His Winter Rose and Apple Blossom Bride Read online

  “Spill it, Pip.” Ashley wasn’t kidding now.

  She took a deep breath and began.

  “It may interest you to know that Serenity Bay has a new, very forward-thinking mayor.”

  “Oh?”

  Now they were curious. Good.

  “He has plans that include making our lovely bay into a tourist mecca. And why not? We’re sitting smack-dab in the middle of the most gorgeous country God ever created. All we have to do is tell the rest of the world about it.”

  Utter shock greeted her words. Piper knew the silence wouldn’t last long. She leaned back, closed her eyes, and waited.

  “You’re kidding. Aren’t you?” Uncertainty laced Ashley’s whisper.

  “She’s not.” The unflappable Rowena was less surprised. “Our Pip has always had a soft spot for this place. Except—”

  Piper didn’t like the sound of that. She opened her eyes. Sure enough, Rowena’s intense scrutiny was centered on her. Faking a bland smile, Piper watched her hazel eyes change shades as quickly as her friend’s thoughts. It wouldn’t take Row long to home in on what she hadn’t said.

  “This new mayor you’re going to be working for—”

  “Aha.” Ash leaned forward like a cat waiting to pounce.

  “Tell us, Pip. What exactly is he like?” Rowena tapped one perfectly manicured fingertip against her cheek, eyes narrowed, intense.

  Piper couldn’t stop her blush as a picture of Jason Franklin, tousled and exceedingly handsome, swam into her brain. A most intriguing man.

  To hide her thoughts she slipped on her sunglasses.

  “What’s he like?”

  “Don’t repeat the question. Answer it.”

  “I’m trying.” Piper swallowed. “I don’t know—like a mayor, I guess. He owns the marina.”

  “Short, fat, balding fellow, happily married with six kids?”

  “Grease under his fingertips?” Ashley added.

  “N-no. Not exactly.”

  “How ‘not exactly,’ Pip?” The old Row was back in form, and she was enjoying herself. She held up her fingers and began ticking them off. “No grease?”

  “Uh-uh.”

  “Not short?”

  “No.”

  “Not fat?”

  Piper shook her head. That definitely didn’t apply. Jason was lean, muscular and more toned than the men she knew who regularly worked out in expensive gyms.

  “Balding? Six kids? Married?”

  Flustered by the incessant questions about a man she hadn’t been able to get out of her thoughts, Piper decided to spare herself the onslaught of questions and explain.

  “He’s—I don’t know! Our age, I suppose. A little older, maybe. Tall. Sandy blond hair. Blue eyes. Good-looking.”

  Ashley and Rowena exchanged a look.

  “Ah. So he’s a beach boy.”

  “Beach boy? No. He owns the marina.” Piper decided to change tactics. “I didn’t really notice that much about him. He’s just the mayor.”

  “Didn’t notice much. Uh-huh.” Rowena sniffed, checked with Ashley. “Thoughts?”

  “‘The lady doth protest too much, methinks,’” the blonde quoted.

  “Methinks that, too.”

  “Look,” Piper sputtered, regretting her choice of words. “It’s not—”

  “Maybe he’s why she came back.” Ashley frowned. “Either that or—” Her forehead pleated in a delicate frown. She focused on Piper. “Or there’s another reason you’re here.”

  They knew her too well.

  “Is it your father? Is that why you left Calgary?”

  Might as well admit it.

  “Indirectly.”

  Both women sighed, their glances conveying their sympathy before Rowena deliberately shut down all expression. She had good reason to remember the past and even more to forget it.

  “I knew it wouldn’t be a young, eligible male that brought you back here.” Ashley’s eyes flashed with anger. “It has to be your old man at the bottom of this sudden change. How typical.”

  “What has the great Baron D. Wainwright done now?”

  Piper didn’t blame Rowena for the spite in her tone. Row and Ash had been there for her ever since that first summer when her angry father had repeatedly ordered her back to the house where her mother had died. When she’d refused to return to a world she hated, a world where he’d become so demanding, so strict, so unlike the loving mother who’d shielded her, these two had consoled her.

