My Three Girls

My Three Girls
Susan Floyd

Can Deputy Brady Moore, a man desperate to protect his brother's children, convince Dana Ritchie, a woman desperate to protect herself, to be his wife?Brady's only asking Dana to be a temporary wife. After all, he can hardly expect a woman he's just met to spend the rest of her life with him and his three nieces. If there was any other way to keep the little girls from entering "the system," he wouldn't even ask.Dana's more than reluctant to accept. She once loved a little boy who wasn't hers and lived to regret it. If she gives her heart to the children and then has to watch them walk away, she might never recover. But how is she ever going to resist these three girls?

“Are you going to take us?”

Karen asked the question with such hope, and Dana was glad she didn’t have to disappoint the little girl.

“Yes. Your uncle Brady and I are going to get married on Friday, so you can stay here.”

Karen’s eyes went wide and then filled with tears. In an attempt to soothe her Dana said, “I know this is all happening very fast. But we’re not going to try to be your mom and dad.”

Karen shook her head. “I used to pray that you’d be our mother. You were always so nice to us. I loved my momma, but she didn’t love us back.”

Dana didn’t know what to say. This sweet girl was giving so much of herself, but Dana couldn’t do the same. Brady kept telling her this was only temporary. If she gave her love to the children and then had to watch them walk away, she might never recover. How was she ever going to resist these three girls?

Dear Reader,

This book started with a newspaper article my late father had saved for me about a one-room schoolhouse. “Hey, look at this, Sus,” he said with a grin. “Wouldn’t this be a great story?” Unfortunately, my father isn’t here to witness his kernel of an idea come to fruition, but I still like to thank him for his inspiration, which led to this story.

Now take three abandoned children starving for love, a schoolteacher reluctant to ever become attached to any of her students again and a deputy sheriff racked with guilt because he believes the children’s plight is the result of actions he took several years before. Mix them all together, stir in generous amounts of chaos, unresolved feelings and long-kept secrets and bake with a marriage of convenience. Season with healing and forgiveness. Is this the recipe to make a family?

Join Dana Ritchie and Brady Moore as they wade through this crazy thing we call life and together discover that two are stronger than one. You—my readers—mean everything to me, and I love to hear from you. You can write to me at P.O. Box 2883, Los Banos, CA 93635 or by e-mail at susfloyd@yahoo.com.

Sincerely,

Susan Floyd

My Three Girls

Susan Floyd

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

This book took the work of several people from San Benito,

Monterey and Merced Counties.

Heartfelt thanks to:

Monterey County deputy sheriffs

Greg Liskey, Mike Richards, Larry Robinson

and Jeff Stiarwalt (for the adventurous “ride along”).

Merced County deputy sheriffs

Tomas Cavallero and Richard St. Marie (for brainstorming

at the Los Banos Campus Career Fair).

Panoche Elementary School District, San Benito County

Ginger Gardner, Teacher and Principal

Elsa Rodriguez, Teacher’s Aide, Cook, Janitor

and Groundskeeper

Mario Bencomo, 5

grade Aaron Blanco, 7

grade Ian Blanco, 5

grade Dustin Borba, 1

grade Alyssa Cabral, 4

grade Chantelle Lippert, 7

grade Jacob Lippert, 6

grade Zoa Lopez, 6

grade Tristan Redondo, 2

grade

This is dedicated to all my students at Merced College,

Los Banos Campus, who have brainstormed titles, offered

plotting advice and understood the value of a “redo.”

CONTENTS

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX