One Hundred Excuses (An Aspen Cove Romance Book 5) Read online

  One Hundred Excuses

  An Aspen Cove Romance

  Kelly Collins

  Copyright © 2018 by Deb

  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.

  Cover design by Victoria Cooper Art

  Cover photo by Lindee Robinson Photography

  Contents

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  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

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  A note from the author

  Thank you for reading.

  Sneak Peek of One Hundred Christmas Kisses

  Sneak Peek of One Hundred Lifetimes

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  Chapter One

  Blackmail is a dirty word…a crime really, unless you’re doing it to stop something much worse.

  Marina Caswell was certain of three things in life. The first was Lord Acton had it right when he said, “Absolute power corrupts absolutely.” The second was, all the good men were married or dead. Lastly, she’d do anything to protect her daughter—anything.

  Marina sat on the worn plaid couch in the middle of the living room. It wasn’t much, but it was free and free was what she could afford.

  The tiny bungalow was small and filled with a wall of boxes—boxes that should contain the memories of a beautiful life, and not the remnants of a painful past. It was a new beginning and from nothing she’d make something. She had to for Kellyn.

  “Hey, Ladybug, are you hungry?” She looked at her daughter’s sweet little face and thanked her lucky stars they’d escaped.

  Big brown eyes looked up at her through a fringe of dark chocolate hair. Marina saw gratefulness in the four-year-old’s expression. Little Kellyn Caswell had walked through hell and come out on the other side.

  “Let’s get a muffin. I know a lady in town that makes the best baked goods within a hundred miles.” Marina rolled from the couch to her feet and offered Kellyn her hand. They made it to the door when Kellyn ran back to get her Mrs. Beasley doll.

  It warmed Marina’s heart that the old doll had become her daughter’s favorite. It had been Marina’s mom’s doll, and then hers, and now Kellyn’s. The blue and white polka-dotted dress had dried lots of tears and given lots of hugs. Gone were the black-rimmed spectacles. The blond hair had thinned to bald in a few places, but she was a beloved friend to three generations—a grandma doll loved by all.

  “That’s right, you can’t leave Mrs. Beasley behind. She’ll want her tea.”

  Marina pulled the string and the doll spoke. “Long ago, I was a little girl just like you,” it said. Kellyn hugged Mrs. Beasley tightly to her chest and followed Marina outside.

  They walked into the sun. The heat of the rays were like a kiss from the universe. The first day of their new life lay before them.

  Aspen Cove was tucked between Long’s Peak and Mount Meeker. The surrounding landscape hugged the tiny, mountain town.

  On Jasmine Lane sat their little house. It wasn’t much, but it was affordable. It would only take a few haircuts a month and a coloring or two to keep a roof over their heads and food in their bellies. It wasn’t the life she dreamed of for her and her daughter, but it was the life they had, and Marina would make sure it was a life worth living. She refused to be a victim and chose the path that made her a victor.

  She wanted nothing from the man she’d believed was her white knight. Turned out Craig didn’t ride a horse and wield a sword. He drove a Mercedes and wielded a fist. The money he would reluctantly pay in child support was needed for Kellyn. He owed that much if not more to his daughter. Something told Marina it was more—way more.

  She lifted Kellyn into her booster seat and buckled her in. Thank God she’d been able to talk Craig’s parents into giving her their old car. It was funny how a two-year-old SUV was old to them, but new to her. The Caswells’ loss was her gain. They liked perfection, and the minute the housekeeper backed into it, no one drove it again. In their minds, anything needing fixing wasn’t worth their time. It was probably why they didn’t argue when she demanded full custody of Kellyn, a little girl who held none of her DNA but all of her heart. It also didn’t hurt that she had a video of Craig at his worst. Mayor Caswell’s run for reelection couldn’t have come at a better time.

  Marina was about to hop into the driver’s seat when a police car pulled into the driveway next door. A dark-haired man stepped out and walked toward her. His shadow ate up the sun that had once provided welcome warmth. Surely their freedom hadn’t come to an end already?

  “Stay here, sweetie, I’ll be right back.” Marina closed her door and met the uniformed man halfway. “Can I help you?” Her spine was steel straight. Her heart beat like the wings of a hummingbird inside the hollow cage of her chest.

  “Welcome to the neighborhood,” the man said. When he smiled, the hard edges of his face softened. It would be so easy to get pulled in by a smiling face. That’s what had happened two years ago when she met Craig. He’d come in for a haircut and left with her number. After she met his daughter, the rest was history.

  “Thank you—” she looked down at his name tag “—Sheriff Cooper.” She wondered if this was simply a friendly hello or her ex brother-in-law flexing his muscles through his connections.

  “I’m your neighbor.” He pointed to the cute white bungalow next door. Where hers had peeling paint and a yard that hadn’t seen a mower in years, his was picture perfect down to the flower boxes under the windows and the rocker on the front porch.

