Lucky in Love on Hound Island (Island County Series Book 8)

by Karice Bolton

  As my father repeated the last of his vows, the pastor recommitted them as husband and wife to a crowd of festive cheers and applause. My parents turned around to face us all, and my father winked at Billy and I before heading down the aisle with his lovely bride.

  I glanced at my sister who was wiping away a couple tears and I held in a giggle. She liked to act like this stuff didn’t get to her, but she couldn’t hide forever. She was a sucker like the rest of us.

  “So now where do we go?” Billy whispered as my mom and dad walked by.

  “This is the real deal. The wedding reception is next. Wait until you try the cake.”

  He smiled and squeezed my hand. “This was so amazing of you to do for your parents.”

  “I just hope I have kids who appreciate me this much someday.”

  “Kids, huh?” His eyes sparkled with an intensity I hadn’t seen before.

  “Yeah, kids. Lots of them.”

  He looked a little dazed as we followed the rest of the guests into the next room over where the reception was already getting into full swing. Sylvia had already rounded up my parents to explain the next steps as we all filtered into the room next door.

  “Does that scare you off?” I whispered as we walked into the winter wonderland.

  “Nope.” He grinned. “I was just wondering when we could start trying.”

  I laughed as he brought me into a deep embrace.

  “I’m serious. When can we start?” His lips touched right behind my ear and a delicious quiver ran down my spine.

  “Probably not here, but one step at a time.”

  He took a step back and held my hand up. “Did I tell you how gorgeous you look tonight?”

  “Flattery will get you everything.” I smiled just as Sylvia announced Mr. and Mrs. Bailey’s entrance into the room.

  The entire crowd turned to watch my parents glide into the room, and my heart melted on the spot. I couldn’t imagine a better anniversary gift. The two of them looked like teenagers again as they held each other tightly, and everyone tossed white rose petals at them.

  They made their way over to me with my sister, tears in everyone’s eyes.

  “I can’t believe you and your sister pulled this over on us.” My mom gave Stacy and me a big hug, while my dad was busy squeezing Billy.

  “You girls really outdid yourselves.” My mom let go, but quickly brought us in for another hug. “We have a wonderful family.”

  “Yeah, we do,” Billy said smiling, and my entire world felt right.

  My parents and sister left to mingle with the guests while the dinner began to be served.

  “We should go grab a spot. I’m starving.” I pulled him toward the table my parents would be sitting at. It was a table set for two and next to it was the one for my sister and me.

  Just as we sat down, dinner was served and it was as delicious as I remembered.

  Dina, who had designed my mother’s wedding dress, made her way over and I quickly stood up for a hug. We’d talked so much over the last few weeks as we figured out how to get the sizing right without my mom knowing that I felt like I’d known her for years.

  “The dress is beautiful. Thank you for everything you did for us.” I smiled, Billy’s hand not leaving mine.

  “Absolutely.” Her eyes landed on Billy and then back on me. “If you should ever need a dress, you know where to find one.”

  “I wouldn’t dream of going anywhere else,” I promised, glancing at Billy to see if that made him nervous.

  It didn’t.

  I gave her another hug, and she wandered off into the crowd as my parents took a seat and began eating dinner.

  Before I knew it, they were dancing to their first song and my mother eventually tapped Billy’s shoulder to invite him out with her. I laughed, knowing she’d wanted to do that since she’d met him. Next, my father helped my sister and I out to the dance floor to some Billy Joel and I had to laugh. My dad always loved his eighties music, and he seemed to be in heaven as he spun his two daughters all around the dance floor.

  Eventually, I found my way back to Billy just as the garter and flower bouquet tosses were announced.

  “You’ve got to go out there,” my sister whispered, nearly pushing me toward the group of seven or eight woman huddling around my mom.

  “Not without you,” I said, pulling her with me.

  Sexy music began pounding through the air as all of my mom and dad’s friends began clapping and hollering. I couldn’t even imagine what their wedding must have been like.

