by Kat Bammer
“So then why did you?”
“Because dreams change. I was miserable, doing what was my number one love my whole life. It took a while for me to realize I love you more. More than hockey…more than anything else in my life.” He shrugged. “And I fell in love with the town and with the people. Maybe it was just a matter of perspective. I had nothing else besides hockey before. But then I had you…this…us.”
Julie’s heart swelled and tears pooled in her eyes. Us.
“I love you, Julie.”
“I love you, Kevin.”
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Thank you for reading Moments of Trust. The Moon Lake Series continues with Alan and Jessie’s story in Trials of Love.
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Trials of Love…
A small-town doctor. A single mother down on her luck. Can a pretend family really work?
Available HERE.
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The Moon Lake Series Books
Moon Lake. A small town situated between mountains and forests. With dark secrets, past hurts, and danger lurking.
If you love military heroes and strong, independent women they fall in love with, you'll love the Moon Lake Series.
Love You (Prequel)
Peter & Lisa
Young love, tragedy and new beginnings...
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Love You Still
Peter & Lisa
One night brought them together.
Life tore them apart.
Returning home may be their second chance.
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Meant to Be
Blake & Claire
It was just a fling, friends with benefits, nothing serious… until she got pregnant.
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Moments of Trust
Kevin & Julie
She's his therapist… and his best friend's little sister.
The instant attraction between them?--Totally off-limits.
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Trials of Love
Alan & Jessie
A small-town doctor. A single mother down on her luck. Can a pretend family really work?
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Hero of my Heart
Richard & Dorothy
Twenty years ago, he broke her trust and shattered her heart. Now he’s back as the new, too-sexy-for-his-own-good sheriff in town.
Turn the page for a Sneak Peek of Trials of Love, book 4 in the Moon Lake series.
Trials of Love
Moon Lake Series Book 4
1
“Where the hell is he?”
Jessie Blake looked down at the little bundle in her arms. Her two-month-old blinked his eyes slowly, as though he didn’t understand what his mother was fussing about.
“Oh, don’t look at me like that. I know I’m foolish, but it’s been a week. I miss him.”
Jessie’s little boy yawned and then closed his eyes and nested his face against her left arm. Sleeping in her arms was the only way she could get him to nap today. He’d been fussy and cranky, crying a lot, and Jessie couldn’t figure out why. All she knew was that he wasn’t his usual self…as far as she could tell…not that she was any kind of expert on this topic.
Every time she looked at her little baby, she was awed and plenty terrified. She never thought she’d be in this position—a single mom—or a mom at all.
Maybe that’s why it took her so long to see the signs of her pregnancy…and the reality of her relationship with her ex. He’d never said he didn’t want the baby outright, but there were little hints and most of the time he’d been just…blah. At the time Jessie’d thought it was natural for her to be more excited than the father-to-be. Now she knew better. She still didn’t understand how she’d been so blind. He’d lead this double life and in three years she’d never suspected anything was wrong.
Not until the shit hit the fan. When she found out he was actually married to this other woman, she’d been ashamed…ashamed and humiliated…and then pissed…and later devastated.
She shook her head to clear it of the cobwebs of past memories. Why was she still thinking about all this? It was in her past. Her present and future was Seb. She looked down at his face. So innocent. She knew even before giving birth that he deserved more than his sleazy-slimeball-cheating biological father. So Jessie left. She had been eight months pregnant, but it had been the best decision at the time. Now the only one Seb had left was his single, clueless mother. But she would protect her baby. If she couldn’t give him a family, she’d at least be the best mother he could ever wish for.
Jessie looked back out the four-paned window of the old farmhouse. It was late afternoon and already getting dark outside.
Shouldn’t Alan be here by now? Hopefully nothing’d happened with his flight. Jessie shook her head. Since when was she a worrier.
Before Seb’s birth, she’d always been positive and carefree. Now, doubt and worry crept into her thoughts constantly.
Headlights appeared on the highway. Then they turned into their driveway.
Jessie’s heart leapt and then settled into a fast rhythm. The same rhythm it had when she was working with the new horse for the first time. It was a mixture between exhilaration and an edge of nervousness—she never knew what to expect.
Jessie backed off the window and closed the curtains.
Alan didn’t need to know how desperately she had waited for his return.
He was always so kind and funny and caring…no need for him to know his charity project had a huge crush on him.
Jessie’s eyes turned damp, and she shook her head. Must be hormones running rampant in her body.
She busied herself in the kitchen even though she had cleaned the whole house, in bits and pieces, wearing Seb in the new sling her brother Blake gave her for Christmas. But when the doorbell rang, the pan she was awkwardly polishing slid through her hands and banged down on the countertop, and Seb, still cradled in her arm, twitched.
“Sorry, little baby,” Jessie said with a soothing voice before she bent down and kissed him on the forehead.
