“And what the hell does that mean that we never come and see you? You fly us out every month for dinner. Hannah looks forward to seeing her Grammie every time she sees a plane.”
“Hey kids, lay off of your mother. Obviously, she’s not feeling herself. She said I was working with idiots yesterday and she made spaghetti.”
“What happened to our cook? He was amazing.”
Bryant shook his head. “He’s still with us.”
Beti shrugged her shoulders. “Well, you do work with a bunch of idiots, Dad. Remember the last group of producers you had to negotiate with? Complete douche bags. It was your decision to quit your normal job and become Mom’s manager. You should’ve learned after the first five movie deals that you are destined to deal with igits.”
Emmalyn tried to keep up with the conversation but none of it made sense. Her head pounded from the pain and confusion and she felt the tears slip from her eyes. She was going insane.
“Stop it. You’re making her cry. Oh, Mom, please don’t cry. We can fix all of this. It’s okay.”
“I just don’t understand. You kids grew up and away from us. I was doing okay as a historical romance writer but we were only able to live a modest life. Bryant couldn’t quit his job in construction and he hated that I got to stay at home. Beti’s girlfriend, Cricket, hated your father so you never came to see me. None of this makes sense.”
Bryant came over to the other side of the bed and kissed his wife. “Oh Babe, what a horrible nightmare. Yes, I had to work construction up until Beti was born but then your eleventh novel hit number one on the New York Times. You became huge and every novel since has brought in not only royalties but movie contracts. There were so many events and people wanting you that I quit my job to become your manager so you could focus on the writing.
“Beti is engaged to Rebecca and she’s a lovely woman. She’s a doctor over in Montrose. They come for dinner every Sunday. Kate is a successful screenplay writer, following in her mother’s artistic steps. She’s engaged, apparently, to a wonderful director whose name is Jerry.
“As for me, I have adored you from the moment I laid my eyes on you and have been courting you ever since. You are the love of my life and you can make me spaghetti anytime you want.”
She closed her eyes, trying to take all of it in. Was she dreaming now or was everything before just a nightmare? She shook her head. “It couldn’t save the ranch though.”
Kate jumped up. “What happened to the ranch? Why doesn’t anyone ever tell me anything?”
“Kate, calm down,” Bryant shushed his youngest daughter. “There’s nothing wrong with the ranch. Rusty is doing a great job managing it.”
“We still have the ranch? With the cows?” Emmalyn stared at her husband. “How?”
Bryant frowned. “I don’t know what you were thinking, honey, but we’ve always had the ranch. Great Gammie Corinne engrained it into your family that the family comes first then the ranch and just follow the family motto, everything else will fall into place.”
“What family motto?”
Collin leaned down and whispered in Kate’s ear. “Man, she really did hit her head hard.”
Kate turned around and punched him before turning back towards her mother. “Mom, it’s above the fireplace mantle. Grandpa Grant made it for her right before he died. It says ‘Strong Words, Strong Life, Strong Family’. It’s been passed down from generation to generation as a way to remember what’s important.”
Emmalyn smiled as the tears slid down her face. Could she have really gone back in time and changed the destiny of her own life? Or maybe someone was showing her the blessings she already had and to remind her not to take them for granted. Maybe it had all been a dream and she’d incorporated things from her real life into her dream realm.
Or maybe, just maybe, the wishing well had granted her a miracle.
“Are you alright, honey? I’m really worried about you.”
She took her husband’s hand and kissed the back of it softly. “I’m going to be alright. Everything is going to be alright. I just need to remember that every day is a blessing…and a miracle. I won’t take any of you for granted every again. I promise.”
Collin, Beti and Kate leaned over and gave their mother a kiss.
Collin stood up and stretched his arms. “It’s been a long day. Who agrees we need to find the doc and see about getting Mom out of this popsicle stand? She’ll rest better at home.”
Beti raised her hand. “I’m all for it, Dad? Kate?”
Bryant nodded but didn’t take his eyes off of his wife.
Kate stood up to gather Emmalyn’s things. “I’m all for it too but Dad, did you bring Mom a change of clothes? All she has is this ratty nightgown,” she glanced over at her mother, holding up the lace and cotton shift. “I need to take you shopping. This thing looks like it’s a hundred years old.”
~The End~
I hope you enjoyed Hindsight Wishes. I enjoy putting twists into my stories that bring a smile to my reader’s faces. You can find my books at fine retailers online. Reviews are the readers way of giving back to an author so if you liked my story, please post a review. You can also reach me at [email protected]
I hope you enjoyed Hindsight Wishes. I enjoy putting twists into my stories that bring a smile to my reader’s faces. You can find my books at fine retailers online. Reviews are the readers way of giving back to an author so if you liked my story,
please post a review. You can also reach me at
[email protected]
Hopefully Yours
Deb Julienne
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the prior consent of the publisher in any form other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
This is a work of fiction. Names, character, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales, is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved including the right of reproduction, distribution, or transmitted in whole or part in any form or means, or stored in any electronic, mechanical, database or retrieval system, or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher.