  Her father’s angry denunciation of her still stung today, even after so many years. And then of course there was the other.

  Piper pushed that away.

  “Pip? Please tell us what’s wrong.”

  They’d always listened. She could trust them.

  “It’s not what he’s done, it’s what I think he’s going to do. The company’s conducted some research on the Bay’s waterfront. Past experience tells me he intends to build one of his mega hotels right on the shores of Serenity Bay.”

  “Oh, no.” Ashley couldn’t hide her dismay. “Pavement, parking lots, bars open all night? It’ll ruin the place.”

  “Like Baron cares about the ambience of Serenity Bay.” Rowena sniffed. “I’d guess he’s well aware of your mayor’s plans and is trying to one-up him before you can get this tourism thing organized.”

  Piper nodded. “My thoughts exactly.”

  “So your mayor isn’t the only one who’s seen the potential of the area.” Rowena’s brows drew together. “I wonder who else is involved?”

  “Jason’s not my anything,” Piper insisted as heat, which had nothing to do with the sun’s rays, scorched her cheeks. “I don’t think either he or the other council members know about the hotel. Not yet. That’s not the way Wainwright Inc. works.” She paused, then copied her father’s brusque tones. “First buy up the land, then dazzle the locals with lots of promises. If that doesn’t get you what you want, initiate a lawsuit.”

  Piper pushed her chair back into the upright position, picked up the plate with her slice of birthday cake on it and took a bite. “But that’s not the only reason I decided to move back.”

  Ash and Row stared at her.

  “Dare we ask?”

  “I needed to come home. The house, these cliffs, the meadow—I spent some of my happiest times here.”

  They nodded, each transported back to carefree summer days when life’s decisions were so much simpler. Ash, Row and Piper had walked every inch of this land many times, consoling each other through puppy love, acne and a host of other trials. No matter where they went, they always came back.

  “I’m tired of the nonstop meetings, of cutthroat marketers trying to outdo each other to get another star on their A-list. I guess I’m tired of the rat race. None of it seems to matter much anymore.”

  “And this will?”

  “I think so.” Piper saw the concern in their eyes and knew they were only pushing because they cared. “I have such precious memories of this place, of my grandparents and you guys, of coming home at Christmas, watching fireworks displays from Lookout Point. I want other kids to have that.”

  “The past always looks rosy in hindsight,” Rowena muttered. “Except for mine, that is.”

  Ashley patted her shoulder but kept her focus on Piper. “Serenity Bay may have changed,” she warned.

  “Trust me, it has.” Piper turned her chair so she could look across the water toward the town. “I did a little research. There’s barely anyone left that we know. After the lumber mill shut down I guess folks had to move away to find work. There are more than a hundred cottages for sale.”

  “A hundred?”

  Both wore the same stunned expression she’d had the day she’d driven around the town.

  “More than. I’m sure lots of people come back in the summer but the number of permanent residents is sinking fast. I’m guessing that’s why the mayor thinks the town has to act now, before it’s too late.”

  “Back to the mayor.” Row a
nd Ash exchanged looks, then watched her, waiting.

  “Why are you looking at me like that?”

  “Are you sure this mayor didn’t have anything to do with your decision to move back?”

  “No.” Piper sighed, recognizing the futility of trying to withhold anything. “I’ve actually been considering it for a while. After Vance died I poured myself into work. I didn’t want to think about God taking my husband—or anything else.”

  “And work hasn’t been enough?” Ashley asked softly.

  “For a while I thought it was. But this birthday has me thinking, I’m not getting any younger.”

  “Neither are we. But we’re not closing up shop and moving back here.” Rowena’s voice sounded harsh, but her eyes brimmed with pity. “Have you been so unhappy?”

  “That’s not the right word, Row. I’ve been rudderless, without any real goal. Serenity Bay is offering me a chance to stretch, to think outside the box. I need that challenge.”

  “Need?”