  “Oh, okay. I’m Marina.” She figured he’d already know that piece of information.

  “Nice to meet you, Marina. If you need anything, don’t be afraid to ask. I’m happy to help in any way I can.” He held out his hand, and she stared at it for a slow second. How long had it been since a man’s hand offered something other than agony?

  She gave him a solid shake and smiled. “Thanks, Sheriff.” She glanced over her shoulder to where Kellyn had her face pressed against the glass. Terror danced in her baby’s eyes. “We’re good, but I’ll let you know if I need something.”

  She turned around and walked back to the SUV. She could feel him looking at her. The heat of his stare at her back. She hated that she had to question the intentions of all men, but that’s what being married to the devil had caused.

  She opened her daughter’s door and squatted in front of the frightened child. “It’s okay, honey.” She brushed away the tears that ran down Kellyn’s cheeks. “He’s a good guy.” Lord, she hoped she was right. He seemed like one of the good ones. She never wanted to lie to her baby. “Not all men are bad or mean or hurt people.” She could take a lesson from he
rself. Her ability to trust was at an all-time low. Would she be able to trust again? “Let’s get that muffin, okay?”

  Five minutes later, they were parked on Main Street in front of B’s Bakery. Had it really been months since she’d been here?

  There was a line inside three-deep, so hand in hand Marina and Kellyn waited their turn. When they got to the front, the little blonde standing behind the glass display case squealed with delight.

  “Oh my God, you’re back.” She raced around the counter and pulled Marina in for a big hug, then pulled back to look at her. No doubt she was searching for cuts and bruises—a staple in Marina’s old wardrobe. “I wondered what happened to you.” She looked down at Kellyn. “Who’s this?”

  “My daughter,” Marina said with pride.

  “You have a daughter?”

  Marina moved Kellyn, who had hid behind her legs, to the front. “This is Kellyn. She’s four.” She pointed to the doll. “This is Mrs. Beasley, and she’s about forty or so. We came for tea and muffins.”

  “Hi, Kellyn, I’m Katie Bishop. Let’s have a tea party, okay?” She looked at Kellyn and waited for an answer.

  Marina smiled. “Kellyn doesn’t talk.”

  “Oh. Can she—” Katie pointed to her ear.

  “She can hear you. She’s a great listener, and it’s not that she can’t talk. There’s nothing physically wrong with her. She chooses not to talk.”

  Katie smiled. “Conversation is overrated. Why talk when we can have tea and eat carrot cake muffins?” She turned to leave but stopped and kneeled in front of Kellyn. “Do you really want tea or would you rather have chocolate milk?”

  Kellyn’s eyes opened wide and her rosy lips lifted into a smile.

  “Chocolate milk it is.” Katie disappeared behind the counter while Marina pulled colored wood cylinders from her bag. One green. One yellow. One red. She sat them in front of Kellyn. “You doing all right, Ladybug?”

  Kellyn grabbed the green and stood it up while the others lay on their sides.

  “Good, I’m so happy. You’re going to like it here, and someday, you’ll feel safe enough to tell me everything.” She pressed her lips to her daughter’s forehead. “I love you so much.”

  Katie rounded the counter with a tray full of goodies. She set it down and went to the corner to get two booster seats, one for Kellyn and one for her doll.

  The four of them sat around a small metal bistro table and chatted. Though Mrs. Beasley and Kellyn said nothing, Marina knew that one of them was paying close attention. Kellyn might be silent, but she was far from unobservant. She often wondered if somehow she stayed mute to enhance her other skills. Was it a survival mechanism?

  “I had no idea you were a mother.”

  Marina pulled a coloring book and crayons from her bag and set them in front of Kellyn. It was funny how her purse became a clown car once she became a parent. She could reach inside a dozen times and pull something out to entertain her child.

  “Yes, Kellyn is my ex’s daughter, but I have full custody of her since last week.”

  Katie’s look of surprise told Marina she recognized how unusual their situation was. “He’s…” There were so many questions in her big, blue eyes.

  “Still in Copper Creek.” She looked at Kellyn, who was busy coloring, and lowered her voice to a whisper. “He’s still running the permits department. His father is still the mayor. His older brother is the chief of police. His younger brother is the district attorney. It’s been a challenge.”

  Marina looked at the wall beyond them. Hanging in the center was a corkboard called The Wishing Wall. It was where she’d put her wish for a plan B the last time she sat in the bakery feeling beaten. Not by Craig’s fists, but by the power of his family. That wish was granted when local multimillionaire musician Samantha White, also known as Indigo, hired her to color her hair and insisted on overpaying her. It was the turning point in Marina and Kellyn’s life. The money allowed her to buy the nanny cam that caught Craig in action.

