Table of Contents
title page
copyright
social media
dedication
reader note
prologue
chapter 1
chapter 2
chapter 3
chapter 4
chapter 5
chapter 6
chapter 7
chapter 8
chapter 9
chapter 10
chapter 11
chapter 12
chapter 13
chapter 14
chapter 15
chapter 16
chapter 17
chapter 18
chapter 19
chapter 20
chapter 21
chapter 22
chapter 23
chapter 24
chapter 25
chapter 26
chapter 27
chapter 28
epilogue
sneak peek — my way to you
books by fabiola francisco
acknowledgments
about the author
Copyright © 2020 by Fabiola Francisco
Publication Date: October 7, 2020
Then I Met You (Love in Everton, Book 6)
All rights reserved
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales, or organizations is entirely coincidental.
The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction. Any trademarks, service marks, product names or names featured are assumed to be the property of their respective owners and are used only for reference. There is no implied endorsement.
This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only and contains material protected under the International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of the material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission of the author. This book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
Cover design by Amy Queau, Q Designs
Editing by Rebecca Kettner, Editing Ninja
Cover photo by Deposit Photo
Interior Design by Cary Hart
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For Ally—You finally did it. You made me love the single daddies (without cringing). This one’s for you.
Gavin
Five years earlier…
I press my hand to my cheek, where the feel of a kiss still lingers. My begs and pleas still sounding in my mind as I watched Hadley leave. This can’t be happening. My heart cracks, stops working altogether, and pounds heavily all at the same time—a contradiction that fits this moment.
Hadley wouldn’t do this to me, to us. She wouldn’t. I refuse to believe it. She’ll be back soon, realizing how wrong she was. She’ll realize how much she loves us and return with her things, saying it was some kind of joke. A sick one, but she’ll be here to make up for it.
She’s the one—the love of my life. We beat the odds. She’s supposed to be here, raising our daughter together, creating memories we’ll reminisce about when we’re old.
A piercing wail hits my ears, and my eyes fall shut. Penny. My beautiful baby girl. How do I do this? How do I raise her on my own?
My body moves on autopilot. I carry Penny and cradle her in my arms, trying to soothe her cries. This wasn’t supposed to happen this way.
Dropping onto the couch, I look at my daughter, her gummy mouth as she screams. The way she looks on the outside is how I feel inside. I rock her back and forth, words choking against my dry throat as I attempt to soothe her. When it’s no use, I continue to rock her silently, my own tears falling.
Maybe I’ll wake up, and this will have just been a nightmare. I’ll have the love of my life lying in my arms and my beautiful baby girl sleeping peacefully in her crib.
This is just a bad dream…except it’s not, and I have no idea how to move forward from here. I break down, hugging my daughter to my chest, and pray I’ll be strong enough for her. She doesn’t deserve to be abandoned by both parents. Just because one parent didn’t love her enough to stay doesn’t mean I can’t love her for both of us.
My body wracks with emotions, but I stare at Penny’s tiny face and whisper, “You’ll always be my girl. I promise I’ll always be there.” Then, my cries deepen, and I pray that I’ll be enough for the innocent child that never deserved to be left behind.
Sutton
“Oh. My. God. I am so sorry!” I push back against the hard chest I just rammed into, horrified that I wasn’t paying enough attention to notice someone was walking in my direction.
“’T’s okay.” The deep, gravelly voice hits me with greater embarrassment. I look up into the brown eyes I’ve been craving to see again all these months.
How can you be part of the same circle of friends and only see each other once? Granted, I don’t live in Everton, but the small Wyoming town has become my second home with all the traveling I do here.
“You’re the famous singer, right?” The sweet voice reminds me of the main reason why I probably haven’t seen the hunky cowboy since Labor Day, six months ago.
Hunky? Did I really just use that word?
I bend down, and my lips split into a genuine smile. “Well, I’m not famous yet, but hopefully one day I will be.”
I thought there was nothing hotter than a southern gentleman. Until I met a single dad cowboy.
Penny, Gavin’s daughter, smiles at my response.
“You’re friends with Knox and Harris,” Gavin finally speaks a full sentence.
“Yeah.” I nod, standing awkwardly in the middle of the sidewalk with the guy I’ve been crushing on. I thought that by twenty-five I wouldn’t crush on guys anymore. It doesn’t help that lately, the guys I’ve met haven’t been good picks. Most don’t understand the importance of my music career, let alone want the woman to be the star in the relationship.
“Daddy, the feed store is gonna close.” Penny pulls on her dad’s jean jacket sleeve.
“We should get going. She loves buying feed for the horses with me.”
“Yeah, sure. Have fun. Sorry about running into you