Hopefully Yours
Copyright 2019 by Deb Julienne
Editor: Gretchen Q. Neeley
Other Books by Deb Julienne
Just One Look
Mistletoe and Magic (A Holly Days Book 1)
Mistletoe and Miracles (A Holly Days Book 2)
Box Sets:
Guilty Until Proven Innocent in the Holding a Hero box set (Volume 1)
Destiny’s Child in Dreaming of a Hero box set
(Volume 2)
The Fighting Lancasters in Lawbreakers box set
The Twisted Sisters Club Series:
Sex, Lies, and Beauty Aids
Sex, Secrets, & Happily Ever Afters
Love, Lies, & Alibis
Bronco Boys Series:
A Splash of Romance (Prequel to the Bronco
Boys)
The Bronco Boys: Sterling in the Cowboy Country box set
The Ride of His Life in the Catching a Cowboy box set
The Bronco Boys: Blake in the More Cowboy
Country box set
Burst of Courage in the Like a Firework: Celebration of Love box set
Finding Her Way: A Copper Mills Novella
COMING SOON: Other books in the Bronco Boys Series:
Dane
Clayton
Quinton
Virgil
Wyatt
Logan
Darcy
Hopefully Yours
Carrie St. James has been in love with Jake Lassiter since the moment their eyes met. They are the perfect couple. The only issue to ever come between them is Jake’s sense of honor. It
is the promise Jake made to his dying grandfather that currently keeps them apart. Afraid of losing Jake for good, she turns to the Hopeful Wishing Well to provide the answer. But can Carrie live with the results?
Jake Lassiter’s plans are set in stone. Finish school, join the military and do his family proud, come home and join the police department, then settle down and have a family with Carrie St. James. Except once he gets to Afghanistan, he can’t leave his men. It takes the ultimate tragedy, losing his entire team, leaving him horribly injured, before he realizes his promise might have cost him more than the love of his life.
When a snowstorm puts Carrie’s life in jeopardy, Jake must dig deep to find the inner strength to save her and himself before life tears them apart for good.
Dedication
This book is dedicated to: Erica, James, Avery, and Hunter Jenkins…you are so blessed.
And as always to my grandchildren: Tyler, Kylie, Donivan, Mackenzie, Kimber, and Lincoln, who make my world a wonderful place to live.
Chapter One
New Year’s Eve 2018
The night sky was black as pitch with only a handful of stars twinkling through a thick layer of cloud cover. Chilled to the point her steps were painfully slow, Carrie St. James pulled her coat close, buttoning her heavy jacket before turning up her faux fur collar to protect her ears. Big, lacy, frozen crystals drifted to the ground. Several inches of new snow crunched beneath her feet as she made a fresh path down the sidewalk. With no destination in mind, and the need to think, she took step after step, moving forward.
Noisy revelers were everywhere, and in abundance.
The sound of a shotgun blast echoed off to her right, making her flinch. She glanced at her watch. Someone jumped the gun. It was still five minutes to twelve on New Year’s Eve.
Regardless of the boisterous festivities, Carrie had never felt more alone. Filled with an overwhelming sadness, she had left the party as midnight drew closer, unable to bear the bewitching hour as a solo act. The last thing she wanted was to be a part of the merriment when her heart wasn’t in it.
Her heart was elsewhere.
Hopelessly lost, and apparently forgotten.
She’d turn twenty-five on her next birthday, and if she lived to the age of one hundred, one quarter of her life had already passed her by. Her melancholy mood grew even more bleak.
At the end of the sidewalk, a group of people raced past her, arms around each other and tooting horns. Others rang their noisemakers, laughing with the feverishness of mischievous two-year-olds turned loose on the world with no supervision.
Carrie stopped and sucked in a breath as a couple giggled, heads together, as they took several steps up to the gazebo in the town center.
Oozing romance and bliss, the twosome stood wrapped in each other’s arms, stealing breathless kisses, oblivious to their surroundings. Once they were in the middle of the wooden shelter, standing under a bough of mistletoe, the man released his hold on the woman, dropped on bended knee, and pulled a ring from his coat pocket.
The woman covered her mouth, squealed, and nodded.
He slid the ring on her finger then rose.
She jumped into his arms. They kissed, long and hard.
At the precise moment their lips touched, the clouds shifted, parting to allow bright rays of glittery, flickering moonbeams to stream down on the gazebo. By the time the happy couple strolled down the steps, arm-in-arm, a full moon lit their way.
It was as if the gods had nodded their approval at the gesture of love.
Carrie’s cheeks enflamed, the heat of her blush making her skin burn in the icy night. Not from witnessing the touching scene, but rather from embarrassment. She gasped, each breath releasing tiny clouds into the sky. Her heart clenched, so did the region at the juncture of her thighs. How had she forgotten what any kind of physical caress or emotional pleasure could do to her body? She choked back a sob, trying not to weep for the loss.
