Catching Cassidy

by Melissa Foster

Sisters in Love

  Snow Sisters, Book One

  Love in Bloom Series

  Melissa Foster

  "A beautiful story about love and self-growth and finding that balance to happiness. Powerfully written and riveting from beginning to end."

  —National bestselling author Jane Porter

  Sisters in Love Excerpt - Chapter One

  THE LINE IN the café went all the way to the door. Danica Snow wished she hadn’t taken her sister Kaylie’s phone call before getting her morning coffee. Living in an overcrowded tourist town could be a major inconvenience, but Danica loved that she could walk from her condo to her office, see a movie, have dinner, or even stop at a bookstore without ever sitting in a car. Every minute counted when you lived in Allure, Colorado, host to an odd mix of hippie and yuppie tourists in equal numbers. The ski slopes brought them in the winter, while art shows drew them in the summer. There was never a break. Every suit and Rasta child in town was standing right in front of her, waiting for their coffee or latte, and the guy ahead of her had shoulders so wide she couldn’t easily see around him. Danica tapped the toe of her efficient and comfortable Nine West heels, growing more impatient by the second.

  What on earth was taking so long? In seven minutes they’d served only one person. The tables were pushed so close to the people standing in line that she couldn’t step to the side to see. She was gridlocked. Danica leaned to the right and peered around the massive shoulder ahead of her just as the owner of that shoulder turned to look out the door. Whack! He elbowed her right in the nose, knocking Danica’s head back.

  Her hand flew to her bloody nose. “Ow! Geez!” She ducked in pain, covering her face and talking through her hands. “I think you broke my nose.” Each word sent pain across her nose and below her eyes.

  “I’m so sorry. Let me get you a napkin,” a deep, worried voice said.

  Two patrons rushed over and shoved napkins in her direction.

  “Are you okay?” an older woman asked.

  Tears sprang from the corners of Danica’s closed eyes. Damn it. Her entire day would now run late and she probably looked like a red-nosed, crying idiot. “This hurts so bad. Weren’t you looking where—” Danica flipped her unruly, brown hair from her face and opened her eyes. Her venom-filled glare locked on the man who had elbowed her—the most beautiful specimen of a human being she had ever seen. Oh shit. “I’m…What…?” Come on, girl. Get it together. He’s probably an egomaniac.

  “I’m so sorry.” His voice was rich and smooth, laden with concern.

  A thin blonde grabbed his arm and shoved a napkin into his hand. “Give this to her,” she said, blinking her eyelashes in a come-hither way.

  The man held the woman’s hand a beat too long. “Thanks,” he said. His eyes trailed down the blonde’s blouse.

  Really? I’m bleeding over here.

  He turned toward Danica and handed her the napkin. His eyes were green and yellow, like field grass. His eyebrows drew together in a serious gaze, and Danica thought that maybe she’d been too quick to judge—until he stole a glance at the blonde as she walked out of the café.

  Asshole. She felt the heat of anger spread up her chest and neck, along her cheeks, to the ridge of her high cheekbones. She snagged the napkin from his hand and wiped her throbbing nose. “It’s okay. I’m fine,” she lied. She could smell the minty freshness of his breath, and she wondered what it might taste like. Danica was not one to swoon—that was Kaylie’s job. Get a grip.

  “Can I at least buy you a coffee?” He ran his hand through his thick, dark hair.

  Yes! “No, thank you. It’s okay.” She had been a therapist long enough to know what kind of guy eyes another girl while she was tending to a bloody nose that he had caused. Danica fumbled for her purse, which she’d dropped when she was hit. She lowered her eyes to avoid looking into his. “I’m fine, really. Just look behind you next time.” Not for the first time, Danica wished she had Kaylie’s flirting skills and her ability to look past his wandering eyes. She would have had him buying her coffee, a Danish, and breakfast the next morning.

  Danica was so confused, she wasn’t even sure what she wanted. She chanced another glance up at him. He was looking at her features so intently that she felt as though he were drinking her in, memorizing her. His eyes trailed slowly from hers, lowered to her nose, to her lips, and then settled on the beauty mark that she’d been self-conscious of her entire life. She felt like a Cindy Crawford wannabe. Danica pursed her lips. “Are you done?” she asked.

  He blinked with the innocence of a young boy, clueless to her annoyance, which was in stark contrast to his confident, manly presence. He stood almost a foot taller than Danica’s impressive five foot seven stature. His chest muscles bulged beneath his way-too-small shirt, dark curls poking through the neckline. He probably bought it that way on purpose. She glanced down and tried not to notice his muscular thighs straining against his stonewashed denim jeans. Danica swallowed hard. All the air suddenly left her lungs. He was touching her shoulder, squinting, evaluating her face.

  “I’m sorry. I was just making sure it didn’t look broken, which it doesn’t. I’m sure it’s painful.”

  She couldn’t think past the heat of his hand, the breadth of it engulfing her shoulder. “It’s okay,” she managed, hating herself for being lost in his touch when he was clearly someone who ate women for breakfast. She checked her watch. She had three minutes to get her coffee and get back to her office before her next client showed up. Belinda. She’d love this guy.

  The line progressed, and Adonis waved as he left the café. Danica reached into her purse to pay for her French vanilla coffee and found herself taking a last glance at him as he passed the front window.

  The young barista pushed Danica’s money away. “No need, hon. Blake paid for yours.” She smiled, lifting her eyebrows.

  “He did?” Blake.

  “Yeah, he’s really sweet.” The barista leaned over the cash register. “Even if he is a player.”

  Aha! I knew it. Danica thrust her shoulders back, feeling smart for resisting temptation.

