Page 1 of Holding You
PROLOGUE
LAST SUMMER - DECLAN
There’s nothing better than meeting your new neighbor, all because your daughter kicked a soccer ball so hard that it broke the fence you share with them.
We have been here for two days.
She didn’t just crack it a little or put a small hole in it. No, she fully broke two boards and made a gap big enough that her body can fit through it. Given she’s only eight, it doesn't have to be very big, but it's … big.
“Hi,” I say with a wave as the back sliding door of the house next door opens. An older man pops out, looking up with a big smile as I jog across the yard to meet him.
“Declan Young. Is that you?”
I slow my steps, letting the older man fall into view. The sun is fading behind him, so I can make out his face.
“Paul Asher.” I chuckle. “It’s great to see you again,” I say, stopping on my side of the fence, waiting for him to meet me.
He grins and points to the fence. “Is this your handiwork?”
“Yeah, my daughter was kicking her soccer ball around andhit the fence. Any chance you can grab her ball and send it back over here?”
His back door opens again, and a little boy with dark hair appears. He looks at me with big chocolate brown eyes but glances away when our gazes meet.
He looks like he is about the same age as my daughter as he hides behind who I can only assume is his grandfather. But it’s the little boy who spots the pink ball first.
He runs to it and without a second thought, pushes it through the fence.
It’s at that moment I notice Susie, my daughter, behind me. She’d run inside to hide after she broke the fence, but I didn’t see her sneak back outside.
“Thanks,” she says softly.
“Did you kick that?” the boy asks.
“Yeah.” Susie smiles.
Silence only lasts a split second before the boy asks, “Can I come play with you?”
Susie looks at me with wide eyes and a smile.
We’ve been back in Lovers for a couple of days now and haven’t had a chance to make friends for her yet. So I can see right away that she wants me to say yes.
“Sure, if his parents say it’s okay.”
“Go for it,” Paul says, and Max climbs through the fence to my yard.
Both kids begin to play as if they have known each other for years.
If only it were that easy for adults.
“I heard this place was for rent, but unfortunately, the rumor mill didn’t provide me with much detail outside of that.” Paul grins with a shrug.
I nod. “It happened pretty fast, so I gather there wasn't time to let the gossip spread.”
“The town will be thrilled when they figure out that golden boy Declan Young is back.”
I laugh.
My parents once told me that people here call me that. Just because I was smart doesn’t mean I was perfect. I never understood it.
