A Family Forever (Contemporary Romance Novella)

By Helen Scott Taylor

Adam thought he and his young son had the perfect life travelling the world together. Then they meet a beautiful woman and her daughter in a sleepy English village and the cracks in Adam's jet-setting lifestyle begin to show--cracks that can only be healed by the love and stability of a proper family.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Helen Scott Taylor
• Release date: Jun 27, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301342730

Helen Scott Taylor

Helen Scott Taylor's first novel, The Magic Knot, won the American Title contest in 2008, was a Golden Heart® finalist, and was chosen as one of Booklist's top ten romances of 2009. Since then, she has published other novels, novellas, and short stories in both the UK and USA. Her published works have been finalists in a number of contests including the Holt Medallion, the Lories, the Prism Contest, the Write Touch Award and the Maggies. Helen lives in South West England near Plymouth in Devon between the windswept expanse of Dartmoor and the rocky Atlantic coast. As well as her wonderful long-suffering husband, she shares her home with a Westie and an aristocratic chocolate-shaded-silver-burmilla cat who rules the household with a velvet paw. She believes that deep within everyone there's a little magic. www.helenscotttaylor.com

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A Family Forever

By

Helen Scott Taylor

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Copyright © 2012 by Helen Taylor

Cover design © Helen Taylor

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Smashwords Editon

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The right of Helen Taylor to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.

This is a work of fiction. All the characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author, and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the Copyright owner.

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Chapter One

Victoria O'Shea peered over the fence at the bottom of her garden to see if it was safe to climb into the field. There was no sign of grumpy Farmer Andrews who always harassed her if he saw her on his land, so she slung an old mat across the wire to make it easier to climb over.

Come on, Sophie, she shouted over her shoulder.

Coming, Mum. Her eight-year-old daughter scampered down the strip of grass that was their backyard, wearing a pink ballet tutu and tennis shoes.

When I said change out of your school uniform, I meant into shorts or jeans.

I won't get dirty, Mum. Honest. I'll be careful.

Victoria suppressed a wry grin. The tutu would no doubt end up covered in dirt and leaves, but Sophie was ballet-obsessed at the moment. Victoria didn't have the heart to tell her to change again.

You go first, Soph. Victoria grasped her daughter beneath the arms and helped her over the fence, then climbed over herself.

She reached back into her garden to grab her bag full of hedgehog food and the brush she used to clean out the animals' bowls. They hurried the twenty-five yards to the public footpath that cut across the grassy field. In theory, Mr. Andrews couldn't stop her walking on the footpath—it was a public right of way—even though she was sure he'd love to ban her if he could.

Sophie skipped on ahead, doing the odd twirl and kicking out her legs in what were supposed to be ballet steps. Victoria knew nothing about ballet, but she had a sneaking feeling her daughter was not cut out to be a dancer.

The worn path angled across the ten-acre field and ended at a stile leading to a country road. Victoria didn't normally go right to the end but left the path when it reached the fence at the far side. There she climbed through a gap onto the grounds of Larchfield Hall.

Skylarks soared across the blue sky, singing sweetly. The stress of the day spent teaching at the local art college ebbed away. Friday evening was her favorite time of the week—the time she reserved for checking on the hedgehogs she'd nursed back to health and released.

Rescuing and caring for injured and sick hedgehogs took a lot of her time and energy, but seeing the animals safely returned to the wild made the hard work worthwhile.

The hole in the fence where she was heading came into sight and she increased her pace, eager to get off old Andrews's land. She was nearly there when his two mangy collie dogs came charging across the field, barking manically.

Quickly, Victoria said, grabbing her daughter's hand. Run. Sophie took off and Victoria ran beside her, the bag of hedgehog food banging on her thigh with every step.

The collies reached them, snarling and nipping at their heels. Sophie screamed and Victoria pushed her in front, trying to shield her from the dogs. She'd had enough of Andrews's damn bullying tactics. She quickly moved aside the broken slats of the wooden fence and helped Sophie through the gap to safety.

Come on, Mum, please. Her daughter's pale, terrified face and tearful blue eyes fired anger inside Victoria. She would not let the miserable old farmer get away with frightening her daughter.

She turned to the collies. Shoo! She waved her arms and dashed at them, making them back up a few feet, but they continued to bark like mad.

Call them off, Andrews, she shouted as the farmer approached.

With his greasy cap and a few days' worth of gray stubble on his lined face, the man looked like a vagrant. He huffed and puffed, obviously out of breath. After a few moments he whistled to the dogs, who then dropped to the ground.

You're trespassing, he wheezed.

I was on a public footpath.

You ain't on it now. Soon as you step off that footpath you're trespassing on my land. I'll report you to the police.

Go ahead. She wedged her hands on her hips and glared at him. I'm sure they'd like to hear how you set your dogs on a woman and little girl.

I'll deny it! It'll be your word against mine. The old man held a shotgun in his hand and waved it at her. She stepped back, her heart rate picking up.

It wasn't the first time she'd had a gun waved at her. On a photo shoot in Africa, making a program about poachers, she'd actually been shot at. But she'd had bodyguards to shoot back, and she'd expected it there. She didn't expect to be threatened with a gun in the English countryside.

Wave that gun at me again, and I'll report you to the police for threatening us.

At her words, he lowered the weapon to his side and backed up. I ain't threatening you. I'm telling you to keep off my land.

Victoria gritted her teeth and met the old man's gaze. I'll walk on that footpath anytime I like. Go and milk your damn cows and leave us alone.

She turned her back on him, her neck prickling as she climbed through the fence. A surge of relief wobbled her legs as her feet touched Larchfield Hall land.

I don't want to see any of them hedgehogs in my field, either. You hear me?

Victoria turned back to the man, her eyebrows raised in disbelief. They're wild animals, Mr. Andrews. I don't control their movements.

You released them. You must stop them coming in my field. He ran his gaze along the fence between Larchfield and his land, as if he expected hedgehogs to scamper out at any moment. If I see the blighters, I'll shoot 'em.

Victoria's heart slammed against her ribs.