It felt strange for him to be here at his childhood home again, but not unpleasant. Memories crowded him. A few were ugly but he pushed them away, focusing instead on the good. Playing football with friends on the lawn, diving off the long dock into icy cold water, helping his mother cut flowers from the gardens to set around the house.
Lydia was there now, actually, part of the decorating crew that consisted of Aidan’s sister-in-law, Genevieve—most definitely in charge—Aidan’s sister, Charlotte, and a few other women he didn’t know. He had been a little surprised to see his mother there that morning, but he knew she and McKenzie had met several times over the past month for lunch and shopping and had become quite close. Apparently he wasn’t the only one whose help McKenzie had enlisted.
A month ago, it might have bothered him that Lydia and McKenzie hit it off so well, given his own tangled relationship with his mother. Now it only seemed right, somehow, that the woman he loved and his mother could be friends. McKenzie had been starved for maternal-type affection after her own mother died, growing up with her father and a polite but distant stepmother, while Lydia had so much love to give and only him to shower it upon.
His own relationship with his mother seemed to have undergone a fundamental shift in the past month as well, more easy and relaxed all the way around. McKenzie’s influence helped, he knew. She was so warm and happy, it was difficult for any tension to linger around her.
He couldn’t say he was completely comfortable around Doc Warrick yet, but they were both working on it.
“I’m being careful,” Maddie assured him as they neared the arbor.
“You’re doing great,” he assured her.
“Hi, Kenz,” she called out. “I’m helping you and Ben.”
McKenzie glanced down from her perch on a stepladder, where she was attaching a lush, colorful flower garland to the arbor that perfectly framed the lake and the mountains.
She smiled at the little girl. “Thank you, my dear. I need all the helpers I can find today.”
Her smiling gaze met Ben’s and his heart seemed to thump in his chest. All the vibrant flowers seemed brighter, suddenly, the lake a more breathtaking blue, the snowcapped Redemption Mountain Range in the background more raw and overwhelming.
It didn’t matter that he’d been standing beside her ten minutes earlier, that she had spent the night in his arms, that they had seen each other every weekend of the past month.
His world just seemed better because of her.
“Oh, I was looking for those very flowers. Thank you both.”
“You’re welcome,” Maddie said. “I was super careful.”
“Wow. How did you know that’s important with flowers?”
“Ben told me.”
McKenzie smiled again as she climbed down from the stepladder. “He’s pretty smart, isn’t he?”
“I guess.” Maddie looked over the arbor. “That looks pretty.”
“Thanks! Do you want to help put it together?”
She frowned a little. “Do I have to go up on the ladder?”
“Nope. You can help me with the flowers that need to be down low.”
She grabbed the hydrangeas and knelt down, then patiently showed Maddie how to attach them to the arbor. After the girl did two or three bundles, McKenzie sat back on her heels and hugged the girl.
“Now you can tell your mom and Aidan you decorated for their wedding.”
“Mom!” Maddie suddenly exclaimed. “Mom, look! I’m helping!”
Ben glanced up and found Eliza walking toward them. While her hair was intricately fixed, she still wore jeans and a casual shirt with flip-flops, pink toenail polish peeking out.
She was glowing, though, eyes bright and happy. Ben was suddenly fiercely happy for Aidan, that he had found someone who fit him so perfectly.
“I can see that. Oh, Kenz. Everything looks exquisite.”
“Especially the bride, I must say.” McKenzie grinned and hugged the other woman, taking care not to mess up the elegant hairstyle. “You aren’t supposed to be here yet, though. Aren’t you supposed to be sitting with your feet up, reading a magazine or having your nails done or something?”
“I feel like I’ve been doing that for the last twenty-four hours. I’m not at all comfortable with all this primping and pampering. I feel like I need to be doing something.”
Charlotte and Genevieve joined them, both looking militant. The women in Aidan’s family were a formidable force to be reckoned with.
“Not this time,” Genevieve insisted. “You aren’t supposed to do a thing. That’s the whole point of being a bride—not having to do everything, for once.”
Charlotte snorted. “Right. Like you sat around during your wedding prep last summer.”
“That was different,” Genevieve answered pertly. “I’m a decorator and organizer by nature.”
“You have all done so much. It truly looks stunning. It’s like a fairy tale.” Eliza looked as if she were about to cry. Ben didn’t know much about women’s makeup but he didn’t think she would appreciate having to redo it.
“You need to get out of here,” he said, hoping to head off the waterworks. “You don’t want Aidan seeing you down here, do you?”
“No. You’re right. Thank you all. Just...thank you.” She hugged all of them—including Ben—then grabbed her daughter’s hand. “Let’s go see if those curlers are ready to come out.”
“Okay. I need to grab my doll. Maybe her curlers are ready, too.”
With a last brilliant smile at them all, Eliza and her daughter walked hand in hand into Snow Angel Cove, the house she had effectively transformed into a warm and welcoming home.
