Summer on Main Street Read online

  Summer On Main Street

  Six Sizzling Small Town Romances

  By

  Crista McHugh

  Liz Kelly

  MJ Fredrick

  Allie Boniface

  Rebecca J. Clark

  Cerian Hebert

  Published by Midnight Cat Press

  ©Copyright 2015 Midnight Cat Press

  Cover design by Jaycee DeLorenzo

  ISBN: 978-1-940559-63-6

  All rights reserved. No part of these books may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems—except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews—without permission in writing from the particular author.

  These books are works of fiction. The characters, events and places portrayed in them are products of the authors’ imaginations and are either fictitious or are used fictitiously. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and not intended by the authors.

  TELL ME TRUE, by NYT Bestselling Author Crista McHugh. Welcome to Jackson Grove, Alabama, where some pre-wedding shenanigans provide the perfect opportunity to unite two victims of unrequited love, Hunter and Chelsea. Some Cupid kills with arrows, some with traps… or perhaps in this case, a skunk.

  GOOD COP by USA Today Bestselling Author Liz Kelly. When two best friends enlist a pony-tailed firecracker to help shake up their good cop/bad cop images, fireworks ignite. One steamy romance, plus a very funny bromance, equals lots of laughs and a helluva love triangle.

  THE LOVE I WANT TO BE IN, by MJ Fredrick. Single mother Brioney Mayburn has learned about responsibility the hard way, working as a maid in the motel in the small beach town of Avalon Island, Texas and looking after her younger brother. Local jack-of-all-trades Blue Maddox has loved Brioney forever, but she won’t look past his surfer-boy persona to see the love he has to offer.

  THE PROMISE OF PARADISE by USA Today Bestselling Author Allie Boniface. Take one rich girl from Boston who’s fleeing a family scandal, send her straight into the arms of a sexy local mechanic, and watch what happens when the two end up sharing a rental home for one hot summer. Bonus New Companion Novella exclusive to this set: AFTER PARADISE continues this story after its original ending. Find out what happens next to your favorite secondary characters!

  LEAD-OFF BRIDE, by USA Today Bestselling Author Rebecca J. Clark. Demoted to the minor leagues in Twin Rivers, Washington, to rehab a career-threatening injury, Jack McCauley doesn’t have time to focus on anything other than baseball because that’s all he knows, and all he is. So running into an old flame and learning he has a daughter he never knew about has Jack crying foul.

  LIGHT THE WAY HOME by Cerian Hebert. Torn between the home she loves and the man she’s falling in love with, Hayden must decide which one she will leave behind. Hayden Merrick has one thing in mind when she arrives in South Dakota. To meet her grandmother for the first time, then return to the life she loves on the Maine coast. She doesn't expect to discover the truth behind her mother's departure from South Dakota, find the father who abandoned her or a man who could prove to be the love of her life. As soon as Ben Winslow meets Hayden, he believes she could be the woman he's always hoped for. First he has to convince her she could love the prairie as much as the ocean.

  Table of Contents

  Tell Me True

  Good Cop

  The Love I Want To Be In

  The Promise of Paradise

  Lead-Off Bride

  Light The Way Home

  Tell Me True

  Jackson Grove, Book 0.5

  by

  Crista McHugh

  Some Cupid kills with arrows…

  Hunter McLemore has been in love with Chelsea Warner from the moment he met her at a party during their freshman year of college, but she’s always interpreted his tongue-tied silence for hatred.

  …Some with traps.

  It takes the wedding between two of their friends to finally bring them together. Well, that and some hijinks courtesy of the other members of the wedding party (skunk not included).

  Chapter One

  “Sweet Jesus,” the waitress at the Sugar Belle Café gasped while still refilling Chelsea’s glass of iced tea, “save me from the sin that just walked in.”

  The glass overflowed, but that didn’t stop Chelsea from craning her neck to see who’d distracted the waitress. The moment she did, her heart skidded to a hollow thud.

