Roses with Thorns

By Lyssa Layne

Jordan Crecelius was always a ranch girl at heart but she and her best friend, Mia Tomko, enjoyed watching Mia's brother play baseball, too. In between horses and high school, the best friends always made time to catch a game or two.

Robby Glastetter was a city boy with a baseball addiction. The sport was paying his way through university as he studied to be a day trader once he graduated… that was until Jordan Crecelius walked into his life.

It only took one hello for Robby and Jordan to know that they were meant for each other. The two were destined for one another, soulmates meant to never be separated but with a six-year age gap, their love story didn't begin at hello. Robby patiently waited for Jordan, trading in trains for horses just for the opportunity to get to know her better. Once she turned eighteen, their love story was on the fast track and the two became adults together on the freight train of love as life began to unfold.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lyssa Layne
• Release date: May 7, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393105008

Book preview

OTHER BOOKS BY LYSSA LAYNE

The Right Pitch

Loved by the Linebacker

Fear of Striking Out

Another At Bat

Over the Fence

Until You Fall In Love

Everybody’s After Love

My Favorite What If

Holding the Other

My Calling

Unfinished Business

Catch My Heart: A Valentine’s Day Collection

Love & Famiglia: The DiDominzio Novellas

Baby, Maybe

Perfect Match

Burning Lovesick Series:

Love is a Fire

Burst Into Flame

––––––––

Roses with Thorns

Copyright © 2018 Lyssa Layne

All rights reserved

PROLOGUE

Dear R.J., my bravest and oldest son,

I’m writing this on the eve of you becoming a big brother. It doesn’t matter that you’ll now be the oldest kid in our family, you’ll always be my baby. You and I have a unique bond that we will never share with anyone else in our family. The moment I found out I was pregnant with you was one of the happiest and scariest times of my life. I was only barely twenty-one and had been a wife for less than a month. I had no clue how I’d raise a child with your father being deployed so while I was elated to be carrying you, I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that I was just as frightened. All that fear was washed away and replaced with something much stronger in less than a matter of hours. At precisely eighteen hundred hours, a man with the United States government knocked on my door and my world was flipped twice in the same day. With the help of a man who loves you like your father would have, I managed to survive but not a day goes by that I don’t think of your dad. Your looks allow me to see a piece of your father every day as I see so much of him in you, but the further time gets away from my last memory of your father, my mind betrays me. After his death, I never thought I’d forget our last conversation or the way he smelt when I hugged him goodbye, but over the years, those small details are slowly slipping away and the piece of my heart that belongs to him hurts as much as it did when I lost him. Tonight, as I lie in bed beside you, the last night that you’ll be my only child, I feel guilty for letting those details fade away, so I’ve decided to write out your father’s and my love story. I can only pray that you’ll find the kind of love I found with your father, I was lucky enough to find it twice...

Chapter 1

Jordan

You girls are going to make my ears bleed... Mr. Tomko, or Pop as we all call him, mumbles from the front seat of his old Ford Explorer. The seats are faded and torn, the red exterior paint is more like a pink as it’s faded over the years from the sun, and the radio plays nothing but static, which is why his daughter, Mia, and I are blaring the Backstreet Boys from her battery powered CD player.

Come on, Pop, you know you love this kind of music and I’ve seen your dance skills when you’re showing off for Mom. Mia leans forward and squeezes her father’s shoulder.

Pop pulls down his black Stetson cowboy hat, his cheeks flushing from embarrassment by Mia’s comment. He grips the steering wheel and doesn’t respond to her comment.

That’s sweet, Pop. I hope my husband dances for me when I get married. Dreamily, I run my finger over the face of Nick Carter, who is hiding inside the plastic CD case.

My comment catches his attention as he looks up in the rearview mirror and slightly shakes his head. Don’t be saying those kinds of things, Jordan. You girls are only fourteen which is way too young to be thinking about marriage, much less boys.

Mia and I giggle, turning up the music and I jam my hand inside the can of sour cream and onion Pringles. True, we are only fourteen, but every girl dreams of growing up, finding her prince, and getting married. However, in our small town, the prospects of future husbands are slim pickings. Mia and I look at each other as the chorus of I’ll Never Break Your Heart plays and we join the boys as loud as we can, not missing a word and thinking we’re both the next up and coming Grammy winners.

By the time the song finishes, Pop is pulling into the parking lot of Frank Myers Baseball Field at Kansas State University. A purple wildcat painted on the front of the stadium screams its welcome at us as we step out of the car. Pop turns to us, holding out our tickets with an arched eyebrow.

Alright, ladies, you’re on your own. Just promise me one thing?

Mia and I nod excitedly, feeling like adults as we’re about to be turned loose inside a college baseball stadium... On. Our. Own!!! I link my hand around her elbow, anxious for Pop to tell us the promise so we can get on with our adventure.

Do not embarrass your brother. He’s worked hard to get this far in his baseball career and this is his first game at the collegiate level. So, you girls be on your best behavior.

Pop speaks in a serious tone that neither of us are used to as the man is typically a bit more laid back and easygoing. Mia and I nod our head in agreement although there’s no need. I’ve known Mia and her brother, Abram, since I was born. The guy works hard on their father’s ranch and even harder throwing pitches late into the evening when the sky is already dark. Mia and I might be years apart from Abram but we all dream of leaving the small town we were raised in. Abram is proof that it can be done. After a couple years of junior college, he managed to make the team at Kansas State and here we are, watching his debut. I’m just as excited for the freedom as I am for Abram, he’s like a big brother to me as much as he is to Mia.

Pop, pleased at our response, leads us into the stadium then heads to his seat without a second glance at us. Mia takes my hand and we run off like the pair of middle school girls that we are. Talking a mile a minute about everything we see around us, from the pristine white lines on the diamond to the perfectly painted KS in purple and white in the middle of the outfield, we race to the bullpen for Kansas State.

Immediately, I recognize Abram as he warms up with one of his teammates. Our chatter quiets as we honor our promise to Pop. Silently, we lean against the seats in the front row and watch my best friend’s brother get ready for the moment he’s been preparing for his whole life. Abram is deep in the zone and doesn’t recognize us right away.

My eyes wander, soaking in what college life might be like for me in just short four years as I watch a group of college girls flirting with a couple players toward the dugout. I can’t wait to leave the place where I grew up, spread my wings and fly, reinvent myself, because, well, that’s what small town girls are supposed to do, right?

I look back toward Abram and sigh as I catch sight of the baseball pants spread tightly across the firm backside of the catcher. He stands up, throwing the ball back to Abram and taking off his helmet. Abram notices us, as does his