“Because I’ve wanted this since the first day I walked into your office and you warned me off,” she said. “Just shows how perverse I am. I’ve always been drawn to the unobtainable. There was a time when that didn’t work out so well, but this time?” She smiled at him. “This time I think it’s going to turn out exactly right.”
He picked her up and spun her around until she was dizzy. “I just knew today was going to be the luckiest day of my life,” he said. “Now all we have to do is undergo a cross-examination by half the town. They’re all going to have something to say about this, you know. Maybe we should skip Thanksgiving dinner and celebrate right here, by ourselves.”
“Not a chance.” She looked into his eyes. “Anybody in that crowd who hates your guts or knows any deep, dark secrets?”
“Absolutely not,” he said, frowning.
“Ditto with me,” she told him. “I think we’re good to go.”
“Have I mentioned that I love you, Laura Reed?”
“No need,” she told him. “It’s been in every word you’ve said and everything you’ve done for weeks now. It just took you a while to figure that out.”
He laughed. “Having you around to read my mind is definitely going to make my life a whole lot easier.”
“And having you in my life is going to make me happier than I ever expected to be. I think that makes us a pretty good team.”
He held her gaze, then said quietly, “We’re going to be unbeatable.” His expression sober, he added, “One more thing.”
“What’s that?”
“You’ve never said that you’d like to find your child, but I think I know you well enough to understand that not knowing where she is has been eating away at you. If you want to make an effort to find her, to make her a part of our lives in whatever way she’d like to be, that’s okay with me. I’ll do whatever I can to help you.”
Laura blinked back tears at his words. He’d just touched on so many raw emotions. “I don’t know, J.C. Maybe she won’t want to know me,” she said voicing her greatest fear.
“You won’t know until you’ve tried to reach out. And what I know with absolute certainty is that she’d be the luckiest girl in the world to discover that she has a biological mom who was brave enough to give her up.”
So many times over the years Laura had thought of trying to find her child, but she’d thought it would be selfish. And maybe she’d been just a little bit afraid of what she’d find—a young woman who wanted no part of the person who’d given birth to her, then given her away. Perhaps now, with J.C.’s love and support, she could risk that.
“Thank you,” she said softly.
He tucked a finger under her chin and looked deep into her eyes. “You never have to thank me for loving you and wanting to do anything and everything that will make you happy. From here on out, there’s nothing in my life that will matter more.”
She smiled at that. “You know what I’m going to be most grateful for today?”
“What?”
“That all the other single women in this town somehow missed what a catch you are or were scared off by your warnings to stay away.”
J.C. chuckled. “You weren’t scared off, were you? Not even a little bit.”
“I had a few uneasy moments,” she admitted. “But I think I knew from the very first day that you were going to be worth every risk I took. Turns out I was right.”
“I’m glad you think so,” he said, then cut off the conversation with a kiss that took her breath away.
“Oh, yeah,” she murmured, when she could speak again. “I was really, really right!”
* * * * *
Look for WHERE AZALEAS BLOOM
by Sherryl Woods,
the next SWEET MAGNOLIAS story,
on sale from Harlequin MIRA in September
at your favorite retail outlet.
Keep reading for an excerpt of Midnight Promises by Sherryl Woods!
Questions for Discussion
1. Laura Reed feels passionately about being a good role model and mentor for her students because she once had a teacher who played that critical role in her life. Have you ever had a mentor or friend whose advice and support made all the difference for you in a difficult situation? Explain what happened.
2. If you’re a parent, how attuned are you to your child’s behavior and signs of possible bullying? Do you believe bullying is ever innocent, acceptable or just part of growing up?
3. What is your local school’s policy on bullying? Is there not only a policy, but an active program to prevent bullying? If not, should there be?
4. Has your community experienced a tragedy related to bullying? What actions were taken as a result? Should more have been done?
5. If a teacher or neighborhood parent reports that your child has bullied another child, what is your first reaction? Like Mariah, do you instinctively defend your child, or do you keep an open mind?
6. What is the parent’s responsibility in preventing bullying? Do you pay close attention to what your children are doing online? Do you feel children, especially teens, have a right to privacy, or is it more important to monitor what’s going on in their lives? How do you balance those things?
7. In the story, J.C. has been through a lot. Which incident do you think did the most to shape the man he is today—losing his brother, or his wife’s betrayal? Has there ever been a defining moment in your life that shaped who you are?
8. For a time, Misty’s mother is so lost in the pain of her divorce that she stops paying close attention to the needs of her children. Have you ever been through such a difficult time that nothing seems to matter beyond your own pain? What were the circumstances and how did you overcome that?
9. Mariah Litchfield seems to be using Annabelle to live out her own lost dream of being a singer. Have you known parents like this—men or women—who live vicariously through their children and seem to take their successes or failures too personally? Do you think that’s good for either parent or child?
10.