  Piper nodded.

  “Need. I want the Bay to prosper, to grow, to provide years of fun and joy for other kids, for other families—just as it did for us.” She waved a hand. “This is where I want to spend my days, maybe someday raise my kids. I might even get back into Papa’s gold studio during the long, frosty winter nights, see if I can create again.”

  “You always did have a flair for the unusual,” Rowena said. “People still stop me to ask where I got this.” She fingered the four-inch gold mask brooch she wore on her lapel.

  “If it doesn’t work out or I get tired of the solitude, I can always go back to the city. But moving here, this job—I have to try.”

  “Cathcart House is the perfect place to do it.”

  They sat together, each musing over the changes that had come into their lives.

  “I keep expecting your grandmother to bring out a jug of hot chocolate and tell us to button up.” Ashley sipped her tea, a half smile curving her lips.

  “Last night I thought I heard your grandfather’s snores.” Rowena shrugged at their surprise. “What? Even I have normal dreams sometimes.”

  “They left Cathcart House entirely to you, Pip? You don’t have to share it with your brother or anything?”

  “They left Dylan cash. He never seemed to like the Bay, remember?” Piper shrugged. “I never understood that but he seemed happy enough with his share when I talked to him after their wills were read.”

  “Was your father at the funeral?”

  “No.” Piper swallowed hard. “At least, I didn’t see him.”

  “It would be a bit much to expect him to show sorrow, wouldn’t it? As I recall there was no love lost between your grandparents and him.” Rowena tossed the rest of the tea over the side of the deck. “Though I must admit, I never heard them say a word against him.”

  “Gran always said God would handle him so she didn’t have to worry.”

  The three remained silent for a few moments in sober remembrance.

  “So you’re not too concerned about your father or his plans?” Ashley asked, her forehead pleated in a tiny furrow.

  Concerned, worried and a whole lot more. But Piper wouldn’t say that or these two friends would fuss about her. She didn’t want that.

  “I want to be here to help with development if I can. That beach is glorious. There’s no way I’m going to sit back and watch a Wainwright hotel ruin it.”

  “You’re sure that’s his plan?”

  Piper nodded. “One of them.”

  “And if he sways the council to his way of thinking? What will you do then?” Ashley pressed, her face expressing her concern.

  “Pray.” Like praying had saved Vance’s life. Piper pushed down the anger. God’s will, not mine, she reminded herself.

  “Changing Baron Wainwright would take an act of God, all right.” Rowena snorted. “Other people’s plans have never mattered to him. Did you hear about that Wainwright project in London? There are rumors that officials received bribes to pass some inspections.”

  “I hadn’t heard.” Piper sloughed off her gloomy feelings, determined that nothing would spoil her joy in having her friends visit. “Anyway, I’m going to do what I can here. This job means I’ll be kept abreast of everything that goes on in Serenity Bay so, hopefully, I’ll be one step ahead.”

  “Ever the optimist, that’s our Pip.”

  “It’s not optimism, Row. It’s determination.” She narrowed her gaze trying to make them understand. “I want to prove something and this is the perfect place.”

  “You don’t have to prove anything to us, honey.” Ashley rose, moved to fling her arms around Piper. “We already know you can do anything you set your mind on.”

  “Thank you.” She hugged Ash right back. “But I have to prove it to myself, here, in this place. I didn’t come back to see my grandparents as often as I should have when they were here. Maybe I can keep their dreams for Cathcart House and the Bay alive.”

  “Do it for yourself, Piper. Don’t do it to prove something to your father,” Row warned. “We all know he’s not worth the effort, not after his behavior toward Vance. Just know that if this is what you want, we’re behind you all the way.”

  “She’s right. The Bayside Trio takes on tough challenges and rides ’em out no matter what. We’re fearless females just waiting to vanquish our foes.” Ashley thrust her arm above her head in the charge they’d chanted since grade nine. “Onward and upward!”

  “Onward and upward,” Piper and Row repeated, grinning as if they were fifteen again and the world was just waiting for them.

