The Best Intentions (Welcome To Starlight Book 1)

by Michelle Major

  Beth put up her hands and laughed. “I don’t think the post office ships dogs that young, for one, and for another, I’ve got my hands full right this minute.” She gestured toward the back of her shop, which had erupted in a constant cacophony of barking at the sound of voices out front, and most likely, the scent of the puppy. “Besides, he seems to really like you and is already attached to you. Maybe you should keep him.”

  “I have way too much on my own plate to worry about a dog.” In answer, the puppy resumed licking Grady’s face in earnest. Grady laughed. “Hey, hey, don’t argue with me, buddy.”

  She liked his laugh. Liked his smile. How had she missed him in high school? But even as she asked the question, she realized she knew the answer. Back then, her entire life had been consumed with raising herself and making sure there was food in the fridge when her mother was drinking and her father was checked out. A marching band leading a herd of unicorns could have paraded through her classes without her noticing. Just holding herself together had taken all her concentration.

  For years, Beth had thought graduation would bring her freedom, a life of her own. Then her mother died, and her father fell off the edge of the earth in his grief. If anything, things had become more complicated than before. Nowadays, her life revolved around her father’s declining health and keeping her business running.

  Kind of ironic, actually, that she was now devoting so much time and energy to being there for the man who hadn’t been there when she’d needed him most. When she was a little girl, she’d loved her father fiercely. She still remembered him taking her to the zoo. Teaching her to ride a bike. Hoisting her on his shoulders. Then his career had taken off—and so had he.

  As much as she’d wanted her life to be different, taking care of Dad and building a fledgling business meant she didn’t have time for a romantic relationship. She barely had time to breathe. And as much as she loved dogs, she definitely didn’t have time for a puppy, not with the hours she spent at her dad’s and here.

  “Seems like you’ve been outvoted,” Beth said. “How about this? You keep him for now, and I’ll let my customers know you’re looking for a home for this cutie.” She rubbed the puppy’s ears again, and he caught her hand with his paws. “He’s one happy dog.”

  “That’s because he ate my lunch.” Grady shook his head. “I’ve never had a dog and don’t know the first thing about them. I’m dealing with a lot of problems right now, and a dog will just be a distraction I can’t afford. So I’m probably not the best choice to be a pet’s foster father. Plus, I don’t think I’ll be in town that long.”

  In other words, don’t get attached to this guy’s eyes or voice. Which, of course, she’d already decided.

  “I’m sure someone will scoop this little one up—” she tickled under the puppy’s chin, and he gave her a happy pant “—before you know it. I really would take him for you, but I...can’t.”

  She didn’t go into details. Even if Grady wasn’t practically a stranger, few people knew about her father’s illness, about how much Beth worried, how her entire life centered on making sure he was safe and comfortable. A man who had done his best in the last few years to make up for his daughter’s childhood, and who was losing his battle against heart disease. Dad was all she had left, and she couldn’t add one more thing into an already complicated life.

  “The shelter in town is full, and though they have foster families take dogs from time to time, I’m pretty sure all of them have dogs right now.” Beth frowned. “When it comes to pets, there’s not enough people to love the ones that get abandoned. So if you can keep him, at least until there’s an opening...”

  Grady looked wary, then finally nodded. “Okay, but only for a couple days. I really do have a lot on my plate.”

  “Great!” She might have said that with a bit too much enthusiasm. “I’ve got plenty of extra dog food and leashes and stuff here, so I can get you set up with supplies.”

  “I’d appreciate that, Beth.”

  The way he said her name sent a little tingle down her spine. She didn’t know why; she didn’t remember him from school, except in a vague oh-yeah-someone-had-that-unique-name way. If Grady had been interested in her, she probably wouldn’t have noticed even if he’d put up a billboard in her driveway. Beth had become mother and father to herself, not to mention a worried, hovering mother to her own parent. She’d spent way too many hours searching for bottles, dumping them out, trying to stay one step ahead of the bad days.

