Dawn Atkins - Adventures In Parenthood

Forget Everest…parenting is a real challenge

There aren’t many adventures Aubrey Hanson hasn’t tried. But parenthood and domestic duties are definitely not for her. Then her twin nieces are orphaned and suddenly Aubrey needs those skills! There’s one problem—their gorgeous uncle, Dixon Carter.

Officially, he’s their guardian and he wants Aubrey involved, just not in charge. Unofficially…well, the spark that caused their almost night together still simmers. In fact, it’s threatening to get out of control and disrupt raising the twins. Aubrey and Dixon can’t keep the attraction a secret forever. So they need to figure out how to be together…with kids!

Dixon pulled Aubrey into his arms

“There’s no point in beating yourself up about the past.” He held her in the dimly lit hallway, wanting to press comfort into her bones. Maybe somehow they could comfort each other enough to wipe away the grief.

She let him hold her for a few seconds, but she didn’t relax a muscle. “I dread leaving here, having to say goodbye.”

“I know.” He dreaded seeing her go—for himself as well as the girls. They wouldn’t accept Aubrey’s absence easily…and he wasn’t sure he would, either.

She leaned back to look at him, her eyes piercing even through her tears. “There’s no way to make this easy, is there?”

“Not that I can see, no.” Words gathered in his throat. Don’t go. Stay here. Help me with the girls, especially Sienna. Be with us. Be with me.

He couldn’t say that. She had a life far from here. They’d made a solid plan. They’d both be better off sticking with it. Even though letting her go now might be the hardest thing he’d done in a long time.

Dear Reader,

Before I had my son, I wasn’t sure I would make a good mother. Like Aubrey, I didn’t think I was that maternal. I was focused on my career, for one thing, but, really, kids seemed so fragile to me. There seemed to be so many things I could screw up. I figured motherhood was better left to those more naturally inclined…or at least more intrepid than I.

But Aubrey’s sister Briana had it right: Maternal is as maternal does… You learn together.

That was certainly true in my case. That didn’t make parenthood any less difficult or scary. When we had our son, my husband said the words that Howard says in this book about his baby daughters: Why would we bring into the world someone whose pain we’ll feel more strongly than our own? Why indeed?

Out of love and hope. And that was how Aubrey decides to take on parenthood in her ready-made family. Dixon’s already made that decision, but there are things he can learn from Aubrey about handling emotions and trusting his own heart.

The pair of them have quite a journey to their happily ever after. It involves climbing mountains, kayaking rapids, zip-lining canyons and running obstacle courses. They make it, but not without troubles. From their adventure, they learn that beauty can come from tragedy and grief can bring a greater love for those we’ve lost. As Aubrey tells her nieces, the person who died lives on in our hearts and in our minds and that is a tremendous comfort, I’ve found.

This story moved me as I wrote it. It touches on so many issues and feelings that I hold dear. I hope it touches your life, too, and offers you insights, a smile and makes you hug your loved ones just a little closer afterward.

All my best,

Dawn Atkins

Adventures In Parenthood

Dawn Atkins

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Award-winning author Dawn Atkins has written more than twenty-five romances for Mills & Boon. Known for her funny, sexy, poignant stories, she’s won a Golden Quill Award for hot romance and has been a several-times RT Reviewers’ Choice Award finalist. Dawn lives in Arizona with her husband and son, who taught her all about the adventure of parenthood. Contact her through her website at www.dawnatkins.com.

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To the Now and Then Book Group

You teach me more about what makes a book good every time we meet

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Excerpt

CHAPTER ONE

“YOU SAVED MY family.” The grateful client grabbed Dixon Carter into a bear hug. Rattled, Dixon managed a back pat or two, hoping that did the trick. Emotional stuff threw him.

“We just gave you some advice, Eric. You earned the job.” A laid-off auto tech, with an ill wife and two young boys, Eric had recently secured a job with the city, thanks to the help he’d gotten at Bootstrap Academy.

“You gave me the guts to apply,” Eric insisted. “You taught me how to interview, what to say on my résumé. You got me the leads.”

The man had tears in his eyes. Tears.

Dixon blinked back the moisture in his own eyes, pride making his chest burn. We do good work. “That’s why we’re here.”

Dixon sometimes got so caught up in the business side of the agency he forgot the rewards. Bootstrap Academy was a last-chance job-training and placement agency in Phoenix. The place was his brother Howard’s dream, and Dixon had been privileged to help bring it to life a year ago.

“All I know is that if it weren’t for this place, my boys wouldn’t be stepping off the bus next fall with new backpacks, new sneaks and snack money burning holes in their pockets,” Eric said. “I don’t know how to thank you.”

“Tell them your story.” He nodded toward the new clients in a meeting room down the hall. “That’s all the thanks we need.” Ideally, Eric would give hope to the men and women who’d been beaten down by economic hard knocks or their own mistakes.

“Thank your brother and his wife for me, too.”

“Absolutely. They get back tonight.” Howard and Brianna had taken a vacation to celebrate their fifth anniversary—their first trip away from their girls. Dixon was watching the four-year-old twins—and counting down the hours until their parents returned.

Not that he didn’t love the girls. He adored them. But adding them to his own work, plus what couldn’t be put off of Howard’s, had been tough. Single parents deserved medals. Dixon would like a family one day, but not until he stopped putting in sixty-hour weeks here.

Oh, and found a woman to have one with.

Howard and Brianna were due back before the girls’ bedtime, thank God. Dixon hadn’t yet performed the elaborate night rituals to Sienna’s satisfaction. Ginger was more tenderhearted, but a challenge in her own way.

Eric headed for the workshop, and Dixon saw his assistant barreling down the hall toward him. “What’s up, Maggie?” he asked.

She nodded across the lobby to the small shop where they sold donated business clothes. “Tonya’s about to lose her nerve with the interview.”

Dixon backed up so Maggie could beeline for the young woman dressed in cutoffs and a tank top, who was glancing from a rack of blazers toward the exit door, ready to bolt. When Maggie reached her, she said something that made the girl smile, then led her deeper into the shop toward the manager.