Mia Bentley is a well known accomplished writer. Growing up she had always been an independent and strong willed child. Add to that a very avid imagination, which has probably helped her get where she is today. She has everything she wants. A beautiful home nestled in the mountains of Colorado and a great career. After a tough break up with her fiance, she is adamant about staying single and avoiding all heartaches. She is content with her life the way it is. Until a string of chilling events threaten to invade her world. Then Lane comes into her life. Now she is faced with the decision of taking a chance on love and letting Lane into her life . . . and heart. Will her world end up shattered again? Lane Talon is a reputable landscaper in Denver and has enjoyed his life to the fullest. His focus is his business. He's happy being single and going on the occasional date. He's in no rush to settle down or to settle for just anyone. That's when he meets Mia. There's a spark there that he's just not willing to ignore and a woman he's not willing to let go. Now all he has to do is convince Mia to take a chance on love. But, will her past stay in the past and let him in?

A Change of Heart

By Amanda Fallgren

AuthorHouse

Copyright © 2009 Amanda Fallgren
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4490-1887-0

Chapter One

Mia sat in her assigned window seat of the plane. Staring out as far as the eye can see, its' a perfectly clear day for flying. The wide expanse of sky is a beautiful baby blue, with little tufts of clouds scattered here and there. Despite the speed of the aircraft, it's as if the plane is just floating thousands of feet above the ground, drifting among the clouds. Your thoughts could travel on and on, with no distractions or annoying obstacles to interrupt.

What a wonderful and successful trip it had been. LA has never been one of her favorite places to go. It's just too busy and congested. However, the book signing was such a success, that it made up for the hustle and bustle of LA's life styles. Not to mention the unique down to earth, yet modernized bookstore that sponsored her book signings for three days, but with some persuasion and flattery, turned into four full days and half of the fifth, George Thimbleton, the owner of the bookstore, had almost begged her to stay for two more days, telling her that every day there were so many people waiting in line, and only being able to allow so many in each day. It just would be so unfair to have to turn them away completely. Please could she stay two more days, of course he had to add in the kicker, "all these people have come to meet you, the talented and very successful author, Mia Bentley. Your books are on shelves upon shelves of bookstores nationwide."

So letting her conscience get to her and not wanting to let any of her readers down, she agreed to compromise, hence the four and a half days! George thanked her endlessly, and invited her back anytime she wanted to visit LA again. He reassured her there would be no problem scheduling another signing. George Thimbleton was a tall and lanky, kind man in his mid fifties. He wore dark rimmed glasses and a sort of short messy style haircut. He is extremely kind and generous, not only with his compliments, but to his customers. You could without a doubt see that he valued and cherished everyone who entered his bookstore. It didn't matter if it was a customer of fifteen years, or fifteen minutes. George was a man of passion for his career and the business he built. His store was cozy and comfy, which was not what she had expected in LA. Very welcoming and inviting, and maybe someday she will return, even if it is just to visit. Letting her mind wander again, lost in the sea of blue sky, Mia relaxed and enjoyed the rest of her flight. The best she could, since airplanes have never been her favorite choice of travel.

* * *

Finally she was almost home, as the stewardess instructed the passengers to fasten their seatbelts, she heard the landing gear of the plane engage. She really does love going on book signings. Meeting all of her readers and autographing novels, her novels, it is the most amazing reward. It is always so exhilarating. After all, this is what she's worked so hard to achieve. Becoming a successful author was always a dream, but now is a reality. But, there is something about returning home after a long busy week of signings. Once the luggage is found and everything is loaded into the car it will be homeward bound.

Starving for the privacy of her home and looking around the plane and realizing she's not the only one anxious to get home or get to where ever it might be the other travelers are going. Settling in her seat a bit, and accepting that she won't be one of the first ones off the plane. Next time she'd have to splurge and fly first class. Not only are the seats more comfortable and the service better, getting off the plane is a lot faster. Taking a deep breath, as the plane descends onto the runway, and hating the jarring effects of it.

"Welcome to Denver International Airport. Thank you for flying and we hope the rest of your travels are safe, and look forward to having you fly with us again."

The pilot clicks off the intercom and everyone starts grabbing their carry on bags from the overheads and filing off the plane. Praying the other passengers move along and that her luggage made it, there's almost nothing more irritating than when your luggage doesn't make it. She finally gets her carry on and makes her way down the aisle of the plane. She can't wait to be home and how nice a long soak in the hot tub would feel right about now. Rubbing her neck as the stiffness is only tighter after the long flight.

