Love Unexpected — Michelle Tschantre

Jim Madison never expected to own a thriving marina, but he does. Kendra Millen always expected to go to the junior college, with a desire to learn and grow, but she can't. With four siblings still at home, Kendra needs to bring in some income. Her parents had been raised in the “work hard” school of thought, but “work hard” was being automated and her parent's skills were left wanting. Suddenly facing a locked door and a lost job, she resorts to the temp job service and meets Jim Madison while doing some food server work at his marina's Open House event. There it was, her image in his mind, Kendra, nothing specific, but when he later needed a temp employee in a hurry, her name and face came up. That was meeting number two. By meeting three, when he hired her to go with him on a boat retrieval event, he realized how much he enjoyed seeing her again. He even talked to a friend about the decade of age difference and was assured by Jeff Banning, now married to Andrea nearly ten years Jeff's junior, the social beating Jim would take was worth the end result. Beyond the age issue, there was the question of child care for Jim Madison's niece who had suddenly arrived on his doorstep. Would Kendra believe a marriage proposal was about Jim loving her, or was it about obtaining full-time child care for Lily? Which would win out in her mind?