Sheltering Hearts (7 page)

“Oh, for heaven’s sake,” she said. “I already have another job, Mr. Sills. It’s not only one I’m more suited for, but it needs me as much as I need it. But I’ll speak to them—the firefighters. I’ll insist they go back to your store, and try to un-spread their word to family and friends. They shouldn’t have done that—it was wrong.”

“You will?” he asked.

“Of course, Mr. Sills. I told you, I’d never do anything like that. But please, let’s not kid ourselves that it’s about me. I think it has a lot to do with your attitude toward single moms, and that they’re too much trouble to employ. My next-door neighbor Clay is one of the firefighters who was at the store the day we had all the drama in the parking lot. It turns out he has a sister who’s a single mom and he looks out for her and his nephews the best he can. Apparently he took your attitude more personally than I realized—and obviously doesn’t appreciate it.”

Mr. Sills muttered something, shaking his head.

“What was that?” she asked.

“And one of them has an ex-wife who’s a single mom, and another was raised by a single mother….”

Dory crossed her arms over her chest. “Oh, so you already knew this wasn’t about me, but about your bigotry. Maybe I should just stay out of this—it sounds like you made your bed.”

Mr. Sills seemed to shrink a bit. “Listen, Miss Finn, my receipts really dropped off the last several weeks. If you know a way to end this moratorium, I’d be most appreciative….”

“You need an education,” she said. “First of all, the only category you can lump single moms into is that category where they don’t have partners to share the responsibility of the kids, and that makes life that much harder for them—their jobs that much more essential. Many of them are widows or victims, and they need our help.
All
our help! Maybe you should come to our conference for single moms, sit in on some of the workshops, see if you learn something.”

His expression was all pain—he’d clearly be mortified. “Ohhh, Miss Finn…”

“Or you could donate to our food closet. You have a lot of product that’s perfectly good but can’t be sold—like disposable diapers in a crushed box, dented cans of vegetables and soup, that kind of thing. As long as it’s safe, we can use it.”

He brightened at once. “And you’ll speak to your neighbor?”

“And we have single moms looking for jobs all the time. You’re hiring from time to time. You could free up a position or two for us.”

“Ohhhh….” he moaned.

“If qualified, of course,” Dory clarified. “But even without the food and the job, I’ll still speak to Clay. Of course, I’ll tell him the whole story, about how I tried to get you to—”

“Done!” he said. “I’ll have the unusable items stacked in the stockroom weekly and you can go through them, and I’ll give you a call when we have a position free. But only for an interview—the job candidate has to be qualified.”

She smirked at him. “Mr. Sills, don’t kid a kidder. I was a hard worker. You’re going to miss me.”

“You were more than adequate….”

She laughed at him. “I think we can work together, Mr. Sills. I’ll call off the firefighters and you give me all your damaged but com
pletely safe stock and let me send you job applicants when you have openings. And for good measure, we’ll put a nice big poster advertising our single moms’ conference and our resource center in your front window.”

His eyes brightened at that. “I suppose that could lure my customers back.”

She lifted an eyebrow. “It might give the illusion you’ve joined those of open minds and loving hearts,” she said. “Only you and I will know the truth.”

He scowled at her and she laughed.

Dory put out her hand. “Do we have a deal?” she asked. He nodded and took the hand. “Pleasure doing business with you, Mr. Sills. Please, take some of my cards and leave a stack at your customer service desk.”

“Don’t push it, Miss Finn….”

“Your competitors do that for me,” she said. “Happily.”

He took the cards from her, though he made a face. And she thought, what a piece of work! But she laughed and thanked him.

Once Mr. Sills had gone, Dory grabbed a couple of files off the top of her desk and turned to the filing cabinet. Still chuckling, she had begun to file them when she felt a couple of very sweet, very familiar arms slip around her from behind, followed quickly by some of the hottest, sweetest lips she’d ever known right against her neck. She giggled.

He turned her around and kissed her. When their lips parted he asked, “Was that Sills from the grocery I saw leaving?”

“It was,” she said. “I hear you’ve been a lot of trouble for him. Boycotting his grocery and all.”

“You weren’t supposed to hear about that. He had it coming, the old jerk.”

“I won’t argue that, but your move was vindictive and I’d rather not resort to that. I believe what goes around comes around and I just don’t need any bad karma. Know what I mean?”

“Yeah, but he did have it coming and he is an old jerk.”

“We made a deal—donations of food and et cetera, plus a shot at job openings in his store for our moms. I’m good with that. I think I actually intimidate him,” she said, and laughed. “He didn’t realize I have such influential friends. Now, what are you doing here?”

“I wanted to stop by before getting the kids from school and off to their practices. Meanwhile, you go home and freshen up. Put on something nice. I hired a babysitter—one of the guys at the firehouse has a seventeen-year-old daughter who
drives.
She’s going to be at your house at six-thirty.”

“Oh, Clay. Babysitters are kind of expensive….”

“It’s my treat and I can afford it,” he said, tightening his arms around her. “I’m going to take you to a nice restaurant, then bring you home to a couple of sleeping kids worn out from baseball, excuse the sitter and make out with you on the porch for a while. That’s what I want. Can you deal with that? Because it sounds like a great idea to me.”

She rose on her toes and gave him a kiss. “You turned out to be a pretty good neighbor, Mr. Kennedy. Yes, I can deal with that.”

He covered her lips in a deep and meaningful kiss. Against her lips he said, “I want to be a lot more than your neighbor, Dory.”

She ran her fingers through the thick dark hair at his temple. “You already are.”

Dear Reader,

Harlequin Books is well-known as a publisher with a lot of heart, and that attribute is not limited to their ability to publish universally loved romances, but also speaks to their generosity of spirit. Harlequin is about not just entertaining women, but empowering them. That’s why it’s such an honor and privilege to be asked to contribute a novella to the
More Than Words
program. The novellas are always inspired by charities that serve those in need.

The charity that inspired the project in my story is the Zoë Institute, a multilevel nonprofit resource center for single mothers located in Tahlequah, OK. Zoë refers to the Greek word that stands for not only the duration of life, but the quality of life; therefore the services the Institute offers range from crisis intervention, including the distribution of emergency food and other supplies, to education, mentoring, encouragement and support.

The Institute was founded by Rhonda Clemons, who found her calling when she was a widow with four young children. Single mothers, she quickly realized, need
everything!
Rhonda Clemons had a vision—a resource center that could meet every possible need, because she believes that every child deserves to grow up in a home where their mother is well supported, has the education necessary to live a full and abundant life and can lead their children to do the same. It is a world-changing, epic resolve that the center strives to reach—one single mom at a time. Between 300 and 400 families contact the Zoë Institute offices each month!

Rhonda Clemons’s vision has become the helping hand that
has walked hundreds of single moms through the storm. For more information about this amazing organization, please go to
www.zoeinstitute.com
or call 918-453-9778.

Robyn Carr

Five bestselling authors

Five real-life heroines

Little by little, one person at a time, we can make our world a better place. The five dedicated women selected as this year’s recipients of Harlequin’s More Than Words
^™
Award have done just that, by discovering a seed of compassion and nurturing it to effect real change in their communities. To celebrate their accomplishments, five bestselling authors have honored the winners by writing short stories inspired by these real-life heroines.

Visit
www.HarlequinMoreThanWords.com
to find out more or to nominate a real-life heroine in your life.

Proceeds from the sale of this book will be reinvested in Harlequin’s charitable initiatives.

Coming soon wherever books are sold!