“If you do, there’s just one more term for the prenup.”
“What else do you want?” he asked. “Steak every Monday night? A movie every Saturday night? The beach, the dock, the moon? Tell me. I’ll get it for you, do it for you. Just tell me.”
“There’s only one other thing I’d want. One more term—a term that would negate the need for any of the others. But some things are beyond even your power. It’s something you can’t force, you can’t buy. And I’m so afraid it’s something you can’t give me, but Pearly convinced me I had to come and ask. To just let this end without even trying...that would haunt me.”
‘‘Ask me. I’ll give it to you if I can. There’s so much I want to give you.”
She walked up and leaned over his desk, her face just inches from his. ‘‘And there’s only one thing I want from you. Love. Donovan, I need you to love me. You can feed me all the logical reasons why we should marry, but in the end, there’s only one reason I could marry you, and it’s the one thing you can’t give me.”
‘‘Here,” he said, pulling an envelope from a pile of papers on his desk and handing it to her. ‘‘I was coming to find you after I took care of this. Look in the envelope, Sarah.”
She opened the envelope and saw tickets and brochures.
‘‘What’s this?”
‘Tickets for our honeymoon.”
“We never discussed a honeymoon. It wouldn’t make sense. I have too much work to do here building my business, and you have to build your practice.” He stood and walked around his desk, standing right in front of the woman he loved. “Yes, we both have things to do. I have a partnership to achieve, and you have a business to build. But none of that matters to me. You see, more than any of that, we have to build our love, give it time to take root and flourish.
“The tickets are to Ireland. I promised my grandmother someday a Donovan bride would wear that ring, this ring....”
He took her hand in his and slipped her ring back on her finger and prayed she never took it off again. “I promised my grandmother a woman I loved would wear this ring to Ireland and fulfill that promise made so many years ago by another Donovan.”
“But—”
“Sarah, listen, I think I fell in love with you that first day.”
“When I came into your office and asked you to sue the Rat?”
“No. Before that. When it was raining and I stumbled into your store. You...there was something there. Some indescribable spark. I didn’t know what it was, didn’t want to know. Yet, after that, I couldn’t seem to get away from you. I saw you eating in the park, talking to Amelia, feeding pigeons.”
He couldn’t even describe the force of that feeling to her adequately. He’d hidden from it for so long, but couldn’t any longer. It was love, but not just any love. It was the type of love Leland had for his wife, the type his grandmother and grandfather had shared.
“Do you think I would have asked just any woman to pretend to be my fiancee?” he asked softly.
“Yes,” she said with a strangled laugh that quickly turned to tears.
“Don’t cry, sweetheart. I love you. I’d put it in the prenup along with anything else. But to be honest, we don’t need one, because if you agree to marry me, there’s no way I’m ever letting you go.”
“Donovan, we haven’t known each other long enough.” Sarah had come in here ready to fight for just this, and yet, here he was, offering her dream. He was offering her his love.
“Say you love me,” he said, his hand stroking her cheek.
“Elias...”
“I love the way my name sounds on your lips. Say it again.”
“Elias. I love you. Only you. I’ve known it for a long time. It just took me a while to admit it to myself.”
“And when you did admit it to yourself, you broke off the engagement?” he asked.
“Something like that.”
“So you’ll marry me?”
All her fears and tears were gone. She laughed. “Well, Mrs. Wagner and the girls have put a lot of work into that wedding. It would be rude to spoil their fun.”
“Yes, that would be one reason,” he said, his laughter echoing her own.
“And our marrying would be good for business,” she said, stepping closer, moving into the shelter of his arms and knowing she’d never move far from them again.
“Business doesn’t matter,” he said, pulling her close, encircling her, not just physically. No, she was surrounded by his love.
“Well, I guess I can think of one other reason why we should get married,” she teased.
“What’s that?”
“Because I can’t live another day without you.” She started chuckling. “You know, Pearly would love to tell this story.”
“You know, I don’t think anyone would believe this story if she told it,” he said, his own laughter rumbling in his chest, sending little waves of desire coursing through Sarah’s being.
“No, I guess this is a story that you and I will keep to ourselves...a love story unlike any other.” So saying, she kissed him. Kissed the man she loved and knew that she’d truly found her home.
Epilogue
‘‘HOW NICE OF Ratgaz to pay for supper last night,” Sarah said. “Lucky for me I had a heck of an attorney.”
“The best,” Donovan teased. “The settlement was more than I’d thought we’d get and certainly paid for not just your expertise, but your aggravation, though I’d still have liked to punch the Rat out.”
“Shh,” she said softly. “I don’t want to think about him. I only want to think happy thoughts. Nothing else is allowed here in this land of legends and fairy dreams.”
They stood, hand in hand, in front of the Malahide Castle in Ireland. It was a towering old structure, surrounded by gardens and...
Love.
Sarah had discovered that no matter where she went, when Donovan was with her, she was surrounded by love.
