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    10 Days to Love
    10 Days to Love
    10 Days to Love
    Ebook112 pages1 hour

    10 Days to Love

    By Michele Richard

    ()

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    About this ebook

    Richie Graham and Danielle ‘Dani’ MacDonald have been best friends for four years. Now that the time has come to leave Old Orchard Beach for college, the countdown begins to say goodbye. The race to close down her family’s motel for the season and for their hearts begins.

    With a little help from their friends, they'll learn one last lesson: actions speak louder then words.

    With ten days left, will they see what’s always been right in front of them? Or is there too much left unsaid?

    Five friends will be forever changed when all their secrets are revealed. Will it bind them together or tear them apart?

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRenaissance Romance Publishing
    Release dateSep 24, 2012
    ISBN9781301881420
    10 Days to Love
    Author

    Michele Richard

    About The Author:Michele Richard lives in a suburb of Boston, Mass. She’s the mother of two pre-teen daughters, Danielle and Virginia.She’s currently learning French and Spanish, and one day hopes to be fluent in both. Learning new things is always something she enjoys.In 2012 she opened Renaissance Romance Publishing.Her works include:Mocked by series:Mocked by DestinyMocked by FaithMocked by Faith ~ Healing the FaithParasouls series:Divine InterventionShort stories:Changes of the Heart (Life is More Than Candy Hearts)10 Days to LoveThe Roommates

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      Book preview

      10 Days to Love - Michele Richard

      10 Days to Love

      Author:

      Michele Richard

      Smashwords Edition

      *****

      Published by

      Renaissance Romance Publishing

      Copyright Michele Richard 2012

      The right of Michele Richard to be identified as the author of this work has

      been asserted by her under the Copyright Amendment (Moral Rights) Act

      2000

      ISBN:

      Smashwords Edition, License Notes

      This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the author’s imagination and used fictitiously.

      This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the

      Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced, copied, scanned, stored in

      a retrieval system, recorded or transmitted, in any form or by any means,

      without the prior written permission of the publisher.

      Renaissance Romance Publishing

      PO Box 22 Clarendon, TX 79226

      Cover design by: M.A. Richard

      Cover image: © Subbotina | Dreamstime.com

      Thank You

      To my family:

      Maurice, my husband, who always says I can do it.

      Danielle, my daughter, who always tells everyone else I can do it.

      Virginia, my daughter, who wants to be just like mommy when she grows up.

      Pat, my mom, who helps me with the children when I need to work.

      From the publishing house:

      Lisa, my partner, who’s always, had faith in me.

      Laura, my other partner, who’s never let me think I couldn’t do it.

      To the other authors:

      Lisa, Elizabeth, and S.A. it was a pleasure doing this anthology together with each of you.

      Table of Contents

      Chapter 1

      Chapter 2

      Chapter 3

      Chapter 4

      Chapter 5

      Chapter 6

      Chapter 7

      Chapter 8

      Chapter 9

      Chapter 10

      Epilogue

      Chapter 1

      The Countdown Begins

      You would think the loud, churning sound of a lawn mower on an early Saturday morning would irritate Danielle MacDonald, but far from it. That sound meant Richard Graham was mowing the lawn that surrounded her parents’ motel. For four years she’d watched him tend the landscaping.

      Dani and Richie had been best friends since his family had moved to Old Orchard Beach, Maine, from the Berkshires in Massachusetts. He had literally barreled into her life by knocking her down in the hallway just outside the principal’s office on his first day at Old Orchard Beach High. After helping her up, he’d apologized repeatedly, and she’d seen the sincerity in his warm, green eyes. He’d been so preoccupied by figuring out his schedule, he wasn’t looking where he was walking. They’d become instant friends and were inseparable from that day forward.

      Dani’s family had always lived on the beach. Her parents had inherited the motel from her grandparents when they’d retired to Key West, Florida, a few years ago. She missed her grandparents, but she understood; after years of working and building the motel to be one of the most popular places to stay in the area, they’d needed the break.

      Scrambling from the warm, soft bed, Dani headed to the window overlooking the backyard. She caught sight of Richie turning to make another pass below her. There was a certain beauty to the way he looked when he was shirtless and a slight sweat covered his tanned, tattooed skin. She’d once asked him what the poem etched on his left shoulder meant. Richie never answered. His wrestler’s physique showed all the years of training he’d done to keep in tiptop shape, and the gel in his brown, short, wavy hair glistened in the sunshine.

      A sigh slipped past her lips at the realization that their time was coming to an end. Unlike every other year, the end of this summer marked both their departures. In less than two weeks, they’d both be headed off to college. While Richie would be staying in Maine to go to the University of New England in Biddeford, Dani was headed to Boston University in Massachusetts. It wasn’t just the end of their time; the rest of their group of friends would also be splintering off, some to other schools, some staying home. They had all worked at the motel in one form or another.

      Richie looked up, smiling. The way he opened a water bottle and wrapped his lips around it had Dani swooning. Her body flushed at the sight. He shut off the machine and pulled out his phone. Dani giggled when her phone went off seconds later. She grabbed her cell off the table and returned to the window as she read the text.

      The ten-day countdown begins tonight at my house. Eight o’clock. Be there!

      At the end of every summer they had a set routine. The last days of summer were to be celebrated as they prepared for the off-season. These last moments would be bittersweet, knowing that it would be a long time before they’d all be together again next summer.

      Dani gave him two thumbs up. Richie laughed, slipping his phone back in the pocket. It still amazed her that he’d never had a girlfriend, but then again, she’d never had a boyfriend. They’d always hung together when they were out as a group. There was an easiness to their friendship that even she couldn’t explain. Neither of them thought twice about the way they’d snuggle on the couch sharing popcorn when they watched TV.

      She’d secretly had a crush on him when his family first arrived. Now she resigned herself to the fact that he just didn’t see her as anything more than a BFF. If he had, she would’ve known by now.

      Richie started the machine up again and continued his work. Dani didn’t leave the window until he’d rounded the corner, heading toward the front lawn. She needed to get ready to do her own chores anyway. The motel wouldn’t close itself up, with just ten days left until Labor Day; there was a lot of work to do.

      Once she reached the bathroom, she brushed and knotted her long, chestnut-brown hair in a white scrunchie on top of her head. She knew she’d need to shower before the party after getting all sweaty at work, so she didn’t bother with it now. Brushing her teeth, she reveled in the feel of them without her braces, which had been removed just last year. She opted for very little makeup: just a little black eyeliner around her gray-blue eyes, a touch of matching mascara, and pink lip gloss.

      Move it, Dani, her mother called up the stairs.

      She headed back to her bedroom, grabbing her usual uniform: a white T-shirt, black shorts, white ankle socks, and sneakers. Everyone who worked at the motel wore the same uniform. After dressing quickly, she rushed downstairs. If she didn’t hurry, she’d miss the continental breakfast and the chance to talk to Christian Lander.

      She and Christian had been friends since they were five. Like Dani, his family also had always lived on the beach. The first time she’d seen him in kindergarten, she’d giggled at his blond mohawk. Of course, now he no longer wore his hair that way, instead opting for a longer, shaggier look that often fell into his amber eyes. At the end of the summer, he would be flying off to Colorado for school.

      I’m off, Mom, Dani called over her shoulder from the doorway.

      I’ll be there in a minute, too.

      Throwing the door open, she headed down the stairs and across the parking lot. Their house sat on the same lot as the motel, but the properties were divided by the driveway. The hot August air washed over her skin, carrying the scent

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