Single with Kids

Single with Kids
Lynnette Kent

Two one-parent families…With a busy job and two young kids, Valerie Manion is always looking for volunteers to help with her scouting program, Girls Outdoors! Single father Rob Warren signs up, mainly so he can keep an eye on his disabled daughter, Ginny. Valerie is looking out for Ginny, too. In spite of her cerebral palsy, she's a regular girl with growing pains–and she needs a woman to talk to. Will she open up to Valerie–the way Valerie's son, Connor, is opening up to Rob?Or one big happy family?Valerie's got growing pains of her own. She values her independence, she's proud of her children and her life. Is there room for more? She's falling for Rob, but the stakes are high. Can Val trust her heart–and make two families into one?

“Where did you get that?”

Though he was several feet away from the cabin, Rob heard Valerie’s sharp tone, and it surprised him. No one answered, which surprised him even more.

“Ginny, where did you get it?” Hearing the urgency in her voice, he headed toward the cabin. Behind him, around him, and inside the building there was only silence.

After a long pause, Rob heard his daughter say, “At home.”

“And who does it belong to?”

Rob couldn’t hear that answer, even though he now stood right outside the cabin. He put his hand on the screen door handle just as Valerie spoke again.

“Ginny,” she said gently. “Ginny, give me the gun.”

Dear Reader,

I suppose writing a story based on my eighteen years of experience with the Girl Scouts was inevitable. I have nothing but admiration for the goals and values that guided us in our time together. The girls I knew as children have matured into self-reliant, capable young women.

In my new book, Single with Kids, self-reliance is just what Rob Warren wants for his daughter, Ginny, challenged as she is by cerebral palsy. Valerie Manion prides herself on her own independence and her ability to take care of herself and her children without assistance. But Rob and Valerie must discover that life is at its sweetest when we can share the good times and the bad with someone we love. Their teachers for this lesson will be none other than their own offspring.

I’ve smiled a great deal while writing Single with Kids, and I hope you smile as you read. Thanks so much for spending time with me and my story—if you'd like to contact me, I’ll be delighted to hear from you.

As ever,

Lynnette Kent

PMB 304

Westwood Shopping Center

Fayetteville, NC 28314

www.lynnettekent.com

Single with Kids

Lynnette Kent

www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)

This book was written with fond memories of all the girls

from whom I had the chance to learn during my

years with the Girl Scouts.

Many thanks go to the women who worked with me—

especially Susan, Ruth, Karen, Ann and Terri. We met

our responsibilities…and we had a whole lot of fun.

Finally, to Elizabeth and Rebecca, the young women

who continue to inspire me and who make every

effort worthwhile… Love, always.

Acknowledgments:

My Girls Outdoors! group is strictly fictional, based

very loosely on the scouting program in the United States.

Any mistakes or misinterpretations are mine

alone and do not reflect the policy, procedure or

personnel of any existing organization.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE