Healing Hearts
Vicki Keener

Her masters degree in English Literature earns her a part time teaching position at the local Community College. Her salary keeps the utilities current and food on the table, but doesn't provide enough to repay the debt.
Brock Young, the wealthy man next door to Jill, faces his own dilemma. His ex-wife left him to care for his daughter, eight year old Amanda, as a single father. He rejoices that he has his child, but Mandy isn't happy with the daycare facilities or the live-in housekeepers he provides. She wants to be with her best friend Abby who lives next door. Brock succumbs to his daughter's pleas, knowing the timing couldn't be worse two months after Jill's husband dies. He asks her if she can care for his daughter after school until he finishes work each day.
Jill agrees with alacrity. She realizes the two girls can maybe reconcile some of their pain from the loss of their parent and she need the money Brock pays her. Seven months pass and all goes well.
The girls plan their first ever sleep-over at Abby's house and ask that Brock be invited for dinner. Jill agrees. Before the appointed day, Jill's mail is left by mistake in Brock's mailbox. He opens it, unaware it doesn't belong to him, and learns of her appalling financial condition and upcoming house foreclosure.
In the meantime, Mandy's mother threatens to sue for sole custody of Mandy since she plans to marry and can offer her daughter a stable home, unlike Brock. Desperate to keep Mandy and aware of Jill's financial woes, he proposes marriage to her the night of the dinner with the girls and offers to solve her money problems.
Later that night, their sexual attraction becomes undeniable, but can he convince Jill that marriage is a win-win for both of them?