  (End of Sneak Peek)

  Check online retailers for the Snow Sisters series

  SISTERS IN LOVE (Snow Sisters, Book One)

  More Books by Melissa

  Full LOVE IN BLOOM SERIES order

  Love in Bloom books may be read as stand alones. For more enjoyment, read them in series order. Characters from each series carry forward to the next.

  Purchase the Love in Bloom Series Guide, available in paperback and digital format. This guide includes a family tree, covers, summaries, character images, and pertinent character data, as well as places for readers to take notes for character and family growth.

  LOVE IN BLOOM SERIES GUIDE (Ebook, Paperback)

  SNOW SISTERS

  Sisters in Love

  Sisters in Bloom

  Sisters in White

  THE BRADENS (Weston, CO)

  Lovers at Heart

  Destined for Love

  Friendship on Fire

  Sea of Love

  Bursting with Love

  Hearts at Play

  THE BRADENS (Trusty, CO)

  Taken by Love

  Fated for Love

  Romancing my Love

  Flirting with Love

  Dreaming of Love

  Crashing into Love

  THE BRADENS (Peaceful Harbor, MD)

  (Coming Soon)

  Healed by Love

  Surrender My Love

  River of Love

  Crushing on Love

  Whisper of Love

  Thrill of Love

  BRADEN WORLD NOVELLAS

  Daring Her Love (1001 Dark Nights)

  (Coming Soon)

  Promise My Love

  THE REMINGTONS

  Game of Love

  Stroke of Love

  Flames of Love

  Slope of Love

  Read, Write, Love

  SEASIDE SUMME
RS

  Seaside Dreams

  Seaside Hearts

  Seaside Sunsets

  Seaside Secrets

  (Coming Soon)

  Seaside Nights

  Seaside Whispers

  Seaside Lovers

  Seaside Embrace

  THE RYDERS

  (Coming Soon)

  Seized by Love

  Chased by Love

  Claimed by Love

  Swept Into Love

  Rescued by Love

  WILD BOYS AFTER DARK

  (Coming Soon)

  Logan

  Heath

  Jackson

  Cooper

  BAD BOYS AFTER DARK

  (Coming Soon)

  Dylan

  Mick

  Carson

  Brett

  HARBORSIDE NIGHTS

  Includes characters from

  Love in Bloom series

  Catching Cassidy

  Discovering Delilah

  (Coming Soon)

  Tempting Tristan

  Chasing Charley

  Breaking Brandon

  Embracing Evan

  Reaching Rusty

  Loving Livi

  LOVE ON ROCKWELL ISLAND SERIES

  By Bella Andre & Melissa Foster

  (Coming Soon)

  Cape Cod Kisses

  Cape Cod Promises

  Cape Cod Dreams

  Cape Cod Serenades

  Cape Cod Wishes

  More Books by Melissa

  Chasing Amanda (mystery/suspense)

  Come Back to Me (mystery/suspense)

  Have No Shame (historical fiction/romance)

  Love, Lies & Mystery (3-book bundle)

  Megan’s Way (literary fiction)

  Traces of Kara (psychological thriller)

  Where Petals Fall (suspense)

  Other Compilations with Melissa

  Fall in Love: Twenty-two "First in Series" Romances

  Indie Chicks: 25 Women 25 Personal Stories

  Indiestructible: Inspiring Stories from the Publishing Jungle

  Skip to the Good Part 3: 20 Authors Reveal Their Steamiest Scenes

  Sweet Talk Boxed Set (Ten NEW Contemporary Romances by Bestselling Authors to Benefit Diabetes Research plus BONUS Novel)

  Watch for the complete

  Harborside Nights series

  Find the complete release schedule at

  www.MelissaFoster.com

  Acknowledgments

  I have been spending summers on Cape Cod since I was a toddler, and those of you who regularly read my work and have enjoyed the Love in Bloom series know that the Cape is truly my favorite place on earth. When I first started to develop the Harborside Nights series, I was going to set the series in Provincetown, Massachusetts, because it’s a very diverse community that I adore. I quickly realized that Harborside was quite different from Provincetown. Even though it’s an artsy community that is very diverse and accepting, the flavor of the town was very different from any town I had ever visited, and Harborside came to be a fictional world of its own.

  I want to share with you the feedback that I received before writing this series. I was warned not to write about gay and lesbian couples unless I wrote under a pen name. I was told it would upset my readership, and upsetting my readership is the last thing I want to do. However, hiding behind a pen name is sending a message I don’t believe in. I trust my readers, and because I have such faith in their love of love and their enjoyment of my storytelling abilities, I proudly wrote these stories under my own name. For readers who do not wish to read about same-sex relationships, those books have been clearly marked with “LGBT” on the retailer pages, and the covers reveal the nature of the relationships. I can assure that, as always, the stories are written with raw emotions and real issues.

  A hearty thank you to my good friend Greg Cassidy for taking the time to answer my questions about photography. As always, kudos goes to my editorial team: Kristen Weber and Penina Lopez, and my proofreaders: Jenna Bagnini, Juliette Hill, Marlene Engel, and Lynn Mullan, for bringing readers the cleanest read possible. I am indebted to Elizabeth Mackey for my amazing Harborside Nights covers. I can’t stop looking at them!

  Last but never least, thank you to my supportive husband and family, who make my writing possible.

  Melissa Foster is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling and award-winning author. Her books have been recommended by USA Today’s book blog, Hagerstown magazine, The Patriot, and several other print venues. She is the founder of the World Literary Café, and when she’s not writing, Melissa helps authors navigate the publishing industry through her author training programs on Fostering Success. Melissa also hosts Aspiring Authors contests for children and has painted and donated several murals to the Hospital for Sick Children in Washington, DC.

  Visit Melissa on her website or chat with her on social media. Melissa enjoys discussing her books with book clubs and reader groups and welcomes an invitation to your event.

  Melissa’s books are available through most online retailers in paperback and digital formats.