by Mary Campisi
Elissa couldn’t let Pete take all the blame; she should have been honest with him. “It’s not all his fault.”
“I’m sure it’s not. It takes two to tango, my dear, and I’ll be the first to tell you I’ve known my share of relationship messes.” She took a healthy sip of wine, dabbed her lips. “And because of my vast experience in this unfortunate area, I can always tell when somebody’s in a fix and hurting.” Her blue eyes sparkled and a smile crept over her lips. “Pete’s definitely in a fix and hurting. You want to know how I know?” The smile spread. “Women are practically throwing their panties at him to get his attention. And Dolly told me about the phone calls to the house, the notes, the cakes, and pies. Goodness, she said there were some risqué photos, too. Can you imagine?”
Elissa clutched her wine glass, nodded. Any female with a heartbeat would be attracted to the man. “What did he do?” She didn’t really want to know, but the not knowing would be worse.
“Do?” Mimi sat back and laughed. “He didn’t do anything. Dolly said he gave the goodies to his father who took them to the shop and he tossed the letters in the trash—” she paused, tilted her head to the side “—unopened. Yes, he sure did. Dolly only knew about the photos because she thought they were recipe cards and opened them herself.” Tsk-tsk. “Said they near gave her a heart attack.”
“So, what’s he been doing?”
“Well, he’s been busy, that’s for sure. He’s helping one of his cousins renovate a house and he’s remodeling his aunt’s bathroom. She’s something else. Edith Finnegan’s her name. The woman is one strange canary, but she’s always had a soft spot for Pete. Dolly told me she up and gave him the deeds to a big stretch of land, just because. Imagine that?” She shook her head and the dangle ball earrings bounced against her neck. “But Pete, being the honest soul he is, thought it only fair to give his siblings a tract of land. I don’t think he chopped it five ways, for the number of kids in the family, but he deserves credit for gifting them anything.”
“He plans to stay in Magdalena?” He’d told her he had a lot to figure out and wasn’t sure where he’d end up. Sounded like he’d decided on small-town life in his hometown. She could picture him in this place. Hadn’t he told her how much he enjoyed improving existing structures, rather than ordering them torn down?
“I’d say he’s staying.” She slid a look at Elissa, said in a soft voice, “But there are other factors to consider.” Mimi shrugged and turned back to her meal. “Guess time will tell, won’t it, dear?”
That last comment signaled the end of the conversation about Pete Finnegan and his plans. Mimi changed the subject to gardening, perennial flowers, and The Bleeding Hearts Society, a group of residents interested in beautifying the town and spreading goodwill through flowers and acts of kindness. Apparently, Mimi was part of this group and invited Elissa to attend the next meeting as her guest—if she were still in town.
“We do more than plant flowers and weed beds.” She winked and added, “Lots more. Now why don’t you head to the sitting room and relax while I clean up the kitchen. Then I’ll fix coffee and peach cobbler. The cobbler recipe comes from one of the best bakers in the area. Her name’s Ramona and she’s on a Mediterranean cruise with her husband. Just got married this past Christmas.” Her voice turned soft. “Talk about love taking a long time to find its way. Now go on ahead and check out the reading material in there.”
“Are you sure I can’t help you clean up the kitchen? It’ll be much easier with two people.”
“No, no. I can clean it up in a jiff.”
“All right, but let me know if you change your mind.” Elissa made her way to the sitting room, spotted a photo album on the coffee table labeled Heart Sent Memories. She flipped open the first page, studied the attractive couple smiling at one another, so clearly in love. Ben and Gina Reed. The next page revealed another couple, equally attractive, equally engrossed in one another. Roman and Angie Ventori. More pages, more this-is-what-love-looks-like couples. Michael and Elise Androvich, Bree Kinkaid and Adam Brandon. On and on the pages went, a visual testimony to love and happily-ever-after. What about Bree and Adam? They were the only couple who didn’t appear to be married. Were they engaged? She’d have to ask Mimi about their story…
“Elissa?”
Pete Finnegan’s voice burst through her thoughts, captured her heart. He stood in the entrance of the sitting room, tanned and rugged, wearing a white button-down shirt and jeans, a bouquet of red roses in his arms—more handsome than she remembered. “Pete? What are you doing here?”
He moved toward her, his expression serious, mouth set in a hard line. “Mimi called and told me you were here.”
That voice made her stomach do flip-flops. “Mimi?” She glanced toward the back of the house where the proprietor was supposedly tidying up and preparing coffee and peach cobbler. Sounded like she’d taken a detour to make a phone call. “Why would Mimi call you?”
He shrugged, his gaze intense. “Guess she’s trying to play matchmaker. I told you this town butts into everybody’s business, didn’t I?”
Pete had told her a lot of things, some she’d rather forget. “You did mention that. Several times.”
“Yeah, sometimes I don’t know when to shut up.” A dull red washed out the tan in his cheeks, spread to his neck. “I’m going to have to work on that.” He cleared his throat, handed her the bouquet of roses. “These are for you. I remember you said red roses were your favorite.”
