“Oh.” A tiny tug of something like regret pulled at her heart. “That’s nice.” She didn’t want to talk about love. “So what did you want to talk to me about?”
Her father took a long breath then motioned for them to go across the street to the park where the Fourth of July celebrations had been held.
She followed.
After they crossed the street, they walked side-by-side.
It wasn’t that Janet was antsy. She wasn’t. But her father wasn’t one to want to take walks without having something he wanted to specifically talk about. “Daddy?”
He nodded. “The land sold this morning.”
“Oh.” Dread filled her. She’d known that he had a meeting at the title company to work out the details of the sale. It wasn’t a simple thing for her father to sell off a piece of Snow Property. Guilt tugged at her. “I’m sorry.”
He put a hand up. “No. Nope, nothing to be sorry about. I just…it got me thinking about what you asked awhile ago.”
“O-kay.” She had no idea what he would be talking about.
“About what if you moved.”
She shook her head. “Don’t think about that. It was just a random thought.”
He stopped walking.
She stopped. “What is all this about, Daddy?”
He smiled and gently took her hand. “Janet, I just have to tell you one thing.”
She waited.
“I hope you know that your mother and I support you moving on in your life.”
“I do know that.” She answered quickly.
“Hold on. I mean, even if that were to mean you had to leave this town at some point. If you decided that.”
“I’m not leaving.” She answered quickly.
“I know, but I think sometimes you try too hard to keep it together.”
“What do you mean?”
“After the cancer, I was so proud of the way you built this business, and you’re such a good mama to Lacy, but you’ve got to think of you, too.”
She shook her head. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“I mean, that I know you want to protect Lacy and me and your mama from ever worrying about you again...”
“Daddy?”
He sucked in a long breath and wiped his forehead. “I guess what I’m trying to say is that sometimes you need to take chances in your life to find greater happiness.”
She was confused. “Okay.”
He squeezed her hand. “Follow your heart when opportunities come your way.”
This left her more confused.
He motioned back to the store. “We have to get out to the springs, your mama wanted us to meet her out there to say one last goodbye.”
Chapter 25
Nothing made sense about the conversation she’d just had with her father. She stood next to her computer in her flower shop. First Kurt…now her father.
All of this let’s move on and look to the future talk only did one thing…make her think of what she’d just left behind with Michael.
Janet flipped back open her laptop. Her fingers flew over the keys as she checked all the available flights to L.A.
Let’s face it, the only thing Janet wanted in her future…was Michael. Excitement filled her as she booked a flight for the next day. She would show up on his doorstep and hope he could forgive her for being so stupid. She didn’t know how it would work between them, but after living the past few weeks without him…all she knew was she had been a stupid fool not to give it a chance. She quickly printed the confirmation and folded the paper and put it into her pocket for safekeeping.
Ten minutes later, Janet took the turn down the dirt road that led to the springs. Her father had taken off like a maniac after they’d gotten back to the store. Their conversation replayed in her mind. She knew her parents would support her decision. She was proud of herself.
The shadows grew longer, and Janet looked at the beautiful trees that were almost on the brink of changing colors. It was hard to explain how, right before fall, all the plants, flowers, even leaves were simply ripe as they waited to burst into the next phase. It was like they pushed forward all of their energy saying, ‘Look at me world. I am magnificent.’ She relished the comfort of the mountain and wished again that they could have kept the land.
Immediately, she pushed that out of her mind and thought about how grateful she was for parents being willing to sell their land to pay for their daughter’s medical bills.
Her heart tugged, and she thought of Lacy. She wished that Lacy was here to be with her and her parents while they said their goodbyes to the land.
Silly. It felt kind of silly being so dramatic about letting go of a piece of land, but there were so many good memories here. Without her conscious will, thoughts of Michael quickly rushed in. She missed him so much. A rush of butterflies went through her, she would see him tomorrow.
She got out of her car and couldn’t see any other cars. She only saw the tiki torches that led her over the little trail and down into the springs.
“Hello!” she shouted when she got there.
Then she noticed the tiki torches continued along the side of the creek that led up to the springs. “Hello?” She looked around, wondering if she should wait.
A note was stuck on the bottom part of one torch. It read: Go to the springs.
Frowning, Janet did as the note said, muttering, “Mother, really?” She hiked, and it didn’t worry her that much that no one was here yet. Maybe her mother had forgotten something and went to back to get it.
But she couldn’t have expected what came next.
“Mama!”
She turned and saw Lacy running up the path.
Joy and wonder filled her as she hugged Lacy. “How in the world?”
Lacy gave her a smug look and pulled back. “Daddy let him bring me early. You’re friend from high school.”
She didn’t know what to say.
Lacy grinned. “Mama, grandpa and Michael came and picked me up and brought me here and guess what?” She was doing a little dance on her tippy toes.
“What?”
Lacy turned completely around. “Look!”
There was no way for Janet to be prepared for what she saw next.
It was a tree house. A perfectly pink tree house was exactly where she’d said she wanted to build Lacy one.
