Well.
I’ve been working like crazy, trying to finish Clint and Maggie’s book. It’s not going as fast as I had hoped—mostly because “life” keeps jumping in the way. I have finished the cover and am thrilled with it.
At the same time, I got updated Masterson covers!
I’ve also finished the cover for the next novel. It is for Hunter and Nikki, which I have already started writing, but I don’t know the exact release date yet.
Also—if you haven’t picked up the first four novellas, now is the time to do it—they are all either free, or $0.99 for a few weeks! Grab them now, and please feel free to share the sale on social media!
Finally,
I had to delete an entire chapter from Maggie and Clint because it just didn’t move the story forward—but it works great as a small short story. You can find it below!
Miranda…
Clint was a man on a mission. He had Miranda’s address programmed into his phone. It still took Clint time to find his way around St. Louis.
He wasn’t exactly a city boy.
He far preferred Masterson County, even if he was the black sheep of that little place in Wyoming.
Masterson County was home.
The only home he’d ever had.
The door swung open and familiar green eyes stared at him. Miranda had her red-brown mass of curls pulled up into a high ponytail and she looked far more flustered than he had ever seen her. She wore baggy sweats that didn’t match, socks that definitely didn’t, and was wild-eyed and exhausted.
If he wasn’t mistaken, there was something brown smeared on her shoulder. He hoped like hell that it was chocolate, and not what else it looked like.
What the hell was going on with her now?
“Hey, kid. Hope you don’t mind a visitor.” Clint opened his arms, knowing that Dr. Miranda Talley would come right to him. She looked like she could use a hug right now. Like she really needed it.
She’d been the first woman he had ever truly loved; their relationship had lasted for two years before Clint had ended it. Miranda had needed to leave the county to become the woman she was meant to—and Clint had known that. That had been one of the hardest things he’d ever had to do, but it had been the right decision. For her.
Now she was one of his two closest friends on the planet.
She’d saved Maggie and Violet. His family. He would forever be in her debt for that.
“Why are you here, Clint? Not that I’m not glad to see you.” She had bruises beneath her eyes. Tired. She was beyond tired. Concern for her had him pausing for a moment. Miranda was usually far more together than this. She prided herself on being capable of handling anything.
The woman before him didn’t exactly look like she had a handle on anything right now.
“What did you do with my family?”
“You finished with your case? Is it safe for them to go home?”
“Hell, yes.” Clint was one hundred percent sure of that. “We got the bastards—two are in prison and one is dead. Can’t get more finished than that.”
“Good. I knew it was just a matter of time. I knew you’d find them.”
Clint hugged her again. He had rarely been close to anyone in his life, but his late wife Amy, Miranda and Rex Weatherby made up that entire list.
And Maggie.
With Maggie—he wanted to get a hell of a lot closer. He just had to find her first. “Spoke with your grandma. Got your new address.”
“How is she? I haven’t been able to go home for a few months.” She shot a worried look down the hall.
“Tough as nails and constantly go, go, go. Other than that, as beautiful as ever. I think there may be a man sniffing around her heels, by the way. He’s younger. Only seventy-eight. Roller derby may have been mentioned.”
“Hilarious. You staying a while?”
“Just for the night. I’m on a mission.”
“Guestroom’s open. You know it always is.”
Clint grabbed his bag and carried it in behind her, wiping his boots on the porch before he stepped onto the girly pink carpet in the foyer. The rest of the house appeared to be hardwood.
The pink was a bit out of place. Miranda had never liked pink.
“No boyfriend going to get jealous?” She’d had another agent in tow when she’d been in Masterson County last time to help Clint with a case gone bad. Clint had been convinced the slightly older man had had it bad for Miranda then. “Knight, maybe?”
“Not enough time for that for me. And…the last two men that I dated wanted to change me. Not exactly my thing. Besides…there is only room in my life now for one man. You can meet him in the morning, if you’re still here. It most definitely is not—and will never be—Mr. Cranky-Pants Dr. Allan Knight.” She scowled as she said it. But…Clint thought there was a bit too much protest right there. Too much fire.
He’d long thought Miranda needed a man who yanked her right out of her comfort zone, her ‘I’m in charge and can handle anything’ way.
“How’s work going?” Clint accepted the coffee she handed him. Miranda was addicted to specialty flavors. This one smelled remarkably liked peanut butter and chocolate. “Jaclyn?”
She laughed. “Beautifully. She and Max married on New Year’s Day and are in the process of adopting two little girls. This is Jac’s house. I’m renting it now.”
“I wondered if they’d ever hook up.”
He would have said more, but the sound of running feet coming up the hall had him tensing. He’d thought they were alone. Clint didn’t like surprises.
A little boy no more than six or seven came barreling into the kitchen, brown hair sticking up everywhere and in blue dinosaur pajamas.
Miranda had been a foster parent off and on for three years now. He hadn’t heard she had a new placement, though. Apparently, he had been wrong.
And Flo, her grandmother, hadn’t mentioned it.
“Mommy!” the little boy threw himself into Miranda’s arms, and turned to look at Clint. “I had a bad dream. Who is that?”
“Clint, meet Bentley,” Miranda said, slipping him onto her hip and hugging him close. “He’s my son now. Forever. As soon as the judge makes it legal in two months. Bentley and I are sticking together forever. No matter what. Bentley, this is Uncle Clint, one of my best friends ever.”
Clint waited until she tucked him back into his bed. Then over coffee he found out exactly what was going on with Miranda.
And she told him where he could find his own family. He’d waited long enough. He was going to go get Maggie and Violet, bring them back to Masterson County where they belonged.
First thing in the morning.
Clint could wait that long. He had a plan. He knew where they were. They were safe and protected, and just waiting for him.
Maggie, his daughter, and the baby he suspected they’d made between them that one night.
It was just a matter of time before he was with Maggie again…
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