When Sparks Fly by Kristine Raymond, Andrea Michelle, Grace Augustine, Maryann Jordan, B. Maddox, J. M. Nash, Anne L. Parks Read Free Book Online Page A

towards the garage.
    “Ready to go?” Fran asked, raising the door with a button on her key fob.
    “All set,” Monica answered, standing to one side with her daughter while the woman backed the vehicle out. She waited until the Excursion had stopped then opened the back door, astonished to see Kimber’s booster seat strapped in place. “How did this get here?”
    “Joe stopped by Frankie’s this morning and picked it up. He thought you might want to get out of the house and knew you’d need it.”
    Buckling the little girl in, Monica smiled at his thoughtfulness. “I’ll have to remember to tell him ‘thank you’,” she said, slipping into the passenger seat.
    “He’d appreciate that,” his mother commented, a sly smile on her face. Waving to her husband who was still on the porch with his paper, she pulled down the long drive and headed to town.
    Though she hadn’t gotten much sleep, Monica was more alert than she had been the day before, and she and Fran kept up a steady conversation. Even Kimber joined in from time to time, pointing out a herd of cows grazing in a field, and squealing when she spotted an ice cream truck. In seemingly no time at all, they arrived at the town square and Fran pulled the Excursion to the curb.
    “Are you sure you don’t want my help at the grocery?” Monica asked, grabbing her purse from the floorboard.
    “No dear, I’ll be fine. I rather like doing the shopping. Gives me a chance to have some time alone with my thoughts.”
    Helping Kimber climb out of the SUV, she took her hand, waving goodbye as the woman drove off to complete her errands. Strolling around the square the pair admired the window displays, stopping once to duck into a shop to buy a glass hummingbird feeder for Fran and Bill’s garden, as a thank you for their hospitality.
    The downtown area seemed busy for a weekday morning but each person they encountered was quick with a smile or friendly ‘hello’. How different from life in Manhattan, where people passed by without even a second glance much less taking the time to speak. The atmosphere here was more relaxed, and Monica found that she liked it. She’d never been a fan of fast-paced city life, having stayed after graduating college because of Phillip. They’d gotten engaged during her last semester, and married two years later. By that point, they were both fully established in their respective careers and saw no reason to move. One month shy of their fifth wedding anniversary, Kimber was born, and though she’d expressed a desire to raise their child in a more rural setting, he had pointed out all of the advantages to staying in the city.
    After the divorce, she couldn’t wait to be free of New York and the memories of her life with him, and her first thought had been to put as much distance as she could between them. California seemed like the logical choice and she’d begun faxing resumes immediately, never taking into consideration the possibility of moving to a less urban area. Now though, walking around Celebration, she began to wonder if she’d made the right choice. Certainly the west coast would be different from the east but LA was a city, and a big one at that. She’d already planned to hire a sitter for Kimber, and between her long hours at work and what she’d heard could be a god-awful commute, she doubted there’d be much time to spend with her daughter. A slight flash of panic went through her, leaving behind an unsettling doubt. The sun chose that moment to slip behind a cloud, casting a shadow over her that deepened her uncertainty in the decision.
    “Are you okay, Mommy?”
    She looked down at the angelic face of her daughter, puckered up in concern, and reassured her, using a phrase that made them both laugh. “I am A-okay, baby. What do you say we go to the park?” Checking for traffic, they crossed the street, running the last few feet to get to the freshly cut grass. The park was large, with a playground, horseshoe