Reunion

By Amelia Rose

Marshall McKenna has resigned himself to a life on the outskirts of his growing family. He’s convinced himself that he doesn’t need love to be happy. He’s sure that he’s doing all right. Then a woman from his past shows up and brings her two boys with her. She needs him and he’s surprised to find that he might just need her too.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Gold Crown
• Release date: Jan 4, 2014
• ISBN: 9781311323743

Amelia Rose

Amelia Rose holds a PhD in Literature and Language; she specializes in teaching positive, self-reliant principles to children and adults of all ages.  Dr. Rose lives with her husband and three children in the Hudson Valley, New York area, where she enjoys the outdoors and spending time with her family and friends.   Matthew Maley is an artist with nearly twenty-five years in the fields of Illustration and Design. His work has appeared in publications such as Archie Comics, Marvel, Disney, Nickelodeon, and Children’s Television Workshop. He lives in the Hudson Valley with his wife, daughter, and a variety of animals.

Book preview

Reunion

Rancher Romance Series:

Book 3

Marshall’s story

Amelia Rose

~~~

Smashwords Edition

Copyright © 2013 by Amelia Rose

All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be copied, reproduced in any format, by any means, electronic or otherwise, without prior consent from the copyright owner and publisher of this book.

This is a work of fiction. All characters, names, places and events are the product of the author's imagination or used fictitiously.

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Dedication

To YOU, The reader.

Thank you for your support.

Thank you for your emails.

Thank you for your reviews.

Thank you for reading and joining me on this road.

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Epilogue

Other Books by Amelia Rose

Connect with Amelia Rose

About Amelia Rose

Chapter One

So what exactly are we looking for? Marshall asked as his truck bounced down the rutted driveway.

I’m not too sure. I’m hoping I’ll know it when I see it, Cole admitted defensively when Marshall shot him a look. Emma said something about a cornucopia for the table and then she said something else about mantelpiece decoration and I didn’t have the first clue what she meant.

You didn’t ask? Marshall said reasonably.

Hell, asking made it worse! Cole said. She kept using words like warm, fall color scheme and festive, but home-like feel until finally, I just nodded and smiled to keep her from smacking me for not getting it. She does that. I’m thinking of calling a hotline.

Marshall thought hard. So she wants... he said, trailing off. None of those words came together into something they could buy. He wished Justine didn’t have a cold, so Emma could have handled this herself.

Here, Darrell said from the backseat. Emma wants something like this.

He handed up some printed images that were only a little worse for the wear from being in his pocket and Marshall brought the truck to a stop to look. There wasn’t anyone else on the road anyway.

This is the cornucopia, Darrell informed them, pointing to the cone shaped centerpiece on a fancy table. We need some of these little pumpkins and some squash and corn and stuff to put in it, too. The next one is the mantelpiece stuff she wants. Warm means red, yellow, and orange. Festive means kind of like a party, but not too much because it’s just us family. That’s the home-like part.

Oh, well, that makes sense, Cole admitted. Good job, little brother.

Meg emailed me the pictures and explained it to me, Darrell said with a grin. Guess I listen better than you do.

Whatever. I guess Megan uses smaller words, that’s all, Cole answered back as Marshall put the truck in gear again and headed once more for the town. He felt better now that they had a plan.

And pretty pictures, Darrell agreed. Maybe Emma doesn’t realize you’re a visual learner.

You should marry that girl before she realizes who she’s getting stuck with, Marshall said with a smile.

Planning on it, Darrell said. I thought if we have the time I’d look for a ring when we’re in town.

Are you serious? Cole asked, turning in his seat to look at his brother.

Yeah, Darrel answered casually.

How long have you been planning this? Marshall asked in surprise.

About a month, Darrell answered.

And you didn’t say anything?

Marshall glanced in the rear view mirror and saw Darrell shrug nonchalantly.

I went and talked to her dad last week, he said.

How did that go? Cole asked. I know commitment isn’t really his thing.

He asked me what I wanted to do that for. He said living together was committed enough.

What’d you say to that? Marshall asked.

I said not for me, it isn’t, Darrell answered honestly.

And you left it at that, too, didn’t you? Cole asked with a grin. Living with chatty Megan hadn’t made his brother much more wordy than he’d ever been.

Yeah. He called me later that night though and said that if his daughter wanted to be married, there were worse guys and he was okay with me asking her, Darrell said, obviously proud of himself.

But you didn’t. Marshall pointed out. He hated to admit it, even to himself, but he was finding it very hard to be happy for his brother right this second. Thirty one was a real pain in the neck year so far. He’d been killing himself on the ranch, working eighteen hour days since Darrell had lost his leg. Even though his brother was working more and more the stronger he became, he still couldn’t work as much as they’d needed to since Cole had moved over to Emma’s ranch. They couldn’t exactly afford to hire any hands either because they’d had to pay out so much for Darrell’s hospital bills.

Decreased production and increased bills was going to spell disaster very soon if he couldn’t figure out a solution. He knew he couldn’t add hours to the workday, that was for sure.

It wasn’t just that he was worried about the ranch though. It was more the fact that he really hadn’t planned on both of his younger brothers getting married before him, let alone when he was past thirty. He’d had a pretty clear picture of how his life was going to go and it hadn’t included dying alone. That might have been a little dramatic, but the worry crossed his mind as he listened to an empty farmhouse settle around him night after night.

I’m still trying to figure out the ring, Darrell said defensively.

Why didn’t you just ask for pretty pictures? Marshall asked.

Wanted it to be a surprise. All I’ve got this whole month is that Meg isn’t really that into diamonds. Darrell chewed his thumbnail, clearly still thinking about it.

What kind of jewelry does she wear? Cole asked practically.

She doesn’t really wear much of it, Darrell said with a shake of his head. She says it gets in the way when she’s working.

So maybe you should get her an engagement pizza, Marshall suggested.

Ha ha, Darrell said dryly.

How about an engagement sweatshirt? Cole offered. Darrell and Megan sitting in a tree. You can handle the rest, right?

Why don’t ya’ll just drop me at the jewelry store and go pick out mantelpiece decor? I’ve got a feeling anything you pick out is gonna get me a big, fat ‘no’, Darrell said.

You’re the one who knows what we’re looking for, so you’re not getting out of it, Cole replied firmly. We’ll get your ring; you just sit tight.

They had to go outside of their small town to find the right kind of centerpiece items and Marshall knew Darrell was happy to see several jewelry stores scattered around the bigger town.

Keep your eyes on the target, Marshall ordered as they walked into a fancy looking little shop Megan had suggested and given Darrell directions to. It smelled like cinnamon and there were useless things scattered everywhere. Marshall had to admit that they were pretty, but they were also definitely pointless.

What are you supposed to do with these? Cole asked, picking up a small, softball sized object

Reviews for Reunion

[vickie lovelady · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I really enjoy your books I have to try and overlook the language but it's not to bad only thing I would have liked to have seen for the ending was since Marshall and Claire waited so long to be together that they got married too. But it was a good book so we're the other two.