Friday 5 February 2016

Friday, February 05, 2016 -

Loving His China Doll

by Leigh Smith
Published: Dec 10, 2015
Words: 35,609
Category: romance
Orientation: M/F
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OPENING EXTRACT
Prologue

Driving always calmed him down, so by the time he found himself in Scottsville, Jeff Kincaid had made a decision. He was going to leave home, the family farm to be precise. He had to get out on his own because the continual fighting with his brother was too stressful on everyone. It wasn't good for him, Paul or his parents. Paul was always right even when he was wrong, and he made life miserable for those around him if he didn't get his way.

The Willamette Valley was one of the most fertile valleys in Oregon. He knew he could make his own farm a success if he only had the chance. He loved farming and, having grown up and been working on a farm from the time he was ten along with the agricultural classes he had taken in college, he knew what he was doing. Money, however, was a problem. He couldn't afford to buy land so he'd have to look to lease. Even leased land was expensive, but if it was meant to be he knew he would find the right acreage and situation.

Having settled his mind, he was looking for a place to turn around and head back to Lewiston when he noticed an open field. From the looks of things, it hadn't been planted in crops in some time. He wondered if it would be available for lease. There was no sign, but he noticed a driveway and turned the wheel.

Little did he imagine how that simple action would affect the rest of his life.


Chapter One
"C'mon in, Joel, the door's open," he heard as he stepped out of the car in front of the house.

"Now how did you know it was me?"

"How I always know. I know the sound of your car, haven't you figured that out yet?"

"Oh, I thought you were going to tell me you saw me."

She giggled at his remark. "Well, if I did, you wouldn't believe me anyway, would you?"

"Probably not."

She giggled again.

Chyna Minton had lived in the same house since her birth twenty-six years ago. She knew and loved every inch of it, inside and out. The house belonged to her great grandmother who had passed it down to her daughter, Evaline Miller. Evaline married John Arden and they had a daughter, Emma, who married Steven Minton. Emma and Steven Minton were Chyna's parents. The women who lived in this house always outlived the men, and so Chyna was raised by her great-grandmother, grandmother, and mother. All were now gone with Emma Minton's passing last year. Her passing raised all kinds of flags in town.

Scottsville was a small community of thirty-five hundred people, give or take one or two, and most knew and cared for each other. Some residents feared for Chyna now she was alone in her home; her neighbors wanted to be sure that she didn't want for anything.