“An (Un)Neighborly Welcome” in

Virtual Harmony and Other Short, Sweet Romances

Sammy and Jason, my nine- and seven-year-old sons, raced into the house, slamming the back door behind them. Without bothering to take off their coats or boots, they pushed past me in the hallway and on into their bedroom.

Sammy shouted out over his shoulder at me. “If someone knocks, don’t answer.”

That warning was enough to spin me about and head to their bedroom, a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. Whatever had happened couldn’t be good, but at least there was no blood trail. What could they possibly have done in our own backyard?

When Sammy was born, my mother had warned me boys were more work, but I hadn’t fully appreciated her prediction until after Jason learned to crawl and followed his big brother around like a puppy. They’d been playmates ever since, and just as often, instigators of some rather inventive monkey business.

Of course, I hadn’t planned on raising them alone. Only after my divorce and my ex’s transfer out of town had I fully realized how little I understood boys’ thinking processes. I always felt as if they could invent new ways to create problems faster than I could head them off. Whatever had happened was simply the latest in a string of mishaps.

Reaching their bedroom, I stood in the doorway, hands on hips. “What’s going on?”

Sammy jumped at my question, then dropped his gaze to study the snow melting off his boots. “Nothing.”

My younger son was nowhere to be seen at first glance. I finally spotted the blue pom-pom on his stocking cap sticking out from under his bed. “Jason?” I said, drawing out the vowels in his name. “Come out here.”

He peeked out from under the bed and caught my full glare. I continued to stare until he glanced away. As the younger one, I knew he’d crack first. Pulling himself halfway out from under the bed, he turned to his brother. “We didn’t mean to, right, Sammy?”

The older boy nodded. “It was an accident.”

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Virtual Harmony and Other Short, Sweet Romances

Love can bloom in infinite ways.

Eleven short romances follow love through cute meets to taking friendship to the next level to rekindling a marriage. Feelings can be sparked by an errantcomputer file, a hunt for diamonds, or even a fortune teller’s tale. All that is needed is to open one’s heart to let it in.

Search, find, and deepen love along the way in these sweet romances.

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