Heading towards the luggage center and fighting the congestion of the airport. Okay well, there are longer flights than from LA to Denver, but still. Trying to keep her patience as everyone seems to be going the same direction, except for the few that cut cross ways through the crowd, in a desperate rush to the bathrooms. Seeing a mom with two young children up ahead, and trying to rush them through the crowds. One of the children was pulling on her mother's arm and pointing to a fast food stand, the other child tugging on her other arm, seeming to want to run ahead. Little children are wonderful, but she's grateful she doesn't have to herd any through a crowded airport. Especially knowing how tiring traveling can be. Seeing her luggage almost immediately, she had to restrain from shouting with excitement, settling for a quiet comment. "Oh, this is a fabulous end to a perfect trip!" Looking towards the heavens and sending up a little "thank you!"

Grabbing her suitcase and in almost a jog, heads towards the parking ramps.

Once there, she tosses her bag into the back of her vehicle and jumps in, locks the door and is on the home stretch!!! "Now, please God, let traffic be in my favor! I just want to be home." With that said, she should be home with in the hour.

Prayer is great but even better when they are answered. Merging with the rest of the traffic leaving the airport, Mia is soon on the free-way. Great, that wasn't so bad, smooth sailing now. Turning the radio on and just loud enough for some noise to fill the silence, and smiling a smile of triumph. This was definitely one of the most enjoyable trips yet.

Remembering the young girl, who couldn't have been more than eighteen, blonde and very shy; she stayed towards the back of the group, yet listened intently, and waited patiently for her copy of Whispers in the Wind to be signed. Being the last one, she finally approached, and quietly and a bit shakily thanked me for signing. Then just as she was about to turn to leave, she stopped, and looked back. She could tell she wanted to say something, yet was a bit hesitant. So when asked if there was anything else she could help her with, she let it all out on a rush of words. Remembering how she so sincerely thanked her for such a wonderful book. She had said the story and characters had given her hope and faith in brighter days.

Her name was Noel Sells, and I signed her copy, always believe in yourself, never loose faith, and you can do anything you set your mind to. Then she wrote one more thing, her personal email. Which she never does, but in this case, there was something telling her it would be okay to do. This girl was not what one would classify as troubled, but someday she might need someone. Call it one of those gut instincts, but she also felt Noel would be fine and she's and she's grateful that there was something in the book that helped this young girl. Whatever her problems in life may be, or her fears or heart aches, she believed Noel has or is starting to overcome them. If the book helped her, well then that is more of a reward than anything.

The rest of the drive was easy going, and she still found her mind wandering a bit. One minute she was lost in the beauty of the mountains and the newly green leaves of the tress and grass of early summer and then her mind would drift back to L.A. Before she realized it she was home.

Flipping her blinker on and turning into her driveway, that is just shy of a half mile long, with enough of a curve that the house can not be seen from the road. Rounding the curve and stopping and putting the SUV in park. Just taking a moment to sit and stare in awe at the beautiful log home, tucked into the mountainside just outside of Denver. All the years of working hard and saving finally paid off. The home of her dreams on the perfect piece of land is all officially mine. Finally, this too can be added to her list of accomplishments. Every detail from picking the land to plotting out every inch of the floor plans for the house. Then the next project will be the landscaping. There are so many ideas rolling around in her mind about how she wants the yard to look, but in time.

Oh and lets not forget the months of negotiating and butting heads with the old stubborn Mr. Fothwright, an old bachelor with many, many beautiful acres just sitting there. All she wanted was forty acres, which rumor had it that he had wanted to sell for years. However, when it came down to it, his excuse for not wanting to sell was, he didn't see how a single woman could possibly purchase this amount of land and tend to it all alone. Mia thought back to that day with the stand off between him, the realtors and herself, and recalling his exact words, "without a man."

"Ha, well Mr. Fothwright looks like you can eat your own words!" Mia said with a gratifying smirk. "The house is gorgeous if I must say so myself, and worth every penny and ounce of stress and hard work it took to get here." The yard is coming along fine too just needs time and some creativity. It was late afternoon on Sunday in early June, it won't be long before the sun will start to set and spread the orange glow over all that it touches, before tucking itself in behind the mountains. As she heads up her driveway, she sees her best friend Toby, a Labrador Retriever, sitting on the front deck. He gives one deep welcoming bark, and wags his tail, he knows and how odd that he recognizes the vehicle and just knows.

Punching the button on the garage door opener, Mia pulls into the double car garage, which is attached to the house, waits for Toby to follow suit, then hits the button to close the garage door. Maybe it was silly to want a double stall garage, being just me, and having no desire to change that. It's not like she has two cars, but she always said if you're going to do something, make it worthwhile. She always wanted a house with lots of room, and that's exactly what she has.

Toby is waiting patiently for Mia to get out, and with a smile, Mia thinks, even her dog is the best!

Scratching the dog behind his ears, "Hey there Toby! Did ya miss me?" He sniffs her pants and shoes and gives another welcoming bark and runs around the car to check things out.

