Hometown Hope: A Small Town Romance Anthology

by Zoe York

  Hometown Hope

  A Small Town Romance Anthology

  Zoe York

  Delancey Stewart

  Erin Nicholas

  Elena Aitken

  Kait Nolan

  Sidney Bristol

  Brighton Walsh

  Margaret Ethridge

  J H Croix

  Tess Thompson

  Tessa Layne

  Stefanie London

  Jean Oram

  Dylann Crush

  Erin Wright

  Suzie O’Connell

  Bethany Lopez

  Take The Leap Publishing

  Love In A Small Town

  Copyright © 2014 by Zoe York

  Happily Ever His

  Copyright © 2019 by Delancey Stewart

  Diamonds and Dirt Roads

  Copyright © 2018 by Erin Nicholas

  Falling Into Forever: The Springs, 2

  Copyright © 2014 by Elena Aitken

  Just For This Moment

  Copyright © 2016 by Kait Nolan

  Give Me Back My Man

  Copyright © 2018 by Sidney Bristol

  Second Chance Charmer

  Copyright © 2018 by Brighton Walsh

  Home in Heartsfield, 3rd edition

  Copyright © 2019 by Margaret Ethridge

  Burn For Me

  Copyright © 2017 by J.H. Croix

  Marred: Kyle and Violet

  Copyright © 2018 by Tess Thompson

  A Hero’s Honor

  Copyright © 2017 by Tessa Layne

  It Was Only a Kiss

  Copyright © 2020 by Stefanie London

  A Pinch of Commitment

  Copyright © 2017 by Jean Oram

  Lemon Tarts & Stolen Hearts

  Copyright © 2017 by Dylann Crush

  Accounting For Love, 2nd edition

  Copyright © 2018 by Erin Wright

  The Road To Garrett

  Copyright © 2016 by Suzie O’Connell

  A Pinch of Salt

  Copyright © 2017 by Bethany Lopez

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Contents

  Introduction

  I. Love In A Small Town

  II. Happily Ever His

  III. Diamonds and Dirt Roads

  IV. Falling Into Forever

  V. Just For This Moment

  VI. Give Me Back My Man

  VII. Second Chance Charmer

  VIII. Home in Heartsfield

  IX. Burn For Me

  X. Marred: Kyle and Violet

  XI. A Hero’s Honor

  XII. It Was Only A Kiss

  XIII. A Pinch of Commitment

  XIV. Lemon Tarts & Stolen Hearts

  XV. Accounting For Love

  XVI. The Road To Garrett

  XVII. A Pinch of Salt

  A Final Note From The Authors

  Introduction

  Dearest Reader,

  We’re living in unprecedented times, surrounded on all sides by 24 hour news cycles and a whole lot of uncertainty. Many of us are functioning from day to day. It’s easy to get lost in the worry.

  This volume is your antidote.

  Since its inception, romance as a genre has provided the comfort of a guaranteed happily ever after. No matter what trials and tribulations our characters go through, you know it’s all going to work out in the end. Romance is a source of hope, a beacon of light in dark times. And small town romance, in particular, regularly reminds us of the gifts of community and family. We need that now, more than ever.

  So we offer to you seventeen medium-heat, small-town romance novels and novellas to brighten your days and lighten your heart without the burden of lightening your wallet. With luck, you’ll find many hours of escape and some new favorites to add to your collection.

  All our love,

  Kait and company

  Part I

  Love In A Small Town

  by Zoe York

  About This Book

  They should be over each other.

  * * *

  For two years, Olivia has served her ex-husband coffee at the diner where she works, and waited for her heart to catch up to her brain. Because they were divorced now, and for good reasons. He wasn’t ever going to change. He’d always be a cop first, a soldier second, and a husband third, when there was time.

  * * *

  Rafe didn’t believe in love at first sight until he met Olivia, and then he was a goner. They’d been too young, too reckless, but that hadn’t stopped him from bringing her home to Pine Harbour, where there was nothing for her to do while he saved the world.

  * * *

  Then it all fell apart. And now…

  * * *

  They should be over each other…but they aren’t.

  Believe in second chances

  * * *

  For my sister—look, Pan, I wrote a romance novel set in Bruce County!

  What’s a Toonie, Eh?

  Canadian Glossary

  This story is set in rural Ontario, Canada, and uses Canadian English and local vocabulary, such as…

  * * *

  Stag and doe: fundraising party held for an engaged couple, common in rural Ontario

  * * *

  Legion: veterans hall, often used as a community centre in small towns

  * * *

  Toonie: two dollar Canadian coin (see, Loonie: one dollar Canadian coin), often used at a toonie-bar at a stag and doe held in a Legion

  Chapter 1

  IT was bad enough that after going through a very public divorce from the man Olivia still loved, she had to serve him breakfast four times a week. That she looked forward to those mornings…well, that wasn’t great either. But Rafe worked two jobs and lived in a tiny one-room apartment. And the other option for eggs and bacon was his mother’s café.