The wedding was everything Mrs. Wagner and the girls had planned. Sarah’s parents had immediately fallen for her new husband; and his parents, though they were distant, seemed happy enough. And after Leland had announced Donovan’s partnership at the reception, his parents had positively beamed.
“A penny for your thoughts,” he said as they started walking into town.
‘‘I don’t think you get to use American money here, but I’ll tell you my thoughts anyway.... I love you so much I could burst with it.”
“And I love you, too, Sarah Jane Madison-Donovan. My grandmother would be pleased.”
As they walked through the quaint little town down toward the beach, Sarah knew that this particular love story wasn’t simply ending with a happily ever after. No, it was the beginning of one.
~~~
A Dear Reader PS,
If you enjoyed this story, I hope you’ll consider writing a review at your favorite online bookstore!
I wrote all the books in the Perry Square Series as stand-alone stories, but if you’re interested in reading more about the people on Perry Square, here’s the list as well as other books I have available for your Kindle, as well as other books that are available for your devices.
And as a special bonus, here’s an excerpt of my May ‘16 release: A Simple Heart and my June ’16 release, I Waxed My Legs for This? Again, thank you!
Holly
BIO
Award-winning author Holly Jacobs has sold over two and a half million books worldwide. The first novel in her Everything But… series, Everything But a Groom, was named one of 2008's Best Romances by Booklist, and her books have been honored with many other accolades. She lives in Erie, Pennsylvania, with her husband and four children and two dogs, Ethel Merman and Ella Fitzgerald. You can visit her at http://www.HollyJacobs.com.
Other Books for your Kindle:
Perry Square Series:
Do You Hear What I Hear?
A Day Late and a Bride Short
Dad Today, Groom Tomorrow
Be My Baby
Once Upon a Princess
Once Upon a Prince
Once Upon a King
Here With Me
Novels
Just One Thing
Carry Her Heart
Her Second-Chance Family
These Three Words
Cupid Falls
Christmas in Cupid Falls
A Simple Heart: A Cupid Falls Story
Short Stories and Novellas
Labor Day
There He Was
13 Weeks
They’re all available, along with my Nothing But…Novella series in:
Short Stories for the Overworked and Under-Read Anthology
Maid in LA Series:
My first mystery series!!
1. Steamed: A Maid in LA Mystery
2. Dusted: A Maid in LA Mystery
3. Spruced Up: A Maid in LA Novella
Book #4 Swept Up: A Maid in LA Mystery
All four books in one edition
Maid in LA Mysteries bundle
Holly Jacobs Classic Romance Collection:
Readers kept asking, so here are the first books I ever wrote. And while I think my writing has grown over the years, I hope you enjoy them!
Bosom Buddies
Cinderella Wore Tennis Shoes
Everything But… Series:
1. Everything But a Groom
2. Everything But a Bride
3. Everything But a Wedding
4. Everything But a Christmas Eve
5. Everything But a Mother
6. Everything But a Dog
WLVH Series:
Pickup Lines
Lovehandles
Night Calls
Laugh Lines
Nothing But Short Story Series:
1. Nothing But Love
2. Nothing But Heart
3. Nothing But Luck
Whedon Series:
Unexpected Gifts
A One-of-a-Kind Family
Homecoming Day
A Father’s Name
Valley Ridge Series:
1. You Are Invited… A Valley Ridge Wedding
2. April Showers, A Valley Ridge Wedding
3. A Walk Down the Aisle, A Valley Ridge Wedding
4. A Valley Ridge Christmas
American Dads:
1. Once Upon a Thanksgiving
2. Once Upon a Christmas
3. Once Upon a Valentine’s
Wedding Mishaps:
How to Catch a Groom
How to Hunt a Husband
Also available:
Found and Lost (working title: Can’t Find NoBody)
The House on Briar Hill Road
Same Time Next Summer
Confessions of a Party Crasher
The 100-Year Itch
Excerpt from Holly Jacobs’ newest Cupid Falls Story:
A Simple Heart
The Legend of Cupid Falls, Pennsylvania
THE TOWNSPEOPLE of Cupid Falls have a legend that surrounds their waterfall.
It’s a small waterfall…less than six feet high. It tumbles over a rocky ledge into Falls Creek.
It is the waterfall that gave the town its name.
Generation after generation of men and women met at the falls and fell in love.
That is the legend most of the town knows and even brags about.
But there is more to the story…to the legend.
A small community of Lancaster Amish moved west, across Pennsylvania to the verdant farmland thirty miles from Lake Erie’s shore. They were a people who chose to live simply. But choosing a plain life doesn’t mean they found love any simpler.
They were a people who didn’t believe in magic but they recognized the beauty of the falls. When a man and woman in the Falls Creek community courted, they went to edge of the creek, where the water fell over that rocky ledge. There, they’d discuss their hopes and dreams. They’d talk about the family they planned to build.
And there, countless members of the community pledged their troth.
Most went on to build happy lives together.
