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A Promise Remembered
Elizabeth Mowers
He’s finally back… but time doesn’t heal all wounds William Kauffman is back in his hometown, but not for long. When he runs into his high school sweetheart, Annie Curtis, she’s a reminder of everything and everyone he left behind, without an explanation, years ago. But can he make the wrongs of the past right?
He’s finally back...
but time doesn’t heal all wounds
William Kauffman is back in his Michigan hometown, but not for long. When he runs into his high school sweetheart, Annie Curtis, she’s a reminder of everything and everyone he left behind, without an explanation, years ago. Are a sick mother, a failing diner, two adorable children and the woman he’s never stopped loving enough to make him right past wrongs and stay?
ELIZABETH MOWERS wrote her first romance novel on her cell phone when her first child wouldn’t nap without being held. After three years, she had a happy preschooler and a hot mess of a book that will never be read by another person. The experience started her down the wonderful path of writing romances, and now that she can use her computer, she’s having fun cooking up new stories. She’s drawn to romances with strong family connections and plots where the hero and heroine help save each other. Elizabeth lives in the country with her husband and two children.
A Promise Remembered
Elizabeth Mowers
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
ISBN: 978-1-474-09112-1
A PROMISE REMEMBERED
© 2019 Elizabeth Mowers
Published in Great Britain 2019
by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF
All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.
By payment of the required fees, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right and licence to download and install this e-book on your personal computer, tablet computer, smart phone or other electronic reading device only (each a “Licensed Device”) and to access, display and read the text of this e-book on-screen on your Licensed Device. Except to the extent any of these acts shall be permitted pursuant to any mandatory provision of applicable law but no further, no part of this e-book or its text or images may be reproduced, transmitted, distributed, translated, converted or adapted for use on another file format, communicated to the public, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.
® and ™ are trademarks owned and used by the trademark owner and/or its licensee. Trademarks marked with ® are registered with the United Kingdom Patent Office and/or the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market and in other countries.
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
“Are you in a bad place now, William?”
“What do you mean?”
Annie shrugged. “Breezing back into town and then readying to leave again... What haven’t you told me?”
He paused, his hands grazing over hers before pulling away. “Nothing.”
Her wide eyes slowly narrowed. “Something.”
“You and I haven’t gotten off on the right foot, Annie, and I’d like to make a fresh start with you.”
“I don’t really know what to say.”
“Consider this gift a peace offering for all the times I should have been with you staring up at the moon. I really wish you would.”
“You missed a lot, William. And to suddenly start a friendship now...”
“I’m sorry. I should have been here.”
“No. You should have called me, instead of dropping off the face of the earth. I didn’t know what had happened to you. I assumed you didn’t care about me anymore.”
“I always cared,” William whispered. “I care.”
Dear Reader (#u937e4819-a7f2-52fe-951f-10f423ab0cbf),
A long time ago, I heard the adage “Friends are the family you choose,” and as I have friends I embrace as sisters, I believe this to be true. As far as families go, sometimes they hurt us and sometimes we lose our way.
In A Promise Remembered, I wanted to imagine a community that would become family for Annie and William, who loved each other once upon a time but think a second chance at happiness is out of their reach. As Annie fights to protect her family and William runs from past mistakes, they might think they’re each too broken to choose a new life, a happier life. And yet, they have a cast of supportive friends—from Dan and Earl, to Margie and Joe—who love Annie and William enough to nudge them along to the happily-ever-after they both deserve. Because we all deserve friends who love us as family and a family that pulls us closer to love.
I wish that for us all.
I’d love to connect with you. Find me on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/ElizabethMowersAuthor/) on my author page or visit my website, elizabethmowers.com (https://www.elizabethmowers.com/).
Wishing love to you and yours,
Elizabeth
To Mom, who always knew I’d be a writer.
To Dad, who was proud of me no matter what.
To Danielle, my moon baby.
To Michaela, my water baby.
And to Kevin, who won my heart in Marquette all those years ago.
Contents
Cover (#u2fd8ba53-35e9-53ea-afab-896de00e3058)
Back Cover Text (#u0def546b-65ee-5b25-b7a2-be006a105aa9)
About the Author (#u2bad0db1-6ed5-512f-8aad-fd9b7b8f3b9e)
Title Page (#u8c16d72e-ad1d-5cf6-bfef-74f56a35662b)
Copyright (#u61fefb73-73e1-552c-801c-6adaab81d345)
Introduction (#u3ec22535-bd9e-54f6-a56b-9e60e89f4067)
Dear Reader (#u14105076-d52c-5728-82c2-411aa6bd25c5)
Dedication (#ufb218593-2f30-5663-93c5-2bc70d4fae9d)
CHAPTER ONE (#ua1e18520-1282-54c1-bb91-e2f1212b2e27)
CHAPTER TWO (#uea2c88ad-6c08-5a4d-9e2f-a3b5a63d3e72)
CHAPTER THREE (#uc7d5f4e1-c558-5bde-8fb6-74e2393ebd6f)
CHAPTER FOUR (#u4e47fe3b-8fc2-5058-bcfd-ba849b84932b)
CHAPTER FIVE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER SIX (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER SEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER EIGHT (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER NINE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER ELEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TWELVE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER THIRTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER FOURTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER FIFTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER SIXTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER NINETEEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TWENTY (#litres_trial_promo)
EPILOGUE (#litres_trial_promo)
Extract (#litres_trial_promo)
About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER ONE (#u937e4819-a7f2-52fe-951f-10f423ab0cbf)
WILLIAM KAUFFMAN CLUTCHED his right hand in his lap, rubbing a thumb over the tops of knuckles that still carried the scabbed gash from the latest in his line of regrets. Slouched in the driver’s seat of his rusted-out Chevy truck, he carefully examined the wound. It was the only one visible to the world.
