Reflection Point: An Eternity Springs Novel

HIS HAND BEGAN TO MOVE, SKIMMED ACROSS
her breast, thrilling her. Her breath hitched, and for an instant he froze.

Zach released her mouth and his arms fell away as he jerked back and stepped away. Her stomach dropped with an instant of loss before good sense prevailed. For a long, humming moment he stared at her with eyes gone dark and edgy, the angles and planes of his face pronounced.
I did get to him
, she thought, pleased.

He got to you, too. And he’s the sheriff! He knows about you. It’s only a matter of time before he tells everyone in town
.

Savannah wasn’t nearly as pleased as she’d been a moment before.

Maybe her displeasure showed in her expression, because all of a sudden Zach relaxed. That oh-so-talented mouth of his lifted in a smug, knowing smile. He tipped an imaginary hat and turned to leave. “See you later, Peach.”

Reflection Point
is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

A Ballantine Books eBook Edition

Copyright © 2013 by Geralyn Dawson Williams
Excerpt from
Miracle Road
by Emily March © 2013 by Geralyn Dawson Williams

All rights reserved.

Published in the United States by Ballantine Books, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.

BALLANTINE and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.

This book contains an excerpt from the forthcoming book
Miracle Road
by Emily March. This excerpt has been set for this edition only and may not reflect the final content of the forthcoming edition.

eISBN: 978-0-345-54227-4

Cover design : Lynn Andreozzi
Cover illustration : Robert Steele

www.ballantinebooks.com

v3.1

Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-one

Chapter Twenty-two

Chapter Twenty-three

Chapter Twenty-four

Chapter Twenty-five

Chapter Twenty-six

Dedication

Acknowledgments

Excerpt from
Miracle Road

Other Books by This Author

ONE
 

“There’s a new girl in town.”

Sheriff Zach Turner first heard the news from Cam Murphy when he arrived at the man’s outdoor-sports shop, Refresh, on his day off. The fly rod he’d noticed on his previous visit was proving to be quite a temptation. A sports equipment junkie, Zach had been both delighted and dismayed when Murphy’s shop opened this past winter. Having such a great selection of gear within spitting distance of the sheriff’s office was playing hell with his wallet.

Zach lifted the rod from the rack, tested its feel, and replied, “A troublemaker?”

“A looker.”

Ah
. “And you are compelled to share this information why? Still threatened that Sarah will come to her senses and decide that she can’t live without my superior kisses after all, Murphy?”

Cam flashed the shark’s smile he’d become known for since his return to Eternity Springs from Australia, and his blue eyes gleamed with contentment. “I’m too sexually satisfied to respond to that dig, Sheriff.”

“Ouch.” Zach set the rod on the counter, then wandered over to the bicycles, where a red Enduro EVO caught his eye. He’d been wanting to move up from his
Stumpjumper, but he couldn’t justify the cost. Not now, anyway. Maybe this summer …

“Actually, I’m giving you a heads-up,” Cam continued. “The quilt group met at my house last night, and your love life—specifically, your lack of a love life—was one of the main topics of conversation.”

Zach glanced up from the bike and fastened a frustrated look upon his friend. “You’re kidding me.”

“Nope. The women have matchmaking on their minds.”

Zach groaned aloud. “Does it never occur to them that they don’t know everything they think they know about my love life?”

Cam folded his arms and arched an inquisitive brow. “You have a fish on the line we don’t know about, Turner?”

Zach’s thoughts went to the ski instructor he’d been seeing over at Wolf Creek. Inga Christiansen was a lovely, tall, talented woman who was as athletic in bed as she was out of it. He’d enjoyed the time they’d spent together, but they’d both gone into the relationship knowing it was seasonal. “Actually, I recently cut one loose.”

“Someone I know?”

Zach gave a slow smile. “Inga.”

“Inga?”

“She’s going home to Sweden, and I just didn’t want to move with her.”

“Ah, a Scandinavian! I used to love it when we had snow bunny Scandinavians sign up for dive trips,” he said, referring to the reef diving tour business he’d owned when he lived in Australia. “Nice scenery.”

