by Julia London
Edan kissed her with all that he was feeling in the middle of that train station. He didn’t care that people were gawking. He didn’t care when one old man admonished them to take their inappropriate behavior to a private room. He only cared that Jenny was in his arms, and she was kissing him. And he couldn’t wait to get her home, he couldn’t wait to make love to her again, he couldn’t wait to see how far they could go together.
He sincerely hoped he didn’t have to express that in words. But there seemed to be no danger, for Jenny was suddenly talking about whale pods, something about how they stuck together through storms and calm seas.
Get on with it, Edan.
Epilogue
Six months later
Everyone had come for the groundbreaking of the new spa and farm shop at the Cassian Inn, made possible by a generous loan from Jenny’s father. This was just the beginning—they had grand plans, Jenny and Edan, beginning with a wedding that would take place in the summer.
“So soon?” Bethany asked. She had come along with Vanessa and Brooke for the party.
“Why not?” Jenny asked. “We’re going to do it here, in the new salon.” After much discussion, and a desire not to live where Edan had once lived with Audra, Edan and Jenny had taken the cottage up on the hill and had turned the private quarters into a premiere suite and a new, larger salon. They’d hung crystal chandeliers, had painted the paneling a soft gray, and had replaced the carpets and furnishings.
The best part of their work so far was the addition of a small bar in the new salon. It was now Jenny’s favorite room in the old mansion.
“Did I tell you about the woman who is going to marry us?” she said to her friends. “She’s a mystic. She read our cards and she said—”
“You’ve told me, like, one hundred times,” Bethany said, and smiled at the others. Jenny supposed that look was because she hadn’t stopped talking since they’d arrived. Could they blame her? She was deliriously happy.
She glanced at her watch—the ceremony would begin shortly. “I’ve got to get out there and greet people. You know how Edan is,” she said with a warm smile. “He’ll say hello and think he’s done. I’ll probably have to carry the whole event.”
“Thank God you’re so good at this sort of thing,” Vanessa said with a laugh.
The four women walked out of the inn and around to the first tee, which, to the consternation of the four seniors who met every Saturday to play, was being used today for the groundbreaking ceremony. The crowd was thick—people around Lake Haven and from East Beach had come to have a look at the plans and witness the ribbon cutting, arriving on the shuttle Jenny had negotiated with the village of East Beach. A shuttle that ran all around the lake had proven so popular that the village was going to expand the service from two to three trips a day during the high season.
After the short ceremony, there would be a reception to showcase the things that would be available in the new farm shop. Who knew that Sandra had been desperate to open one? Edan hadn’t realized it, but Jenny had. Sandra was in her element and had baked so many cakes that Jenny had been haunted by the scent of chocolate all week.
A pregnant Rosalyn and Hugh were in attendance. They’d decided to give the inn another year before deciding if they’d move to the city. Jenny and Rosalyn had become very good friends, and Jenny was certain they would stay. Ned and Sandra had come, the two old friends who still shared the farmhouse. It seemed Ned was not ready to retire just yet, and Sandra had not wanted to leave the spot where Clara was buried. Edan had arranged for Mr. Finlay to be brought down from the senior home. “I donna know what he recognizes, but he was as much a part of the inn as anyone,” he’d told Jenny. The old man didn’t know where he was, but he was enchanted with Wilbur and Boz, they, in turn, were enchanted with his attention to them.
Jenny’s father had come with Cathy and her teenage son, who skulked around Vanessa and Brooke most of the time. Even Lorenzo had come back for the ribbon cutting. Not with his one and only true love, Elizabetta, but with his new one and only true love, the doe-eyed, slinky Tatyana. “She is the love of my life, this girl,” he’d whispered to Jenny.
Jenny walked up to Edan, who was reviewing some note cards. He looked magnificent in his formal kilt. “How do I look?” he asked as he took her hand and kissed her cheek.
“Sexy,” she said. “So sexy. You should wear that to bed.”
He frowned. “I hoped to appear a bit mayoral.”
“That’s totally what I meant,” she said with a laugh. “Are you ready, Mr. Mackenzie? People are dying for champagne and nutballs.”
“Och, donna talk dirty to me now, love,” he said. With a squeeze of her hand, they walked to the little platform Ned had put up and signaled that the ceremony was to begin.
“I’ll start,” Edan whispered to her.
“Okay, you do that,” Jenny said. She would fill in when necessary as she always did.
“Thank you all for coming today,” Edan said when he’d gained everyone’s attention. “This,” he said, gesturing to the place where the shop and spa would be built, “was an idea only a few months ago.” He paused.
Jenny shifted forward, prepared to fill in, but Edan put his hand on her arm.
“Like all good ideas, it needed time to germinate, aye? For roots to sink and grow.”
Again, he hesitated, and again, Jenny tried to step forward. But Edan’s hand was still on her arm, and he squeezed it.
“But the time has come for new growth and tourism around Lake Haven. We at the Cassian Inn intend to be a part of that growth and continued history. What we mean to do here will only enhance what we all do, together, as a community. We’ve a plan for it...”
