A Hometown Reunion

Single mom Becca Norton is surprised to discover her high school crush Jared Donnelly is back in town. The motocross champion hasn’t been home in years, but the former bad boy is as gorgeous as she remembers. And his kindness toward her kids melts her heart. But when she learns his true purpose in town is to build a motocross school on land near her home, she has to put on the brakes. Her children’s welfare is her priority, and her former in-laws have made it clear they don’t approve of Jared or his plans. Soon Becca may have to choose between her heart…and her home.

“Becca, I like you.”

He didn’t care if he probably sounded like one of her high school students with a mad crush. He had to get it out. “I like spending time with you and your kids.” He stopped himself from telling her how much the remark made by the woman at the soft-serve ice cream stand about what a nice family they made had affected him. That would have been too sappy. “I’d like to spend more time with you.”

Her shoulders sagged, and he bounced his leg in nervous anticipation.

“Oh, Jared.”

A chill went through him. She’s going to shoot me down. He’d had his share of brush-offs, but none of them had felt as crushing as this would.

“I like you, too.” Her lips curved in a wobbly smile.

He slid his arm along the back of the couch behind her.

“It’s too soon.”

Too soon? It had to be six or seven years since Matt had left her.

“I’ve been praying for direction in my life, about the kids and the Nortons, about the Zoning Board decision…” Her voice softened. “About you.”

His throat clogged.

“The only answer I’ve gotten is ‘give things time.’”

JEAN C. GORDON’s writing is a natural extension of her love of reading. From that day in first grade when she realized t-h-e was the word the, she’s been reading everything she can put her hands on. Jean and her college-sweetheart husband share a 175-year-old farmhouse in Upstate New York with their daughter and her family. Their son lives nearby. Contact Jean at facebook.com/jeancgordon.author or PO Box 113, Selkirk, NY 12158.

Winning the

Teacher’s Heart

Jean C. Gordon

www.millsandboon.co.uk

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you.

—Psalms 32:8

To my editor, Shana Asaro,

and my critique group BFS for helping me make Winning the Teacher’s Heart the best I could.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Introduction

About the Author

Title Page

Bible Verse

Dedication

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

Epilogue

Dear Reader

Extract

Copyright

Chapter One

“Look out, Paradox Lake. The Donnelly brothers are back in town.”

Jared Donnelly fist-bumped with his younger brothers. He didn’t know about Connor and Josh, but if things worked out as he planned, he was back in the small Adirondack Mountains town for good.

“What do you think got into Old Man Miller?” Josh asked.

Jared studied a spot on the floor between him and Josh. That was a mystery to him, too. Bert Miller, their former neighbor, had unintentionally been a major factor in Jared’s professional success. At least Jared thought it was unintentional, although they’d become long-distance friends of a sort over the years since Jared had left Paradox Lake.

“Not that I’m complaining,” Josh said. “Without him, I’d be paying my student loans for the next two decades. But after Dad...”

Jared stiffened. Their father was one of the reasons he was back.

“You know,” Josh added, “Dad gave him nothing but grief.”

“Dad gave everyone nothing but grief,” Connor said. “And sometimes we weren’t much better.”

Jared eyed his youngest brother. “You’ve got that right.”

Connor eyed him back. “I’m not surprised Mr. Miller set up a fund for Hazardtown Community Church. He was a lifelong member. I was surprised this morning when the lawyer said that the gift was added in a recent codicil to his will, made after I was called as pastor.”

Josh leaned back against the doorjamb and crossed his arms. “Connor gets money for his church. I get my student loans paid off. Jare, I think you got shortchanged. All he left you is that raw land in the Town of Schroon on the west side of Paradox Lake. No water frontage, not even a house.”

“Yep, just what I need,” Jared said more to himself than to his brothers.

“What?” his brothers asked in unison.

“The land’s good. I may have a use for it once I get a few details worked out.” He wasn’t going to leave himself open to any expectations, other than his own, until he was sure his plan to build a motocross track and school—sort of a Boys & Girls Club program—was solid. “But for now, I’d better get over to Gram’s. I’ve been in town since yesterday and haven’t seen her yet.”

“Right.” Connor laughed. “If you don’t get over there, she’ll be tracking you down.”

“Later,” Jared said as he pushed open the screen door and stepped into the bright afternoon sun. He grabbed his helmet from the back of his customized KLR650 motorcycle, slammed it on and threw his leg over the seat. The purr of the engine when he turned the key in the ignition got his blood rushing. He gave the engine a couple of good revs and raced off on the windy mountain roads to his grandmother’s house.

Fifteen minutes later, Jared slowed to take the turn off the state highway onto the side road Grandma Donnelly—Stowe—lived on. He still had trouble thinking of her as Stowe, even though she and the also-widowed Harry Stowe had married several years ago. She was on the porch waiting for him when he pulled up in front of the house.

“I heard you coming.” She shooed him inside. “The black flies are still bad this year, even though June’s almost over.”

“That’s one thing I haven’t missed. But you’re one I have.” He gave her a big hug and kissed her cheek.

“Save your flirting for someone who’s flattered by it.” The pleasure radiating from her face contrasted with her words and raised a jolt of guilt in him for all the times the racing circuit had brought him near the Adirondacks, and he hadn’t had the guts to make time to come to Paradox Lake.

He released a snort at the thought of what his fans would think about big, bad international motocross champion Jared Donnelly dreading a visit to his hometown.

She tilted her head. “Don’t think I don’t know what you’ve been up to. I read the magazines.”

Jared cringed. He didn’t know if he should be disturbed or flattered that she followed him in the media. “Aw, Gram, you don’t believe all that drivel.”

“No.” She smiled. “I know you better than that. Join me for lunch? Harry’s at one of his rental houses getting an estimate on some repairs. He said he’d get lunch at the diner in Schroon Lake so we’d have time for a nice visit.”

“Sounds good.” Considering her husband Harry’s penchant for talking and knowing everyone from his years as a teacher and principal at Schroon Lake Central High School, he and Gram probably would have all afternoon for visiting.

“Come on in the kitchen. I figured you’d stop over after you and your brothers got back from the lawyer’s. I have iced tea all made. I just need to put some sandwiches together.”

A brief rap, followed by a cheery “hello” and the creak of the screen door opening made Jared and his grandmother turn around in the kitchen doorway.

His chest tightened so he could barely draw a breath. Becca Morgan—Norton—stood in his grandmother’s living room looking as pretty and as untouchable to him as she had in high school.

* * *

Becca looked Jared over from his tousled chestnut hair to his strong square jaw and muscular physique. He was taller and more filled out than he’d been in high school when she used to secretly watch him—watch him with the knowledge that despite Schroon Lake High School’s small student body, he didn’t seem to know she even existed. Her cheeks pinked when her stare met his.

“Oh.” She stopped midstep. “I didn’t know you had company. I brought the dishwasher detergent you asked me to pick up for you in Ticonderoga.”

“Thanks again. I don’t know why the grocery store in Schroon Lake quit carrying it.” Edna Stowe bustled into the living room and took the bag from Becca.

“Mom!” Becca’s son, Brendon, lined up beside her, followed by his sister, Ariana. “That’s the guy in my motorcycle magazine Grandpa Norton bought me.”

She cleared her throat. “Yes, that’s Jared Donnelly.”

“Right here at Mrs. Stowe’s house?”

Edna laughed. “Yes, Brendon. Jared is my grandson. Jared, this is Becca’s son, Brendon, and his sister, Ari.”

At the mention of her name, Ari wrapped her arms around Becca’s leg and peered across the room at Jared, sort of like Becca had at school when she’d known Jared wasn’t looking. But that was a long time ago in another life.

“Mr...Mr. Donnelly. If I get my motocross magazine, will you sign it next to your picture?”

“Sure.” Jared hooked his thumbs in his jeans pockets.

“It’s in the car. I’ll go get it.” The boy raced out.

“And I’m going to go back in the kitchen and finish making our lunch. Do you and the kids want to join us?”

“No, thanks. I treated them to fast food after we finished shopping.”

Jared moved out of the doorway to let his grandmother through and sauntered over to Becca. “Your son’s a motocross fan?”

“Since last month when his grandfather bought him a magazine at the chain pharmacy in Ticonderoga.”

“Sheriff Norton.” Jared’s tone was flat.

“Former sheriff. He and my mother-in-law—ex-mother-in-law—are retired and thinking about moving to Florida. The North Country winters are getting to them.” Becca rubbed Ari’s shoulder. Why was she running on about Matt’s parents? What would Jared care if they were moving to Florida or to the moon?

“Winter is something I’m going to have to get used to again,” he said.

Becca’s mouth went dry. That sounded as if Jared intended to stay in Paradox Lake for a while. Not that she cared. She’d barely known Jared before he’d left here as a teen. She certainly didn’t know the man who’d filled the doorway when she’d first arrived. She looked over her shoulder at the creak of the door opening.

