Sweet Invocation -e

by Arline Chase

LeAnna had known Jamie when he was a boy, and she was married to the owner of the hardware store. Now Jamie was back in town.

What she didn't know was that he had been an international star as leader of the Rock Group "Eye of theTiger," though she had heard about the plane crash that had left his fellow muscians dead. Now Jamie was recuperating from his injuries, back in his home town and back in her heart.

But how long would he stay?

ISBN 1-59431- 180-3 Contemporary Romance

Cover Art by Maggie Dix

Also available in RTF or HTML formats.



Chapter 1

Joy surged through Leanna, lighting her wide gray eyes, as Dr. Englander said, "Your tests are conclusive, Leanna. I'm sure you're delighted with the news." He gave her a congratulatory smile across the desk, his weathered and wrinkled face looking benign. "I know how much you've always wanted a baby."

Then Leanna hesitated. She and Jamie had never discussed having children. It was only one of their taboo subjects.

"You seem a little overwhelmed, with the good news. Relax, and I'll ask Sue Ellen to bring you a cup of herb tea."

Nodding, Leanna pushed shiny dark curls away from her face and took a deep breath. She hadn't expected it so soon. In all the years she had lived with Malcolm Boyd, she had become pregnant only once. Leanna winced and turned her thoughts instead to her present husband. Jamie. This, above all, they should have discussed. But, at twenty-nine, Leanna had felt time was running out. How could she expect Jamie, at 23, to understand her need for a child?

"Not having the tummy-flutters already?" Blonde, blue-eyed Sue Ellen Graves, with whom she'd gone to high school, gave Leanna a conspiratory smile. "Or is it Mr. Mallory, who's on your mind? Don't you worry, he'll be tickled to right death when he hears the news. You watch, by next week he'll be strutting around acting like the only rooster in the henhouse, just like the rest of them."

Sue Ellen handed her the teacup. Leanna smiled back at the former head cheer-leader, mother of five, and physician's assistant, and tried to act as if there were nothing to cloud her happiness. That was the trouble with living in a small town. Everybody knew everything about you. And what they didn't know, they guessed, then called it fact. Did they guess why Jamie had married her? They'd had plenty to say about why she had married Malcolm Boyd ten years ago. For his money. That wasn't true. Though security had been one reason for her decision, loneliness had played a much larger role.

Leanna sighed and sipped her tea, knowing that Sue Ellen hadn't been able to keep a secret since she was nine years old. News of her pregnancy would be all over town within days. She had to tell Jamie, and quickly, or someone else would.

Jamie. Given his reasons for marrying her, what would his reaction be? From the beginning, he had never been predictable. A smile played about Leanna's lips as she remembered the first time she had seen him.