  “Here’s to your thirty-first year, Pip. You go, girl.”

  Rowena dumped a splash of the hated tea into her cup and the three friends held up their mugs in a toast. Their admiration went a long way toward reassuring Piper that she’d made the right decision. She drank to her own success, giggled at Rowena’s jokes and answered Ashley’s questions as best she could.

  But that night, after the party was over and her friends had left to return to their own lives, Piper lay alone in the big house and let her thoughts tumble into free fall. It was time to face the truth.

  She’d told Ashley and Rowena that she wanted to help the Bay grow, and that was true. But more than that, she wanted to stop her father from ruining the one place she called home. And he would ruin it. He ruined everything he touched. Her childhood, her relationship with her brother. Every summer that she’d returned here from boarding school he’d arrived to make a scene about her coming back to live with him. She’d gone back twice—and regretted both. She’d even tried to work with him once. He’d ruined that, too, treating her like a stupid child. So she’d left Wainwright Inc., built a name for herself.

  And even after that she’d given him one more chance, a chance to make the difference between life and death, a chance to prove he loved her. He’d blown her off, refused to help.

  Well, he would not ruin Serenity Bay. There would be none of the gaudy neon lights his hotels boasted, no famous rock bands blaring till four in the morning and leaving mayhem behind, nobody wandering the streets at all hours, causing a disturbance. Not here. Not while she could stop it.

  Curious sounds so different from the city noise she was accustomed to carried down the cliff’s side on a light breeze that fluttered the bedroom curtains.

  Piper got up for a glass of water, and noticed someone moving across her property toward the peak of the cliff. At a certain point he or she stopped, removed something from a backpack and knelt down. A second later the figure had disappeared.

  Lookout Point had always been a place where teens met for a goodnight kiss. That’s probably who was out there now.

  She stood watching for a moment, her thoughts drifting to the mayor and the many plans he had for the direction the town should take. She’d never had a problem working with anyone before, but something about the way Jason Franklin had watched her respond to the council’s questions made her wonder if he was as confide
nt of her abilities as he’d said.

  In her past jobs she’d been given a mandate and left to accomplish it, filing the paperwork, making her reports at the appropriate stages. But primarily she’d been her own boss. A tiny voice in the back of her head told her this job wouldn’t be like that. Mayor Franklin had an agenda. He wanted the Bay to start growing and he wanted it to happen his way. From what he’d said, Piper was fairly certain he wanted it to happen yesterday. It might be hard to appease him when developers didn’t immediately respond to her initial probes.

  She smothered a yawn and padded back to bed.

  Whatever happened, happened. She’d deal with it.

  Maybe in doing her job she could coax Jason’s diamond-blue eyes to come alive, maybe get him to loosen up a little. Piper had a hunch that somewhere under all that grit and determination, a guy with a sense of humor lurked.

  Maybe the girls were right. Maybe Jason Franklin would turn out to be more than the mayor.

  Maybe she could finally come to terms with why God had taken away the only people who’d loved her and left her with a father who couldn’t see beyond his money to the daughter who wanted to be loved.

  Chapter Two

  When he’d handed in his resignation in Boston, he’d been told he wouldn’t last a year in the sticks.

  A lot they knew.

  Not only had he endured, he was thriving.

  Jason swallowed the last of his morning coffee, certain he’d never tire of this view. He had no desire to go back. Not to traitors….

  Don’t think about it.

  He jerked to his feet. In his haste to escape what he couldn’t forget, he almost crashed the foot of his chair into the Plexiglas panel surrounding the deck.

  “Calm down,” he ordered his racing pulse. “Just calm down. Forget the past. Let it die.”

  Easier said than done.

  Originally he’d thought living on top of his marina store was the kind of kooky idea one of his former high-flying clients might have come up with. But after two years in Serenity Bay, he still relished his perch high above the water.

  His neighbor to the left was an age-old forest whose trees sheltered him from the wind. On the right, Jason shared the view with the docks and a public beach.