Claiming the Single Mom's Heart by Glynna Kaye Page B

much time on it as I’d like.”
    â€œWhat if I helped? For years my mother has worked at artists’ cooperatives in the towns we’ve lived in. Jerome. Sedona. Triumph. In fact, Triumph is where Mom helped establish and still manages the local co-op. As a result, I had extensive experience working with her—which is how I landed this job.”
    â€œAnd that relates to my photography idea how?”
    â€œMom and I’ve helped dozens of artists prepare proposals to get their work into exclusive galleries and shops. With tons of talent out there, the competition is huge. But the artists who can present well, who can convince people that featuring their work will be worth their while...well, they have an edge over equally talented artists who don’t know how to sell themselves.”
    â€œMakes sense.” The web designer for their new online store had talked about things like that. But he hadn’t thought about how it might apply to his photography proposition.
    â€œI’d be happy to help you drill down to the essence of what your family needs to know and solidify that in a proposal that will knock their socks off. So what do you say?”
    * * *
    From the resistance in his eyes, she’d thought Grady would flatly turn her down. But he’d said thank you and that he’d think about it.
    Now, slowly bumping along a rutted dirt track that wound its way through the forest, he appeared to be giving it more thought. Asked a few questions. Grew silent. Asked a few more. So there was still hope that she could somehow balance out the debt she owed for the two rescues that week.
    â€œWell, there it is.”
    Grady motioned to the left and she glimpsed an old gray cabin through a stand of ponderosas. A tingle of excitement sped through her as he pulled his SUV off the dirt road and onto an overgrown track through the trees. This was possibly the home of her great-great-grandparents. Where they’d lived. Loved. Had they started a family here? How long had they been settled before they’d lost everything to the Hunters?
    When they’d climbed from the vehicle and Grady had helped Tessa out of the back, she was immediately struck by how quiet it was. An unearthly quiet, not even the sound of the wind in the trees, the bark of a squirrel or the chirp of a bird. Not so much as the distant drone of an airplane overhead. What must it have been like to have lived here over a hundred years ago, far from civilization?
    An involuntary shiver curled up her spine.
    As if absorbing the atmosphere of the property as well, Grady let Tessa take his hand and together they approached the weathered cabin silently.
    â€œIt’s not very big, is it?” Sunshine said softly.
    Likewise, Grady’s voice lowered. “Not big at all.”
    He paused to study the cabin, then released Tessa’s hand and pulled out a set of keys. Inserted them in a padlock. “We keep it locked up now. Transients found their way back here a few years ago and took up residence. They made a real mess of the place.”
    She didn’t like the thought of someone desecrating this historic home. “That’s a shame.”
    Tessa drew close. “Why are we whispering, Mommy?”
    Sunshine smiled as Grady pushed open the door to the darkened interior. “I guess because it’s so quiet here that I feel as if I need to be quiet, too.”
    Tessa’s nose wrinkled as she eyed the open doorway with suspicion. “I don’t like this place. It’s creepy.”
    â€œYou don’t have to go inside, but stay close by, okay? Don’t wander off.”
    Grady motioned for Sunshine to precede him into the cabin.
    â€œOh, wow. Dirt floors.” But at least natural light came in from the small paned windows on two sides of the room, and open rafters overhead reduced the claustrophobic feeling that might otherwise have dominated. She stepped farther into the room, inspecting the