Love Blooms

by Jo McNally

  Praise for the novels of Jo McNally

  Barefoot on a Starlit Night

  “A fun read.”

  —Harlequin Junkie

  “Filled with tension and raw emotion, Barefoot on a Starlit Night is sure to please readers of contemporary romance.”

  —New York Journal of Books

  “If you are looking for a feel-good book with romance, laughs, and a guaranteed HEA with an author who writes with a practiced hand, then look no further than this book!”

  —The Lit Bitch

  Stealing Kises in the Snow

  “Readers will be charmed by this sweet, no-nonsense Christmas romance full of genuine emotion.”

  —Publishers Weekly

  Slow Dancing at Sunrise

  “With witty characters and only a small amount of drama, Slow Dancing at Sunrise is an entertaining and charming story that will appeal to readers of small-town romances.”

  —Harlequin Junkie

  Jo McNally

  Love Blooms

  Dedicated to the memory of one of the original classy, sassy ladies in my life. We love and miss you, Aunt Shirley.

  Acknowledgments

  I loved this runaway bride story idea from the moment it came to me, but it was trickier to write than I’d anticipated. For one thing, I wrote it in 2020, so...you know...nothing was easy. And writing a story about a guy who chases after the woman he loves is a bit of a high-wire act. I needed to be sure Owen never came across as anything other than a good man who truly wanted to be worthy of Lucy’s love again.

  I had some help pulling that off, so many thanks to editor Anna J. Stewart for helping me frame the story properly before I got started, and of course to my editor at HQN, Michele Bidelspach, for her wise guidance. And a huge thank-you to the constant and invaluable member of my writing team: my agent, Veronica Park at Fuse Literary, who always tells it like it is and has my back no matter what. And most of all, thanks and so much love to my very own cinnamon roll hero—my husband of twenty-five years, John.

  I dedicated this book to my aunt Shirley, who was one of the women who inspired the bawdy senior book club in Rendezvous Falls. We sadly lost Shirley in January at the age of ninety. She was a feisty, independent, always stylish inspiration right to the end. Her final words to me via a family video call from the hospital were a command to “keep writing those books!”

  And I promised her I would.

  Contents

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  EPILOGUE

  EXCERPT FROM ACCIDENTAL HOMECOMING BY SABRINA YORK

  CHAPTER ONE

  LUCY HIGGINS WAS supposed to be having fun.

  Everyone around her certainly was. The noisy bar was full of women—her friends, relatives and relatives-to-be. All drinking and laughing, singing and dancing. It was a whirling kaleidoscope of noise and frantic activity that Lucy wanted no part of. But she couldn’t leave.

  It was her party.

  At least, it was a party for her. About her.

  Hooray... Lucy’s getting married tomorrow...

  She drained her wineglass and gestured to the bartender, one of the few males in the room, for more. Everyone here knew she was the bride, mainly because of the white baseball cap she wore with cheap netting sticking out the back and the word BRIDE emblazoned on the front. The bartender, an older gentleman, gave her a wry smile as he refilled the glass.

  “Drinking away your wedding jitters?”

  She nodded, just to be polite, but didn’t answer. She’d passed jitters a few hours ago, and was headed straight down the road to Panic City.

  Was ditching your own wedding a crime? Would the cops come after her if she just packed up and left Greensboro tonight? Would anyone even notice? Would they care more about why she left than the inconvenience and rumors her absence would cause?

  She stared into the shimmering white wine in her glass and sighed. Her future in-laws would care very much. At least about the inconvenience. Definitely about the rumors. They were the ones who’d coughed up the money for this circus...er...wedding. Who would even eat all that food if Lucy never walked down the aisle? Her parents would be mortified, which would serve them both right.

  They were the main reason she was having a meltdown at her own damn bachelorette party.

  Owen would care. Hopefully. He was the groom after all. But...how much would he care? And for how long? Sure, he’d be surprised. Maybe momentarily pissed off. But would he actually care? Sometimes it seemed like he came back from Afghanistan a totally different man. Or maybe her fiancé had always been rigidly aligned with following the rules and she’d just chalked it up to him being...reserved. She’d jokingly called him her calm in the storm when they’d met. Maybe his love of having a plan just seemed like calm to her, because her own life had always felt so chaotic. Maybe she’d never known him at all.

  Maybe she was actually losing her mind right now. She stared into the wine even harder, hoping that—like a liquid crystal ball—it would reveal the answers she so desperately needed. It did not. All she knew for sure was the thought of walking down the aisle tomorrow morning made her palms go clammy and her heart start racing. Tripping. Running. Like she should be doing...

  Her older sister, Kris, threw herself onto the barstool next to Lucy and plunked her empty beer glass onto the bar.

  “Barkeep,” Kris shouted, “Ah’m runnin’ dry!” The alcohol was making her sister’s North Carolina accent sharper than ever. “I haven’t danced this much since last year’s Appalachia festival. Your friend Nikki is a beast! She hasn’t been off that dance floor in an hour, and she’s older than I am. I don’t know how she does it.” Kris paused for a breath, her smile fading. “Wait. You look like you’re getting ready for a wake. What’s up?”