  Liv shuddered at the thought of spending even one morning a week with her ex-mother-in-law. So she couldn’t fault Rafe for keeping his regular stool at the diner she worked at, even if it didn’t help the official party line held by all six hundred people in their small town of Pine Harbour—that their split had been her fault and Rafe was completely innocent.

  The former point was true. The latter was not. Parsing the difference with the town busy-bodies was a futile effort though, so she let the whispers slide. They just added to the steaming pile of crap that was her life.

  But the absolute worst was that today, Rafe had brought a date to breakfast.

  And she’d serve him eggs and paste on a smile, but then she was calling a real estate agent. Whatever cosmic joke had made her fall in love with Rafe Minelli had delivered its final punch line.

  He wasn’t in uniform today—either of them—but he still looked achingly good. Faded blue jeans that she recognized from the irregular rip on one of his solid thighs. Old enough that she’d washed them many times. The denim would be soft, and when he turned around, his wallet would be clearly imprinted in his back right pocket. And even though she wanted to grab a butter knife and gouge his heart out, first she wanted one more look at his magnificent ass.

  Because she was a glutton for punishment, and Rafe delivered in bucket loads. Tall, dark, and handso
me didn’t do him justice. Olivia grabbed a washcloth and wiped down the counter as she watched him guide his date to a booth under the window.

  No! She wanted to shout. You sit at the counter and ask me if it’s been busy. I bug you that you need a haircut and we both remember that time I gave you a trim in the bathroom. How you slid your hands under my shirt and teased my nipples while I squealed for you to hold still. The walk down memory lane cut sharper than usual because it wasn’t shared. Even though she knew she needed to move on, let go of Rafe and start dating again, she wasn’t prepared to see him do just that. And the pretty blonde woman sitting across from him twisting the shit out of a sugar packet was wearing one of his plaid shirts, so Olivia couldn’t even pretend it was a breakfast meeting—not that Rafe would ever have business that needed to be discussed in a diner.

  He was a full-time police officer and a part-time soldier. Had been a full-time son and a part-time husband, too. No room for a wife, definitely no room for a side job. No, this was definitely a morning-after-a-sleep-over breakfast and Olivia had to serve him fucking coffee. She wrenched the carafe from the warmer, grabbed two menus from under the counter, and pasted on her sweetest eat-shit-and-die smile before squaring her shoulders and approaching the couple.

  “Coffee?”

  They both nodded and Olivia silently lifted each of their white ceramic mugs and poured. For someone who just got laid, Rafe didn’t look happy. His eyebrows were pulled together, hooding his gaze, and he had faint dark circles under his eyes. Maybe he was realizing just how awful a human being he was to bring…

  “Do you need to see a menu, Natalie?” His voice sounded strained too. He dumped two creamers in his cup and stirred roughly.

  Natalie, huh? Olivia swung her gaze to the other woman. She looked nervous. Had he told her that he used to be married to their waitress? Used to wake her up with his tongue and his hands and his love, but not as often as he didn’t—he’d have to be home for that—and now they pretended to be friends a few times a week?

  “I’ll just have some toast, please,” she said quietly.

  Rafe sighed. “Don’t be silly.” He looked up at Olivia, his dark brown eyes unreadable. “Two breakfast specials please, one with bacon, one with—” He broke off and turned back to Natalie. “Sausage? Ham?”

  “Sausage, I guess. Look, I can just wait for my friend outside, we don’t need to have breakfast.”

  “It’s fine.” He reached across the table and squeezed her hand before looking back at Olivia again. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”

  “We’re swamped,” she said breezily, waving at the mostly empty diner. “I’ve got ketchup bottles to refill and napkins to stack, so—”

  “One minute, Liv.” He pushed out of the booth and towered over her. “In private.”

  He didn’t wait for her to respond, stalking to the small office behind the washrooms like he owned the place. Well, he could wait. She had a job to do, even if it wasn’t exciting or overly important.

  “Natalie, is it? How did you want your eggs?” Rafe wanted his over-easy. At some point in the future, she’d forget all the stupid little things she knew about him. She hoped. Hadn’t happened yet.

  “Scrambled. And rye toast if you have it.”

  “Sure thing. Be right back.” She went straight to the pass-through window, dinged the bell and tacked the order up on the carousel. Frank gave her a knowing look from his perch at the grill. “Shut up,” she told her boss without malice. “I need five minutes.”

  “I’ll holler if anyone comes in, I guess.”

  If anyone came in, they’d pour themselves a cup of coffee and wait. She wasn’t worried. It wouldn’t be the first time Pine Harbour had heard Rafe and Olivia Minelli have a knock-down, drag-out fight. Probably wouldn’t be the last. Another reason she needed to leave. This couldn’t be her future—petty jealousy and tension-filled terse conversations with her ex. She took a deep breath and shoved the office door open.

