They’d formed a special bond over their shared loved of the written word, and he’d been her biggest champion. Well, aside from her husband, of course.
And now the day was finally here. Her book was officially out in the world.
“Where’s Trent?” Adam asked, setting a platter of fruit and cheese and meats onto the oversize marble island that was where their family always gathered whenever they came over.
“He forgot to pick up the ice this morning, so he’s gone to the servo.”
“Hey!” Nick threw his arm around her shoulder and gave her a brotherly squeeze. “Nice use of the Aussie lingo there. We’ll have you speaking like a True Blue so well, you’ll forget you weren’t born here.”
Cora laughed. She’d had fun picking up the strange words in her adopted country, and there were plenty to learn. The Australians had quite a varied and colorful selection of slang terms. Although in her mind, a servo would forever be a gas station no matter how long she lived here.
Cora put the champagne in the fridge to start chilling while they waited for Trent to get back. He’d spent all morning stringing up balloons in pink and gold that said “congratulations” in metallic lettering. When she’d woken up after a luxurious sleep-in, he’d led her out into the main room where he had coffee and croissants waiting, and the whole sight of it had brought tears to her eyes.
She’d never known this kind of love before. The unbridled, unconditional, unrelenting love.
And it was glorious.
“Are you excited for the signing, dear?” Melanie asked. “I’ve told all the ladies from my walking group to come down to the bookstore this afternoon and buy a copy or else I’ll stop bringing my muffins to our weekly catch-up.”
“Now that’s a threat if I’ve ever heard one.” Frank chuckled.
“Bloody oath. I’d better see them all reading it, too.” Melanie winked.
“I’m nervous. There’s nothing like throwing a party and not knowing if anyone will show up.” Cora pressed a palm to her stomach to try to quell the churning. It was exciting and thrilling. She’d received a bunch of flowers from the publishing house this morning and an excited text from her agent, a sharp-minded woman based in Melbourne who’d been shepherding her through the process.
“We’ll drag people in off the street,” Nick said. “I won’t rest until you have a line snaking out the door.”
She looked around this incredible group of people and wondered how she got so lucky. The past two years had been a lesson in how to belong, how to be loved. She’d had a lot of baggage to work through and so had Trent. Dropping the bombshell on his family about his true parentage hadn’t been easy for him, and occasionally his old fears still raised their head.
But he was better at putting himself first when it was required. Better at chasing things to fulfill his own dreams, while still maintaining the thing she loved about him most: his generous, giving nature…inside the bedroom and out.
Together, they were becoming the people they’d always had the potential to be.
But as she looked at the sea of sandy-blond heads and matching blue eyes in front of her, there was still the barest twinge of sadness underneath it all. Deep deep down, there was still a little part of her that wanted her father to be celebrating with her. Their relationship had suffered a blow when she left New York, but they’d been starting to rebuild it. They Skyped every few months, and when she’d gone back to New York six months ago for her cousin’s wedding, they’d had a nice dinner. It had been a little awkward, sure, but her father had made some admissions she hadn’t expected…like how he’d underestimated her.
How he understood now that she needed to follow her passion in order to be happy.
Small steps.
“You guys are the best.” Her voice trembled a little, but she hid the tears pricking her eyes by ducking down to pull out some plates from the bottom cabinet. “We may as well get started. There’s so much food. I hope you’re all hungry.”
Everyone dove in, eager to fill their bellies and their hearts. Liv surprised Cora with a cake that was frosted—sorry, iced—to look exactly like the cover of her book. The design was perfect, right down to the shimmering gold font and the violet-blue background and the stars and moon and the golden caterpillar in the middle.
Just as Cora was about to text Trent to tell him to hurry up, she heard the rumble of the ute pulling up to the house. A door slammed and a second later, keys jangled as Trent came through the front door with a huge bouquet of flowers in his arms.
“Oh my gosh.” Cora headed over to him, shaking her head. “You’re too much.”
He planted a hot kiss on her lips, snaking his free arm around her waist and holding her tight. “No matter what I do, it’ll never be too much. You deserve it all, Cora.”
“How did I end up with a man like you in my life?” She touched his face, wonder filtering through her system. She loved this man so much, it made her entire body vibrate with joy. “I have no idea how I got so lucky.”
“Well, don’t be showering the praise on me yet.” He pulled a face.
“Don’t tell me you forgot the ice,” she groaned. That was the whole point of his trip out. “Liv bought some nice champagne.”
