Evermore: A Salvation Series Novella - 1001 Dark Nights

The day he said he'd never love me is when I vowed Quinn Miller would never break my heart again. I wanted a family - but he wouldn't give me that. As one of the top embryologists in the country, I've spent years creating babies in the lab for other people as my own dreams of motherhood fade. I'm done waiting. I decide to start the journey to parenthood alone. Then Quinn strolls back into my life, with all the finesse of a hurricane. I'm a fool to think I don't want him anymore, and one reckless night of passion ends with me pregnant by the man I swore I'd never love again.

Dopo aver appreso della morte del marito Aaron, marine caduto in missione, Natalie è passata attraverso il dolore e, con fatica, ha ritrovato la luce grazie all'amore per Liam. Aaron però non è morto, e dopo aver lottato per tornare da sua moglie e dalla figlia che non ha mai conosciuto, ora è lì, davanti agli occhi di Natalie, che si ritrova sospesa tra la gioia e l'angoscia.

In the morning, she was gone and had taken my solace with her. I left for the military that day, vowing never to return to Pennsylvania. When my father dies, I’m forced to go home to bury him. At least I'll finally be rid of his farm, which is grown over and tangled with memories I've fought to forget. And that’s when I find her. She’s even more beautiful than I remember and has the most adorable kid I’ve ever seen. Years have passed, but my feelings are the same, and this time I refuse to let her go. They say you can't bury the past, and they're right.

Teagan Berkeley is trying her best. A single mom raising a precocious teen, she may have given up on her dreams, but she's accepted her life in her small beachside hometown. Now the one person who abandoned her when she needed him the most has returned, bringing back memories of what might have been. Derek Hartz arrives in town with a teenage daughter - and he's full of guilt over his failed marriage and the way he ended his friendship with Teagan. He's determined to set things right with her, but first he needs to gain her trust, something he's not convinced he deserves.

One word. Stay. It was all he had to do. Instead, he got on that bus and took my heart with him. That was 17 years ago. I moved on. Marriage. Kids. White picket fence. Everything I ever wanted, but my husband betrayed me and I was left once again.

He’s my brother’s best friend, the hot single dad next door. And one accidental sext later, my massive crush on him is no longer a secret. It’s my own damn fault. I’m 30 years old, for heaven’s sake. I’m a kindergarten teacher and a (reasonably) responsible adult. I should know better than to get tipsy and draft a fake text listing all the dirty things I wish Officer Cole Mitchell would do to me.  I wasn’t supposed to hit send. And he wasn’t supposed to see it.

I fell in love with him when I was seven. I scraped my knee, and he helped carry me inside. Our love story was the talk of the town until a woman told everyone she was pregnant with his baby. The only rational solution was to high-tail it out of town and never come back. My best friend needed a place to hide, and you can’t get much more covert than my family farm, so I came back. For her. It was supposed to be temporary, and I wasn’t supposed to see him, but that’s what happens when you live in a small town where everyone knows each other. 

Being traded to Dallas was a dream come true. I had everything I wanted, my game had never been better, and my wife was due to have our baby any day now. What could go wrong? Everything. I was now raising our baby on my own. After hockey practice and games, I didn't have time to sleep, let alone make sure my social media was up to par. I never thought I'd get a second chance at love.

As captain of the Dallas Oilers, I was their leader on and off the ice. From the outside, it looked like I had the perfect life. I didn’t. I was married to a woman who refused to give me a divorce. All she wanted was the status title, and all I wanted was to be set free. It was supposed to be just another event, except it took a turn I didn’t see coming.

Deacon was rough on the exterior, but apparently on the inside? Mr. Single-and-Ready-to-Mingle was a baby whisperer. After that night, we became friends. He’d go for coffee runs. Come over to chat. Normal friend stuff. But over time, our conversations ran deeper. We got closer. Until one night we crossed the line.  

They called me the pretty boy on and off the ice. Hockey’s most eligible bachelor. When my teammate asked me to donate one date to his charity, I figured why not. Worst case, I’d spend the night with a fan. Best-case scenario, she would be hot. What I wasn’t expecting was for my dream girl to be the highest bidder. For years, she brushed me off, and now, I finally had a chance to take her out and show her who I really was. With only one shot at this, I really hoped I didn’t mess it up. 

At first, the request seemed simple - sign a new athlete to the agency. Then I found out the new athlete was none other than the most wanted man in hockey today: Hunter Maddox. Gifted. Sexy. At the top of his game. And the only man who has ever broken my heart. If signing him will help save our family business, I’ll swallow my pride and do what’s asked. But when it becomes clear his uncharacteristic antics off the ice are a hint of something deeper, keeping things strictly professional between us becomes more than complicated. But I know better than to cross that line.

I’m a full-time single dad to three daughters and CFO at Cloverleigh Farms. I don’t have time to fall in love - I’m too busy trying to run a business, keep the red socks out of the white laundry, and get the damn pillowcases on without owing a dollar to the swear jar. Sure, Frannie Sawyer is beautiful and sweet, but she’s 27, the boss’ daughter, and my new part-time nanny - which means she’s completely off-limits. It’s bad enough I can’t stop fantasizing about her. What kind of jerk would I be if I acted on the impulse to kiss her?

All my life I've said I will never date a hockey player. I know better because I've seen and lived it all. My father is a hockey god, my brother is the captain of the most successful NHL team in the world, and my brother-in-law also plays in the league. Their lives are complicated, so I went in the opposite direction. I fell in love with a scholar. But instead of proposing marriage, he broke up with me.

My love story all started with a letter. Only it wasn’t from the man I’d eventually fall in love with. It was from his daughter. A sweet little girl named Birdie Maxwell who’d written to the magazine that I worked for. You see, once a year my employer fulfilled a few wishes for readers. Only that column didn’t start up again for months. So I fulfilled some of her wishes myself. It was harmless…so I thought. Until one day I took things too far. While anonymously granting yet another of Birdie’s wishes, I got a look at her father.