Forever and For Always

by Sophie Love

  But as the clock passed midnight, Emily couldn’t help but think about how Daniel hadn’t returned. She should have been relieved to know he hadn’t walked out on his daughter for her, but she wasn’t. She was quietly, selfishly devastated.

  Emily stayed up supervising the party until the last guests tumbled into bed. Then quietness descended over the house. The B&B had never been more full and yet Emily had never felt so alone.

  She walked back through the house, looking at each room she passed through, each one seeped in memories of happier times with Daniel. Despite everything, the house still had the ability to calm and comfort her. It was like a friend, dependable and reliable.

  Emily opened the front door and looked up at the dark, starlit sky. The first cold winds of fall blew around her. Soon the leaves would turn orange and red and transform the landscape into something new. She shivered and grabbed a blanket from the lounge, wrapping it around her shoulders. As she stood on the porch, she felt the urge to walk down to the beach. Something about the chill in the air reminded her of the first time she’d arrived in Sunset Harbor, and of how she’d been drawn here by the ocean. She wanted to see it again now, and feel its calming effect on her.

  She walked quietly down the gravel path, illuminated by splotches of light coming from the few bedroom windows that still had their lights on. Then she crossed the street and parted the shrubbery where the foot-trampled path led down to the beach. She followed the path, noticing the chill in the air.

  When she reached the ocean, it looked like black tar, reflecting the enormous, inky sky. The waves were very shallow and steady, as though the ocean were sleeping and breathing slowly in and out.

  Emily kicked her shoes off and felt the cold sand beneath her toes. She could have stayed like that forever in that moment, in that place of nothing, caught between the before and the after. But she knew she couldn’t. She knew at some point she would have to do something, set something into motion.

  She took out her cell phone and fired off a quick text to Amy asking if she was still awake. Right away her phone began to ring, with Amy’s name flashing on the screen.

  Emily answered the call. “Hey.”

  “Hey, sweetie,” Amy said. “Is everything okay?”

  “Yeah,” Emily said, feeling warmth spread through her at the sound of Amy’s voice, feeling her loneliness begin to melt away. “I was thinking about the job offer.”

  “Yeah?” Amy said, in a tone that obviously was trying to convey nonchalance but was doing anything but.

  Emily took a deep breath. “I’m going to take it,” she said decisively.

  “You are?” Amy cried, a squeal in her voice.

  “Yes, I am,” Emily said. “I don’t think there’s any more for me here. I think I’ve gotten out of this place everything I wanted.”

  “I’m so happy,” Amy said, the delight in her voice audible.

  “So am I,” Emily said. “And Amy, thanks for not giving up on me at any point over the last few months. I haven’t exactly been a good friend.”

  “That’s okay,” Amy said. “You’re amazing compared to Jayne. We can put it all behind us now. When are you coming back?”

  Emily sighed. “Just as soon as I’ve found a buyer for the B&B, I guess. I’m NOT going to sell it to Trevor. I want it to go to someone local. Someone who will love it like I do.”

  “Well, the job will be here waiting for you when you’re ready, okay?” Amy said.

  “Okay,” Emily replied.

  They ended the call and Emily shivered. The fall wind was chilly. She decided to head back to the house and get some much needed rest.

  She walked back across the beach and up the pathway to the road, feeling the gritty sand in her shoes. When she reached the driveway of the inn, she noticed one of the guests was on the porch. In the darkness she couldn’t make out what they were doing; it looked like they were fiddling with the hanging baskets. She sighed. It was probably one of the drunk groomsmen thinking it would be hilarious to steal the shrubbery.

  She walked closer, ready to chastise him, then stopped in her tracks. It was not one of the wedding party at all, Emily realized with surprise. It was Daniel. Her heart began to race. Her throat seemed to tighten and all the air rushed from her lungs.

  “What are you doing?” Emily managed to stammer.

  Daniel stopped what he was doing and turned his head over his shoulder. Emily saw then that he had been hanging her sign. It was now in place, hanging proudly above the doorway where it belonged.

  “I told you I’d be back before summer ended,” Daniel said.

  Daniel climbed down the little stepladder and faced her. With her heart beating wildly, Emily slowly approached. It was as though she were approaching an apparition. She paused a little distance away, further than they would normally stand. There was a new stiltedness between them. Emily felt torn. Part of her wanted to throw her arms around him, but another part told her to hold back, that Daniel had changed, that he may not be a man she could trust anymore.

