“That sounds very deep and meaningful.”
Ethan hoped so. “I won’t be a moment. I’ll just open your door.”
Diana sat with her hands in her lap. “I won’t move.”
He looked across the wide grass verge at the tree they’d decorated in fairy lights. It was incredible. If this were Los Angeles or New York City, he might have expected the lights to have disappeared but, by some miracle, no one had stolen them.
That must be a good omen for what came next. He opened the passenger door and sighed. Since he’d met Diana, his life had become complicated, happy, terrifying, and humbling. But most of all, it was filled with love.
By the time they’d walked across to the tree, a few people had stopped to see what they were doing. “Are you ready to take off the blindfold?”
“More than ready.” Lifting her hands to her head, she wiggled the scarf down to her neck. “We’re in Polson?”
He nodded. This part of Flathead Lake was just as spectacular as Sapphire Bay. But instead of the long narrow jetty accommodating recreational fishermen and small boats, this jetty was built for the steamboats that had once reigned over the lake. Steamboats like the one in front of them.
Diana looked above their heads and smiled. “The tree is so lovely. We should do something like that in Sapphire Bay.”
“Theo and I decorated it this afternoon.”
“Really? I thought someone from Polson must have done it. It looks pretty with the steamboat covered in lights, too.”
Ethan took a photograph out of his pocket. “This is a picture of your great-grandparents and your grandma. This steamboat isn’t as grand as the one in the photo, but it reminded me of it.”
Diana frowned as she held the photo in front of her. “It looks as though we’re standing exactly where the photographer would have stood.” She pointed to the jetty; to the old wooden shed that had been restored from the golden days of steam travel. “My family would have been standing over there.”
“That’s what I thought, too.”
“You decorated the tree because of my great-grandparents?”
“I decorated the tree for us.”
“That’s so lovely. Have I told you how romantic you are?” Diana’s eyes gleamed. “Are we going on an evening steamboat cruise?”
“I’m hoping we’ll do more than that.” Taking a deep breath, he held her hands. “Over one hundred years ago, your great-grandparents made this area of Montana their home. I want to be part of that history, part of a story we can tell our grandchildren when they ask us about their family.”
“Our grandchildren?”
Ethan frowned. “We talked about our families and children. I’m assuming you’d like to have children of your own one day?”
An impish grin appeared on her face. “That’s in my five-year plan.”
That threw him. “You have a plan?”
“Barbara helped me. It’s on one of her super-efficient spreadsheets.”
“Does it say anything else I should know?”
She took a step closer and brushed her lips against his jaw. “You should probably know everything on it. If you’re feeling a little worried, I’m open to negotiation.”
His stomach clenched as Diana’s lips wandered some more. “That’s good to know.”
“Do you want to know something else?”
Ethan cleared his throat. He needed to keep focused, stick to the plan. Except the plan was being nibbled to death by Diana’s lips.
Reluctantly, he moved out of the danger zone. “I need to ask you something first.”
“Is it about the dresser?”
Ethan frowned. “No, it’s not about that. It’s about us. I’m nearly forty years old. I know we haven’t known each other for long, but I don’t want to wait another year before asking you to marry me.”
Diana’s eyes widened. “Marry?” she whispered.
Sweat trickled down his spine. He wasn’t sticking to the plan. Before Diana realized what a nervous wreck he was, he kneeled on the ground. “Diana Terry, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”
“Are you serious?”
That wasn’t the reaction he was expecting. Pulling himself to his feet, he tried to remember what his contingency plan was. Unfortunately, he didn’t have one. “I’m completely serious. We don’t have to get married right away. We could leave it for a couple of years.”
Diana was still looking at him as if he’d suddenly turned green and sprouted a third eye. “It’s just…I never thought…when did you decide you wanted to marry me?”
“About two minutes after I saw you at the opening of the inn.”
“For real?”
“For completely, utterly, one hundred percent real. Will you marry me?”
Diana lifted her hands to either side of his face. “There’s nothing I’d like more. I love you, Ethan.”
“I love you, too.”
“Give her a kiss,” yelled a voice from onboard the steamboat.
“Dad?” Diana turned and stared at the white rail wrapping around the boat. “Is that my family?”
“It is. And the people you don’t recognize are my family. We’re all going on an evening dinner cruise of the lake.”
“How did everyone get here? Penny, Barbara, and Katie—”
“Rushed here with Wyatt. The rest of our families came separately.” Ethan smiled at the boat. “The lady waving like a madwoman is my mom. She wanted me to tell you she knits beautiful baby jackets and booties.”
“That sounds like something my mom would say.”
“Having two super-involved moms in our family will be a challenge.”
“At least it’s better than my sisters.”
Ethan wrapped his arms around her waist and held her tight. “The only person I care about is you.” A deep-bellied woof came from the boat. “And Charlie.”
Diana smiled. “That sounds perfect.”