  Hunter McLemore.

  Talk about a blast from the past. The last time she’d seen him, he was throwing her into a frat house pool during a graduation party, and not because he thought it would be fun.

  He met her gaze with those piercing green eyes, and her pulse picked back up to an unsteady jackhammering. With his dark hair and chiseled features, she could see why the waitress went into stunned awe when he came in. If she didn’t know him better, she might’ve reacted the same way.

  She wiped her damp palms on her skirt before tearing away from him to ask, “What’s he doing here, Lisa?”

  Her best friend paused from helping the waitress clean up the mess and furrowed her brows as though she knew nothing of Chelsea’s history with him. “What do you mean?”

  He started walking toward them, and she fought the urge to slide under the table. It was too late, anyway. He’d already seen them, and her pride refused to show him how much he still unnerved her.

  Hunter leaned over to place a kiss on Lisa’s cheek. “How’s the bride-to-be?”

  “Impatient.” She grinned up at him. “Bubba and I have been dating for almost ten years now. It’s about time he made me his wife.”

  “Yes, no more living in sin for you,” he teased with a wag of his finger before turning his attention to the other side of the table and instantly stiffening. “Chelsea.”

  “Hunter,” she replied with a healthy dose of syrupy Southern sweetness that usually equated to a polite piss-off.

  He stared at her long enough to make her wonder if she had a huge leaf of spinach stuck in her teeth. After several agonizing seconds, he exhaled, the tightness waning from his shoulders, and turned back to Lisa. “Speaking of Bubba, where is he?”

  “Over at Alex’s garage with J.T. She just finished building an engine for that ’57 Chevy, and those boys are drooling over it.”

  “Sounds like I need to check it out.”

  Chelsea fought back a condescending laugh. Hunter had never shown any interest in getting his hands dirty or playing with power tools. He’d probably freak out if he got a fleck of grease on his immaculate designer duds.

  His gaze flickered to her one more time before he took a step back from their booth and left.

  As soon as the bell on the café door signaled his departure, Chelsea reached across the table and grabbed Lisa’s arm. “Why didn’t you tell me he was coming to the wedding?”

  “Because I knew you wouldn’t come if I did.” Lisa twisted her arm free and loaded her fork up with the smoky-sweet greens the café was famous for. “Besides, he’s one of Bubba’s best friends. We couldn’t exclude him from the wedding party.”

  “The wedding party?” The salad she’d just finished for lunch churned inside her stomach like bad takeout. “He’s one of the groomsmen?”

  Lisa nodded, a hint of a wicked smile playing on her lips before she ate the forkful of greens.

  Chelsea slumped back in the booth and curled her hands into fists so she wouldn’t be tempted to chew on her nails. The wedding was five days away, which meant she’d have to endure five days of Mr. I’ve Got A Stick Up My Ass. “If I didn’t love you like a sister, I’d be tempted to resign from my bridesmaid’s duties.”

  “Because of him?�
�

  “Do you remember how he was in college?” Indignation stiffened her spine, and she sat back up. “He hates me. He thinks he’s too good to be in the same room with me. He barely spoke to me when we all hung out together and always wanted to be as far away from me as he could get. And when I finally called him out on it on graduation night, he threw me in the pool.”

  Lisa covered her mouth with a napkin to keep from laughing with her mouth full. “That was priceless.”

  “Yeah, maybe for you.” Chelsea crossed her arms and blew her bangs out of her face. “What if he does it again during your wedding?”

  “Oh, I doubt he’ll do that. We’re all a little older and wiser now.” Lisa took a sip of her iced tea. “He looks good, though. A lot better than most of the guys I see fresh out of med school.”

  “His daddy probably paid for him to have an easy go of it, just like everything else.” Hunter’s father was a renowned orthopedic surgeon who was the go-to guy for elite athletes, and the boy never had to work hard for anything in his life. College scholarship? Check. Pledging to the frat of his choice? Check. Admission to any med school in the US? Check. And all due to his daddy’s fame and money.

