“Someday, that’ll be me.” Meghan leaned across her dad, tapping her hand on Darla’s knee. She had recently decided to become an attorney. “Kate’s amazing.”
Meghan’s surgery had been a success, and after several months of recovery and rehab, she moved to Highland Springs with her dad. It only made sense that they move in with Darla. She had a first-floor bedroom for Meghan, Jason had taken the teaching position at Highland University, and they were in love. What better reasons than these? Another important decision had been made that affected their lives, and she had a sparkling diamond to prove it.
“Hey,” Meghan whispered, stretching around her father to Darla, “I forgot to tell you the bridal salon called. My dress is in.”
“I’ll call them later to set up a fitting appointment.”
“Shh. Would you two chatterboxes hush up?” Jason chastised them with a wry grin and wrapped an arm around his daughter and fiancée. “I can’t hear Kate.”
“Yes, dear,” Darla quipped as she snuggled into his embrace.
She’d expected to be nervous and anxious attending the trial of her rapist, but other than feeling a bit nauseous, she was excited, elated Clyde Fletcher was about to get his due. Because of public pressure, he had resigned as governor and had gone into hiding at his ski lodge in the mountains. Several other women had come forward over the past few months, bringing his number of victims to twelve. The trial was expected to last a week or more. It couldn’t last much longer because their wedding was scheduled for two weeks from Saturday. Kate was a bridesmaid, so she needed to wrap it up quickly.
As the trial rolled on, Darla’s mind drifted to the past year and the happiness that had come with it. Meghan had recovered nicely from the heart surgery. Though she had a deep, pink scar running down her torso, she was stronger and healthier than ever. She had delayed her freshman year to recover and settle in her new home in Highland Springs. In the fall, she would start her first year at Highland University, but planned to live on campus to give “the newlyweds some time alone.”
Jason had just finished his second semester at the university where he taught graduate-level economics classes. He sprang from their bed each morning, excited to go to work at a school he loved and an administration he respected. He’d secured a grant for a summer research project, but had already arranged two weeks off for their honeymoon.
Her life was just about perfect—no—it was perfect. A little over a year ago, Darla thought she was content working seventy-plus hours a week, volunteering for every organization under the sun, and coming home to a big, empty house and her cat. She hadn’t been unhappy, but until Jason and Meghan had moved in, giving her the family she’d always wanted, she hadn’t realized what she’d been missing. Most of all, the love of a good man was what she had needed. Jason was more than she’d ever imagined.
“Hey.” Once again, Meghan leaned across her dad and whispered to Darla. “Don’t forget, you promised to take me out to Aunt Clara’s tonight.”
“Okay,” she whispered back.
“I want to ask her about the dream I had last week. You know, the one about the two bear cubs inside the cave.”
Darla smiled at her daughter, marveling at her newly discovered gift and the accuracy of her visions. She had taken Meghan out to visit Clara several times, and the two of them had talked as if in a foreign language about symbols and sensations, weird happenings that Darla couldn’t understand. Being scientifically minded, Jason discarded Meghan’s predictions as simple intuition, but Darla knew better. Clara had certainly predicted their future accurately. She prophesied that she, the silver fox, and the hummingbird would be happy together.
Meghan’s latest vision was cryptic, but Darla understood what it was her daughter had seen. Smiling, she laid her hand over her stomach, glancing at her handsome, loving, soon-to-be husband, knowing that Meghan’s prediction was spot-on. On their wedding night, she would tell Jason about the twin bear cubs growing inside her. Seven months from now, their little family would go from three to five.
Acknowledgments
I’m often asked where I get my story ideas, and I don’t always have an answer. My novels have come to me in dreams, have been sparked by something in the news, or have been simply conjured up in my wild imagination. Whatever It Takes had its beginnings with an NPR interview I listened to one morning. A woman who had given up her baby for adoption had been found, but had no desire to meet her child. That got my wheels turning…
I’ve been fortunate to find very talented people in this industry to work with who make my stories sparkle. Thank you to Jessica Snyder for your creative and insightful developmental editing.
Following up on an ad in Romance Writers Report brought me to an amazing copy editor. Thank you, Joyce Mochrie, for catching all my punctuation, spelling, and grammatical mistakes. Your attention to detail is impressive.
This is the fourth time I’ve worked with Shona Andrew on the cover design. Even with us an ocean apart, she somehow gets the essence of my books each time. Thank you, Shona.
There are several people I need to thank for their help and expertise in writing this story. I met fellow author, Kristie Wolf, at a Washington Romance Writers conference who told me about her friend, Carey Gooch, who had been adopted. Carey graciously shared her adoption search story with me. Thank you so much to Kristie and Carey.
As always, my friend and nurse, Holli Lindenfelser, came to my aid by answering my medical questions and helping me brainstorm a disease for Meghan. Thanks, Holli!
I met Dr. Mario Caruso by chance, and we chatted about heart conditions over cocktails. Thank you, Dr. Caruso, for your information on heart transplants.
A special thank-you to Thomasina Copenhaver, ND, for her support and expertise on herbal medicine. It was fun adding a natural healer to my story.
Most importantly, I thank my daughter, Liza, son, Tom, and husband, Pat, for all their love and support.
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About the Author
Leigh Fleming creates unique characters facing life’s challenges but who are always rewarded with their happy ending. Her latest release, Whatever It Takes, is the fourth book in the Whatever series. Stay Hidden, the first in her Hidden series, won the Lone Star Writing Contest for romantic suspense in 2017.
A member of Romance Writers of America and the Washington Romance Writers chapter, Leigh lives in Martinsburg, West Virginia, with her husband, Patrick, and her deaf French bulldog, Napoleon, and is mom to adult children, Tom and Liza. When she’s not writing in her windowless office, she enjoys reading, traveling, scrapbooking, and spending time with friends.
Contact Leigh at [email protected]
Website: http://www.leighfleming.com
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Whatever It Takes: A Highland Springs Romance (Whatever Series Book 4) Page 21