She was getting better at doing things one-handed. She dried her hand on a kitchen towel and moved toward the door. Why was Alan ringing the bell? He had a key; it was his house, for God’s sake. She was the guest whom he graciously allowed to live in his house.
Jessie stumbled for a second. What if it was another patient? The whole town knew the doctor was due back today. Hopefully it wasn’t something serious because the next doc over was in Stone Valley and the only other alternative was White Creek Hospital, which was thirty minutes away. Jessie opened the door and relief battled with disappointment when she saw her sister-in-law Claire standing on the porch.
“Hey, Jess, you forgot this on Christmas Eve. I found it wedged under the sofa.” Claire handed her a small, cuddly blanket of Seb’s. And then caressed Seb’s cheek lightly with her finger.
Jessie hadn’t even realized she’d forgotten her baby’s only toy. Her chest tightened. God, she was the worst mother on earth. She had to get better at this somehow.
Thank God her sister-in-law-to-be just smiled at her, oblivious of Jessie’s internal struggle.
“Christmas was nice. I’m glad your mother could come even though it was such a short visit. I think she was happy to see her first grandchild and you and Blake, of course.” Claire said.
Jessie nodded. It had been nice to see her mother again, and it had been a proud moment when her mother held Seb in her arms for the first time, tears streaming down her face.
Even though little Seb wouldn’t be her mother’s only grandchild for long.
Jessie
looked down at Claire’s baby belly. It was clearly visible, although not that big yet. Claire and her brother still had a few months to go and her best friend Lisa was just a few months after that.
“You want to come in? Have a cup of tea, maybe? Where’s Sunnie?” Usually, wherever Claire went, Sunnie wasn’t far. As if the girl was glued to her. But then again, watching her mother being shot by her father, and later living in the woods, next to her dead father, must’ve caused a lot of trauma. Luckily she now had her brother and Claire. Even though she surely had a long way to go. Maybe she should offer doing some equine-assisted therapy with Sunnie.
Claire shook her head. “Sunnie is with Lisa. I have to get back to the Inn and just snuck away to bring you this, and to check in on you. Isn’t Alan due back today?”
Jessie nodded because for whatever reason, her throat constricted. She had been lucky to land here in Moon Lake just three months earlier. Since the baby had been born, there was always someone checking in on her or bringing food. The people of Moon Lake were unlike anything she’d ever experienced…even to newcomers. Then why was she so desperate for Alan to come home? It wasn’t like she was alone all the time, or that she didn’t have any other friends.
“So will he be back today?”
“Yes, definitely.” Jessie swallowed. That came out a little too forceful. As if Jessie wanted to convince herself too much, but she didn’t know how to backtrack from there, so she just shrugged her shoulder. “He at least said he’ll be back today, so I guess he will be.”
Claire grinned and heat swept up Jessie’s neck.
Thankfully Claire didn’t say anything else. Instead she slipped off her gloves.
“You know what, I don’t have a lot of time, but a cup of tea would be great.”
Jessie stepped back and Claire passed her and before Jessie closed the door, her eyes swept the driveway one more time.
Now that fog accompanied the darkness, it wouldn’t make driving any better.
She closed the door and followed Claire into the kitchen.
“Should I hold him for you, while you handle the tea?”
Jessie looked down at the little baby tucked in her arm. Seb was fast asleep, finally, so it didn’t make much sense for her to carry him around. “Thanks, but I’ll just lay him in his crib.” She moved past the dining room table to the lounge area in the living room and carefully placed him in there. “He’s so cranky today, I carried him around all day.”
She looked at the watch next to the fireplace. It was 4:45. Not ideal if Seb was sleeping now; he would be awake all night again and Jessie didn’t know if she could take another night like that.
Claire, who followed her, stood beside her and looked down at the crib. “Maybe he’s come down with something?”
Jessie inhaled sharply and looked down at her baby boy. He looked so peaceful. In the two months since his birth, he’d never been ill. Hopefully Claire was wrong.
She stared at him a while longer, looking for signs that something was wrong with him—but she couldn’t find any, not that she had a clue what to look for.
“Jessie?”
Jessie turned her head toward the kitchen to Claire, who stood by the beautiful, massive wooden table. How long had she zoned out?
“I got the water going, but I don’t know where you keep the tea.”
Jessie nodded and moved toward the kitchen.
“I have peppermint tea or some herbal mixture. What do you like?” She turned back to Claire, who already had two cups on the countertop.
“I’ll have the peppermint.” Jessie prepared the tea, and they sat down on the couch in the living room, right next to Seb’s crib. The open-plan room was really a blessing, especially for having a little baby.
“So how’s it going?”
Jessie hesitated.
“I know you won’t complain when Blake is around, but I imagine it’s hard being a single mom with a young baby. So as a friend…how are you doing?”
Tears filled Jessie’s eyes on their own volition. Yes, it was hard, but she was so, so lucky.
