Page 4 of Starting Anew

Lynn rubbed Mia’s back as she made her way to the changing table. “And getting involved with the parent of one of our kids wouldn’t be messy at all.” She turned her back on her friend to tend to Mia, ending the conversation.

She secured a new diaper, slipped Mia’s pants back on, and stood her up on her feet. “There we go. I’ll bet that feels so much better. Come on, bug, let’s go find something for you to play with.”

So what if Lynn had a crush on Nathan? She’d seen him five days a week for the last five months, and he’d never shown an ounce of interest in her. It was best if Lynn continued to take care of Mia and admire Nathan from afar.

~*~

Jeb Franklin took a long swig from a bottle of beer and set it back down on his desk with a thud. Not once did he take his eyes off the computer monitor.

He allowed the music to wash over him, but it wasn’t just that. Bethany Truitt sang like an angel. Her fingers flew across the electronic keyboard as words he knew well flowed from her mouth.

He’d memorized every second of the video, from the moments she took in a deep breath to the bridge where she let her hands drop to her side as her eyelids fell slightly and she sang from her heart.

Bethany always sang from her heart.

Jeb wasn’t sure which he loved more: The sound of her voice, or the way she’d occasionally look right at the camera, as though her hazel eyes were fixed on him alone.

When the song was over, he switched tabs in his browser and began his nightly scour of social media. Ever since Bethany went off the radar years ago, he’d been watching hashtags hoping to catch a hint of where she might be now. False alarms in the past had led him as far as Florida and Idaho in search of the love of his life.

If only she’d start singing and touring again. He’d follow her from town to town like he used to. But this time, he wouldn’t come on as strong. Every time he thought about trying to break into her bus, he wanted to kick himself.

Bethany was high class. She deserved to be courted as such. No more heavy-handed attempts to get her to notice him. He had to win her over.

He opened his desk drawer, revealing a large collection of guitar pics with Bethany’s name on them. He’d collected one or two from every concert he’d attended. One of these days, he’d find her again. Then he’d show her just how devoted he was. Eventually, she’d take notice of him. She’d realize that she loved him just as much as he did her.

Then they could finally be happy together.

Jeb finished his now-warm beer, closed the desk drawer again, and re-opened the previous browser. With a smile, he selected another video.

Chapter Two

Nathan slid into the cab of his Jeep Wrangler and rolled a window down. Leave it to Texas to jump the gun on spring. It was the first week of March, and temperature highs were expected to be in the eighties. He’d have to make a point of taking Mia outside to play on Sunday before it got too hot.

Guilt tugged at him as he drove away from Little Lambs. He hated leaving Mia upset like that. These were the mornings when he wished he could keep Mia with him, or that she had a mother at home to care for her.

Being a single dad was anything but easy. He was doing his best to raise Mia with the love and support he lacked throughout his own childhood. Thankfully, Mia had Nathan’s brother and his family to be there for her, too.

And to hand his daughter over with a dirty diaper... Nathan groaned. It was Lynn’s job to look after Mia, change her diaper, and care for her during the day. But she shouldn’t have to start off like that. He had to hand it to her for keeping a smile on her face. She seemed to manage anything that came at her with a measure of grace.

He thought about the way her smile deepened that cute dimple in her chin. He wasn’t sure which he liked better: her dimple, the pretty dark hair that framed her face, or the way her expressive hazel eyes made him wish he knew her better.

He realized he was grinning and sobered with a sigh.

It didn’t matter how beautiful Lynn was, he wasn’t in the market for a relationship. If there was one thing Mia’s mother, Gwen, taught him, it’s that you can never really know a person. Especially when you start throwing love in the mix. Back then, he’d thought he loved Gwen. She’d proved him wrong when she willingly walked away from him and their daughter without looking back. Nathan had been angry with her—furious even—but he’d never suffered from a broken heart. Clearly he hadn’t been as in love with her as he’d thought.

It was bad enough Mia’s mother hadn’t wanted her. What made it worse was that something similar happened to him as well. If there was one thing he’d promised Mia, it was that he’d stay by her no matter what. The cycle would stop now, and Mia would grow up with a parent devoted to raising her and loving her the way she deserved.

First his own adoptive parents, and then Gwen, had been dishonest with Nathan. That was one of his pet peeves, and he promised he’d raise Mia in honesty. She wouldn’t grow up wondering whether her daddy was telling her the truth or not.

The last thing he needed was to put Mia in a position where she could get more attached to Lynn than she already was, only to have Lynn eventually walk away. At least now she saw Lynn in a more professional situation, even if Mia really was too young to know the difference.

If—and that was a big if—Nathan decided to start dating, Lynn would be off limits.

Nathan drove the ten miles through Fort Worth morning traffic to the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Academy where he worked as an instructor. He’d only recently moved to the area in October and was able to secure this job thanks to the recommendation of his instructor back in Miami. It’d been a big change making this kind of a move, but it’d been worth it to be near his brother and future sister-in-law.

His phone rang, and Chess’s name popped up. Nathan chuckled at the timing. “Hey, Chess. What’s going on?” He looked at the clock. The first class of the day started in half an hour. He moved to put his things away in one of the lockers.

“Did you double check with Gregor about having the wedding off?”

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