Page 1 of The Widow's Dom

Chapter One

Janessa had her hands deep in the soil of her garden. The sun was out. Her sons were healthy and happy, and her dog, Luna, was napping alongside her.

It was one of the days she had awoken with energy and a new outlook on life. These kind of mornings had been happening a lot lately, and it told her she was finally ready to take off her wedding ring and move on with her life. It had been close to two years since her husband, Kevin, was killed by a drunk driver on his way home from work.

The first couple of months, she felt like she lived in a state of haziness and could remember very little besides taking care of the farm, her kids, and all the things that went along with burying a loved one.

She thanked God for the farm and her boys. Fortunately, they were both adults, so she didn’t have to worry as much as if they were young children. They kept her going day after day when all she wanted to do was stay in bed. After graduating from college, her oldest boy, Chad, decided to live in the nearest city, but it was within an hour of home, so he was there a lot. Her youngest, Shane, hadn’t wanted to go to college and still lived on the farm just on the other side of the property. His dream was to build his own ranch on the land. He had always dreamed of training cattle horses and put all his energy into that. It was amazing how much he’d gotten done in such a short time.

When she married Kevin, he lived on the farm his whole life and had gotten the property after his parents passed away. Neither of them had siblings, so it was just the two of them until they had their boys.

The farm was on five hundred acres, so Janessa had gifted Shane fifty acres to build on. They both loved it because he was close by but was living his dream and had privacy. Since Chad preferred to live off the farm, she’d given him the equivalent of what the land she’d given Shane was worth, so it was even. Chad was thrilled because it helped him buy a condo in a great part of the city.

Fortunately, her husband had been wealthy to start with because of his family and being president of a local bank. She found out he’d also taken a million-dollar life insurance policy out on himself to ensure his family would always be cared for. She had oftentimes wanted him to be more affectionate or dominant, but she never had to worry about him taking care of her. The times they spent apart, even when he was home, she found things to do, and the boys helped, too.

Because of the money, she never had to work a day for the rest of her life, but she loved what she did as an editor. It kept her busy, so she didn’t feel as alone without Kevin being present in the house. He could lock himself in his den, and she’d be fine.

When the boys were young, she looked for something she could do to make money without leaving the house. The job of an editor for an Internet publishing company was offered to her, and she took it because it was exactly what she needed. Since she’d done very well in her college English classes, she didn’t think she’d have a problem with it.

The first year had been hard and slow because she was just learning what the publisher wanted, and the publisher was testing her to see how well she did. Now, she could spend as much time as she wanted and was given the best contract jobs.

Janessa sat back on her heels, looked around at her home, and felt a bubble of happiness that she’d been so lucky to end up with the man she had, and now the home.

Now she wanted to open herself up to the possibility of having another relationship. She was only forty-five years old. She was too old to have children but young enough to meet a wonderful man to spend the rest of her life with. She just had to get up the guts to actually put herself out to find one.

“Hey, Mom,” Shane yelled from the back door.

“I’m over here, honey.”

She stood and pulled off her gloves as she walked toward her son.

“Your phone was ringing. It’s your friend Natalie.”

“Thank you. There’s sandwich meat in the refrigerator.”

Shane rolled his eyes. “I can feed myself, Mom.”

“Hey, bud, moms get to keep caring for their children, no matter their age, so suck it up, kid.”

Shane laughed. “Fine, I’ll go make a sandwich.”

“Thank you so much for your kindness.” She rolled her eyes, making him laugh. She put the phone to her ear. “Hi.”

“Hey, girlfriend. What are you doing tonight?”

She snorted. “Same as I did last night and the night before last.”

“No, you’re not. Lewis and I will be there to pick you up at seven. We’re going to the Nixon’s barn dance.”

“Oh, I don’t know…”

“Janessa, you can’t say no. You promised me last week,” Natalie said.

Damn, she had promised her friend she’d go with her to the next party. This was a good step in the right direction of meeting someone. “Okay, fine.”

“Good. We’ll see you at seven.”

“I can drive myself there,” Janessa said.

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