Laurel Blount - Hometown Hope

He’ll do anything for his daughter...

Even fight to regain an old classmate’s broken trust.

In the three years since her mother’s death, widower Hoyt Bradley’s daughter, Jess, hasn’t spoken—until she suddenly begs him to save her favorite bookstore from closing. Hoyt is desperate to hear his daughter’s voice again, but he and the bookstore’s pretty owner, Anna Delaney, share a less-than-friendly past. Working together is complicated enough...but can they avoid falling in love?

LAUREL BLOUNTlives on a small farm in Middle Georgia with her husband, David, their four children, a milk cow, dairy goats, assorted chickens, an enormous dog, three spoiled cats and one extremely bossy goose with boundary issues. She divides her time between farm chores, homeschooling and writing, and she’s happiest with a cup of steaming tea at her elbow and a good book in her hand.

Also By Laurel Blount

Love Inspired

A Family for the Farmer

A Baby for the Minister

Hometown Hope

Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk

Hometown Hope

Laurel Blount

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-1-474-09676-8

HOMETOWN HOPE

© 2019 Laurel Blount

Published in Great Britain 2019

by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF

All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.

By payment of the required fees, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right and licence to download and install this e-book on your personal computer, tablet computer, smart phone or other electronic reading device only (each a “Licensed Device”) and to access, display and read the text of this e-book on-screen on your Licensed Device. Except to the extent any of these acts shall be permitted pursuant to any mandatory provision of applicable law but no further, no part of this e-book or its text or images may be reproduced, transmitted, distributed, translated, converted or adapted for use on another file format, communicated to the public, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.

® and ™ are trademarks owned and used by the trademark owner and/or its licensee. Trademarks marked with ® are registered with the United Kingdom Patent Office and/or the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market and in other countries.

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Version: 2020-03-02

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Text to speech

“Can’t we take Miss Anna flying, Daddy?”

Hoyt glanced in the rearview mirror to see Jess leaning forward, her face pleading. As he watched, his daughter’s gaze shifted briefly from him to Anna. “Please?”

Anna’s gaze fastened on to his for a second, then she turned to look back at Jess. “Are you asking me to go up in that plane, sweetie?” Hoyt held his breath as Jess hesitated.

“Yes.”

It might have been the softest whisper Hoyt had ever heard, but it was definitely an answer. Jess was talking to Anna.

But the joyful relief that surged up in him was mixed with fear. Everything he’d prayed for hinged directly on what Anna did next.

He caught her green eyes with his and tried his best to communicate silently. Please, Delaney. This matters. Please don’t say no. Not now.

He could tell Anna understood him. She instantly went about five shades paler, but she managed a choppy nod. “Well, fine, then. Since you’re asking me, Jess.”

Hoyt’s heart swelled with gratitude—and guilt. “Are you sure?”

“No,” she muttered, pushing open the truck door. “But I’m doing it anyway.”

Dear Reader,

Hello! Thanks so much for joining me on my third trip back to Pine Valley, Georgia! I hope you enjoyed our visit there as much as I did!

This sweet little town definitely holds a special place in my heart. I had fun catching up with old friends—the characters from my first two books, A Family for the Farmer and A Baby for the Minister . And of course, I loved writing Hoyt and Anna’s story. It features one of my favorite themes—how creatively God sometimes answers our prayers, often through very unlikely people and situations!

I’m planning to visit Pine Valley again before too long—I have my eye on our feisty grocery store owner Bailey Quinn. I think she needs a romance of her own, don’t you? I sure hope you’ll come along for that trip, too—you’re such good company! In the meantime, let’s stay in touch! You can reach me via email at laurelblountwrites@gmail.com and through my website, laurelblountbooks.com. Oh, and while you’re there, don’t forget to sign up for my newsletter—that way we can enjoy a visit every single month!

Looking forward to hearing from you, sweet friend!

Laurel Blount

He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.

—Psalms 147:3

For the fabulous four: Rebecca, Jackson, Joanna and Levi—with all my love.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

About the Author

Booklist

Title Page

Copyright

Note to Readers

Introduction

Dear Reader

Bible Verse

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

Epilogue

Extract

About the Publisher

Chapter One

Uh-oh.

Anna Delaney stopped doodling frowny faces and dollar signs in the margin of her notebook and tilted her head, listening. Sure enough, an all-too-familiar rustling was coming from her bookstore’s storage room. Smothering a groan, Anna dropped her head down on the checkout counter with a thump.

The possum was back.

How was that even possible? Two weeks ago, when she’d finally caught the skinny-tailed varmint in a live trap baited with peanut butter, she’d driven him fifteen miles out into the country before setting him free. She hadn’t seen him since, and she’d hoped he was the one problem related to this store that she’d actually managed to solve.