Anything for Her Children

Anything for Her Children
Darlene Gardner

The bond Keri Cassidy shares with her adopted kids couldn't be stronger if they were her own flesh and blood.So when coach Grady Quinlan suspends her teenage son from the basketball team, the fiercely protective single mother is fit to be tied. Until she uncovers the scandal in Grady's past. Grady claims he's innocent of any wrongdoing. In spite of evidence against him, Keri finds herself believing Grady when no one else does.But how can she trust a man who threatens her son's future? She doesn't want to have to choose sides. But she may have already made a choice. If she has the courage to follow what her heart is telling her…

“Sometimes I feel like

I don’t know what I’m doing.”

Keri recognized her mistake almost as soon as the words left her mouth. “I shouldn’t have said that. Especially to you.”

“Why especially to me?” Grady leaned closer to her. He smelled clean and masculine.

“You’ll think I don’t know how to handle Bryan. But that’s not true. He never gives me any trouble. He’s a very good kid. I wish I could make you see that.”

Grady’s eyes didn’t leave her face. “I see a woman two kids are very lucky to have in their lives,” he said softly, touching her cheek.

The interior of the car created a cocoon containing just the two of them, their warm breath already starting to fog the windows. The air was a heady smell of warm skin and man. He moved imperceptibly toward her. He was going to kiss her. And she was going to let him.

Dear Reader,

How can a book that takes place in the world of high school basketball not be about sports? I hope Anything for Her Children answers that question.

Yes, the hero’s a basketball coach. And yes, the heroine’s son is the team’s star player. But what happens off the court is so much more important and character defining than any of the games athletes play.

Anything for Her Children is about honor and integrity and doing the right thing. Those are the invaluable qualities that can be imparted through sports, qualities I hope both of my basketball-playing children are developing.

But most of all, the book is about love. Because, in the end, nothing is more important.

All my best,

Darlene Gardner

Anything for Her Children

Darlene Gardner

TORONTO • NEW YORK • LONDON

AMSTERDAM • PARIS • SYDNEY • HAMBURG

STOCKHOLM • ATHENS • TOKYO • MILAN • MADRID

PRAGUE • WARSAW • BUDAPEST • AUCKLAND

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

While working as a newspaper sportswriter, Darlene Gardner realized she’d rather make up quotes than rely on an athlete to say something interesting. So she quit her job and concentrated on a fiction career that landed her at Harlequin/Silhouette Books, where she’s written for Harlequin Temptation, Harlequin Duets and Silhouette Intimate Moments before finding a home at Harlequin Superromance. Please visit Darlene on the Web at www.darlenegardner.com.

To my teenage son Brian for his invaluable input

on the basketball scenes—and his suggestion that

I name the heroine’s son Bryan. Also, because

I love him even more than he loves basketball.

CONTENTS

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

EPILOGUE

CHAPTER ONE

I F THE FANS PACKING the Springhill High gymnasium had known about the Carolina State College scandal, they might have given Grady Quinlan an even icier reception.

They greeted the basketball players who ran single file onto the court with raucous cheers worthy of an undefeated team, but the ovation abruptly quieted to a murmur when Grady walked onto the hardwood.

Grady kept his expression carefully blank, a triumph considering he’d already weathered the resignation of his assistant coach earlier that evening.