The Marriage Bargain. Stephanie Dees

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       Chapter One

      Cameron Quinn looked around the tiny town of Red Hill Springs. Big pots of pansies, twinkle lights in the trees lining the street... Apparently the basketball team at the local high school was doing well this year—the storefronts were full of team spirit. It had charm, he guessed, if you were a person who liked that down-home kind of stuff.

      He wasn’t.

      Cam shrugged into his sport coat, slid his sunglasses into the pocket and started across the street. If the Hilltop Café was still the center of gossip in this small town, he’d know soon enough where to find his mother. He nearly choked on the word. She’d lost the right to be called that a long time ago.

      Bells jingled on the glass door as he pushed it open. Same brass bell, same clanking melody, the childhood memory surprising him with its intensity. Or maybe it was the aroma of fresh pancakes and coffee on the burner that had him instantly back in middle school, a broom in one hand, a doughnut clenched in the other.

      He stepped up to the counter, nudged aside the drape of tinsel someone forgot to take down after Christmas and took a stool. In seconds a glass of water was sweating in front of him and Ms. Bertie was greeting him with a smile. “What can I get started for you, hon?”

      She had to be a grandma by now, but she hadn’t changed a bit from the days he’d come in after school for a Coke before riding his bicycle home. On the best days, she’d asked him to sweep the sidewalk in front of the café and paid him in pastries. Her small kindness had meant something to a boy nobody wanted. He drew in a breath, the onslaught of memories harder than he’d expected.

      “Just some information, if you have it. I’m looking for Vicky Porter. She lives here in town. Or at least she did.”

      Bertie Sheehan slapped the order pad down and rounded СКАЧАТЬ