A lone tear trickled down Carrie’s cheek. She raised her hand, reaching for the necklace she always wore. A golden heart. She kissed the pendant then began to weep in earnest, replaying the moment Jake clasped the pendant around her neck.
Had five and a half years really passed since that glorious evening?
She lifted her gaze to the full moon above.
“Jake Lassiter, where are you? What did I ever do to keep you from coming home to me?” she whispered. Her eyes stung as tears froze on her cheeks.
Filled with anger and frustration, she suddenly knew why she’d left the party and where she meant to go.
In a matter of minutes, Carrie found herself trudging along the winding pathway, just off the center of town. Pedestrians jostled her as they passed, enjoying the festivities, celebration, and new beginnings. Their images were blurred by the river of moisture leaking from her eyes. She sniffed and damned the romance in the air.
At the end of the path she stopped before the bronze plaque.
The Wishing Well of Hopeful, Colorado – Where wishes really do come true.
According to the town lore her second grade teacher in elementary school, Miss Manning, drilled into their heads, Hopeful was established in 1858 at the beginning of the Pikes Peak Gold Rush. Originally, a mining camp in the Rocky Mountains, but when the men dug the first well and hit an underground spring, they believed it to be good luck, hence the name - Hopeful.
The miners prayed the gold would be just as plentiful as the water.
It wasn’t.
The town grew as more prospectors and families moved in, building a stable community around the founding landmark.
The town thrived.
The well survived. Its reputation continued to grow with each wish granted as the years marched on.
Unfortunately, the gold ran out less than a decade later.
The famous wishing well, by default, was destined to become the focal point of the historic community, boasting a population of just over twenty thousand people.
Legend had it that if you made a wish during one of the full moons, then your true path would be revealed to you. Someday she’d research the meaning of each of the unique moons, but today her wish wasn’t about where her path would take her. It would be a completely selfish wish she planned this time.
As much as she hated to admit it, she had waited long enough for Jake Lassiter.
Staring down into the dark depths of the well, Carrie opened her mouth and tried to voice her wish. The words wouldn’t come.
James “Boomer” Jenkins shouted her name. “Come on, Carrie. Join us.” He and his wife waved as they strolled by, tooting their noise makers. Boomer had been Jake’s best friend since kindergarten. Boomer’s father, Leland, owned the Hopeful Real Estate business where she worked.
Erica Jenkins halted, then motioned her forward. Erica was Carrie’s best friend and married to Boomer.
Carrie shook her head and turned away. Much as she loved her friends, she refused to be a third wheel.
How many times had she dreamed she’d be in the same joyous union with Jake?
That hadn’t happened.
In fact, all her friends were married with families. She was the last of their group still wearing the ‘single’ label.
Jake had gone off to the military right out of high school. And she’d taken a job as office assistant at the Hopeful Real Estate office on Main Street.
Carrie had taken to the job. So much so that the owner, Leland Jenkins, suggested she go to night school and get her real estate license.
She’d done just that...and still Jake hadn’t come back to her.
Carrie hadn’t seen Jake since the last time he’d come home on leave. Ten days when Boomer and Erica got married, just eighteen months ago. Jake looked so handsome standing beside Boomer at the altar as their friends exchanged vows. Communication had been sporadic at best. A few calls now and then. They skyped once. Then silence.
Those ten days where a whirlwind of fun and emotion. Carrie had tried to p
in Jake down, asking when he’d be home for good, but Jake had avoided giving her a direct answer. In fact, every time she broached the subject, he’d shrug and change the subject. For the first time in their relationship red flags started waving.
She’d dreamt of their own wedding, Jake in uniform, her wearing her grandmother’s antique ivory wedding gown, blissfully taking the obligatory next steps as adults.
Through her tears, Carrie tried to conjure up a mental image of Jake Lassiter.
Smiling glacial blue eyes appeared first. It was his eyes that first attracted her.
It all started the first day of school her junior year, when he’d bumped into her, knocking her books from her hands as she left the school library.
His smile appeared next, perfect white teeth that actually sparkled, or was that starlight reflecting off the water in the well? A smile that made his eyes crinkle at the corners when Jake bent to help her pick up the book she’d just checked out. “Sorry, my bad.”
As they stood, she’d had to crane her neck to see his smile. Long blonde hair, streaked from the summer sun, curled around his ears and at the nape of his neck. He had a strong chin and a well-chiseled body.
Carrie’s mouth dropped open as she tipped her head back, further and further, taking in all six feet, eight inches of solid male sex appeal.
She had known Jake through her brother. He’d been to her house many times. Apparently, he’d never taken note of her.
Everyone in school said Jake could pass for Chris Hemsworth’s twin brother, but she thought he was more handsome than the Australian-born actor.
An ethereal image of Jake suddenly stood before her. She shook her head to clear it as the years fell away.
Country Wishes Page 28
