Much Ado About You

by Samantha Young

  It wasn’t until a happy bark sounded seconds before a weight slammed into our sides that we stumbled apart to find Shadow jumping up on his hindquarters to get to me.

  Laughing as he found purchase on my shoulders and his tongue found my cheek, I hugged the Dane in return. “Missed you, boy,” I whispered, refusing to cry even though it was really hard not to.

  “Down,” Roane said gently, pulling on Shadow’s collar after a while. “You’ve had your turn with the bonny lass.” He rubbed Shadow’s head affectionately before grinning at me. “Now it’s my turn again.”

  I looked down at the hand he held out to me and took it with my left, the engagement ring glittering even on a cloudy day like today.

  “Bobby,” Roane called over his shoulder.

  “Aye?” I heard him shout from one of the hoop houses.

  “I’m taking the rest of the day off.”

  I could hear laughter in Bobby’s voice as he called back, “Aye, tell me something I didn’t already know!”

  Giggling a little hysterically with the biggest relief I’d ever felt in my life, I followed Roane into the house and upstairs. As he reached for me, I complained I smelled like I’d traveled all day and didn’t want him enduring that.

  In answer he changed direction and guided me to the bathroom. Minutes later I found myself naked in the shower with my fiancé as he moved inside me, not caring that our reunion was hampered by a slippery bathtub or that our kisses were interrupted with muffled curses as we tried to steady ourselves.

  All I cared about was that I was home.

  And it was real.

  Epilogue

  Four months later . . .

  Christmas songs played softly in the background, barely heard over the noise of our chatter as we sat in groups around The Anchor. Milly and Dex were hosting a Christmas pub quiz for the locals, and the atmosphere was relaxed and spirited as we competed in tabled groups to win the huge hamper of Christmas goodies they were giving away.

  I sat with my chair pressed to Roane’s, huddled into his side, his arm around me, fingers caressing the skin below the short sleeve of my blouse as we considered the latest quiz question.

  Joining us at our table were Caro, Viola, and Lucas. As they discussed with Roane whether or not the Oasis single that hit number one in 1996 was “Some Might Say” or “Don’t Look Back in Anger,” I considered my youthful friends and how far we’d come in such a short period of time.

  I’d love to say Roane and I fell back into our relationship with ease, but we’d both burned each other’s trust, and there had been moments over the past few months when we’d been a little unsure of each other.

  In those first few months I’d questioned him about where he’d been, what he was doing, not realizing that over time those questions began to feel like an interrogation. Finally Roane demanded I stop, and I discovered Roane didn’t “do” loud arguing. He just walked out, thus putting an end to my raised voice.

  I did apologize, and more self-aware than before, I promised him and myself that I’d let it go, that I’d do better.

  And I did.

  However, our wedding was last month, and when his parents made it clear they were unhappy about how quickly things were moving, Roane became tense around me, tiptoeing on eggshells. It finally occurred to me that he was afraid the conflict might send me running again. That hurt, but I understood his concern, and there was nothing I could do but prove him wrong.

  Which I did. I smiled at the white gold band nestled beside my engagement ring, my gaze flickering to the wider white gold band on Roane’s left hand.

  He couldn’t wear it at work, but he never forgot to put it on when we socialized.

  Despite Roane’s parents’ concerns, they attended the wedding, they made nice, and they were coming back for Christmas, so I saw that as my chance to show them that Roane and I hadn’t made a mistake marrying so quickly.

  As for my mom and Phil, they adored Roane. We flew them over for the wedding, and they fell in love with Alnster and my husband as rapidly as I had. They’d already booked a stay at a holiday home in nearby Bamburgh next summer and were staying for three weeks. We’d told them they could stay with us, but I think they wanted not only to give us privacy but to have their own. I kind of got the impression that since Mom’s return from rehab, she and Phil were rediscovering each other. And it was good.

  Greer, of course, had the baby. A little baby girl she and Andre named Evangeline. I’d flown out to see my namesake four weeks before the wedding. She was cute as a button, but she cried a lot. Despite my “advancing” years, Roane and I had already tabled the kid discussion. We would try, but not for a few years yet. Seeing baby Evie scream and cry every other hour, I’d been grateful for that decision and in awe of my best friend.

  We were sad she couldn’t make it to the wedding, but Roane and I were planning a trip out there next year so we could visit them and then drive to Indiana to see Mom and Phil. And to show him where I grew up.

  It was certainly different from where Roane had grown up.

  I’d, of course, been inside Alnster House, that huge sandstone mansion belonging to my husband and his parents, named by the ancestor who’d built the place back in the seventeenth century. It had been added to and renovated over the centuries, and if I thought it was awe inspiring on the outside, it was nothing compared to the interior.

  Marble floors and staircases, huge oil paintings, beautiful sculptures. The public rooms were like rooms in a museum. The family rooms on the second floor, although opulent with Aubusson carpets and Chinese silk wallpaper, were more comfortable and welcoming.

  We’d had the wedding reception at the house, making use of the ballroom.

  Yes, it had a ballroom.