“Here it is. I got it.” Brendon waved his magazine at her as he raced across the room. “And Mom’s pen from the car.”

“Let’s see what you have there,” Jared said.

Her heart warmed when he squatted down to her son’s level. She didn’t know or care whether the interest on his face was real or feigned. Brendon’s father gave him so little of the quality attention her son needed and wanted. Jared’s attention would make her son’s day.

“That’s one of my favorite magazines. The writers stick to the important stuff, the real motocross news.”

The edge she caught in his voice made her think of a derogatory comment the kids’ grandfather had made about Jared’s offtrack life being splashed on the front of another magazine he’d seen at the store.

Brendon leafed through the magazine. “Here.” The nine-year-old tapped the page several time. “This is you.”

“So it is,” Jared agreed with a smile.

“Sign here on your motorcycle.” Brendon gave the page another stab.

Jared signed with a flourish, hamming it up for her son’s benefit.

“Mommy!” Ari pulled her attention from Jared and Brendon still bent over the magazine, Jared’s dark hair a sharp contrast to her son’s fair hair. “Can I go get my storybook from the car so the man can sign it, too?”

“The man is Mr. Donnelly.”

“Jared.” He raised his head, his deep blue eyes challenging her to object.

“Can I have Mr. Donnelly sign my book?”

Good girl. She could always count on Ari to do as she was told. Becca caught the sparkle in Jared’s eyes. Maybe too much so. She reminded Becca so much of herself at Ari’s age when her parents had separated temporarily after their third child had been stillborn. The uncertain feelings, wanting to do everything right so Daddy wouldn’t leave, too, and Mommy would come back.

Jared rose and flexed his knees. “You don’t want me scribbling in your book.”

Ari’s face crinkled.

“I have a better idea. You and your mommy go get the book and I’ll read it to you. I used to read to my little brother all the time when our mom worked nights,” Jared added as if to explain his offer.

Becca swallowed the protest she’d been about to make about keeping him and his grandmother from their lunch. She hadn’t known his mother worked nights, only the town gossip about his father’s partying. Jared was the oldest. He must have watched his brothers for her.

“You two go and get the book,” Jared said. “I’ll tell Gram to hold lunch for a few minutes.”

“Thanks,” Becca mouthed over Ari’s head before they walked out to the car.

Jared and Brendon were on the couch looking at the motocross magazine when they returned. Jared patted the seat beside him and Ari looked up at her for an okay. Her chest tightened as she nodded. Ari scrambled over and plopped her book on top of the magazine.

Becca hung back, feeling as out of place as she had in high school when she hadn’t been insulated by her small circle of friends. She shook it off. She’d been a cheerleader, an honor student, part of the popular group at school. She’d worked hard to never show how shy she really was. Now, she was a tenured high school teacher, mother, homeowner. What was it about Jared Donnelly that put her off-kilter?

“Becca.” Mrs. Stowe motioned her from the kitchen doorway. “Come out to the garden with me while Jared’s reading. I planted far too much lettuce and spinach as usual. Pick some to take home with you.” The older woman handed her a basket in the back hall behind the kitchen and led the way to the large garden.

“Take as much as you want. Harry is tired of salads. My kids have their own gardens, and my only grandkids who are still around here are Jared’s brothers. They aren’t vegetable fans. I hate to see good food go to waste.”

“Since you put it that way.” Becca filled the basket.

When they got back inside, Jared was just closing the book.

“Mommy, Mr...Jared—” Ari said, looking up at him with a sheen in her eyes that could only be described as adoration “—read the story twice because you were taking so long. But that’s okay. It’s a good story and he’s a good reader.”

Brendon rolled his eyes and the three adults laughed.

“Get your book and thank Mr. Donnelly. We need to get going so he and Mrs. Stowe can have their lunch.”

“Okay. Thanks for reading my story.”

“Yeah, thanks.” Brendon tilted his rolled magazine toward Jared.

“You’re both welcome.” Jared stood and walked out to the porch with them.

The kids waved to him as she turned the car around, and she sensed his gaze on her as she pulled to the end of the driveway. She glanced back and he waved. Jared Donnelly had finally noticed her—at the absolutely worst time possible.

* * *

Jared took his time joining his grandmother in the kitchen. Becca’s kids had seemed to like him. But they were young and full of hero worship. He wasn’t anyone’s hero. He was simply very good at motocross racing, something he was going to use to help his hometown and show everyone he and his brothers weren’t cut from the same cloth as their father.

“Everything’s ready,” his grandmother said as he sat at the kitchen table across from her.

He picked up his sandwich.

“Would you say grace?”

“Sure.” He placed the sandwich back on the plate and blessed their food. “I got out of the practice on the circuit,” he apologized. “Even with the pit pastors as a reminder.”

“Yes, I read the article on Team Faith you emailed me. I’m glad you had the fellowship of other Christians, especially with what you went through after your friend was killed.”

“I knew you would be.” His out-of-control actions following his best friend and mentor’s death in a crash had made Jared wonder if he had more of his father in him than he cared to admit.

“And I knew not to believe what I saw in the grocery store scandal sheets, even—or I should say, especially—when some people around here ate those stories up.”

“What could you expect given how Dad was?” Jared’s fingers tightened around his glass of tea. He wasn’t going to have an easy time changing people’s minds about him. Bert Miller’s bequest would be a big help, though. For whatever reason, Bert had had faith in him when no one except his mother and grandmother had. And sometimes he wasn’t so sure about his mother. Not that he could blame her.

“Gram, you and Mom are good people, and so was Grandpa. I’ve always wondered how Dad went so wrong.”

She shook her head. “I don’t know. He was already grown when I took the teaching job at Schroon Lake and met your grandfather. But we don’t want to talk about your father.”

His father was a subject Jared usually avoided, but, surprisingly, he did want to talk about him now. He wouldn’t press Gram, though, if she didn’t want to.

“You sure hit it off with Becca’s kids,” she said.

He shrugged and took a big bite of his sandwich.

“I’ve always liked Becca Norton,” she said.

He swallowed the bite. So had he. From afar.

“Weren’t you in the same grade?

“No, she was a year ahead of me.” One more thing that had put her out of his reach. Jared pictured Becca as she’d looked the first time he’d seen her, at the beginning of his freshman year. Her waist-length hair. Her bright friendly smile. Her hair was shorter now, but the smile was the same.

“That’s right,” his grandmother said. “She came to Schroon Lake Central from Lakeside Christian Academy the year Harry became principal.” Her eyes went soft when she mentioned her husband of three years.

Jared reached for his tea. With a kindergarten-through-twelfth-grade student body of less than three hundred, any new student at Schroon Lake Central School stuck out. But Becca had even more so—at least for him. He’d told his buddy he’d be taking her to the homecoming dance. His friend’s derisive laugh had made him more determined—until his father had gone and ruined everything before he’d even gotten to meet her. He gulped the rest of his drink.

“Becca and I taught together for a couple of years before I retired. I think both Josh and Connor had her for history at least one year. Which reminds me. Do you know if Connor has made up his mind yet? I think Becca would be perfect.”

Connor and Becca? He gripped the empty glass. “Isn’t he a little young for her?”

His grandmother’s lips twitched. “I don’t see what Connor’s age has to do with hiring Becca to be the substitute head teacher at The Kids’ Place, the church day-care center, for the summer. She could use the money.”

“Nothing.” He studied a small chip in his sandwich plate, most likely courtesy of him or one of his brothers or cousins. Gram had been feeding them sandwiches on the same plates since they were kids. “My mind was elsewhere.”

The twitch turned into a knowing smile. Except Gram didn’t really know anything about it. Becca Norton was an adolescent dream he had no intention of pursuing as an adult. They had been too different then and were too different now.

“Would you like a piece of strawberry-rhubarb pie?” She stood and turned to the counter behind her chair. “I baked one this morning. I remember it was always your favorite.”

Jared pursed his lips, irritated that Gram’s smile bothered him.

“It’s not that big of a decision,” she said making as if to place the pie back on the counter.

“Sorry, Gram. I’d love a piece of your pie.” He lifted his empty plate toward her, and she cut and placed a large slice on it.

“Something’s bothering you.” It was a statement, not a question.

“I’m fine.” He bit into a forkful of pie. “This is great.”

“You haven’t said anything about what the lawyer said this morning. I assume it was about Bert Miller’s will.”

Jared chewed the pie, savoring the combination of sweet and tart. “He left Connor a trust for the church, paid off Josh’s student loans and gave me that land he owned west of the lake.”

His grandmother’s eyes widened. “Did you know?”

“Not about Josh and Connor.”

“But about the land?” she pressed.

He tapped his fork on the side of the plate before setting it down. “He sent me a letter a couple of months ago.”

“Oh.”

“He used to do that, send me a letter every so often.”

Gram tilted her head and studied him. “Bert always did like you boys.” She hesitated as if weighing her next words. “Said you were the sons he never had.”

“He was with Dad that night...you know...he told me in one of his letters.”