  Lisa puckered her lips and set her glass down. “I don’t think that’s fair of you to say that, especially after all you went through with your father.”

  Chelsea inwardly winced at the mention of her own father and the scandal he’d caused during her sophomore year. “It’s the truth, though.”

  “Some people would think that if they didn’t know him, but Bubba and I do, and nothing’s further from the truth. If anything, Hunter wanted to step as far away from his father’s shadow as he could.”

  “That still doesn’t change the fact that he’s an arrogant prick.” Chelsea was digging through her purse for enough money to cover her check when another nauseating revelation hit her. “Shit. I’m going to be paired up with him for the wedding, aren’t I?”

  “Well, J.T.’s the best man, and Alex is my maid of honor.”

  She cursed again. “Any chance you two could add another set to the wedding party so I can switch places with someone he doesn’t hate?”

  Lisa shook her head. “This wedding is getting pricey enough, especially considering how much Bubba and I paid to finish our house. We’re all about keeping it small and intimate.”

  Too bad they couldn’t shave Hunter off from the wedding party and make it even smaller.

  Chelsea tossed a few bills on the table and slid out of the booth. “Ready to pick up the dresses?”

  “Yep.” Lisa guzzled the rest of her tea and waved good-bye to the staff of the café before leading the way out.

  Just five days, Chelsea repeated in her mind like some meditative mantra. I can make it through the next five days.

  And then she could tell Hunter McLemore to go to hell.

  ***

  Hunter peered out of the garage windows at the two women leaving the café across the street. The familiar tongue-thickening awkwardness revived the moment he saw Chelsea Warner. He thought that after four years of going their separate ways, he’d be able to move past it. He’d gone to med school and graduated at the top of his class. He was scheduled to start one of the best orthopedic surgery residencies in the country in a few weeks. He’d even spoken at a national medical assembly about a new form of joint replacement he had helped develop.

  But the second he spotted a certain leggy blonde, it took all the strength he could muster just to say her name.

  Even watching her from a distance, he suffered the uncharacteristic loss for words. His breath caught as the sun glistened off her golden hair and sun-tanned legs, and he forced himself to exhale. He had no problem talking to other attractive women. Lisa, Alex—they both had him relaxed and laughing within seconds. It was only when Chelsea entered the room that his entire body coiled with tension.

  A hand slapped his shoulder, and he turned around to find Douglas Allen Grant III—a.k.a. Bubba—standing behind him. “Whatcha looking at?”

  “The girls.” He nodded toward the car Lisa and Chelsea were climbing into. “Where are they going?”

  “Birmingham, to get the dresses,” Alex answered from under the hood of a bright green 1957 Chevrolet pick-up truck. “And I thanked them profusely for not dragging me with them.”

  Hunter laughed. Alex had always been one of the guys, more happy watching football and working on cars than going shopping and getting her nails done. “You mean you’re actually going to wear a dress?”

  Her mouth quirked into a pained smile. “I suppose I’ll have to, but only because Lisa’s been my best friend as long as I can remember.”

  “We’ll take pictures to mark the occasion,” J.T. teased and ducked out of her way as she tried to swat him with a dirty grease cloth.

  At least that meant he’d have a few hours to come up with a game plan on what to do about Chelsea. When he’d come to the small town of Jackson Grove, Alabama, he never expected to run into her. He rubbed the scar on his chin and turned away. “So, is she part of the wedding party, too?”

  “Yep,” Bubba replied with a mischievous grin. “And I’m willing to make a little wager on you two.”

  Hunter laughed again, but this time, it came out tight and forced. “What? That I’ll end up sending her into another hissy fit before the end of the reception?”

  “I’ll put money on that one,” J.T. said, raising his hand. “Hell, I’ll even wager that you’ll end up tossing her into the lake by then.”

