Love Story Next Door!: Cinderella on His Doorstep / Mr Right, Next Door! / Soldier on Her Doorstep
Cinderella On His DoorstepDana Lofgren is determined to find the ideal location for her father’s new film – and finally make him proud. She knows Château Belles Fleurs in France would be perfect…she just needs to convince Alex, the château’s very attractive owner!Mr Right, Next Door!Financial executive Sophie is a workaholic. But her gorgeous neighbour Grant is about to teach her how to live for the moment. The ex-architect knows that if he can persuade Sophie to let loose, the moments they share together could be life-changing!Soldier on Her DoorstepSoldier Alex promised his dying comrade he’d look after his wife and daughter. Alex was prepared for tears, but not for the beautiful woman who answered the door – or the little girl hiding behind her. Could Lisa and Lilly help to heal this hero’s heart?
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Love Story Next Door!
Cinderella on His Doorstep
Rebecca Winters
Mr Right, Next Door!
Barbara Wallace
Soldier on Her Doorstep
Soraya Lane
Contents
REBECCA WINTERS, whose family of four children has now swelled to include five beautiful grand-children, lives in Salt Lake City, Utah, in the land of the Rocky Mountains. With canyons and high Alpine meadows full of wildflowers, she never runs out of places to explore. They, plus her favourite vacation spots in Europe, often end up as backgrounds for her Mills & Boon Romance novels because writing is her passion, along with her family and church.
Rebecca loves to hear from her readers. If you wish to e-mail her, please visit her website at www.cleanromances.com.
To my son, Bill, whom I often call Guillaume, because he speaks French too and loved France and the vineyards as much as I did when we traveled there.
I called upon him for some of the research for this book. Once again we had a marvelous time discussing one of France’s greatest contributions to the world.
Sanur, Bali—June 2
“MARTAN?”
Through the shower of a light rain Alex Martin heard his name being called from clear down the street. He paused in the front doorway with his suitcases. The houseboy whose now-deceased mother had been hired by the Forsten Project years earlier to help clean the employees’ houses, had attached himself to Alex. Without fail, he always called him by his last name, giving it a French pronunciation.
“Hey, Sapto—I didn’t think I was going to see you again.” He’d been waiting for the taxi that would drive him to the Sanur airport in Bali.
Before the accident that had killed William Martin, Alex’s Australian-born father, William would turn on Sapto. “Our last name is Martin! Mar-TIN!”
Sapto had stubbornly refused to comply. In recent months he’d lost his mother in a flood and knew Alex had lost his French mother to an aggressive infection several years back. He felt they had a bond. Alex had been rather touched by the boy’s sensitivity and never tried to correct him.
“Take me home with you.” His dark eyes begged him. “I’ve never been to France.”
Home? That was a strange thing for Sapto to say. Though Alex held dual citizenship and was bilingual, he’d never been to France, either. As for Sapto, he guessed the fifteen-year-old hadn’t ventured farther than twenty miles from Sanur in the whole of his life.
Alex’s family had moved wherever his father’s work as a mechanical engineer had taken him, first in Australia, then Africa and eventually Indonesia. With his parents gone, he didn’t consider anywhere home. After flying to Australia to bury his father next to his mother, he was aware of an emptiness that prevented him from feeling an emotional tie to any given spot.
“I wish I could, Sapto, but I don’t know what my future’s going to be from here on out.”
“But you said your French grandfather left you a house when he died! I could live there and clean it for you.”
Alex grimaced. “He didn’t leave it to me, Sapto.” The letter meant for his mother had come two years too late. It had finally caught up to Alex through the Forsten company where he worked.
The attorney who’d written it stated there was going to be a probate hearing for the Fleury property on June 5 in Angers, France. This was the last notice. If Genevieve Fleury, the only living member of the Fleury family didn’t appear for it, the property located in the Loire Valley would be turned over to the French government.
After making a phone call to the attorney and identifying himself, Alex was told the estate had been neglected for forty odd years and had dwindled into an old relic beyond salvaging. The back taxes owing were prohibitive.
Be that as it may, Alex had the impression the attorney was downplaying its value for a reason. A piece of ground was always worth something. In fact, the other man hadn’t been able to cover his shock when he’d learned it was Genevieve’s son on the phone.
Something wasn’t right.
At this point the one thing driving Alex was the need to visit the land of his mother’s roots and get to the bottom of this mystery before moving on. With no family ties, he was free to set up his own company in the States.
By now the taxi had arrived. Sapto put his bags in the trunk for him. “You will write me, yes?” His eyes glistened with tears.
“I promise to send you a postcard.” He slipped a cash bonus into the teen’s hand. “Thank you for all your help. I won’t forget. Take care.”
