Better Late Than Never

By Joyce Brown

Better Late Than Never introduces everyone to the main characters. Savannah, a sixty-plus Southern belle transplant living in Chicago. She is a widow of many years and a number one best-selling mystery writer who is definitely content with her life just the way it is. She is not looking for love, and when she least expects the "man of her dreams" to enter her life, there he is! Does she want to ignore the attraction she feels and keep her life just the way it is?

Follow her through the pages as she fights the impulse to pursue this man and what happens when she finally decides she wants him and for better or for worse. She has a wacky sense of humor, and her antics will keep you turning the pages just to see what she is going to do next. She brings humor to the baby boomer problems new couples must face. How to disguise her CPAP so she doesn't look like Darth Vader's mother? How to put romance in an evening that must end with her wearing a chin strap to prevent her from snoring? She handles all these situations with humor and honesty.

Marco, a sixty-plus successful orthopedic surgeon living in Chicago. He meets this wonderful, wacky woman Savannah on the operating table. He is the surgeon repairing her broken neck. He has no idea what fun, games, and overwhelming love is headed his way that morning when he meets her for the first time. She quickly becomes a puzzle for him to solve. He doesn't understand the need he feels for her but knows that he must have her no matter what she says. She is reluctant to pursue their attraction even though it is as strong for her as it is for him. The interaction between him and Savannah will keep you turning the pages to find out who will win in this tug-of-war to find true love. Will he give up his single lifestyle and commit to "until death do us part"? Will he win in his goal to have this woman say yes when he decides yes is the only answer he will accept from her?

A must-read for every baby boomer who is single and looking for that partner who will share the end of life and the "golden years" with them.

This is fiction, but the stories are all based on wonderful people who have been in my life and influenced my creating these characters.

I intend for this to be a series of books and already have the plot for book number 2. A sneak peek to that book is included.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Page Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Apr 17, 2024
• ISBN: 9798891574526

Book preview

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Better Late Than Never

Joyce Brown

Copyright © 2024 Joyce Brown

All rights reserved

First Edition

PAGE PUBLISHING

Conneaut Lake, PA

First originally published by Page Publishing 2024

ISBN 979-8-89157-447-2 (pbk)

ISBN 979-8-89157-452-6 (digital)

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

I could never have written this without the love and support I had from my husband, Bill, and my sons, Michael and Stephen. I included all three of them in the book. Bill was killed, and my sons are the detectives assigned to his case. I believe in keeping it in the family!

Introduction

Chapter 1

I Was Just Minding My Own Business

Chapter 2

Let the Romance Begin

Chapter 3

Normal Life, or Is It?

Chapter 4

What Next?

Chapter 5

Back to Reality

Chapter 6

My Plan Starts to Take on a Life of Its Own

Chapter 7

And the South Shall Rise Again

Chapter 8

The Queen Mary 2

Chapter 9

A Night of Magic

Chapter 10

The Romance Grows

Chapter 11

The Not-So-Long Engagement

Chapter 12

The Honeymoon of My Dreams

Chapter 13

Home Sweet Home

Chapter 14

Turning the Table on the Detectives

Chapter 15

Saying Goodbye

Chapter 16

The New In-Laws—Drinks, Anyone?

Chapter 17

Hugs and Kisses

Chapter 18

The Investigation Gets Started

Chapter 19

Home Sweet Home

Chapter 20

Back to the Investigation

Chapter 21

Pieces of the Puzzle

Chapter 22

The Final Piece of the Puzzle

Chapter 23

Welcome and Come On In!

Preview to Sophia and the Captain

About the Author

I could never have written this without the love and support I had from my husband, Bill, and my sons, Michael and Stephen. I included all three of them in the book. Bill was killed, and my sons are the detectives assigned to his case. I believe in keeping it in the family!

Introduction

Is it ever too late to find the man of your dreams? I asked myself that question, and I heard the devil laugh!

I am sixty-plus years young, and my life is perfect, or at least I thought it was. All that is about to change!

I was minding my own business, content in my own little world when fate—or whatever you want to call it—decided it was time to turn my world upside down. I am almost to the golden years, which means I will be able to sleep until noon, stay up until 2:00 a.m. reading a good mystery book, eat what I like and when, and come and go when and if I feel like it. I can paint, sew, read, write my memoirs, watch TV, talk to friends for hours, play stupid games on my computer, visit my grandchildren and stay as long as I like, thank you very much. I can take trips and take my grandchildren with me if—and I do mean if—it is a trip I think they will enjoy. Yes, I have my golden years all planned out in my head, and none of those plans include romance or heavens to Betsy me having sex again (with the lights off, of course)!

Now let me just tell you what happened.

Chapter 1

I Was Just Minding My Own Business

Running errands is probably at the top of the list of things to do I hate, but I am completely out of Diet Coke and Hershey bars, so I have no other choice. Our weather report is for heavy snowfall and hazardous driving. Within two blocks of my driveway, my vehicle is rear-ended.

The next clear memory I have is waking up in the hospital and being prepped for emergency surgery. I have a broken neck! The vertebrae and discs in my neck are damaged, and without surgery, I would have permanent nerve damage. I sign the permission form, and I am immediately sedated. Lights out for me, and my next lucid moment is hours later, and I think I am on LSD or something similar when I try to concentrate on my surroundings. The most attractive man in a white lab coat is reading his computer and making notes. My neck is in a collar, so I can't turn my head, but what I can see makes me sigh.

