Unexpected Love by Ember Davis

LARK:
Moving to Sweetwater Valley, where my parents live, is a chance to start fresh and see what the next stage in my life is all about. I thought for sure after Christopher’s death that I would spend the rest of my life alone with my two kids as my focus. Watching someone you love waste away leaves you broken and exhausted. A fresh start and a chance to breathe is all I’m looking for, maybe a pet once we are settled. I figure no one will ever want to take on the baggage of a 39-year-old woman with two kids. I didn’t think that I’d be swept off my feet by the resident, self-declared, bachelor for life who is nine years younger than me.I moved to be closer to family, to hunker down and ride out the storm the last year blew in. I wanted time to adjust to life as a single mom while focusing on my writing. I’m prepared to face the judgement and small minds of a small town, considering my parents already faced it. I’m prepared for my black skin to raise eyebrows along with my blue eyed, light skinned children. I’ve faced all of that before.There was no way that I could have seen Maverick coming or that he would be my lighthouse bringing me in from the storm.

MAVERICK:
I’m content in my life, content with my revolving bedroom door without real connection and only physical satisfaction. Well, I try to convince myself that I’m content. I knew before my last hook-up that I need a change or else I’m going to run out of women that I haven’t taken to bed. That thought is as sobering as the realization that random women don’t hold the same appeal that they used to.I don’t see many options outside keeping up appearances and playing the role that everyone expects of me. Floating through life with my bar, The Goose, as my only priority seems like my only option. I don’t see how I can have the wife and the kids that some of my friends have, so instead I watch and live the life I tell myself that I want.Then I find Lark, my beautiful little bird with broken wings but a soaring soul.Once I see Lark, everything changes. I know I have found my something more in her and her kids. I know that I can mend her broken parts. I know that I can be exactly what Lark and her kids need, if given the chance.No matter who Sweetwater Valley thinks I am, I know I’m the man they need in their lives. I will prove it to the town, and I will prove it to them.There was no way I could have seen Lark and her kids coming or that they would be the joy and the love that brings me light.