Love at Otter's Holt

Kendra Chance was the ugly duckling No one saw until Joshua Devers whispered in her ear He had a thing for ducklings.

It was the wedding of the year, and Kendra Chance was chosen as a bridesmaid because everyone else was busy. The newly appointed town librarian Kendraprefers to observe and assist never to be in the spotlight. When they needed a bridesmaid, she said yes.. reluctantly. When they told her, it would be with one of the most eligible rich bachelors she started looking for a way out.Joshua Devers was rich and available if he could find a woman who wanted to getto know him and not his money. He knew knowing him wasn’t easy because he wasspoiled but for once he’d like a woman who gave the man a try. Then he met Kendra who told him on day one I don’t want to be with you and I think you should walk away or I should say I can’t do this. He was intrigued, insulted and hooked. While the wedding of the year may be going on Joshua was pretty sure he had foundthe woman of his dreams. He just needed to convince her he wasn’t as shallow as heappeared. Kendra had found a knight in shining armor but discovered the armorwas fake, the smile was practiced, and he did it to protect a heart that had been hurt one too many times.

Can these two see beneath the surface and learn to trust they know love when it comes. Grab your copy today!

Chapter
One

Kendra
had never been so bold in her life.

She
had met Joshua Devers at the house before. Okay, the truth was, everyone had
met Joshua Devers before. It was hard not to know the hometown up-and-coming
movie star. Joshua Devers had played in small parts, but everyone knew he was
going to be big. He had that small-town look that every movie was looking for.
In Inheritance Bay, he was a star no matter where his career took him. He had
won a contest and traveled the world. But, more importantly, Joshua Devers, twenty-year-old
star on the rise, met nineteen-year-old Kendra Chance in their secret spot. It
was on a bank in the woods that overlooked an Otter’s Holt. It was off track of
the tourist path and allowed them to get a little closer to the bank to see the
Otters coming out of their home.

Kendra
and Josh talked online for weeks and did Skype calls when they could. She was
surprised by how much they had in common. Most of all, she was surprised that
Joshua Devers, who could be with anyone, wanted to be with her. Her grandmother
Patti told her she was a hidden beauty. Right now, her features were too big
for her face, but when she got older, she would bring young men to their knees.
Kendra understood love colored Gran’s eyes. Let’s face it; she was too tall at
five-foot-ten. Her head was small, and her large oval eyes made her look like a
lemur or some night animal with really big eyes. All that was put together with
a lankiness that made her wonder if she would ever see a curve in her lifetime.

Nope,
Gran was looking through the love lens. Kendra tried not to even speak to her
honey-toned skin that was always peppered with acne. If she was a hidden beauty,
it was hidden way, deep deep down. Joshua clearly somehow saw something in her
that made them closer than close.

He
was the one. Her friend Grace thought she had found the one almost every month,
but Joshua was the one for Kendra. He was in town today, and she had avoided
all the places he made stops at. Then she had gotten a text for them to meet at
the Holt. She didn’t know what to do. She was going to break some rules today.

She
put on a dress. Thank goodness she went to church, otherwise she wouldn’t even
have one of those. Her hair. Yes, the other beautiful thing that hadn’t
manifested. It was a curly mess. She dragged a brush through it and then
braided it in one single braid. She looked at herself in the mirror. A single
braid that fell down her back and a green dress fell mid-calf. She hoped she
didn’t look foolish.

The
message said to meet at four. It would be perfect. The otters would be coming
home. They’d look at them like old times, before he went to the city, and she’d
tell him that she loved him. Her grandmother said there was no shame in saying
I love you as long as you’re not doing any loving until you say I love you in
the church.

The
day was bright and everything was perfect. Kendra felt the excitement coursing
through her body. This would be a big step for them both. It would be a day
they’d never forget and would tell their children about it. She smiled to
herself when she thought about the years she would spend with Joshua. They
would have to work on his career and how she would stay out of it. She didn’t
want to stop what he loved. She just wanted a small part for herself.

She
was standing on the bank looking at the holt. 
She remembered the first time she had told Joshua that an otter home is
called a holt, and he had thought she’d said hut. She shook her head at the
memory.

