Then, Now, Always
Indian girls don’t have babies out of wedlock. Maya did. Now she has to tell Sam his daughter is 15 and in trouble with the law.
Maya Rao has made her own dreams come true: she’s the owner of a bustling café and bakery in New York and the mother of a beautiful teenage daughter, Samantha. But when Samantha lands in legal trouble over a misdemeanor she didn’t commit, Maya is desperate. Desperate enough to call Samantha’s dad, Sam Hutcherson, whom Maya left abruptly many years ago, and who is now a successful lawyer. The problem? Sam doesn’t know he has a daughter. Sam has put Maya firmly in his past, despite how shattered he was when she broke his heart. So he’s both dumbfounded and furious to find Maya outside his office asking for his help–with a picture of a girl who looks just like him. But as Sam reconnects with Maya, those old sparks begin to fly. Can he even picture a future with the woman who wrecked his past?
PRAISE: "This was the kind of story that lives and breathes with you." --Shaila Patel, author of Soulmated, on Then, Now, Always
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Excerpt from Then, Now, Always
“Mom!” Samantha screeched. “Didn’t you hear Mrs. P? Brittany is a Stevenson. The only reason she even got into trouble for shoplifting last time was because that shop owner had no idea who her mom was.” She wiped her eyes and softened. “It doesn’t matter what the cameras show.”
“So you hit her? What does that solve?”
“Nothing—I know! But she can’t keep getting away with that! Brittany has been trying to get me expelled since the whole shoplifting thing.” Samantha’s righteous fury petered out, and her voice became very small. “Why did I ever think I needed to be friends with her, anyway?”
Maya inhaled as deeply as she could, the crisp, cool air clearing her head. “Do you understand that her parents are going to press assault charges? And the school might expel you? These people have influence that I don’t.”
Fear filled Samantha’s eyes and shook her voice. “You’re not going to let them put me in jail, are you?” “Oh, honey, of course not!” Maya stopped and pulled her daughter into a tight hug. “I believe you. And I’ll do whatever I have to.” Her heart fell even further into her belly as she realized exactly what she needed to do.
Maya was going to have to wake the past.