Genevieve and Charlotte followed behind, making noises about trying to find a few missing tablecloths, leaving him alone with McKenzie.
“Eliza’s right. Everything looks beautiful.”
“We’re almost there. Whew. I’ve got one more load of flowers in the van. Can I borrow your muscles for a minute?”
“You know they’re yours.”
Her eyes softened and she gave him that secret smile that made him want to wrap his arms around her, right there in front of the whole decorating crew.
Knowing how busy and stressed she was, he shoved down the impulse and followed her back up the lawn to the driveway and the van with her store’s logo on the side.
In the back were several trays containing vases overflowing with blooms—white roses, blue hydrangeas, yellow daisies and others he didn’t recognize.
“Where are we taking them?”
“They’re for the tables set up on the terrace, where the dinner and dancing will be.”
“Nice.”
She worried her bottom lip. “Are you sure they look okay? I’ve never done flowers for a gazillionaire’s wedding before.”
He didn’t know anything about flowers, but he knew the arrangements were charming, elegantly simple.
“Everything is lovely, Kenz. You’re helping to give Aidan and Eliza an unforgettable day.”
“I hope so.”
She looked so adorably uncertain that he decided to indulge himself, only for a moment. He wrapped his arms around her. “Relax. You heard Eliza. She’s blissfully happy with everything and Aidan won’t care. He only wants her and Maddie.”
He could absolutely relate to that. Though he and McKenzie hadn’t started talking about the future yet, Ben knew what he wanted. Her, in his life, forever.
He had already talked to Carole about purchasing the Sloane property he had rented next door to McKenzie’s. Eventually, he could see combining the two lake properties into one huge, rambling, wonderful house filled with dogs and children and love.
He kissed her now, amazed all over again at the warmth and tenderness in his heart. She gave a happy
little sigh that never failed to humble him and wrapped her arms around him.
“You’re right,” she finally said after a long moment. “I’m being silly. I know this is some of my best work. I just wish the orchids were a little more fresh. I’m so frustrated at that stupid supplier, after he promised me and everything.”
“They look perfect to me.”
“One more day and they would have been all wilty.”
“One more day won’t matter,” he pointed out. “The wedding will be over. The flowers can turn brown, for all anyone will care.”
She made a face but kissed him again, smelling of flowers and sunshine and McKenzie. “Why do you always have to be so darn logical?”
“It’s a curse,” he said, kissing the top of her head.
He had news for her, news he had been saving for later in the evening after the ceremony when she wasn’t so frantic, maybe while they were dancing under the stars. He decided he couldn’t wait, that now would be the perfect time.
“I know you’re busy but I’ve got something to tell you that I think will distract you a little from the crazy.”
“You’re enough of a distraction,” she muttered, though he caught her dimple flash before she tried to look stern again. He loved seeing her here, in this serene setting, with the lake and the mountains in the background. This was where their paths had crossed so many years ago. Maybe even then, they were planting the seeds of the love that seemed to grow stronger each day.
It seemed strange, but every moment with her here seemed to replace a few of the bad memories with lightness and joy.
“You’re going to want to hear this.”
“This better be good. I’ve got to finish the arbor and then decorate twenty tables.”
“I’ll hurry and then I’ll help you finish up so you’ll still have time to get ready for the big event.” He paused, for dramatic effect, then smiled. “We received the final assessment from the utility providers today. I had a memo earlier today from my assistant.”
That definitely caught her attention. “And?”
He grinned. “And they signed off on the design. Everything is a go. We can go ahead with plans to start work on the new Caine Tech facility in Haven Point next month.”
She gave a sound halfway between a gasp and a squeak. “Are you serious?”
“I’m the serious, logical one, remember? I wouldn’t joke about this.”
She hugged him hard, excitement rippling off her. “Ben! Oh! That’s fantastic news! I thought we wouldn’t be able to start until next summer.”
“Everything has gone smoothly so far. We were able to cut through all the red tape much more easily than anyone expected.”
“This is absolutely the best day ever.”
Until their own wedding day, sometime in the not-so-distant future, he thought, but didn’t want to say. Not yet. Instead, he kissed her, his heart overflowing with love for her and all the many gifts she had given him.
She had helped him become part of a community, to begin looking for the good in people instead of holding so much of himself distant, to become excited again about his work. She had helped him find peace with his mother and their past and to begin nurturing a new relationship with Russ Warrick.
“I love you,” he murmured. The words came much more easily than they had a month ago, still inadequate somehow, but also filled with power and strength and amazing potential.
Her smile was sweet and contained so much happiness, it took his breath away. “I’ll never get tired of hearing you say that.”
“Good. I anticipate you’ll hear it plenty for the next, oh, fifty or sixty years.”
Her mouth trembled just a little before she smiled with warmth and breathtaking joy, and kissed him with a tenderness that seemed to heal all the cold, empty places inside him.
* * * * *
Keep reading for an excerpt from SNOW ANGEL COVE by RaeAnne Thayne.