“That’s
the way I like to see my girl, with a smile on her face,” Joshua said as he
walked onto the bank.

He
had called her his girl. The words seeped into her being, and she held on to
them like precious gold. Kendra didn’t really like him all slicked up for the
movies. He had on jeans that she thought were too tight and a white shirt that
was open at the top.

“Do
they not know your pant size?  Did you
lose the button on the shirt?” she asked.

Joshua
laughed. “No, I didn’t lose a button, and they bought the right size. This is
what they are wearing in the city. I thought you’re supposed to tell me I look
great,” he said with a smirk as he held out his hand.

She
placed her hands in his and the world fell away. The heat flowed from his hand
to her.

“No,
I’m not supposed to tell you anything but the truth. That’s what we promised.
We don’t have to like it, but we tell each other the truth.”

He
smiled at her and nodded. “True, and the truth is you look amazing in that
dress.”

Kendra
heard the words coming out of her mouth denying it, but her heart was soaring
that he had noticed.

“You
bought a dress for me?” Joshua asked.

“No,
it’s my Sunday dress. Don’t get a bigger head than you already have.”

“Oh,
and what is the occasion that you should wear a dress?” Joshua asked as he took
both hands in his and looked her in the eye.

Kendra
looked at their hands and pictured what their wedding day would look like. She
squeezed his hand and then looked up into his brown eyes.

“The
reason I wore a dress is because I want to tell you that—”

The
next words she was about to say were cut off by the flash of a camera.

“That
was a great shot!”

Kendra
closed her eyes and lost her balance. The only thing that stopped her from
falling was having Joshua’s hands.

“What—?”

“Avery,
you have got to stop. What are you doing here?” Joshua asked as he let go of
Kendra’s hands.

“Josh,
you know you are starting to slip; we need something to remind them you are a
sweetheart. You coming out here with the neighborhood girl who lives in foster
care, offering her solace. We can spin it that you were her dream date and you
granted it. It’ll be great.”

Kendra
looked at Joshua who didn’t say a word. She waited for him to say something,
and instead, he just shook his head confused. The man walked up to Joshua and
clapped him on the back. “This is just what we needed!”

Kendra
watched as if Joshua was coming out of a fog.

“Avery,
I know we talked about doing something, but this isn't the thing to do,” Joshua
said.

Kendra
listened to Joshua say the words, and each word was a dagger in her heart. He
knew this was going to happen. She looked down at her green dress and felt like
a fool. All of that time online and all of the calls were just to get her here
for a publicity stunt. She started to back away slowly from Joshua. It wasn't
slow enough. He reached out and grabbed her by her wrist.

“Kendra,
it's not what you're thinking.”

Before
she could respond, there was another click and whirl of the camera as Avery
started taking pictures. Kendra yanked her hand away from his.

“Oh,
it is exactly what I'm thinking. I can't believe I was so foolish, and I can't
believe that I thought that you weren't shallow.”

“Kendra,
stop before you say something you regret.”

“Something
I regret? The only thing I regret was thinking that you were really interested
in me. I should have known someone who would be coming after me was too shallow
to be in a real relationship. Goodbye, Joshua.”

Kendra
turned and walked away with as much dignity as she could muster. She couldn't
tell if Joshua had called her name or not. She was just numb. There was the
rushing of blood in her veins that seemed to reverberate in her ears. Her
vision was being blurred by the tears that fell.

Kendra
tried to sneak into the house so her grandmother wouldn't see her. She had no
such luck.

“Kendra,
is that you?”

“Yes,
Gran.”

“What
happened, child?”

Kendra
turned to tear-stained face to her grandmother.

“I
got too close to the sun and it burned me,” Kendra said as she went into her
grandmother's arms. For the rest of the night, her grandmother tried to
convince her that maybe all wasn't what it seemed. For a couple of days after,
Kendra held on to that hope and waited for Joshua to call. She waited for him
to give some kind of explanation. No explanation ever came. However, an article
was printed in Sunset Springs, the town over. It was a picture of Joshua
holding Kendra's hand. The caption beneath it said, “Star remembers his hometown
admirers and gives a girl a dream date.”