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    Rekindled: Game of Love, #1
    Rekindled: Game of Love, #1
    Rekindled: Game of Love, #1
    Ebook107 pages3 hours

    Rekindled: Game of Love, #1

    By Susan Scott Shelley

    4.5/5

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    About this ebook

    Weary of small roles in low-budget films, actress Gemma Norwood isn't sure if her heart still lies in making movies, but giving up would be admitting failure and throwing away her dream. An escape back to her hometown, a snow-covered small town in the Catskills, is the perfect place to contemplate her life. Even if the chances are pretty good that she'll run into the one man who broke her heart. She can handle it. After all, she is an actress.

     

    Winter is the worst season for pro baseball pitcher Adam Hudson. It gives him too much time to think. He may have physically healed from the line-drive that fractured his skull, but emotionally, he has a long way to go. Questioning whether he can continue to play the game he loves leads to questioning everything, including the choice he made that took Gemma away from him.

     

    Coming face to face in nearly the same way they'd originally met, Adam and Gemma can't deny their chemistry is still there, or that they've both kept tabs on each other in the four years since their break-up. But with so much time passed, and emotions unresolved, and things left unsaid, can they start something new, or will old hurts and new fear threaten to strike them out?

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSusan Scott Shelley
    Release dateSep 30, 2015
    ISBN9781944220013
    Rekindled: Game of Love, #1

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      Book preview

      Rekindled - Susan Scott Shelley

      CHAPTER ONE

      Gemma Norwood shivered in her sweatshirt and glanced at the lake. The winter wind whipped blasts of icy cold air in stinging, tingling shots. Four years of living in Los Angeles had softened her tolerance of the harsh New York winter in the Catskill Mountains. Snow-dusted pine trees and calm waters set up a picture-perfect backdrop to the excited chatter and colorful bathing suits of the dozens and dozens of people milling around the embankment.

      Beside her, Jocelyn pointed a gloved finger to the snow covering parts of the ground and gave an exaggerated shiver. What idiot decided that jumping into a lake at the end of January would be a smart idea?

      Well, actually, you did. She laughed and dodged her best friend's swat. The foreign laugh was something she hadn't experienced in a long time. Life wasn't funny while a career, and a dream, floundered like a fish suffocating on dry land. Twenty-four hours ago, she'd stood staring at palm trees, wondering if she'd ever see the West Coast again. Hopefully, a dip in the nearly frozen water would shock an answer into her system.

      Murmuring about hypothermia and frostbitten toes, Jocelyn stamped her fur-lined boots against the ground. My dad and brother decided this would be a good thing. If it were up to me, we'd hold a bake sale instead.

      Gemma sidestepped two little girls twirling in circles, giggling over the chance to wear their bathing suits in the middle of winter. Your charity will raise a lot of money this way.

      I'm thrilled about that part, but I'll leave the jumping in the lake part to you crazy people. I’ll stick with my duties of organizing the event, helping out with pre-plunge participant check-in, and handing out hot drinks at the refreshment stand after the plunge.

      I'm happy to help you pass out the hot chocolate.

      Amid banners promoting Hudson Contractors' Caring Home Repair Fund, people were jumping around in creative attempts to keep warm. But there weren't any signs of Mr. Hudson or his first-born son.

      Are your dad and brother here? Straining to keep her voice casual, she peeled her sweatshirt over her head. Goosebumps seemed to pop out on top of goosebumps. The warm temperatures of LA had never seemed so far away.

      Dad's probably checking to see if the mic's working for his speech. He's bummed about not jumping in the water this year. The cold weather is too hard on him. Jocelyn's smile dimmed. Ever since his heart attack, he just doesn't have the same stamina.

      The heart attack and triple bypass surgery that followed had taken a toll on Jocelyn's entire family. Gemma squeezed her hand. From three thousand miles away, she hadn't been able to offer more than prayers and a sympathetic ear. What about your brother?