  * * *

  — —

  * * *

  She was pissed, and he deserved it, but he didn’t have time to deal with that right now. He held up his hand, cutting off whatever smart remark was about to slide out of her beautiful mouth. “It’s not what you think.”

  “I think she’s wearing your shirt.” She dropped her head, like she didn’t want to look at him, and her long brown ponytail fell over her shoulder. One of the sad side effects of not living with Olivia anymore—never seeing her hair down. He liked the ponytail because it was so her, practical and cute and sporty, but he loved the dark curtain of free-falling hair that he’d only seen in private. Now reserved for his fantasies, that image of Liv completely undone, tousled and sexy, was a favourite memory. Eyes blazing, the Olivia right in front of him would light him up if she knew what he was thinking about. “I think you know better than to bring her here, but you’re more scared of your mother than you are of me, and fair enough. Your mom is frightening as all get out. And I know I have no right to care about what you do and who you do it with. I get that. So I will bite my tongue. But you don’t get to summon me back here for a chat while your new girlfriend sits out there waiting for you. That’s awful, Rafe. That’s not you.”

  Wow, she went in a different direction than he’d expected. “Okay, hold up.” He let out a sigh as his phone vibrated in his pocket. He yanked it out and swore under his breath at the call display screen. “Listen, I have to take this, but we’re not done here.”

  She laughed, short and sharp and completely without humour. “Oh, we’re definitely done here.” She spun and jerked the door open, pausing in the doorway. “Your girlfriend takes her eggs scrambled, by the way.”

  She’s not my anything, he wanted to yell, but that wasn’t completely true. Natalie had been his distraction of the month the night before. He’d bought her a few drinks and let her sit on his lap. Played with the bare skin at her waist and enjoyed the way she smelled. They’d kissed, and more than once. But he walked her to her car at the end of the night of pool and pints at The Green Hedgehog in Lion’s Head—Pine Harbour not being big enough for a pub of its own—only to discover that it wouldn’t start. And her friend, who’d left with Matt Foster, wasn’t answering the phone. Rafe knew he should call her a tow truck, but it was a long tow to Owen Sound, the small city the girls lived in, and that left the problem of how her girlfriend would get home the next day.

  So he’d offered her his bed. Without him in it. Something Natalie had tried to persuade him to change his mind on, a totally fair move on her part. But he hadn’t slept with anyone since Liv. Wasn’t sure when and if he’d be able to. Unlike his wife, he’d meant his wedding vows when he’d sworn to love her forever. Liv leaving him didn’t change that.

  But just because he couldn’t get over her didn’t mean he shouldn’t try. He should try, and once a month he let his buddies drag him to Lion’s Head or Sauble Beach to get back in the game. This was the first time one of those pitiful attempts at a social life had played out in front of Liv, though. And he couldn’t worry about that because Dean was blowing up his phone.

  “What?”

  “Good morning to you, too, sunshine. We got a problem.”

  “It’s my day off, man.”

  “Operation Paper Cut has been bumped up. Inspector Wagner wants all available officers called in.”

  A major bust. There was only one answer. “Sleep first?”

  “Yeah. Report at four this afternoon.”

  He hung up without saying goodbye. He’d be there. But first he needed to eat, then he had two women to sort out.

  When he stepped back into the main space of the diner, Liv was quietly buttering toast at the counter and resolutely not looking in his direction. Natalie stared out the window. It wasn’t her fault he was hung up on someone else, or that Pine Harbour was so small this was their only option for breakfast that didn’t involve his mother.

  Anne Minelli was only Italian by marriage, but she’d adopted her husb
and’s culture completely, right down to happily becoming a caricature of an over-protective mother—and a nightmare of a mother-in-law to the only other woman who’d had the misfortune to marry into the Minelli clan.

  Rafe wasn’t the oldest son. That privilege fell to his older brother Zander, who’d gotten the hell out of Dodge at eighteen. Where Rafe and his younger brother Tom had enlisted in the local army reserve unit after high school, Zander had gone reg force and was currently stationed in Wainwright, Alberta. The only member of their family not in the military was the baby, his sister Dani, and that wasn’t for lack of trying.

  Speak of the devil. The door chimed and in she walked. Dressed in her navy paramedic uniform, she was so focused on Liv and the coffee pot that she didn’t see him. Trailing behind her was his friend Ryan Howard, another EMS worker, who gave him a distracted nod as he checked something on his phone.

  “Hey, sister-of-mine, can we get two coffees to go?” They even looked like sisters, Dani taller and lankier, Liv shorter and curvy in all the right places. Her endearment for his ex-wife was a punch in the gut reminder that even after the divorce Dani and Liv had remained close. Familiar bitterness set his jaw on edge and he turned away from watching them.