He introduces himself as my surgeon and then gives orders to my nurse before he leaves. The nurse says he has another patient waiting in the operating room.

The next day, Doctor Good-Looking (we will just call him DGL for short) walks in, and my whole life changes. Honestly, I do need the CPR people for just a moment or two when DGL and I first meet. He is my age, or at least close enough to it to make me feel we are in the same generation. Tall but not too tall, with lots of gray hair, a little mustache, dark-brown eyes, olive complexion, and brilliant-white teeth…be still, my heart.

DGL is physically fit, from what little I can see under his white lab coat, and oh my goodness, he does smell heavenly! I don't know the hospital staff is allowed to wear cologne, but he certainly has my vote for best-smelling hospital employee. I have never swooned in my life, but I feel the blood leave my head.

Old fool! What are you doing and thinking? Get a grip, for heaven's sake!

Concentrate on the words coming out of his mouth—the words coming out past those beautiful white teeth. DGL is trying to explain to me what procedure has been done and what my future will include. I just sit in my bed with my mouth hanging open (thank goodness I don't drool) and nod as best as I can when he asks me a question. He must have thought he is talking to the village idiot. I do manage to say the words thank you when he is ready to leave. Talk about a great first impression! I am a very vocal person and love to communicate, but that morning, all I can do is say Thank you. Good grief!

Two days later the discharge papers arrive, and with lots of assistance, I get myself ready to depart, and I get a glimpse of myself in the mirror. Oh my lands! This is what I see (which means it is the image DGL has seen): a round face with no makeup (I definitely need it to appear normal), hair sticking up and out and every way but the way it should, something still sticky on the right side of my face, and when I check my teeth, I am dismayed to see that they have something stuck on them. Probably nasty oatmeal they gave me to eat this morning! No wonder his visit was brief. Living 24-7 in a neck brace is difficult, but when my right arm develops palsy, I almost climb into a pit of despair. This new condition requires a visit to see DGL. He is kind and reassuring, but I am so frightened I don't really appreciate seeing him again.

I manage to go through months of physical therapy, which proves to be more painful than I've expected and more beneficial than planned. By forcing my body to adapt, I am using muscles I didn't even know I had, or at least I have forgotten about them and put them in storage many years ago.

Acupuncture treatments with my therapist Tracy are very beneficial reducing the level of pain. I honestly am feeling lighter on my feet and less afraid of falling. Talk about turning lemons into lemonade. Slowly my neck heals, and my right arm returns to almost a 100 percent function. I go to my scheduled appointment to show my team of orthopedic doctors how good I have been with the therapy and to get my release to return to normal activities.

I have taken the time to brush my teeth and my hair and put on my war paint, so I am looking my normal self. I am still totally unprepared for what my heart and my head will do when DGL walks into my examining room. Over the months since our last meeting, I have decided my drugs have caused me to overreact and hallucinate his impact on me. I am sitting in my exam-room gown with my head clear as a bell when DGL walks in, and I have the exact same reaction I had at the other meeting. At least this time, I am able to keep my mouth from going slack and am able to say Good morning. Talk about witty conversationalist, huh?

We do the normal How are you? and then he spends a very long time reading my notes on his computer.

So I start to hum, which is what I do when I am super nervous. Now I have gone from drooling to humming, so this guy must think he has won the lottery with me! DGL finally turns to me and asks clinical questions, to which I give one-word answers: Yes, No, Some, Okay." DGL then tells me that I am well on my way to a complete recovery and asks me if I have any questions.

Are you married?

Yes, those are the words that come out of my mouth!

DGL looks surprised but candidly answers me back with "No."

DGL then shakes my hand, leaves the room, and never looks back.

I am back in my street clothes, and leaving the office, DGL looks up from his computer and gives me a wink and a smile. I almost fall over my own two feet as I try to keep my composure and get out of the office before I wet on myself. Bladder, please don't fail me now! I giggle all the way to my car and burst out laughing once I am safely inside with the door closed. What in the world is happening to me! If I think my world is changing that day, I am completely unprepared for what is going to happen next. This wonderful, good-looking, intelligent man, who has already seen me at my worst, calls me a month later to ask me out to dinner. What has possessed him to think I will make an interesting dinner date is beyond me, but I manage to stammer out the word yes!

I write down the date, time, and place. We will meet at a local restaurant; this way we are both free to end the evening whenever we feel uncomfortable. I notice DGL uses the word evening and not the word date. I take money with me, if we decide it is Dutch treat.

Now how do you lose fifty pounds in just two days and turn yourself into a gorgeous female who will take this man's breath away? Impossible, so I just did the best I could with what I had. I managed to beg Danny, the wonderful man who can work miracles with my hair, to give me a touchup to cover my gray roots and to style my hair the afternoon of my evening with my dream man.

I've found a cute dress on the sale rack at Macy's. It magically gives my body the appearance of having a waistline! I book a makeup meeting with the Clinique lady, so between her magic, Danny's magic, and my new clothes, I feel up to the challenge. Now all I need is to find a drug to help make