And with a kiss that would give their families a lot to think about, they celebrated the beginning of their own special story.
* * *
THE END
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* * *
To discover what happens to the Terry sisters, keep reading to enjoy an excerpt from A Lakeside Thanksgiving, the third book in the Return to Sapphire Bay series!
A Lakeside Thanksgiving
Return to Sapphire Bay, Book 3
* * *
Fans of Robyn Carr’s Virgin River series will love this small town, feel-good romance!
* * *
Barbara Terry is enjoying working with her sisters at the Lakeside Inn more than she thought she would. But with almost no winter reservations, they need to do something to increase their revenue to meet their loan payments.
* * *
Putting her marketing and social media skills to good use, she creates a plan that will give them the business they need—as long as Theo Olson doesn’t pull the plug on her best idea.
* * *
Theo is an award-winning journalist whose reputation has been shredded to a pulp. Starting a community radio station is giving him something positive to focus on while he comes to terms with what happened in New York City. All he wants is peace and quiet, but Barbara and her family have a reputation for creating havoc wherever they go.
* * *
When the mystery surrounding his arrival in Sapphire Bay is revealed, Theo has to make the most important decision of his life. Will he trust the information Barbara has given him or risk losing her love forever.
* * *
A LAKESIDE THANKSGIVING is the third book in a new series that wi
ll follow the Terry sisters as they return to a community with big hearts and warm smiles. Romance, adventure, and intrigue are waiting for you in Sapphire Bay!
A Lakeside Thanksgiving
Return to Sapphire Bay, Book 3
Pre-Order Your Copy Today!
Chapter 1
“Sorry I’m late,” Barbara said as she hurried into the kitchen at The Lakeside Inn. “I had to make a last-minute phone call to one of my clients.”
Her three sisters looked at her and smiled.
“That’s okay,” Katie said. “We haven’t started the meeting.”
Each Monday night, Barbara and her sisters meet to discuss what was happening at the inn over the following week.
After inheriting their grandparents’ two-story home overlooking Flathead Lake, they’d remodeled the rooms and started a boutique bed and breakfast business. The catch to the inheritance was that Barbara and her sisters had to live in Sapphire Bay for twelve months. Otherwise, the beautiful home would be given to the church.
Barbara handed each of her sisters a spreadsheet and a summary of their future bookings. “How’s everyone feeling after the weekend?”
Diana grinned. “I feel amazing.”
Penny laughed. “That’s because Ethan asked you to marry him.”
“Talk about romantic,” Katie, their youngest sister, said. “Asking you to marry him under a tree decorated in fairy lights was one thing. Hiring an entire steamboat to celebrate your engagement with our family and his was unbelievable.”
“What can I say, except he’s an incredible man.”
Barbara sighed. “I still can’t believe you and Penny are engaged.”
Penny rubbed Barbara’s arm. “Don’t worry. There’s someone special waiting for you, too.”
“No thanks. I’m happy the way I am.”
Katie lifted her coffee mug toward Barbara. “I’ll second that. There’s too much happening in our lives at the moment.”
“And talking about what’s happening in our lives,” Barbara said. “We need to do some serious planning for the future. I prepared a spreadsheet breaking down the next six months of room reservations. We’re okay for now, but we’ll need to do some marketing.”
Diana studied the sheets. “There’s a sharp decline in reservations around November. We should let people know what they can do in Sapphire Bay during the winter months.”
“Things that don’t involve skiing or snowboarding,” Katie added. “Not everyone wants to spend the day on the mountains.”
Barbara nodded. “That’s true.” She handed each of her sisters another piece of paper. “This is a printout of all the events and activities we know about until next April. Does anyone want to volunteer to make sure we’ve captured everything that’s happening in Sapphire Bay?”
“I will,” Diana said. “Everyone else is juggling their other jobs with the inn. It’s the least I can do.”
Penny looked at her sister. “If you need someone to give you a hand, just ask.”
“Thanks. I will. What about the letter Abraham Lincoln wrote? When the Smithsonian tells everyone about it in their press release, we could be swamped with bookings.”
Barbara still couldn’t believe they’d found a letter a former President of the United States of America had written. And it wasn’t just any old letter. It was addressed to his son, telling him about the next speech he was giving. The Gettysburg Address had become one of the most well-known speeches of his presidency, and Barbara and her family had the last draft ever written.
“We can’t rely on that,” Katie said. “The Smithsonian might not be ready to share the news for a long time.”
Diana nodded. “I agree, but we can’t afford to spend a lot on advertising. Even with combining our money, we still have a bank loan to repay.”
Barbara understood her sister’s hesitation. “I’ll make sure any options I come up with don’t cost a fortune.”
“That would be great.” Diana read the next item on the agenda. “Are we ready to talk about Thanksgiving? Do we take bookings over that weekend or keep the inn to ourselves?”
