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This Time For Keeps
Jenna Mills
A great husband and kids…that's how Meg Montgomery has always seen her future. Her present…well, it looks a little different. Then suddenly she's guardian to her baby niece. And while the circumstances aren't ideal, Meg's determined to give Charlotte the home she deserves. That may be hard to achieve when Charlotte's uncle Russell comes back to town.Because Russell is also Meg's almost ex-husband.The distance between them has done nothing to diminish their powerful attraction. If anything, seeing him with Charlotte makes Meg realize what a great father he could be. And being together this way makes those dreams of her future almost a reality.
Russell moved first
At least Meg thought he did. He stepped toward her, forcing her to tilt her face to maintain eye contact. In some vague, barely functioning corner of her mind she saw him lift a hand. Felt the warmth slide against her face.
This was Russell. She’d built so many dreams on him. Had pinned so many hopes on him. And for a while they’d been so good together. That’s what she remembered now. Those good times…
She was moving then, toward him, pushing up on her toes with a longing that seeped through her like water from a ground spring.
“Meggie,” he murmured, and then she wasn’t thinking anymore. Was only feeling. And remembering.
Wanting.
Dear Reader,
Like most girls, I grew up dreaming of my wedding day: my dress, the music, my bridesmaids…and of course, the man I would marry. But my dreams pretty much stopped with that big day, as if it were the end rather than the beginning. Sure, I dreamed of becoming a mother, but it was an abstract idea.
What I’ve learned—as a veteran of a two-decade union!—is that marriage takes work. All that wonderful passion from the beginning eventually settles into routines. Life happens. People grow. Dreams don’t always come true. And that’s where the real challenges begin. That’s where love meets its ultimate test.
What happens, I sometimes wonder, when two people lose each other along the way? Lose themselves? Can love survive? Can you get it back?
Out of these questions came Russell and Meg Montgomery, a couple on the brink of saying goodbye forever when life throws them a major curveball. Now, with the future of a young child in the balance, they must discover if the life they once dreamed of is still within their reach…this time for keeps.
I love to hear from readers! Please contact me through my Web site at www.JennaMills.com.
Happy reading,
Jenna Mills
This Time for Keeps
Jenna Mills
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jenna Mills doesn’t remember a time when she wasn’t playing matchmaker. From Barbie and Ken to the Professor and Mary Ann, Jenna always wanted love to prevail. It was only natural that she turned this obsession into a career—and her own happily-ever-after. A Louisiana native living in Texas, Jenna lives with her husband of two decades and their two young children.
Every book has its own tone and texture, and its own path to creation. This book would not be without two majorly wonderful people: my husband, Chuck, for all the raw material; and my awesome editor, Wanda, for the chance…and the wise counsel.
You’re both incredible!
CONTENTS
PROLOGUE
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
EPILOGUE
PROLOGUE
EVEN IN SLEEP, SHE KNEW he was gone.
Megan Montgomery opened her eyes against the hazy light of early morning and reached beside her. The soft cotton sheet and down comforter, both a rich tartan plaid of navies and reds, lay flat. The feather pillow was fluffed. There were no wrinkles, no indentations, no warm places. Absolutely no evidence of the destruction Russell Montgomery could wreak on a bed.
After all this time, the chill on her skin made no sense. Especially now.
With a drowsy stretch, Meg drew a hand to her stomach, where beneath the cool silk of her nightgown the swell made her heart sing. Four years in the making; four months until her arrival. Or his.
After today, she would know.
They would know.
On cue, the little one fluttered, and Meg smiled. As much as she wanted to savor the moment, even more she wanted to share it. With a quick glance at the clock, she slipped out of bed and padded from the big bedroom.
Music drifted through the century-old, but newly renovated, house. Soft, lilting strains drew her down the hallway, to the small, east-facing room that had sat empty for years.
The soft, buttery-yellow glow stopped her. He worked quietly, deliberately—just as he did everything. His chest and feet were bare, his jeans faded and low-slung. Together, man and paintbrush moved in symbiotic rhythm, the muscles of his bare arms and shoulders bunching and releasing with each smooth, even stroke.
The night before, the room had been boring builder-beige. Now the nursery-to-be beckoned like morning sunshine. That had been their intent.
The symbolism appealed.
“Looks good,” she murmured, her voice still thick from sleep.
Russell turned, and despite the familiarity between them, her breath caught. His dark copper hair was mussed, his strong jaw in need of a razor. And his smile…it was slow, languorous. “You caught me.”
