Love Me Tender – Francine Beaton (1)

Then, with a small baby blanket as protection for the baby against the morning breeze, but more in a futile attempt at modesty, she sank into the rocking chair, cradling the baby to her chest. All you could hear was the baby’s suckling and the usual suburban noises filtering through the window for the next few moments. Lucy was, however, aware of Jackson’s watchful eyes on them, yet he said nothing.

Neither did he approach them. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see him leaning against the doorjamb, apparently at peace, but he didn’t fool her. He was just biding his time. The slackening of the suction against her breast signalled Cara had enough and had fallen asleep. Lucy gently lifted her against her shoulder, rubbing her back until she heard the faint burp.

As always, it made Lucy smile. She pressed a soft kiss on her daughter’s forehead when she stood up before she laid her back in the crib. As she covered her with a blanket, Jackson approached. He stopped next to Lucy, his gaze roaming over the little girl’s features. He didn’t look at Lucy when he asked, “What is her name?”

“Cara Madeline,” Lucy muttered. “How old is she?” Of course, he would ask. He had the right to ask, but still Lucy felt resentful that she had to answer him. “Three months,” she murmured. “She was born on 15 November.” Jackson’s breath hitched. His expression shifted, the teasing light in his eyes disappearing as if someone had knocked the wind out of him. He took a step back, his hand gripping the doorframe, knuckles white. “Three… months?” His voice was hoarse, barely above a whisper.

Lucy tensed. She hadn’t meant to tell him like this—not in the middle of a tense conversation with her emotions already frayed. But now there was no taking it back. No undoing the truth that had just landed between them like a live grenade. Jackson’s gaze flickered to the crib, then back to her. His breathing had changed, shallower, faster. His chest rose and fell in quick succession as the realization sank in. “She’s mine?” he rasped. Lucy’s chin lifted defiantly.

“Of course she’s yours.” Jackson let out a breath that sounded almost like a broken laugh, raking a shaky hand through his hair. “I have a daughter.” For a long moment, he didn’t speak. Just stood there, staring at the tiny bundle, as if absorbing the weight of it all. Then, quietly, he asked, “Why didn’t you tell me?” Lucy swallowed hard. There it was—the question she’d dreaded, the one she didn’t know how to answer. She could have said a hundred things: that she tried and failed, that he disappeared, that she convinced herself he didn’t want to know.

But the words tangled in her throat, too complicated, too painful to explain in a single breath. So instead, she said the only thing she could.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

OceanofPDF.com You have made my life complete And I love you so OceanofPDF.com CONTENTS Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Love me Tender Note by die Author Acknowledgments About the Author About the Publisher OceanofPDF.com 1 Cape Town 14 February The orange tabby cat watched Lucy with judgmental eyes as she wrapped the last bouquet of red roses. “Don’t look at me like that, Sir Purrington,” Lucy muttered, tying the ribbon with practiced fingers.

“Just because you think Valentine’s Day is ridiculous doesn’t mean the rest of the world agrees.” The shop cat merely blinked, then stretched across the counter, almost knocking over the crystal vase she’d just arranged. “Careful!” She rescued the vase, then scratched him behind his ears. “Some of us have to work today, even if we’d rather be home with ice cream and sad movies.”

Sir Purrington purred in response, completely unsympathetic to her Valentine’s Day plight. Lucy sighed, checking her delivery schedule. Twenty-three bouquets and only one van. It was going to be a long day. Lucy inhaled the mingled scents of roses, carnations, and eucalyptus that permeated the shop. Usually, the perfume of fresh flowers calmed her and reminded her why she enjoyed working here despite everything. Today, though, the cloying sweetness of Valentine’s Day blooms felt suffocating, each fragrance a reminder of promises that wilted faster than cut flowers.

“A-a-a-n-d… It’s Valentine’s Day, folks! What romantic plans have you all cooked up for today in our beautiful Mother City?” Lucy took her eyes off the road just long enough to glare at the radio. The second she reached for the dial, a minibus taxi swooped past her, cutting back into her lane with a screech of brakes—stopping inches from her bumper. There was nowhere else to go. She jumped on the brakes, hoping she wouldn’t destroy the last order left in the van.

Mr Owens was one of her favourite customers.

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.

Book Information

• Unique ID: e9fb964b211c6f90
• File Extension: .pdf
• File Size: 650,609 bytes (0.62 MB)
• Title: –
• Author: Unknown
• ISBN: 9781991241122
• Pages: 72
• Language: English (en)

Reading & Word Statistics

• Estimated Reading Time: 71.02 minutes
• Total Words: 14,203
• Total Characters: 79,675
• Average Words per Page: 197.26
• Average Characters per Page: 1106.6

Most Frequent Words

lucy (192), jackson (91), love (83), didn’t (67), aunt (52), now (50), like (47), one (45), life (44), eyes (43), maddie (43), day (42), never (41), time (38), know (37), even (36), still (33), family (32), year (29), com (28), back (28), mistake (28), valentine’s (27), made (26), don’t (26), head (26), knew (25), get (24), man (24), heart (24), scarlet (24), want (23), it’s (22), thought (21), lucy’s (21), oceanofpdf (20), jonah (20), today (19), couldn’t (19), asked (19), course (19), jackson’s (19), first (18), last (18), look (18), left (18), would’ve (18), always (18), something (18), looked (18), wanted (18), that’s (18), think (17), felt (17), voice (17), i’m (17), cara (17), francine (16), took (16), since (16), much (16), maybe (16), smiled (16), south (15), herself (15), face (15), got (15), hadn’t (15), muttered (14), almost (14), people (14), told (14), rather (13), flowers (13), everything (13), things (13), said (13), need (13), every (13), moment (13), another (13), father (13), africa (12), cape (12), she’d (12), woman (12), tell (12), give (12), however (12), wasn’t (12), troubadour (12), hand (12), hands (12), gave (12), yes (12), also (12), smile (12), little (12), house (12), away (12).

PDF Download