It wouldn’t be a long visit. Quite brisk in fact. Chinoodin Falls, Michigan, was the last place he wanted to be, but he owed it to his mother to make one last visit before hightailing it west and possibly out of the country. The thought of rescuing the 1981 Indian motorcycle rusting away in her shed, which should have passed directly to him, was highly motivating, too. If he could sell his truck for a few bucks, he could travel farther on his true father’s wheels—undetected.
Parked along the street, with the Chevy’s engine gently idling, William eyed the illuminated windows of the greasy spoon where he’d been trapped most evenings and weekends as a child. A bland storefront with a faded green awning over the entrance, the dimly lit Pop’s Place sign hung crookedly over the front door. The sight, so long forgotten, now aroused in him a giddy fantasy of the words coming unfastened and crashing to the ground. He silently wished it to happen. If it did, perhaps he’d know in his heart that burying his ugly past spent there was somehow genuinely possible.
As the early summer sun sank beneath the Lake Superior shoreline, casting hues of oranges and purples over the charming downtown Main Street, William grimaced at patrons shuffling through the diner’s open doors. The only thing slower than their moseying walk was their drawn-out Upper Peninsula accent, a mimic of folks from Northern Wisconsin and Minnesota. They carried on into Pop’s Place as if they hadn’t a care in the world: he despised them. His eyes darted along the storefront window, straining for a glimpse of his mother and some sign that returning to Chinoodin Falls after a twelve-year absence wasn’t the terrible mistake he feared it to be. He was an older version of the angry kid who’d taken off years ago, but as he shook out his aching right hand to turn off the ignition, he didn’t feel any wiser.
He pulled his grease-stained baseball cap down snugly over his forehead and shoved his fists in the front pockets of his worn-out blue jeans before jutting across the street. He reminded himself that nobody in this little town knew what he had done, and they wouldn’t find out unless he was foolish enough to tell them. All he had to do was make a quick visit to appease his mother, persuade her to give him the motorcycle and then sell his truck. He’d only have to invest two to three days tops before he could be on his way. If he kept his head down and stuck to the plan, no one could stop him from escaping west.
* * *
ANNIE CURTIS WIPED perspiration from her brow with the top of her shoulder while carrying a tray of dinners to table four. She slid the plates to each patron with a brief nod before noticing the lone straggler sauntering through the front door.
“Take a seat anywhere, honey,” she called, as he had seemed to miss the Seat Yourself sign. Without acknowledging her, he sidled up to the end of the counter and stood a menu in front of him, partially shielding his face from view. Annie refilled soda glasses for table three before cruising along the counter, order pad in hand.
“What can I get you?” she asked the cracked menu cover as the stranger ducked behind it.
“Joyce,” he said in a barely audible grumble.
Annie frowned, cocking her head closer. “Excuse me?”
“Send Joyce out, would ya?”
“Joyce isn’t working the dining room tonight. You’re stuck with me. What can I get you to drink?”
The stranger readjusted the menu and peered over the top of it, the whites of his eyes darkened by the shadow of his baseball cap.
“I need to see Joyce now.”
Annie hesitated, narrowing her eyes to study him. He was tall with a broad frame and a muscular build, but if she was pressed to give a detailed description to the police, she wouldn’t be able to manage more than “gray T-shirt and faded Levi blue jeans.”
“What do you want with her?”
The stranger dipped his head and grumbled, “It’s important.”
Annie tapped a pen on the top of her order pad for a moment before sauntering back to the office for her boss.
“A fellow at the end of the counter wants you,” she called. Joyce, a round woman well into retirement age, hoisted herself out of her desk chair and scurried past Annie to the dining room, trying to catch her breath along the way.
“Miles,” Annie whispered, slipping back to the kitchen’s order window. The young cook craned his bandana-covered head to see her. “Grab me a frying pan. There’s some weirdo out there asking for Joyce.”
“What’s he want with her?”
“I don’t know, but he’s acting dodgy.”
Miles raised a discerning eyebrow. “What do you wanna do?”