  “Are you going to tell me about it?” Emily asked. The question seemed wholly inadequate; as if there were any way he could possibly sum up the last six weeks of his life in his new role as a father.

  “Sure,” Daniel said. “But I want to show you something first.”

  Emily frowned. The rational part of her was telling her to go back into the house, but her heart seemed to think that if she followed Daniel there would be something he could do or say that would fix everything between them. It seemed impossible to argue with her heart. She followed Daniel.

  He led her along the path. The scene Emily had been hoping to see for six weeks suddenly opened up before her—of the carriage house with Daniel’s truck in the drive, filling that horrible empty space that had been taunting her.

  “Take a look,” Daniel said, gesturing to the truck.

  Emily frowned again, more bemused than ever. She couldn’t fathom what on earth there could be in the world that would make everything okay, but by the excited look on Daniel’s face, he seemed to think it would.

  Emily peered in through the back window and gasped. She drew back, her hand over her mouth.

  “I didn’t want to wake her,” Daniel said.

  The little girl asleep in the back seat of the car was the most beautiful child Emily had ever beheld. She looked so fragile, so innocent. Her heart melted at the sight of her.

  “Is that—”

  “My daughter,” Daniel replied. “Charlie.”

  Emily finally looked back at Daniel. Of every scenario she’d imagined, this was not one she’d envisioned. She’d thought there were only two possible outcomes and neither of them ended happily. But this one, this new one that Daniel had managed to conjure, what ending could it bring them? Could there be a way to salvage their relationship in this scenario?

  “How?” Emily whispered. Her voice was failing her now as tears choked her. “How did you bring her home with you?”

  “I couldn’t leave her there,” Daniel said. “You were right. Once I was there, there was no way I was walking out on that little girl.”

  Emily nodded. It had been what she wanted. She couldn’t love the version of Daniel that walked out on his child, no matter how inconvenient her existence was.

  “But Sheila?” she asked. “Doesn’t her mom want to keep her?”

  Daniel shook her head. “Sheila was never there, Emily. I saw her once or twice the whole time. She knows she can’t care for Charlie properly at the moment. She let me take her home with me.”

  Emily took a deep breath. Everything was beginning to feel very surreal. She wondered if she was dreaming this whole thing.

  “And she’s going to live here?” she stated with a nod. “In Sunset Harbor?”

  She didn’t need Daniel to answer because the answer was so obvious, so clear, as to be as transparent as a diamond. This was the outcome she hadn’t allowed herself to consider. Her subconscious had sabotaged her, had hidden from her
the one happy ending she longed for. She hadn’t let herself entertain the thought for even a second that Daniel would return with the child she craved.

  But Daniel did answer. “Yes.”

  Emily couldn’t hold herself back any longer. Six weeks of misery disappeared in one second. She grasped at Daniel, clutched for him, and in an instant their bodies were pressed together tightly. Daniel’s mouth opened to hers willingly, so willingly, like he had been craving her all this time as much as she had him.

  When they finally broke apart, Emily felt tears running down her cheeks. Daniel’s eyes glittered in the starlight.

  “I can’t believe it,” she said, grinning. “You really did come back.”

  “I could never leave you, Emily,” Daniel said.

  Just then the little girl stirred awake. Her face was all puffy from sleep, her eyes bleary and red. Whether it was her age or her wavy blond hair, Emily couldn’t help but think she bore a striking resemble to Charlotte. Not for the first time since coming to Sunset Harbor, Emily felt as though she was receiving a sign from her deceased sister, that perhaps her sister’s spirit was here.

  Charlie peered out the window. When she saw Daniel, a huge grin spread across her face. Emily had never seen such a look of pure love.

  Daniel opened the back door. “Hey, sweetie. I didn’t mean to wake you.” He reached in and took the girl out in a way so tender and gentle it melted Emily’s heart.

  The little girl wrapped her legs around Daniel’s waist and let her head drop onto his shoulder. Emily remembered her own father holding her the same way and felt herself fill with warmth at the memory.

  “This is Emily,” Daniel said, swirling around so that the little girl could see her.

  “Hey,” Emily said in a quiet, gentle voice.

  “Hi,” Charlie said shyly, before hiding her head in the crook of Daniel’s neck.