  Grady met her gaze. “You know, if you’re free later today, maybe we could grab a drink. Catch up on the years in between.”

  Was he asking her on a date? She didn’t know what to do with that. The last time she’d been on a date...

  Well, she couldn’t remember when that was. The hours in between work and Dad were rare, and frankly, no one wanted to date a woman who had weird little two-hour pockets of time available. Oh yeah, we can grab coffee while the visiting nurse is there. Or outside the doctor’s office on Tuesday afternoon at three.

  “Uh, my time’s a little crowded right now. But let me grab those supplies for you.” She spun on her heel and went into the grooming room, shutting the lower half of the door again, a habit born out of one too many wily pups getting out. Beth grabbed a box off a shelf and loaded it with a bag of dog food, a leash, two plastic bowls for food and water, and a couple chew toys.

  “Let me get some of those.”

  She jumped at the sound of Grady’s voice. The toy in her hand tumbled to the floor. He was right behind her, less than a foot away, and in the close quarters of the back room, she could catch the dark, woodsy scent of his cologne. See the gold flecks in his brown eyes. The slight dusting of stubble on his chin.

  “I’m, uh, good here.” She held up the box and nodded toward the door. In the other room, the trio of dogs in her care today kept on barking. “Can you open that? And check first to make sure I don’t have any runaways.”

  “Runaways?”

  “I keep the dogs I’ve groomed in a pen in the grooming room, but every once in a while one gets past me. Some of them are pretty resourceful climbers.”

  He held the door for her, but the space was close, and she ended up brushing against his arm as she passed. A whoosh of attraction ran through her. Insane. She had no time or desire for any man in her life aside from her father.

  Grady followed behind her, then reached over, plucked the leash and collar out of the box and attached them to the puppy. He put the Lab on the floor, and the little guy scrambled across the tile, sniffing and exploring in a fast circle. Grady looped the leash over his wrist, then took the box from her. Their hands brushed a second time and that crazy whoosh ran through her again.

  “Uh, thanks.”

  “No problem.” He took one of her business cards out of the holder on the front counter and tucked it in his pocket. “I’ll call you, Beth.”

  “Um, like I said, I don’t have time for coffee or dinner or—”

  “I meant about the puppy. Then you’ll have my number, in case someone wants to adopt him.”

  “Oh. Oh, yeah.”

  “But I would also like to call you about going out to dinner. I can work around whenever you’re free.”

  That was definitely asking her on a date. No question about it. “I’m...really busy. I’m sorry.”

  She glanced up at Grady. He was handsome, interested and single. And she was turning him down? God, she was a moron. But it was far better to not date Grady at all than to try to schedule a man into those two-hour time blocks.

  “Maybe another time.” He started to head for the door, with the box in one hand and the leash in the other.

  “Grady, wait.”

  He pivoted.

  She reached in her back pocket and pulled out her phone. “Before you go, let me get a picture.” When he raised an eyebrow, she hurried to say, “F
or the ad. Not for... Well, for the ad.”

  Now he had her even more flustered. A guy she didn’t remember, didn’t know. Maybe she hadn’t had enough protein for breakfast or something.

  Grady set the box on the glass case at the front of the shop, then picked up the puppy. “Should I set him on the counter?”

  “No, right there is good.” She snapped the picture. Of Grady and the dog. She’d crop Grady out, of course, before she posted it. In the meantime, maybe she could find her yearbook and figure out who he was. Because as much as she knew she shouldn’t be, she was intrigued.

  And that interest was one more thing that would distract her from what was important.

  Once Grady was gone, Beth cropped the picture, put it on the shop’s Facebook page, then sent an email out to her client list. Focusing on the puppy needing a new home, not the fact that she needed a new life.

  Copyright © 2020 by Shirley Kawa-Jump, LLC

  Keep reading for an excerpt from The Magnolia Sisters by Michelle Major.