      In the whirlwind rush of packing her bags and arranging for the dog's travel and flying home to Hunter's Peak, she deliberately hadn't asked Jocelyn about Adam, preferring to put off the conversation for as long as possible. A decision she now regretted. If he showed up, she'd have to rely on her acting skills to help her get through the encounter.

      Adam is supposed to be here, but I don't see him. You know, I just realized something. The first time we held the plunge was the first time you two met. Jocelyn's voice took on the extra-cheerful tone she always used when talking to Gemma about Adam. Being her ex-boyfriend's sister could have meant an awkward end to their friendship, but Jocelyn seemed just as determined as Gemma to maintain their relationship. And when she occasionally hinted at trying to get them back together, Gemma ignored her and changed the subject.

      It doesn't matter. I'm doing this for me. Not anyone else. Her hands shook as she shimmied out of her yoga pants. She dreaded seeing Adam now that she'd reached her lowest point. Her stomach clenched, and she searched the crowd. No sign of him. A deep breath eased her nerves.

      Jocelyn glanced at her and shivered. This isn't exactly the welcome home I'd choose, but to each her own.

      She needed to do it. Maybe it was stupid. Maybe she would regret it. But maybe, just maybe, she'd get her wish and figure out what to do next.

      She handed the shirt and pants to Jocelyn, and they slowly shuffled into the crowd of people waiting for the Polar Plunge to begin.

      Do you think someone will recognize you and ask for an autograph? Cradling the clothes and a few towels, Jocelyn tugged her hat tighter onto her head.

      I doubt it. Four years of landing bit parts in B-movies didn't translate into a large fan base. Heck, it hardly translated into any fan base. And while four years of catering countless parties had improved her culinary skills and paid the bills, it didn't guarantee loyalty.

      Frosty chaos? Yeah, that was her life for the past three days. A job lost. A rejection from the last production company she could find. Both had dumped a bucket of icy water onto her acting dream and thrown her into a tailspin. Admitting her exhaustion, frustration, and fear to her parents resulted in a plane ticket home. They didn't care if she had her name in bright lights, but she sure did.

      Jocelyn's dad, wearing a Hudson Contractors jacket, stepped onto a wooden platform on the shore. The crowd's noise lowered to murmurs as he gave a speech about the charity. When he finished, Jocelyn nudged Gemma's arm. I'll wait for you by the fence near the parking lot. Don't turn into an icicle out there.

      An air horn blared. The crowd surged and swept Gemma to the water's edge. She forged ahead, splashing into the lake. Frigid water slapped her skin. Some enterprising soul dove into the water headfirst. His belly flop sent a swell of water over Gemma's chest and chin.

      Sucking in a breath, she stiffened her muscles. She had known it would be cold, but she wasn't prepared for the frigid temperature. She should have been. She'd done this before. But back then, she'd had Adam's hand to hold. And being in love with him made the entire world seem warmer, safer, more comfortable.

      But that ended when he boarded a plane bound for major-league baseball in Northern California and left her behind.

      Teeth chattering, body shaking, she fought the bone-numbing chill seizing her system. The stark cold was a sharp reminder of her lonely reality. All around her, people grabbed onto each other. Shrieks and screams accompanied laughter. Someone shouted an idea to swim across the lake. The couple next to her shook their heads and headed back to shore. Chill turned to an ache. Her toes hurt, her legs hurt, but she kept moving, determined to stay in the water just a little longer.

      When the water level reached her chest, she turned back. Her foot slipped on a rock, and she pitched forward. Water rose up to meet her and closed over her head. It flowed into her nose and into her mouth. The shock of cold seized her muscles. She sank further. Heart pounding, she kicked out and felt for the lake floor. She pushed up and broke the surface, sputtering and coughing.

      A large hand curled around her elbow. Are you all right?

      The rough gravel of his voice, sharp and sexy, pumped fresh adrenaline into her system. Continuing to cough, she regained her balance and looked up the muscled torso and into the face of Adam Hudson. His firm mouth, straight nose, and intense brown eyes were just

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