  The first time I walked into Alnster House, I’d felt Roane watching me anxiously. All I could do was hold his hand and smile reassuringly. That mansion wasn’t him. That’s why he lived in the farmhouse. The house, however, was his legacy, and maybe one day we’d have to move there with our kids, but for now I was getting a huge kick out of redecorating our cozy farmhouse. I’d even convinced Roane to hire an architect so we could start opening up the spaces to make it free flowing and modern.

  “It’s ‘Don’t Look Back in Anger,’” I said, tired of listening to the back-and-forth.

  My friends stared at me, uncertain.

  I huffed, holding up my hand. “Who is the only person here who remembers 1996? Some of us”—I turned to Roane—“had only been walking for, what, two years?”

  He smirked.

  “And some of us”—I looked at Caro—“were still in diapers.” Then I gestured to Lucas and Viola. “And some of us weren’t even born. God, why am I friends with you? You’re making me old. Put down ‘Don’t Look Back in Anger.’”

  “Words to live by,” Viola said pointedly.

  “Ha ha.” I rolled my eyes as they grinned at my expense.

  “I don’t remember you being this touchy about your age.” Caro tapped a finger against her chin. “I think marrying Roane has made you tetchy about your age.”

  Months ago, a joke like that might have fallen flat, but now Roane just winked at me and squeezed me closer.

  “I don’t know why.” Vi snorted. “Think about it, Evie. When you’re forty, your husband will still be a hot, young thirtysomething. You’re like my hero.”

  Roane chuckled.

  “He’s lucky I love him.” I scratched his beard playfully. “Or I would never forgive him for turning me into a cougar.”

  “Oh, you’re not a cougar,” Lucas said. “Roane would have to be fifteen years younger rather than ten.”

  “He’s six and a half years younger,” I corrected him.

  Lucas grinned mischievously. “Oh, is he? My mistake.”

  As he and Viola fell against each other laughing, I mock glowere
d at them. “Why are you home for Christmas again? Just to torture me?”

  “No, we’re home so I can have a painfully awkward Christmas dinner with my loving mother and a father who won’t talk to me.” Lucas’s lips twisted into an unhappy smile.

  Vi covered his hand with hers. “At least he’s letting you in the house.”

  “Aye, because my mam put her foot down. At last.”

  Although I saw a happy ending for Viola and Lucas, I wasn’t sure there was one in the cards for Lucas and West. His father just couldn’t let it go, and if it would mean losing his youngest son, then I pitied him. I pitied the bitterness that was choking the life out of him slowly but surely.

  “Right, hand over your answers, you lot,” Milly said, approaching our table with a beaming smile.

  Roane handed them to her as I shot a look over my shoulder to make sure Shadow was okay. He was sprawled in front of the roaring fire and had been since we’d arrived two hours ago.

  “Maybe we should pull him over to us.” I turned to Roane. Shadow had a habit of staying in front of a fire too long.

  “You know he’ll move when he’s too hot,” Roane assured me as he always assured me.

  Less than ten minutes later, Dex retook the mic to announce, “And the winner is Maggie, Annie, and Liz!”

  We looked over at their table, pretending to boo at the same time we raised our glasses to them. Maggie blushed in delight as Dex placed the huge hamper in front of them.

  “See,” I said, “age and experience matter in a pub quiz. Don’t”—I raised a finger at Lucas, whose eyes were sparkling with some mischievous comment about my age—“even say it.”

  Choking on his laughter, he buried his head in Vi’s throat as she grinned at me.

  Roane’s arm slipped down my shoulder to my waist, and I felt his fingers slip under my shirt to tickle me lightly. Shivering, I turned into him with a soft smile. “You feeling me up in public?” I murmured.

  His dark eyes dropped to my mouth. “When am I not feeling you up in public?”

  “True. You’re very handsy. You should stop. I’m a married woman, you know.”

  “Oh, I know.” He bent his head toward mine, seconds from stealing a kiss when—

  “Evie, how’s the new tenant working out?”

  Roane and I moved away from each other as Dex pulled a seat up to our table.

  “Good,” I answered. “So far so good.”

  Once I’d bought the store from Penny and realized I’d have an empty apartment upstairs when I moved in with Roane, I had a new door put on the rear of the building and closed off the entrance to the bookstore at the back to separate the apartment from the store. I was intending to let it as a holiday apartment, but a guy called Bryan Holmes, some financial dude from London, paid me up front for three months’ rent.

  He said he needed a long vacation from London. When I’d met him, I’d thought he was a good-looking guy in his late forties. He was only thirty-eight. The stress of working in the financial hub of the country had led him to a bit of a midlife crisis. He’d decided the cold sea air in a tiny little village would do him good.

  “I hardly ever hear him when I’m at the store.” I shrugged. Not that the store kept me busy during the winter months. I only opened it a few days a week, and even then I spent most of my days working on edits for my clients.

  It didn’t matter. I trusted that between my rental income from the apartment and the good summer business, I’d make a success of my store.

  Even if I didn’t, I thought as I looked around The Anchor at the fairy lights and Christmas decorations twinkling above the heads of my friends, my dog, and my husband, I wasn’t going anywhere. They were all stuck with me for good.