Trent laughed, slapping her on the butt. “I’m yanking your chain. It’s in the car. Why don’t you go grab it and I’ll get these flowers into some water?”
“They’re amazing.” The bouquet was a spray of rainbow flowers—pink roses and purple irises and yellow gerberas with green fronds. “Thank you.”
“I’m so proud of you,” he said, echoing the words their family had shared with her earlier. “You inspire me every day.”
“Same,” she whispered. They kissed again, harder this time and to shouts of “Get a room” from Nick and Adam and laughter from the others.
Shaking her head and wondering whether it would be inappropriate to kick everyone out of her house so she could drag Trent back to bed, Cora headed outside. But the second she stepped through the front door, she froze. For a moment, she wasn’t sure if she was hallucinating.
Her father stood in front of Trent’s truck, looking a little tired and a little disheveled, but still as well-dressed as always. “Hi Cora.”
“Dad.” She shook her head. “When…?”
“That husband of yours was adamant that I be here to help you celebrate.” Her father came over to her and pressed a hand to her shoulder. They didn’t have the easy affection of the Walters family, but her father being here was a big deal. “He called and told me that if I wanted to make up for not supporting you in the past, then I could start by flying out and coming to your book signing.”
“He did?”
Her father chuckled, a reluctant respect shaping his mouth and crinkling the edges of his eyes. “He’s very persuasive.”
“Tell me about it.” Cora was still shaking her head, like her brain couldn’t quite compute what was happening. Her fingers automatically went to the caterpillar pendant around her neck, the familiar feel of the smooth, gold disk grounding her. “I can’t believe you came.”
The words popped out before she could think, but her father simply nodded. “I haven’t given you much reason to believe I would support you. I regret that.”
“I only ever wanted to make you proud.”
“You did, Cora. You survived living with your mother and me while we fought like animals and spewed hate onto each other and you still turned out to be a strong, creative woman with a big heart. That makes me proud.” He smoothed a hand over his hair. “I’m sorry it took me so long to see that my fears stopped me from letting you fly.”
“You’re here now. That’s what matters,” she said, swallowing against the lump in her throat.
“Can you forgive me?”
“Of course. We’re family.”
In a rare show of emot
ion, her father hugged her close. The gesture almost knocked the strength out of her for how many years she’d craved this—his love and acceptance. His presence at an important time in her life.
She looked up and saw Trent leaning in the doorway to the house, hands in his pockets and a smile on his lips. Behind him, his mother stood with a protective hand on his shoulder and tears in her eyes. They all knew that family wasn’t always easy. It wasn’t always perfect.
But the main thing a family needed to survive was forgiveness, and between them all, they had enough to heal every one of their wounds.
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Acknowledgments
Thank you to each and every reader who has taken a chance on me in my career. Your enthusiasm for my stories, your reviews and the emails you send…they mean the absolute world to me. Thank you.
I have to thank my amazing husband, Justin. His unwavering support, tough love, gentle love, plot workshopping, enthusiasm and genuine, unrelenting desire for our happiness and success play a crucial role in my stories. He’s the reason I believe so strongly in the power of romance and the impact love can have on a person.
Thank you to Taryn, whose brainstorming genius cracked this entire book wide open! Seriously, you saved me when I was ready to scrap the whole thing and start over. Our Skype sessions never fail to revive my joy for a project or to get the plot bunnies multiplying. Thank you for being such an amazing friend, both in the writing world and out.
Thank you to all the people in the book world who help a project go from idea to printed pages. To my agent, Jill Marsal, the team at Entangled Publishing, Liz Pelletier, Stacy Abrams, Nancy Cantor, Jessica Turner, Katie Clapsadl and the production team, thank you.
Thank you to all the people in my personal life who ask how the writing is going knowing they could get literally any type of response. Mum and Dad, Sami and Albie, Melissa, Zia, Luke and Jill, Russ and Kate, Shiloh and KG, Myrna, Madura, Aliza, Jeanette, Tammy. You’re all amazing.
And, as always, thank you to my coffee machine for greeting me every morning and being a key contributor to getting my brain working enough to write. You’re the real MVP.
About the Author
Stefanie London is a USA Today bestselling author of contemporary romances and romantic comedies. Her books have been called “genuinely entertaining and memorable” by Booklist and “Elegant, descriptive and delectable” by RT magazine. Her stories have been nominated for multiple industry awards, including the Romance Writers of America RITA® award.
Originally from Melbourne, Australia, she now lives in Toronto with her very own hero. You can find her at stefanie-london.com
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Her Aussie Holiday Page 28