The words were playful, but she knew her husband well enough to see the fatigue in the dark green of his eyes, the sharp glint of something he clearly did not want her to see. Three walls were painted, including trim. Even working at a brisk pace, he couldn’t have slept for more than an hour or two.
He’d been acting oddly ever since the phone call that had jarred them from sleep a few days before. He’d left the bed, talked in hushed tones. Told her there was nothing to worry about.
She was trying to believe him.
“Didn’t mean to wake you,” he said, changing the subject the way he always did when he sensed she was about to prod too close to something he wasn’t ready to share. He put down the brushes, crossed to her.
“You didn’t.” She took his hand and drew it to her belly. “Your son did.”
Almost instantly, a twinkle came into Russ’s eyes. “You mean my daughter.”
Pushing up on her toes, Meg brushed her lips across his. “Maybe,” she murmured indulgently, loving the soft scrape of his whiskers. Most men were obsessed with having sons, but all Russell talked about was having a little girl.
“With eyes of blue like her mum’s,” he said, lapsing into the brogue of his childhood. They’d known each other for six years, been married four. The echo of a Scottish accent shouldn’t still inspire that quick little rush. But it did. It was such a disconnect coming from a man who always looked ready to tackle the great outdoors.
“Blond hair,” he added while his fingers wove through hers.
Somehow, his touch was as gentle as his words.
“A sweet little smile—”
“Careful what you wish for, Montgomery,” she teased, grinning up at him. “You really think you can handle two of us?”
The corners of his eyes crinkled. “Watch me.”
She planned on it.
“Wee one must have gone back to sleep,” he said, but Meg wouldn’t let him take his hand from her stomach. She loved the warmth of his palm against her chemise, loved looking down to see his fingers splayed against her belly.
“Just wait,” she whispered.
His frown caught her by surprise. “Can’t,” he said. “I’ve got a breakfast meeting over at the Manor.”
She stepped back. “Everything okay?”
“Just somebody I used to work with.”
“From New York?”
“London,” he said, returning to pour the remaining yellow paint back into the can.
Questions surged like the floodwaters that had almost inundated their home the month before, but like a makeshift dam, Meg held them back. They’d been through this before. He’d made his choice, made a clean break, walked away. He didn’t miss his old life, didn’t want to go back.
Still, curiosity needled through her. As publisher and editor-in-chief of the Piney Woods Gazette, that was her job, after all. To ask questions.
It’s how they’d met.
“Anyone I know?”
“No.”
The vagueness of his answers was not lost on her. Clearly he didn’t want to talk about this old colleague—or what they would be discussing. But she knew. A photojournalist, Russ had been at the top of his field when he’d turned his back on it all—the acclaim, the travel. The freedom.
For her.
Someone was always trying to lure him back. “Well, give her my—”
“Meggie.” He was across the room in a heartbeat, leaning down to take her face in his hands. “Sean. His name is Sean. We—”
“Russ—”
“—did a few ride-alongs together in Iraq. He’s with the BBC—”
“You don’t have to—”
“I’m here.” The ferocity in his voice made her heart slam. “With you, Meggie. It’s where I want to be.”
She swallowed hard. She knew that. She did. And if she ever had any doubt, she had only to look at the gallery of framed photographs lining the hallway. From their honeymoon in the Scottish Highlands to an afternoon picnic among the Texas bluebonnets, the moments were all there, captured. Preserved.
The surge of raw emotion was new to her. Hormones, she figured. Her girlfriends told her it was perfectly normal, but she’d cried more since becoming pregnant than she had in the past few years, combined.
Her cousin Julia promised this was just the beginning.
“I know,” she whispered.
Russ slid his hand back down to cup the newly formed bump. “And at eleven o’clock I’ll be with you at Dr. Brennan’s.”
Meg smiled. At the last sonogram, their little one had waved, then gone right back to sleep. “Promise?”
“Promise,” he said with a long, hard kiss. “I’ll be there.”
CHAPTER ONE
Two and a half years later
WHISPERS OF MORNING SUN leaked through the blinds, casting the small room in an ethereal glow. A cloth doll sat in the rocking chair. A soft pink towel lay on the changing table. And in the far corner, the crib stood in shadow. That was by design. Meg wasn’t sure what she’d been thinking, putting a baby in the room that was first to greet the morning. Actually she was pretty sure she hadn’t been thinking at all.
Pure emotion, much like pure adrenaline, had a way of sending logic straight out the window.
