Loving You, page 1
part #1 of The Donovans Series Series
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Epilogue
Who will be the next Donovan to fall in love?
One
Also by Samantha Chase
About Samantha Chase
Copyright 2023 Samantha Chase
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All Rights Reserved.
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No part of this book, with the exception of brief quotations for book reviews or critical articles, may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author.
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
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Cover Design: Kari March Designs
Edits: Jillian Rivera
Praise for Samantha Chase
“If you can’t get enough of stories that get inside your heart and soul and stay there long after you’ve read the last page, then Samantha Chase is for you!”
-NY Times & USA Today Bestselling Author Melanie Shawn
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“A fun, flirty, sweet romance filled with romance and character growth and a perfect happily ever after.”
-NY Times & USA Today Bestselling Author Carly Phillips
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“Samantha Chase writes my kind of happily ever after!”
-NY Times & USA Today Bestselling Author Erin Nicholas
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“The openness between the lovers is refreshing, and their interactions are a balanced blend of sweet and spice. The planets may not have aligned, but the elements of this winning romance are definitely in sync.”
- Publishers Weekly, STARRED review
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“A true romantic delight, A Sky Full of Stars is one of the top gems of romance this year.”
- Night Owl Reviews, TOP PICK
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“Great writing, a winsome ensemble, and the perfect blend of heart and sass.”
- Publishers Weekly
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“Recommend Chase to fans of Susan Elizabeth Phillips. Well-written and uniquely appealing.”
- Booklist
Chapter One
If you eat something and no one sees you eat it, it has no calories.
“Why thank you, fortune cookie. I have to agree,” Jade Mackenzie said as she popped the second half of the cookie into her mouth.
It was another riveting Friday night in Sweetbriar Valley.
Not.
Okay, maybe it was. After all, she was sitting on the floor in the middle of the little shop she was preparing to open. Books & Beans was something she had wanted to do for years and she was finally making it happen. The little indie bookstore and coffee shop was a pure labor of love and in another two weeks, she would open the doors to the public.
If the public would actually come.
Yeah, there was a small knot of dread that she couldn’t quite kick where that was concerned. Jade wasn’t exactly a neighborhood darling in Sweetbriar. She had hoped that the more time that passed, people would move on, but…there were quite a few who hadn’t.
Still, she refused to let that stop her from achieving her dream. If nothing else, she wanted to prove to her son that hard work, determination, and overcoming obstacles–even those in the form of rude and closed-minded people–lead to success.
Oh, please let this be a success…
“Jade? Where do you want these books to go?” her mother called out from the back room.
Slowly, she got to her feet and stretched. Every inch of her body hurt and all she wanted was to go home and soak in a nice hot bath. Unfortunately, the tub in her little rental house wasn’t big enough for her knees and boobs to be under water at the same time.
“When this store starts making real money, I’m buying a bigger house with one of those free-standing soaker tubs.” Laughing softly, she picked up the remnants of her dinner and tossed them in the trash. “And I’m going to take bubble baths every damn day.”
Sure, it was a silly thing to dream about, but it was important to set goals and have something to work toward.
Even when it was just a bathtub.
“Jade?” her mother called out again.
“What genre are they?” she asked.
“Judging by the cute couple gazing adoringly at each other on the cover, I’m going to say romance.”
Laughing softly, Jade walked back to where her mom was checking in the inventory. “Ooh…cute cover.” Grinning at her mom, she said, “We have the romance nook to the left of the coffee counter. Ask Dad if the stain is dry on the shelves though before you put them out. Is he back from picking up Silas yet?”
“No, but I’m sure they’ll be here soon.” They worked in silence for several minutes, stacking books and cutting up boxes. “I think he mentioned them stopping for ice cream on the way back. You know how the two of them are with their dessert.”
She wanted to be mad and maybe say something about how her son shouldn’t be having ice cream at eight at night, but sometimes you just had to give in. “I hope they bring some back for us.”
Beside her, her mother laughed. “Are you sure that’s a good idea? Think of how melty it could be.”
“It’s a risk I’d be willing to take.” After taking another small stack of books out of a box, she sighed.
“Are you okay, Jade?” Her mother immediately put her books down and reached for her hand.
“Am I doing the right thing, Mom? I mean…maybe I should have looked someplace else. Another town or…or…”
Annoyance was the first expression on her mother’s face, but it was gone in a flash. “We’ve been over this. Did something happen before I got here?”
Yes.
Instead of saying anything specific, she shrugged. “People are just…well…there are a few who are being very vocal about not shopping here. I’m just afraid they’re going to make a big enough fuss that it’ll scare any potential customers away.”
