Sherryl Woods - About That Man

“Woods is a master heartstring puller.”

– Publishers Weekly on Seaview Inn

“Compulsively readable…Though the serious issues raised are handled with honesty and integrity, Woods’s novel easily rises above hot-button topics to tell a universal tale of friendship’s redemptive power.”

– Publishers Weekly on Mending Fences

“Redolent with Southern small-town atmosphere, this emotionally rich story deals with some serious issues and delivers on a number of levels.”

– Library Journal on A Slice of Heaven

“Sherryl Woods always delivers a fast, breezy, glamorous mix of romance and suspense.”

– New York Times bestselling author Jayne Ann Krentz

“Woods’s latest entry in her Sweet Magnolias series (after Stealing Home ) is sure to please fans and entice new readers with…flesh-and-blood characters, terrific dialogue and substantial stakes.”

– Publishers Weekly on A Slice of Heaven

“Sherryl Woods…writes with a very special warmth, wit, charm and intelligence.”

– New York Times bestselling author Heather Graham

“Sherryl Woods gives her characters depth, intensity, and the right amount of humor.”

– Romantic Times BOOKreviews

“Sherryl Woods is a uniquely gifted writer whose deep understanding of human nature is woven into every page.”

– New York Times bestselling author Carla Neggers

www.mirabooks.co.uk

Dear Friend,

I’m so excited that the TRINITY HARBOR series is back in print. If you didn’t have a chance to read it when it first came out, I hope you’ll enjoy your first visit to this charming seaside town and the chance to get to know the Spencers. Any time I get an opportunity to write about the part of Virginia where I spent so many happy childhood summers, it feels like going home to those lazy, sultry days again.

As for Daisy, Bobby, Tucker and, of course, King, there is nothing I love more as an author than writing about families and about small towns. I think in this day and age, when so many of us have scattered around the country, far from our own families, books about families and tightly knit towns remind us of the way things used to be. They give us a sense of the kind of connectedness we long for. I hope you will come to think of the Spencers and all the residents of Trinity Harbor as family and that you’ll find that Anna-Louise provides a moral compass in today’s increasingly complex world.

After you’ve read Daisy’s story, I hope you’ll move right on to Bobby’s story in Ask Anyone. The best part of these reissues is that all three titles are available now. And in Ask Anyone, I guarantee that there’s an incredible woman waiting in the wings to spice up Bobby’s life and that there will be yet another test of wills between him and his father over just about everything. Just thinking about it puts a smile on my face.

All good wishes,

For Relda and Kyle,

with thanks for all the boating background,

and for the friends–old and new–in the “real”

Trinity Harbor (aka Colonial Beach, Virginia).

You all keep me inspired.

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Epilogue

T he whole town of Trinity Harbor–probably the whole state of Virginia–was buzzing like a swarm of bees, and whose fault was it? His daughter’s. Robert King Spencer slammed down the phone for what had to be the fifteenth time that morning and rued the day he’d ever bred such an ungrateful lot of kids.

Daisy, of all people, his beautiful, headstrong, but previously sensible thirty-year-old daughter, was stirring up gossip like a rebellious teenager. It was exasperating. No, King thought, it went beyond that. It was humiliating.

He had half a mind to go charging over to her place and put a stop to things before she tarnished the Spencer name with her shenanigans, but he’d learned his lesson on that score. A father interfered in his children’s lives at his own peril. Better to handle things from the sidelines, subtly.

King could all but hear the laughter of his family and friends at that. It was true, subtlety wasn’t exactly his style. Never had been, but for once he could see the value in using other people to do his dirty work. His sons, for instance.

Tucker and Bobby ought to be able to straighten out this mess. Tucker was the sheriff, for goodness’ sakes. Maybe he could wave that badge of his around and get Daisy to see reason.

King sighed. Not likely. Tucker took his duties seriously. He wasn’t likely to use his office to carry out his daddy’s personal wishes. And Bobby…well, Bobby was an enigma to him. No telling what he would do–probably the exact opposite of what King wanted.

That was the way it had been lately. Not one of his children paid a bit of attention to him, or to their Southern heritage. What kind of respect could a man expect in his golden years if his own children went around stirring up the kind of trouble Daisy had gotten herself into?

Respect was important to a man. King had always liked being a mover and shaker in Trinity Harbor. He figured he deserved it, since his very own ancestors had wandered over from Jamestown to start the town. That pretty much gave him the right to have his say about everything that went on, from raising Black Angus cattle or growing soybeans to politics. Most people actually listened. Being a Spencer in this town still meant something. Or it had until a few hours ago.

Nope, it was clear that Daisy didn’t give two hoots for tradition or bloodlines or any of the other things that made the South great. She was just hell-bent on getting her own way, no matter what it did to her daddy, her brothers or the family reputation.

It was her mother’s fault, of course. Mary Margaret–God rest her soul–was the one with the modern ideas. Let her shoulder the blame for Daisy’s behavior, even if she had been dead for twenty years. She should have done something–though he couldn’t say what–before she went and abandoned them all.

Since Mary Margaret wasn’t around to fix things, though, it was up to King to save Daisy from herself. He prided himself on being clever when clever was called for, and today certainly seemed to be one of those days. He had the headache to prove it.

D aisy Spencer had always wanted children. She just hadn’t expected to wind up stealing one.

Okay, that was a slight exaggeration. She hadn’t exactly stolen Tommy Flanagan. The way she saw it, nobody wanted the boy. His father was long gone and his pitiful, frail mother had had the misfortune to die in the recent flu epidemic. The story was the talk of Trinity Harbor and had been for weeks now.

While they searched for relatives, Social Services had placed Tommy with three different foster families in as many weeks, but Tommy wouldn’t stay put. He was scared and angry and about as receptive to love as that vicious old rooster Daisy’s father insisted on keeping over at Cedar Hill.

Despite all that, Daisy’s heart just about broke when she thought of all the pain that ten-year-old had gone through. She figured she had more than enough love to spare for the little boy who’d been one of her brightest Sunday school students, a boy who was suddenly all alone in the world, a boy who’d lost his faith in God on the day his mother died.