  “Did you know about Mom and Dad?” Lucy couldn’t hold in the hurt any longer. She had to know if she was the only one who’d been duped all these years.

  Kris’s hesitation, along with the way her gaze bounced everywhere in the bar but never quite landed on Lucy’s face, was all she needed to know.

  “Oh, my God.” Lucy drained her wine again. “Y’all are frickin’ unbelievable. What else have I missed? Are you and Kevin breaking up, too? Does anyone actually love each other in this family?”

  Kris pulled her dark blond hair up off her neck and blew out a long breath. “First of all—no, Kevin and I are not divorcing, so you just keep those words outta your mouth. What exactly do you think you know about Mom and Dad?”

  “I know they’re only waiting until after my wedding to get divorced. And that Mom is having an affair with some guy.”

  Just saying those words out loud felt like a betrayal of everything she’d ever known. Her happy family with her loving parents at the helm—even if life at home hadn’t always been sunny and bright. Dad was an auto mechanic, and there always seemed to be
money woes. Some periods felt downright desperate. When Kris was sick they’d moved from their doublewide in the mountains to a tiny brick ranch closer to Greensboro and the doctors who were treating her leukemia. Then Dad’s mom got sick and her parents were juggling their time between Kris and Grandma. It was a lot of pressure on a family, sure, but the one constant throughout her parents’ partnership was their teamwork. The high school sweethearts always managed to make things work. Until now.

  When Lucy overheard them talking last night, she thought they were pranking her. That they’d heard her come back inside and were playing a twisted, unintentionally cruel joke. But the longer she’d listened, the more real it became.

  She flinched when the DJ started playing “It’s Raining Men.” The bar went wild with female screeches and applause. But Kris and Lucy were in their own little bubble of sorrow at the bar, staring each other down like a scene from one of those police drama interrogations.

  Kris swallowed hard. “They told you that?”

  “No.” Lucy shook her head. “I heard them arguing yesterday afternoon, before we came to the hotel.” The wedding was set to happen in a historic chapel in High Point, not far from Greensboro. The Coopers had decided on the location, just like they’d decided everything else about this wedding. “Mom and Dad thought I’d left... I mean, I did leave, but I forgot my list of what I needed to pick up. I went back in the house, and...” Her eyes closed. She was relying on lists a lot these days. Planning the wedding to happen so quickly after Owen’s discharge may not have been the best idea. He seemed to be having a hard time acclimating to civilian life. To a life with her. She understood if he felt overwhelmed. She did, too. Hence, order. Lists. One day at a time.

  But when she went back in the house and heard raised voices on the back deck, she’d stopped feeling like anything was in order. She’d hardly known her parents to argue...ever. The open window allowed her to hear every harshly whispered word.

  ...can’t wait until this wedding is over, Tom, so we can end this farce...

  ...you’re so eager to be with your lover, just go...

  ...be stupid. We can’t ruin Lucy’s day. But by next week...

  ...don’t tell me, Marsha. Tell my lawyer...

  ...supposed to intimidate me? Your lawyer is your idiot cousin...

  ...at least I can trust her, which is more than I can say about you...

  ...didn’t start, Tom. I hope Lucy has better taste in husbands than I did...

  “Oh, shit...” Kris grabbed Lucy’s hands in hers. “You’re crying! Come with me.” Lucy blindly followed her sister out the back door of the bar to the dimly lit parking lot. Kris dabbed at Lucy’s face with a wad of tissues. “Stop crying, honey. It’s gonna be fine.”

  “It’s not going to be fine, Kris. Our parents are divorcing. Mom’s cheating on Dad. How could she do that? How could they hide this from us?” Kris’s gaze dropped, and Lucy pounced. “You knew, didn’t you? And you didn’t tell me? How can you protect Mom when she...”

  “It wasn’t just Mom, okay? It’s complicated. You need to get back to your party, Luce, before people notice. Things have been bad with them for a while. You just didn’t want to see it.”

  Lucy swatted Kris’s hand away. “I didn’t see it because you all lied to me.” Lucy’s voice rose, her hands gesturing wildly. “You were going to let Dad walk me down the aisle and sit with Mom in the front row and you knew it was all going to be an act. I’m starting my wedding with a lie, Kris.”

  “That lie has nothing to do with you and Owen. Tomorrow is still your day, Lucy. Come back inside...”

  Lucy stomped away, marching across the parking lot with no destination in mind other than away. That was the one word that kept scrolling through her thoughts. Away. She heard Kris go back inside, propelled by a labored sigh. Good. She couldn’t look at anyone in her family right now without feeling betrayed. She walked all the way to the back row of cars and stared off into the swampy stand of trees behind the parking lot. Behind her, the door to the bar opened and closed again. Light footsteps headed her way.

  “What’s goin’ on?” Lucy’s posture softened at the soft, no-nonsense voice of Nikki Taggart. Her maid of honor. Her best friend. Hopefully, someone who’d never lied to her. The possibility made her spin on her heel to face her, gulping back tears.

  “Did you know? Did you know my parents’ marriage is a sham?”

