Lani joined her sister in dozing off for most of the flight. She suspected Harrison did as well.
When they landed, a car waited for her and Harrison, while another car waited to take Madi home.
The drive wasn’t exactly short, though it wasn’t overly long either. Harrison spent most of it on the phone with San Majoria making plans for the currently postponed tour of the country. With the news coming out about the duke’s arrest and the alleged contract, it had been decided that waiting until it all died down was the better option. Lani didn’t know when they would, not with school starting soon, but she’d let someone else figure it out.
Harrison didn’t carry her over the threshold this time. Someone else brought in their luggage. She hoped it all ended up in the right place. They needed to make a trip to Trumanville to get the rest of her clothes and things from the apartment but not yet. The chances of running into her parents was too high. She still hadn’t talked to them since they were escorted out of San Majoria, and she didn’t want to now.
“Come here.” Harrison held out a hand and pulled her close. “This is our first home, love. I’m so glad I get to share it with you.”
She walked readily into his arms. “I am, too. And I’m really glad I follow that page for ridiculous things and that I was in Tulsa picking up Z-racks a few weeks ago.”
He chuckled. “That doll dressed in my grandmother’s coronation gown. I still don’t know how I stumbled across the picture or why I offered to be part of the transfer. It’s not something I would normally do.”
Lani leaned up and kissed him softly. “And when I saw you in that parking lot, I had no idea you were a secret prince. I’m kind of glad I didn’t know, though. I never would have started falling for you if I’d known.”
That made him laugh again, but then he kissed her.
And this time when he carried her across a threshold it was to the master suite where they’d truly start their lives together.
Because sometimes small town girls really do marry secret princes.
Violet Braverman smiled as she looked at the newly released photos of Lani Beach and her prince.
So Violet hadn’t been the one to introduce them. At least Lani knew a good thing when she saw it, probably due, in large part, to the stinkers Violet had sent her way.
Not that they were actually stinkers. No. Those young men were all delightful and kind, just not as well suited to the former actress as Violet had originally hoped.
That left three Beach children to pair off.
The first two she counted as success stories even though she hadn’t had anything to do with the match-ups. She’d been around, involved in Eli buying the house he now shared with Mia, even. Dropped a few hints.
What about Madi? Was she ready to settle down?
Sean was already engaged, to Violet’s granddaughter, but his fiancée moved to Paris for an internship. Would the relationship survive?
Violet didn’t know, but the two were great together, and she’d be perfectly content with the Beach boy as her grandson-in-law.
Except she had a sneaking suspicion that her granddaughter was going to fall in love again. This time with Paris and not want to return.
Sean Beach was a hometown boy, born and bred, and Violet couldn’t see him moving overseas.
But maybe she was wrong.
What about Gray? He’d always been so close to one of Violet’s other granddaughters that it scared off potential girlfriends.
Her eyes narrowed. Maybe it was time to push the two of them together.
They were best friends.
Maybe it was time for best friends to become... more.
She smiled to herself. This she could help make happen.
The only question was... how?
Mrs. Braverman didn’t cooperate with my plan! (Would you argue with her?!) I thought Madi was up next, but apparently she’s decided Gray and Tessa need a bit of a push first.
Small Town Girls Don’t Marry Their Best Friends comes your way soon! You can order your copy now!
Be sure to sign up for my newsletter so you don’t miss out on sales or special preorder pricing! If you don’t already have it, you can also snag a free copy of Love for the Ages! Click here!
Letter to Readers
Dear Reader,
Thank you for joining Prince Harrison and Lani in Small Town Girls Don’t Marry Secret Princes! I appreciate you and hope you enjoyed the second book in the Beaches of Trumanville series!
