Anna J. - The Bad Boy Of Butterfly Harbor

Dear Reader Dear Reader Dear Reader Title Page About the Author Dedication 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 CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE EPILOGUE Copyright , Butterflies have been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. My grandmother, who helped raise me, loved them and always had images of butterflies somewhere in her house and then ours. Now that she’s gone her collection has passed to me, and they have served as inspiration over the years. When the idea of writing a series for Mills & Boon Heartwarming struck, the name of the town presented itself instantly: Butterfly Harbor. I’m a born and bred California girl. Knowing where your home is, and more important, feeling as if you belong there, is at the heart of The Bad Boy of Butterfly Harbor. Luke Saxon knows coming back to the town he left in disgrace is a risk, but he has debts to pay and a past to face. He’s done running from his mistakes, and while owning up to them might be the hardest thing he’s ever done, he’s ready. Facing Holly Campbell again brings a whole new set of problems, not the least of which are unexpected feelings for the woman whose family he nearly destroyed. Holly lives and breathes Butterfly Harbor. It’s the only home she wants for her son, but her beloved town is in danger of disappearing unless they all make changes. Seeing Luke again, being forced to deal with the anger that has haunted her for years, isn’t something she ever expected, but from the second he walks back into her diner, Holly knows her life—and possibly her heart—is never going to be the same. I hope you enjoy this first book in my Butterfly Harbor series. I loved creating this community and bringing the town to life. Most of all, I am so excited to finally put Luke and Holly on their roller-coaster path to the happily-ever-after they both need and deserve. Happy reading and always be on the lookout for butterflies! Anna J

Title Page The Bad Boy of Butterfly Harbor Anna J. Stewart www.millsandboon.co.uk

About the Author ANNA J. STEWART discovered romances early in her parochial high school education and from then on knew what she was meant to be: a romance author. An English graduate of California State University of Sacramento, she’s held a variety of jobs, and for the past seven years, she’s been honored to work as New York Times bestselling author Brenda Novak’s personal assistant, helping run her annual online auction for diabetes research. In ten years, the auction has raised over $2.3 million. Anna lives in Northern California with an overly attentive and affectionate cat named Snickers.

Dedication For my Monterey girls Judy Ashley, Mary Helfrick and Bonnie Lally May the wings of the butterfly kiss the sun And find your shoulder to light on, To bring you luck, happiness and riches Today, tomorrow and beyond. —Irish blessing

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

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

EPILOGUE

Copyright

CHAPTER ONE

IF THE HEAVY sigh emanating from her eight-year-old son was any indication, Holly Campbell was in for a very long summer.

“Can’t I please wait for you at home?” Simon’s plea fell on deaf “mom” ears as he turned desperate brown eyes on her. The clasped hands were a nice touch. “I promise I’ll stay off the computer.”

“Depends if you’re ready to tell me why you hacked into our neighbor’s Wi-Fi and changed all their file names.” Holly cleared the last table from the Butterfly Diner’s breakfast rush, balanced plates and coffee cups like an Olympian and set the dish tray to overflowing. “Are you?”

“No.” The surly mumble was tinged with a hint of surrender. Simon spun on the cushioned orange stool in front of the steel-and-Formica counter and knocked his colored pencils to the white tile floor.

“Sorry, kiddo,” Holly said. “Until I feel I can trust you again, you’re stuck with me.” Definitely a long summer.

“How about I tell you how I did it instead?” Simon offered.

As tempting as the offer was, she arched him a warning look.

“It was worth a shot.” Simon’s mischievous expression had its usual effect and pulled free the smile she struggled to hide. Despite Simon’s increasing delinquent tendencies, there were times she loved her kid so much she ached.

“How about you share that information with your grandpa?” Holly wiped down the table and straightened the condiments before checking that the booths were clean. “It would give him something to think about now that he’s about to retire.”

Retire. As if her father had been given a choice. Jake Gordon was being forced out of his job as town sheriff—a job he’d held for the past thirty years—adding another burden to Holly’s shoulders.

The statistics on what early retirement did to some people were staggering, which was why Holly was determined to make her father feel useful. Maybe then she could rid herself of the worry that Jake would slide into old age as effortlessly as falling asleep.

Her father’s situation was one of the myriad of changes the new mayor of Butterfly Harbor had campaigned on. Aside from the plans to build a new butterfly sanctuary to attract visitors, Holly wasn’t looking forward to most of them being implemented. It was only a matter of time before everyone else knew what she’d learned the hard way: change made everything worse.

She took a deep breath and tried to loosen the knots in her chest. The last time she felt this uneasy was two years ago, when the California Highway Patrol officer had knocked on her door to tell her Gray had died in a car accident.

The pang of grief struck first, followed by bittersweet memories of her high-school sweetheart. She missed Gray, the boy she’d loved; the man she’d married. She didn’t miss his drinking. Or the secrets. Or his lies. Her stomach pitched like an abandoned trawler at sea. She especially didn’t miss the lies.

Was that when her problems had begun to snowball? Until Gray died, she’d been managing to juggle pretty well. She’d had to. Gray had become increasingly unreliable with each passing day. She’d finally stopped depending on him for...well, for anything.

She continued wiping down the booths; it was never too early to gear up for the coming lunch rush. She’d always been up for a challenge, but finding the means to keep the forty-year-old diner—her grandmother’s legacy—on track within the guidelines of the mayor’s proposed prosperity plan could prove problematic even for someone as self-sufficient as Holly. Sure, the money would help. Paying for Simon’s much-needed private education was like cement frosting on top of a tooth-shattering cake. And, of course, there was her mortgage to keep up with. Oh, and add keeping her troublemaking son out of trouble for... Holly did the brain-numbing math. A long, long summer.

“Check this out.” Holly rounded the counter and pulled a folded piece of paper out of the pocket of her apron. Simon eyed it as if it was a lit firecracker. “It came from your new school.”

“What is it?” Simon unfolded the paper in the same careful and deliberate way his father would have. The same way they both unwrapped presents. Such attention to detail had Simon mastering a book of origami animals in a matter of days.