EXCERPT CHAPTER 9 - RUSSELL'S RETURN


With Chapter 9's excerpt I wanted to introduce you to the last Harper brother - Logan.  I hope you enjoy. We are getting down to the wire and pretty soon excerpts will be harder to come by without spoiling the story so stay tuned to see when we post the last one.



Russell pulled into a parking spot at Harper’s Rock Grocery and shut the engine off. “Carnations or roses for Miss Emily, Kiddo?”

“A single red rose, Daddy! She’ll like that.”

Russell sighed. It was so cliché, but his daughter seemed excited about the idea so he would go with it. “Come on, let’s go see if we can talk Uncle Logan into joining us for lunch later.”

“Do you think he will?” she asked excitedly.

“I don’t know,” Russell said, helping her out of the SUV. “We’ll just have to ask and see.”

They walked quickly through the store and into the back. Logan was at the loading dock, signing an invoice. “Hey big brother,” he called out to Russell. “I’ll be with you in a minute.”

They stood near the management office and waited. A beautiful blond woman, carrying a tiny baby, slipped quickly past them and opened the door leading to Logan’s private quarters. With her head down, she disappeared inside.

“So what can I do for my pain in the ass brother and my beautiful niece?” Logan Harper asked as he approached them.

Russell cleared his throat. “Well first, you can tell me who that beauty was who went up to your apartment with a baby?”

Logan looked to the closed apartment door then back to his brother before his eyes settled on his
boots. “Just a friend.”

“Little brother’s got a girlfriend…and a baby?” Russell asked puzzled.

“No!” Logan nearly shouted. “You know how I feel about marriage and family. She’s just a friend.”

“Okay,” Russell said, holding his hands up in surrender. He somehow thought his brother was protesting a bit too much. “We just stopped by to grab a few things and thought we would invite you to Shakes & Malts for lunch at 11:30. We haven’t been able to see you much since we’ve been back.”

Logan looked quickly at the door leading to his home and then back to his brother and niece. “I…I’m sorry guys. I just can’t right now. I’ve got some stuff going on.”

“Yeah, apparently,” Russell murmured, shooting a glance at the door leading upstairs. “We’ll get together soon, right?”

“Yeah, of course,” he said with a smile. “Let me walk you back out to the front. It’s time for me to take over the bakery counter for Sarah’s break.”

The three walked out through the swinging door and Russell nearly ran head on into Emily’s cart.

“Oh, hello there,” she beamed at him. “I didn’t think I’d see you until tonight.”

"I had to pick up a few things,” he answered. “It looks like we had the same idea.”

“I’m going on a date too, Miss Emily,” Miranda cut in.

“You are? With who?”

Miranda gave a big smile. “With my Grandma!”

“Oh that sounds so fun.”

Logan offered to take his niece to the bakery for a free cookie and they left Russell and Emily alone to talk.

“So, how have you been?” he asked.

“Really good,” she smiled. “Work has kept me pretty busy and my brother was in town for a couple of days. I kind of wanted to call you but…”

“Yeah, I know. I wanted to call you too.”

“I wasn’t sure if that was allowed,” she said quietly.

Russell shrugged. “I think it would be okay.”

“I’ll remember that next time,” she murmured. “I’d better go. Mama is waiting for me at the checkout.”

“Yeah, I better get back to Miranda. I’ll see you at six tonight.”

“See you then.”

Russell watched her walk away. He was in big trouble. He wanted to spend every moment getting to know her again.

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