The Older Woman. Cheryl Reavis

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       Man, Nurse Meehan cleaned up good.

      In all his years in the army, Cal had never gotten used to the way some women could pull that off—looking one way all the time until you more or less forgot they were even female—and then doing whatever it was they did to end up looking like this.

      Meehan was wearing a dress. He’d never seen her in a dress. It was colorful, flowery, kind of floaty and thin.

      Her shoulders were bare, except for the little straps, and soft looking, smooth, touchable. He could imagine how good they’d feel if he ran his hands over them.

      Don’t go there! he thought.

      One of the little straps dropped off her shoulder.

      Take it easy, Cal!

      This was Nurse Meehan here—and he was acting as if she was a real woman or something….

      Dear Reader,

      Instead of writing your resolutions, I have the perfect way to begin the new year—read this month’s spectacular selection of Silhouette Special Edition romances! These exciting books will put a song in your heart, starting with another installment of our very popular MONTANA MAVERICKS series—In Love With Her Boss by the stellar Christie Ridgway. Christie vows this year to “appreciate the time I have with my husband and sons and appreciate them for the unique people they are.”

      Lindsay McKenna brings us a thrilling story from her MORGAN’S MERCENARIES: DESTINY’S WOMEN series with Woman of Innocence, in which an adventure-seeking beauty meets up with the legendary—and breathtaking—mercenary of her dreams! The excitement continues with Victoria Pade’s next tale, On Pins and Needles, in her A RANCHING FAMILY series. Here, a skeptical sheriff falls for a lovely acupuncturist who finds the wonder cure for all his doubts—her love!

      And what does a small-town schoolteacher do when she finds a baby on her doorstep? Find out in Nikki Benjamin’s heartwarming reunion romance Rookie Cop. A love story you’re sure to savor is The Older Woman by Cheryl Reavis, in which a paratrooper captain falls head over heels for the tough-talking nurse living next door. This year, Cheryl wants to “stop and smell the roses.” I also recommend Lisette Belisle’s latest marriage-of-convenience story, The Wedding Bargain, in which an inheritance—and two hearts—are at stake! Lisette believes that the new year means “a fresh start, and vows to meet each new day with renewed faith, energy and a sense of humor.”

      I’m pleased to celebrate with you the beginning of a brand-new year. May you also stop to smell the roses, and find many treasures in Silhouette Special Edition the whole year through!

      Enjoy!

      Karen Taylor Richman

      Senior Editor

      The Older Woman

      Cheryl Reavis

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      In memory of Milly, the only pogo cello player I’ve ever known and the best, one-nurse sales force a romance writer ever had. Miss you, girl!

       CHERYL REAVIS,

      award-winning short-story author and romance novelist who also writes under the name of Cinda Richards, describes herself as a “late bloomer” who played in her first piano recital at the tender age of thirty. “We had to line up by height—I was the third smallest kid,” she says. “After that, there was no stopping me. I immediately gave myself permission to attempt my other heart’s desire—to write.” Her Silhouette Special Edition novel A Crime of the Heart reached millions of readers in Good Housekeeping magazine. Both A Crime of the Heart and Patrick Gallagher’s Widow won the Romance Writers of America’s coveted RITA Award for Best Contemporary Series Romance the year they were published. One of Our Own received the Career Achievement Award for Best Innovative Series Romance from Romantic Times Magazine. A former public health nurse, Cheryl makes her home in North Carolina with her husband.

      Dear Reader,

      Writers are often asked where they get their ideas. The best answer I’ve heard to this question is that we don’t get ideas—ideas get us. That was very much the case regarding The Older Woman.

      Naturally, as a romance writer, I was already interested in creating stories about love conquering all, but this time I wanted a somewhat different approach. I wanted to do a “hero’s journey.” I have long since learned that heroes are where you find them—sometimes in the most unlikely places and often in a supporting role in a previous book. They are “ideas” that appear from out of nowhere, plant themselves firmly in a writer’s creative process and refuse to go away.

      I knew early on that Calvin “Bugs” Doyle had the makings of the kind of hero I wanted to write about. I also knew that just any woman wouldn’t do for him. If his journey was to be truly arduous, then there had to be serious obstacles to their relationship. It wasn’t enough for her to be “unattainable” because of the difference in their ages. She had to be as heroic as he was. She had to have made her own journey, so that she could understand his fears on a very personal level. She had to be every bit the survivor that he was.

      I admire survivors. I believe in love. And I’m happiest when I’m telling the story of two people who couldn’t be more mismatched, but who find in each other more than they ever dared hope.

      My hope is that you will enjoy The Older Woman.

      Sincerely,

      Contents

      Chapter One

      Chapter Two

      Chapter Three

      Chapter Four

      Chapter Five

      Chapter Six

      Chapter Seven

      Chapter Eight

      Chapter Nine

      Chapter Ten

      Chapter Eleven

      Chapter Twelve

      Epilogue

       Chapter One

       “H appy is the bride the sun shines on.”

      Specialist 4 Calvin “Bugs” Doyle sat staring out the second-story window. There had been no sun today, and it was still raining, a relentless kind of drumming on the roof that left him no room for anything but feeling sorry for himself.

      The melancholy had come down on him all at once and without warning. He hadn’t expected it. He’d been significantly discouraged for weeks, of course. Months, even—but it was nothing compared to the sadness he was feeling now. Man, did he want to go somewhere and cry in his beer. If he’d been able, he would have been in some off-limits dive right this minute, knocking back a few and wallowing in the whiny lyrics of a good old country-western song. And when he had enough of a buzz on, no doubt he would have joined right in, singing his sorry heart out—probably over the very vocal protests of his fellow patrons until he eventually got tossed out the door.

      It wasn’t as if he didn’t know the wedding was going to happen. What with the bride’s misgivings and the groom’s perpetual physical rehabilitation, the actual ceremony had been a long time coming. So long that he’d been recruited to help plan the damned thing. The problem here wasn’t that he was uninformed. The problem was did he or didn’t he still have it bad for Rita Warren?

      He must, he finally decided, because he’d made the considerable effort it took to get himself to the church, just so he could watch her get married to another man. He must, because he’d made a point of not saying or doing anything stupid the whole time he was there. He must, because the bottom line here was that he really did