Two Lefts, One Right (Book 1, Turns in Love Series)

Kimberly Duncan has been with Trent for almost eight years, and all she has to show for it is unresolved resentment from their rocky, infidelity-stained past. But when he asked her to marry him, she accepted.

Her plans to shack up with her future husband causes issues with her family, especially her next-level, judgmental mother. Everyone thinks their opinions mattered to Kim, but she will do what she feels is right.

Trenton Marks knows how lucky he is to have a woman like Kim, but he doesn’t always act like it. Whenever he doesn’t feel heard or taken seriously, all bets are off.

With interference from the constant secret-spilling betrayal by their two best friends (who happen to be married to each other), Kim’s family, and Trent’s past, can they beat the odds stacked up against them and make this thing work?

Available on Amazon and Kindle Unlimited

Sample

Kim

My mom had finally called me back, but before I could answer it, my boss summoned me to her office. Mrs. Roland’s timing couldn’t be worse. It was the third day in a row that I’d been ignored by my family. We had one disagreement and Mom was getting back to me after multiple attempts to reach her. Maybe it was bigger than I thought.

My grandparents also let me know how disappointed they were in me to decide to shack up before marriage. It was going to happen eventually, so why not get the hard part out of the way.

The closer I got to thirty with no name change, the more I felt like a damn kid. Nothing I did was good enough because I was the last to do it. Being a middle child and the only unmarried one was a tough place in my family.

I’d been with my boyfriend for so long that it felt like we were married except for one aspect: we didn’t live together. So, we chose to take that step against my family’s admonition.

Even my baby sister warned me not to go through with it until we were married. My whole thing was that if we cannot live together now, how the hell would we be able to do it then. I’d like to test it out before I’m officially stuck in the same house with someone forever.

Once we were married, that would be it. My family would damn near disown me if I divorced my husband for anything other than a life-threatening, domestic violence situation. Otherwise, I’d be expected to stick with him through anything. The only thing I’d been that loyal to was my career.

I went into Mrs. Roland’s office and sat in the chair opposite her. She was a great boss and her advice regarding my personal life had helped me through a lot, especially with my family. The previous morning, we discussed my decision to move in with my boyfriend and she heard me out.

For a woman with three adult children and a marriage that started over thirty years ago, she never let me down with the hard decisions. Mrs. Roland was on my side with this one and that was all I needed. At least one person whose opinion I trusted wasn’t telling me that I was going to hell for testing the waters with my living situation.

After a few seconds of her finishing a phone call, she looked at me and smiled.

“Kim, I have an interesting opportunity that I want to offer you.”

“Okay. What is it?” I asked.

Something in the way she said it made me nervous.

“As you know, the company is expanding. I got the HR department set up in Louisiana a few months ago, but the company is moving faster than I can. It took a little while to get everything together, but it was only one state over…” she paused, then looked at me squinting her eyes.

“What are you saying, Mrs. Roland?”

“Look, I wouldn’t ask this of you if I had a better option. From the talk we had yesterday, I understand that you are all set to move soon. This could be considered perfect timing or horrible timing, but you are the only one I’d trust to go in my place.”

If I wasn’t confused before, I was now.

Mrs. Roland took a deep breath, then told me, “The next office to be opened is in Denver and I was asked to go and get the department set up there. Being that my husband hadn’t been feeling well enough for me to leave him, I suggested that you take on this task.”

I coughed violently. Hell, I damn near choked. The air didn’t come into my body right after she said I was leaving.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

“Yes, I’m sorry about that.” I composed myself, “so, I have to move to Denver?”

“Temporarily. An apartment will be furnished and paid for. We’d communicate the same way we did when I left, and Linda was in charge here.”

“Yeah, but this was already established. Are you sure you want me to go? Why not Linda?”

“Don’t tell her I told you this, but she’s about to be let go. It has something to do with her hiring a few people she knew personally that obviously weren’t qualified to do their jobs. I should have checked everything out myself, but we’d been doing this for so long I thought I could trust her judgment,” she whispered.

“Oh, wow.”

“So, Kim, do you think this would be something you’d consider?” she asked.

“You know how much I love my job. I am a team player. Whatever you need, I’m here to get it done.”

Her smile lit up the room.

“That’s great to hear. I don’t know why I was nervous to ask you about it. And I’m supposed to be the boss.”

She giggled.

“Do you know the time frame of all of this? Like, when I need to leave and how long it will take?” I inquired.

“You should be expected to leave in a couple of weeks at the least to start preparing some face-to-face interviews and contact some staffing agencies that we’re connected to in Colorado. I have done some of the paperwork and we have a staffing plan ready. It’s estimated to be about eight weeks.”

“Say what now?”

Two months? Shit! She was right when she said it could be the worst timing. I didn’t see it going that well after telling everyone this news.

“Will that be a problem?” she asked seeming genuinely concerned.

“Oh, no. Eight weeks is fine. I will make it work.”

“Well, alright. I will let them know and I will get back to you with more details.”

“Yes, ma’am. Thank you for thinking of me.”

Linda walked right past the door when I stepped out of the office. Was she eavesdropping? Maybe she knew she’d been caught handing out jobs. I tried not to make any eye contact. If she approached me, she might see right through me.

My baby was out of town visiting his grandparents for the week. I didn’t want to drop this bomb on him over the phone, but he wouldn’t be coming home for a few days.

Honesty was the key to the door of good communication, as my dad would say. So, hopefully, if I told him immediately he’d understand.

When he called me on my way home from work, we planned to video chat that night. I would tell him then. At least I’d be able to see him.

Before going home, I dropped by my parents’ house. Since my mom called me earlier, I’d figured she was moving on about the shacking up thing. No one was home when I pulled up. I needed something to do. Denise responded to my text to meet up and get a drink. Knowing how my dude was, tonight may be epically difficult.

A little venting and two margaritas later, I felt better about talking to him. Denise swore he would be understanding, but she was naive to the man I knew personally. Reasonable was not his strong suit. He seemed amazing to outsiders and sometimes he was. The other side of that coin was a man that I didn’t want to be around. I prayed for the best and made the call I’d been dreading.

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