Welcome to Tulips by Tina Leonard

الف شكررررررررررر

ملخصها مو غريب علي اظني قريتها من عبير

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thank you girls. enjoy the novel .bism allah nabdaa:

chapitre one

Marnie McGovern heard the crash and knew that the beautiful stained-glass doors she'd taken months to create had just met a tragic end. She rushed out of the Baked Valentines bakery in Union Junction, Texas, not expecting to see a handsome man turn off his motorcycle and survey the damage he'd created.
"Are you all right?" Marnie quickly asked the stranger.
"I am. These doors aren't." His gaze met hers. "Someone's going to be very angry."
Trembling hit her knees. "I can't say angry is exactly how I feel, but it's close." She pushed back the tears as she realized there was nothing left of the doors that could be salvaged. In her eagerness to get the project done before the birth of her baby, whose due date was in a few days, she'd put everything into her creation.
Hired by Pansy Trifle and Helen Granger to design a door worthy of the love they felt for the town of Tulips and the saloon they owned, Marnie had identified with their vision. The beautiful doors were to have been delivered and installed that afternoon.
"I'm glad you're not hurt, though."
"I don't suppose I can replace them."
She could barely take her gaze off of the fragments twinkling on the street in the late August sun. "No. But thank you for offering."
John Colby, wealthy daredevil, entrepreneur and philanthropist, realized for the first time in his life he'd come across something money couldn't buy. From the heartbroken slump in the very pregnant woman's shoulders, he knew he'd destroyed something that mattered more to her than money. He wished he'd seen the artwork and stopped in time.
He hadn't been going fast, but the delicate glass was nearly translucent, with gentle touches of pink and red. He hadn't seen it as he'd turned his large Harley into the street. Now not a piece of glass remained in the door frames that had been leaning against an old-fashioned wooden sawhorse.
A truck pulled up in front of the bakery, and a tall, muscular cowboy jumped out. "What happened?"
"Mason," Marnie said, "I won't need you to drive me to Tulips today after all."
John looked at Mason evenly. "I'm afraid I've done some damage here."
"I'll get a shovel from the girls." Mason directed a frown at John. "And a broom and trash can," he said, striding toward the Union Junction hair salon.
John wasn't sure why the cowboy thought a shovel would be found in a hair salon, but he was from the city, not a small town. He supposed things were different here. On a cross-country trip across the United States by Harley, he'd seen a lot of things he'd call stranger.
He looked back at the beautiful woman, wanting more than anything to put a smile on her face and take the sadness from her eyes.
He noted a lack of a ring on her finger, but that could mean anything. But if she was a single mom… "I take it you're an artist, and this was your work." Lying in the street in shards…
She nodded, her pageboy haircut sending a light brown wave of hair across her cheek. So this was also a financial blow he'd dealt, and John decided to see if he could at least make that part of it up to her. "If you could tell me the cost of the doors, I'm happy to replace your supplies, though I know I can't replace your time and effort."
Her hazel gaze settled on him. "Thank you."
She turned away. John realized she was holding back tears she didn't want him to see. He didn't even know her name, and he'd made her cry. John put his hands on her shoulders to comfort her, regretting his impulse when her shoulders stiffened. "Tell me how I can make this up to you."
Marnie wasn't sure what this man might be offering, but it was obvious that he wanted to take some responsibility for his actions. Having had a fiancé who'd decided that married life wasn't what he really wanted, she no longer expected that from any man. Marnie didn't know if her surprise at the stranger's offer was due to the fact that he was extraordinarily handsome and she'd expected him to be shallow. Or maybe it was his motorcycle, which made her think he was one of those men who just liked to pass through life without commitments.
She was prejudging him.
Mason returned with two shovels, handing one to the broad-shouldered newcomer. "What's your name, stranger?"
"John Colby. From West Virginia."
Mason nodded. "I'm Mason Jefferson of the Double M ranch. Used to be known as Malfunction Junction. This is Marnie McGovern," he said, finishing up the introduction curtly. "Start shoveling, John. Marnie, go inside and have Valentine fix you a cup of something and sit down. You're making me antsy that you'll go into labor or something."
Marnie's gaze settled on John. He stared at her with deep apology in his dark eyes.
But she didn't need apologies from a man. She'd heard a lot of those.
She went inside the bakery.
"Marnie's a single mom," Mason said to John. "With a baby on the way, she won't be able to do another set of these doors. She's going to have her hands full."
John handed the shovel back to Mason. "Thanks for the tip. Hang on a sec, would you? I'll be back to clean up my mess."
John followed the tiny brunette into the bakery.
"I'm not just talk," he said. "I intend to stay here and help you."
"You're an artist?" she asked, surprised. He didn't seem the type to sit still long enough to even draw a stick figure.
"No. But I can watch that baby you'll be delivering soon while you work on another set of doors."
Marnie stared at the man who'd destroyed her dreams, her heart nervously thundering, her attention caught.
Sensing her resistance, he smiled a slow, sexy smile. "Come on," he said, his voice a sinful lure. "I'd make a great house husband while you work. I promise the service is delivered with a smile, satisfaction guaranteed."

