“So, where are we?” she asked, stepping back to try and see around him.
“Here.” He turned sideways and she caught sight of an icy-blue lake surrounded by the muscular green shoulders of the Catskills. The lake was so clear it looked like a puddle of sky. Bright and blue.
“Oh my gosh, how pretty,” she said.
“I wanted to bring you here the night of your graduation,” he said. “But I got real weird about it and I always regretted that I never took you here.”
“Well, better late than never,” she said and pressed a kiss to his mouth. Then she stepped forward, pulling her backpack off her shoulders. Now, she thought. Do it now.
“Josie,” he said, putting his arms around her from behind. “I can’t tell you how happy I am. This last year has been the best year of my life.”
“Me too,” she whispered. Even with everything that had happened to Helen and the grief that lay over the inn like a veil, she and Cameron had managed to have real joy. “More than I ever thought possible.”
“Well, once you quit that job,” he said, making the same joke he’d been making all year.
“Yeah,” she said. “It has nothing to do with you.”
He chuckled in her ear and kissed her neck before stepping back. She pulled the box out of the backpack, clutching it to her stomach, and set the backpack down on the hard dirt.
“Cameron,” she said. “I really want to ask you something.”
“Me first,” he said, and she turned.
And found him on one knee holding a little back box in his hands.
Oh, she thought. Oh my.
“Will you be my wife?”
“Well,” she said, tears in her eyes. “It’s funny, but I was going to ask you the same thing. I know it’s not a ring, but…” She held out the box in her hand, another, newer version of the high-tech camping coffeemaker she’d gotten for him years ago. “I want to be with you on all your adventures.”
He took the box from her and she opened his to find a beautiful diamond and sapphire ring. “Alice and your mom came shopping with me when they visited us in France last month.”
“That’s what you three snuck off to do,” she breathed. “It’s beautiful. It’s perfect.”
He pulled the ring from the box and she held out her hand. Of course it slid right onto her finger like it had been made for her. “You’re perfect,” she said.
“So? Is this a yes?”
“Of course it’s a yes,” she said. “I’ve loved you…” Forever. Since the moment she saw him. For most of her life. Since before she even knew him. All of those were right.
“Me too,” he said, and stood and pulled her into his arms. The morning fell in beautiful golden sheets around them. And it felt like a benediction. A prayer. A holy agreement that they were the right two people for this promise.
“I brought some coffee,” she said. “To make in the coffeemaker. A toast…I mean, it seems a little ridiculous compared to this ring.” God, it really did glitter and shine in the sunlight. Had there ever been a more perfect ring?
“Come on,” he said, linking their fingers. “I know a perfect spot.”
And she went with him, right by his side, because for the rest of her life, the best spot for her was right by his side.
Hey Readers—thank you so much for picking up Christmas at the Riverview Inn. Cameron and Josie have been waiting a long time for their HEA—I hope it was worth it. Now, I have a sneak peek at Helen’s book for you, but I have to warn you, it starts with heartache. So if you want to hold on to your Christmas happily ever after glow—maybe turn the page another time. But if you’re intrigued (and ready for a little heartbreak) go ahead and read a sample of Second Chance at the Riverview Inn.
Untitled
Second Chance at the Riverview Inn
18
Chapter 1
HELEN
The light outside the window was purple. The color of a bruise. It wasn’t dawn. Not yet. But it was coming. Christmas Day.
And something was wrong.
Very wrong.
Helen ran a hand over her belly and felt the flutter of the baby. The popcorn pop of him or her kicking and moving.
The baby is fine.
So what’s wrong?
Josie and Cameron were back at the Riverview, and they hadn’t been able to keep their hands off each other the previous night. Helen was taking that as a good sign they had put the past behind them and were getting a second chance at the love they deserved.
And she’d very cheerfully taken credit for that at every opportunity.
So, it wasn’t missing Josie or Cameron that was wrong.
What was it?
Her phone, which she’d put on her chest, buzzed and her heart leaped when she checked it.
It was just some junk email. Just like it had been all night long.
Her heart was sore from jumping every time her phone binged. Her eyes were gritty from lack of sleep and she was…she was sick to her stomach. In a way she hadn’t been for weeks.
She tapped her messages icon and read the last thing Evan had written last night.
Break in storm. I’ve rented a car. I’ll see you soon.
He should have been here by midnight. One at the latest. But there’d been no word. She’d sent a dozen texts. Called every ten minutes. Nothing. His phone went immediately to voice mail. She imagined he’d left the charger in his bag, which was undoubtedly in the trunk of the car. So his phone might be dead.
And she imagined that the break in the storm he’d seen in New York City had vanished as soon as he headed up the Hudson, and he’d pulled over into any one of the hotels that were open on Christmas Eve.
Evan had been working and traveling nonstop, so he’d probably hit that bed and fallen hard asleep.
All of that made perfect sense.
But something was really wrong. And she felt it deep in her chest where all the true things she knew about herself lived.
She got out of bed and pulled on her sweatpants and one of Evan’s sweatshirts, the big, thick Boston College Crew one that he always wanted back and she refused to return.
Evan, she thought and then she prayed it.
Please, Evan. Please.
It was four in the morning. A cold and quiet time. The fire had burned to embers and the heat it had been pumping out all evening had disappeared. She stirred the embers the way Max had taught all of them, laying down kindling and blowing on the tiny flames until they caught. Soon the fire was crackling and sending out sparks.
The Christmas tree had been unplugged, probably by Alice, so Helen got on her hands and knees and plugged it back in, and then crawled out from under the tree, with pine needles in her hair.
“Helen?”
“Hey Mom.” She got to her feet and turned to see her mother standing at the bottom of the big staircase. She wore leggings and a flannel shirt. Her hair, the kind of silver blond women paid a gazillion dollars for, was in a messy ponytail. “What are you doing up?”
“I don’t know. I just had a strange feeling.” Her mother rubbed her chest. That same place where Helen felt the heavy certainty that something was wrong. “Evan must have gotten in late.”