Susannah Westbrook never thought she’d find love again.
After a failed marriage, focusing on her children instead of her love life was the best thing to do. Now years later, she’s content with her life. But when she meets Colton Hale, she decides that she wants to be more than just content—she’s ready to take a chance on love once again.
After just a year of being together, Colton is ready to spend forever with Susannah—to give her the happily ever after she deserves. But old insecurities have a way of making a comeback when you least want them to.
Will they be able to get over all their befores for a chance at their happy ever after?
Excerpt
“Do you think people will judge me if Colton
sleeps here when there are guests?” Susannah blurted out the next morning when
Mallory came over to see how things were going with the guests.
“Um…hey. Good morning to you too,” she said with
a smile, walking over to the antique buffet table in the dining room and
helping herself to a glass of juice. Glass in hand, she turned back to
Susannah. “I’m sorry, what was the question again?”
Susannah relayed the conversation she had with
Colton the night before and spoke in hushed tones because guests were still
coming and going. “So? He’s being crazy, right? I mean, no one’s going to think
anything of it. He’s just being overly cautious.”
“Well…”
“No,” Susannah interrupted. “People aren’t that
closed-minded about things like this anymore. And besides, it’s no one’s
business! It’s not like I’ve got a revolving door of men sleeping with me! It’s
one man and one that I love! Doesn’t that count for anything?” It wasn’t until
she noticed Mallory’s eyes had gone wide and then heard someone clear their
throat that she realized just how loud she had gotten. Luckily, when she turned
around, she saw it was her nephew Mason and his fiancée Scarlett. Embarrassed,
Susannah scurried around wiping down a table for them, offering them coffee and
juice.
Mason kissed her on the cheek before doing the
same to Mallory. It wasn’t until he had Scarlett seated that he spoke. “So,
um…not that I was eavesdropping…”
“Oh, God…” Susannah groaned.
“But if I could add my two cents to the topic,”
he said with an easy grin.
“Mason,” Mallory interjected. “Maybe you
shouldn’t.”
He held up a hand to stop her. “Look, personally,
I agree with you. It isn’t anyone’s business who you’re involved with and
whether or not they’re sleeping here with you.”
“Thank you.”
“However,” he continued, “you know what small
town life is like. Now, granted, you aren’t only opening your doors to the
people of Magnolia Sound to stay here, but your guests are going to be
interacting with the people and business owners in town and…well…you know,
people talk.”
“But they’ve been dating for a year,” Scarlett
commented. “I don’t see what’s different all of a sudden.”
“Thank you, Scarlett,” Susannah said with a
smile, pouring her a glass of orange juice. “Nothing’s different.”
“Except now people are staying here and you’ve
opened the home to the public and – therefore – to scrutiny and gossip too,”
Mallory said. When Susannah tried to comment, she stopped her. “Look, I’m not
saying I agree with it, Mom, but it’s just something you need to be aware of.
When you own a business in this town, everyone feels like they have a right to
comment on what you do and how you do it. I get it at the shop all the time.
People come in and will comment on what pieces of furniture they don’t like all
the way to whether or not they like what I’m wearing that day! And don’t even
get me started on when they come in and comment on something Jake or Coleman
Construction did! It’s maddening!”
“I had no idea…”
Scarlett nodded and raised her hand a bit. “Now
that Mallory’s mentioned it, I can totally agree. I saw it with my dad’s garage
and my grandfather’s bar. People talk. And it’s not always about the business
itself. You get one uptight guest in here or someone local suddenly gets wind
of or actually sees Colton’s truck here all night and it will become part of
the dialogue when people talk about the inn.”
“I can’t believe that would happen,” Susannah
scoffed.
“But are you willing to take that chance?”
Mallory asked. “Look, as a mature and responsible adult, one could argue that
this is your house and you can do what you want.”
“Exactly!”
“However,” Mallory went on, “it could also be
argued that you’re old enough to handle not sleeping with your boyfriend every
night. So if he isn’t here on the nights you have guests, it shouldn’t be a big
deal.”
“But what if she’s booked every night for
months?” Mason asked. “She and Colton aren’t allowed to…you know…during all
that time?”
Both Scarlett and Mallory laughed but Susannah
wasn’t amused.
