CHAPTER1
Debbie brought her Porsche to a stop in front of the Salvation Army donation bin. She climbed out and pulled the large garbage bag from the passenger seat. Taking a deep breath, she hefted it into the donation bin.
Good riddance.
Hopefully, someone would enjoy the expensive brand name clothing and shoes more than she had. Now that she was being honest with herself, she could admit they’d always made her feel a little self-conscious and uncomfortable. They reminded her of a time in her life that was full of censure and insecurities.
After pulling two more bags from the sports car’s small front and back trunks, she took another cleansing breath and brushed off her hands as she mentally said farewell to that piece of her past. Although she didn’t regret making changes, the lightness that filled her chest surprised her.
Five minutes later, she walked into Knights grocery store. She picked up a bunch of bananas and broke off three. She hated doing that, but there was no way she could eat six bananas before they turned brown.
Next, she dropped three apples into a produce bag. She’d grown so tired of throwing food away because she simply couldn’t eat it all. It wasn’t that she couldn’t afford to waste the food, she could. She could afford just about anything, but that didn’t change the fact she ate alone at her big dining table, watched movies alone in her theater room, and slept alone in a king-sized bed.
Debbie grabbed a small bag of salad and a cucumber. She didn’t need the king-sized bed any more than she needed the massive eight-bedroom house she’d insisted on building two years ago.
Her phone chimed in her purse, bringing an end to her mental pity party. She pulled it out and read her sister Sheila’s text.
You’re coming to read with kids at the school tomorrow, right?
Yes, I’ll be there.
Good, I promise you won’t regret it.
Debbie hoped Sheila was right. She’d never considered participating in the program she’d been funding for the last four years, because not only did she not have any kids, reading with struggling students sounded painful.
At least, it would help fill her empty days.
I hope.
She’d had way too much time on her hands for far too long now. Heat filled her face as she recalled her emotional break down last month on her thirty-sixth birthday. She’d cried to her mom and sisters, confiding in them why her first marriage failed twelve years ago.
She couldn’t have children. But she wanted more than anything to be a mom.
Her nephews’ cheers about finally leveling up in their video game came from the playroom during her breakdown, and Debbie had tearfully insisted she wanted tolevel uptoo.
She had everything money could buy but not the thing she wanted most. A family of her own.
Her mom and sisters had surrounded her in a bubble of support ever since. They were determined to help herlevel upby constantly encouraging her to do things she’d never considered before, including applying to be a foster parent.
Debbie dropped her phone back into her purse, tossed a small bag of carrots into her cart, and pushed her shopping cart around the corner.
Crash.
“Oops. Look out,” said a deep voice.
She looked up from the cart she’d just run into to find a pair of brown eyes looking at her. Despite the exhaustion on the man’s face, he was handsome in a stocky-build, clad-in-denim-and-flannel kind of way. His heavy five o’clock shadow only added to his rugged good looks.
“Sorry, my fault. I wasn’t watching where I was going.”
“No problem. Have a nice night.” He dipped his head and maneuvered his cart around her.
Debbie watched him over her shoulder, checking out his broad shoulders and trim waist as she pushed her cart forward.
Crash!
She let out a yelp as a display of candy-filled easter eggs toppled to the floor in front of her. Denim and flannel guy darted over to help her pick up the mess.
“Looks like you still weren’t watching where you were going.” A twinkle lit his tired eyes.