“I know.”

Jared jerked his head up. From what Bert had said in his letter, he’d gotten the idea that fact wasn’t common knowledge.

“Your father told your grandfather one night when he’d been drinking.”

Jared stifled a snort. That could have been about any night.

“Your grandfather told me your dad and Bert had been best friends since kindergarten. Until then.”

Gram was the only grandmother he remembered. But she hadn’t married his widowed grandfather until after Jared had been born. She’d always been able to talk about Dad with a lot more detachment than he or either of his brothers could.

He pushed away from the table. “I should get going.” Now that Gram wanted to talk about Dad, Jared wasn’t sure he did anymore.

“JJ.” His grandmother reached across the table and touched his hand.

He pulled away from her touch at the use of his childhood nickname, short for Jared Junior. “Don’t call me that. Please.” He softened his tone.

“You’re not your father.”

Jared released his pent up breath. “I know, but I did enough stupid things before I left Paradox Lake, and some after, to make people think I am.”

“Honey, you weren’t the first or the last teenager in Paradox Lake to be stopped driving while impaired.”

“I’m the only son of the town drunk who was, after knocking over the Sheriff’s mailbox and running down his front fence.”

“You paid back Sheriff Norton for all the damages to his property.”

“After which he strongly recommended I take myself elsewhere as soon as I finished high school.”

“He was harsher on you than he might have been on someone else. There was bad blood between him and your father. But now you’re back. And I, for one, am glad you are.”

“Yep, I’m back.” And there wasn’t anyone or anything that could make him leave again. At least not before he cleaned up the Donnelly family name and made amends to his brothers for bailing on them and his mother.

* * *

Becca kept an eye on Brendon and Ari from the kitchen window that overlooked the backyard as she put away the groceries she’d picked up in Ticonderoga. Her son was racing his bike around Ari and the jungle gym her father had built for them before he and her mother had moved to North Carolina. Probably pretending he was Jared. He and motocross racing were all Brendon had talked about on the drive home from Edna Stowe’s house.

She closed the cupboard and walked out to the deck to call the kids in to get their things ready to go to their other grandparents’ for the night.

“Hey, Mom, watch.” Brendon rode his bike up a small rise behind the jungle gym and sped down, yanking on the bike’s handle bars and doing a wheelie for several feet across the yard. She stifled a screech as he circled around and laid the bike down on the grass in front of the deck steps.

“What do you think?” He beamed.

What she thought was she was likely to be completely gray by the time she was thirty-five. “Impressive,” she said.

“Do you think if I asked Dad, he would buy me a dirt bike for my birthday?”

Becca closed her eyes and breathed in and out. If her ex-husband knew how much that thought terrorized her, he probably would and count the cost as child support. She’d never shared it with Matt, but her parents had instilled a fear of motorcycles in her when she was a child after a close friend of theirs had died in a bike accident.

“I think you should wait a few more years on that one.” Brendon was only nine going on ten.

“Aw, Jared could teach me how to ride. The story in the magazine said that he’s going to start a school to teach kids like me how to race motocross, with a real motocross racetrack and everything.”

“I don’t think he’s building his racetrack here.” Jared Donnelly hadn’t been back to Paradox Lake for more than an occasional short visit since he’d left fifteen years ago. Even if he were in town for an extended visit, she doubted he’d build his motocross school here in the North Country where he could only operate it part of the year.

The disappointment on Brendon’s face made her chest tighten. He was just a little boy, even though he often seemed older because of his self-appointed role as the man of the family since her ex had left them.

She draped her arm over his shoulder, expecting him to duck out of her loose embrace, and her heart warmed when he didn’t. “You and Ari need to get ready to go to Grandma and Grandpa’s. They’ll be here soon to pick you guys up for the pizza movie night at church. Is Ian going?”

“Yeah.” Brendon shrugged away. “His parents would probably let him get a dirt bike.”

Back to that. Becca was pretty certain her son’s best friend’s parents would no more buy Ian a dirt bike than she’d let Brendon have one. “Go on and get your sleepover stuff ready. I’ll be right in with Ari.”

Brendon stomped off.

“Ari, we need to pack your things for Grandma’s.”

“Okay, Mom.” She jumped off the swing and skipped up the stairs to the deck.

A few minutes later, Becca watched her former in-laws and her kids drive away. Fortunately, they’d been running late, so she hadn’t had to talk with them much beyond finding out when they’d be bringing the kids back tomorrow. She walked to the kitchen, poured a glass of ice tea and took a carton of yogurt from the refrigerator before going back out onto the deck. Brendon had left his magazine on the umbrella table. She sat on the matching chair and leafed through the magazine to a page with a picture of Jared standing beside a racing bike with his helmet tucked under his arm. His hair was tousled as if he’d just taken off the helmet, and he oozed masculine bravado. In the accompanying article, Jared talked about starting a motocross school for kids, particularly underprivileged and fatherless kids.

She closed the publication and placed it on the table. Brendon wasn’t underprivileged, but she often felt he was growing up fatherless. She’d taken her wedding vows seriously. Tried and prayed so hard to keep her marriage together, and, despite knowing better, couldn’t shake the final remnants of failure that she hadn’t been able to. As if to block out the pain, her mind went to Ari and Brendon sitting on either side of Jared on his grandmother’s couch looking at Ari’s storybook. A perfect family picture. Something beyond her reach. Obviously, she wasn’t cut out for marriage if she couldn’t make a go of it with someone she’d grown up with and had known as well as Matt. Or thought she’d known.

The picture of Jared with her kids popped back into her head. She had no idea why her mind was flitting from him to marriage and back to him. Regardless of what he’d said at his grandmother’s about getting used to Adirondack winters again, she couldn’t imagine he was back to stay. What attraction, besides his family, could Paradox Lake hold for someone who’d traveled all around the world?

Becca pushed Jared and her failed marriage out of her head. Looking past her yard beyond her property to the meadow and woods that Bert Miller had owned, she wondered what would become of the acreage. Her ex-mother-in-law had been sure Bert would leave it to her, his only relative. But that didn’t seem to be the case. She placed her elbows on the table and rested her chin on her entwined fingers. Last year, she and the two other families on Conifer Road had heard Bert was considering selling it to a resort syndicate that was vying for one of the gambling casino licenses New York State had up for grabs at the time. They’d banded together in an informal homeowners association, ready to oppose that project or any other undesirable one that might endanger the quality of life they wanted for their families.

She hoped it wouldn’t come to anything like that. Recently, hanging on to her property had become enough of a fight for her. She didn’t need another one. Raising two kids and paying the mortgage on the dream house she and her ex-husband had built was tough on a teacher’s salary, especially a teacher’s salary at a small school such as Schroon Lake. She nudged a stone under the table with her toe. Getting the job she’d applied for running The Kids’ Place at church for the summer would really help. Disappointment welled inside her. She’d thought she would have heard back by now. The only other jobs available were in the tourist trade and wouldn’t pay enough for her to make any money once she’d paid for day care. Unless she asked her ex-mother-in-law to watch them, which she wasn’t about to do. Ari and Brendon could come with her to The Kids’ Place. She kicked the stone and watched it arch up and hit the deck rail before landing on the grass several feet away.

She rose to go inside. Why did she always have to second-guess herself and overthink everything? Why couldn’t she simply accept God’s plan for her? Her mind flashed back once more to Jared reading to her kids and she halted midstep. That couldn’t possibly be what He had in mind for her.

Chapter Two

The summer breeze ruffled Becca’s hair. She pushed a stray strand behind her ear and adjusted her seat on a boulder left courtesy of the advance or retreat of a prehistoric glacier. Science had never been her subject. A motion to her left caught her attention. Someone, a man, was walking toward her. She tensed. There was no place for her to go. This wasn’t even her property. She looked at her house in the distance on the other side of the meadow.

“Becca?” The figure called.

She shielded her eyes from the late-morning sun. Jared. His smooth, cocky gait was a dead giveaway if she hadn’t recognized his voice. “Hi,” she called back with a wave.

“What brings you out here?” he asked when he reached her.

“I could ask you the same.” She smiled. “I often walk the meadow. That’s my house over there.” She pointed to the colonial on a rise framed by tall pines.

“And you’re sitting on my rock.” He grinned back.

“Your rock?”

“Yep, Bert Miller left me this property. So, we’re neighbors.”

“Oh.” She dropped her gaze. That sounded brilliant.

He looked around behind her. “No kids?”

“They stayed overnight with their grandparents, Matt’s parents, last night. Under our custody agreement, Matt’s supposed to have them every other weekend. But he’s in Connecticut and works a lot of weekends. Ken and Debbie often take his time.” Too often. She clamped her hand over her mouth. Why was she running on about the Nortons again, making excuses for the kids’ father? Matt had made enough excuses before and after he’d left them. She didn’t need to make more for him.

Jared’s mouth tightened, then relaxed. “Nice day. I’d almost forgotten what mountain summers are like.”