  But the next thing I knew my dad had circled my mom who was in a chair, flipped up my mom’s dress, and went in for it with his teeth. My cheeks flamed red as he went after the garter and their friends went wild. My dad stood up victoriously with the lace hanging from his teeth and all my sister and I could do was laugh.

  The single men all rushed to the floor and as my dad got spun around until he was just dizzy enough, he threw his hand behind him and let go of the flying ivory lace. It was like slow motion as I watched the garter fall right into Billy’s hands. He looked as shocked as anyone as he stood there holding the garter.

  “That’s my future son-in-law,” my dad hollered, and I realized he might have had a little more to drink than I knew.

  Next, all the single women, including my sister and me, flooded the dance floor. They spun my mom around slowly and got her in position.

  My heart was pounding. Billy already got his lace. It was my turn for the flowers.

  As the countdown began, I got in my position and waited for the bouquet to sail in the air. When I least expected it, my mom let go of the beautiful white rose bouquet, and it spun through the air toward us all.

  Instead of all the women clamoring for it, they all dove out of the way as the roses landed directly in my hands. I spun around to see my mom and dad grinning, and I realized they were always one step ahead of us.

  Billy rushed onto the dance floor and spun me around, kissing me like he’d never kissed me before.

  “I think this is a sign,” I whispered, clutching the bouquet.

  “From the moment Lucky dove into the food truck, I’d say we’ve had one sign after another. Wouldn’t you?” He put me down and turned me toward Lucky and Lady who were nestled together under the cake table, and I knew my life couldn’t get any luckier. I’d found the man of my dreams, and he came with the perfect Lady for my Lucky.

  Life was good and I couldn’t wait to see what the world offered us next, but it didn’t really matter as long as I had Billy by my side.

  Billy turned to face me. “I’d ask you to marry me, but tonight’s about your parents.”

  His lips found mine, and I melted in his arms to the music playing in the background.

  And it was in this moment that I realized love really was based on luck. It wasn’t easy to find the exact right person at the exact right moment in life, but it when it happened there was nothing else like it. To be in love was the luckiest feeling in the world, and I was truly, deeply in love with Billy Sanderson.

  Want to read more about Silver Ridge? Check out the Silver Ridge Series! Happy Truth About Love is available now and A Little Secret About Love (Dina’s story) is coming soon! Sign up here for Karice’s newsletter to receive exclusive novellas and epilogues and to be notified of new releases!

  Want to read about Gina? Be on the lookout for a surprise release this December, Mistletoe Mischief (An Island County Christmas Novella)!

  Keep reading for an excerpt of Happy Truth…

  Happy Truth Excerpt

  Chapter One

  Autumn Tucker sat gripping the steering wheel as she stared at her inheritance. The home looked nothing like the photos her late uncle’s attorney had sent her.

  Nothing at all.

  If it had, she probably wouldn’t be sitting in front of the dilapidated mansion, cursing her impulsiveness.

  Instead, she’d left everything behind in Los Angeles—which, admittedly, wasn’t much—and
moved to the small mountain town of Silver Ridge.

  Autumn sucked in a deep breath and glanced in the rearview mirror of her car. Ronald had just pulled up behind her with a moving truck full of her worldly possessions.

  He’d insisted on driving the rental truck up the coast for her. She hadn’t asked him to make the drive, and she’d secretly hoped he’d bail at the last minute. But only recently had she begun to notice that life rarely worked out how she hoped or planned.

  Ronald Morder was a nice guy, a few years her senior with dark brown eyes and sandy blond hair. In the world of men, he was extremely attractive with a California tan, bright white teeth, and a lean body from biking most places. He looked like everything she should want, even wearing his lavender polo and khakis.

  Besides, the dating app said they were perfectly matched, not that she understood why.