  The Magnolia Sisters

  by Michelle Major

  CHAPTER ONE

  HOW DID ANY sane person survive the South’s oppressive humidity?

  As Avery Keller surveyed the landscape surrounding the gas station just outside Magnolia, North Carolina, she tried to draw in a deep breath. It felt like sucking air from a hot oven. Thick forest bordered the concrete parking lot, the trees more the pine variety than the town’s namesake. She glanced up at the water tower looming in the distance, the word Magnolia emblazoned on it in thick block letters. The bold designation mocked her, a lofty reminder that her past had been here waiting, even if she’d known nothing of it until a few days prior.

  Almost a week now. One late-August week to process that the story of her life had been a lie because the truth was too callous, even for her aloof and ambitious mother. Avery had struggled with her identity as the daughter of a single mom, whose reckless decision had left her pregnant from a one-night stand with a nameless, random hookup.

  Or not so random after all. As it turned out, Avery’s father knew about her, at least enough to leave her an inheritance after he died.

  Maybe the humidity wasn’t to blame for the prickly heat crawling under her skin. More likely the bitterness that had festered like an open sore on her cross-country trek for the reading of the will. She would have preferred to ignore the summons, to remain unaffected by the news that she wasn’t the fatherless, unwanted girl she’d thought herself to be.

  Fatherless, no. Unwanted, most definitely.

  She shoved the gas pump nozzle into the tank of her Lexus sedan and stalked toward the convenience store, needing caffeine and chocolate in equal measure.

  The stale air inside the shop carried the scent of hot dogs and processed nacho cheese, but it was blessedly cool. She reached for a water but changed her mind at the last moment and pulled a Diet Mountain Dew from the commercial refrigerator at the back of the store, immediately shoving the bottle under her shirt. She gasped at the bite of cold plastic against her skin.

  “Normally people drink that stuff,” a deep voice said from a few feet away. “Although, the color’s too reminiscent of antifreeze for my taste.”

  She rolled her head to glare at whoever was offering an unwanted opinion and stifled another gasp. Over six feet of gorgeous man stared back at her. As if the thick brown hair, piercing green eyes and rock-hard body weren’t enough, he was wearing the crisp blue uniform of a firefighter. Avery had always been a sucker for a man in uniform, although she wasn’t about to admit that now.

  Apparently she didn’t need to because one side of his sexy mouth pulled up, like his effect on the fairer sex was a given. No doubt, which only fueled Avery’s irritation. She’d spent the past two and a half days on the road, steaming asphalt and satellite radio her only companions. She’d given up the guise of healthy choices midway across Missouri, and she wasn’t in the mood to take crap from anyone.

  She made a show of studying the slim container of beef jerky dangling between his fingers. “Those who live in meat-stick houses shouldn’t throw stones.”

  His half smile widened into a full grin. “Now, darlin’,” he drawled, “I don’t even know your name. Seems a bit premature for you to be discussing my meat stick.”

  She felt her cheeks flame at the blatant innuendo but managed only a lame “in your dreams” as a response.

  He chuckled. “Sorry,” he said, shaking his head. “I don’t get out much anymore.”

  “Shocker,” she muttered before heading for the cash register. She added a pack of M&M’s—the peanut variety for protein—and paid the gum-smacking attendant. Halfway to her car, Mr. Beef Jerky caught up with her.

  “I really am sorry for the lousy joke,” he said, matching his stride to hers. His voice was gravelly, the vowels drawn out in typical Southern fashion, and she fought the immediate prick of attraction skittering along her skin at the unnecessary apology for some silly teasing.

  The unsolicited bit of kindness didn’t make him a decent guy and shouldn’t matter either way. She was here to discover why the father she never knew had reached out to her now when he’d never bothered to during his life. And collect her inheritance and put this tiny dot on the map in her rearview mirror.

  Too bad she had no plan for what came next. She’d essentially blown apart her entire life a month ago with her stupid choices. One particular choice involving one specific man.

