Book: PICKET FENCE
Character: Cade McDaniel
How would you describe your family?
There’s a reason people around town called us the Fighting McDaniels of Jubilee Point. The Captain— my dad— is forever doing the police force’s job, tackling gang members and basically trying to get himself killed. I mean, he’s almost seventy, for cripes sake. My sister, she’s a wild child. And mom, well… she loved delicate things, you know? Like tea cups and china figurines. Things easily broken. And my family broke alright. After the accident… well, all I wanted was to get away. You can’t fight a secret. Knock it on its ass and be done. Not when you’re the only one who knows something that could destroy your family. I almost got away when I joined the Air Force, but mom died and I’m back home now, still trying to pull my family out of trouble. And the mess I’m dealing with now—it’s the worst yet.
Where do you live?
A log cabin out on Jubilee Point, a ways out of town. I built it with my own hands right along the Mississippi River. Solid walls. My own space. No neighbors. I mean, sure, it was next to that Civil War era house, but that place had been deserted for years. I figured no one in their right mind would buy it. Wrong. My new neighbor has red hair, freckles, gorgeous long legs… I know from the start she’s something dangerous when I see what is in those eyes of hers. Hope.
Do you have children, pets, both, or neither?
After what happened in my own parents’ marriage, that’s the last thing I ever want. Just me and the sky. That was the goal. Nothing to tie me down… But life has a nasty sense of humor.
What do you do for a living?
I run Flyboy Charter Service and restore antique airplanes for wealthy customers. God, I love getting those beauties back up into the sky. My prize possession is a World War Two bomber, a Grumman Avenger, left to me by my first flight instructor. When I’m in it, I can almost forget everything… Problem is, secrets still wait in dark corners whenever I land.
What keeps you awake at night?
Wondering what the hell I’m supposed to do with a heartbroken nine-year-old girl who was dumped on my doorstep. The kid scares me to death, insisting she’s best friends with ghost of a little girl from the freaking Civil War. Now the new children’s librarian moved in next door, I hope Emma will let go of that fantasy. But the kid has a full-fledged McDaniel mad on, continuing the family legacy of trips to the principal’s office and stirring up trouble. Truth is, Finnoula O’Grady is getting under my skin, too. I mean, the woman looks about as substantial as a cloud. What single woman buys a wreck of a house intending to fix it up herself? And yet… there is something about her that makes me want to tear those flowery old-fashioned sun dresses off of her, and… well. Never mind. Never going to happen. I know the solution. I need to build a higher fence.
What is the most pressing problem you have at the moment?
Getting Emma comfortable in a new school and talking to flesh and blood kids instead of insisting on a ghost for a friend. Luckily, I’ve got the perfect way to fix this. I’ve wrangled her an invitation to the biggest slumber party of the school year—hosted by the most popular girl in the 5th grade. Her mom was an old flame during my high school quarterback days, and I called in a favor. Emma’s gonna love it. Right?
What do you do to entertain yourself or have fun?
Aerobatic maneuvers. Barrel rolls, hammerheads, spins and loops… testing my planes and pilot skills to the limit. Not that I have much of a chance to do that at the moment with a kid to take care of and my dad doing the police force’s job, tackling gang members and basically trying to get himself killed. I mean, the Captain is almost seventy, for cripes sake. I guess thrill seeking is in our blood. Now that Finnoula O’Grady has moved in across the fence, there’s something about her that gives me that sensation I get when I’m in a plane, doing death spirals. The only question is, will I be able to pull out of the roll before it’s too late, or will I crash and burn?
Jubilee Point #1
Finnoula O’Grady had never had a home…
Growing up in foster care, Finn had spent her childhood longing for a little house with a white picket fence. Years later her dreams came true when she inherited the rundown March Winds. But someone else was in love with her house—young Emma, the lonely niece of her next-door neighbor Cade McDaniel.
Cade knew nothing about being a single parent. The only love and caring he’d ever done were for the old houses he restored for a living. But there was no denying that Finn’s arrival had him feeling decidedly more human than usual. And when Emma finds a child’s 150-year-old diary, they unearth a story that brings the three wounded souls together and begins to change March Winds from just a house… into a home.
Romance Small Town [Oliver-Heber Books, On Sale: June 18, 2024, e-Book, / ]
Kimberly Cates is the beloved author of the over ten historical romances, including Crown of Mist, Restless Is the Wind, Briar Rose, and Lily Fair. She turned her talents to contemporary fiction with her novels Fly Away Home and The Mother's Day Garden.
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