May be read as a standalone.
Andy Evans is on the move. For six long, lonely years, he’s been running from his past, leaving his family and his life as a drug-addicted rock star far behind. His latest move takes him to the sleepy seaside town of Oamaru, New Zealand, to sell cigar-box guitars to tourists. The only running he’ll need to do will be training for half-marathon in nearby Dunedin. But when Andy sets eyes on Steampunk HQ, Oamaru's main tourist attraction, he realises his days of running might not be over, especially if a certain Steampunk fan from his past catches up with him. Annie Martin is on the cusp of great success. Her career as a Steampunk academic is about to take off, as long as she can convince one disagreeable, New Zealand-based Professor to sign up to the anthology she’s putting together. Thankfully, Annie is a master at maintaining her poise and few people, no matter how nasty, can rattle her. Not any more. In fact, it’d been a good six years since anyone had gotten under her skin, after her best friend’s brother had vanished into thin air. When Annie finds her future career on a collision course with her secret past, Andy Evans is the last person she expects to find tangled up in the mess. With a vengeful drug-dealer or two hot on his heels, and a vindictive academic determined to ruin her credibility, can Annie bring Andy back to his family before it’s too late? Annie and Andy are used to being alone, but if they don’t work together, there’ll be much more at stake than her livelihood and his sobriety.
Disastrous love life aside, Charlotte Evans is rather content with her life. Her quaint little art gallery is plodding along nicely, and her sister Emily’s artistic career is about to take off, thanks to her tireless promotion. She even gets to see her best friend every day and drink his delicious coffee in the café next door. But when dastardly property developer Craig Carmichael comes along, threatening to demolish her gallery and take everything away, Charlotte has an unexpected fight on her hands. Not only is she battling to stop Craig’s development, she’s also struggling against the mysterious magnetic pull that has her on a collision course with Craig himself. Craig Carmichael is fighting the Battle for Boundary Street on more than one front. The tenants of the building he wants to knock down are mounting a strong case against him and in a hot-headed moment he put his career on the line for a project that is threatening to fail. If the project doesn’t succeed he will lose everything, but for some reason he’s having trouble maintaining his focus. As their worlds begin to unravel around them, anyone could win. It’s what they might lose that has Charlotte and Craig wondering what it is they really want.
Everything happens for a reason, they say. And sometimes the reason is you're stupid and make bad decisions. Sleeping with her sister's best friend is one of the dumbest things soon-to-be divorcee Emily Evans has ever done. But she's determined to put it behind her and move on. She's walked away from her cheating husband, managed to make a new friend, and found herself a real job and somewhere to live so she doesn't have to couch-surf any more. Everything should be falling into place but for one problem – there are some mistakes from which you can't move on. Meanwhile, Ben Cameron is getting on with his life. After all, it's the only thing to do once your heart has been stomped on by the woman of your dreams. Expanding his business and getting cosy with the girl next door are proving welcome distractions. He's even happy to babysit his nephew, as long as he can to hand him back when he's done! And thankfully, Emily Evans, the woman with the heavy boots, is avoiding him like the plague. But Emily can't avoid him forever, and when she drops a bombshell that turns Ben's world upside-down, suddenly, getting on with his life takes on a whole new meaning.
‘Hey,’ she said, grabbing his arm and tugging, bringing him to a stop. He kept his eyes on the building ahead, listening to her catch her breath.
‘You’re nervous, aren’t you?’ she asked. The hostility had gone from her voice and her fingers pressed into his forearm.
He looked down at her hand, then up at her face. The scowl was gone. Was she empathetic, now? He swallowed and thought perhaps he might prefer snippety. Don’t look at me like that, Annie. Don’t look at me like you care.
He peeled her fingers off his arm and marshalled his frustration, intent on using it as a crutch. Without it, he might crumble.
‘Of course I’m nervous,’ he said. ‘Did you think this would be easy for me, Annie? Did you think it was just a matter of picking up the phone? You think so little of me, but you hardly know me. It might come as a surprise to you, but the past six years haven’t been a walk in the park. I haven’t exactly enjoyed myself, you know. I love my family. Leaving them and staying away from them – I can’t begin to describe how hard that’s been. And I know, Annie … I know what I’ve done to them. God, do you think I’m that cold-hearted I could do this without feeling nervous? That I would just waltz in and say hi as though nothing had changed? Everything has changed. Everything. Including me.’ He pointed at his chest. ‘Including them.’ He looked back to the terminal. ‘Bloody hell, Annie. I’m more than nervous, I’m terrified.’
He’d shocked her into silence.
‘I’m sorry,’ she murmured eventually. She was looking down at her feet. ‘I didn’t mean—’
‘Just forget it.’ He exhaled and started walking again. ‘Come on, I want to get inside. Mum might have already landed.’
At the arrival gates a small group of people were gathered, waiting for the passengers to come through Customs.
They waited, Annie standing a step behind him on his left. His heart was thumping so hard he wondered if he’d pass out from the strain. His legs shook with the need to run. He lifted a hand to rub his eye and noticed it was shaking too. When he dropped it, Annie laid a hand on his arm, so lightly he thought he’d imagined it. He looked down to check and found her fingers on his skin. He looked up to find her watching him.
‘It’s going to be okay,’ she said. ‘She’s just going to want to hold you.’
‘I know,’ he said. He sighed and tried to force a smile. ‘I shouldn’t have snapped at you. I’m sorry.’ Smiling was hard with his stomach in knots, but this time he didn’t fight off her compassion. Looking into her warm brown eyes made him feel marginally better.
They didn’t know each other well, it was true, but despite her tendency to think the worst of him, he was glad she was here. In fact, he couldn’t think of anyone else he would want with him. And he definitely didn’t want to be doing this alone.
She returned his smile with a stronger one of her own and ran her fingers down his arm until her hand slipped into his. Andy realised he’d never seen her smile, and like a kid watching a fairy-floss machine spin sugar into magic, he couldn’t tear his eyes away. He forgot where he was and why he was there. All he could think about was pressing his thumb against the corner of that smile so it wouldn’t fade too soon.
Jennifer Collin writes quirky, and sometimes gritty, love stories about ordinary people dealing with what life throws at them. She lives in Brisbane, Australia, with her husband, two noisy children and a cantankerous cat. She used to party, but now her idea of a good time is an uninterrupted sleep. These days, her characters do her partying for her, and she doesn't necessarily let them sleep.