  Avery wanted to believe she hadn’t inherited her mom’s self-destructive streak when it came to men. The facts—and the lives ruined in her wake—told a different story. She wasn’t about to take a chance again, even for a moment of harmless flirting.

  She stopped next to her car and turned to face him. “Listen, Jim-Bob or Billy-Bob or Bubba or whatever your redneck name is,” she began, loosening the reins on the anger, irritation and misplaced grief she’d been tamping down for days, “you might be hot but I’m not interested in some good ol’ boy who thinks he’s God’s gift to women.”

  He cocked a thick brow, but she continued before he could speak. “So why don’t you just saunter off to whatever god-awful watering hole this town has to offer and ply your tired charms on a woman who’s too drunk to care whether this—” she wagged a finger up and down in front of him “—is all you have to offer.”

  When his eyes flashed with something that looked like pain before narrowing, she sucked in a ragged breath. Oh, no. She’d just ripped into a perfect stranger who didn’t deserve her unbridled animosity. Talk about kicking the dog. Shame and regret bubbled up inside her, as familiar as a worn pair of shoes. She opened her mouth to apologize, but he held up a hand.

  “It’s ten in the morning and I’m on duty,” he said, his tone stony. The Southern drawl sounded even more pronounced when laced with temper. “But I sure do appreciate the advice and I’ll keep it in mind for later, darlin’. This was just the reminder I needed of why women like you are a bad bet.”

  Women like her.

  Ouch. She didn’t understand the exact meaning of his words, but they were obviously an insult of the highest order. And one she deserved more than he could realize.

  Which was why she didn’t go after him when he stalked toward the hulking black truck parked near the front of the building, even though guilt ate at her insides. Let him believe she was a raving bitch. Most people from her old life did.

  She glanced at her watch and stifled a groan. She was late for the meeting at the attorney’s office. After her outburst with the hottie firefighter, she had half a mind to skip the reading of the will. With the maelstrom of emotions rioting through her, there was no telling what kind of trouble she’d get into next.

  She put away the gas nozzle, then climbed into the car, leaning into the dash as the air from the vents turned cool once again. Blond hair clung to her sticky neck, and she took the elastic band off
her wrist and pulled her hair into a messy ponytail. She’d woken today at a hotel in Raleigh and gotten ready like she was heading to the most important business meeting of her life.

  She’d ruthlessly straightened her hair, although she quickly realized how much of a waste of time that had been. No amount of product was going to beat the impact of the late-August heat and humidity. The Calvin Klein pantsuit that normally made her feel confident now seemed like overkill, especially as sweat beaded at the backs of her knees and trickled between her shoulder blades.

  She turned out of the service station parking lot, following the route programmed into the car’s GPS. She’d done her research on Niall Reed. He was commercially successful, critically eviscerated and not man enough to claim his bastard daughter while he was alive.

  Her stomach twisted as she pulled to the curb in front of a brick building near the center of downtown Magnolia. Although the town was picturesque, with colorful flowers bursting from planter boxes along the sidewalk and a predominance of Greek Revival architecture that showcased the area’s history, the streets seemed almost deserted.

  Avery didn’t bother to fix her messy ponytail or reapply makeup. At this point, what did it matter? She took another swig of Mountain Dew and walked toward the redbrick building, clutching the Italian leather portfolio she’d splurged on after her first promotion. The knots in her stomach tightened with each step.

  An older woman with a cotton-ball head of hair looked up from her desk as Avery entered. The receptionist gave her a long once-over, then pointed to a closed office door. “They’re waiting for you.”

  “I’m Avery Keller,” Avery told her automatically.

  “Yes, dear,” the woman agreed. “I know who you are.”

  Of course she did. Avery stared at the door like it was a portal to hell. She was being ridiculous. Her life had already been smashed to bits. One meeting wasn’t going to change things that much. Maybe she’d get money. Maybe a painting or two. Perhaps her father left a letter for her, something that would explain why—