Never say never, p.1
Never Say Never, page 1
Never Say Never
Debra Salonen
Loner Llama Press
Copyright © 2017 by Debra Salonen
Cover by Rogenna Brewer
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All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
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Contents
WEST COAST Happily-ever-after
Introduction
First Kiss
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Epilogue
WEST COAST HEA continues...
About the Author
Also by Debra Salonen
WEST COAST Happily-ever-after
Land’s end. The Green Flash. Cowboys and golden gates. The High Sierra and the Central Valley. Movie stars and Great Danes. Welcome to the West Coast, where happily-ever-after is a state of mind.
Dear Reader,
I’m so happy to share this series of stand-alone romance novels united by two things: location and HEA. I’ve been a California resident since 1980 and have visited every spot where these books are set--from the Central Valley (photo above looking east) to LaLaLand in the south. But as romance readers we all value the importance of a hopeful, heart-tugging happily-ever-after, right?
These books have a few other things in common, too--including strong heroines who know their minds but aren’t afraid to listen to their hearts. Several are mothers, one is a wannabe mom, and another falls into the role through unimaginable loss. The men in their lives are no slackers. They’re strong, successful, and, once they find the woman who rocks their world, will do whatever it takes to gain her trust...and her heart.
You can read each book’s FIRST KISS on my website.
I hope you enjoy this collection. I may be adding to it down the road. You’ll always be the first to learn about new releases if you sign up for my Debra Salonen NEWSLETTER. I try to send out two/month. One with all the latest news from “DebLand” and the second with READ4LESS bargains from some of the best authors in the biz.
Thank you for reading!
Deb
Introduction
Joe Kelly is back in town. He left home with two goals: to fulfill his dream of making movies and to forget about the woman who broke his heart when she chose his twin brother over him.
Lisa Malden fell in love with Joe in seventh grade, but it was his twin brother, Patrick, who wooed her, who pursued her, who proposed to her when she found out she was pregnant. And he would have married her if his life hadn’t been cut short in a drunk driving accident.
Seventeen years later, single mom Lisa is worried that history might repeat itself. Her son is in trouble. Her life is at a crossroads. And her one conviction – that Patrick was the father of her son – has been brought into question. But can she trust Joe with the truth? The men in her life have always left. Why should this time be any different?
First Kiss
NEVER SAY NEVER excerpt © Loner Llama Press:
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He stopped her. "One confession at a time. I owe you an apology.”
She looked up. "For what?”
"For being an ass the day of Patrick’s funeral. I was mad at the world, and I needed somebody to blame for what happened. I didn’t care who I hurt in the process. You. My dad. Hell, I probably said something nasty to my mother, too, but I don’t remember.” He glanced toward the door. "Don’t ask her, okay? I’m a Kelly. Humbling myself once a day is all I can take.”
Her lips curved upward but only for a moment. "Why are you bringing this up tonight, Joe?”
"Because ever since you picked me up at the airport I’ve felt like there was some ponderous weight between us. Patrick. The past. Our past. And, of course, my asinine behavior at the funeral. I was hoping if I apologized we might find a way to get past it.”
"Why? Because we’re going to be working together—well, in close proximity—for the next few weeks?”
Her tone sounded contentious. "Yes, partly.”
"Because you’re already bored and need a little romance to spice up your stay?”
Momentarily stunned speechless, he watched her tap the corner of the envelope to her lips. "Well, I hate to disappoint you, but it isn’t going to happen. I may be a small town girl who is too afraid of life to risk leaving Worthington, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have plans. I do. And you aren’t part of them.”
Too afraid of life to risk leaving Worthington? His words came back to haunt him. The night by the lake, after they’d made love, Joe had asked Lisa to go with him. She’d refused, and he’d accused her of being too afraid to take a chance on a bigger life outside of Worthington.
"I was eighteen and full of myself. I thought I had all the answers when, in fact, I didn’t even know what the questions were.”
He shook his head and made a gesture toward the bar where the sound of laughter filtered under the door. "You proved me wrong, didn’t you? You’ve met your goal of graduating from college. You have a lot of friends who think you’re fabulous, and your son has turned out great—despite a few little age-related glitches. You have a lot more to show for your life than I do.”
She set down the card and took a step closer. "How can you say that? You’re a successful filmmaker. You’re living your dream.”
"I left here convinced I was going to be the next Spielberg. That didn’t happen.”
She smiled the way she would have if Brandon had said something self-effacing. "So neither of us has set the world on fire,” she said with a shrug. "I’ve decided there comes a time when you either embrace your life—flaws and all—or give up.”
She shook her head and a lock of golden-red hair escaped from her fancy updo and danced across her shoulders. He took her by the wrist and pulled her a step closer. There bodies weren’t quite touching, but he could reach her by leaning forward.
