Plenty of Chances [Plenty, FL 6] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Read online

  Plenty, FL 6

  Plenty of Chances

  Everyone has regrets and Samantha James is no exception. Mostly, she regrets leaving Plenty and the two men she loved. Returning to her home town to care for her injured Grandmother is bittersweet. She’s thrilled to be back, but she can’t stay for long. She only hopes she can avoid seeing the men she’s never stopped loving during her visit.

  Gabe Holt and Jason Carrington have never stopped loving Samantha. Things were a mess when she left, but they’re two determined men who want to put things right. They can’t go back to the way things were, but they can all fall in love... all over again.

  Before Samantha can commit to a new happily ever after with the men of her dreams, she’s going to have to stand up to her nightmare of a past. She’ll show her men she can stand on her own two feet while grabbing at this second chance for love.

  Genre: Contemporary, Ménage a Trois/Quatre

  Length: 52,216 words

  PLENTY OF CHANCES

  Plenty, FL 6

  Lara Valentine

  MENAGE EVERLASTING

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

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  A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK

  IMPRINT: Ménage Everlasting

  PLENTY OF CHANCES

  Copyright © 2013 by Lara Valentine

  E-book ISBN: 978-1-62740-751-9

  First E-book Publication: November 2013

  Cover design by Les Byerley

  All art and logo copyright © 2013 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.

  All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

  PUBLISHER

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  Letter to Readers

  Dear Readers,

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  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  About the Author

  PLENTY OF CHANCES

  Plenty, FL 6

  LARA VALENTINE

  Copyright © 2013

  Chapter One

  Samantha James walked slowly down the hospital hallway, memories crowding her brain and making her head hurt. She hated hospitals. Her mother had died in this same building, although on another floor. It looked and smelled the same as it had when she was thirteen. The fact that she was almost thirty didn’t seem to matter. She still felt tiny and powerless here. The fact was, lately, she felt tiny and powerless all the time.

  She straightened her shoulders as she approached room 507. She was going to get a tongue lashing from her grandmother so she might as well get it over with. She pushed open the door and let her gaze scan the room. Her grandmother was the only person inside, the second bed empty, reading a magazine. Gran’s sharp eyes immediately zeroed in on her and Sam felt a rush of emotion squeezing her chest.

  Her grandmother dropped the magazine in her lap and beckoned. “Come here, child. It’s about time you showed up. Where in the Sam Hill have you been keeping yourself?”

  Samantha couldn’t stop her smile. That was her Gran. Sam had always admired her grandmother’s strength, her indomitable spirit. Part of her had been expecting a frail, old woman. She’d been afraid she might be too late.

  Her steps quickened until she was folded in her grandmother’s arms. Despite being in the hospital, her grandmother still smelled of lavender and baking bread. Sam wasn’t sure how it was possible but it made her feel like a kid again.

  “I’ve missed you, Gran. Are you okay? Are they feeding you in here? I just got the message this morning.”

  Gran patted the bed with a smile. “Sit. You ask so many questions. Age before beauty. I have questions of my own.”

  Sam wasn’t sure she wanted to answer them, but knew Gran wouldn’t give up until she found out what she wanted. Sam settled herself on the side of the bed, holding her grandmother’s hand.

  “I just got the message this morning. Lacey got a hold of me.”

  Lacey Carrington was Sam’s ex-boyfriend’s sister. One of them anyway. Sam had lost touch with most people in Plenty, but Lacey had made sure to stay in touch no matter what. Lacey was the kind of person who made friends for life.

  Gran nodded. “She’s a sweet one. You didn’t get the message I left on your phone?”

  Sam shifted her gaze to the window where the afternoon sun was streaming in. “I lost my phone and haven’t had a chance to get a new one. Lacey called my work and left a message.”

  Sam’s boss hadn’t been very happy about taking a personal message but Sam hated her boss. He’d also expressed his extreme unhappiness about her taking time off to see her grandmother but she didn’t care. Gran came first. Always. It was a shitty job anyway. Another in a long line of crap jobs she’d had in the last two years.

  “So what exactly happened? Lacey said you fell.”

  Gran pushed herself up higher on the pillows wincing a little. “I did fall. Damn carpet was loose on the stairs. Fell ass over tea kettle.”

