What I Like About Sunday

What I Like About Sunday DARLENE TALLMAN Contents Acknowledgments Blurb Prologue Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Epilogue About the Author Also by Darlene Tallman Copyright This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. What I Like About Sunday Copyright 2023© Darlene Tallman Published by: Darlene Tallman ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This book contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from. Darlene Tallman, the author / publisher. Editors: Mary Kern, Melanie Gray, Nicole McVey, Jennifer Corbin, Stephanie Ellis, Beth DiLoreto, Sylvie Howick Proofers: Nicole McVey, Nicole Lloyd, Cheryl Hullett Formatter: Liberty Parker Cover by Tracie Douglas of Dark Water Covers Acknowledgments Back in December, my PA, Nicole Lloyd, gave me a task. To go through the manuscripts I had “out there” that weren’t done yet and pick one to work on that was outside any of my series I was working on, or any of my cowrites, then pick one of the many premade covers I have in yet another folder. I went through several, sent her the blurb and she said, “That one!” However, no book is ever a solo project and when I got sick a few days before I was going to need to upload the book, I had several folks jump in to help get it polished for me so I wouldn’t blow my deadline and disappoint the readers. Nicole McVey and Cheryl Hullett threw their two cents in, as did Liberty Parker, even though she was faced with her own deadlines. They made sure the story made sense and even tossed in some ideas to expand it in some places and this book wouldn’t be complete without acknowledging that fact! XOXOXO Dar Dedication This one is dedicated to my favorite oldest granddaughter, Maddison. She turns 17 the day “What I Like About Sunday” releases, and while I haven’t seen or spoken to her in almost eight years now, not a day goes by that I don’t miss her. MaddiBelle, if you ever see this, just know you’re loved and prayed for every single day, and I’ll always love you to the moon and back. Love, Grandma Blurb Growing up in the same small town where everyone knows one another, Sunday Cross has watched Jett Blake’s life from afar. Not because he’s several years older and ahead of her in school; no, it’s because of his girlfriend, who makes the mean girls in the movies look like choir girls. She’s focused on her own goals and dreams, determined to use her GI bill to become a nurse like her mother, and grandmother. Instead, she returns to town shattered and scarred, her military service over and any dreams she had for a future with her fiancé ground into dust. Now, her days are filled with surgeries and physical therapy instead of patients and missions. Jett Blake was the golden boy of the town. Star quarterback. Exemplary student. All-around nice guy, despite the fact his girlfriend wasn’t well-liked. His life reads like a blueprint for success; college athlete, drafted into the pros. He never expects to find himself home again, now, a single dad to a four-year old little boy, divorced, and broken. Can two broken souls, who were aware of each other years ago, find their way to happiness? Prologue Fourteen years ago “Where’s your cross, Sunday?” the group of girls chanted, using my last name as a pun. Shaking my head at their obvious lack of originality, I ignored them as I headed to my locker. Why, oh why, was I blessed with a surname that begged people to make fun of me? Sighing, I switched out books, closed my locker before turning around, and crashing straight into a hard, muscular male chest. Looking up, I saw the senior that every girl in the school was panting over. Jett Blake. Star quarterback. Star of the cross-country team. He had so many athletic skills and commendations that he was being offered free rides to all of the major, top tier colleges. As if that wasn’t enough, he was smart as well, holding down a near-perfect grade point average despite all of his extracurricular activities. The only downside, as far as I was concerned, was his girlfriend. She was horrid, what my friends and I would classify as a ‘mean girl’, yet she had him snowed somehow, believing she was a caring, empathetic girl, which was a shame because she was anything but that. His deep blue eyes looked down at me, and I said, “I’m so sorry, I wasn’t watching where I was going.” “Don’t let them bother you, Sunday. They’re just jealous because they have nothing unique about them.” I knew my mouth was hanging open at his words. How in the hell did he even know who I was, for heaven’s sake? “I try not to,” I softly replied. He smiled at me, and was about to say something in response when his girlfriend, Stacey, came up next to him. “What are you doing, Jett? We’re going to be late!” “We’re fine, Stace. I accidentally ran into Sunday, and wanted to make sure she was okay.” I looked at him and couldn’t believe he was pretty much lying to his girlfriend, since it was me who ran into him, not the other way around. Then again, Stacey was a bit of a bitch, and if he had said