Nantucket Romance 3-in-1 Bundle Read Free Page A

could pay off her credit cards, get out of their crummy apartment, buy Caden some decent clothes, pay for gymnastic lessons. Heck, she could send Caden to a private school if she wanted. And college. Caden could become anything she wanted to be.
    Even Sam could go to college. It was a thought she hadn’t allowed since she got pregnant with Caden. Even now, she tamped down the thought, too afraid to hope in case this was all a dream.
    But the flimsy white paper in her hands was real enough. Emmett’s name scrawled in black sobered her. Memories raced through her mind at the speed of light, none of them good. The feeling of being trapped, overpowered, and abandoned all at the same time made her squirm in her chair as if to make sure she wasn’t restrained.
    The realization that she would have to go back there stole her breath and jarred her mind to a sudden halt. The house would have to be cleaned out. Furniture and personal belongings would have to be sorted through. The cottage would need to be readied for sale. The flower beds, if they still existed, would need tending.
    How long would it take, and would Patty let her off work that long? Sam hadn’t had a vacation or sick day in—well, she couldn’t even remember. They’d just lost an office building to Murphy’s Maids the week before, so the schedule was lighter, and Gina had been asking for extra hours.
    Still, the thought of going back to the island made Sam’s soul shrivel like a sun-scorched bloom. There was a reason she hadn’t gone back. A reason she’d left in the first place, and nothing had changed.
    Except that going back was now worth a million dollars.
    Sam lifted her eyes from the letter and found Caden’s class across the gym at the foam pit. Caden sprang forward into a round-off and two back handsprings, then finished with a backflip into the foam squares. The spotter never touched her. It was her first unassisted backflip. When she came out of the pit, she looked toward the balcony to see if Sam had caught the moment. Before she could give her daughter a thumbs-up, Caden looked away. When she walked by Bridget and her new cronies, they turned, an obvious snub.
    Sam wanted to thump them all. They were doing it because of her, and the guilt that descended on her was as heavy as a lead blanket.
    Could a million dollars buy her and Caden a new life? Sam was suddenly sure it could. And she was equally sure she could face any demon from her past for the chance to make it happen.

Two
    T his isn’t happening. All Sam’s bravado from two weeks before sank like a boulder in the Atlantic as she clutched the ferry’s railing, watching Nantucket Harbor creep closer. Dozens of boats dotted the water, their empty masts poking the sky like skinny white fingers. Beyond them, gray-washed stores and cottages lined the piers and step-stoned up the hillside.
    Caden leaned against the rail, the wind tugging at her hair. On her other side, a man pointed his digital camera toward the high
tower of the First Congregational Church and snapped the picture.
    With every inch of the ferry’s progress, fear clawed up Sam’s throat. She kept her eyes trained to the east side of the ferry, not ready to see what lay to the west. How would she face the Reeds? A heavy cloud rolled over the sun, casting a shadow over the town and turning the water black.
    “It looks small,” Caden said.
    It was the first thing she’d said since they boarded the ferry. But the silence beat all the complaining she’d done before that. Why do we have to go? I’ll get behind the other girls at the gym. I don’t want to leave my friends. Why can’t we go someplace exciting? My life is so boring! If she only knew that Nantucket was the last place Sam wanted to go. If Caden knew about the money the sale of the house would bring, she might have worried less, but Sam wasn’t ready to handle requests for designer jeans and salon haircuts.
    “It is small.” Her gaze scrolled past the marina and