  “Did you hear?” Milly appeared at the table, her hands resting on Lucas’s shoulders as she directed her words at me.

  “Hear what?”

  “The truth has come out about why Erin and Peter Branston separated three months ago. Erin apparently played private eye when her husband started working late. She found him at the Newton Arms with his head between another woman’s legs.”

  “Ugh, Mam.” Viola made a face as Lucas’s shoulders shook with laughter. “That’s a sentence a daughter should never hear her mam say.”

  “Never mind that.” Caro blushed but her eyes were filled with sympathy. “It’s something a wife should never see her husband do with another woman.”

  “Poor Erin,” Dex tutted. “And the kids.”

  Erin was the attractive blonde who’d ordered books from me all those months ago. I’d heard about the separation, we all had, but I marveled that it had taken this long for the truth to come out. “So they’re getting a divorce?”

  “Aye.” Milly nodded in approval. “She says she’s taking the bastard for everything.”

  “So she’s single?”

  “Aye, that’s what divorce means, Evie.”

  I ignored her sarcasm. “You know, my tenant Bryan is single . . .”

  Milly’s eyes lit up.

  Roane groaned and shot me a warning look. “Evie . . . don’t even think about it.”

  Acknowledgments

  While strolling through vacation listings, I came upon a bookshop holiday advertisement. To my delight I discovered there is a book shop in the lowlands of Scotland that offers exactly what Much Ado About Books offers in Evie’s story. This got my imagination firing, and before I knew it, Evie’s adventure in England was playing out in my head, desperate to be told. As for the story’s setting, I have long since hoped to set a book in Northumberland. It’s one of my favorite places in the world and one of the most beautiful counties in England. It was a no-brainer that Much Ado About You should be set there. It was a joy to send Evie there. When I wrote this book, I wrote it with the desire to create the ultimate romantic comfort read, and it was certainly a comfort write! I hope readers felt my love for the characters, the setting, and that it magically transported you all there.

  For the most part, writing is a solitary endeavor but publishing most certainly is not. I have to thank my fantastic editor, Kerry Donovan, not only for helping to make me a better writer and storyteller, but for believing in me and in this book. Moreover, thank you to all the team at Berkley for your hard work on Evie and Roane’s story.

  The same must be said for my amazing agent, Lauren Abramo. Lauren, thank you for always having my back and for making it possible for readers all over the world to read my stories. I know how lucky I am to have you.

  And thank you to my bestie and PA extraordinaire, Ashleen Walker, for handling all the little things and supporting me through everything. There are no words for how much I appreciate and love you.

  Thank you to every single blogger, Instagrammer, and book lover who has helped spread the word about my books. You all are appreciated so much. On that note, a massive thank-you to all the fantastic readers in my private Facebook group, Sam’s Clan McBookish. You’re the kindest, most supportive readers a girl could ask for and I hope you know how much you all mean to me.

  In case I don’t say it enough, thank you to my family and friends for your never-ending well of support. I love you all so much.

  Finally, to you, my reader, the biggest thank-you of all.

  Readers Guide

  Much Ado About You

  SAMANTHA YOUNG

  Discussion Questions

  When we first meet Evie, she’s being stood up by a man she met online. At thirty-three, having dated for over half her life, she’s exhausted by it. Have you ever felt similarly to Evie about dating?

  Evie leaves her job after a decade because she feels her career trajectory has halted there. She also feels she’s been passed over for a promotion because she isn’t male. Do you think she was right to walk away for these reasons, or do you think she should have fought harder for the
position she wanted? Have you ever been passed over for a promotion because of gender discrimination? If so, how did you deal with it?

  Greer’s pregnancy makes Evie feel as if she’s being left behind—everyone else’s lives are moving forward while hers stays still. Can you sympathize with Evie’s fear of being the last single friend or have you had a friend in that position?

  Life in her thirties isn’t what Evie hoped it would be, and that’s why she decides to take a break from it by traveling to England to run Much Ado About Books. Have you ever considered or actually done something similar? What was it? Did you find it helpful?

  Evie’s obsession with all things Shakespeare and Jane Austen led her to England. Have you ever been to the UK? Which part? What made you decide to choose that destination for your travels?

  When Evie and Roane meet, there is an instant chemistry between them and a comfortable connection neither of them expected. Do you think Evie was right to friend-zone Roane because she was there to find herself, not love? Or do you think she should have engaged in a fun holiday romance? Have you ever had a holiday romance?

  One of the deeper conversations Evie and Roane share is about Evie’s feelings regarding “singledom” in her thirties. She’s struggling to figure out if she’s unhappy being alone because society dictates that she should be in a romantic relationship to be happy, or if she’s genuinely lonely without a partner. Can you relate to Evie’s struggle?

  One aspect of Evie’s personality is her inability to stay out of situations when people she cares about are involved. She gets involved in Caro’s life; the feud between the Taits and the Elliots; and Annie and Maggie’s conflict. Do you think Evie is running away from her own problems all the while trying to fix everyone else’s?

  Alnster soon becomes much more than a vacation spot for Evie. What aspect of her time in Northumberland seduces Evie into staying? Or do you think it was a number of reasons?