  He was a computer programmer by day, and by night . . . well, he was still a computer programmer, and that was about all she could get from him. She was pretty certain his idea of a hobby was learning new code, but now she could add driving moving trucks to his short list of activities.

  She still couldn’t figure out what in the world made him offer to help her move.

  They’d gone on several dates over the last few months, and she kept waiting for that spark.

  When the spark didn’t appear, she’d started hoping for an ember to glow, at the very least, but so far, she’d only been left with an ashy feeling toward him, and yet here he was by her side, helping her move out of state.

  Come to think of it, maybe he felt the same way about her.

  Maybe this was his way of ending it gently before it ever really began.

  She doubted it though. She was seldom that lucky.

  Ronald gave a quick wave, and she let out a sigh as he jumped out of the cab of the rental truck, looking extremely eager and ready to take on the world. Her stomach tensed at the thought of having to make small talk, but this was how the beginning of relationships always seemed to be. The encounters were a little clumsy and tricky to navigate until a rhythm set in.

  They were obviously still in that getting-to-know-you stage, and she wasn’t sure at what point it would ever turn into something with substance, but they could continue toward that goal.

  So what if the state of Oregon sat between them? People did long-distance relationships all the time.

  All the time.

  But did this even qualify as a relationship yet?

  She grabbed her purse off the passenger seat and climbed out of her red Fiat convertible, top up, and shut the door. Now wasn’t the time to worry about semantics. This move was her new beginning, and she needed to fully embrace the positives wherever they led.

  After all, the state of Washington was pulling out all the stops to welcome her. It was early evening, and the sky was sparkling blue without even a wispy cloud in sight. The brilliant green weeds in her new yard stretched for the sun with mighty determination. Contrary to what she’d heard about the soggy state of Washington, it seemed beautiful all the way up the coast and even more so once she got into the mountains.

  The jagged cliffs, rushing waterfalls, and brilliantly colored wildflowers along the highway leading to Silver Ridge seemed right out of a fairy tale, and the small bit of the town she saw didn’t disappoint either. It was just this little hiccup of a house that drilled a bit of fear into her decision to move here.

  “This place is something else,” Ronald said, sauntering over and giving the house a sideways glance before giving her a quick kiss on the cheek. Even though a warm breeze caressed her skin, his lips felt like a cold, wet fish and a shiver shot up her spine.

  “Yes. It’s quite something.” She cleared her throat and looked up at the house with a glint of unexpected optimism in her eyes.

  Maybe the inside wasn’t as bad as the outside. She hoped the opposite was true for Ronald. Maybe his insides were as great as his outside. After all, he did drive over a thousand miles to get her here.

  Or maybe that was precisely the problem.

  He did drive over a thousand miles to get me here, she thought

  “Not what you expected?” he asked warily, slicking his fingers through his hair.

  She folded her arms over her chest and hugged herself, letting out an exhausted sigh.

  “No. Not entirely.” She grimaced and shrugged. “But I’ve never shied away from a challenge before. This will be good for me. It’s time I finally set some roots down, and besides, this was meant to be.”

  “How do you figure?” His brows shot up in a quizzical expression.

  “For starters, I’m tired of LA. Not that I’ve been there much in recent years.” She looked up at the two-story Victorian home with the wraparound porch and wondered if she sounded as crazy as she felt when looking at the home. “But how often does a person inherit a bed-and-breakfast from an uncle they’ve never met? I can’t argue with fate.”

  As she stared at the house, the peeling yellow paint wasn’t her biggest concern. It was the porch’s slight lean and the wobbly-looking steps leading up to the front door that worried her the most. It didn’t help that the roof looked like it was missing more shingles than were nailed down, and the gutters were barely hanging on.

  There’d been a small cash inheritance that came along with the home, but she doubted it would cover much if the exterior was any indication of the interior.

  “We should go inside before you make your final decision to stay.” He draped his arm around her shoulders, and she stiffened, but he didn’t notice. “And if you decide to give this a shot, I can start moving your stuff inside so we can get it all in before I have to catch my flight out tomorrow.”

