Be My Valentine Read online

  Epilogue

  Bailey paused to read the sign in the bookstore window, announcing the autographing session for two local authors that afternoon.

  “How does it feel to see your name in lights?” Jo Ann asked.

  “You may be used to this, but I feel…I feel—” Bailey hesitated and flattened her palms on the smooth roundness of her stomach “—I feel almost the same as I did when I found out I was pregnant.”

  “It does funny things to the nervous system, doesn’t it?” Jo Ann teased. “And what’s this comment about me being used to all this? I’ve only got two books published to your one.”

  The bookseller, Caroline Dryer, recognized them when they entered the store and hurried forward to greet them, her smile welcoming. “I’m so pleased you could both come. We’ve had lots of interest.” She steered them toward the front where a table, draped in lace, and two chairs were waiting. Several women were already lined up patiently, looking forward to meeting Jo Ann and Bailey.

  They did a brisk business for the next hour. Family, friends and other writers joined the romance readers who stopped by to wish them well.

  Bailey was talking to an older woman, a retired schoolteacher, when Parker and Jo Ann’s husband, Dan, casually strolled past the table. The four were going out for dinner following the autograph session. There was a lot to celebrate. Jo Ann had recently signed a two-book contract with her publisher and Bailey had just sold her second romance. After weeks of work, Parker had finished the plans for their new home. Construction was scheduled to begin the following month and with luck would be completed by the time the baby arrived.

  “What I loved best about Forever Yours was Michael,” the older woman was saying to Bailey. “The scene where he takes her in his arms right in the middle of the merry-go-round and tells her he’s tired of playing childish games and that he loves her was enough to steal my heart.”

  “He stole mine, too,” Bailey said, her eyes linking with her husband’s.

  “Do you think there are any men like that left in this world?” the woman asked. “I’ve been divorced for years, and now that I’m retired, well, I wouldn’t mind meeting someone.”

  “You’d be surprised how many heroes there are all around us,” Bailey said, her gaze still holding Parker’s. “They take the subway and eat peanut-butter sandwiches and fall in love—like you and me.”

  “Well, there’s hope for me, then,” the teacher said jauntily. “And I plan to have a good time looking.” She smiled. “That’s why I enjoy romance novels so much. They give me encouragement, they’re fun—and they tell me it’s okay to believe in love,” she confided. “Even for the second time.”

  “Or the third,” Parker inserted quietly.

  Bailey grinned. She couldn’t argue with that!

  ISBN: 978-1-55254-785-4

  BE MY VALENTINE

  Copyright © 2007 by MIRA Books.

  The publisher acknowledges the copyright holder of the individual works as follows:

  MY FUNNY VALENTINE

  Copyright © 1991 by Debbie Macomber.

  MY HERO

  Copyright © 1992 by Debbie Macomber.

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher, MIRA Books, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.

  All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.

  MIRA and the Star Colophon are trademarks used under license and registered in Australia, New Zealand, Philippines, United States Patent and Trademark Office and in other countries.

  www.MIRABooks.com

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