Hope Smolders Read Free Page A

a few years younger than Emma and me.”
    “Yeah, she hightailed it out of town even before Emma left. No idea what happened to her.”
    “Huh. Me, either.” She hadn’t thought about the Burnett sisters in a long time. She and Emma hadn’t been best friends in high school, but they’d hung out in the same circles.
    After dinner, Jane and the kids took a walk to the community park. Tabitha liked the playground there and Ryan fed the ducks, at least until he found a few of his friends and a game of football ensued.
    Her little boy was growing up. He was so tough and was trying so hard to be the man of the house. But he was still only eight years old, and underneath the tough-kid exteriorwas a vulnerable little boy who’d been hurt when his daddy, his hero, had abandoned him.
    Fortunately, he loved his sports, and that kept his mind occupied. She wished she could send him to that ridiculously expensive camp this summer. But there was no sense wishing for things that weren’t going to happen.
    Glad Ryan had an outlet for his excess energy, Jane took a few minutes to stretch out on the playground bench, take a couple deep relaxing breaths, and exhale.
    At least she had a job. And now another job at the health club. She’d also applied to teach summer school, since positions were at a premium and you had to apply early. Maybe she could afford a few extras for the kids this summer.
    Maybe.
    Tabitha played with Karen Redmond’s daughter, Heather, and Karen stood watch over them like a hawk. Ryan was deeply involved in a football game, with other parents supervising, so she tilted her head back and closed her eyes for just a second.
    “Jane?”
    It must have been more than a second because she felt disoriented, like maybe she’d allowed herself to fall asleep. She blinked and opened her eyes to find a sweaty hunk of beefcake standing in front of her. She shielded her eyes from the setting sun, unable to make out his face until he moved out of the shadow of the sun.
    Will. Again? Why was she suddenly running into him a lot when she rarely ever saw him?
    “Oh. Will. Hi. What are you doing here?” Other than catching her napping when she should be watching her kids. She made a quick search. Tabitha was still screaming down the slides with Heather, and Ryan had the football tucked under his arm, his buddies going all out to try and tackle him.
    And she’d been passed out on the bench.
    Wasn’t she just mother of the year?
    “I was taking a run in the park, saw you sitting here.”
    “I sure am seeing a lot of you lately.”
    “I switched from nights to days.”
    “Oh. Right. I heard about that.”
    His lips curved. “Of course you did. Is there anything in this town that isn’t broadcast somewhere?”
    “No. There’s a daily gossip update via social media. You can’t have secrets in Hope. Don’t even try. We even know what brand of toilet paper you buy via our spies at the grocery store.”
    He laughed. “I’m going to assume you’re kidding about that.”
    She arched a brow. “Am I?”
    “Now that’s a scary thought.” He looked around. “Are the kids in the playground?”
    “Yes. Over there,” she said with a nod of her head, grateful she’d been wearing her sunglasses so maybe he wouldn’t notice she’d been asleep.
    He turned and she took a moment to check out his muscles, lean body, and long legs. Did the man have to be tanned and in such great shape? She wanted to not be in her yoga pants and a T-shirt, both more than a few years old. She’d just tossed the outfit on for the walk and now she looked down with a critical eye. The yoga pants were faded, but supremely comfortable, because really, once she got home, who cared? It wasn’t like she was trying to impress anyone.
    And she sure wasn’t trying to impress Will.
    “Wow, the kids have gotten so big. Ryan looks a lot like Vic.”
    Her gaze wandered over to where Ryan was dashing for some imaginary end zone, a wide grin on his face. She