“So, how long are you staying? Your grandmother’s really been looking forward to your visit.” She pushed away from the boulder and stood.

“Indefinitely. I guess Gram didn’t tell you I’m moving here.”

“Here?” She motioned toward the meadow. Jared Donnelly was going to be her neighbor? Brendon would be thrilled. Her heart tripped as if to deny her first thought that having Jared so close wouldn’t be a good idea.

“Not right here. I have other plans for this property. For now, I’m staying with Connor.”

The guarded look in his eyes stopped her from asking about his plans. She checked her watch. “I’d better get back to the house. The Nortons will be bringing the kids home soon.” And if I’m not there, it’ll be one more strike against me in their virtual book of reasons I’m not a good mother.

“I’ll walk back with you. I’ve seen all I need to see, and I’m going that direction anyway. I parked my bike in the gravel pull-in up the road from your house.”

“That would be a pretty spot to build a house.” What was with her? One minute she was concerned about Jared owning the property adjacent to hers. The next she sounded as if she was encouraging him to build a house there.

“True.” He fell into step with her.

After a few yards of uncomfortable silence, she asked. “Have you really retired from motocross? That’s what Brendon’s magazine said.”

“You read the feature about me.”

“Some of it,” she admitted. He grinned and her stomach fluttered. She should have had more for breakfast than toast and coffee.

“Yep, at thirty-three I’m the old man of the circuit, and I thought it was best to go out while I’m still at the top. If you asked some of my rivals, they’d say about time. Mom and Gram say past time.”

Becca nodded. “I know how worried your grandmother was about you when you had that accident last year.”

He shrugged. “Part of the business. It wasn’t that bad. I’d had worse. But I’m ready to move on and give some of the younger guys a shot at the winner’s circle.”

From someone else, Jared’s words would have sounded boastful. And she knew about boastful from being married to Matt Norton. But from Jared they sounded matter-of-fact.

“It’s going to be quite a change for you, going from the life of a national motocross champion to living back here in Paradox Lake.”

“Not so much as you might think. The circuit isn’t all glitter and parties like the magazines make it look. I will miss the rush of crossing the finish line. But I have something in mind to do that could be even more satisfying. I’d like to—”

“Oh, no!” Becca interrupted him as they crested the rise.

He stopped.

“Sorry,” she said. “That’s the Nortons’ car.” Her heart pounded as she pointed toward the highway. “I’ve got to be at the house before they are.”

She had enough stress in her life with her car on its last legs and no summer job in sight. She didn’t need the Nortons complaining about her not being there for the kids to anyone who would listen and talking Matt into taking her to Family Court again for more visitation time—at the expense of less child support. Time the kids most likely would end up spending with their grandparents, not their father. Thankfully, she’d put on her athletic shoes this morning rather than a pair of sandals.

She took off with Jared easily keeping up with her. They reached Becca’s backyard before the Nortons pulled into her driveway. She bent over to catch her breath. When she straightened, Jared was pressing buttons on his cell phone.

“Forty-five seconds flat,” he said.

Despite her agitation, she laughed. “You did not time me.”

“No, but you worked up some speed there. I don’t remember you running track.”

She shook the tingle from her hands. Jared remembered what sports she’d played in high school. “I didn’t take up running until I had Brendon and Ari.” And ex-in-laws who seem to keep tabs on my every move when the kids are involved.

“I’m sure the two of them keep you hopping, and I don’t just mean physically.”

“You’re right there. Keeping ahead of them mentally is as much of a race as chasing them around when they were toddlers.”

The Nortons’ car pulled into the driveway as she and Jared rounded the corner of the house. The Sheriff—she always thought of her ex-father-in-law that way, rather than by his first name—threw open his door and got out. His wife, Debbie, took her time, turning to say something to Brendon and Ari in the backseat before stepping out and opening their door.

“Mommy!” Ari propelled herself out of the car. “We saw The Lego Movie last night and had popcorn and soda and everything.”

“I thought we might see you there,” Debbie said with obvious disapproval. “Emily Stacey and her brother, Neal, brought their families.”

She would not let her ex-mother-in-law make her feel guilty for having an evening to herself. “I didn’t want to intrude on your time with the kids,” Becca said, very aware of Jared standing behind her.

“Jared, Mom didn’t say you were going to come over today.” The boy looked around. “Did you ride your bike? Remember, you said you’d take me for a ride if it was okay with Mom.”

Becca closed her eyes. Not the thing to say. The spillover from the annual Americade motorcycle rally in Lake George had not endeared bikers to the Sheriff. That he’d bought Brendon the motocross magazine only attested to her son’s power of persuasion.

“Grandpa.” Brendon grabbed the older man’s hand and pulled him toward her and Jared. “This is Jared, the guy in my magazine. I told you he was at Mrs. Stowe’s.”

Ken Norton glared at Jared. “Donnelly, I heard you were back.”

Tension radiated from Jared.

“Sheriff.”

“Interesting to run into you here at my daughter-in-law’s this morning.” Ken looked from Jared to her and back. “Where’s your vehicle? Hidden out back so the neighbors can’t see it?”

Becca gasped. She couldn’t believe Ken would think such a thing, let alone say it. She sensed, rather than saw, Jared move to her defense and shook her head.

Dear Lord, she prayed silently. Please help me. I don’t have the fortitude for this.

* * *

It took every ounce of strength Jared had not to punch the smirk off Sheriff Norton’s face. The jerk. Jared didn’t know what had gone on between Becca and Matt Norton beyond hearing that Matt had left Becca for another woman. Nor did he know what kind of woman Becca was now, except that his grandmother thought highly of her. None of it was his business. But he wasn’t going to stand here and let the man insult Becca like that in front of her children, even if they were too young to get their grandfather’s implied meaning.

Jared fisted and unfisted his hands—twice. “My motorcycle is up the road in the pull-in.” He ground out each word. “I drove over this morning to walk my new property.”

“You didn’t come to read me another story?” Ari asked. “You said yesterday that you would sometime.”

“No, sweetie,” Becca said. “Mr. Donnelly didn’t come to read to you today.”

Jared admired how calm and collected Becca was. He smiled down at the little girl. “But I will another time. I promise.”

The Nortons exchanged a glance.

Let them think what they liked. Jared stepped forward and positioned himself to one side of Becca, between her and the Nortons. As long as their evil thoughts didn’t go beyond the two of them.

“Brendon, take Ari in, and you two put away your overnight things. Yesterday’s clothes can go in the clothes hamper. I’ll be in in a minute.”

“Jared, too?” Brendon looked at him expectantly.

“No, Mr. Donnelly won’t be coming in.”

Becca’s tone brooked no argument from Brendon or him. But Becca wasn’t the person he itched to argue with.

“When you finish, you can each have one of the brownies I made this morning. They’re on the counter.” She softened her tone.

“That may not be a good idea,” their grandmother said. “I made them chocolate chip pancakes with whipped cream for breakfast. You don’t want them to have too much sugar.”

To Jared, it sounded as though that ship had already sailed.

The kids looked from their grandmother to their mother.

“It’s okay,” Becca said. “You can have a brownie. But only one each.”

Debbie Norton pasted a smile over the frown that creased her face and held out her arms. “Give Grandma a kiss goodbye.”

The kids took their time walking over to her. They each pecked her cheek.

“Come on, Ari,” Brendon said. “Let’s go get our brownie.”

“Clothes first,” Becca reminded them.

“Yeah, clothes first. Bye, Jared.”

“Bye,” his sister echoed.

“See you guys.”

Brendon stopped. “Tomorrow? Maybe you could give me a bike ride?”

“And read me another story,” Ari said. “You could come to Sunday school tomorrow and read the story. I’m sure Mrs. Stacey wouldn’t mind.”

Jared pictured himself surrounded by a class of five-year-olds with only his former classmate Emily “Jinx” Hazard Stacey as his backup defense and suppressed a shudder.

“Inside,” Becca said, rescuing him from the thought.

“Okay! Come on Ari,” Brendon said. The two trooped off to the house.

Once they were out of hearing range, Jared faced Sheriff Norton and waited for Becca to say something about his insinuations. She didn’t. Jared looked from the Sheriff to her, and she dropped her gaze.

“So, Donnelly,” the Sheriff said before Jared could mentally fit together even one piece of the puzzle that was Becca. “I take it Bert carried through with his foolish idea of penance.”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

Becca put an extra step between them, the icy edge of his reply seeming to have caught her more than his intended target.

The Sheriff transferred his glare from Jared to her. “Shouldn’t you be in the house with the kids?”

“No, I’m sure they’re fine.”

Jared raised his head to the sky. Now Becca decided to stand her ground, over his business, rather than standing up for herself.

Ken dismissed her with a shake of his head and drilled his gaze into Jared’s. “Bert ignored his family and went ahead and left you this property. I suppose he gave your brothers something, too.”

“Yes, he gave me the acreage here. You’ll have to check the county records for any other information you feel you need to know.”

