Southern Charm & Second Chances
Page 18
Of course, they hadn’t talked about it at the hospital. She wasn’t about to bring it up. His father’s recovery and well-being had been the focus.
So now, as she stepped out of the car that Liam had hired to pick her up and bring her to La Bula, she took a deep breath and cleared her mind.
Tonight, she would walk in with her head held high, in her new black-lace Kate Spade dress and strappy black sandals. They would have a good meal and, even though she was nervous, going back to visit the dragon she hadn’t been able to slay felt like the start to a whole new chapter in her life.
When she walked in, she saw a handful of guests lingering over wine and dessert. The maître d’ was different from when she’d worked there, but she recognized some of the servers. A couple of them did a double take when they saw her. Then she saw Liam and he walked over and greeted her with a kiss. She might’ve looked to see the expressions on their faces, but she didn’t care. Though, she had to admit, it would’ve been interesting to be a fly on the wall in the kitchen.
As if reading her mind, Liam said, “Do you mind if we take a quick run to the kitchen before we find our table? We close in a couple of hours. Things are starting to settle down.” It felt like the knot in her stomach free-fell one hundred stories.
“Sure.”
Might as well get that over with.
Then he surprised her by taking her hand.
The staff looked mostly unchanged, except for the pastry staff, of course. But Liam didn’t make an issue of it. All he said was, “I know we’re busy, but I wanted everyone to say hello to Jane Clark. For those of you who don’t know Jane, she was our executive pastry chef before moving to Wila in Savannah.”
Her former coworkers took time to say hello and congratulate her on winning the Oscar Hurd Foundation Award. Those she didn’t know introduced themselves and extended their congratulations, too.
When things settled down, Jane realized that Liam had brought out several bottles of champagne. One of the servers was arranging at least a dozen champagne flutes on a stainless-steel table.
How sweet of him, Jane thought. He’s toasting my Oscar Hurd win. This was his way of making up for what had happened between them the last time they were both in this kitchen.
She smiled at him and in that moment she thought she had never loved a man more than she loved him. He could be stubborn and cocky, and at times full of himself, but he was also gentle and caring and fiercely protective of those he loved.
Well, she was getting a little ahead of herself. Liam had never told her he loved her. Though, since she’d been with him in New York, she’d felt very loved. Standing here with him in the La Bula kitchen, she felt adored. With his history, saying the L word might take some time. But did they really have to label it?
If she was a betting woman—she laughed to herself—maybe he was right. Maybe she was a gambler at heart... Because she’d bet on him and on them for the win.
This felt like the start of something fabulous.
“Does everyone have a glass of champagne?” Liam asked. He waited for the last few people to get a flute. Then he took out his phone and began dialing a number.
“Are you there?” he said into the phone. “Can you hear me? Okay, good. You’ll hook up the other call, right? Thanks. I’ll wait.”
What in the world was he doing? Jane didn’t have time to ask or figure it out, because he acknowledged whoever was on the other end of the line and said, “I’m putting you on speaker.”
Then he set the phone down and turned his attention to his staff.
“That’s family on the phone. I wanted them to join us. They couldn’t be here in person. So that’s the next best thing.”
What? Jane tried to ask, but her voice didn’t make a sound.
“I hope you realize it,” Liam said to the staff. “I consider each and every one of you family. That’s why I couldn’t think of a better place to do this than right here—surrounded by my family. As you all may or may not know, my personal family is very small—just my father and me—but I hope it’s about to get bigger.”
As Liam turned to Jane and reached for her hand, her heart hammered against her rib cage. Her body was very much awake, but she still wondered if she was dreaming.
“Jane, you have changed my life. We’ve had our share of ups and downs, but isn’t that what love is about? Experiencing ups and downs, and learning from the experiences, and becoming a better person because of it? Jane, with you, I have become a better man. You have taught me what love means. I love you and I am hoping that you will make me the happiest man in the world and be my wife. Jane Clark, will you marry me?”
Jane’s breath caught.
Liam reached into the pocket of his sports coat and pulled out a small blue box. He flipped up the lid and something bright and lovely caught the light and winked at her as if it was a co-conspirator in Liam’s surprise. Jane’s hands flew up to her mouth.
“Yes! Oh, Liam, yes!”
A collective cheer went up in the kitchen and emanated from the phone.
As Liam put the ring, a brilliant, traditional round solitaire, on her finger, he said, “Our families are on the phone. Charles and Gigi are at Wila with the staff and they patched in my dad, who is recovering very nicely.”
More happy noises sounded from the phone as Liam pulled her into his arms and kissed her so thoroughly that she knew she wasn’t dreaming. This was very real. Liam Wright was the man she’d been waiting for all her life and they were getting ready to live their very own dream come true.
* * *
Don’t miss the last book in The Savannah Sisters miniseries, Her Savannah Surprise available June 2020 from Harlequin Special Edition.
And check out these other great enemies-to-lovers romances:
The Best Intentions
by Michelle Major
Wyoming Special Delivery
by Melissa Senate
The Mayor’s Secret Fortune
by Judy Duarte
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Keep reading for an excerpt from Fortune’s Greatest Risk by Marie Ferrarella.