They’d been talking about flowers at the cabin one night and he’d said his aunt grew roses and treated them like her children. “You didn’t pick these from your aunt’s garden, did you?”
That made him laugh. “I know better than to fool with Aunt Edith’s roses. She’d come after me with a shovel if I even thought about it.”
“Thank you.” Elissa closed her eyes and breathed in their scent. “They’re beautiful.”
“Yes, they are,” he said, his voice husky. “I’ve got a lot of apologizing to do. I…was hurt and angry. I’m sorry I acted like a jerk, and I’m sorry I took off like I did.” He dragged a hand through his hair. “I should have stayed and talked it through, but I’m not used to caring enough to do that. Usually, the explosion comes from the other party and I use it as an excuse to duck out.” He sat next to her, clasped her hand, his voice dipping so low she had to lean toward him to hear. “But you were different.”
“You aren’t the only one with regrets. I should have told you about the notebook and the letters. That’s another one of the reasons I came here. I want to apologize to the people I might have hurt.” She paused, took a deep breath. “Nate and Christine Desantro, Harry Blacksworth, the MacGregors. Your father.”
“I think it’s best to let it alone. People don’t like their secrets tossed back at them, even if it’s in the form of an apology. As for my dad, Nate knows.”
Elissa blinked hard, fought back tears. “I wish I’d never sent that letter.”
“Dad went to see him right after I called. He said the conversation was long overdue. I’m not sure what happened with the letter, but it didn’t matter after that.”
“Good.” There was so much she wanted to tell him, but a sudden shyness overtook her. They weren’t in some hideaway miles from people they knew, pretending nothing existed outside of the cabin walls. A whole town surrounded them with people who’d known Pete Finnegan since he was a boy and others who still cursed Gloria Blacksworth for what she’d tried to do to their friends and family.
“Hey.” Pete touched her shoulder. “Why so quiet? What’s wrong?”
“Back in the cabin? I wasn’t pretending with you, Pete. What I felt was real.”
“I know. Me, too.”
“But real is scary, and messy.”
His lips twitched. “So I’ve heard.”
“You don’t even know my last name.”
“Cerdi. Elissa Marie Cerdi.”
“Who told you?” She narrowed her gaze on him
. “You cheated back at the cabin, didn’t you? You looked in my wallet.” They’d made a pact to use first names and to not go hunting for last names.
“I didn’t.” He shrugged and said, “I heard it around town. Nate and Christine Desantro mentioned it, and so did Pop Benito.”
“Pop Benito?”
“He’s the guy they call the Godfather of Magdalena. Big on wisdom, helps people out of their messes.” He smiled, added, “The usual stuff.” The smile faded. “I didn’t care about your last name when we were at the cabin, and I still don’t. We knew the important things about each other, and that’s all that mattered. But if you want a cheat sheet, I’ll be happy to fill one out.”
“Are you teasing me?”
The intensity in his gaze burned her. “I’ve never been more serious. I’ll tell you anything you want to know. All you have to do is ask.”
The sweetness in those words made her heart swell, her soul ache. She trailed a hand along his jaw, leaned close, and kissed him. Soft, hesitant. With reverence and love.
“Elissa,” he murmured, his hands sliding down her back, pulling her closer.
Oh, but she had missed him. His touch, his voice, his mouth… She put the flowers aside, flung her arms around his neck, deepened the kiss. When she moaned, he pulled back, eyes glittering with need.
“I want you,” he said, his voice hoarse. “All of you. Always.” Pause. “I love you, Elissa Cerdi.”
She stroked his cheek, his chin. “I fell in love with you somewhere between our conversations and your cooking.”
He laughed. “Marry me. Let’s grow old together.”
“Yes,” she whispered. “Yes.”
He trailed his lips along her neck, her throat, settled a hand on the top button of her shirt. “I think you should show me your room. You know, I’m from this town, but I’ve never made it upstairs.”
She laughed. “Tonight, you will.”
“I like the sound of that.” His tongue traced a circle behind her ear, made her moan.
“What about Mimi? I think she’s fixing coffee and dessert. She’s been so nice to me, I’d hate to disappoint her.”
Pete eased his hand up her thigh. “I think Mimi already knows what you’re having for dessert. In fact, my guess is she planned it.”
Elissa pulled back, looked at him. “You mean there’s no peach cobbler?”
“There might be.” His lips twitched. “And if there is, it’ll probably be waiting for us later.”
“Later?” she squeaked, not sure she liked having a senior citizen know she planned to take a man to her room, or what she planned to do with him there.
He shrugged, kissed her mouth. “Like I said, this is a town of busybodies, but they mean well. Can you picture yourself living here?” He stumbled over the next words. “Raising a family here?”
She blinked hard to keep the tears from falling, but it was no use. “Absolutely,” she whispered. “As long as we’re together, that’s home.”
