Lucky. Jennifer Greene

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      Praise for the work of USA TODAY bestselling author Jennifer Greene

      “A book by Jennifer Greene hums with an unbeatable combination of sexual chemistry and heartwarming emotion.”

      —New York Times bestselling author

       Susan Elizabeth Phillips

      “Jennifer Greene’s writing possesses a modern sensibility and frankness that is vivid, fresh, and often funny.”

      —Publishers Weekly on The Woman Most Likely To

      “Combining expertly crafted characters with lovely prose flavored with sassy wit, Greene constructs a superb tale of love lost and found, dreams discarded and rediscovered, and the importance of family and friendship…”

      —Booklist on Where Is He Now?

      “A spellbinding storyteller of uncommon brilliance, the fabulous Jennifer Greene is one of the romance genre’s greatest gifts to the world of popular fiction.”

      —Romantic Times magazine

      “Ms. Greene lavishes her talents on every book she writes.”

      —Rendezvous

      Jennifer Greene

      Jennifer Greene sold her first novel when she had two babies in diapers. Since then, she’s become the award-winning, bestselling author of more than seventy novels. She’s known for her warm, natural characters and humor that comes from the heart. Reviewers call her love stories “unforgettable.” You can write Jennifer through her Web site at www.jennifergreene.com.

       Lucky

      Jennifer Greene

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

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      Foreword

      This book is in no way a true story…except for one part. Years ago, someone I love dearly had a baby born with special problems—and who was misdiagnosed. The original prognosis for that baby was so dire that it seemed impossible to believe the baby had any kind of future. Yet that prognosis was wrong.

      The story nestled in my heart for years until I had to write a book about it. It wasn’t just the baby that captured my heart. It was the crisis thrown at the parents. We all seem to grow up, very sure what’s right and wrong, very sure what we’d do if we were tested. Yet life can throw us a curveball that throws everything we believe right out the window.

      I write romance because I truly believe that love has power—I gave my heroine that massive “curveball” in this story, because I think women can especially understand it.

      Perhaps you’ve never had a problem remotely like the situation in the story. But I’ll bet you all grew up, aspiring to be good women, striving to do the right thing, intending to play by the rules. We’re raised with an unspoken promise that things will turn out fine as long as we’re “good girls.” Only life doesn’t always keep that promise.

      It’s so hard to break the rules and risk all the things that make you safe. It’s so hard to find yourself alone, bucking the tide, when all you ever wanted was to be a good person and stay out of trouble.

      It’s so hard to be more than you ever thought you could be.

      This one’s for you, ladies.

      Jennifer Greene

      For STEPHANIE

      No, sweetheart, this isn’t about you, because

      I only write about pretend people. But I did

      write it because I love you, and because

      sometimes we all need someone to believe in us.

      CONTENTS

      PROLOGUE

      CHAPTER 1

      CHAPTER 2

      CHAPTER 3

      CHAPTER 4

      CHAPTER 5

      CHAPTER 6

      CHAPTER 7

      CHAPTER 8

      CHAPTER 9

      CHAPTER 10

      CHAPTER 11

      CHAPTER 12

      CHAPTER 13

      CHAPTER 14

      PROLOGUE

       D amned if her hands weren’t shaking.

      Kasey sighed in exasperation. A year ago, she could never have imagined this moment—but then, a year ago, she’d believed she was the luckiest woman alive.

      Thunder grumbled in the west as she hurried into the baby’s dark bedroom. Tess was lying in her crib, gnawing on a teething ring, wearing nothing but a diaper. Michigan in August was often hot, but this intense, smothering heat just kept coming. Normally Tess would have long been asleep by now, but the looming storm must have wakened her.

      Curtains billowed wildly in the hot, nervous wind. Clouds hurtled across the sky, bringing pitchforks of sterling-silver lightning and a hiss of ozone. When the first fat raindrops smacked against the windows, lights flickered on and off—not that Kasey cared. She wasn’t worried whether the house lost power. She was worried whether she might.

      She was born gutless. Pulling enough courage together to leave tonight was taking everything she had, everything she was—and she was still afraid that might not be enough.

      “But you’re up for a little adventure, aren’t you, love bug?”

      The baby kicked joyfully at the sound of her mother’s voice.

      “That’s it. We’re just going to be calm and quiet, okay?” Well, one of them was. The baby softly babbled as Kasey swiftly changed her diaper and threaded on a lightweight sleeper.

      A short time before, she’d stashed suitcases in the back of the Volvo, but she couldn’t leave quite yet. Quickly she packed a last bag with critical items—not diapers or clothes or money—but the things that mattered, like the jewel-colored mobile, the handmade quilt, and of course, the red velvet ball.

      She juggled Tess and the bag, taking the back stairs, her heart slamming so hard she could hardly think. She grabbed rain gear on the way out. The garage was darker than a dungeon, yet Tess—who should have been tired enough to pull off a good, cranky tantrum—settled contentedly in her car seat. Kasey tossed in the rest of their debris and plunked down in the front.

      It bit, taking the six-year-old Volvo. It wasn’t a car she’d paid for. It wasn’t a car she’d chosen. But compared to the new Mercedes and the sleek black Lotus and the Lexus SUV, it was the cheapest vehicle in the fleet, and God knew, the Volvo was built like a tanker.

      A sturdy