“This might make a difference to everyone’s answer.” Penny opened a folder and handed each of her sisters an envelope.
Katie ripped open the flap and pulled out the card. “You’re getting married at Thanksgiving? That’s fantastic.”
Barbara’s eyes widened. “That’s only nine weeks away. Are you crazy?”
“Hopefully not.” Penny grinned at her sisters. “Wyatt and I didn’t want a long engagement. Thanksgiving weekend seems like the perfect time to begin our new life together.”
“People have to book their weddings two years in advance to get what they want.” Barbara found the spreadsheet they’d started for planning Penny’s wedding. Horrifyingly, there were only two ticks beside the long list of things they needed to do. “Look at this,” she said as she turned the laptop around. “The only things you’ve done is look for a wedding dress and ask Pastor John if he’ll be the celebrant.” She looked around the table at her sisters. No one seemed to register the enormity of only having nine weeks to prepare for a wedding. “You didn’t even buy the wedding dress you liked.”
Penny shrugged. “I didn’t buy it because it was too small. Don’t worry. Everything will be all right.”
“I’ve heard that before.” Barbara sighed. “And we all ended up working here for twelve months.”
“It’s not as bad as you think.” Diana peered at the spreadsheet on Barbara’s laptop. “I’m not much of a spreadsheet person, but I can follow a list. All we have to do is start at the top and work our way down. Between the four of us, we’ll have the wedding planned in next to no time.”
Barbara hoped so. But between the work they needed to do to keep the inn functioning, and their other work commitments, there wasn’t much time to plan a wedding.
“Don’t look so worried,” Katie said. “Diana knows what she’s doing.”
Barbara knew she did, but that didn’t reduce the workload. They had a lot of things to do and not much time to do it.
Theo pushed his laptop away—as if not seeing how bad his finances were would somehow make them less disastrous.
He’d moved to Sapphire Bay intending to start his life again. But telling himself he needed a fresh start was a lot easier than doing it. Especially when he was relying on his savings to pay his bills.
“You look like you could do with a coffee.” His friend, Ethan, stood beside him in The Welcome Center’s dining room. “I’m on my way to the kitchen. Would you like a hot drink?”
Theo held up his water bottle. “No, thanks. I’m in training mode for the half-marathon.”
Ethan smiled. “So am I, but I still need one cup of coffee a day. I’ll be back soon.”
While he waited for Ethan, Theo looked through the large windows overlooking the tiny home village. Twelve months ago, construction of the village was only just starting. Pastor John’s dream of building twenty-five tiny homes for people who couldn’t find accommodation was on the brink of collapsing. But after receiving funding from the county, and generous support from the community, the first houses were built.
“The students in the hospitality class made fresh lemonade. I brought you a glass.”
Theo closed the lid of his laptop and slid it into its case. “Thanks.”
His friend lifted his cup of coffee to his nose and breathed in deeply. “I don’t know what’s better. The anticipation of drinking the coffee or actually sipping it.”
“Why choose?” Theo said with a smile. “Did you go for a run this afternoon?”
“I had too many appointments at the clinic. What about you?”
“Not yet.”
Ethan frowned. “You haven’t missed a training run in two months.”
“I have a lot on my mind.”
“It wouldn’t have anything to do with your small business grant being declined, would it?”
Theo raised his eyebrows. That was the t
rouble with small towns—everyone knew what was happening in each other’s lives. “How did you know?”
“I just had a meeting with Pastor John about the PTSD clinic. He showed me the list of businesses who were successful. The radio station wasn’t one of them.”
“I don’t know what I did wrong. The station ticks all the areas they’re targeting, but I was still unsuccessful.”
“Isn’t there another funding round next month? You should reapply.”
“I don’t know if it would be worth it.”
Ethan tilted his head to the side. “That doesn’t sound like you. Why don’t you hire someone who can find private funders or grants that might help?”
“I don’t have enough money to hire a marketing guru.”
“You might not need a lot of money.”
Theo frowned. “We live on the edge of Flathead Lake in rural Montana. No one who lives here will be able to help.”
Leaning forward, Ethan smiled. “I talked to Diana last night. Her sisters are looking at creative ways of marketing The Lakeside Inn. And guess who’s putting together a proposal for them to review?”
“I have no idea.”
“Barbara, Diana’s sister.”
“Does she know about funding proposals and grant applications?”
Ethan sat back in his chair. “As well as helping around the inn, she works for a big shot marketing company based in San Diego. If it weren’t for the clause in her grandmother’s will, she wouldn’t be here.”
Theo knew about the clause, but he wasn’t sure Barbara was the right person to help him. “She’s juggling two jobs. I can’t see her being able to help me.”
“Please yourself, but she knows what she’s talking about.”
Theo had met Barbara a few times. She seemed highly organized and the type of person who didn’t waste time. But asking her to help him fund the radio station wasn’t a good idea.
Summer At Lakeside Page 20
