these bulbs.”
“Ah, so you know the place. Let me help. I owe you big time.” Travis followed me to the flower bed and plopped a tulip bulb into one of the holes I’d dug.
“Thanks.” I examined his work with a nod. “I’m impressed you knew which way to plant the bulb. My brother doesn’t know anything about flowers.”
“I may be a bachelor, but my mother had a prized flower garden, and she taught me a few things.” Travis pointed at my fingernails. “Her hands always looked like that in the fall— mine, too. She’s been gone for almost ten years, but for a while, I had my own bulb garden in her honor.”
I had started to curl my fingers inward at his attention, but the affection in his voice made me proud to show my work-worn hands. I patted the earth down around the new plantings. “Really? What was her favorite flower?”
“Daffodils. She must have had a dozen varieties. I always liked these little miniature ones she used to plant around the tulips.” He got a faraway look in his eyes as he grabbed a handful of bulbs. “How about you?”
“Hyacinths. I’ll be planting a pink variety tomorrow that I think smells a little like heaven.”
As he reached for the last tulip bulb, his hand brushed mine. He liked the dirt under my fingernails. I almost laughed at the thought. Too many dates with business men, lawyers, and would-be doctors had me feeling ashamed of my chipped nails. Travis was different. We’d just had a conversation about varieties of flower bulbs. He was handsome and looking better by the minute.
We stood and brushed the dirt from our clothes. “Thanks for the help. I usually don’t work this late, but I got a little carried away with this flowerbed.”
“I’m sure it’ll be beautiful. I’m glad you were still here.” His smile widened. “I have to say, I’m kind of glad I lost my keys.”
The blush tinting my cheeks had me feeling like a school girl, so I hurriedly gathered my tools and tossed them in the back of the Gator— my golf cart on steroids. I loved driving it around the park.
“Can I give you a ride to The Sugar Cube?” he asked.
I looked at my dirt-smudged jeans and wrinkled my nose at the dark smear of mud on my t-shirt. “I’m kind of a mess.”
“I think you look cute.” He motioned to his right knee. “And look; I have a matching stain.”
My resistance melted when he proudly showed off his grass stain. “Okay, let’s go.” I stowed my tools and followed Travis to his car.
Read the rest of this novella for free when you join Rachelle’s VIP News here: http://rachellechristensen.com/
Read on Amazon HERE
Also by Jennifer Youngblood & Sandra Poole
Hawaii Billionaire Series
Everything to Lose
Love on the Rocks
Love on the Rebound
The Almost an Angel Series
Candlelight Kisses (Book 1)
Heart of the Billionaire (Book 2)
Romantic Thrillers
False Identity
When Darkness Falls
Burned
Contemporary Romance
Beastly Charm
Fairytale Retellings (The Grimm Laws Series)
Banished
Love Spell
Southern Romance
Livin’ in High Cotton
The Paper Rose Club
The Secret Song of the Ditch Lilies (Part 1)
The Secret Song of the Ditch Lilies (Part 2)
About the Authors
Jennifer grew up in rural Alabama and loved living in a town where “everybody knows everybody.” Her love for writing began as a young teenager when she wrote stories for her high school English teacher to critique. She feels that it’s a great privilege to be able to write with her mother, Sandra Poole. “Writing together adds a depth and spice to our work that neither of us could get independently,” she says.
Jennifer has BA in English and Social Sciences from Brigham Young University where she served as Miss BYU Hawaii in 1989. Before becoming an author, she worked as the owner and editor of a monthly newspaper named The Senior Times. In addition to her love for writing, Jennifer works in the home design industry. She and her husband owned an interior design gallery where she specialized in custom window treatments and floral arrangements. Jennifer continues to do interior design for select clients.
She now lives in the Rocky Mountains with her family and spends her time writing, carpooling, attending basketball games, and doing all of the wonderful things that make up the life of a busy wife and mother.
Sandra grew up in a small community in northeast Alabama called Alder Springs, the setting of Sandra and Jennifer's first novel, Livin' in High Cotton. It was there that she developed a deep love for literature in a two-classroom country school. She recalls that every afternoon the teachers would bring their classes together and read such classics as Rip Van Winkle, Moby Dick, The Headless Horsemen, and The Taming of the Shrew while all their students sat on the floor.
Sandra has worked in the administrative field for over twenty-five years. She worked her way through college while her daughters were very young and completed a four-year degree in three years. Later, she earned a Masters in Business Administration. Her experience has ranged from being an executive secretary and human resource manager for Fortune 500 companies to being an assistant to one of the vice presidents at the university where she eventually retired. She now works in the education field.
For Sandra, writing is a continual journey of discovery. She has so many ideas for other books running through her mind that it's hard to focus on one at a time.
For more information:
@authorjenn1
Authors Jennifer Youngblood & Sandra Poole
www.jenniferyoungblood.com
[email protected]
Love on the Rocks (Hawaii Billionaire Romance) Page 13