  “Gran, that’s awf
ul.” Recrimination twisted Sam’s guts. She should have been there taking care of her grandmother. A terrible thought occurred to her. “How long did you lie there before someone found you?”

  Gran waved her hand. “Not long. Gabe came by to check on me shortly after. He or Jason come by every single day. They say it’s to make sure I’m okay, but I think they just want some of my cooking. You know peach cobbler was always Gabe’s favorite.”

  Sam stiffened in shock at hearing their names. She’d loved Gabe Holt and Jason Carrington since the day she’d turned twenty-one and they’d bought her a drink at the local watering hole. They’d been inseparable after that night. Until Jason and Gabe went to war, that is. Then everything had gone to hell. What she’d done hadn’t helped things.

  She tried to school her features so she wouldn’t reveal her shock. “That’s good he came by. That’s good. I didn’t know he was back.”

  At Sam’s request, Lacey never mentioned Jason and Gabe after she had delivered the news Gabe had left town a little over two years ago.

  “I came back last spring.”

  Sam closed her eyes and swallowed hard. His voice could still send shivers down her spine. She turned slowly, trying to keep a rein on the rush of emotions she was feeling. She’d hoped to have time to prepare before seeing either Gabe or Jason. Time to harden her heart and remind herself of everything that happened.

  It was like the time apart fell away as she looked at them. Gabe and Jason were standing so close she could have reached out and touched them. She had to clench her fists to keep from doing just that. She cursed whatever deity was listening that the months and years apart had barely touched them. Jason was still tall, dark and handsome, his shoulders a mile wide in his deputy uniform and his stomach flat and taut. Gabe was no less handsome. If anything, he was better looking than she remembered. His golden brown hair caught the sun, his skin tan. He looked more muscular than in the past, his T-shirt straining at the seams to contain his biceps.

  It was his eyes that caught her attention. When she’d last seen him, they’d been dark and cold, almost flat. Today, they were a warm gold-brown and full of life. She found herself lost in his gaze for a long moment and had to drag her attention away.

  “Welcome back.” Her voice sounded weak but she was proud of herself for being able to say anything at all.

  Gabe brushed past her and leaned down to kiss Gran’s weathered cheek. Samantha’s entire body trembled as his manly scent wafted around her reminding her of the woods after a summer rain. She remembered when the three of them had gone camping and it had rained the entire weekend. They’d stayed in the tent the whole time, making love and talking about the future.

  “Welcome back yourself.” He smiled at her but turned back to her grandmother. “How’s our best girl today? We brought you some food.”

  Gran’s face lit up as Jason also pecked her cheek and started pulling Styrofoam containers out of a heavy brown bag.

  “I’m starving. The food here is terrible, you know.”

  Sami twisted the strap to her handbag between her fingers. She wasn’t ready for this. She wasn’t sure she ever would be.

  “I guess I should be going. I’ll come again in the morning to visit you, Gran.”

  Her grandmother put her fork down and frowned. “You just got here. We haven’t had a chance to catch up. I want you to tell me what you’ve been doing lately.”

  She felt three sets of eyes on her. “Working. Just working. You know how it is.”

  Jason smiled kindly, obviously aware of her discomfort. He probably hadn’t expected to see her either. She wondered if he had a girlfriend now. Her gaze went to his left hand and it was gold band free.

  “I know how that is. Ryan’s made some good hires though, so hopefully I can work some more reasonable hours.”

  “How is Ryan?” she asked, trying to sound normal.

  Jason grinned and her heart skipped a beat. “Same old Ryan. He and Jack got married not long ago. Nice girl, Jillian, originally from Chicago.”

  “That’s nice. Good.”

  They seemed to have run out of conversation since no one had the guts to talk about the eight hundred pound elephant in the room. She turned back to her grandmother.

  “I really should go. I’ll leave you to eat but I’ll come back in the morning and we can have a nice long chat.”

  “Where were you planning to stay?”

  Heat rushed into her cheeks. She didn’t really know. She’d planned to call Lacey and had hoped for an offer of her couch. Sam couldn’t afford one of the cabins by the lake. She’d barely had enough money for gas to get her here. She’d even worked the lunch shift today before she’d traveled so she would have some cash tips in her pocket.

  “Can I crash at the house?”

