Jenna Mindel - Mending Fences

He scanned the picture Laura presented, starting at her bare feet with toenails painted bright purple. She wore khaki shorts and a matching T-shirt.

He cleared his throat. “I’m sorry. The door to the barn is locked. Can I have the key?”

“Give me a minute and I’ll join you. I need to go through my dad’s stuff anyway.”

Jack shifted his box. He didn’t want her invading his space, distracting him. “It’s dirty out there, I can handle it.”

“What, I can’t get dirty?” Laura reached for a key tied to a faded blue ribbon and handed it to him. “I’ll meet you in a few minutes.”

Jack stood staring at the doorknob, key in hand. It’d been a long time since he’d noticed another woman with interest. It was impossible not to notice Laura Toivo. Losing Joanne had left a gaping hole in his life, but he was finally putting it back together. Building a secure environment for his daughter Angie. He didn’t have the time or energy to date.

If only he didn’t find tall, blue-eyed blondes attractive…

JENNA MINDEL

Originally from central New York State, Jenna Mindel lives in northwestern Michigan with her husband and their three dogs. She loves activity that’s conducive to daydreaming, whether it’s walking the woods, picking mushrooms and berries, fall leaf peeping or zipping along nearby snowmobile trails on her Polaris 600 Classic.

Jenna’s always been a dreamer. From the time she was a kid, she relished the dashing heroes and feisty heroines found in fairy tales. She completed her first illustrated novel, a romance, in sixth grade.

In a rush to grow up, Jenna graduated high school a year early and went to college in pursuit of a career—changing majors faster than the seasons and forgetting all about her love of story. After marrying her college sweetheart, Jenna landed a job in banking that has spanned more than twenty years and several positions.

In the midst of her corporate climb, Jenna joined Romance Writers of America and her love for romantic stories was reborn. Ten years later in 2001, her first Traditional Regency was published, and in 2006 Jenna became a RITA® Award finalist. But the world of contemporary Christian romance beckoned, and Jenna answered the call to write the books of her heart.

www.millsandboon.co.uk

“By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established; through knowledge its rooms are filled with rare and beautiful treasures.”

—Proverbs 24:3–4

In memory of a dear friend, Amber Schalk

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

Letter to Reader

Questions for Discussion

Laura Toivo stopped by her assistant’s desk before she went home to change. “Cindy, are the reservations for tonight’s dinner meeting set for eight o’clock?”

“They are.” Cindy, at twenty-six, was five years Laura’s junior, but every bit as hungry for success. “Close the Albertson deal and you’ll get promoted to senior sales exec.”

Laura drummed a pencil against her lips. Everyone knew she’d thrown her name in the hat. She wanted to move up. A promotion might be hers if she succeeded. After years of proving herself, it boiled down to the outcome of tonight’s meeting. “That’s what I’m hoping for.”

Closing a deal was the sweetest side of sales. When everything clicked, it was like celebrating a lucrative marriage—one she hoped to make happen with Albertson Manufacturing.

Not that she knew anything about marriage. Once upon a time, she’d longed for a husband, house and kids. But that was before she’d had a taste of domestic life. After a brief engagement fraught with tension due to her fiancé’s young daughter, Laura had had enough. Or rather, her fiancé did by breaking it off nine months ago.

Laura scanned her list of cell phone messages. Too many to follow up on tonight. She rolled her shoulders to stretch out the knot of tension that had become a permanent fixture in the middle of her back. There was only one person she could count on. Herself.

“Laura? Anthony from corporate is on line three,” Cindy said.

The knot pulled tighter. Speaking of her ex-fiancé… “I’ll take it at my desk.”

Stepping into her gunmetal-gray cubicle, Laura slipped off her headset and picked up her phone. “Hey, Anthony.”

“I knew you’d be working late.” His voice was soft, but carried a hint of regret. Or maybe it was condemnation.

“I heard you’ve got a big deal going with a plastics company. Keep it up, you’re getting noticed.”

“Thanks.” Laura traced the buttons of her phone with her fingertip.

“I called because…well, I’m getting married.”

Laura closed her eyes. He’d set a speed record, even for a rebound relationship.

“Aren’t you going to congratulate me?”

“Congratulations.” Her well wishes sounded dull. Lifeless.

“She’s Brooke’s teacher. You’d like her.”

Brooke was Anthony’s obnoxious seven-year-old. Laura couldn’t please the girl no matter what she did or didn’t do. Obviously, the kid had bonded with her teacher. So had Anthony.

She spotted her direct line blinking and jumped at the chance to end the sensation of her heart bleeding all over her desk. “I’m happy for you, Anthony, really I am, but I’ve got another call.”

She heard him sigh. How many times had he accused her of putting work first? When he’d made her choose between work and him, work always won. Work didn’t hurt her. “Take care, okay?”

“You, too.” She connected with the other line. “Laura Toivo.”

“Laura, you have to come home, your mother’s had a stroke.” Her aunt’s frantic voice rang through the phone.

“How bad?”

“We don’t know yet, honey. She’s in ICU. She needs you. We both do.”

“I’ll be there as soon as I can.” Laura stared through the glass partition at Cindy.

Laura had to make that meeting. Her mom was hospitalized, surely a few hours wouldn’t change anything. But what if a few hours was all the time her mother had left? She’d regret it the rest of her life if she didn’t see her mom one more time.

What if—

Panic coiled in her gut, making Laura sick.

Cindy poked her head into Laura’s cubicle. “Everything okay?”

“Call Mr. Albertson and postpone my dinner plans. I’ve got to go to Michigan. It’s my mom—I’ve got to go home.”

It was late when Laura pushed open the door to her mom’s hospital room. Stepping closer, she stared at the frail-looking woman lying in a bed surrounded by monitoring machines. The stroke had aged her mother, making her look older than her seventy-four years.

If Laura were a good daughter, she would have visited more often. But she wasn’t a good daughter. She was an only child who’d never figured out how to please her mom.

Her mother’s eyelids fluttered. “Is that you, Laura?”

“How are you feeling?” Her whisper came out sounding choked.

“My left side is nummmm.” Her words slurred. She opened only one eye, the other lid drooping.