  “I think she’s still a bit sleepy,” Daniel said. “I should get her to bed.”

  Emily nodded. Daniel took a few steps toward the carriage house, and then turned back to Emily.

  “Aren’t you coming?”

  Emily stood there, momentarily paralyzed. Not through fear or worry, but from disbelief that this moment was real. That everything had aligned in her life and settled on this perfect configuration.

  “Sure,” she said.

  She glanced back at the B&B, its sign now hanging proudly above the door, all the lights now extinguished. It looked fantastic, stunning, a true feat. She had made something she was truly proud of. Then she looked back through the open door of the carriage house, no longer in darkness, now lit with the warm glow of lamplight. She watched Daniel move inside as he took the beautiful child in his arms to the bedroom.

  She grabbed her cell phone and quickly texted Amy.

  I’m sorry. I’ve changed my mind. I’m staying in Maine.

  She walked slowly, knowing that walking through that doorway would mean so much more than that. It would mean a new life, a life richer and scarier than any she had ever imagined. A life filled with more love and unknowns than she could ever imagine. A life that, once she stepped into it, she could never step back out of.

  She followed them and paused on the threshold, invited by the warm glow inside.

  She breathed the air of the crisp summer night, already feeling fall coming, feeling a change that no one could stop.

  And as she took one last deep breath, she stepped inside.

  NOW AVAILABLE!

  FOREVER, WITH YOU

  (The Inn at Sunset Harbor—Book 3)

  “Sophie Love's ability to impart magic to her readers is exquisitely wrought in powerfully evocative phrases and descriptions….This is the perfect romance or beach read, with a difference: its enthusiasm and beautiful descriptions offer an unexpected attention to the complexity of not just evolving love, but evolving psyches. It's a delightful recommendation for romance readers looking for a touch more complexity from their romance reads.”

  --Midwest Book Review (Diane Donovan re For Now and Forever)

  “A very well written novel, describing the struggle of a woman (Emily) to find her true identity. The author did an amazing job with the creation of the characters and her description of the environment. The romance is there, but not overdosed. Kudos to the author for this amazing start of a series that promises to be very entertaining.”

  --Books and Movies Reviews, Roberto Mattos (re For Now and Forever)

  FOREVER, WITH YOU is book #3 in the romance series THE INN AT SUNSET HARBOR, which begins with book #1, FOR NOW AND FOREVER—a free download!

  35 year old Emily Mitchell has fled her job, apartment and ex-boyfriend in New York City for her father's abandoned home on the coast of Maine, needing a change in her life. Tapping her life savings to restore the historic home, and with a budding relationship with the caretaker, Daniel, Emily prepares to open the Inn at Sunset Harbor as Memorial Day comes.

  But all does not go as planned. Emily learns quickly that she has no idea how to run a B&B. The house, despite her efforts, needs new, urgent repairs she cannot afford. Her covetous neighbor is still determined to make trouble for her. And worst of all: just as her relationship with Daniel is blossoming, she learns he has a secret. One which will change everything.

  With her friends urging her to return to New York City and her ex-boyfriend trying to win her back, Emily has a life-changing decision to make. Will she try to stick it out, to embrace small-town life, her father’s old house? Or will she turn her back on her new friends, neighbors and life—and on the man she has fallen in love with?

  FOREVER, WITH YOU is book #3 of a dazzling new romance series that will make you laugh, make you cry, will keep you turning pages late into the night—and will make you fall in love with romance all over again.

  Book #4 will be available soon.

  FOREVER, WITH YOU

  (The Inn at Sunset Harbor—Book 3)

  Sophie Love

  A lifelong fan of the romance genre, Sophie Love is thrilled to release her debut romance series, which begins with FOR NOW AND FOREVER (THE INN AT SUNSET HARBOR—BOOK 1)

  FOR NOW AND FOREVER (THE INN AT SUNSET HARBOR—BOOK 1) is a free download on Kobo!

  Sophie would love to hear from you, so please visit www.sophieloveauthor.com to email her, to join the mailing list, to receive free ebooks, to hear the latest news, and to stay in touch!

  BOOKS BY SOPHIE LOVE

  THE INN AT SUNSET HARBOR

  FOR NOW AND FOREVER (Book #1)

  FOREVER AND FOR ALWAYS (Book #2)

  FOREVER, WITH YOU (Book #3)