“I like the sound of that.” He swiped at a tear with his finger. “I don’t have a lot of money right now, but I’ve got some land and a few ideas.”
“We have each other, Pete. We’re already rich.” Elissa held his gaze. “Besides, Mrs. Blacksworth left me some money. What better way to use it than to put down roots in Magdalena?”
“From what I’ve heard about that woman, she wouldn’t like that.”
“Exactly, but she doesn’t control me anymore.” The words freed her, made her realize the truth in them. “We can do whatever we want and I want to invest in us. Right here.” She kissed him, worked up a smile. “I have an early birthday present for you.”
“You do? My birthday’s not for another ten months.”
“Then it’s a really early present.” She clasped his hand between hers, kissed his fingers. “I bought the cabin. I couldn’t imagine anyone in it but us. It’ll be perfect for weekend trips, and teaching kids about the woods and walking trails…”
Pete pulled her to him, held her tight. “I love it. And I love you.”
“I love you, too.” Pause. “I have another gift for you, too.”
“Better than the cabin?”
“Hmm. Maybe.” She eased out of his embrace, clasped his face between her hands, kissed him softly on the mouth. “This one’s upstairs. Invitation only.” One more kiss, and a whisper, “And you’re invited.”
The End
Many thanks for choosing to spend your time reading A Family Affair: The Cabin. I’m truly grateful. If you enjoyed it, please consider writing a review on the site where you purchased it. (Short ones are equally welcome.) And now, I must head back to Magdalena and help these characters get in and out of trouble! If you’d like to be notified of my new releases, please sign up at my website: http://www.marycampisi.com.
Copyright 2017 by Mary Campisi
A Family Affair: The Cabin is a work of fiction. Names, characters, and situations are all products of the author’s imagination and any resemblance to real persons, locales, or events are purely coincidental. This e-book is copyright protected. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
ISBN: 978-1-942158-30-1
ISBN: 978-1-942158-30-1
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About the Author
Mary Campisi writes emotion-packed books about second chances. Whether contemporary romances, women’s fiction, or Regency historicals, her books all center on belief in the beauty of that second chance. Her small-town romances center around family life, friendship, and forgiveness as they explore the issues of today’s contemporary women.
Mary should have known she'd become a writer when at age thirteen she began changing the ending to all the books she read. It took several years and a number of jobs, including registered nurse, receptionist in a swanky hair salon, accounts payable clerk, and practice manager in an OB/GYN office, for her to rediscover writing. Enter a mouse-less computer, a floppy disk, and a dream large enough to fill a zip drive. The rest of the story lives on in every book she writes.
When she's not working on her craft or following the lives of five adult children, Mary's digging in the dirt with her flowers and herbs, cooking, reading, walking her rescue lab mix, Cooper, or, on the perfect day, riding off into the sunset with her very own hero/husband on his Harley Ultra Limited.
If you would like to be notified when Mary has a new release, please sign up at http://www.marycampisi.com/book/book-release-mailing-list/
Mary has published with Kensington, Carina Press, and The Wild Rose Press and she is currently working on the next book in her very popular Truth in Lies series, the A Family Affair books. This family saga is filled with heartache, betrayal, forgiveness, and redemption in a small-town setting.
To learn more about Mary and her books…
@MaryCampisi
marycampisibooks
https://www.marycampisi.com
[email protected]
Other Books by Mary Campisi
Contemporary Romance:
Truth in Lies Series
Book One: A Family Affair
Book Two: A Family Affair: Spring
Book Three: A Family Affair: Summer
Book Four: A Family Affair: Fall
Book Five: A Family Affair: Christmas
Book Six: A Family Affair: Winter
Book Seven: A Family Affair: The Promise
Book Eight: A Family Affair: The Secret
Book Nine: A Family Affair: The Wish
Book Ten: A Family Affair: The Gift
Book Eleven: A Family Affair: The Weddings, a novella
Book Twelve: A Family Affair: The Cabin, a novella
Book Thirteen: A Family Affair: The Return
That Second Chance Series
Book One: Pulling Home
Book Two: The Way They Were
Book Three: Simple Riches
Book Four: Paradise Found
Book Five: Not Your Everyday Housewife
Book Six: The Butterfly Garden
That Second Chance Boxed Set 1-3
That Second Chance Boxed Set 4-6
That Second Chance Complete Boxed Set 1-6
The Betrayed Trilogy
Book One: Pieces of You
Book Two: Secrets of You
Book Three: What’s Left of Her: a novella
The Betrayed Trilogy Boxed Set
Begin Again
The Sweetest Deal
Regency Historical:
An Unlikely Husband Series
Book One - The Seduction of Sophie Seacrest
Book Two - A Taste of Seduction
Book Three - A Touch of Seduction, a novella
Book Four - A Scent of Seduction
An Unlikely Husband Boxed Set
The Model Wife Series
Book One: The Redemption of Madeline Munrove
Young Adult:
Pretending Normal