  “I’ll second that wager,” Alex added.

  But Bubba kept grinning like the cat who ate the canary, and for good cause. Out of all the people in the garage, he was the only one who knew the real reason Hunter couldn’t string together two words in Chelsea’s presence. “I was thinking more along the lines of you growing a pair and telling her the truth.”

  Alex popped up from under the hood. “Oh, this just got interesting.”

  Hunter ran his finger along his collar and silently cursed Bubba’s audacity. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Bullshit.” Bubba turned his attention to the others and jerked his thumb back at Hunter. “It seems the doc here still isn’t over his little crush.”

  “Now that’s the bullshit.” He crossed his arms and fixed a wry smile on his face. “That was freshman year—ancient history.”

  “Then prove it.” Bubba came toward him, flanked by the other two. “I dare you to have a conversation with her without clamming up like you usually do.”

  Sweat prickled the back of his neck. It was one thing to lie and say she didn’t affect him the same way she had the moment he first met her at a frat party. Golden, confident, flirtatious—she was everything a teenage guy could dream about, only he’d met her in the flesh. And he’d hoped he would grow out of it as the years went on, but if his reaction to her in the café was any indication, he still suffered from a case of tongue-tied awe when it came to her. “I have nothing to say to her.”

  “Uh-huh.” Bubba nodded once, but the expression on his face was still calling him a liar. “Now, if y’all will excuse us, I’d better be getting Hunter settled in before the girls get back, and by settled in, I mean slap-ass drunk.”

  “I’d love to swing by, but Aaron called in sick, so I’ll be on patrol.” J.T. pointed at Hunter and Bubba, looking every inch the small-town policeman he’d become since leaving the Army a few months ago. “And I don’t want to hear about either of you behind the wheel tonight, got it?”

  “Yes, Lieutenant,” Hunter replied, glad the conversation had shifted from him and Chelsea.

  “I might swing by later.” Alex went back to the truck. “I just want to finish installing this turbocharger tonight.”

  “Yeah, yeah, we all know you’d rather spend the night here with an engine block than hanging out with your friends.”

  “I can see you guys anytime.” Alex reached behind her for a socket wrench. “I figured you’d want some time t
o catch up with Hunter, anyway.”

  And possibly goad me some more about Chelsea.

  Bubba still wore that smug grin. “Yeah, there are a few things I’d love to discuss.”

  Shit.

  “Just don’t make any plans for Friday night.” J.T. came over and threw his arm around Hunter’s shoulders. “I’ve planned a bachelor party this town won’t soon forget.”

  Hunter laughed, the last traces of his unease melting away. This was what he’d been looking forward to from the moment Bubba had called him and asked him to be a groomsman. “If they’re anything like the parties you threw in college, we’ll need to set aside some money to bail the groom out.”

  J.T. placed a hand over his heart, the gesture coinciding with a look of false shock. “You wound me. Besides, even if he does get arrested, I have a back-up plan in place.”

  “Yeah,” Alex said from under the hood, “it’s called using your connections to get him out of trouble.”

  “At least there’s one good thing about my daddy being the police chief.” J.T. wandered back to the truck. “Have fun getting settled in and call me when Hunter dumps Chelsea in the lake so I can collect my winnings.”

  Hunter chuckled and followed Bubba out the door. With the way things had gone in the café, J.T. might have the advantage in the wager. He doubted he’d be able to muster up a complete sentence without choking when it came to Chelsea, much less an entire conversation.

  “You’re still driving that piece of shit?” Bubba asked, pointing to the dusty and dented 2000 Dodge Durango across the street.

  “Broke med student.”

  “Not any more, Doc.”

  “Okay, broke resident now,” Hunter replied with a grin. It wasn’t that he couldn’t afford a new car. His father had even offered to buy him one for graduation. But he had too many fond memories attached to the SUV. “I’ll drive it into the ground before upgrading.”