I LOVED catching up with the Cordovas of San Majoria! Maybe Jacqueline Grace and Dave will finally get their real HEA soon! Silly kids ;). Of course, Dave’s brother Gideon will likely be the first in the next royalty series (hopefully, late spring/early summer 2020) so we’ll find out more about why it’s taken so long…
Next up is Gray! It was supposed to be Madi, but Mrs. Braverman decided Gray and Tessa needed to come first ;). I’m having so much fun with them! Swipe a few times for the beginning of their story!
Serenity Landing Book Club
What is that?! It’s the Facebook reader group that started last summer! I’d love to have you there! It’s easier for you to see what’s posted than on a Facebook page and we do fun stuff! There will be discussion questions after the release of a book, sneak peeks of the next one, general discussion, and chances to win copies of books and other goodies! I’d love to have you there!
Other Stuff
I see a meme floating around Facebook from time to time that tells readers what they can do to help their favorite authors. Buying their next book or giving a copy away is kind of a no-brainer, but the biggest thing you can do is write a review. If you enjoyed Small Town Girls Don’t Marry Secret Princes would you consider doing just that?
I would LOVE to hear from you! My email address is [email protected]. To stay up-to-date on releases, you can sign up for my newsletter (there’s fun stuff - like a chance to get Love for the Ages free! You’ll also get notices of sales, including special preorder pricing! And I won’t spam!) or there’s always my website :). You can find my website and blog at www.carolmoncado.com. And, of course, there’s Facebook and my Facebook page, Carol Moncado Books. But... the way pages work, sometimes very few people (often 1-5% of “likes”) will see anything posted, so the best bet is Serenity Landing Book Club. I keep trying to find the best way to get to know y’all and “spend time” together outside of your Kindle - at least for those of you who want to!
Thanks again!
Acknowledgments
They say writing is a solitary endeavor, and it absolutely can be. Sitting in front of the computer for hours on end, talking to imaginary people.
And having them talk back ;).
But the reality is no one walks alone. Since I began this writing journey over six years ago, I can’t begin to name all of those who’ve helped me along the way. My husband, Matt, who has always, always believed in me. All of the rest of my family and in-loves who never once looked at me like I was nuts for wanting to be a writer. Jan Christiansen (my “other mother”) has always believed in me and Stacy Christiansen Spangler who has been my dearest friend for longer than I can remember.
Ginger Solomon, author of One Choice and a bunch of other fantastic books (but One Choice is still my favorite!), has been invaluable with her proofreading services. Check her books out!
Then there’s my writer friends. Bethany Turner (have you read The Secret Life of Sarah Hollenbeck or Wooing of Cadie McCaffry yet?! And Hadley Beckett’s Next Dish is coming soon!) and Mikal Dawn (AH! Count Me In!) have both been so wonderful the last few months keeping me laughing and my spirits up. Then Jennifer Major, a Canadian no less ;), who does life with me and loves me anyway! There’s Jen Cvelbar (writing as Jennifer A. Davids and the best case of misidentification ever, not to mention best conference roomie - and has a new book coming next summer! YAY!), and Stacey Zink who helped so much recently. There’s my MozArks ACFW peeps who laugh with me, critique, and encourage to no end.
Then there’s all of the others who’ve helped me along on this journey.
And my first reader crew, which has expanded over the years, are ALL INVALUABLE to my writing process! I have NO IDEA what I’d do without Emily N., Tory U., Jennifer M., Linda F., Ginger L., and my AMAZING assistant Becky H.!
I said I could go on for days, and I could keep going. On and on. I know I’ve forgotten many people and I hate that. But you, dear reader, would quickly get bored.
So THANK YOU to all of those who have helped me along the way. I couldn’t have done this without you and you have my eternal gratitude. To those of you who bought or borrowed this little story, you have my eternal gratitude. I hope you stick around for the next one!
And, of course, last but never, ever, least, to Jesus Christ, without whom none of this would be possible - or worth it.
