Cheryl Harper - A Home Come True

He’s the one with a family plan

Relocating his sprawling family to this small Texas town wasn’t the career move Austin cop Luke Hollister planned. Especially when the case he’s working involves one of Holly Heights’s own. Just ask his new neighbor Jennifer Neal, the high school math teacher who’s fiercely protective of her community and personal space. Luke’s here to serve, too. He’s got a foster mom, siblings and little niece to keep safe. Yet the more he and Jen are thrown together, the more Luke wants to settle here for good—with the fiery redhead. But can he convince Jen to turn the dream house for one she’s building into a real home?

“Think you’ll ever take the plunge?”

Luke expanded on the question, though he had no idea why he was asking. “Picture life with four or five mean redheads running around your empty house?”

Jen snorted. “Can you even imagine me as a mother?” She crossed her arms over her chest. “I came down here to talk about Joseph and his math homework. You’re tricky.”

“Unless you’re going to tell me whatever it is you and Joseph are hiding, I’ll pick a new topic. Maybe kissing.”

She blinked at him. “You think I can’t handle a kiss without spilling the beans?” She leaned over the armrest of her chair. “Test me.”

Before he’d decided he was going to do it, Luke had his lips pressed to hers. Instead of spice and heat, Jen’s kiss was sweet and perfect. Nothing like he would have imagined.

But now he could picture starting each day with one like it... And, oh...that wasn’t going to happen.

Dear Reader,

When I began this series about three friends who win the lottery, I spent some time imagining what I’d do with an unexpected windfall. It’s fun to daydream, but my practical side kept getting in the way!

My no-nonsense heroine Jen dreams of a comfortable home with the space she’s always wanted and the chance to buy new instead of making do with hand-me-downs. When the Hollisters move in across the street, she adds one more goal: chasing away the cop who tried to bully her friends. That cop turns out to be a good man doing his very best to keep his family, a collection of foster kids and the woman who brought them together, safe. Both Jen and Luke understand that “family” is a collection of the people who love you, and nothing matters more. I hope you enjoy spending time with them.

If you’d like to know more about my books and what’s coming next, enter fun giveaways or meet my dog, Jack, please visit me at cherylharperbooks.com. I’m also on Facebook ( CherylHarperRomance) and Twitter ( @cherylharperbks). I’d love to chat!

Cheryl Harper

A Home Come True

Cheryl Harper

www.millsandboon.co.uk

CHERYL HARPER discovered her love for books and words as a little girl, thanks to a mother who made countless library trips and an introduction to Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House stories. Whether stories are set in the prairie, the American West, Regency England or Earth a hundred years in the future, Cheryl enjoys strong characters who make her laugh. Now Cheryl spends her days searching for the right words while she stares out the window and her dog, Jack, snoozes beside her. And she considers herself very lucky to do so.

For more information about Cheryl’s books, visit her online at cherylharperbooks.comor follow her on Twitter, @cherylharperbks.

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This one’s for my family—relatives, old friends, new friends and internet friends far, far away who encourage me when I need it.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Introduction

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

EPILOGUE

Extract

Copyright

CHAPTER ONE

DAYDREAMING ABOUT SHOVING a buttered dinner roll into Sarah Hillman’s mouth to keep her from laughing again was a sign that it was time to leave the party. Almost everyone Jennifer Neil loved was there, but the noise of so many conversations, the heat of too many people in a cramped space and Sarah’s joyful laugh had hit the overwhelming stage. Jen needed some quiet, some breathing room. Soon.

Food this good should mean no leftovers but three of Rebecca’s perfect buttery-soft dinner rolls were left, and they would make excellent missiles to launch across the table. Sarah’s best choice for return fire would be the grilled asparagus at her elbow. Jen hated asparagus. A food fight would not be the smartest way to maintain their peace.

Stephanie Yates was telling a story about a Peruvian lizard in her Peruvian shower that would have been hilarious except for two things. Jen had already heard this story half a dozen times, and Sarah Hillman had tipped her head back to laugh again. The throbbing pain in Jen’s temple resumed.

When the walls started to close like this, Jen knew she needed to exit. She was suffocating. No matter how hard it would be, she had to save herself.

Unfortunately, she’d somehow landed as far away from the front door as possible in Rebecca Lincoln’s cramped dining room. Rebecca had spent enough of the lottery winnings that she, Stephanie Yates and Jen had shared to fill a small bank vault redoing the kitchen, but nothing on the rest of her cozy house. With all of her new spare time and mad money, Jen had become a home-improvement show devotee so she knew any designer worth his or her paycheck should have insisted on knocking down a wall. Open plan was where it was at.

If the gathering had been made up of Jen, Rebecca and Stephanie only, Jen would have had zero trouble breathing. They’d spent so many Friday evenings here during high school that it was sort of Jen’s home, too.

Even Sarah, her former nemesis, was growing on her. When Rebecca had informed Jen that the three of them would be giving away Rebecca’s share of the winnings to worthy projects, Jen would never have imagined Sarah Hillman and her animal shelter would become so important to them and to Jen, in particular. If Sarah hadn’t been such a spoiled mean girl in high school, she might have rounded out their group then.

Since Sarah and Jen’s stepbrother, Will, the guy entrusted with Rebecca’s funds, were now together, it just made sense to keep a close eye on her.

Honestly though, spending time with these women was easy. They accepted her rough edges.

But the other Musketeers had insisted on dragging along their beefcake, so the whole place was exceeding maximum occupancy. Rebecca’s parents had been lucky. They’d bailed on this going-away dinner early, blaming a long day of flying. They’d taken a break from their Floridian retirement to be here to wish their son, Daniel, and his happy bride well.