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Prologue
“Pregnant?” Andrew Walker figured the hard thud in his abdoht into his sto a baby?”
“Yeah That was the first thing I noticed when Iher uess no one in the faht to mention her condition to me before” His twin brother, Aaron, sounded a bit surprised by Andrew’s apparent overreaction to a fleeting co an announcement-filled phone call
“How, u to wrap his mind around the news
“Well, she nearly keeled over when I first saw her Turned stark-white and swayed on her feet, scaring her faon very little sleep Maybe a little dehydrated after a long drive”
Andrew’s fingers had tightened so hard around the phone that he thought he heard the case groan in protest “How, uh, how far along is she?”
His own uncharacteristic sta annoyed him, but Aaron didn’t seem to notice “Shelby said she’s due in uess it’s a surprise to you, because you haven’t seen her in almost a year”
Six ht And the father?”
“Not involved No one really talks about it, but I got the i accident, you know? Shelby told me it’s totally out of character for Hannah, but the fa after the fiasco with her ex-husband and indulged in a little ego boost that left her with unintended consequences She’s doing well, though, and everyone’s excited about welcoeneration of Bells”
Not knohat to say, Andrew just sort of grunted in response
Aaron quickly changed the subject
away froossip “Anyway, I just wanted to catch you up on what’s been going on here I hope you’re happy for me”
Andrew hadn’t been surprised to hear that Aaron had become seriously involved with a woh he’d heard about Aaron’s adventures with Shelby Bell only by telephone for the past week, there’d been soested Aaron had fallen hard and fast Andrew had met Shelby the previous year and he could see how Aaron would be drawn to her Apparently, the attraction had been immediate and mutual
“Of course I’ at the resort?”
“Yes Now that Shelby’s brother is doith a broken leg, they need extra help here this su will becohter training Because I’ in a fishing-and-ca resort So far the behind-the-scenes part of it has been fascinating”
“It’s hard work I saw that during the teeks I spent with them”
“I’ve never been afraid of hard work Just boredo bored here with Shelby and the rest of her fauests It’s a great place for a getaway A great place to make a home”
Andrew couldn’t help thinking of his brother’s so-far limited attention span, so restless that at only thirty Aaron had already experimented with maybe half a dozen careers Andrew, on the other hand, had worked in the D’Alessandro-Walker Agency, their faation business, froh school and was now solidly entrenched to ement when his father and uncles were ready to retire
Through his job at the agency, he’d been hired by the Bell faate a slick operator who’d been married to one of their own—Shelby’s beautiful cousin, Hannah The ex-husband had been in the process of trying to bankrupt the resort after Hannah divorced him Andrew had found evidence that not only was Wade Cavender’s legal posturing little us extortion atte fro a too-short jail sentence for eht he’d put his own colement with the Bell family behind him—until his twin had stumbled upon a brochure for the Bell Resort and Marina in Andrew’s office and had impulsively decided to take a vacation there
Trying to focus on the conversation, Andrew pushed thoughts of Hannah to the back of his es would lurk there in the darkness, ready to taunt hihts of her had been doing for almost a year now “Have you told Mo there?”
“Just talked to Mom Needless to say, she and Dad can’t wait toa quick trip to Dallas soon to s”
The Bell Resort was located on Lake Livingston, almost a four-hour drive south of Dallas Aaron had planned to stay only a week or so, needing a chance to recharge and conte a job in which he’d been unhappy and unfulfilled He couldn’t have predicted then that he would find a new love, a new home and a new career there