Edan continued to talk about growth and change. Jenny watched him, amazed at his many words. Amazed that this was the same man who had scarcely spoken a word the night she had arrived. She was so proud to be by his side. So bloody proud, as he would say. So thoroughly in love.
When he ended an amazing eight minutes of speaking, she and Edan cut the ribbon to enthusiastic applause.
“Come on, then, the lot of you, to the courtyard for champagne!” Rosalyn called to the assembly.
Edan and Jenny stood back, watching their neighbors and friends and staff make their way to the courtyard. “That was fabulous,” Jenny said. “You were fabulous, Edan.”
He smiled at her with such adoration that her skin began to tingle. “I could never have done this without you, lass. To think of all the years I muddled through, trying to please those who could no’ be pleased.”
“I know,” she said. “That’s just what I was—”
“To think I might have gone on that way for the rest of my bloody life,” he interrupted, and shook his head. “God, but I love you, Jen.”
“And I love—”
“We will fill this inn with babies and dogs and friends and family, aye? You belong here, with me, and we belong together, always. Do you know what? I believe in fate. You’ve made me believe in it. Come, we best have a bit of champagne before they drink us dry. I know how your friends are.” He gathered her in his arms and kissed her fully, then hand-in-hand, they went down to the courtyard.
Jenny was so happy that she didn’t care she hadn’t managed to get a single word in today.
Life was so lovely, and the best part was that she finally knew where to start.
# # #
Dear Reader:
I hope you have enjoyed this shorter entry in my Lake Haven series. I received so many tweets, notes and letters about the people living around the fictional village of East Beach on the shores of Lake Haven that I decided I wasn’t quite ready to it all behind. Edan and Jenny are the sort of couple with whom I’d want to have a glass of wine, and for sure I’d want a tour of that old Victorian mansion to see what they’ve done with it!
If you enjoyed the book, I hope you’ll consider leaving a favorable review here.
If you’re looking for more novels set at Lake Ha
ven, I have written three full-length (longer) novels that have preceded this one. I wrote the series for Montlake Publishing, an Amazon imprint, and as such the ebooks are only available from Amazon. But you can purchase a paper copy of any of the novels through your favorite etailer.
If you’re looking for a change of pace, I have a new contemporary romance series starting 2019, both in paperback and ebook, wherever books are sold. Look for The Princes of Texas, about the powerful Prince family and Three Rives Ranch, set in Texas, a place near and dear to my heart. The first book, Charmer in Chaps, will be available at the end of February 2019.
Thank you so much for your interest in my work!
Keep up with all my news at www.julialondon.com/newsletter.
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Can’t get enough of Lake Haven? Check out this excerpt from the first book in the series, SUDDENLY ENGAGED, the third book in the Lake Haven series:
Excerpt from SUDDENLY ENGAGED
A Lake Haven Novel Book 3
by Julia London
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Leave it to a female to think the rules did not apply to her.
The little heathen from next door was crawling under the split-rail fence that separated the cottages again. Dax, who already had been feeling pretty damn grumpy going on a year now, wondered why she didn’t just go over the fence. She was big enough. It was almost as if she wanted the mud on her dress and her knees, to drag the ends of her dark red ponytails through the muck.
She crawled under, stood up, and knocked the caked mud off her knees. She stomped her pink, sparkly cowboy boots—never had he seen a more impractical shoe—to make them light up, as she liked to do, hopping around her porch several times a day.
Then she started for cottage Number Two, arms swinging, stride long.
Dax watched her from inside his kitchen, annoyed. It had started a week ago, when she’d climbed on the bottom railing of the fence, leaned over it, and shouted, “I like your dog!”
He’d ignored her.
Two days ago he’d asked her, fairly politely, not to give any more cheese to his dog, Otto. That little stunt of hers had resulted in a very long and malodorous night between man and beast.
Yesterday he’d commanded her to stay on her side of the fence.
But here the little monster came, apparently neither impressed with him nor intimidated by his warnings.
Well, Dax had had enough with that family, or whatever the situation was next door. And the enormous pickup truck that showed up at seven a.m. and idled in the drive just outside his bedroom window. Those people were exactly what was wrong with America—people doing whatever they wanted without regard for anyone else, letting their kids run wild, coming and going at all hours of the day.
He walked to the back screen door and opened it. He’d installed a dog door, but Otto refused to use it. No, Otto was a precious buttercup of a dog that liked to have his doors opened for him, and he assumed that anytime Dax neared the door, it was to open it for him. He assumed so now, stepping in front of Dax—pausing to stretch after his snoring nap—before sauntering out and down the back porch steps to sniff something at the bottom.
Dax walked out onto the porch and stood with his hands on his hips as the girl brazenly advanced.
“Hi!” she said.
She was about to learn that she couldn’t make a little girl’s social call whenever she wanted. There were rules in this world, and Dax had no compunction about teaching them to her. Clearly someone needed to. He responded to her greeting with a glower.
“Hi!” she said again, shouting this time, as if he hadn’t heard her from the tremendous distance of about six feet.
“What’d I tell you yesterday?” he asked.
“To stay on the other side of the fence.”
“Then why are you over here?”
