Title: Love's Wall
A Time for Love Series Standalone
A Time for Love Series Standalone
Author: Karen Deen
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: December 4, 2017
Blurb
Falling in love can be so easy - but is it always the right thing to
happen in your life? Everyone has a history but, for some, that history makes
them believe they aren’t worthy of love.
Zach
Life sends us the right person at the right time. You just have to be
ready to accept them.
When his last relationship ended and shattered his dreams for the future,
Zach moved forward carving out a life on his farm. He built a wall around his
heart so he’d never be hurt again.
Family is everything for him. Working in the family-owned building
company, life was simple and happy. Yet something - or someone - was missing
from that life. Zach didn’t know it, but things were about to change. His wall
was about to be tested and love was going to challenge everything he has
strived to protect. Will it crumble enough for him to accept his one?
Emily
Just when you least expect it, there is that one moment that changes
everything.
Being a single Mom, every day is a challenge for Emily. Her life has
become a series of relentless hurdles. She decided a long time ago that love
was on hold until her children were old enough to support themselves.
Life has toughened Emily. She’s created a wall around her little family
to protect them - and her heart. Never again would she allow it to be taken and
abused by someone else. Pushing hard to survive the latest blow, Zach walks into
her life and turns it upside down. Seeing Emily at her lowest, Zach wants to
rescue her. Can she let her pride slip enough to allow her wall to crumble and
open up to him? If she finally shares her world, will Zach still look at her
the same? Should she put it all aside so she doesn’t miss her one?
Can love erase the history that has made their walls so thick and high?
Even if they both know they’ve found the
one, can they demolish their walls
enough to make the leap?
Chapter One
Zach
Heading
across the bedroom, steam still swirling around from the shower, I paused. The
view of the mountains brought a smile to my face as I stood naked at the
window, enjoying the morning in all its glory. The breeze carried the bird’s morning song and the sounds of the cattle in
the paddocks through the open window. Nature was busy getting ready for the
day. I pulled my clothes on for the office. Part of me wished that I could just
jump back into my farm jeans, shirt and boots and head out to the barn to
saddle up for a ride. I could use one more day to relax in this tranquil place
like I had been for the last two days.
Thinking
back on the weekend I could see that, although I loved my life, it was missing
something. Or perhaps someone. My life was full. I had an amazing family and a
business that made me happy to get up and go to work every morning. My home was
my safe-haven, it gave me a place to just be myself with no expectations. It
also gave me a place to hide. With all of the things that were right in my
life, there was still a part of me that was empty. After letting my mind drift,
I knew I needed to get my head around the start of a new week. Jumping in the
car, I placed the same call that I made every Monday morning as I drove out of
the gate.
“Good morning, Zoe, how was your weekend?” I smiled, waiting for the usual answer.
“Morning,
Zach. Let’s just say
that several words can describe it. My weekend was fun, crazy, drinking,
partying - all of which have led to my head paying the consequences this
morning!” Zoe then launched into stories of
the weekend and we spent time laughing about her nights out.
As I turned
down the entrance to the highway and felt my foot press down on the pedal, my
body pushed back into the leather seat that wrapped around my body so well. The
buzz of driving a nice car at speed brought a smile that inched up my face.
“So the big question is, Zoe - did you spot your Mr Right out
there somewhere?” I let out a little chuckle, hearing
Zoe sigh and then laugh. She got ready to joke it off, but I knew deep down
under the party girl exterior it was no joke. She was a young lady who would
give anything to have a man to love and protect her, to plant her feet on the
ground. My gut feeling was that man would be my brother, Luke, but the two of
them just hadn’t worked it out yet. The sexual tension between them could light
up Times Square, yet they both fought so hard to keep that ‘friend wall’ up. One day something was going to flick that switch and the explosion
would be more impressive than the Fourth of July fireworks. I’d just sit back, watch, wait and then say ‘I told you so’ because I knew all along.
“Now Zach, you know as good as I do
that there is no good man out there who will pin me down. Living the dream,
Zach, living the dream”. I burst out laughing at Zoe’s comment, knowing she was trying to convince
herself of that. “Tell your head that this morning,
Zoe. Anyway, as much as I hate to hurt that little brain of yours, what’s on the agenda for today? Also, did you get
that email I sent you re the plans for Branch Street that need to be at council
by 10.00am?”
“Yes, yes,” she sighed. “Already done, you know I am always
one step ahead of you!”
Zoe joined
our building development company five years ago straight out of secretarial
college and had been my assistant from day one. It was a match that could have
spelled disaster. She walked in on a day that had me dragging myself up off the
couch in my office. I was trying to make the bathroom to throw up the bottle of
bourbon I had consumed the night before. Tragically, I stumbled and managed to
throw up on her shoes and then lay moaning at her feet.
Our
relationship could have gone either way. She could have turned around and
walked straight back out, cursing me as she left, never to return. Instead, Zoe
just looked down at me and burst out laughing. She proceeded to tell me to take
my hungover ass and grovel back to the couch while she changed and cleaned up
my mess. She walked over and threw her shoes in the bin, mumbling that she
expected two new pairs of shoes to replace the ones which were now laying sadly
in the bottom of the bin. It hurt my head to laugh, but I couldn’t help but let out a quiet chuckle. We would
get on just fine.
Zoe spent
our first day of working together in her gym clothes. Luckily, they were in her
car and clean. Me? I was in the singlet and jeans I had on from the night
before, minus the shirt. It had a new home in the bin with her shoes!
Zoe had cleaned me up, poured coffee
that was as thick as tar down my throat, along with bottle after bottle of
water and plenty of pain relief. We managed to get to the end of the day and
she never asked what happened. And I never told her. From that da
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