Preview: Small Town Girls Don’t Marry Their Best Friends
Pick up your copy of
Small Town Girls Don’t Marry Their Best Friends
Tessa Braverman flopped onto the couch in her best friend’s apartment. “I still can’t believe Lani didn’t invite me to her royal wedding. She likes me, right?”
Gray Beach, brother to the bride in question, rolled his eyes. “You were out of town, and the wedding was held on like eight hours notice. I didn’t even know until noon and the wedding was at seven.”
“I could have made it back.” Tessa knew she was pouting. She didn’t care.
“If you didn’t hit traffic. If you only stopped for gas and bathroom breaks and never food. If a thousand things, and you wouldn’t have time to get dressed. Do you even have something fitting for a royal wedding?”
Tessa sighed. “No. I doubt I have anything for any wedding that doesn’t involve jeans and cowgirl boots.”
“Lani promised they’d have a big cookout at her new house soon. She and Harrison got back from San Majoria a couple of days ago. Give it time. You’ll get to meet the local royalty.”
She sat straight up and stared at him. “Please tell me you didn’t take Jasmine.”
He chuckled. “I didn’t take Jasmine. We went out like twice. She’s already dating someone else I think.”
“Good.”
“You like her. She’s your best friend.”
“Not quite.”
“Fine. I’m your best friend, and Vicki is hers, but close.”
“I go away for one summer and all the good stuff happens.” She laid back down and propped her feet up on the other end of the couch.
“One thing happened.”
“Everyone got to be extras in Madi’s movie.” Tessa was still upset about that, too.
“You knew that was a possibility before you left.”
“I know. I just didn’t think it would actually happen.”
“Rampant food poisoning that takes out half the cast will do that.” Gray picked up his phone. “What do we want to eat tonight? I can order something or we can go out.”
“Maybe we should learn to cook. It’s a lot cheaper.”
“We tried that, remember?”
Tessa winced. “Mrs. Chelsea’s class. How many times did we set the smoke detectors off before she wouldn’t let us match up anymore?”
“I think it was four or five.”
“So making dinner is out, unless we find someone to idiot-proof the process for us.”
“Chinese?”
“That’s all the way in Serenity Landing.”
“How about the diner, then?”
Their default when they didn’t know what else to have. Tessa forced herself into a standing position and grabbed her purse. “Let’s go. It’s on you because you got to do all the fun stuff while I was gone.”
Gray chuckled. “Fine. But that’s the only time you get to use that.”
Tessa turned, her eyes narrowing. “Then I need you to take me somewhere much nicer than the diner.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m thinking Savarino’s sounds good.”
He mimicked her motion. “So Serenity Landing is too far for Chinese, but you’d go farther for Italian?”
“Fancy Italian.” She pulled out her phone and made a reservation in ninety minutes. “Pick me up in forty-five minutes. I need to change.”
She hurried out the door and down the stairs. As she started to climb in her car, Gray called to her from the balcony.
“You know if you don’t have anything nice enough for my sister’s wedding, you probably don’t have anything nice enough for Savarino’s.”
Tessa already had a plan for that. “I’ll figure it out,” she hollered back as she slid into her car, praying it would start on the first try. She really needed something better than this hunkajunk.
Fortunately, it fired right up. Instead of going to her apartment half a mile away, Tessa headed for her grandmother’s house in a gated community next to the lake. Her sister, Heidi, had left most of her things there when she left for Paris. The internship was only supposed to last a semester, but Tessa had a feeling Heidi was going to fall in love with the city and not return.
That didn’t bode well for her engagement to Gray’s older brother.
There was no way Sean would move to Springfield much less Paris. The man was a small town guy through and through.
Grandma Vi greeted Tessa with a smile and a hug as she walked in the door. “I’m so glad you came to see me, dear. It’s a little lonely today.”
Heidi was the one who’d lived with Grandma Vi, who kept her from living in the big house by herself. Now she was gone.
“I’m just here to see if I can borrow something of Heidi’s, Grandma.” Tessa kept her arm around her grandmother’s shoulder. “I’m making Gray take me to Savarino’s for dinner and need a dress.”