He moved slowly, giving her a chance to back away, but she didn’t. He put his mouth on hers. She didn’t respond right away, but after a heartbeat her mouth opened. At first, all he could taste was the tangy flavor of the wine she’d been drinking, then her tongue touched his and memories poured into his mind. Even after all these years, she still tasted like Lisa.
This, he realized, was what he’d wanted all night. All week. Ever since he’d walked out the doors of the airport and seen her standing beside her perky little car. He needed this. He needed her.
But Lisa apparently didn’t need him.
Stepping back, she held on to the table with one hand and used the other to touch her lips, as if making sure they were still there.
"I stole a kiss, not your lips,” Joe said, trying to lighten the moment.
She didn’t smile. "I can’t do this, Joe. Not now. Not until… There’s something you…” She didn’t finish the thought. "I’m sorry. I have to get back to my guests.”
With that, she walked out of the room.
Chapter 1
“Joe’s Place. Name your poison.”
Joe Kelly frowned. The youthful voice on the other end of the phone undoubtedly belonged to his nephew, Brandon, but what was a sixteen—or rather, recently turned seventeen-year-old doing behind a bar?
“Brandon? Is that you?”
“Uncle Joe.” The boy’s shout made Joe’s eardrum ring. “Are you at the airport? Mom just called all p.o.ed because she couldn’t find you.”
I missed Lisa? Damn.
Joe stacked his bags and gear in a pile to keep from tripping other passengers who were exiting the Modesto airport. He looked longingly toward the parking lot where a fleet of rental cars was neatly lined up.
“The plane was late leaving LAX. A huge downpour. In mid-May. Can you believe it? I told your grandmother I should rent a car instead of bothering Lisa.”
“Well, you know Grams,” Brandon said sagely.
Do I?
Joe wasn’t sure. Nothing in his thirty-five years of being Maureen Kelly’s son had prepared him for the bombshell she’d dropped when he’d called her on Mother’s Day. “Well, darlin’ boy, I’ve decided to sell the bar. And I’m getting married.”
Sell Joe’s Place? Joe had been too shocked to even register the other half of her announcement.
Joe’s Place was a fixture in Worthington, the small, agriculture-based community in central California where Joe had grown up. His parents had owned the combination bar and grill since before Joe and his twin brother Patrick were born, and he’d never thought they’d sell it—much as he’d wanted them to. The bar had become a huge point of contention when Patrick died in an alcohol-related traffic accident the summer after the twins’ high-school graduation. Joe had demanded his parents get rid of the place. His father had flatly refused.
Joe remembered their argument all too clearly. Many times since, he’d wished he could take back his hurtful words, but apologies didn’t come easy to the men in his family. And, now, with his father gone two years earlier from a heart attack, there’d be no reconciliation.
“The bar was your dad’ s dream,” his mother had added when Joe failed to comment. “I kept it going after he died because everybody said not to rush into any big changes. But when Gunny asked me to marry him I thought why not? What’s keeping me here? Lisa graduates from college in a few weeks. Brandon only has one year of high school left. Everyone’s life is changing, but mine.”
“Marry?” Joe had managed to choke out.
“You know the bartender’s creed. It’s written on a sign above the bar: ‘Never say never.’ I never expected to stop mourning your dad, but the good thing about having cancer is that you get your priorities straight,” she’d said in a slightly defensive tone. “I’m tired of being alone.”
Maureen had been a widow for a little over a year when she’d discovered a lump in her breast. Surgery and aggressive treatment seemed to have eliminated the disease. Joe was grateful, but he hadn’t expected her recovery to lead to this. Because he hadn’t really “been there” for his mother, he didn’t know what to say, except, “Umm…congratulations.”
Later, after the shock had worn off, Joe had given her announcement some serious thought and realized he wanted to make a movie about the bar.
Just speaking the words seemed to trigger memories. His father dispensing wisdom to a host of regulars. His mother stirring a huge vat of chili. He and his brother doing their homework on top of cases of beer.
The bar had been the center of Joe’s universe for over half his life, but like every small-town watering hole he’d ever seen or heard about, it also served as a hub of social exchange, where one could take the pulse of the economy, trace the changes in societal mores and track the life—or death—of a community. Joe knew he couldn’t let Joe’s Place pass into other hands without documenting its history—the good and the bad.
He hadn’t mentioned this aspect of his visit to his mother when he called to tell her he was coming home. In all honesty, he wasn’t sure she’d approve, given his vocal antipathy toward the place. And he had no idea what to expect from the new owner since Maureen had been reluctant to share any details of the sale. “We’re still negotiating,” she’d told him.
Joe figured if he couldn’t get her to postpone the sale for a month or two, he’d at least have a few weeks to film on-site before escrow closed. If he needed to come back to pick up any extra footage, he couldn’t imagine why the new owner would object. Free publicity was free publicity, even if the movie flopped.