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Fortune’s Greatest Risk
by Marie Ferrarella
Prologue
If anyone would have said to him seven months ago that twenty-nine was far too old for someone to actually feel homesick, Dillon Fortune would have laughed them off. In his opinion, being homesick was an emotion associated with preteens who were spending a month or so away from home surrounded by a bunch of strangers at a sleepaway camp for the very first time.
And yet, here he was, a grown man, feeling a deep, penetrating wave of homesickness.
Granted, he had been in Texas for more like seven months. And, yes, instead of being alone amid a bunch of strangers, he’d come out here with two of his brothers, Callum and Steven, as well as one of his sisters, Stephanie. But, when all things were considered, he had to admit, if only to himself, that he was most definitely homesick.
Very homesick.
Yes, Rambling Rose, Texas, was a beautiful place as well as an up-and-coming, flourishing town. A town that he and his brothers were heavily involved in building up, thanks to the construction company that the three of them owned. But if anyone would have asked him, Dillon would have had to say that his heart was back in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Dillon wished that the rest of him could be back there, as well.
But he had always been raised to believe that commitments, especially to family, came first and he couldn’t
very well just take off for Fort Lauderdale now, even though he really wanted to. He was committed to these various projects. His brothers were counting on him and he knew he couldn’t just leave before all the projects were completed and up and running.
Granted, the new pediatric center and the veterinary clinic were now both open and successful. The pediatric center had even been christened, so to speak, on its very first day. A pregnant woman—Laurel, last name unknown—had gone into labor during the clinic’s ribbon-cutting ceremony. She was quickly rushed to a hospital in San Antonio with a NICU just in time, and gave birth there.
But the same success story couldn’t be written about The Shoppes at Rambling Rose, a collection of high-end stores which were built on the site of what had once been the town’s five-and-dime.
Not that any of the shops had failed—it was too soon to say something like that—but so far, they hadn’t been able to find their dedicated audience yet, people who could be seen as a loyal clientele. He had no doubts that that would happen—Callum had a knack for picking places that were just waiting to become successes. But Dillon had no desire to remain here waiting for that magical moment to transpire.
This part, he thought, could easily go on without him.
Yet here he was, sitting in his car outside of the town’s newly renovated wellness spa, another one of Fortune Brothers Construction’s projects. Paz Spa was going to be opening its doors for the first time this week. Somehow, his brothers had managed to talk him into coming here today for a final walk-through. That way, they said, he could make sure that the spa was all set to go full speed right out of the starting gate. Reluctantly, because he had never been able to say no to his brothers, he had agreed, even though this wasn’t his kind of thing. He was more of a design guy, not a people person. Nevertheless, here he was, trying to get himself to leave the shelter of his vehicle and walk into the spa.
If the spa faltered for some reason, then that might adversely affect their biggest project. The new town hotel—their company’s pride and joy—was still on the drawing board. So many factors could get in the way of it becoming a reality.
Again.
There were two different ways of thinking regarding all these new projects he and his brothers had undertaken. The town’s older local residents weren’t very gung ho when it came to building this new hotel, but the newest segment of the population, the millionaires who had taken up residence within the gated community of Rambling Rose Estates, were definitely all for it. Truthfully, The Shoppes had been built with these people in mind, in the hopes that eventually, with enough prodding, the locals would grudgingly come around. At least they seemed interested in Ashley, Nicole and Megan’s farm-to-table restaurant, Provisions, which was set to open within the next few weeks—barring any unforeseen complications.
His brothers were totally convinced that they could get the locals to change their minds, but as for him, well, Dillon had never viewed things in the same sort of positive light that Callum and Steven did. His take on the matter was that the construction company had done all it could here and they should move on to another town.
Preferably one in Florida.
But then, Dillon supposed he had never been as dynamic or optimistic as either Callum or Steven were. Truth be told, Dillon would have been the first to admit that he had always had a far more cautious view of life.
However, he was a Fortune and his brothers made it clear that they were depending on his clear eye to make sure that all systems were “go” before the spa’s grand opening.
In other words, they had faith in him.
All things considered, Dillon thought, he would rather have a root canal than face what he was about to endure now.
Well, it wasn’t going to get any better or any easier to face with him just sitting here, Dillon thought, finally opening his door.
Swinging out his long legs, he let his boots hit the ground and he got out of his car. The ache he felt in his shoulders reminded him that he hadn’t been exercising lately the way he was accustomed to doing. This project had caused him to let a lot of things in his life slide lately. That was going to have to change.
Closing the car door behind him, he locked it. As he walked toward the entrance of Paz Spa, a line out of an old Tennyson poem he’d once read way back in elementary school suddenly popped up in his head.
“Into the Valley of Death / Rode the six hundred.”
Given the challenge of the task ahead, it certainly seemed to capture his mood appropriately enough.
Copyright © 2020 by Harlequin Books S.A.
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ISBN: 9781488069666
Southern Charm & Second Chances
Copyright © 2020 by Nancy Robards Thompson
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
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