Ken pursed his lips. “Hope you guys enjoy your blood money.” He jerked his head toward his car and his wife started walking toward it.

She stopped at the door and turned to Becca. “See you at church tomorrow.” She climbed in the car and her husband gunned the engine and roared out of the driveway.

“She almost makes me want to skip service,” Becca said. “But your brother gives some of the most thought-provoking sermons. I’d hate to miss one just to spite them.”

Becca’s enthusiasm for his brother brought back a little of the sting he’d felt yesterday when his grandmother’s words had made him think Connor was interested in Becca. He shook it off. “I wouldn’t waste perfectly good spite on Sheriff Norton. What’s with him anyway?”

Becca hesitated. “I...we...you mean, about the land.”

“Yeah.” As much as he’d wanted to light into Ken for what he’d said to Becca, he had no desire to get involved in whatever was between her and her ex-in-laws.

“Debbie is, was, Bert’s cousin, his only living relative. From what she said to me when he was first diagnosed, she’d expected to inherit everything. She and Ken were looking at it as a nice addition to their retirement assets.”

She shivered in the warm breeze and he checked himself from putting his arm around her shoulder.

“Debbie made a big show of going to visit him when he went into hospice. I don’t know that she talked to him three times a year before that.”

“She didn’t get his house, either.”

“Pardon?”

“Bert didn’t leave her his house either. He left that to one of the county home health aides he particularly liked. She told us at the reading of the will that when she told Bert her rent had gone up and she was going to have to move, he’d said he’d leave her his house. She never dreamed he’d been serious. Everything else went to the hospice organization and us.”

She touched her fingertip to her lips. “Strange. I had no idea you were close to him.”

“We weren’t. I worked for him some when I was a teenager.”

“Not to pry, but I’m curious about what Ken meant about blood money.”

“You caught that, too. I don’t know.”

“As a friend—” Jared was so focused on Becca considering him a friend that he almost missed the rest “—let me tell you that you don’t want to do anything to make an enemy out of Sheriff Norton, or Debbie, for that matter.”

Too late for that. It appeared he’d already made it back on the Sheriff’s enemy list without even trying. He looked at her solemn face. From her warning, at least Becca seemed to be on his side.

* * *

Jared hung up from the call with his financial adviser and dropped his cell phone next to him on the futon. Things were coming together. The contingent financing approval he’d applied for before returning to Paradox Lake had gone through. He glanced around the spare room Connor was letting him use. A basic twentysomething male room, from the garage-sale dresser to the footlocker at the end of the futon. Grandpa Donnelly’s antique polished-wood rolltop desk stuck out like a bicycle in a motocross race. Because Jared had loved the desk as a kid, loved rolling it shut and open, Grandma Donnelly had given it to him for his twentieth birthday and first major motocross win. He’d retrieved it from Gram’s the day after he’d run into Becca and the Nortons.

He locked his fingers behind his head and leaned back into the lumpy cushions. He should start thinking about a permanent residence. Permanent. He liked the sound of that. Becca was right that the land fronting the road by the pull-in would make a nice house lot. But after nearly fifteen years on the circuit living, breathing, sleeping work, he wanted to put some space between his home and his work. Not that he’d mind having Becca as a neighbor. He crossed his legs at his ankles and jiggled his foot. He hoped she and the other two residents of Conifer Road wouldn’t mind having him building his track and racing school there. Jared was expecting some opposition, but he was prepared.

“Hey, big brother.” Connor appeared in the doorway. “I figured I’d find you here goofing off.”

“This from a man who works for an hour one day a week?”

“Right.”

Jared swung off the futon. “What’s up?”

“I’m going for a swim down at the Camp Sonrise beach, one of the perks of having the Hazard family as parishioners. Want to come?”

“Sure. Give me a minute to change.”

“I’ll be out front.”

Jared bounded down the steps two minutes later. “We can take my bike.”

“No, let’s jog down to the lake. I need as much physical activity as possible to work off my morning.”

Jared studied his brother. “You had office hours this morning. Bad news?”

Connor waved him off. “No. The toddler room teacher at The Kids’ Place called in sick. Becca had trouble finding a substitute.”

“I take that to mean you hired Becca.” That would explain why he hadn’t seen her car in her driveway either of the times he’d been back over to his property.

“Yeah. Didn’t I tell you?” Connor picked up his pace. “Becca had me cover with the teacher’s aide until she could find someone else.”

“Gram said something about your dragging your feet about hiring her.”

“Hey, it wasn’t me. It was the day-care board.”

“They gave you a hard time? What could they have against Becca?” What could anyone have against her?

“Debbie Norton is on the board. She got some of the other members questioning whether we wanted to hire a divorcée. After Matt was the one who abandoned Becca and the kids for another woman and initiated the divorce.”

Jared pounded ahead, hitting the road so hard it sent a bolt of pain up the shin he’d broken in his accident last year.

“Sanity prevailed. We didn’t have anyone else who was as qualified as Becca, and she’s only filling in until the head teacher we hired for the fall can start.” Connor pulled ahead. “Since when have you been interested in small-town, social-political gossip?”

Jared switched gears into a full run. Forget the pain. He couldn’t believe how cruel and meddlesome Becca’s ex-in-laws were to her. “Since you became the purveyor of such information.”

Connor shrugged and matched Jared’s speed. “It comes with the territory, and I shouldn’t have shared that, even with you. All I wanted was some sympathy for having to spend two hours with a room full of two-year-olds. I certainly didn’t get any from the women.”

“That tough?” The men hit the beach with Jared a stride ahead and then slowed to a trot.

“That tough. Remind me of this morning if I ever get any ideas of having kids of my own.”

“Becca’s kids seem okay,” Jared said without thinking. “But you’re right. Us Donnelly men are not cut out to be parents.” He stopped at the camp dock, dropped the towel he’d hung around his neck and pulled off his T-shirt.

Connor followed suit. “So, that’s the way it is. Becca Norton.”

Jared answered his brother by diving into the lake. “Whoa!” he shouted when he surfaced.

“Yeah, bro, I meant to tell you. With the below-normal temperatures we’ve had at night this month, the lake’s cold.”

“No, it’s great. Just what I needed.” To cool off my reaction to your too-close taunt, little brother.

Connor shot off the dock with a cannonball.

“Way to go, Pastor Connor. That was a good one.”

Jared shook off the water Connor had splashed in his face. A small mob of kids was invading the beach, led by several women, including Becca and Jinx Hazard Stacey. “Look out, Conn. They’re coming for you.”

Connor paddled over to the dock ladder. “No, that’s the third-through sixth-grade kids,” he said over his shoulder. “They’re people. Nothing like the little darlings I got to experience down and dirty this morning.”

Jared followed him up the ladder and picked up his towel. “You were two once. I remember you being two. Mom used to make me watch you in the backyard so she could get stuff done in the house.”

“I was one kid. There was a whole herd of them at day care.”

“Sure.” Jared toweled his hair dry.

“So, this is where you ran off to,” Becca said.

Jared peered out from under the towel to see her and Jinx stepping onto the dock.

“You’ve got that right.” Connor tossed his towel over his shoulder and gave an exaggerated shudder.

“You should have seen Connor,” Becca said. “I wish I’d had my phone with me to catch his look of pure terror when I walked him into the room after he’d agreed to help the teacher’s aide.”

“I heard all about it.” Jared dried off quickly and pulled on his T-shirt, feeling inexplicably self-conscious in front of Becca and Jinx without it.

“Hey, Donnelly, it’s okay. We’ve seen men at the beach before,” Jinx teased.

Strange, the sun wasn’t that intense that his cheeks should feel so warm. “Jinx Hazard. How have you been?”

“Emily Stacey now. And I’ve been good.”

“I know, Mom and Gram have kept me up to date.”

Becca pushed her hair behind her ears and looked from him to Jinx, seemingly confused by their banter. “I hadn’t realized you two were friends.”

They weren’t really. They’d simply shared the affinity of both being students on the fringe of their high school’s cliques and an ambition to get out of Paradox Lake as soon as they’d graduated. He doubted Becca and her popular crowd had ever noticed either of them.

“I could say the same about you two.”

“When Emily returned to Paradox Lake to stay with her niece a few years ago, we connected and found we had a lot in common.”

Becca caught and held his gaze until he contemplated another dive into the lake.

“Jared.” Brendon and another boy about his size clambered onto the dock, breaking the connection. A connection that probably existed only in his wishful mind.

“Tell Ian that you are the guy in my magazine. He doesn’t believe me.”

“I am.”

Brendon’s red-haired friend scrutinized him. “You sort of look like the picture.”

“That’s your motorcycle in Pastor Connor’s driveway. Right, Jared?”

“It is.”

“Ian,” Becca said, coming to his and her son’s rescue. “This is Jared Donnelly. He’s the racer in the picture in Brendon’s magazine.”

“Aunt Em. You know this guy?” Ian asked, skepticism still coloring his face.