Punching in the code on the security system, she opens the door and enters the house through the mudroom, Toby trotting in behind her. There's a small oak bench and a spacious closet for coats and shoes, and some miscellaneous items. Opposite the bench is a matching table, for decoration mainly, and it makes for a great place to drop the car keys. The ceramic tile is in earthy shades.

The abrupt ringing of the phone pierces through the house.

Jumping about, "Geez!" Catching her breath,

"Oh, for Pete sakes I wonder who that could be. Everyone expects me home early afternoon tomorrow, as I planned it this way on purpose; hoping for one night of relaxation." The phone continues to ring and finally the machine picks up.

"Hey girl, it's me, your best friend since third grade!"

She smiled when she heard Meg's bubbly voice.

"It's Sunday, I just thought maybe you'd be back home today. Ya know, thought you were pulling a fast one, so you could have a day of rest. Well guess not, anyway, give me a call when you get in. I'm thinking of taking a vacation and can't think of a better place to escape to, later chick!"

"Well, Toby I guess we better enjoy this little bit of quiet, now." She said as she heads through the front hall and into the extravagant kitchen, decked out with state of the art appliances. Grabbing a bottle of her favorite Pinot Grigio off the wine rack and placing it in the fridge to chill, she grabs her luggage, and heads upstairs to her bedroom.

The bedroom is spacious, even with the huge king sized bed taking up the middle of the room. To the right is the bathroom, and walk-in closet, and once again, huge. On the other side of the room are French doors leading out to a deck. Maybe she should just opt for a quick hot shower and crawl into bed with a good book. But after putting away her cosmetics and other bathroom things, decides that the hot tub sounds like a better plan. Changing out of her clothes and wrapping up in her robe, heads back downstairs, turns on the stereo, picks out a favorite CD, and flips the switch for the speakers out on the deck. Grabbing a glass and the bottle of wine from the fridge and opening the French doors off the kitchen. Stepping out onto the deck and taking a deep breath, and already feeling the tension in her muscles relax. The deck wraps itself around the entire south, east, and west sides of the house, and half of the north.

The sun is beginning it's slow decent and it is picture perfect, everything has an orange glow and is so beautiful. Opening the cover on the hot tub, Mia turns up the heat, sits down on her lounge chair and waits for the tub to warm up. Popping the cork on the wine and filling her glass, and savoring that first refreshing sip, as Kenney Chesney's "and the sun goes down" starts to play. Chuckling a little, as it is the perfect song for the occasion, Toby wanders over and Mia gives him a little pat on the head and then he goes and plops down near the edge of the deck.

* * *

She awoke and the sun has set and it is nearly dark, man she must have been more tired than she realized. She went inside to grab a lighter from the utility drawer in the kitchen to light the candles on the patio table and the seven holders that are on the deck railing around the hot tub. She found them in some cute little store on one of her last book signings and thought they would look nice on the deck, and they do! Refilling her glass of wine, she walks over to the tub and lets her robe fall, having nothing on under it, sinks down into the tub. One of the many nice luxuries of living out in the boondocks with very few neighbors, and usually no company, or at least not unexpected company, you don't need to worry about a bathing suit. Besides they are usually a pain in the ass anyway!

She let herself relax and remembering when she first thought about purchasing a hot tub, and wondering if she should really splurge on that or not. Knowing it wasn't something she absolutely needed, yet knowing she would really enjoy it, especially after being gone and spending nights in a hotel, and uncomfortable seats on the planes. She knew she would enjoy it a lot, but it really pays off after traveling! The jets are great for working out the kinks in the back and neck. Meg is always talking about going to a spa for the weekend, but who needs it when everything she needs is right here. Hot tub, great deck, with the perfect amount of candlelight, the serene quiet of the great outdoors, and a great bottle of wine! Heck even the lighting is usually perfect too!

Gazing up at the sky, it is so dark, and yet so clear. The stars shine so bright and twinkle like a million diamonds. Spotting the big dipper, no big feat, it is the easiest to find. She tried looking for some of the other constellations. Thinking back to high school science class, when she never really paid much attention, just did what she had to, to get through it. Now what were some of the names of the other constellations? Oh well, they are just so beautiful tonight, it is so easy to just get lost in their brilliance. Maybe someday she will buy a good telescope and learn more about all that stuff.

The CD still playing, and another of her favorite songs starts to play, and with half a bottle of wine left, she closes her eyes and lets the water soothe her, and the music and wine take her thoughts away. Tomorrow will be a day of settling in and getting back into routine. Which might be tough, the said routine is pretty easy going. Tomorrow she will finish the current novel she's working on and then give her editor a call. Then call dad and mom, they always worry and Zack will be expecting a call too. Then she will need to call Meg and see when she plans to come out.

(Continues...)

Excerpted from A Change of Heartby Amanda Fallgren Copyright © 2009 by Amanda Fallgren. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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