Chapter 1
Laurel had learned there were certain conversations best handled with a cup of coffee in front of her. Unfortunately, her friend Rachel had learned the same thing.
Rachel waited until Laurel had taken her first sip before saying, “There’s something you haven’t told us.”
Laurel lowered her cup. “That sounds ominous.”
Across the table, their other friend, Julie looked at each of them. “What’s going on?”
Rachel dipped a teaspoon into the frothy star on the top of her coffee. “Jamie.”
One name. That was all it took.
Laurel carefully returned her cup to its saucer. “What about him?”
“Why didn’t you tell us?” Rachel asked.
Laurel knew this moment would come eventually. She’d simply hoped eventually might stretch considerably further into the future.
Outside the Starlight Café, Sapphire Bay was settling into another warm July day. Sunlight flashed off passing vehicles, and baskets of pink and purple flowers hung from the lampposts along Main Street.
It should have been easy to think about summer. Instead, Laurel was thinking about the one subject she’d deliberately avoided discussing with her friends for six months.
Julie leaned forward. “Who’s Jamie?”
Rachel’s eyebrows rose. “She really hasn’t told you?”
“Told me what?”
Laurel sighed. There was no point avoiding it now. “Jamie McDonald is someone I used to know.”
Rachel gave her a look.
Julie caught it. “How well did you know him?”
Laurel picked up her coffee. “Pretty well.”
Rachel sighed. “They dated. He’s working with my cousin at Finley Point, among other things.”
Julie’s gaze swung back to Laurel. “When did you date him?”
Laurel really didn’t want to be having this conversation in the middle of a busy cafe. “It was twenty-five years ago, when I was in my thirties.”
At fifty-eight, Laurel didn’t think something that had happened a quarter of a century ago should qualify as current news. Apparently, her friends disagreed.
Rachel stared at her. “And he’s been back in Sapphire Bay since January.”
Julie frowned. “And you didn’t tell us?”
Laurel gestured between her and Rachel. “Because of this.”
Rachel laughed. “We’re having breakfast.”
“You’re interrogating me.”
Laurel had known since January that Jamie was back. There’d been no avoiding that particular piece of information after she’d walked into the general store and found him standing near the canned soup.
Twenty-five years had passed since they’d been together. But that wasn’t long enough to stop her heart from recognizing him before her brain caught up.
Jamie had changed. There was gray at his temples now and new lines around his eyes. But he was still Jamie. Still tall. Still broad-shouldered. Still capable of looking directly at her and making Laurel forget how to speak.
Their conversation had lasted less than a minute. He’d told her his father had broken his hip and he’d returned to Sapphire Bay to look after him.
Then he’d asked how she was. She’d said fine.
Not long afterward, Laurel had heard that Jamie had picked up contract work with the same engineering company where Rachel’s cousin worked. She’d even known he was doing some work at Finley Point.
Rachel took a bite of her muffin. “My cousin thinks he’s wonderful.”
Laurel frowned. “I’m sure he does.”
“He says Jamie walked into projects that would have taken most people weeks to understand.”
Laurel wasn’t surprised. Jamie had always been good at what he did.
Julie was still watching her. “Why didn’t you tell us?”
Because once she did, Jamie would become a topic. Her friends would ask questions. They’d want to know whether seeing him again bothered her.
And Laurel didn’t want to answer any of those questions. “He’s someone I dated a long time ago,” she said. “It didn’t seem important.”
Rachel and Julie exchanged a look.
“Don’t do that,” Laurel warned.
Julie blinked innocently. “Do what?”
“Communicate without speaking.”
Julie spread jam over her toast. “Since we’re discussing things people haven’t told each other, I have a wedding update.”
“How many days now?” Rachel asked.
“Too few.” Julie laughed. “Cole keeps reminding me that the end of August is nearly two months away. I keep reminding him that he isn’t the one organizing everything.”
“You deliberately wanted a simple wedding,” Laurel pointed out.
“I know. But simple still comes with lists.”
Laurel smiled. “Lots of lists.”
Julie and Cole were planning a small ceremony at the ranch beside the lake, followed by dinner and dancing with the people they loved.
“I want to go out to the ranch next week,” Julie said. “We need to finalize the ceremony area and work out what we’ll do if it rains.”
“I’ll come with you,” Laurel said.
“I was hoping you’d say that.”
Rachel pointed her fork at Laurel. “You’re going to end up running the wedding.”
“I am not.”
Julie and Rachel exchanged another look.
Laurel sighed. “You’re doing it again.”
Julie laughed. “I trust you. There’s a difference.”
“That doesn’t mean I’m organizing your wedding.”
“No. It means you’ll make a detailed schedule, carry an emergency bag containing everything from safety pins to pain relievers, and tell everyone you aren’t running my wedding.”
Laurel tried not to smile. She failed. “You deserve a beautiful day.”
Julie’s expression softened. “Thank you.”
Rachel leaned forward. “Speaking of things Laurel hasn’t told everyone, are you going to tell Julie about the house?”
Julie immediately put down her fork. “What house?”
Laurel groaned. “I need less observant friends.”
“No chance,” Rachel said.
“I’ve booked a viewing for tomorrow.”
Julie’s face brightened. “You found one?”
“I found one I want to look at. That’s not the same as buying it.”
Laurel had spent the last five years saving money, studying listings, and finding perfectly sensible reasons why none of the houses she’d seen were quite right.
Buying a home alone felt enormous. Not financially. She’d been careful about that. It was the permanence of it. Choosing something and trusting herself enough to believe she wouldn’t regret it.
Rachel took a sip of her coffee. “Do you want company tomorrow?”
Laurel shook her head. “Not the first time.” She wanted to walk through the rooms without anyone else’s opinions filling them. Stand in the kitchen. Look through the bedroom windows. Walk around the garden.
She wanted to know how the house made her feel.
Julie reached across the table and squeezed her hand. “I hope you love it.”
“Thanks.” Laurel’s phone chimed inside her purse. A message from the real estate agent confirmed tomorrow’s viewing. Beneath it was another sentence.
The owners had received interest from someone else.
Laurel read it twice. Since she’d started looking at houses, Laurel had behaved as though she had all the time in the world. But lately, she’d begun to wonder how much being careful had cost her.
Tomorrow she was going to look at the house. And if she loved it, she wasn’t going to invent another reason to walk away.
As for Jamie? He had his life. She had hers. And Laurel intended to keep it that way.
Even if keeping Jamie McDonald firmly in her past has become a lot more difficult now that her friends know he’s in Sapphire Bay.