by Dana Mentink
“It was an extremely difficult contest to judge,” he said. “All of the locations were decorated with supreme skill and enthusiasm. There can only be one winner of the photo spread in Great Escapes magazine and the grand prize, however, and I’m pleased to announce....”
Rosa’s eyes were riveted to the screen. Something struck her as odd.
“The winner of the first annual Great Escapes contest is...”
On the wall behind the president were the photos of the magazine’s board members. The one that had been missing when Rosa and Bitsy went to withdraw from the contest was no longer missing.
“The Pine Crest Inn in Pillar Point, decorated by Amore Decor.”
There was a collective sigh from the room. Cy gave her hair a playful tug. “Oh, well. We gave them a run for their money.”
Rosa turned in slow motion, heedless of the conversation going on around her. “Aunt Bitsy, I smell a rat.”
“You do? Where’s Baggy? Maybe he needs a bath.”
Rosa poked at the screen. “There. The missing board member. See that photo right there, the one that was gone when we visited? That’s you, isn’t it?”
Bitsy flushed. “Well, er, as a matter of fact, well, yes. I made Wanda take my photo down before we visited. She must have put it back. Nice that they include the past board members, isn’t it?”
“Aunt Bitsy, explain yourself. What’s your connection to this contest?”
“I think I need to see to the punch bowl.” She tried to leave, but Rosa took her by the elbow.
“Oh, no you don’t. Let’s have it.”
She sighed. “I was a board member until last year when they proposed the contest. I retired at that time because the inn was such a big job, you see, and I was tired.”
“You’re stalling.”
“I thought, wouldn’t it be a great idea if your company entered the contest, so I pulled some strings.”
“What strings?”
She blushed. “I happen to know that Wanda borrowed some cash from the company funds a time or two to cover some debts. I sort of implied that if she didn’t find a way for Dollars and Sense to enter the contest, that information might sort of leak out.”
Cy stared. “You blackmailed her?”
“Encouraged. I encouraged her.”
“All this work to bring us here? Why? We would have come anyway, contest or not, and helped you out.” Bitsy’s comment from the beach flickered in Rosa’s mind.
I can’t believe it actually worked.
Pike’s eyes narrowed. “Hang on. The roof repairs. Just before Rosa came to work on the inn you pressed me to fix the roof. You said it was in dire need, and if I wasn’t able to come fix it, you would climb up the ladder yourself and do it. There were plenty of shingles missing in odd places. Almost as if...” He groaned. “Bitsy, you pulled up the shingles yourself, didn’t you?”
“Rocky did that for me, actually.”
Pike shook his head. “I can’t believe it.”
Bitsy’s cheeks were still flaming red. “I’m not sorry. I got together two people who were meant for each other, and I don’t regret any of it.”
Pike and Rosa exchanged glances. At the same time, they burst into laughter.
“And I thought my father was the sneaky one,” Pike said, between guffaws. “I can’t believe my sweet aunt tricked me so completely.”
“Me, neither,” Rosa said, giggling.
“I knew I was going to lose the inn soon, and it was my last chance to get two stubborn souls together. And it worked, didn’t it?” Bitsy demanded.
Pike gazed at Rosa, his eyes sparkling. “Yes, Aunt Bitsy. I believe it did.”
Bitsy let out a whoop and circled them in an embrace. “Let’s eat cake,” she cried as more Tumbledown residents arrived, crowding into the inn, oohing and aahing at the decor.
It was a grand party and Rosa did not feel the slightest sting about having lost the contest. What she had gained obliterated everything but happiness. When the cake was devoured and the guests settled in clusters to chat, Pike took Rosa’s hand and led her upstairs, past the attic, over the scarred threshold to the Captain’s Nest.
Without the illicit treasures, the room was itself again, a drab and dusty space neglected for decades. She and Pike stood at the window, gazing at the priceless view of the tumbling ocean. Pike wrestled open the small window and let in the distant roar of the sea.
“I was thinking,” he said, “that if business is slow for a while, maybe you can spend some time fixing up this room.”
“It’s a little out of the way for an office space,” she teased.
He pulled a plain gold band from his pocket. “True, but it would be a great room for us to share.”
She went goose bumpy, every nerve, every fiber flooded with a wild energy. “Pike...” she breathed.
He held the ring up to the light. “If you squint, you can see what it says inside.”
She took the ring with trembling fingers and read the inscription.
My heart, my home, my dream, my Rosa.
“Not bad for a lawyer, huh?”
Through the blur, she realized he was down on his knee.
“Rosa, will you marry me?”
She slipped the ring onto her finger and cupped his face between her palms. “Yes, Pike. I certainly will.”
He kissed her long and slow, erasing every pain, every disappointment in a sizzle of joy.
He broke away, drinking her in with his eyes. “I’m glad you said yes. Imagine what Mr. Herzberg would think if you turned me down right here in the Captain’s Nest?”
“I can’t imagine.”
He held her hand in his and Rosa let the sunlight dance off the slender band of gold. She could almost hear Mr. Herzberg’s delighted laughter mingling with the murmur of the surf, as the crooked weather vane clacked atop the roof of the Pelican Inn.
* * * * *
We hope you enjoyed this Harlequin Heartwarming title.
You’ve got to have heart…. Harlequin Heartwarming celebrates wholesome, heartfelt relationships imbued with the traditional values so important to you: home, family, community and love.
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ISBN-13: 9781460335543
RETURN TO PELICAN INN
Copyright © 2014 by Dana Mentink
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
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