“I’d love to get my hands on Victoria Nelson and give her a good hard shake.” Pausing, she gave her daughter a sly grin. “And maybe a good slap across her snooty face.”
“You and me both, but that’s not going to happen.”
Even though it happened almost nightly in her dreams.
“You’d think she’d want you to succeed for Silas’ sake! I mean…how heartless can you be?”
“I think we’ve seen how heartless she is. She has no interest in Silas or his well-being. She sees him as a nuisance, the reason her golden child son didn’t go on to greatness.”
“Pfft…her golden child son didn’t go on to greatness because he had a drinking problem and tried to wrestle a police officer during a DUI stop.” Cora Mackenzie was fiercely protective of her daughter and grandson, and she never hesitated to come to their defense. Even when no one was around. “You’d think more people would speak up about how she and Lloyd turned their backs on their own grandson! Not to mention the way Trevor walked away too!”
Jade shrugged. “I think Trevor walking away was a blessing in disguise. He’s a terrible role model, and I’d hate to think of how he would have been with Silas.” She let out another sigh. “Why can’t they just let me be, huh? I mean, I’ve asked nothing of them. I just want to raise my son and be left alone. That isn’t too much to ask, is it?”
“No, it’s not.” Cora pulled her in for a hug. “And I’m sorry that Victoria’s making things so hard for you.”
“Me too. I just wish…”
“Mom! Mom! Mom!” her son called out as soon as he ran through the door. “Guess what?”
His blond hair was a complete mess, his clothes were a bit muddy, and his face was covered in chocolate. All in all, he looked like a boy who’d had a great day.
“What?” she asked excitedly as she crouched down in front of him.
“Tommy’s dad is going to be the coach of the youth football team and he thinks I should try out! We were playing in their backyard and he saw me throw the ball and said I was a natural! How cool is that?”
“Very! That’s awesome, Si!”
“Gramps is going to take me shopping this weekend to get a football of my own so I can practice throwing some more!” Then he threw his little eight-year-old body at her and gave her a fierce hug. “It’s gonna be great!” He released her just as quickly when he heard his grandfather walk in. “We stopped at The Scoop House and Gramps got you and Grams ice cream. Milkshakes ’cause he said everything else would melt too fast.”
Straightening, Jade smiled at her dad. “Thanks.”
“Silas,” her father said, “you need to go wash up, okay?”
“Okay!” And then he took off for the restroom.
Jade took a sip of her chocolate milkshake as she watched her father kiss her mother on the cheek before handing her a strawberry one. After thirty-five years of marriage, they were still very much in love.
“Looks like you two were busy,” her dad said as he looked around. “Those shelves are all dry, so we’re good to put books out.”
“That’s great, Dad,” Jade said with a smile, and a bit of a brain freeze from the milkshake. When she put her cup down and went to grab a pile, her father shook his head.
“Just tell me where you want them, and I’ll get them there. Finish your dessert. Millie over at The Scoop House said to tell you hello and after I bragged about how great everything was coming along, she said she couldn’t wait to come in and see it all for herself.” Honestly, Sam Mackenzie was the greatest dad a girl could ask for.
And he didn’t mind doing a lot of the grunt work.
So Jade sat on one of the stools and simply gave directions for a few minutes. Silas came back out and regaled them all with stories of what an amazing athlete he was going to be. There wasn’t a doubt in her mind that he would be.
She just didn’t have to be happy about it.
Before long, it was clear how tired everyone was and she was shocked to see it was almost ten o’clock. “Okay, let’s call it a day,” she said around a yawn. “We’ve got two weeks before the big grand opening and I think we’re really making progress.” Stretching, she smiled at her parents. “Thank you for all your help today. I couldn’t do any of this without you.”
They each hugged her and promised to come in tomorrow to help wherever they could.
“No work on Sunday, though,” her mother said firmly. “We’re all going to go to church together, and then I’m making us a nice meal so we can relax.”
It would be pointless to argue, so she didn’t. “Sounds like a plan.”
“Do I have to be here tomorrow?” Silas whined. “There’s nothing fun for me to do.”
It was true; at this point there wasn’t anything exciting for a young boy to do here, but finding places for him to go when she was working long hours wasn’t always easy.
“Uncle Steve and Aunt Viv are going to take you to the movies tomorrow,” her mother announced, much to Jade’s surprise.
“They are?”
Her mother nodded.