Documentaries were odd ducks. Some flew to mass distribution, some never got off the ground. Joe tried not to think that far ahead. At the moment, he just knew that he had to make this film. Which was why he’d brought a camera with him.
Bending down, Joe checked the locks on the silver case, which was about the size of a microwave oven. He’d shipped his tripod, portable mixing deck and laptop, which he would use to process raw footage. The hard-core post-production work would be done when he returned to L.A.
“So, is your mom coming back for me?” he asked, refocusing his attention on the present.
Lisa Malden, Brandon’s mother, was Joe’s “almost” sister-in-law. Unfortunately, Patrick had died before they could tie the knot.
She was part of the reason Joe didn’t come back to Worthington more often. It was never easy to look your living, breathing conscience in the face.
“Yeah,” Brandon said, “she was just pissed because she has so much to do before graduation.”
“That’s right. Mom mentioned that Lisa was graduating.”
“Next Saturday,” Brandon said. “’Bout time, huh?”
Lisa was the only person Joe had ever known who’d managed to drag out her college experience for nearly ten years. Although privately Joe had rolled his eyes every time his mother had mentioned Lisa’s newest major, he didn’t approve of the slightly deprecating tone he heard in Brandon’s question.
“Well, she beat me to a degree. I dropped out of film school my final year, you know.”
“So you could make movies and get rich and famous.”
“Not exactly.” Although that had been his intention at the time. Cocky, brash, certain he was the next Spielberg, Joe had let the small amount of fame that came from the release of his student film Dead Drunk lure him from the path he’d started on the first time he picked up a camera.
“Anyway, I’m here now, if she checks in with you,” he said, reluctant to discuss his mistakes with a young man he barely knew. He’d made plenty over the years. Both personal and professional.
“Cool,” the boy said. Brandon was a junior in high school. Joe wondered how these impending changes would affect his nephew. “Grams says you’re supposed to come here for dinner. Martin is going to watch the bar while we eat.”
Martin Franks. The seemingly ageless bartender who had been around for as long as Joe could remember. Maureen had told him Martin had stepped in to help run the place during her illness and recovery. Is he the mysterious buyer?
Joe had asked the buyer’s name, but his mother had answered, “I’d rather not say. I don’t want to jinx this.”
“Great. I’m starved. Is Gunny going to be there?”
Gunner Bjorgensen, his mother’s fiancé, was a man Maureen had first met in grief therapy. Since his wife had suffered from breast cancer, too, he’d been able to help Maureen negotiate some of the hurdles, both financial and emotional. Joe didn’t have anything against the man, but he was worried about the timing of Gunny’s proposal. Joe hoped she wouldn’t regret this decision.
A honking horn startled him out of his musings.
“That could be her, Brandon. I’m hanging up.”
“Wait. Did you remember my poster?”
Joe smiled. Brandon might sound grown up on the phone, but his interest in young starlets was that of a teen. “I got it.”
“Cool,” his nephew said.
Joe pocketed the cell phone then looked at his mountain of luggage. At first glance, one might think he was moving.
“Do you think this pilgrimage will let you set things right in your wayward past?” Modamu Davies, a composer who’d scored two of Joe’s movies, had asked him last night.
“I doubt it,” Joe had answered. “But Joe’s Place is where my passion for filmmaking began. One of the first things I ever shot was a checkers tournament. I can still picture those grizzled old coots—cigarette in one hand and glass of beer in the other—hunched over a table that had a backgammon board on one side and a checkerboard on the other. None of them knew how to play backgammon. They called it ‘that furin game.’”
Both men had laughed, then Joe added, “I know this movie idea sounds crazy.”
“Particularly given the fact that you’ve avoided Worthington for so many years,” Mo had interjected.
“And highly unprofitable,” Joe had finished, ignoring the all-too-true comment. “But, at least I won’t look back some day and wish I’d made the effort.”
“Traveling down memory lane can get you in trouble, my friend,” Mo had warned. “Every director I know is a control freak who spends days upon days playing with color, lighting, background and sound because this medium gives him the illusion of control.
“If you return to the source of your neurosis, you might fix what made you crazy in the first place and then where would you be?”
“Sane? Healthy? Gainfully employed?”
Mo, being a true friend, hadn’t mentioned Joe’s recent string of bad movies, but Joe was a realist. His first film had garnered awards and been picked up for distribution by a major player. For a short time, he’d been Hollywood’s golden boy. Unfortunately, his next two productions—neither scripts of his choosing—had reviewed well but hadn’t done much at the box office. His contract hadn’t been renewed, so he’d started his own production company, where he learned the pitfalls of business, the cutthroat nature of competition, and, above all else, humility.
