Hoping for Hawthorne: The Bloom Sisters, #1

By Tara Grace Ericson

His sister's friend.
Her childhood crush.
All grown up.

 

Hawthorne Bloom is living for the moment, until a beautiful stranger with intriguingly familiar eyes gives him a tongue lashing he'll never forget. When she shows up again at a family event, Hawthorne finds himself trying to dig a way out of a hole he didn't realize he was in.

 

When Avery Chase returns to Indiana, the last thing she expects is to run into her childhood crush, let alone to realize in the years since she left, he's turned into a complete jerk. Hoping for a man to change is a mistake she's made once before and is determined not to make again.

 

Then again, it's hard to resist when your childhood crush finally notices you.

 

A sweet and clean, stand-alone Christian romance novella that will have you falling in love with the Bloom Family.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tara Grace Ericson
• Release date: Nov 3, 2023
• ISBN: 9781949896091

Book preview

PROLOGUE

Laura Bloom stirred honey into her tea and looked absently out the window overlooking the rolling hills of Bloom’s Farm. In the fields within her view, neatly planted rows of vegetables had already been harvested. The chilly fall morning was made gloomier by the dense fog lingering in the valleys. It would burn off later in the day, but for now it obstructed her view of the rest of their property.

Her daughter, Poppy was doing a wonderful job with the crops, rapidly growing their organic produce business. Laura’s heart warmed at the thought of her seven children—six beautiful girls and one charming young man—each with a special role to play in the success of the family business. Oh, Hawthorne. More than the rest, her son laid heavy on her heart most mornings. Far outnumbered by his sisters, Hawthorne had never been content on the farm. What could she do though, but worry and pray?

Laura clicked her tongue thinking about Hawthorne and his resistance to anything resembling real responsibility. She tried to pin-point when Hawthorne had become this devil-may-care version of the positive and kind-hearted young man she remembered as a teenager. As the second oldest, Hawthorne stepped into the role of protective older brother early on. Then, somewhere along the way, he pushed back against the mantle of responsibility.

Hawthorne lived at the old house with his sister, Daisy, and kept himself busy during the days with whatever odd projects needed done around the property, never sitting still long enough to dwell on his own discontentedness. But Laura knew how he spent his evenings. What Hawthorne needed wasn’t a career or even a girlfriend. Hawthorne needed to realize the thing holding him back in life was himself and his so-called friends. Again, Laura lifted a prayer to God for Hawthorne’s faith to be strengthened.

Perhaps the right woman was exactly what Hawthorne needed to shake him from his routine. It couldn’t hurt to pray for his future wife, just as she had since he was born. Maybe God would give an answer this time.

1

Hawthorne shifted on his barstool, sipping his drink as his friend, Shayne, recounted a raucous story Hawthorne had heard a dozen times before. He resisted the urge to sigh. This was the third night this week they'd spent doing the same thing. There wasn’t much to do in Terre Haute, Indiana, but it was better than staying at the farm where he lived with his parents and sisters.

He pulled himself back into the conversation, ribbing Shayne on his over-embellished narrative about waiting too long for a date to be ready. It was five minutes, not thirty. Don't be such a drama queen.

Shayne waved a hand, Whatever. Either way, it took forever, and if I hadn't thought I'd get lucky after dinner, I never would have waited.

Roars of laughter erupted from the group of men before Craig chimed in with his own online dating experience.

Eager to feel less disconnected, Hawthorne followed it with a story of his own. Since dating apps never held his interest, it was one of the few he had.

As he described his date, doing some embellishing of his own, his friends jeered and cracked up. Hawthorne ignored the twinge of conscience and delivered his last joke with gusto. Holding up two fingers, he made eye contact with his enraptured listeners. Two words, fellas. Woof, woof. Howls of laughter rang out and the short, curvy waitress ducked between Shayne and Hawthorne, grabbing empty glasses and delivering chips and salsa.

Shayne flirted shamelessly with the waitress, rubbing a hand down her arm with a wink. Thank you, sweetheart. Now, make sure you walk away nice and slow so we can enjoy the view.

With a shake of his head, Hawthorne laughed at his friend’s antics. Sure, sometimes Shayne got carried away, but he was a nice guy for the most part. The waitress ducked out of reach and gave a tight-lipped smile. Can I get you guys anything else?

What are you offering? Shayne asked with a leer.

I can think of a few things I'd like, Craig added to Shayne's suggestive proposition.