  She shook her head and untangled from his embrace. “I’ve got a couple of local guys I hired for tomorrow to unload. You’ve done far too much already. You need to relax and try to unwind from all the driving.”

  Disappointment zipped through his gaze and a pinch of guilt socked Autumn in the stomach. She was hot-wired to sense others’ emotions, even though she did her best at extinguishing her own.

  Her mother had always called it being emotionally intelligent, but she wasn’t sure she bought that theory. It seemed like more of an inconvenience the majority of the time, and it was a hindrance when navigating everyday life. The ability often landed her in situations like this one because she didn’t want to hurt people’s feelings.

  She glanced at Ronald, and her stomach twisted into a tight knot. He definitely seemed bummed, and it made her wonder what all he’d hoped to get out of this trip, considering they hadn’t even kissed.

  “I really don’t mind. I planned on helping unload the truck all night.” He bit his lip and the pang of guilt resurfaced.

  “You’re a saint for driving all this way.” She reached for his hand to give a friendly squeeze and instantly regretted it the moment he linked his fingers through hers.

  Before she had a chance to object, he pulled her into him and brought down an awkward kiss to her mouth. His lips parted, and her eyes immediately slammed shut.

  She wasn’t sure whether she closed her eyes to block out the kiss or to imagine it better. When he slid his arms down hers, she knew it was only getting worse.

  Here it was.

  Their first kiss.

  And every slobbery second of it made her grateful for the state of Oregon separating them. She silently reprimanded herself for being so cruel. Just because the connection hadn’t surfaced yet, didn’t mean it wasn’t on the horizon, and then she’d regret thinking thoughts like those.

  When his lips left hers, she took a step back and looked into his eyes. By all appearances, he should be a good kisser, and judging by the dopey look in his eyes, he was supremely pleased with how it turned out, which only made her feel worse.

  “I’ve wanted to kiss you from the moment we first met.” What he just said should be igniting every single cell in her body.

  His words were romantic and sweet and absolu
tely everything she never wanted to hear from poor Ronald. She scolded herself for not pulling him into her and repeating, but she just couldn’t, and she really couldn’t fathom how the dating app had ever paired them together. Granted, she might have fibbed a little on some of the questions to make herself sound a little more stable and a little less unpredictable than reality, but still.

  “I . . . umm.” She wiped her mouth and glanced over his shoulder at a hanging sign she couldn’t make out. “Wow. Thank you. That was—”

  “You haven’t seen anything yet.” He cut her off and grinned before glancing at the house. He tipped his head as if that would make the place look better and nodded in complete satisfaction.

  It was safe to say he had more on his mind than a simple road trip.

  Autumn walked to the miniature trunk of her convertible and took out a small suitcase. “I should at least bring this inside before we go to dinner.”

  He turned to Autumn and his eyes focused on hers.

  “Seriously. Are you sure about this? It’s not too late to turn the truck around. You don’t have to save face around me. We can drive out of town and pretend this never happened. I’m sure a local realtor can put this up for sale and—”

  She laughed and had to admit the idea wasn’t completely horrible sounding, but this was her time for new beginnings.

  Since her parents’ deaths several years ago, Autumn had spent most of her time traveling the world. She’d made it her mission to fulfill her parents’ dreams, taking them on as her own and checking off every place they’d wanted to see when they retired.

  Only, they never made it.

  She drew in a silent, heavy sigh.

  “Nope. Staying here feels right.”

  “Then staying it is.” He nodded. “That’s why being a programmer is the perfect job. I can work from anywhere. We don’t have to let distance come between—”

  His words were drowned out by a large diesel pickup truck across the street, a few homes down. It sat idling for a few long seconds before a man jumped out of the passenger side and the truck drove away. She turned her attention back to Ronald as he was grabbing her suitcase from her.