If only he had something to give her...besides love
He’s only looking for a room and a fresh start, but Zach finds more than he’d bargained for when he checks into Fay Lindemuth’s bed-and-breakfast. The single mom intrigues him with her quiet strength and gentle beauty. He knows he should keep his distance from Fay and her young sons. Not only is she still hung up on her ex-husband, but as an ex-marine, Zach Castro has no idea what he can offer them. No matter how much he begins to feel for her...
Fay smiled, warm and relieved.
As if getting him to come inside the bed-and-breakfast was some sort of personal victory... Glad he could help her put a check in the win column.
“Thank you,” she said. A car drove past, the driver giving them a friendly beep of the horn. She waved without looking away from Zach. “I promise to do everything in my power to make your stay with us pleasant.”
He thought again of how pretty she’d looked sitting in the sunshine. How good she smelled. How long it had been since he’d felt a woman’s soft skin. How long since a woman had touched him in a nonplatonic, nonmedical or nontherapeutic way.
A long time. A long, long time.
Yeah. Probably not what she meant by making things pleasant.
“I’ll just check out the room,” he told her, his voice gruffer than he’d intended. Inappropriate thoughts would do that. Especially ones of him rolling around on the front yard of a residential street on a bright, sunny day with a woman who, moments before, had hauled her screaming kid inside. “No promises I’ll be staying.”
I read my first Harlequin romance as a teenager and from that point on, I dreamed of becoming a Harlequin author. Now here I am, releasing my eighteenth book for Superromance, and I couldn’t have done it without you. Thank you so much for allowing me to share my stories with you. Here’s to many more happy endings!
If you’ve read my books before, it’s probably clear that I’m a big believer in second chances. I believe that if a person sincerely wants to overcome their past, they will—but it won’t be easy. A point that was very much brought home in The Marine’s Embrace.
Fay Lindemuth and Zach Castro are both at turning points in their lives. Fay, who was introduced in the very first In Shady Grove book, Talk of the Town, is a single mother struggling with depression trying desperately to overcome past mistakes and move on. Zach comes to Shady Grove to work for his brother so he can figure out what his future holds after losing his arm and leg while serving in the marines. They don’t complete each other so much as they help each other heal. Zach gives Fay the strength to see herself as so much more than her illness and her past choices. Fay and her sons accept Zach into their hearts and show him how much brighter his future will be once he includes love and family into his plans.
I can’t tell you how much I’ve enjoyed writing Fay and Zach’s story—especially being able to bring Fay’s story full circle and give her a well-deserved happy-ever-after. I’ve loved writing the In Shady Grove series and being able to return to Shady Grove time and again. This series has been very near and dear to my heart—thank you for being a part of it!
For more about future releases and a listing of all my books, please visit my website, www.bethandrews.net, or drop me a line at [email protected]. I’d love to hear from you.
Happy reading!
Beth
The Marine’s Embrace
Beth Andrews
During the writing of The Marine’s Embrace, the eighth book in her popular In Shady Grove series, Romance Writers of America RITA® Award–winner BETH ANDREWS became an empty nester, discovered the joy (and pain) of spin class and was given the best gift of all, a new grandson! When not writing Beth can be found looking at pictures of her grandbaby, printing pictures of her grandbaby or sending other people pictures of her grandbaby—yes, he’s that cute. Learn more about Beth and her books by visiting her website, bethandrews.net.
For Andy
Contents
Dear Reader
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
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
HER PILLOW SMELLED of him.
Caught in that wonderful, hazy time between asleep and fully awake, Fay Lindemuth sighed and pressed her face against the soft fabric. Inhaled the familiar, tantalizing scent of her husband’s aftershave. Hugging it close, she wanted nothing more than to hold this perfect moment in her memory forever. To draw it out, make it last as long as possible.
But these perfect moments didn’t last. Not for her.
So she had to make the most of it. Happiness, so long sought and even longer fought for, suffused her. She used to dream of having Shane back in her life. They were soul mates, destined to be together, bound by the vows they’d made to each other and the two sons they’d created.
For the past three years, circumstances and their own choices had kept them apart. But never for long. He always came back to her.