The Last Honest Man. Lynnette Kent

      

      Engaged to be married?

      Phoebe squeezed her eyes shut, wishing, hoping, praying to disappear. Somebody was going to look very foolish in the next minute or two. Most likely, that somebody would be her.

      “Phoebe,” Tommy said, “why don’t you come on up and let us introduce you to the good people of New Skye?”

      She opened her eyes and looked for Adam, who had left the speaker’s stand and moved nearer to where she stood. Holding out his hand, he waited for her to join him. He had decided to go along with Tommy’s lie.

      If she protested, denied the engagement, Adam’s campaign would end today, this minute, his credibility with the voters destroyed.

      “Phoebe?” Adam’s voice came to her…a question, a plea.

      She couldn’t resist.

      Turning to the crowd, he held her close to him with one arm and waved with the other, grinning wildly.

      Tommy announced, “The future Mrs. Adam DeVries.”

      To Phoebe, the words sounded like the clang of a heavy iron door…the door to her new prison cell.

      Dear Reader,

      Often, writers will say that their characters “talk” to them. I’ve been known to sit my characters in a comfortable (if imaginary) chair and treat them as a psychotherapist might, asking leading questions and saying, over and over again, “How did you feel about that?”

      With this particular book, I had more trouble than usual interviewing the hero. Adam DeVries doesn’t talk much. When he does, he says as little as possible…because Adam stutters. No amount of coaxing can get him to ramble on about his childhood, his background, his family. He doesn’t want to discuss his failures or his successes—he simply wants to get things done. Adam is a decent, honorable man who puts himself on the line for his beliefs. Though he’s the last person you would expect to enter politics, with its endless campaigning and public speaking, that’s what his ideals lead him to do. Sometimes the only way to conquer your weakness is to face it head-on.

      And sometimes you need a little help with that task. Phoebe Moss loves to help, which is why she became a speech therapist in the first place. Adam’s goal, and his gallantry, involve her deeply in his campaign, in his life. These two ride into battle very much like knights-errant in the old, old days, only to discover that the fight ahead may require more sacrifice than either of them can bear.

      The Last Honest Man is the third book in my AT THE CAROLINA DINER series for Harlequin Superromance. I hope you enjoy Adam and Phoebe’s story, and that you’ll let me know what you think.

      Happy reading!

      Lynnette Kent

      PMB 304

      Westwood Shopping Center

      Fayetteville, NC 28314

      or lynnettekent.com

      The Last Honest Man

      Lynnette Kent

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      To Laura,

      with admiration

      and gratitude

      CAST OF CHARACTERS

      Adam DeVries: Mayoral candidate and owner of DeVries Construction

      Phoebe Moss: A speech therapist

      Cynthia DeVries: Adam’s mother

      Preston DeVries: Adam’s father

      L. T. LaRue: A corrupt businessman

      Curtis Tate: The mayor of New Skye

      Kellie Tate: The mayor’s wife

      Tommy Crawford: Adam’s campaign manager

      Samantha Pettit: Reporter for the New Skye News

      Dixon Bell: A songwriter and friend of Adam’s

      Kate Bowdrey: Dixon’s fiancée

      Charlie Brannon: Owner of Charlie’s Carolina Diner

      Abby Brannon: Charlie’s daughter, who keeps the diner running

      Jacquie Archer: A farrier, Phoebe’s neighbor

      Erin Archer: Jacquie’s daughter

      Teresa DeVries: Adam’s sister

      Tim DeVries: Adam’s brother

      Jenna Franklin: Phoebe’s business partner

      Pete Mitchell: A state trooper and Adam’s friend

      Mary Rose Mitchell: Pete Mitchell’s wife

      CONTENTS

      PROLOGUE

      CHAPTER ONE

      CHAPTER TWO

      CHAPTER THREE

      CHAPTER FOUR

      CHAPTER FIVE

      CHAPTER SIX

      CHAPTER SEVEN

      CHAPTER EIGHT

      CHAPTER NINE

      CHAPTER TEN

      CHAPTER ELEVEN

      CHAPTER TWELVE

      CHAPTER THIRTEEN

      CHAPTER FOURTEEN

      CHAPTER FIFTEEN

      CHAPTER SIXTEEN

      CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

      PROLOGUE

      HEADED DOWNTOWN ON A SWEET May morning, Adam DeVries whistled as he waited through the stoplight at the top of the hill, enjoying the warm breeze that reached inside the open window to ruffle his hair.

      One second—one classic double take—later, his world started spinning in the opposite direction.

      He let his jaw drop as he stared at the ravaged parcel of land to his left across the street. All the newly leafed trees he expected to see there had vanished, not to mention every last blade of spring-green grass. And the old stone chimney, a landmark of sorts, was gone.

      The traffic signal above his truck turned green, red again, then green, and a honk from behind prompted him to get out of the way. Adam swung left at the next corner, wheeled into the first driveway he came to and backed out just as fast. He paid lip service to a stop sign, pulled out onto Main Street and headed up the hill. Approaching the traffic light from the other direction, he turned right on red and screeched to a stop beside the razed lot. Once out of his truck, he strode around the front end but then pulled up short, his stomach constricting and his knees suddenly weak. The sight before him was even worse than he’d imagined.

      One of the most beautiful pieces of land in all of New Skye, North Carolina, had been reduced to an ugly square of brown dirt, pitted and peaked by truck tires and bull-dozer treads. A two-legged wooden sign lay flat on the ground, informing those who stood over it that this site had been rezoned for commercial use. Coming soon was a Speedy Spot convenience store and gas station, built by LaRue Construction.

      Adam swore loud and long. Then he mourned.

      Mourned for the childhood hours he’d spent here under the magnolias and poplars and oaks, some of them more than a hundred years old. When the 1880s house on the site burned down in the 1950s, the Brewer family had moved to a newer, safer home, but they’d cleaned up the lot, leaving the sturdy chimney standing among the trees. All the years since, they’d kept the weeds and grass mown for kids—like Adam and his brother and sister and his