Seeing it left her a little breathless, and her heart felt like it would pound out of her ribcage. She stared at the pink tree house that had large windows and a lantern glowing inside. Glancing from side to side, she slowly moved toward it, Lacy’s hand in hers.
Michael stood, leaning against the bottom of the tree next to one of the pink boards that would be used as a step. His hair looked longer than before. It hung lower, gently flitting into his eyes exactly like it had looked in high school. He wore black jeans and a white t-shirt that made his tan look amazing. Their eyes met. His were chocolate pools of happiness. “Hey.” He grinned and held out a familiar bouquet of red roses.
Every part of her trembled. She took a step forward, taking the roses, smelling his light musky cologne, and wondering how this was possible. She could barely speak. “Michael?”
He softly patted the pink piece of wood. “What do you think?”
“Wh—” She shook her head. “You built this?” She looked at the tree house again.
“I may have had some help, but I think it looks pretty good.”
Waves of butterflies fluttered in her stomach. “But…”
He pulled out an envelope and handed it to her. “Open it.”
Every part of her thrummed with energy. She opened the envelope and opened the official-looking letter. “This is the title to the land.”
He nodded. “It’s yours.”
Confusion, then understanding washed through her. “You bought the land.”
The middle of his brows creased, and he shook his head. “I bought the land for you.”
She stared up at him, taking in the misch
ievous glint in his eye.
“What?”
He pointed to the deed. “It’s titled in your name. This land belongs to you. It is back to being Snow property.”
Warmth rushed through her at hearing the truth in that. Tears filled her eyes. “But why?”
Michael took her hand. “Because, Janet Snow, I’m hoping that you’ll share the land with me.”
Nothing in this world could have taken her more by surprise. Every part of her thrummed with energy. “But I’m leaving tomorrow.”
He frowned. “Where are you going?”
She blinked. “I was going to fly to L.A. tomorrow and tell you that I was stupid and that I would go wherever we could be together.”
He jerked out a laugh and moisture filled his eyes. “Really?”
She nodded, holding in her own emotions. “But you’re here.”
He wiped his eyes. “Well, you see, there’s this girl I fell in love with ten years ago, and you know how first loves go.”
“Oh, who is she?” She grinned.
He laughed. “Well, I met up with her a few weeks ago, and I wanted to make a go of it, but there was a big problem.”
“What was that?”
“She didn’t trust me.”
This stopped her. “She was stupid.”
He took the roses and gently placed them on the ground. Then he took both of her hands in his. “I will never leave you again, I promise.”
A laugh bubbled out of her. “Are you sure?”
He nodded. “You see, when I was back in L.A., it was the strangest thing.”
“What was that?”
“Flowers didn’t even smell good.” He took a long whiff of her. “Ahh, but they smell so good on you.”
She frowned. “Maybe you had the wrong flowers?”
He took one of her hands and one of Lacy’s hands. “No, I had the right flowers, I just didn’t have the right woman.” He stared at her for another few seconds and then looked at Lacy.
She giggled and scooted into her mama’s side. “He said you used to kiss him a long time ago.”
Janet felt her cheeks flush. “He did now?”
Michael surprised her by getting onto his knee. “Janet…Lacy and I have done quite a bit of talking on the way down here”
“Really?”
He nodded.
Lacy smiled. “I like him, mommy, he knows a lot about you when you were in high school.
She scoffed. “Yes he does.”
Michael looked at Lacy. “Lacy, I want to ask your mommy to marry me.”
“What?” Lacy’s hands flew to her lips and she beamed a huge smile at Janet. Lacy whispered. “Do you want to, momma?”
Tears were already running down Janet’s cheeks. She looked around and saw her mother and father standing in the background. She saw Kevin and Molly over by the springs smiling at them. Kevin gave her a big thumb up. She laughed.
“Well, Janet, what do you say?” Michael’s voice was rough, filled with emotion.
She stared down at him and the ring he was extending.
“I have wished so many times that I’d asked you sooner, but I figure better late than never.”
A gush of tears was now flooding down her cheeks. She looked at Michael. She saw his vulnerability, his love, and the effort he’d gone through to be here, to build this tree house, and to bring her daughter with him. She didn’t know what to say.
He stood and took her in his arms. “Janet, let me love you. Let me be the man I wanted to be so long ago.”
“So you’re staying here?”
He nodded.
Tears rushed down her cheeks. “I’d just resigned myself to going.”
He took her hands. “Say you’ll marry me!”
She grinned. “I’ll marry you!”
“Who-hoo!” He picked up Lacy, who laughed and yelled with him. They all turned in a circle.
Suddenly, Michael’s dad came traipsing down the trail. A big grin on his face. “What did she say, son?”
Michael laughed. “She said she’d take me!”
He fist pumped the air. “Alright!”
More people followed behind Michael’s dad, carrying food and Janet saw the members of the Iron Stix hauling instruments and carrying a generator.
“What is this?”
Michael held she and Lacy next to him. “I took a chance and booked a party.”
Tablecloths were spread out on the ground, and the light from the tiki torches made it feel like some something magical had happened.