“But…”
“Just because you don’t like to ask for help doesn’t mean the rest of us don’t know you need it,” Cora replied sweetly before looking down at Silas. “They’re going to pick you up here tomorrow and take you to lunch with your cousins and then to the movies! Won’t that be fun?”
“Yay!” was her son’s only response before he ran to the back door. “Can we go now?”
It took a few minutes for Jade to walk around and make sure everything was put away and turned off. In her mind, she was working out what she wanted to accomplish tomorrow and how she was going to get it all done.
“Mom!”
And she could finish thinking about it once she was home and her son was in bed. “Sorry, bud. I know it’s late.” Ruffling his hair, they locked up, hugged her parents and wished them a good night before climbing into their car. The SUV was a hand-me-down from her brother, but it was in good condition and felt a little sporty. As they drove home, Silas talked incessantly about what movie he hoped they were going to see and where he wanted to go to eat and all the fun he was going to have tomorrow instead of unpacking books.
“You should take the day off and come with us, Mom,” he said before yawning loudly. “You work too hard.”
Smiling sweetly at him, she nodded. “I promise to take some time off once the shop is up and running.”
“Okay,” he mumbled, but she saw the disappointment on his face.
School would be letting out in a few weeks–which was why she chose to open her store at that time. With more people home for the summer, it was the perfect time for them to come in during the day for coffee and a muffin and look at books. Jade had even reached out to the local schools to find out their summer reading lists and made sure to stock copies of all of them. She’d put so much work into making sure she’d thought of everything. The PTA at all three schools promised to promote her and would send out flyers with the students’ end-of-the-year packets to tell their parents that they could get all summer reading books from her store. It would be perfect and would hopefully help her kick off the opening of the shop with a bang.
I’ve got this…
Pulling into the driveway, she looked in the rearview mirror and saw that Silas was almost asleep.
“Hey, sweet boy. We’re home.”
He nodded sleepily and practically fell out of the car. Together, they walked up to the door and went inside. She helped him get to his room and took a pair of pajamas out of his dresser and handed them to him. While he went into the bathroom to change, Jade walked into her own bedroom and changed into her pajamas. They met back up in the hallway where she followed him to his room and covered him with his blankets once he was in bed.
“Good night,” she whispered before kissing him on the forehead. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Night, Mom. Love you.”
Her heart squeezed. “Love you too.” Quietly, she walked to the door and turned out the light. There were things she really needed to do around the house, but she was so damn tired. It took less than three seconds to decide that putting in a load of laundry wouldn’t hurt and doing an online grocery order would be helpful.
The next time she looked at the clock, it was after midnight.
“Dammit,” she murmured and promptly shut her laptop, turned out the lights, and shuffled to her bedroom.
This space was her sanctuary and the most overly feminine space in the house. This was the one room she knew she could come to and truly relax. Canopy bed, twinkly lights, soft, muted colors…this room had been the one splurge she allowed for herself. If she was going to have to sleep alone, she at least wanted the room to be fabulous.
Jade was used to climbing into the bed alone, but sometimes she wished someone were there with her—someone she could talk about her day with and who would tell her she wasn’t crazy for taking on such a big venture.
Someone to hold her.
Someone to kiss her goodnight.
And someone to help her remember she was a woman.
As her eyes drifted shut, she told herself that was one dream that would probably never come true.
“Hey, Levi. They want to see you in HR.”
Levi Donovan looked up at his assistant and frowned. “HR? Really?”
She nodded.
“When?”
“Now.”
O-kay…that wasn’t what he expected. Rising, he grabbed his phone. “Do you know what it’s about? Is anyone else going too?”
“Just you,” she said quietly before walking away.
There had been some conversations going around about some new policies regarding working from home, so he figured they were maybe calling all the top tier management in to go over it. Maybe his assistant just wasn’t aware of it.
Stepping out of his office, he made his way down the hall to the elevator. He was in a good mood and this little surprise meeting wasn’t going to bring him down. His advertising campaign for the travel bureau in Virginia was doing really well and he had a presentation prepared for a Michelin Star restaurant that was coming to Alexandria that he knew was going to blow everyone away.
Levi had always been creative and he was very at ease talking to people. That’s why working for Creative Alexandria had been like a dream come true. He moved up the ranks quickly and right now he was their top guy, the main man, the guy all the other ad execs wanted to beat.
Not gonna happen…
Yeah, Levi knew so many of his co-workers wanted the clients that he had, but right now he was on a winning streak. It was like he had the Midas Touch that’s lasted for almost two years. He was making great money, had a fantastic condo, was driving a brand-new Lexus SUV, and was dating a woman who was pretty fantastic.