  Her grandmother had owned the only bed-and-breakfast in Plenty until about eighteen months ago when she’d been forced to close it. Gran simply wasn’t energetic or strong enough to take care of it by herself. Sam had wanted to come back and help but her own life had been in too much turmoil.

  “I’m afraid the house is being tented for termites. Maybe Gabe and Jason have room for you.”

  Gabe stepped forward. “You can stay with us. We have an extra room.”

  It was the very last place she wanted to be. Too many memories she didn’t have the luxury of remembering.

  “I’ll just call Lacey—” she began, but Jason cut her off.

  “Lacey is living back at home with my parents. We have lots of room. You can stay with us.” His expression softened. “No strings attached. You can come and go as you please.”

  “There you go, Sami. You can stay with the boys. I’ll know you’re safe there.”

  Sam would have laughed if she wasn’t on the verge of crying. Gabe and Jason were so far from boys it wasn’t funny. As for safe? She hadn’t felt safe in a very long time. Too long to even remember how it felt. She finally nodded, too exhausted to argue. She was bone tired and wanted to sleep for a week.

  “Okay. Thank you,” she added belatedly. “Um, where do you live?”

  Jason’s eyes widened in surprise. “Samantha, things don’t change that much in a small town.” He leaned closer, the warmth emanating from his body. “Things are the same.”

  Her chest tightened painfully at his intimate tone. He couldn’t mean he still felt the same. He’d had a little more than two years to find someone else. Jason, or Gabe for that matter, had never lacked for female admiration. She stepped back to clear her head.

  “I think I still remember where that is.” She tried to keep her words light as Jason removed a key from his keychain before handing it to her, their fingers brushing. She could practically feel the searing heat shoot up her arm and straight to regions more southerly. She was in a bad state.

  “I have to go back to work and Gabe has to head to the club. Help yourself to anything in the kitchen and make yourself at home. You know, shower or whatever. You can have the blue-and-brown bedroom at the end of the hall.”

  Sami resisted the urge to smell her armpits. She’d showered in the morning but had worked a four hour shift before heading here so her aroma could be iffy. Jason was either trying to give her a big hint or just being a good host. Maybe both.

  “Thanks, I’ll head out then.” She kissed Gran and gave her a big smile. “I’ll be here in the morning, first thing. Sleep well, Gran.”

  Gran hugged her and patted her back like she did when Sami was a little girl and kids at school had teased and bullied her for not having parents.

  “I’m glad you’re back, child. It’s time you were home.”

  Sami blinked back the tears she felt welling up. She didn’t have the heart to tell her grandmother the truth.

  She couldn’t stay. She wouldn’t bring trouble to Plenty and the people she loved.

  As soon as Gran was better, she would be on the road again. A new town, a new job, maybe even a new name. What she needed was a new start and some luck.

&n
bsp; * * * *

  Jason’s heart was beating like a marching band inside his chest. His sister had warned him she’d called Samantha, but he hadn’t expected to see her so soon. She was as beautiful as he remembered, but she looked tired and sad. Her long blonde hair was still as golden and her blue eyes were still so vivid they were almost purple. But her skin didn’t have the bloom he’d last on seen her. She’d looked thinner as well. Jason knew it was fashionable for women to be slim, but he’d always liked Sami’s curves. He could remember nights he’d lost himself in her softness.

  “You boys going to do right by my granddaughter this time?” Hazel Murray, known to everyone as Gran, shook her finger at him. “I don’t want her leaving town with a broken heart. She damn near looked ready to pass out here today.”

  Sami had looked tired, purple smudges under her eyes. Jason wanted to pull her into his arms and tell her everything was going to be all right. He and Gabe would take care of her always.

  He wasn’t sure that would be welcome.

  “I’m not sure she wants us to do right by her, Gran,” he replied slowly. “I’m not sure she still wants us. And since when have you had termites?”

  “Hogwash,” Gran snorted. “She took one look at you two and you could see every emotion on her face. As for the termites, you can’t be too careful. Since I was in here, it seemed like a good time to have the house tented.”

  Gabe threw back his head and laughed. “You knew Samantha would be coming here. You planned it, old woman. Admit it.”

  “Maybe I did plan it. She still loves you. I can tell.”

  Jason wanted to believe that with all his heart. He’d felt like a limb was missing when she had been gone. He’d become used to the pain but it never really went away.