The Coastal Book Club (Magnolia Shore #1)

Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE

Under normal circumstances, there was little that could pull Eleanor Bradshaw away from a book, especially a romance novel with high drama, whether it be the swoon-worthy scenes or characters you simply could not help but fall in love with.

Reading had been Eleanor’s primary way to relax over her long, yet rewarding, years as a stay-at-home mother to her son, Jeremy.

The appeal of reading hadn’t diminished now that Jeremy was off to college and Eleanor’s days were a great deal less hectic than they had been when her son was young.

Tonight, however, Eleanor found that she was rereading the same page over and over, even though the handsome duke was about to admit he was wrong when he’d said he would never fall in love with his blushing bride, as he had fallen for her most passionately and could only beg her forgiveness before it was too late!

This was typically Eleanor’s favorite part. She liked knowing that no matter what obstacles sprang up between a couple, everything would turn out well in the end.

Dwelling on fictional romances was hard when she had her own real-world romance to attend to, however.

Tonight was her twentieth wedding anniversary to her husband, Brian, and she was giddy with excitement over the celebration.

She and Brian had been highly romantic once.

They’d married young, after all, on a rush of love and excitement for the future.

It had been mere weeks after their first anniversary, however, that Jeremy had arrived, squalling and perfect, of course, but a distraction from the reckless adventures his parents had once enjoyed.

As Jeremy got older and grew more independent, Brian’s career had taken center stage.

Eleanor knew this was important. Every time Brian had been kept late at the office, she reminded herself that Brian’s career as a tax attorney ensured that Jeremy, now at college in Pittsburgh, wouldn’t face hefty student loans when he graduated.

Still, though. She missed romance with her husband.

Her eyes wandered to the clock again. It wasn’t quite five in the evening, and their dinner, which Brian had scheduled for one of the nicest restaurants in Indianapolis, wasn’t until six thirty. Was it too early to start getting ready?

“No shame in putting in some extra effort for such a momentous occasion,” she muttered to herself, tossing her book aside.

After all, Brian had gone to the trouble of making them a reservation, and since they’d never been to this restaurant before, she imagined that he’d done some research to find them a romantic place to dine.

Besides, it was fun to do the whole dress-up routine, which she hadn’t truly indulged in over the past several years.

She carefully washed and dried her auburn hair, taming her typical waves into a sleek blowout, which she then pinned carefully into an updo.

She turned from side to side as she faced the mirror, inspecting her handiwork and deciding she was pleased with the results. It was an elegant look, and timeless.

“Which is good for you, missy, now that you’re in your forties,” she teased her reflection.

Despite her joking, Eleanor didn’t feel old, not unless she really thought about how she had a college-aged son!

She’d always had soft features, and she’d found that they fit on her face better somehow as she’d gotten older.

She carefully applied makeup, sticking to a muted shade for her lipstick.

She had a slightly wide mouth, one that looked friendly and bright when she smiled, but that made vibrant lipsticks make her feel a bit too garish.

When her hair and makeup were done to her satisfaction, she looked in her closet. It was a shame, she thought with a happy laugh, that none of her fancier outfits were as comfortable as the cozy robe she currently wore.

When she spotted a green silk dress that she hadn’t worn in ages hanging at the back of the closet, however, she knew she would sacrifice a bit of comfort for how good that dress made her look.

She hadn’t worn that dress in… well, she couldn’t even remember how long.

She was pleased to discover that it fit her just as well as she remembered.

She puttered over her jewelry box, eventually selecting some bright, beaded earrings and a simple gold necklace.

Brian had never been a fan of her more eclectic jewelry choices, often grumbling that she ought to wear her more expensive, classic pieces instead, but her outfit was so polished that she wanted to mix it up a little with a tiny, offbeat detail.

She was just admiring the overall effect when she heard Brian come in through the front door.

She quickly slipped into a pair of low heels and headed down to greet him, tossing a light wrap around her shoulders.

It was April, so the weather was heading comfortably into spring, but evenings could still get a touch chilly, and Eleanor didn’t want anything to negatively affect what she hoped would be a sweet, memorable night.

When Brian spotted her, he blinked at her in surprise. “Oh, wow, Ellie. You look nice.”

He sounded so confused that Eleanor worried that she’d gotten her days mixed up. But, no. She’d glanced at the calendar no fewer than three dozen times today, given her excitement.

“Aren’t we… going to dinner?” she asked.

“Yeah, of course,” Brian said absently. “Just, uh… okay, let me go get freshened up really quick, and then we’ll leave.”

He pressed an absent kiss to her cheek before hurrying upstairs.

When he came down a few minutes later, Eleanor was faintly disappointed to see that he was still wearing his crumpled work suit.

She pushed aside the concern. Maybe he was just too eager to get their evening started to waste time changing outfits.

When they got into the car, Eleanor was still feeling the excitement, even though Brian seemed preoccupied. She pushed this aside, as well. Brian often took a little while to get his head out of his workday.

“I’m so excited for dinner,” she said, determined to bring joy to their evening, even if she had to do it by dint of force. “I heard that they do this very fancy tenderloin, served with broccoli gratin and—”

“You looked this place up?” Brian interrupted, again sounding startled.