“I forgot.” She rocked back on her heels and balanced on them, toes up. “Do you live there?”
“No, I just stand on the porch and guard the fence. Yes, I live here. And I work here. And I don’t want visitors. Now go home.”
“My name is Ruby Kokinos. What’s yours?”
What was wrong with this kid? “Where is your mother?”
“At work.”
“Then is your dad home?”
“My daddy is in Africa. He teaches cats to do tricks,” she said, pausing to twirl around on one heel. “Big cats, not little cats. They have really big cats in Africa.”
“Whatever,” he said impatiently. “Who is home with you right now?”
“Mrs. Miller. She’s watching TV. She said I could go outside.”
Great. A babysitter. “Go home,” he said, pointing to Number Three as Otto wandered over to examine Ruby Coconuts, or whatever her name was. “Go home and tell Mrs. Miller that you’re not allowed to come over or under that fence. Do you understand me?”
“What’s your dog’s name?” she asked, petting that lazy, useless mutt.
“Did you hear me?” Dax asked.
“Yes.” She giggled as Otto began to lick her hand, and went down on her knees to hug him. “I always always wanted a dog, but Mommy says I can’t have one now. Maybe when I’m big.” She stroked Otto’s nose, and the dog sat, settling in for some attention.
“Don’t pet the dog,” Dax said. “I just told you to go home. What else did I tell you to do?”
“To, um, to tell Mrs. Miller to stay over there,” she said, as she continued to pet the dog. “What’s her name?”
“It’s a he, and his name is Otto. And I told you to tell Mrs. Miller that you are supposed to stay over there. Now go on.”
She stopped petting the dog, and Otto, not ready for the gravy train of attention to end, began to lick her face. Ruby giggled with delight. Otto licked harder, like she’d been handling red meat. Frankly, it wouldn’t surprise Dax if she had—the kid seemed like the type to be into everything. She was laughing uncontrollably now and fell onto her back. Otto straddled her, his tail wagging as hard as her feet were kicking, trying to lick her while she tried to hold him off.
Nope, this was not going to happen. Those two useless beings were not making friends. Dax marched down off the porch and grabbed Otto’s collar, shoving him out of the way. “Go,” he said to the dog, pointing to his cottage. Otto obediently lumbered away.
Dax turned his attention to the girl with the fantastically dark red hair in two uneven pigtails and, now that he was close to her, he could see her clear blue eyes through the round lenses of her blue plastic eyeglasses, which were strapped to her face with a headband. She looked like a very young little old lady. “Listen to me, kid. I don’t want you over here. I work here. Serious work. I can’t be entertaining little girls.”
She hopped to her feet. “What’s your name?”
Dax sighed. “If I tell you my name, will you go home?”
She nodded, her, long pigtails bouncing around her.
“Dax.”
She stared at him.
“That’s my name,” he said with a shrug.
Ruby giggled and began to sway side to side. “That’s not a real name!”
“It’s as real as Ruby Coconuts.”
“Not Coconuts!” She squealed with delight. “It’s Ruby Kokinos.”
“Yeah, okay, but I’m pretty sure you said Coconuts. Now go home.”
“How old are you?”
“I’m a lot older than you,” he said and put his hands on her shoulders, turning her around.
“I’m going to be seven on my birthday. I want a Barbie for my birthday. I already have four. I want the one that has the c
ar. The pink car with flowers on it. There’s a blue car, but I don’t want that one, I want the pink one, because it has flowers on it. Oh, and guess what, I don’t want a Jasmine anymore. That’s my favorite princess, but I don’t want her anymore, I want a Barbie like Taleesha has.”
“Great. Good luck with that,” he said as he moved her toward the fence.
“My shoes light up,” she informed him, stomping her feet as they moved. “My mom says they’re fancy. They’re my favorites. I have some sneakers, too, but they don’t light up.”
They had reached the fence, thank God, before the girl could give him a rundown of her entire shoe collection. Ruby dipped down, apparently thinking she’d go under again, but Dax caught her under her arms and swung her over the fence, depositing her on the other side.
Ruby laughed with delight. “Do that again!”
“No. This is where our acquaintance comes to an end, kid. I don’t have time to babysit you, get it?”
“Yes,” she said.
She didn’t get it. She wasn’t even listening. She had already climbed onto the bottom rail, as if she meant to come back over.
“I mean it,” he said, pointing at her. “If I find you on my side of the fence, I’m going to call the police.” He figured that ought to put the fear of God into her.
“The policemans are our friends,” she said sunnily. “A policeman and a police woman came to my kindergarten. But they never shot any peoples.”
Dax had a brief but potent urge to correct her understanding of how plurals worked, but he didn’t. He turned around and marched back to his cottage.
He didn’t even want to look out the kitchen window when he went inside, because if she’d come back over the fence, he would lose it.
He’d known that family was going to be trouble the moment they’d arrived a few days ago. They’d cost him a table leg he’d been working on, because they’d slammed a door so loudly and unexpectedly that Dax had started, and the permanent marker he was using to outline a very intricate pattern on said table leg had gone dashing off in a thick, black, indelible line down the leg. He’d had to sand the leg down and start again.