  “Hand to God, I did not.” Nikki, with her short dark hair and darker eyes, gestured from her chest to the sky. “Kris just filled me in, but I’m still fuzzy on the details. Something about your mom cheating? I’m so sorry.”

  Nikki opened her arms and Lucy didn’t hesitate to walk into the embrace. They stood there in the back of the dark parking lot. Nikki didn’t say a word, just held Lucy tight. They could hear the music from the party, still going strong. Eventually her tears subsided enough for Lucy to gasp out a few words.

  “They’re only...together...for the wedding...” She pulled in a steadying breath. “They’re breaking up as soon as it’s over. They weren’t even going to tell me...” She wiped her face with the back of her hand, bumping her white BRIDE hat in the process. She snatched it off angrily and held it up. “This whole weekend is just people pretending to be something they’re not. I wanted to get married barefoot on Grandfather Mountain, in that little hollow in the pines where the azaleas grow and you can see the Blue Ridge going on forever. But no. Owen’s parents insisted on this fancy wedding in High Point, so all their friends and business associates can come.” She swished the hat back and forth in anger. “It feels like someone else’s wedding. Owen and I are supposed to starting our new life together, and I’m not sure I even know who he is right now. Who I am. What we’re doing. And my parents are divorcing!”

  “Okay,” Nikki said. “Let’s take a step back. I know you were blindsided by your parents’ news, but don’t weave their mistakes into your relationship. You and Owen have got years invested in this. He waited when you moved to Boone to care for your grandmother. You waited while he did his Army thing. And you love each other, right?” Lucy didn’t answer, and Nikki folded her arms on her chest. “Right?”

  Lucy stared up at the stars, her chest constricting. When she and Owen met at that noisy beachside bar, she’d teased him for being the strong silent type. But there was something in that strength, all solid frame and broad shoulders. Something in his silence, too. He’d seemed so at home in his own skin. So willing to let the world spin wildly around him without actually affecting him in any way. His golden eyes felt like a safety net to her. He made her feel okay about everything.

  Lucy dug the toe of her shoe into the gravel parking lot. She was so tired. She’d been pushed and pulled a hundred different directions lately by Owen’s parents. Faye and Edward Cooper were a force of nature unto themselves. Faye had her name on the children’s wing of a hospital. Edward spent three days a week at the country club, where he owned his own golf cart and was president of the men’s club.

  Once Faye accepted the fact that Owen, her only child, had chosen Lucy, with her lowly Appalachian roots, Faye made it clear that she would single-handedly ensure this wedding would be one scripted for the society pages. She’d even browbeaten Lucy into a frothy, cotillion excuse for a wedding dress that seemed to engulf her petite frame every time she tried it on. Faye was paying for it, so Lucy felt she couldn’t argue. But she couldn’t lie to herself anymore. She hated the dress. In fact, she pretty much hated everything about this wedding.

  “I can’t do this.”

  “Do what?”

  “Get married.”

  Saying it aloud was like a death sentence, or a stay of execution, or maybe a little of both. Silence hung between the two women. The only sounds were muffled party music and a swamp full of frogs singing their nighttime serenade. With a stoic sigh, Nikki led Lucy to someone’s pickup truck and lowered the t
ailgate, slapping it to let Lucy know she was supposed to join her. They sat for a moment before Nikki finally spoke.

  “My job as your maid of honor is to make sure all your pre-wedding needs are met. And if you’re telling me there’s a good reason for you to back out—to back out the night before the wedding—then I’ve got you. You know that’s how we roll.”

  It was true. Nikki was a successful restaurant chef and caterer in Raleigh. She was also a down-to-earth woman who knew who she was, what she wanted and how to get it. She was able to mingle with Raleigh’s politicians and college presidents without losing her sense of self or putting on airs. Lucy was envious of Nikki’s confidence in every choice she made. Maybe it was the age difference—Nikki was thirty-six, and Lucy was barely thirty. Nikki had grown up with a nomad of a father, who dragged her and her older brother all over the country chasing pipe dreams. That experience had left Nikki craving reality and roots over wishes and dreams.

  Nikki reached over and plucked the white hat from Lucy’s hands. “But first, you need to convince me this isn’t a massive case of cold feet. What’s happening with your parents sucks. But you’re not marrying your parents. You’re marrying that strong, dependable, arguably too good to be true all-American hero, Owen Cooper. You and I have known each other what—almost four years?” Lucy nodded. “The whole time, you’ve been dreamboating over this guy of yours. Why are you even thinking of ditching him now? Did he do something stupid? Do I have to go beat him up? ’Cause you know I’ll do it.”

  “I told you he’s been...different.” Lucy shrugged. “Quieter than usual. He hardly ever laughs anymore...” His laughter was one of the first things she’d fallen in love with when they met at the beach. He seemed to always be surprised and amused by her. Not in a you’re weird way, but in a genuinely affectionate way. He told her she made him laugh like no one else ever had. “I can’t get him to express an opinion on anything since he got back. He just goes along with whatever his mother says. I mean, the guy hates crowds, and he didn’t even blink when Faye said we’re having three hundred guests.”