Brenda Novak - Finding Our Forever

New York Times bestselling author Brenda Novak welcomes readers to the town of Silver Springs, where surprises wait around every corner!

The search for her birth mother brought Cora Kelly to the New Horizons Boys Ranch. Getting a job there was easy enough, but confiding in Aiyana, the ranch’s owner, that she’s really her daughter? Cora’s not sure she can do that, not unless she’s confident the news will be welcomed. And once she gets to know Elijah Turner—Aiyana’s adopted son and ranch manager—that decision becomes even more difficult.

Although Elijah can’t deny his deep attraction to Cora, he’s always struggled with trust. Anyone with his past would, and there’s something about the ranch’s newest employee that isn’t exactly as it seems. But if the feelings she awakes in his guarded heart are any indication, she might be just what he’s long been waiting for.

“So I’d only get hurt if I got involved with you,” Cora said.

“Yes. You’d essentially be getting a locked box.”

He was being transparent, completely up-front. She was the one who’d set that tone. So it surprised him when she barked out a laugh. “You think you’re doing me a favor by staying away!”

He was trying to adhere to the decisions he’d made after that last ugly blowout with Tina. He’d been glad for the peace and balance he’d found since they’d broken up a year ago. But twelve months was a long time to go without a woman... “Essentially.”

“Well, you’re taking a lot for granted, Mr. Turner. First of all, how do you know I’m going to want you to love me?”

“Experience,” he said wryly. “I have yet to encounter the opposite problem.”

* * *

Silver Springs:Where love changes everything!

Finding Our Forever

Brenda Novak

www.millsandboon.co.uk

New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author BRENDA NOVAK is the author of more than fifty books. A five-time RITA® Award nominee, she has won many awards, including the National Readers’ Choice Award, the Booksellers’ Best Award and the Silver Bullet Award. She also runs Brenda Novak for the Cure, a charity to raise money for diabetes research (her youngest son has this disease). To date, she’s raised $2.5 million. For more about Brenda, please visit www.brendanovak.com.

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To all lost/hurt boys.

May you find an Aiyana Turner in your life.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text New York Times bestselling author Brenda Novak welcomes readers to the town of Silver Springs, where surprises wait around every corner! The search for her birth mother brought Cora Kelly to the New Horizons Boys Ranch. Getting a job there was easy enough, but confiding in Aiyana, the ranch’s owner, that she’s really her daughter? Cora’s not sure she can do that, not unless she’s confident the news will be welcomed. And once she gets to know Elijah Turner—Aiyana’s adopted son and ranch manager—that decision becomes even more difficult. Although Elijah can’t deny his deep attraction to Cora, he’s always struggled with trust. Anyone with his past would, and there’s something about the ranch’s newest employee that isn’t exactly as it seems. But if the feelings she awakes in his guarded heart are any indication, she might be just what he’s long been waiting for.

Introduction “So I’d only get hurt if I got involved with you,” Cora said. “Yes. You’d essentially be getting a locked box.” He was being transparent, completely up-front. She was the one who’d set that tone. So it surprised him when she barked out a laugh. “You think you’re doing me a favor by staying away!” He was trying to adhere to the decisions he’d made after that last ugly blowout with Tina. He’d been glad for the peace and balance he’d found since they’d broken up a year ago. But twelve months was a long time to go without a woman... “Essentially.” “Well, you’re taking a lot for granted, Mr. Turner. First of all, how do you know I’m going to want you to love me?” “Experience,” he said wryly. “I have yet to encounter the opposite problem.” * * * Silver Springs: Where love changes everything!

Title Page Finding Our Forever Brenda Novak www.millsandboon.co.uk

About the Author New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author BRENDA NOVAK is the author of more than fifty books. A five-time RITA® Award nominee, she has won many awards, including the National Readers’ Choice Award, the Booksellers’ Best Award and the Silver Bullet Award. She also runs Brenda Novak for the Cure, a charity to raise money for diabetes research (her youngest son has this disease). To date, she’s raised $2.5 million. For more about Brenda, please visit www.brendanovak.com .

Dedication To all lost/hurt boys. May you find an Aiyana Turner in your life.

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

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Epilogue

Extract

Copyright

Chapter One

Cora Kelly had never met her birth mother.

The records had been sealed when she was adopted as a newborn twenty-eight years ago. Her adoptive mother didn’t even know her birth mother’s name, so it wasn’t as if Lilly Kelly had ever mentioned it. Cora had had very little to go on. Even with two different attorneys, a website designed to help families reconnect and a private investigator who’d taken her case for free since he was an adoptee himself and did what he could, in his spare time, to help others who’d been through the same thing, it’d taken six long years to glean the information she craved. But here she was, only moments away from coming face-to-face, for the first time since the day she was born, with the woman who’d brought her into this world.

Would she like her mother? Would they resemble each other more in person than in the one picture she’d seen? Would Aiyana Turner somehow recognize her for who she was?

Those questions churned in Cora’s mind, making her stomach churn, as well. But one question weighed heavier than the others: Was she making a mistake?

Wiping her palms on her slacks, she told herself to calm down. As far as Aiyana knew, they were only meeting to talk about Cora’s new job working as an art instructor at New Horizons Boys Ranch, a boarding school for troubled teens, ages fourteen to eighteen, ninety minutes outside LA. No way would Aiyana have any reason to suspect Cora’s true identity. And Cora didn’t plan to tell her who she was. Not today. Maybe not ever. That was why she’d sought this job—and accepted it. So she’d have the chance to see what she might be getting into before making that decision.