Summer of Love by Marie Ferrarella (easy to read books for adults list .TXT) 📕

“Oh?” Lila refused to be concerned. She’d been down that route and this was a brand-new route she was embarking on—with Everett beside her. She knew that she could face anything as long as he was with her. “What’s that?”

“I don’t want any more secrets between us,” Everett said.

“Neither do I,” Lila agreed wholeheartedly. “Is there something you need to tell me?”

“More than just you,” Everett answered. “If we’re going to start with a clean slate, there is something else I need to do.”

Now he was beginning to really make her wonder, but she wasn’t about to shrink away from his revelation. Because whatever it was, they would face it together. Conquer it together.

“Go ahead,” Lila said, thinking that he was going to confess something serious to her.

Instead, Everett opened her office door and called out, “Schuyler, Lucie, would you mind stepping back in here?”

The two women obligingly filed back into Lila’s office.

“Okay,” Schuyler said to her brother, “make your announcement, although we both saw you put that huge rock on Lila’s finger so this is going to be a little anticlimatic.”

“It’s not what you think,” Everett told his sister.

Schuyler exchanged looks with Lucie, obviously confused. “All right, enlighten us then,” she said.

“I’m through sneaking around,” he told his sister. “This is what we talked about when I first came to Austin, thinking I was picking you up to bring you home.”

“What is he talking about?” Lucie asked, looking at Everett’s sister.

Everett turned toward Lucie. “Lucie, I think it’s time I told you who we really are. Or at least who we think we are.”

Lucie looked from Everett to Lila, her brows furrowed. “Lila?”

But Lila shrugged, as mystified as Lucie was. “I have no idea what he’s talking about,” she admitted.

Everett laced the fingers of one hand through Lila’s hand as he went on to make his revelation. Nodding toward his sister, he told Lucie, “As you know, our last name is Fortunado.”

Lucie waited for more. “Yes?”

“What you might not know, and I’ve recently come to find out—thanks to Schuyler’s detective work—is that the Fortunado family might actually be descendants of Julius Fortune, Jerome Fortune’s father,” he added for clarity.

“You know,” Lucie told Everett, a smile spreading across her face, “I’m not half surprised. With all of Jerome’s illegitimate offspring coming to light lately, it stands to reason he learned the art of seduction from his father.” She reached out and placed a hand on Everett’s shoulder. “In that case, I have some people I would really love for you to meet.”

“People who could substantiate my suspicions?” Everett wanted to know.

“Oh, more than substantiate, I think,” Lucie said with emphasis.

Instead of eagerly asking her friend to make the meeting happen, the way Lila thought he would, Everett turned to look at her. She saw a wicked sparkle in his eyes. Her pulse instantly began to accelerate.

“That really sounds wonderful, Lucie, and I’d appreciate the introduction,” he told her without so much as a glance her way. His eyes were solely on Lila. “But I’m afraid the meeting is going to have to wait for now.”

“Oh? Why?” Lucie asked.

“Because,” Everett began, raising Lila’s hand to his lips and brushing a kiss lightly against her knuckles, “my fiancée and I have plans for this afternoon. Plans,” he said, “starting right now. So if you’ll please excuse us...”

The request was merely a formality. Everett was already leading Lila out of the office and toward the hallway and the elevator beyond. He was vaguely aware of Schuyler’s squeal of joy behind them and the sound of Lucie’s laughter as she applauded.

All that and more blended into the background and then faded away as he stepped into the elevator car with Lila. They had a lot of catching up to do. And he planned to start this minute by taking her into his arms and kissing her as the elevator doors closed, locking the rest of the world out.

Small Town Marriage Miracle

Jennifer Taylor

CHAPTER ONE

‘I feel terrible about what’s happened, Emma. You came home for a rest, not to be faced with this.’

‘It doesn’t matter. Really it doesn’t.’

Emma Roberts smiled soothingly as she led her aunt, Margaret Haynes, over to a chair. She sat down beside her, seeing the strain that had etched deep lines onto the older woman’s face. Her aunt had aged a lot since the last time Emma had seen her and she couldn’t help feeling guilty. She should have realised that something was wrong and returned home sooner than this.

‘Now tell me what the consultant said,’ she ordered gently.

‘He said that it’s imperative your uncle has a coronary artery bypass done as soon as possible. If Jim waits any longer, there will be no point doing it.’

‘Wait? Do you mean that Uncle Jim has been putting off having it done?’ Emma queried in surprise.

‘Yes. I’m afraid he has.’ Margaret Haynes sighed. ‘His angina has been getting worse for some time now. Even his medication doesn’t always help when he has a really bad attack. I kept nagging him to have the bypass done, but you know how stubborn he can be.’

Emma smiled. ‘I do indeed. Once Uncle Jim gets an idea into his head, it’s impossible to shift it.’ She sobered abruptly. ‘But from what you’ve said, it sounds as though the situation is extremely urgent now.’

‘It is.’ Margaret gave a little sob. ‘I thought I was going to lose him yesterday. He was in such terrible pain.’

‘Shh, it’s OK. He’s going to be fine,’ Emma assured her. She put her arm around the older woman’s shoulders, wishing she were as certain of the outcome as she was trying to appear. Her aunt and uncle had brought her up after her parents had died and she loved them dearly. The thought of anything happening to Uncle Jim was almost more than she could bear.

‘Of course he will. I’m just being silly, aren’t I?’ Margaret blew her nose. ‘The consultant told me that