But for the lucky few, the magic of the falls didn’t require their belief. It brought them together, helped them overcome their difficulties and in the end, those plain couples built their life together based on Cupid’s Falls only true magic…
Love.
Chapter One
It is important to soak your reed before using it to make a basket. Dry reed is too brittle and breaks easily. ~Paisley Jones, author of Amish Baskets and Other Crafts
“BOOPA, BOOP, Boop, de Doop...”
Paisley Jones drove over a well paved road that was lined with sparsely spaced homes, trees with tired green leaves, and an occasional farmer’s field. She sang the Boop Song to her niece. Loudly. If she said boopa one more time, she might loose her mind, but the alternative was worse.
She had tried the radio and her iPod, but not even her Raffi mix could soothe the one-year-old in the back of the car. Paisley’s options were limited to singing or listening to Boop’s screams.
Paisley chose singing.
Boop wanted out of her car seat…and she wanted out now. For whatever reason, the Boop Song was keeping the baby’s screams at bay. According to Paisley’s GPS, they’d arrive in less than five minutes. She could stand another round or two of the Boop Song.
She started again as she took in the late summer landscape. She dreaded the upcoming change of seasons. It was seven o’clock on an August evening and still light out. Soon it would be dark by now. The thought was depressing.
Usually she loved autumn but this year, she dreaded it because on its heels would be winter. Images of snowy, slippery country roads flashed through her mind. She pushed them aside.
It was still summer. There was no use borrowing trouble.
The baby gave her pre-scream squeal again.
“Almost there, Boop,” Paisley called. “We’re almost home.”
She started singing the nonsense song again.
She glanced at the GPS screen. The small flag that indicated their destination was finally visible.
A new start.
A new beginning.
She’d left the past in Ohio, and had driven east to her future in Cupid Falls, Pennsylvania. The small town sat in Crawford County, just south of the lakeside city of Erie.
“Destination on the right,” the cheeky male Australian voice she’d programed into her GPS called.
“Thanks, Gary,” she said without thinking.
She was suddenly reminded how Tommy used to laugh at the way she humanized machines. When he’d teased, she’d countered that everything deserved a name. She’d reminded him that he’d been a plain Thomas before they’d met. She’d taken one look at him and known that he was really a Tommy.
He said the first time she called him Tommy and he wasn’t annoyed he’d known he was going to be with her the rest of his life.
She fought back tears, knowing they would do no good. She’d cried until she was dry and brittle, but it hadn’t changed anything.
This wasn’t like a basket. When she was weaving, if there was a mistake, she could simply backtrack and fix it.
There was no backtracking in life.
She couldn’t go back and fix the past for herself or for Boop. There was only moving forward and trying to start over.
She drove through the small town of Cupid Falls. City Hall, a florist shop, a restaurant, an antique store…
At the edge of the town sat a huge, two-story building. Its sign declared it was Simple Treasures. White clapboard, a huge porch with a half dozen rocking chairs that invited guests to sit back and relax.
“Come on, Boop, we’re home,” she said as she unbuckled and unthreaded the baby from the car seat. She still felt intimidated by the action, afraid she was somehow going to break Boop as she got her out.
She took the baby, her overnight bag and the diaper bag. Everything else could wait until tomorrow.
The small wooden s
ign on the door read, Closed. Even though the building was officially hers, she still knocked on the white, wooden door. An older woman in her simple black dress, with a slightly askew cap and large white apron, opened it.
“Miss Annie, it’s so good to see you again.”
Miss Annie had a comfortable, grandmotherly look about her. It was the kind of look that begged to be hugged and confided in.
She was short, round and well padded with grey hair, grey eyes and a smile the lit up the entryway.
As Annie nodded her kapp’s strings bobbled along her chin line. She reached up and pushed them back. “Welcome home, Leah–”
“Paisley,” she corrected.
Annie nodded again, sending the strings that hung against her collarbone swinging. “Paisley. Yah. I’ll remember. You brought the boppli.”
“I did. And I’m happy to say that she’s in a much better mood now that she’s out of her car seat.” Boop was once again her happy, sunny self.
“Well, come in,” Annie waved a hand, ushering Paisley inside. “Come in and you can introduce me properly.”
Paisley stepped into the store and hoped a feeling of coming home would overtake her. She longed for some innate feeling of rightness to let her know she’d made the correct decision in coming here. Instead, the cluttered shelves and giant table only reminded her of how much work she had ahead of her, which led to that nagging voice of doubt that said maybe she’d bitten off more than she could chew.
“May I?” Annie extended her arms toward the baby.
“Oh, yes.” Paisley unwrapped the squirming mass of blanket that held her niece. “Annie, meet the apple of my eye, Elisabeth.”
“And what do they call you, pumpkin?” the older woman and former owner of Simple Treasures asked the baby.
“My sister and her husband called her their boppli when they were expecting, and tried referring to her as Betty after she was born. The two merged together in my head and I called her Betty Boop, then shortened it to Boop. Eventually, it caught on.”
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