  She shuddered to think about that day. The day she didn’t fight back. She stood and took every hit, knowing they would be his last.

  “I can’t imagine.” Katie looked at Kellyn. It was obvious how sweet and caring a woman she was. Anyone with a wishing wall couldn’t be half bad.

  “You have to live it to believe it.”

  Katie pointed to the Lego table in the corner. “She’s welcome to play.”

  Kellyn’s eyes lit up.

  “Go ahead, sweetie. I’ll be right here.”

  Kellyn grabbed her green cylinder from the table and went to play.

  “She’s feeling safe.”

  Marina knew there would be questions. Everyone had questions, but few people had answers.

  “She’s safe here. You’re safe here. We take care of our own. You must be the single mom Lydia mentioned at her wedding.”

  “Dr. Nichols is wonderful.”

  “It’s Dr. Covington now. She married Wes.”

  Marina’s brow lifted. “I think I met her husband not too long ago in my husb…” She moved close to Katie and whispered. “Craig’s office. He seemed nice.”

  “He’s great. That means you’re the single mom living next to Aiden.”

  Marina sipped her tea. “Is that Sheriff Cooper?”

  “Yes. He’s a great guy too.”

  “If you say so.” She wasn’t convinced there were any great guys left. Her experience was once men reached thirty, the only ones left were damaged or deadly.

  Katie laid her hand on top of Marina’s. “A girl could do a lot worse than Aiden. He’s a solid guy.”

  Marina laughed. “Solid isn’t a prerequisite. In fact, it’s not even an attribute I’d find attractive. While I used to love men, I’m not sure having one in our lives is important at this point.”

  “You never know until the right one comes along.” Katie’s whole demeanor turned high school girl giddy. It was obvious she’d found a keeper.

  “How do you know they’re the right one?”

  “Your heart will tell you.”

  The problem was Marina’s heart had hardened to stone. It would take one hell of a man to tear down the barriers she’d thrown up. The only one to penetrate the fortress was a four-year-old girl who’d been abandoned by her biological mother, terrorized by her biological father, and set aside by her grandparents because they deemed her imperfect.

  Chapter Two

  Aiden watched the petite woman climb into her SUV and drive away. He knew without a doubt that Marina must be the single mother Dr. Lydia had told him about the day she got married to his friend Wes Covington. Aspen Cove had seen more weddings in the last year or so than it had probably seen in the last decade. Love was like a virus and Lydia, one of the town’s doctors, was certain he would be next to catch the bug.

  He knew it was only a matter of time before he got a neighbor. He was damned pleased he’d gotten one as pretty as her.

  Aspen Cove was growing and with growth came people. He was happy to see that some of them came as the fairer sex. All he’d seen so far were big men with bigger attitudes. With only a handful of single women in town, there was a lot of dick swinging going on. In his experience, too much testosterone was like a powder keg, and jealousy was the flame.

  He plucked a few weeds growing between the cracks in his walkway and headed for the front door. He was pulling a double shift since his deputy Mark Bancroft was out sick. With the Guild Creative Center and the firehouse being built, it was only a matter of time before they’d need more deputies. Right now, he’d settle for any help he could get.

  Most people weren’t looking for small town work. Aiden wasn’t looking for big town problems. It was why he’d ended up in Aspen Cove several years ago. He loved his small town life, but was afraid of the changes he knew were coming their way.

  He turned the knob of his front door just as his house phone rang.

  “Hey, Mom,” he said with a smile to his voice as he picked up the
handset.

  “How’d you know it was me?” Sara Cooper asked.

  “You’re the only one who calls on the landline. In fact, I’m sure you’re the only one who has that number. Most people use a cell phone.”

  He put his keys on the hallway table, walked into his kitchen, and opened the refrigerator. He couldn’t wait for the grand opening of the new culinary school Dalton was building, and with it the take and bake shop. That would go a long way in making sure he didn’t eat spaghetti every day of the week. He pulled out a tub of noodles and a container of red sauce and put them on the counter. After a quick lunch he’d head back to the office.

  “Why do I need a cell phone when I have a perfectly good phone hanging on the wall?”

  Aiden laughed. She still had a rotary dial phone in the kitchen. He’d spend ten minutes each time he was home unraveling the cord. “I’m done arguing the point. I bought you a phone, you should use it.” He’d be surprised if last year’s Christmas gift wasn’t still in its box.

  “I’m saving it for when I really need it.”

  “When you really need it, it will still be in the box.”

  “Fine, but I didn’t call you to talk about phones. I called to see if you’re coming down this weekend.”

  He got a plate of pasta ready, dumped an ample amount of Parmesan cheese on top and put it in the microwave.

  He tried to visit his mother at least once a month. “Can’t come this weekend. Mark is sick so I’m picking up the slack.”