Love Rising: Spring (Mandrake Falls Series Romance Book 4) by Catherine Lloyd Page A

up.”
    “You should have said something.”
    “No, you should mind your own business.” She got to her
feet. “Come on. You found what you were looking for, now it’s my turn. I want
to check out the cucumber seeds. If I can start the seedlings in the next couple
of days, I’ll have a bumper crop this year. I have a new recipe I’m working on
and I’ll need bushels of cucumbers.”
    Jeremy gathered the plumbing supplies in his arms and
followed her to the garden center. He told her to pick out whatever she needed
and they’d put it on the same bill. He left her browsing though the seed
packets like a junkie in a pharmacy while he went to the cash register. Jeremy pulled
out the secret credit card he only used in desperate times. Plumbing wasn’t
necessarily a desperate time but he didn’t have enough in his account to cover
the purchase and the taps had to be fixed since he was the one who took them
apart.
    Nevertheless, Jeremy’s conscience pricked. He was breaking
his personal rule to live within his means no matter what. His dad would do
whatever it took to help his son succeed and that’s what Jeremy feared most. He
was afraid that one day he would wake up and not know who he was or what he was
good at because he’d never had to try and fail and try again. Like Jocelyn had
to do, and Andrea, Paula, Jason and Trevor.
    When Jeremy decided on a career in stage management, he’d
made a solemn vow to depend on his own resources to succeed. His dad believed
in him and applauded his son’s determination, but Kenneth Marks insisted he
take the credit card just the same.
    The purchase was rung up and stuffed in the bag. Jocelyn
would have running water in her kitchen because of that card. Jeremy realized
that when it came to the woman he loved he would use his position to make her
happy. It wasn’t so easy to escape who he was after all.

 
    ♥

 
    NORM TATE saw his daughter come out of the hardware store
with Jeremy Marks, a tall lanky boy with brown hair, glasses and a rumpled
jacket.
    A bum who thought
he had one over on Norm Tate and could do what he liked with his daughter. He’d
soon see different. He’d soon see .
    Norm barreled toward them, his long legs like scissors
coming at them. He grabbed Jocelyn by the arm as she was about to get into
Jeremy’s Toyota.
    “Where do you think you’re going? After everything I’ve done
for you, this is the thanks I get—you run off with this worthless bum of a stage
manager?”
    “Daddy!” Jocelyn eyes were wide
with shock. “What are you doing here?
    “Don’t daddy, me. I can read! I saw that engagement notice. Did
you think I was going to twiddle my thumbs and let you marry this loser? You
think it was a big joke—laughing behind my back! How long have you been
planning this without telling me, huh?”
    Jeremy pushed between them. “It was a mistake, sir. Jocelyn
had nothing to do with it.”
    “You better not say another word to me boy . Don’t you dare open your mouth to me! ”
Norm’s voice rose. People on the street stopped to look. “I’m not talking to
you . This business is between me and
my daughter and you have no say in it. What’s it to you where she winds up in
five years? Huh? This is my daughter !”
Norm Tate roared. “You think I want my girl to settle for a half-employed stage
manager her whole life? A girl with Jocelyn’s looks could marry a pro-athlete
or a politician or a movie star. Give me one reason why she should settle for
you.”
    “I never said she should but—”
    “But what?” Norm interjected.
“Jocelyn should accept whatever scraps are tossed her way because she’s stuck
in Mandrake Falls and her father lives next to the town dump? Is that what you
think, you middle-class shit?”
    “Daddy, please,” Jocelyn whispered. “Keep your voice down. Nothing’s
happened.”
    Norm’s face purpled. “Don’t you dare lie to my face. Did he put you up to this?” He tugged on his daughter’s
arm, helpless