Moonstruck #01: Paper Moon

Moonstruck #01: Paper Moon

Dear Reader, ready for a rollicking good romance? Then hang tight. You're about to meet my latest character, Caroline Spencer--a hilarious single mom who's up for almost any adventure, including chaperoning a bunch of boisterous teenagers on their class trip to Mexico!^What Caroline's not up for is Blaine Madison-a fellow chaperone and single parent. Now trust me, honey, when I say this guy is tall, dark, and take-you-breath-away. But just as our leading lady is falling in love, two of the teen-agers get caught up in an international smuggling ring. One is Blaine's daughter-and the other one is Caroline's.^Kids will be kids, crooks will be crooks, and hearts will be hearts, but love trumps all.^Enjoy the lift of laugher, Linda Windsor

Chapter One The high whine of a blow-dryer gnawed at Caroline Spencer's last nerve. Why on earth had she agreed to let Annie have her friend over for the night, when they all had to be at the airport by 5:00 a.m. for check-in? The girls, too wired with excitement to sleep, had giggled up to the sound of the alarm. Now they primped and preened and monopolized the bathroom, while Caroline fidgeted outside the door. "Annie, honey, please hurry. I have to dry my hair," she called. "Karen's in there," her daughter replied from behind her. "Sorry, Miz C. Be right out," Karen called, cutting the dryer off. "Mom, you don't have to dry your hair. That's the whole point of your new perm." Annie fluffed the wet ringlets of Caroline's red hair with her fingers. "That's why that old salon woman called it wash-and-wear." "Stylist," Caroline corrected, feeling the ringlets rearrange themselves the moment her daughter let them be. "Old" salon woman indeed. "And Sally is just a few years older than I am." "Whatever." "Just what I need, a sixteen-year-old know-it-all at three in the morning. Besides"--Caroline yawned and recovered--"that's what the tag said about this shirt too, but guess who's been ironing while you gals scarfed down your breakfast burritos?" The bathroom door flew open, revealing Annie's counterpart, her enviably dry shoulder-length hair pulled up in a ponytail with a sparkling band. All those kilowatts, not to mention precious minutes, just for that? "Oh, no, Miz C," Karen said, looking at Caroline's crisp safari-print top as though the cheetah on it had bared its teeth. "You've got to wear the T-shirt Senora Marron handed out." She cut her gaze to Annie. "Like, you did give it to her, didn't you?" Annie smacked her palm to her forehead and spoke, preempting the snap of Caroline's one remaining nerve. "I totally forgot. I'll get it right now." Lord, lead me not into this melodrama, Caroline thought as she followed the girls into her daughter's bedroom. "Here ya go, Mom. The bigger one's yours." Caroline stared at the neon orange garment in her hand. "Oh my." On the front was the Edenton Christian High School mascot perched on a banner that said "Go Eagles." "What's the Spanish word for clash?" she asked. "Mom, you will be totally cool, trust me . . . and everyone is wearing them." "Well, we certainly won't lose anyone with these on," Caroline conceded. "Guess I'll pack my safari shirt for--" The phone rang, launching Annie into overdrive. "I'll get it!" As Caroline changed her shirt, she heard Karen's voice from the next room. "What do you mean he's not there? He's gotta be. Gram . . ." she whined, as if she stood on the deck of Star Trek's Enterprise and the future of all mankind was hanging in the balance. "I knew something would go wrong. He didn't want to go to start with. All he cares about is work, work, work." "What is it, Karen?" Caroline called out. Caroline knew that Karen's trip had been touch-and-go since her grandmother fell and her father volunteered to go in Gram's place. The trip rules, designed to promote family togetherness, required that every child have at least one parent or relative along. "Dad's not come home yet from Toronto, so Gram is going to take his suitcase to the airport. I'll just die if he doesn't make it." Look out, William Shatner. The princess of drama is rising. Caroline let out her breath in a mingle of relief and annoyance. She should have known better. Since Karen had en