And Connor thought two-year-olds were tough.

“Yes, Ian.” Patience laced Jinx’s face. “My brother’s oldest son,” she said as if that explained the little Doubting Thomas. “Jared is a champion racer.”

“Former racer. I’ve retired.”

“Get out!” Ian’s voice rose with excitement.

“Told you,” Brendon said, shooting Jared a triumphant look. “Wait, aren’t you and Pastor Connor going to stay and swim with us?”

“Brendon, I think Jared and Pastor Connor have finished swimming, and you and Ian are going to miss out if you don’t go and get your buddy tags.” Becca pointed to one of the other teachers on the beach handing out colored plastic bracelets.

“See you, Jared. Remember you still owe me a ride on your bike.”

“Your mom’s going to let you ride on his motorcycle?” Ian said in a loud whisper.

“Why not? Yours lets you ride with your sister Autumn’s husband, Dr. Jon.”

“Right, but he’s a doctor, not a motocross racer.”

“Brendon,” Becca said.

“Ian,” Emily echoed.

“Go,” they both ordered.

Connor laughed. “We’ll leave you to your charges.”

Jared hesitated. He didn’t have anything else planned for the rest of the afternoon. “I can stay if you need another person to watch the kids swim.”

“No, we’re good.” Becca quickly dismissed him.

Too quickly for the adolescent longing to feel like he belonged—that he was wanted—here in Paradox Lake. A longing that seemed to surface all too often when she was around. He’d earned that sense of belonging on the motocross circuit where no one knew him as Jerry Donnelly’s delinquent kid, and hoped to achieve it here with his racing school.

Chapter Three

“What was that?” Emily asked.

“What was what?” Becca pulled her beach bag up more firmly on her shoulder.

“You and our town celebrity, Jared. Brendon and him being best buddies. Ari talking about him at Sunday school.”

Becca scanned the beach for a good spot for them to sit and watch the kids swim.

“The current between you and Jared,” Emily prodded.

Becca frowned at her friend. “I ran into him at his grandmother’s house when the kids and I stopped there to drop off something for Edna. Brendon recognized Jared from his magazine and asked him to autograph it. Not to be outdone, Ari insisted Jared read her storybook while I went out to the garden with Edna. That’s all there is to it. This spot look good to you?” Becca slipped her bag from her shoulder and rummaged in it for the blanket she’d packed. She wasn’t going to mention the run-in with Debbie and the Sheriff the next day.

“Ari stayed with him while you went out to the garden. Your Ari? The little girl who insisted you wait on a chair outside her Sunday school room where she could see you for most of last school year? That Ari?”

“She’s getting better.” Becca had been surprised how her daughter had latched on to Jared. She shook the blanket out hard and let it settle on the ground. Unfortunately, Ari was still asking daily when Jared was going to come and read to her. She pressed her lips together. Ari got enough broken promises from her father.

“What’s that sour face about?” Emily dropped to the blanket and sat with her arms wrapped around her knees, scanning the kids swimming in the lake.

“Nothing. I was just thinking.”

“About Jared? Not all men are like Matt.”

Mentally, Becca knew that was true. Emotionally, it was another story. She and Matt had dated for most of high school and, except for a short breakup, through college. He’d left her when Brendon was a toddler, and she hadn’t even realized yet that she was expecting Ari.

Becca sat down next to Emily. “Now, my turn for questions. You and Jared were...are friends?”

“Jealous?”

“No. Maybe. Yes. But not how you think. I would have liked to have known him in high school.”

“No, you wouldn’t have. You were too busy being pretty and smart and popular. As a teenager, Jared had too much baggage for you to handle. I’m not sure he ever was a teenager.”

That had been one of the things that had attracted her to Jared as a teen. He seemed more responsible, mature, even though he was a year younger than her crowd. “I wasn’t that superficial.”

Emily shook her head. “You were that untried, sheltered. You’ve lived some now.”

“Thank you, Dr. Stacey. I hadn’t realized you’d given up graphic arts for psychology. And you weren’t sheltered?”

Emily grinned. “Dad certainly tried. But it didn’t carry over to school. Remember, I was the tall, clumsy kid everyone called Jinx. My brother, Neal, is eight years older than I am. He wasn’t around school to shelter me after fourth grade.”

“And you and Jared?”

“Used to talk sometimes about our misfit lives and how we were going to leave Paradox Lake at our first opportunity. Strictly platonic.”

Jared hadn’t struck Becca as a misfit then—and certainly didn’t now.

Becca’s cell phone buzzed that she had a text, giving her a welcome break from the conversation. She checked the screen. Maybe not.

“Go ahead and answer,” Emily said.

“It’s the Sheriff. He recently got a smartphone and has gone text crazy. It’s probably nothing.” She dropped the phone to the blanket.

“Are he and Debbie still dogging your every move?”

Becca sighed. “Almost more so since he got his new phone. I have an unsettled feeling it has something to do with Matt and my custody agreement. Debbie and the Sheriff are planning to move to Florida now that he’s retired. It’s making me a wreck. I’ve prayed, but I can’t seem to find the peace I normally would.”

“I have just the thing. The Singles Group is challenging the Couples Group in ‘Bible Jeopardy’ tomorrow night. I don’t know how peaceful it will be, but we’ll have fellowship, inspiration and food. I’m making my cheesecake brownies. Maybe Connor will bring his big brother.”

Jared’s presence didn’t exactly shout peaceful to Becca. “I can’t.”

“Mom’s watching Isabelle and Ryan. I know she wouldn’t mind watching Ari and Brendon, if that’s the problem. Ari would stay with her, wouldn’t she?”

“Probably, but I have something else going on.”

“With Jared? Are you holding out on me?”

“Not with Jared. I have to go to the Town Zoning Board meeting in Schroon Lake.”

“Why?”

Becca laughed. “The expression on your face. I’m the newest board member.”

“I ask again, why?”

“I was teaching civics and thought I should be more involved. Edna’s husband, Harry, mentioned the opening.”

Emily shook her head. “Will you ever learn? You don’t have to be involved in everything.”

“I know. It seemed like a good idea at the time, even after the Sheriff encouraged me to take the seat.” Becca’s phone rang. She picked it up. “Speaking of the Sheriff, he’s probably calling to find out why I didn’t text him back.”

“I think I’ll walk down to the water and test the temperature.” Emily stood and slipped off her shoes.

“That’s right. Desert me in my time of need.” Becca pressed the phone screen to answer the call. “Hello.”

“Have you read the agenda for the Zoning Board meeting?”

“No.”

“I texted it to you.”

“Ken, I’m working.”

“Then I’ll give you the short version. Your boyfriend wants to build a motocross track on Bert Miller’s property.”

That was what Jared wanted to use Bert’s land for? To build his racetrack? Here in Paradox Lake? She should have made the connection. Her breath caught. A racetrack could be almost as bad as a resort casino. In some ways, worse, considering Brendon’s current obsession with motorcycles.

“If you know what’s good for you, you’ll make sure that doesn’t happen.”

“Are you threatening me?”

“No, but I know how much you hate Family Court.” He hung up.

Becca stared at her phone for a moment before touching the text button. She viewed the agenda Ken had photographed and texted her, the sinking feeling in her stomach bottoming out when she reached the fourth bullet point: Jared Donnelly—request for a recreational development zoning exception to construct a motocross track on parcel 87268 on Conifer Road.

“What’s wrong?” Emily had returned and was standing over her.

“It looks like I will be spending tomorrow evening with Jared after all.”

Confusion spread across Emily’s face. “You said the call was from Sheriff Norton.”

“It was. Apparently, Jared wants to build a motocross track on the land he inherited from Bert Miller. And the Sheriff wants me to stop him.”

* * *

Jared climbed from the cab of his pickup truck and stood in the newly paved parking lot, taking in the sprawling two-story, redbrick building with its white-columned entrance. The Schroon Town Hall. He slammed the door shut. The smell of the blacktop made his nose twitch. The last time he’d been here had been for court when he was eighteen, to answer his driving-while-impaired charge. The parking lot had been newly tarred that day, too.

His stomach churned. After his arrest, his dad had made a big show about how he was going to be there for Jared. He didn’t need a lawyer. Jared still had been naive enough to believe him—or at least to want to believe him. Then, when he and his brothers had gotten home from school the day of his court appearance, he’d found their father passed out in the bedroom, an empty vodka bottle on the bed stand. That was the last time he’d believed his father.

That night, Jared had made burgers and fries for his brothers and him for supper. For whatever reason, he remembered that clearly. But he hadn’t been able to choke down more than a bite or two. He’d considered chugging one of the beers his dad had in the refrigerator for courage before remembering that had been what had gotten him in trouble in the first place. Instead, he’d told Josh to help Connor with his homework, and he’d driven illegally to the town hall for court. Keeping his eyes focused forward, he’d walked to the front of the room where court was held, signed in and had taken a seat at the far side, determined to handle whatever happened like a real man. His mother had slipped in beside him just before the public defender had motioned him up to the desk to talk. The scent of the diner lingering on his mother’s uniform had somehow reassured him. She’d had no illusions about Jared’s father coming through for him.