Chapter Two


Marnie stared at the confident man who was offering his services. "What makes you think I need help? What makes you think I'd trust you with my baby?"
"I owe you." John seemed sincere. "How much were you paid to create those doors?"
She could barely think about the destruction. "That's between me and the ladies who commissioned them."
"Front doors aren't cheap. I had some installed on my house last year. They were five thousand dollars and didn't have any glass in them, much less artistic rendering."
She wondered where he lived that would require such elaborate doors. "Actually, I didn't charge Helen and Pansy except for supplies. They were helping me find a home in Tulips."
He glanced around the bakery. "This seems like a nice enough town."
"It is. But I live across the street in the Union Junction salon with the other girls. I have my studio in one of the back rooms. But with a new baby, I need a place of my own."
"Girls?"
She smiled. "Stylists."
"So you're a hairstylist who does fabulous stained glass doors on the side?"
"I'm hoping to. The Tulips Saloon was my first actual commission for doors. I wanted it to go well so I could include them in my portfolio." She touched her stomach. "I'd like to be close to my baby, at least for the first few years, and working in a home studio would allow me to do that. When I have my own place, that is."
"You can't buy a house here?"
Her gaze slid away from him. How could she explain that it was hard to live in a town where everyone knew she'd been deserted by her fiancé? And that she hadn't heard from him? She couldn't outrun what had happened, but she could start over fresh, keeping old friends, making new ones, expanding her horizons.
John saw the dark shadows pass through Marnie's eyes and knew he'd stirred up uncomfortable memories, probably of a deadbeat mate. He felt an urge to kick the jerk into next week. "So. Taking me up on my offer?"
She shook her head. "I can't. Just pay for the supplies and we'll call it…even."
"I want to do more. You deserve more."
She hesitated, and he realized part of her was truly tempted. "Not all men are recipes for disaster, Marnie."
"Anybody ordering?" demanded a pretty redhead at the counter. "By the look on your face, Marnie, you could use a blackberry tea and some lemon ******s. You, stranger, I'm not sure about."
"Thanks, Valentine," Marnie murmured. "This is John Colby. He just rode into town."
"And totaled her doors," John said because Marnie was too ladylike to say so. "Please bring her a double blackberry tea and some of those ******s." He pulled out his wallet, and Marnie put a hand on his arm to stop him.
"I'll pay for my own. Thanks."
He frowned. "Lady, I just ruined your livelihood. Let me buy you a cup of tea, at least."
Valentine set the tea down in front of them, as well as a plate of ******s. "It's on the house. Keep an eye on the shop for me. I'm going to check Mason's blood pressure." She went out the door.
An uncomfortable silence stretched between them as neither spoke. John didn't know what else to say to Marnie. He'd offered everything he could to make up for his mistake.
"It would take another three months," she said softly. "So I can't accept."
"Three months." He mulled that over. Piece by fragile piece. Wire by delicate wire. "So, did they ever find you a house? Those ladies in Tulips?"
She smiled. "They did. Those doors were the down payment, you might say."
"I'll take you to Tulips myself. Let me explain to your friends what happened. Then we'll see where the pieces fall." He winced at his choice of words.
"On your Harley?"
He nodded. "Unless you have a better idea, that's the coach I'm offering."
"I don't think…"
He stood. "You think about it. I've got a mess to clean up."
John went outside and began shoveling the pieces of Marnie's design into a trash can.
Mason cleared his throat. "Heading on after this?"
John shrugged. "It's hard to convince her otherwise."
The bakery door opened. Marnie walked outside as they finished shoveling the biggest pieces and went to work on sweeping up the smaller fragments.
"I realize this is weird timing," she said, and John noted that her face seemed pale and anxious, "but my water just broke."