“It’s okay, everything’s fine. I’m happy here and so thankful Alan took me in.”
Claire nodded. “Yes, Alan’s the best. I had quite a rough start at the beginning of my pregnancy, but Alan was there for me—solid as a rock. So why did you almost cry?”
Jessie shrugged. “Don’t know, it’s just very little sleep, hormones. Sometimes I have the feeling it’s all a bit much.”
“Do you regret coming here…to Moon Lake?”
She smiled. “Of all the things I regret…coming here isn’t one of them. It was the best thing that could happen to me and Seb.”
“I hear you. Moon Lake is really special. The people are special. I’m glad I’m here, as well.” They sipped their tea, but far too soon, little Seb woke up hungry and fussy, and Claire said her goodbyes. There was still no sign of Alan coming home when Jessie checked on her horse an hour later with Sebastian strapped around her front.
2
Alan Radley stopped his car at the gravel parking lot of the Moon Lake Bar & Grill.
A heavy feeling settled in his body and he rubbed a hand through his hair. This is not where he wanted to be right now. He wanted to be home. With Jessie and Seb. He wanted to take her in his arms and inhale her sweet scent, then he wanted to cuddle Seb and discover all the little changes that occurred in the week he’d been away.
Alan shook his head. Who was he kidding? His feelings toward his roommate were completely inappropriate. He felt like one of those leery old geezers who played the caring uncle even though they were secretly salivating after their prey. Disgusting.
Yes, Jessie was a grown woman even though there was a significant age difference between them, but she was a new mother.
A single mother, fooled for years by the biological father of her baby.
She’d been down on her luck when she arrived in Moon Lake, and the last months had passed by in a flurry of events which didn’t make her situation any better.
Seb’s birth…her moving from that ridiculous substandard room in the barn into the main house…him falling head over heels for mother and child. Alan scoffed. This was not happening. At least he wouldn’t act on his feelings. Even though he’d felt insanely attracted to her, from the first time they’d met. She’d been pregnant, radiating, and shamelessly flirting with him, which annoyed the hell out of her brother. He chuckled at the memories. The way she’d made him feel, back then in the barn…the way he was feeling whenever she was near…he shook his head. He exited the car and walked toward the bar. Maybe this wasn’t the best place to come either. Jessie’s brother, Blake, would be suspicious. Blake was one of those people who saw entirely too much.
Alan’s eyes scanned the bar, and he slowly smiled. His best friend Caspar was nursing a beer.
“Hey, Caspar.” Alan settled on the bar next to him.
“Hey, Alan, how’s home?” Caspar turned to him.
“Home was…interesting. I loved seeing Grandma, but being around Mom is always—challenging. What are you up to?”
“Working. A lot. There’s this absolutely annoying woman who’s making my work life hell right now.”
Alan tilted his head to the side. “Do I know her?”
Caspar shrugged. “Her name’s Tara.”
Alan raised his brows. “Tara Patterson? The ‘owner of the construction company in Stone Valley’ Tara?”
Caspar nodded and chugged down his beer.
Alan chuckled. “Why on earth is she making your life hell? She’s the most down-to-earth, uncomplicated woman I know.”
Caspar shook his head. “Oh no, the most down-to-earth, uncomplicated, and sweetest woman I know lives right under your roof. Tara’s unbearable.”
Alan’s stomach hardened. Did Caspar really just say that? Was there something going on between him and Jessie? Had they met when he’d been away?
Alan’s fist clenched and unclenched. He turned his head away from
Caspar and stared at the mirror behind the multitude of bottles.
To his right, the door from the kitchen opened and Blake exited and served Caspar some stew. “Hey, Alan, you’re home early. How’s Jessie and Seb?”
“I didn’t go home.” Alan swallowed. Caspar’s stew smelled divine. “Came here first.”
Blake’s eyebrows shot up, but he said nothing, just studied Alan, as if he could look inside him.
Alan shrugged his shoulders but his stomach was hard as stone. “Needed to come down first—it was quite a few days.” Yeah, right, who was he kidding? As if Blake would believe him when Alan couldn’t even convince himself this was his only reason.
Blake gave a distracted nod. “So, a beer then?”
Maybe this was wrong. Who was he fooling? He wanted to go home. He missed Jessie—more than that. He’d been miserable without her.
“You know what”—Alan tapped both hands on the bar—“I think I’ll just get going. I’m wiped.” Alan gave Blake a cursery nod and clapped Caspar on the shoulder who devoured his stew.
Blake shook his head and Caspar snorted, but Alan ignored his friends.
On his way out he greeted Mrs. Connors, Mrs. Fisher, and Mrs. Reynolds, who occupied the booth next to the door, but at the same time, he was still listening to Blake and Caspar.
“What was that all about?”
“Don’t know.”
Alan didn’t know what had gotten into him lately, so it was just as well.