“Savarino’s? That’s awfully nice of him.”
“Well, he got to be in the movie and at Lani’s wedding. He owes me.” She dropped her arm and started down the stairs. “And I’m happy to let him pay up.”
Her grandmother wasn’t slow by any means, but Tessa was faster. By the time Grandma Vi caught up, Tessa was searching through her sister’s cocktail dresses for one that might work.
“Let me get this straight. Gray is taking you to Savarino’s because you missed a wedding?”
“A royal wedding, Grandma. You saw the video. It was amazing, and I should have been there. If I’d been home, I would have been his plus one, you know that.”
“But Savarino’s? That’s a place for engagements and anniversaries, not I’m-sorry-you-were-out-of-town dinners.”
Tessa turned and thought she caught a glimpse of unadulterated glee on her grandmother’s face, but she must have been wrong, because now she just looked curious and maybe a little concerned. “He said he was going to treat when we went to the diner because of it. I told him if he was treating we were going somewhere a lot nicer than downtown Trumanville.”
She turned back to the dresses and pulled a navy blue one out of the closet. “What do you think about this one?”
Her grandmother smiled. “Depends. Is that the one you want to wear on your first date with Gray?”
Tessa rolled her eyes and took it with her as she walked toward the bathroom. “It’s not a date.”
Because Gray was her best friend and best friends didn’t date.
The drive from his house to Mrs. Braverman’s took Gray fifteen minutes.
He spent the whole time trying to convince himself this wasn’t a date.
He and Tessa went out to dinner all the time, and he’d never thought it before, so why did he now?
Just because he was wearing a suit and tie? Because they were going to Savarino’s? The only reason they were visiting the Italian restaurant, that happened to be the nicest place to eat for probably a hundred miles or more, was because she felt he owed her dinner and she wasn’t going to let him go cheap.
She kind of had a point, too.
He hadn’t called Tessa once the day Lani married her prince. He’d sent a couple of texts, but t
hat was it. He’d used the excuse that he knew Tessa was working, and that was the truth, but mostly he hadn’t wanted to remember that he’d miss her.
It would have been a chance to dance with her. Two single dances at each of the proms they’d attended with different dates didn’t count.
Did Savarino’s have dancing? Maybe he’d ask her.
Maybe this was the night they’d be more than best friends.
It wasn’t that he felt sparks fly when she leaned over and rested her head on his shoulder while they watched a movie or felt a jolt when she took his hand so he could help her stand up.
No. It was more a feeling of rightness he’d never felt with anyone else.
Jazz had called him on it during their third date. She was a great girl, and they’d all been friends for years, but Jazz asked him why they were together instead of him and Tessa.
He hadn’t been able to give her a good answer.
That’s why he was pulling into Mrs. Braverman’s driveway on a sweltering August night in a long-sleeved shirt with a suit jacket over top of it.
Tessa would look amazing. That was a given, though he had no idea where she’d find a dress to wear.
Mrs. Braverman had buzzed him through the front gate to the Serenity Cove complex situated on Serenity Lake. His sister, Mia, and her husband, Eli, lived in one of the other houses with Eli’s infant daughter. Gray’s aunt and uncle lived much closer to Mrs. Braverman. He wouldn’t put it past Mama Beach to see them leaving together and know it was a date.
He knocked on Mrs. Braverman’s door, something he hadn’t done in years, but it didn’t feel right to just walk in when he was picking Tessa up for a not-a-date.
“Gray, you know you can just come in when I’ve buzzed you through.” Mrs. Braverman was talking before the door was completely open.
“I know, but I’m not always comfortable doing that.” He kissed the older woman on the cheek. “Is Tessa ready?”
Small Town Girls Don't Marry Secret Princes: A Small Town Contemporary Christian Romance (Beaches of Trumanville Book 2) Page 17