Janet held Michael’s hand, and they both watched Lacy climb up and down the ladder to the tree house. They watched their fathers point here and there, making plans for what the land could do.
Kevin and Molly talked to them about building houses close by each other so the kids could play.
When they’d said kids, Michael had whispered in her ear, “No kids, no worries.”
To which she’d whispered back, “I’m tired of doubting, Michael. I’m just going to trust. Trust…us.”
This made Michael pale for a second. “Really?”
Janet laughed and kissed him, a deep kiss, that made her brother let out a cat call.
The soft sound of country music flowed and her parents came over to hug them.
“We’re so excited for you!” Her mother grinned, enthusiastically.
Michael kissed her, again.
“Hey now.” His father said, “Just remember that I’ll be close enough to keep an eye on you two.”
Michael pulled away and winked at him. “You can watch, but I can almost guarantee that every time you’re around I’ll be kissing her. I have to make up for ten years.”
Her father laughed. “That’s good to hear.”
Janet put her hand lightly against his cheek. “My first love…and now my last.”
I hope you enjoyed First Love: Love First. If you would like to receive a book FREE, The Christmas Eve Kiss, ($3.99 value), sign up for my newsletter HERE. Another benefit of receiving my newsletter (which I send out about once a month) is that you will be notified of the 24 hour discounts on new releases that only newsletter subscribers receive.
Additional Works
By Taylor Hart
Sweet Romance Books
Young Adult Books
About the Author
Taylor Hart has always been drawn to a good love triangle, hot chocolate and long conversations with new friends. Writing has always been a passion that has consumed her dreams and forced her to sit in a trance for long hours, completely obsessed with people that don’t really exist. Taylor would have been a country star if she could have carried a tune—maybe in the next life. Find Taylor at:
www.taylorhartbooks.com │ Twitter: @taylorfaithhart │ Facebook: Taylor Hart
Romancing Rebecca
Kimberley Montpetit
Chapter 1
“Being someone’s first love may be great, but to be their last is beyond perfect”
— Unknown
Rebecca Dash usually relished the peaceful lighting and surroundings of Starry Skies Bed & Breakfast, especially the company of Aunt Rayna, her dad’s younger, and much hipper sister, whom she adored. But tonight Becca was anything but peaceful. Her stomach churned. She hoped she didn’t throw up.
The room seemed to spin, turning the mauve into crazy purples and the gold trim and wallpaper into bursts of fire as she squinted at her scribbled, handwritten pages. This was worse than her senior project presentation before a room full of higher-than-average IQ professors who gazed at her with pursed lips while scribbling notes as she attempted to answer their fired-off questions.
The parlor of the Starry Skies Bed & Breakfast lay under a canopy of crown molding. Chandeliers set into exquisite ceiling medallions were reminiscent of the best Victorian mansions of Great Britain.
Because this was Snow Valley, Montana, her aunt, Rayna Dash, had created a mix of rustic and elegant. But Rebecca considered her aunt the greatest contrast with her lon
g black hair streaked with purple locks and a bohemian skirt swishing about her ankles.
Aunt Rayna was a barefoot kind of gal. Thirty-nine, never married—unless you counted the boy she eloped with when she was seventeen at a Las Vegas Wedding Chapel—before her father tracked her down and dragged her back home—and immediately annulled the twenty-four hour “marriage.” It was the biggest scandal in Snow Valley for the next ten years. But the folks of Snow Valley were forgiving and a few secretly admired her for her guts and impetuous love of Jimmy Baker—who’d gone on to become a sidewalk artist in Florida, of all things.
The Starry Skies Bed & Breakfast was Rayna’s dream house rolled into her love for cooking and feeding people, especially Rebecca who’d spent summers here since she was fourteen after decisively clashing with Rayna’s sister-in-law, Rebecca’s well-meaning mother, who didn’t know how to raise a moody teenage girl.
Rebecca loved the rich mauves and gold brocade of Starry Skies. Couches and chairs arranged intimately before the hearth fire. The hanging lamps, plush rugs, and lace curtains at the windows were elegant and yet cozy. Guests instantly felt at ease and often spent much of their time right here in the main parlor room reading, visiting, or enjoying their tea.
Except this very moment. The concept of ease had fled.
With sweating fingers, Rebecca gripped the pages in her trembling fingers. “Okay,” she said for the fifth time. “I’m so nervous. I’ve never shared this with anybody before.”
“Don’t be nervous, Becca,” Aunt Rayna assured her, fluffing one of her purple streaks. “I love you more than any words you wrote on those pages.”
“But they’re my thoughts—out of my own brain—and I’m afraid you’ll laugh.”
“Just read, sweetie. Before our tea gets cold.”
Becca smoothed a clammy palm against her jeans. “Okay. Here I go.” She glanced up to see her aunt’s eyes bright with anticipation, a smile on her face, albeit a little wooden with holding the smile for so long. “Okay, I’m starting. For real this time. I’m going . . . I’m reading . . . now . . .” She gave a little screech and then forced the words past her throat.
Summer in Snow Valley (Snow Valley Romance Anthologies Book 2) Page 44