“Yes, of course,” she said, equally surprised. “It’s supposed to be very romantic.”

“It is?”

“Of course,” she repeated. “Isn’t that why you picked it?”

He made a noncommittal sound. Eleanor decided to just give him some space to get into a romantic headspace. Probably just a bad day at work.

Yet Brian’s distant mood didn’t abate as they were escorted to a cozy table with two small candles flickering in glass dishes.

And he didn’t seem any happier as they ordered.

He asked for the tenderloin, as Eleanor had predicted.

That was why she’d mentioned it. For her own part, she got a seared ahi tuna steak, which came with a seaweed salad and brown rice topped with furikake.

The food arrived quickly and was cooked to perfection, but Eleanor found herself struggling to enjoy it, given the absent look on her husband’s face.

He seemed determined to look anywhere but at her face.

“Do you remember,” she said, trying to lighten the mood, “that time when we were engaged, and we almost got arrested for swimming in that fountain?”

A smile flickered over Brian’s face, but it was more bittersweet than happy.

“Yeah,” he said quietly. “It feels like a different life, sometimes.”

She frowned. That was not the effect she’d been seeking.

Still, she gave it effort. She pasted a cheerful smile on her face, as she’d done so many times in their marriage, through so many of Brian’s moods.

“We used to be wild, huh?” she said. “You know, I told Jeremy recently that we went bungee jumping, and he didn’t even believe me? I had to show him the pictures!”

“Ha, well.” His tone was humorless. “Who can blame him? We’re hardly those people anymore.”

She sighed. “I know you might not be in the mood, but it’s our anniversary. Can you try to lighten up just a little?”

He gave her the same look he’d given her when she’d come down the stairs in her finery. “Anniversary?”

This time, however, Eleanor couldn’t push her concern down.

“Yes, Brian,” she said shortly. She was starting to get a very bad feeling about this. “Today is our twentieth wedding anniversary.” His eyebrows shot up, and though he quickly masked his expression, she didn’t miss the clear message. This dinner was not about their anniversary.

“Right, of course,” he said.

She set down her fork. “Brian. What’s going on?”

He still wasn’t meeting her eye. “Ellie, let’s not do this tonight,” he said. “Let’s have a nice dinner.”

All chances of that had gone out the window.

“No,” she insisted. “What’s going on? Tell me.”

He sighed and gave her a long-suffering look, as if all of this was something Eleanor was doing to him.

“Listen, I didn’t want to do this on our anniversary, but…”

It took all her willpower to point out that he hadn’t even known it was their anniversary until about a minute ago. And yet somehow he was making her out to be the bad guy?

He sighed again. “All the things you’ve mentioned tonight really just make the point that I’ve been dwelling on for some time. We’re… we just aren’t the people we used to be.”

“That’s not bad,” she said cautiously. “Seasons change. Things move. We raised a whole baby to adulthood!”

“Yeah, things change,” he said. “And things need to move—move on.”

“Brian, what are you saying?”

He took a deep breath, and the gesture caused dread to course through Eleanor.

“I want a divorce,” he said.

For a moment, all Eleanor could hear was the ringing in her own ears. The words felt like they didn’t even make sense.

But Brian was looking at her expectantly, like she was supposed to say something, do something.

“I… what?” she stammered.

“Eleanor,” he said with a sigh, and, through the numbness, she felt a flicker of anger that he was acting impatient with her now, of all the times in their lives. “Come on. You heard me.”

“Yeah, I… but what?” she repeated. “Why—this is coming out of nowhere!”

He frowned. She felt that tension behind her eyes that always came before tears, but she fought to hold them back. She didn’t want to make a scene.

“It’s not,” he replied. “Like I said, the excitement is gone. We’re… stuck. And this is the only way to get us unstuck.”

“Why don’t we just go on vacation?” she asked, a shrill note in her voice. “Jeremy’s out of the house now. Take a leave from work! We’ll go to Europe. We always wanted to tour Europe, didn’t we?”

Now he was looking at her like he pitied her, and that made her tears finally start to flow.

“That won’t fix it,” he said. “I’ve made up my mind.”

His eyes darted to the side, pinging her suspicions. She decided she wouldn’t be pushing aside her instincts any longer.

“Is there someone else, Brian?” she asked. She was proud of how even her voice came out.

“Oh, uh, I…”

He trailed off, and she had her answer. Coldness wrapped around her, and she held onto it like a shield.

“There is,” she said flatly. “There’s someone else.

” He looked away, guilt apparent on his face, and she shook her head.

“You’re going to be sorry for this one day, Brian,” she told him.

“One day, you’ll wake up and realize that whatever this is, it’s some sort of midlife crisis.

You’ll look around, and you’ll realize that throwing away our family was a huge mistake.

You’ll be sorry. But I’ll be gone. Because you were the one who told me to leave. ”

And then she stood, and without a backward glance at the man she’d long loved, the man who had broken her heart, she walked out of the restaurant and away from the only life she’d ever known.