Wendy tensed and looked toward the bartender. When she opened her mouth, Hawthorne was surprised to hear a strong, feminine voice coming from behind him instead.

Leave the woman alone, jerks. Can’t you just let her do her job without harassing her? The venom in the voice practically stung as it continued loudly above the music. Believe it or not, not every girl wants you and your immature, demeaning views on women.

Shayne's mouth gaped and Hawthorne raised his eyebrows. Who did this girl think she was?

He turned around to look at her and saw a beautiful woman with a fierce, angry look. Momentarily, her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open, surprise crossing her features. Hawthorne racked his brain; did he know her? She looked familiar, but Hawthorne wasn't sure from where. Maybe he'd seen her here before. Was she on the dating app he'd downloaded and swiped through? Her gray eyes narrowed at him, flashing with irritation again. A colorful headband contrasted starkly with the pale, golden strands of her hair, tied back in a loose ponytail. Stunning.

Shayne was still sputtering his objections to the interruption. Wendy slipped away in the midst of the distraction and went to take care of her other tables.

Hawthorne Bloom, your mama raised you better than this. Hawthorne's mouth dropped open. She knew his name? This girl was beautiful, why didn't he remember her?

Look, lady. Mind your own-

Hawthorne interrupted Craig and turned fully in his chair. Do I know you? The woman leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms.

I guess not, she replied with a raised eyebrow. Then, leaving cash for her check, she grabbed her book and jacket and walked away from the table where she’d been sitting alone. After two steps, she turned back. Your waitress is a person. Leave her alone or treat her with respect. All of you, she waved a hand at the table of wide-eyed guys, grow up. And you? she pointed at Hawthorne, Find some new friends. I would have thought you were better than this.

With that parting shot, she weaved through tables and ducked around patrons of the bar.

Shayne jabbered about disrespect and how it was all innocent fun. But Hawthorne sat, frozen on his chair and staring at the path the stranger had taken on her way out. But she wasn't a stranger. Or was she? Somehow, she knew him, and he couldn't shake the nagging feeling that he recognized her.

Swallowing the urge to chase after her, Hawthorne turned back to his friends and jumped into the conversation with a shake of his head. That was weird.

Yeah, man. Did you know her? someone asked from across the table.

With a baffled shrug he said, No. Not that I can remember, still racking his brain for a name that wouldn’t come.

With that, Craig was off on a story of the time he ran into a one-night stand he didn't remember at all. Hawthorne laughed at the appropriate places, but his mind was on the gutsy blonde with familiar eyes. She'd been disappointed in him. Join the club, beautiful. It seemed someone was always disappointed in him at home. Why should it bother him now? He hadn't been the one flirting with the waitress. And even if he thought Shayne and Craig took it too far, Wendy was a good sport. They were just having a little fun. His eyes fell closed and he tipped his head back at the ceiling when he realized what he had been saying before Shayne came on to Wendy.

Woof, woof. He winced at the thought of the woman overhearing the crude comment.

No wonder she thought he was scummy. Why did it matter, though? He didn’t know her. Still, she seemed to know him or, at least, his family, and her reaction rankled. He didn’t want to be a bad guy. Even before the mystery woman’s interruption, Hawthorne couldn't help but feel like this same old routine was nothing but emptiness parading as a life.

At least he wasn't living in his parents’ basement anymore; he'd moved into the old farmhouse with Daisy about eight months ago as they worked to fix it up. Daisy was determined to turn the old homestead into a bed and breakfast and while Hawthorne wasn't a contractor by any means, he was pretty handy and could help with smaller projects as he had time. It was still on the farm, though. Not exactly far from the nest.

Days at the farms. Nights at the bar. Saturday morning brunch at the main house.

Despite the loud country music and crowd of people at the bar, Hawthorne felt isolated. Even the constant presence of his family and the dozen other staff members at the farm couldn’t chase away the sense of loneliness.

He'd been friends with Shayne and Craig since high school, screwing around during shop class and sneaking chewing tobacco behind the bleachers at the football stadium. And after things with his company went south, they welcomed him back into the fold.

No expectations. No judgment.

He kept ignoring the feeling, but for the past six months, he found himself annoyed by the constant stream of short-term relationships and the same shallow conversations about nothing but girls, cars and weightlifting. Hawthorne dated, a week or two here and there, but nothing like his friends who had every dating and hook-up