Free Just In Time For Love (Stanton Falls #1) by Kaci Hart Page A

they
managed to still see her as their little girl.  The car pulled up to her
parents’ house and she got out to her screaming sister calling out to her as
she sprinted out the door to give her a proper greeting.  

 
    “Emily!”

 
    Elizabeth was her
younger sister by two years and at times her very best friend.  Seeing her
face again, she was glad that Elizabeth had convinced her to move back to
Stanton Falls.  She had considered at first moving in with her sister
instead of her parents but ultimately decided it would be better to stay with
her parents since her mother didn’t work and--in her own words--couldn’t have
enough time in the world to pinch those precious cheeks.  She embraced her
sister for at least a few seconds.  She had missed that part of life.
 Being a pediatric nurse and a single mother, she couldn’t even remember
the last time she had hugged an actual grown up.  

 
    “Liz!  I am so glad to see you sis.”  

 
    “Sure you are.
 Anyway, it’s nice to see you too, although you took your sweet time in
coming back.  Common sense finally showed you where you belong. Now on to
bigger and better things.  Where is my little niece at?”

 
    “Wow sis.  Not even
a three second greeting and my return is yesterday’s old news already.
 Yes, you are definitely my sister.  C’mon, she’s sleeping in the
back.  Help me grab her.”  

 
    They walked to the back
seat of the car and stopped for a minute to watch the baby.  Liz whispered
softly to her about how she made a cute baby.  Her attempt at stealth went
in vain as Ashleigh’s little brown eyes blinked slowly a few times before she
yawned and reached out for her mother, requesting release from her restraint in
the car seat.   

 
    “Well, she’s awake now
so get ready for a million questions.  She’s at that age.”  

 
    “Wow.  I still
can’t even believe that you have a kid.  My big sister.  So
much has changed in the past few years.”  

 
    “Not everything I bet!”
 Emily tickled her little sister and fought back her own side splitting
laughter as Liz jumped at least two feet away.  “Still can’t fight a good
tickle, can you?”

 
    The girls laughed as
they unbuckled a laughing Ashleigh from the car seat, leading her into her new
home.  Their playfulness had triggered a feeling Emily hadn’t felt in a
long time and if her laughter was any indication, Ashleigh was going to have a
great time figuring out what all the fun was really all about.  The truth
was that Emily couldn’t think of a better place in the world to raise her baby.
  

 
    ***

 
    Aaron sat at his desk
working on designs and support for the website changes he was planning on
making.  With so much data hacking going around in the news, he had been
researching and found some great ideas on new checks and balances to protect
information.  When he got a knock on his door, he tore his gaze from the
screen long enough to see Nick standing in the hallway.  He swiftly
returned his attention to his work, silently praying he would be able to send
him away without too much time wasted.  

 
    “Hey Aaron, what’s goin
on buddy.”  

 
    “Well unlike you, some
of us have to actually work for a living.”

 
    His brief response was
meant to give Nick a hint that he didn’t have the time right then.  He
didn’t have to be so curt about it, but that was how their friendship was.
 

 
    They had been close
friends since junior high.  Nick came from a family that was loaded but he
was still down to earth--always the one to be all about having fun.  Any
time Aaron had ever gotten in trouble, nine times out of ten Nick was not too
far away.  Of course, their kind of trouble wasn’t worthy of the six
o’clock news.  Just the silly thing teenage boys did, pranks and such.
 Nick’s family had resided in Stanton Falls since its founding and they
owned the largest company in town.  At one time it was