“Jared.”

The sound of his name jerked him back to the present. A light-haired man about his age stepped from a sleek navy blue Mercedes parked near the building.

“Dan, thanks for coming.” Jared strode across the parking lot and shook hands with the Albany lawyer he’d hired. Jinx Stacey’s sister-in-law, Anne Hazard, had recommended him. Her environmental engineering firm had used Dan on several projects.

“I spoke with the town attorney this afternoon,” Dan said. “He saw no problem with your building permit being approved without a public hearing for a variance. It should fall under the recreational development exception to the residential-agriculture zoning classification.”

“Great,” Jared said with more confidence than he felt. It must have been the lingering bad memories. He glanced at the hall. Neither of them had to be here. Tonight was an ordinary meeting of the Zoning Board. He could wait and call the building inspector in the morning. “In that case, it might better be to let the board go ahead and make their decision without us. The less said the better.”

“You don’t get off that easy.” Dan pressed his key fob to lock his car. “As I told you on the phone, it’ll look good to be here to answer any questions the board members may have. The meeting is open, even though it’s not an official public hearing.”

“Let’s get it over with, then.”

The two men went inside and entered the nearly empty main meeting room. Not much had changed since the last time he’d been here. He swallowed. He hoped that wasn’t indicative of today’s outcome. No. This time he wasn’t a kid, and he wasn’t going to let anyone drive him or his project out of town.

“An empty room.” Dan nodded. “Just what I was hoping to see. You’ve done a good job of keeping your plans for building here under the local radar. These things go better when the public doesn’t get involved.”

Jared tensed. “My idea is for the track and school to be a community project, not a secret strike on the town.” He shifted his weight. Dan had come highly recommended by Anne Hazard. From working with Anne and her staff on the environmental studies for the project, he’d found her very open and up-front. He’d assumed Dan was the same.

“Right. Do you know Steve Monti, the town attorney? We went to law school together.”

If the attorney was Dan’s age, it couldn’t be the same attorney who had orchestrated the Driving While Ability Impaired resolution that had pulled his license for six months and required him to pay restitution to Sheriff Norton. His agreement to leave town quietly right after high school graduation had been unstated—at least in the actual plea bargain.

“No, the name isn’t familiar.”

“I’ll introduce you.” Dan raised his hand to catch the attention of a man in a dark suit standing at one end of the dais. He met them halfway across the room.

“Steve Monti. This is Jared Donnelly.”

He and the town attorney shook hands.

The attorney stepped away to the other side of Dan. “I may have spoken too soon this afternoon.” The town attorney said something else in a low voice that Jared didn’t catch.

“The paperwork is all in order.”

Despite Dan’s assertion, Jared’s throat tightened.

“It is, but one of the board members lives near the development site. She’s insisting on a public hearing before the building permit is approved.”

“Becca.”

The other two men looked at Jared. He hadn’t realized he’d spoken his thought. But it couldn’t be. With her job and the kids, she had more than enough to keep her busy. It must be one of the other Conifer Road residents.

“Yes, Becca Norton. She’s new to the board. You know her?” Steve asked.

He cleared his throat. “Yes, but not like we’re close friends or anything.” That sounded lame.

“It might be more to your benefit if she were. She has connections. Her father-in-law was the county Sheriff.”

“Ex-father-in-law.”

Dan silently scrutinized him.

“I know the Sheriff, too.” And he has to be behind this somehow.

“Steve, we’re ready to start.” Jared recognized the man speaking as the owner of the diner where his mother used to work. For a moment, he was eighteen again, alone against the world.

“Time to make our case.” Dan slapped him on the back, reminding him he wasn’t alone. This time, he had a team behind him. A team he’d put together. And the resources to back that team.

Jared turned to Dan. “Did you get a copy of the meeting agenda?”

Since they appeared to be the only permit applicants here, he hoped the board would get to them first. He’d just as soon get this over with and get out of here.

“Yeah.” He grinned. “You are the agenda.”

* * *

“Come on down,” Tom Hill, the chair of the Zoning Board boomed, reminiscent of The Price Is Right. “Take a seat. We’re not formal here.”

Becca kept her gaze lowered as the men approached the dais. She placed the paper she held in her hands on the flat surface in front of her and smoothed it. Anger at herself for caving in to the Sheriff’s demand warred with concern for her kids and the life she was trying to build for them. She flicked the corner of the sheet with her index finger. The uneasiness she felt about Jared’s project wasn’t limited to her. She’d run into one of her two neighbors at the gas station convenience store. When Becca had mentioned that she was on her way to the Zoning Board meeting, he’d asked her what she knew about Jared wanting to build a motocross track on their road and then shared his apprehensions about the potential noise, traffic and strangers. He’d also reminded her how the Conifer Road residents had banded together to oppose the casino if it had been proposed.

“And this is our newest board member, Rebecca Norton,” Tom said.

She looked up into Jared’s deep blue eyes. They darkened, almost as if he’d read her thoughts about the track. But that was ridiculous.

“Hi, Jared.”

“Becca. What a pleasant surprise.”

He wouldn’t think so for long. Her pulse quickened. Or maybe he was being sarcastic and didn’t think that now, either. Although his tone wasn’t sarcastic, she didn’t know him well enough to read the real meaning of his words any more than he’d been reading her thoughts a moment ago.

Tom cleared his throat. “Now that introductions are over, I think we can get this done in quick order.”

Jared relaxed his stance. “We brought updated plans and the preliminary environmental studies from GreenSpaces for you to look over.” He stepped to the dais to hand a cardboard tube holding the plans to the board members.

Tom took the tube and waved him off. “That won’t be necessary tonight. I don’t know what Steve told your guy.” He nodded at Dan. “But Ms. Norton has raised new questions from her and one of the other property owners on Conifer Road. We’ve decided a public hearing is necessary. Your development may not fall under the recreational facility exception, after all—it being a racing school rather than a resort or simply a racetrack open to the public.”

The town attorney shuffled his feet while Jared’s attorney glared at her. But their actions barely registered. She was focused on Jared. He seemed to be looking past her to something on the wall behind the dais. She resisted the urge to turn and see what he was looking at, only to regret that decision. If she had, she would have missed the gut-wrenching hardening of his features. She started to slump in her seat, then straightened and crossed her arms. Even if she felt bad for Jared, who obviously wanted to get started on his project, she had valid reasons for pushing the public hearing. And for him, it could deflect opposition later, after he’d already sunk money into the motocross track.

“The hearing will be two weeks from Tuesday, our usual meeting night,” the board chair said. “Same time as tonight. That’ll let us get the required notices in the Times of Ti. You’ll get a letter in the mail.”

“Thank you,” Jared’s attorney said. “We’ll see you in two weeks.”

Jared jerked a nod in the direction of the board before he strode from the room.

Becca watched him until he reached the doorway. She pulled her shoulder bag from the back of her chair and rose as he disappeared into the hall. “If we’re done, I need to get home. The kids, you know.”

Becca hated to use the kids as an excuse. She rarely did. But she needed to speak with Jared, to explain her concerns about the motocross track. She could only hope that he and his lawyer might be talking outside.

“Sure,” Tom said. “That’s all the business we had for tonight. Glad to have you on board.” He chuckled at his pun and looked to the other members for affirmation. “We need more younger people to be involved in town government.”

She smiled while inwardly chaffing at the extra minute his short speech added to the head start Jared had on her. “Thanks. It’s my community. I want to do what I can.” And not alienate Jared Donnelly doing it.

Becca crossed the room as quickly as she could without looking as though she was running from the hall. Stepping into the warm cloudy night, she scanned the parking lot for Jared. There were four cars besides hers and four board members still in the hall. Her heart sank. He was gone. A cloud passed in front of the full moon casting shadows on the car. Gray shadows. Like her mood.

She unlocked her car and started it. Her concerns about having a motocross track almost in her backyard were real, although the magazine article and Tom Hill had called it a motocross school, not a track. She shouldn’t feel so agitated about having brought those concerns up to the board. She and other people in the community who would be affected by Jared’s proposed project deserved to learn more. Except Jared’s stony expression when Tom had told him about the public hearing kept flashing in her mind. The expression had made Jared look incredibly attractive and threatening at the same time.

Becca slowed the car in front of the Paradox Lake General Store. Brendon had finished the last of the milk at dinner. As she pulled in to stop to get some more, a motorcycle parked in the lot grabbed her attention. She replayed her son’s chatter about Jared’s bike in her head. She tilted her chin down and frowned at the vehicle. Brendon had said Jared’s bike was lime green. This one was dark blue, and the middle-aged man who was walking toward it definitely wasn’t Jared. She went into the store and headed directly to the coolers at the far right where the dairy products were.

