Spare Change — Bette Lee Crosby

Olivia Westerly's father disowned her when she tossed her nose in the air and left home in pursuit of a job he considered scandalous. He expected that she'd marry and settle into having babies as her friends had done; but Olivia simply couldn't tolerate the thought. Why just the mere mention of children sent chills up her spine! Believing that children weigh a woman down like a pocket full of stones, Olivia avoided such entanglements for almost forty years…but when she meets Charlie Doyle everything changes. Even though Charlie has a son, and a grandson he's supposedly never seen, Olivia is blinded by love and happily says “I do.” That happiness is cut short when Charlie dies on their honeymoon and Olivia returns home to find eleven year old Ethan Allen Doyle sitting on her doorstep. The boy's parents are dead and only two people know the truth of what happened -- Ethan Allen isn't talking and the murderer wants to make certain he never does. Olivia is the only one who can stop it from happening.