“Look,” he said, “I’m not saying you two can’t
get busy on your own while the guests are out or maybe you have someone working
overnight so you can go to his place, but that’s going to get old fast.”
“Ew, you did not just talk about my mom
getting busy,” Mallory said with disgust. “That’s just gross.”
“Oh, grow up,” he said with a laugh, pouring
himself a cup of coffee. “We all do it and personally, I think it’s great that
she and Colton have a good sex life!”
“No one said that!” Mallory cried.
“If they didn’t, then we wouldn’t be talking
about finding a way for Colton to spend the night,” he countered. “If she
wasn’t interested in sex with him, then she wouldn’t care about sending him
home at the end of the day.”
“Okay, okay, okay,” Susannah said quickly.
“That’s enough. I’m not…this is not the conversation I want to be having and
now I’m completely mortified.”
“Mom, you don’t have to be mortified. Sex is a
completely natural part of a healthy relationship. That is what you once told
Sam, wasn’t it? You know, after he came home and saw Colton leaving?”
Groaning, Susannah hung her head and shook it.
Why had she thought it was a good idea to ask her daughter about this?
“Of course, this wouldn’t be an issue if you
would have accepted Colton’s proposal,” Mallory added.
“Holy crap! Colton proposed?” Mason asked loudly
and Scarlett punched him in the arm. “Sorry. I just…wow! How come you turned
him down? We all thought that’s where you guys were heading.”
Straightening, Susannah looked from Mason to
Scarlett to Mallory and then back to Mason. “You did?”
He nodded. “Hell yeah. You guys were great
together and it was nice to see you so happy. Plus, Colt’s a really cool guy. I
always enjoy hanging out and talking with him when the family’s all together.”
Then he paused. “Wait…if you turned him down, why are you worried about him
sleeping here?”
“Just because she turned down his proposal
doesn’t mean she wanted to end things with him,” Scarlett said, but Mason was
shaking his head.
“Then he’s a better man than I am. If I had
proposed to you and you turned me down, I don’t think I would be able to keep
dating you.”
Scarlett patted his hand. “Dude, we’re having a
baby. If I had turned down your proposal, we still would have been involved
with each other.”
Rolling his eyes, he explained, “That’s not what
I meant. If circumstances were different and you weren’t pregnant and I
proposed…”
“Ah, got it.” Then she nodded. “Yeah, I don’t think
I would want to keep dating you if I turned down your proposal.”
“What if you just weren’t ready?” Susannah asked,
fascinated at the turn in the conversation. “I mean, what if you loved him, but
you just weren’t ready to get married?”
Scarlett considered that for a moment. “Well, I
think we would have talked about it and maybe agree that I’d accept the
proposal but that we wouldn’t even think about planning a wedding until I was
ready.”
Interesting.
Looking at Mason, Susannah asked, “And how would
that have made you feel? Would you prefer putting a ring on her finger even
though there’s a chance she might never want to get married?”
“Hmm…I don’t know. I don’t know if I could keep
going like that. In the back of my mind I’d always be wondering if she was ever
going to change her mind. It would put so much extra pressure on the
relationship. Plus, I think I’d start wondering how long I’m supposed to wait.
If I’m the kind of guy who wants to get married, that means I want a marriage
and kids and all that goes with it. Am I supposed to give up on what I want
while I’m waiting for her to figure out what’s stopping her? I mean, I’m an
awesome catch!”
Scarlett smacked his arm playfully. “Feeling
pretty full of yourself this morning, Bishop. What’s up with that?”
“Oh, please, I’m like this all the time and you
know it,” he teased right before leaning in and kissing her.
While they seemed to get lost in each other,
Mallory slowly walked over to Susannah. “Seems to me there’s a lot more for you
to consider than just being able to sleep with your boyfriend.”
And as she strolled from the room, Susannah had
to agree.
bestseller of contemporary romance. She released her debut novel in 2011 and currently has more than forty titles under her belt! When she’s not working on a new story, she spends her time reading romances, playing way too many games of Scrabble or Solitaire on Facebook, wearing a tiara while playing with her sassy pug Maylene…oh, and spending time with her husband of 25 years and their two sons in North Carolina.