Pulling the glass door open with her left hand, she reached in for one of the gallon containers of milk in the back of the cooler, releasing the door to close gently against her so she could bend in far enough to grab it. She sensed someone behind her and stiffened even before she felt the person grasp the door to hold it open for her. Not to be unfriendly, but she hoped it was a helpful tourist rather than anyone she knew. She wasn’t in a mood for idle chat.

“Thanks,” she said without looking as she turned to walk to the checkout.

“No problem,” said the one person she did want to talk to.

Looking back at Jared and his controlled features, she swallowed. Or the one person she’d thought she wanted to talk to.

* * *

Jared’s heart twisted in unison with Becca’s scowl. He should have known things were going too smoothly. Although he’d done all his prep work carefully, he’d expected some opposition to his plans. But Becca Norton wasn’t the person he’d pictured spearheading it.

“Thanks,” she said again, her expression looking more pensive now that she’d turned fully toward him. “I didn’t realize it was you.”

“Like I didn’t realize you were on the Zoning Board.”

Becca’s hint of a smile disappeared. He could have kicked himself for not guarding his words. He needed to woo, not alienate Becca. Woo her in the sense of convincing her of the good his motocross school would do. Any other wooing was out of the question. He studied her heart-shaped face for a moment. As if he, a Donnelly, would have any chance with a woman like Becca. He shook off his pity trip back in time. “That didn’t come out quite right.”

“It’s okay. Do you have a couple of minutes to talk? I’ll check this out.” She raised the gallon of milk she held. “And we can get a cup of coffee or something.”

“Sure. I need to pick up some coffee for the morning, too.” Jared walked to the grocery shelf and grabbed a large can of coffee, then put it back in favor of a smaller bag of a special dark roast. He made his way to the checkout at the front of the store and looked around.

Becca motioned to him from one of the tables in the deli area. “Over here. You did want coffee, right? I have it covered.” A waitress who looked vaguely familiar placed two heavy mugs on the table in front of her.

He ground his teeth. Not that he was a chauvinist. But he was used to being the one who picked up the tab, did for others. What she was earning at the day-care center, or as a high school teacher, for that matter, couldn’t come close to the income from his invested race winnings. His fingers tightened around the bag of coffee. That sounded too much like his money-obsessed brother Josh.

“You remember Lori Lyons.” Becca smiled at the waitress.

“Sure, I do.” Lori had been another one of the untouchables on the cheerleading squad with Becca. “I was sorry to hear about Stan.”

“Thank you,” Lori said. “I appreciated your card.”

Becca knitted her brows in question.

When Jared had heard about Lori’s husband Stan’s death in a NASCAR accident shortly after he’d lost a close friend on the motocross circuit, he’d felt a connection to Lori and had shot her off a sympathy card. “My grandmother told me about Stan’s accident,” he said in explanation.

Becca’s expression turned thoughtful. He’d have to be careful or he’d lose his tough-guy image.

“I’d love to catch up,” Lori said. “But my shift is done and I need to pick the girls up from Stan’s mother’s house. She babysits for me when I have to work during the evening.” She turned to Jared. “I have ten-year-old twins. I usually work days, so I have to get them up early for day care tomorrow.”

Jared scuffed his toe against the table leg. Lori was being a little too friendly for him. They hadn’t been friends in school and, as callous as it sounded, he’d sent her the sympathy card as much as a way to work through his own grief as a true condolence.

“I’ll see you in the morning, Becca,” Lori said. “And why don’t you—” she pointed at Jared “—stop by after the lunch rush some afternoon this week. I’d love to hear about your time on the circuit.” She shot a dazzling smile his way and gave him a flirty wave before walking back behind the counter and into the kitchen.

Yep, way too friendly, which he couldn’t say about Becca, given her dark frown. Unless she was jealous of Lori. They had been rivals in school. He yanked out the chair across the table from Becca. Only in his mind. The source of Becca’s frown more likely could be chalked up to his plans for the racing school and Lori getting in the way of Becca speaking her mind about it.

He slid into the chair and wrapped his hands around the coffee mug. “I take it you want to talk about the track.”

“I do.” The sip of coffee she took sweetened her frown into what could almost be called a smile. “I hope you don’t mind that I ordered your coffee. It’s a regular.” She glanced at the specialty coffee he’d bought. “But maybe you’d like something different.”

He lifted the bag of coffee. “This is for Connor. I’m good with anything black that doesn’t taste like motor oil.”

She took another sip of her coffee and gazed at him over the rim of the cup, her brown eyes colored with apprehension. “The Zoning Board’s decision surprised you.”

He bit his tongue before he said something he’d regret. “Right. The town attorney had told my attorney everything looked like a go. That there wouldn’t be a need for a public hearing.”

“That’s my fault.”

He took a healthy draw of his coffee and waited.

“I didn’t get the agenda for the meeting until yesterday afternoon, and what I got didn’t have a lot of details. With work and the kids, I didn’t have time to do any research. Evidently, the other board members and the town attorney already had discussed it. Tonight was my first board meeting.”

“Yeah. Dan, my attorney, and I had felt out the town building inspector about the project a while ago, before I’d decided on a spot to build it.”

“That spot being my backyard.”

“Not exactly your backyard.” He’d made a tactical error not sounding out the property owners on Conifer Road about his idea when Bert had first written him about his intention to leave him the acreage. But it had seemed like everything was coming together for him. He looked across the table. Until now.

“Close enough for me and some of my neighbors to have some questions.”

“Ask away.” He leaned back in his seat.

“Why? Why come back here when you could go anywhere?”

He worked to maintain his casual pose, while a small blaze lit inside him. From her words, it sounded to him as if she was as opposed to him being in Paradox Lake as she was to him building his racing school here. He’d thought better of her. Correction. He’d thought better of the image of Becca he held in his head from high school. An image that could be all wrong.

“Yes, I could go anywhere. I could build the school and motocross track here and run it from somewhere else. Let me ask you a question. Is it the racing school or me you have a problem with?”

Becca blanched and he slunk down in his chair. What had gotten into him, jumping to a dumb conclusion like that? He knew. He wanted this project to succeed with the same competitive hunger that had made him a champion racer. And the stakes here were greater than any race’s.

“I’m sorry if that’s how I sounded.”

The contrition in her voice tore at him worse than her misinterpreted question.

“I’ll start over. My neighbors and I have some valid concerns about a motocross track near our homes, some of the same concerns we had when Bert Miller was considering selling his property to a syndicate bidding on a state gambling license.”

Becca was equating his racing school for needy kids to a gambling casino? The banked flame in his belly reignited.

“Other people in the community may have issues, too. I thought it would help me if I knew why you wanted to build it here.”

“Understandable. I...”

The ring of her cell phone interrupted him.

She pulled the phone from her pocket and glanced at it. “I have to take it. It could be about the kids.”

Jared finished his coffee while Becca listened to the person at the other end of the call.

“That was Debbie. My daughter’s running a temperature. I have to go.”

“I hope Ari’s okay.”

Becca stood and scooped up her purse. “It’s probably just a summer cold.”

He pushed his chair back. “Let me know if you want to get together to talk about your concerns before the public forum. I can show you the plans and tell you more about them.”

“Okay. I’ll call you at Connor’s. You do understand that it’s not personal.”

“Of course.” He walked her out and they parted at her car. The problem was that it was personal for him—both his reasons for wanting to build the school and track in Paradox Lake and the urge he’d had earlier to pull Becca into his arms and comfort her when she’d blanched at his sharp question.

Chapter Four

Jared flung the Times of Ti on the couch. So that’s why Becca hadn’t called. She’d had no intention of hearing more about the motocross school from him before launching her campaign against it. The news article didn’t mention names, but it said a group of Conifer Road residents had organized against the project. That had to include her. Only three families lived on Conifer Road. Jared didn’t know the other two. He’d hoped that after he and Becca had talked, she’d be his in with the other families to calm any objections they might have.

“Hey, big bro, what’s with the face?” Connor crossed the living room, picked up the weekly newspaper and skimmed the lead article. “I see.”

“No, I don’t think you do.”

“Come on. You grew up here. You had to expect some opposition. Some people don’t want any changes, even those for the better.”

Jared grabbed the paper from him. “But no one has given me a chance to tell them it’s for the better, to explain how it’ll benefit the community. I figured I’d get that at the public hearing next week. The project could be dead by then.” He jabbed a finger at the front page. “Look at the headline, ‘Conifer Road Residents Rise Up Against Motocross Track.’”

Connor shrugged. “Okay, the headline is a little sensationalized. From what I saw, all the article says is that the residents have questions to raise at the public hearing.”

Jared ignored his brother’s placating. “And the photo of the No Racetrack bumper sticker with the X through a silhouette of a bike racer is a nice touch. She must have rushed right out the day after the Zoning Board meeting and had them printed.”

“By she, I take it you mean Becca. Can you blame her or her neighbors? You’re planning to build something big in their neighborhood.”

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