“RaeAnne Thayne is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors... Once you start reading, you aren’t going to be able to stop.”
—Fresh Fiction on Snow Angel Cove
If you loved Redemption Bay,
don’t miss these great titles in RaeAnne Thayne’s sweet Hope’s Crossing series:
Blackberry Summer
Woodrose Mountain
Sweet Laurel Falls
Currant Creek Valley
Willowleaf Lane
Christmas in Snowflake Canyon
Wild Iris Ridge
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Snow Angel Cove
by RaeAnne Thayne
CHAPTER ONE
OH, THIS WASN’T GOOD. At all.
Eliza Hayward stood with sleet pelting her like hard little pebbles, gazing at the blackened, charred bones of her future. Cold dread wormed its way beneath her coat like the wintry wind blowing off Lake Haven, just a few hundred yards away.
“I don’t like this place,” Maddie muttered, gripping her hand tighter. “It’s ugly and scary.”
“Yes. Yes, it is.”
This couldn’t be real. She had driven the two hours from Boise with such eager anticipation, singing Christmas carols all the way, loud and silly enough to make a five-year-old giggle. She had been so excited about this new chapter of their lives in this lovely Idaho town nestled in the raw and stunning Redemption Mountains.
It had been an amazing opportunity all the way around—a big jump, career-wise, to her first hotel manager position, but also a nice salary increase, a really attractive benefits package and, best of all, an included apartment on the property for her and for Maddie so she could keep her daughter close.
Now that cute apartment, the salary bump, the insurance, everything, had disappeared in a puff of smoke. Literally. Though she couldn’t see any flames, tendrils of smoke still curled from the rubble of the building.
The air smelled harsh and acrid, far different from the sweet, citrusy scent of pine she remembered permeating the town when she had visited the month before during the interview process.
The fire had to have flared within the past few hours. Fire crews still worked busily all around the burned hotel coiling hoses, stretching yellow crime tape around the perimeter, putting out a hot spot here or there.
No wonder she hadn’t heard from Megan Hamilton. The woman was probably still in shock.
Oh, Eliza hoped no one had been hurt.
That dread sidled up to her again, menacing and dark. What was she going to do now? She had tied off every single loose end in Boise. Her job, her apartment. All gone. Their things had been packed and put into storage until she had a chance to figure out what she might need here in their new life, this new start.
She had even used a big chunk of her savings as a down payment on a newer SUV to get around the mountain roads.
Now what?
She gripped Maddie’s hand more tightly. She would figure something out. Isn’t that what she had been doing for three years?
“That’s not where you’re going to work, is it?”
“Well, it was supposed to be.” She forced a smile for Maddie, doing her best to ignore the flutters of panic taking wing inside her. “I guess they had a fire today.”
She drew in a calming breath, trying to make her brain cells snap into gear so she coul
d come up with a plan. The sleet seemed to sting harder with each passing second and the wind had picked up in the past few moments. Apparently the big storm the forecasters had been predicting—the reason she had come to town early instead of waiting until the next day or Sunday—had blown into Haven Point.
Maddie shivered a little and Eliza was just about to take her back up the small hill toward the parking lot where she had parked when she spotted a familiar woman about her age in jeans and a sooty jacket, talking to a firefighter in turnout gear with the word Chief written on his helmet.
When she saw Eliza and Maddie, the other woman’s eyes widened, looking huge in her lovely features that looked taut with stress and exhaustion.
She cut off her conversation with the fire chief and headed in their direction. Though they had only met twice—once for Eliza’s initial interview and then the follow-up where she had been offered the job—the woman held out her arms and folded Eliza in a hug that smelled strongly of smoke.
“You’re here. Oh, Eliza.” Her voice wobbled and her slim frame trembled, too, like a slender branch shivering in the wind. “I should have called you. I’m so sorry. It didn’t occur to me. I only... It’s been such a terrible afternoon. I thought you weren’t coming to Haven Point until tomorrow or Sunday.”
She imagined receiving this sort of news over the phone and was almost grateful she had driven in early and had witnessed the damage for herself. “I wanted to beat the storm. Was anyone hurt?”
“Not seriously. Thank heavens. One of the housekeeping staff suffered some smoke inhalation while trying to help us evacuate the guests. Other than that, everyone is fine. We were only about half-occupied and we were able to get everyone out quickly. It’s been a nightmare few hours trying to find other places for them all to stay.”
What if this had happened a week from now, when she was in charge as the hotel manager? She hated even imagining it.
“What happened? Do you know?”
Megan rubbed at her red-rimmed eyes. “I was just speaking with Chief Gallegos about it. The investigators aren’t sure yet but all indications point to some kind of electrical event. They think it started near the guest laundry. It’s a miracle it happened when it did, on a slow week, first of all, and then late morning before the weekend guests checked in, when we were fully staffed with the maintenance crew and the housekeepers to help evacuate. If the fire had started in the middle of the night, things might have gone very differently. The situation could have been much, much worse.”
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