Zach mentally envisioned Inga the last time he’d seen her naked. “Very.”

“Although I will repeat that the new southern comfort we have to enjoy is pretty scenic.”

“Southern comfort?”

“Ms. Savannah Sophia Moore, from Georgia. Wait until you hear her accent. I told Sarah that the way she says ‘sugah’ sorta licks up and down a man’s spine.”

“And your bride didn’t take a knife to you?”

“No. She was too busy trying to figure out a way to set the two of you up.”

Zach snorted and decided it was time to change the subject. “So have you heard how the rainbows are biting on the Taylor River this week?”

The conversation turned to fishing, and Zach forgot about the newcomer to town as he went about his errands. His next stop was the local vet’s office to pick up his whippet, Ace, whom he’d left with Nic Callahan first thing that morning. The tall, blond mother of twin daughters had an appealing girl-next-door beauty and a friendly demeanor, and she gave him a welcoming smile as he opened her office door and strode inside. “Hey, Zach.”

“How’s my dog?”

“Ace is a doll, and I’m happy to say that he’s doing just great. Even better, he seems to have gotten his spirit back. You’ve done a great job with him, Zach. Aren’t you glad we talked you into keeping him?”

Ace had been in pitiful shape when Nic and her friends rescued him from a bad situation the previous summer. Scarred, starved, and scared, he’d required extra doses of TLC to nurture him back to health. Surgery had helped his hip injury, the likely result of being hit by a car, but the speed-demon escape-artist days enjoyed by most whippets were behind him. “He’s a good dog. Good company.”

Nic snapped her fingers. “Speaking of which, have you heard the news? Eternity Springs has a new permanent resident. Savannah Sophia Moore. Isn’t that a lovely name? She’s from Georgia and is a dog person.
She adopted the cutest little mutt recently. A mini. Savannah brought her to me for a checkup.”

“Purse pets,” Zach said with a disdainful snort.

“Don’t be snotty.” Nic frowned at him. “The world needs small dogs, too. She’s opening a business in town, and that’s good for Eternity Springs.”

“What does she do?”

“Handmade soaps and lotions. She’s rented Harry Golightly’s old place on Fourth Street. She’s planning to use the first floor as retail space and the carriage house in back as her workshop. She said she mostly sells her stuff at street festivals and craft fairs, as well as online. She plans to open the retail shop only during tourist season.”

Zach considered the space. The Golightly place was one of the old Victorian houses in town. The house had good bones, and with a coat of paint and some landscaping, it could be a tourist draw. The location worked since it was cattycorner to Sage Rafferty’s art gallery, Vistas, one of the town’s biggest tourist draws. “What is she like?”

“Honestly, I thought she was a little quiet and reserved at first, but once I got her talking, she opened up. I like her. I think she’s a great new addition to Eternity Springs. I’m excited about the new shop.”

“Me too,” Zach replied in a tone that clearly suggested the opposite.

“Now, Zach,” Nic chided. “It
is
exciting.”

“You are such a girl, Nic. Having Cam open a sporting goods shop was exciting. A soap shop? I don’t think so.”

Nic’s expression turned knowing. “Want to make a bet you’re singing a different tune after you meet her?”

Zach decided to put a stop to this matchmaking business here and now. Choosing his words carefully—he didn’t like to lie to his friends—he said, “The ski instructor
I’ve been seeing wouldn’t be amused to learn that I found a soap shop exciting.”

“You’re seeing someone?” Nic asked, shock in her tone. She folded her arms and scowled. “I didn’t know that. Why don’t we know about this?”

“ ‘We’? Do you mean your coven?”

She sniffed with disdain. “Now, that’s just mean, Zach Turner.”

He reached out and thumped her on the nose. “I adore you, Mrs. Callahan, but I don’t need you and your friends sticking your noses into my love life.”

“We care about you, Zach. We don’t like seeing you alone.”

Zach was accustomed to being alone. An only child whose parents had died almost a decade ago, he’d adjusted to solitude. In fact, he relished it. Solitude was one of the appeals of Eternity Springs, in his opinion. “In that case, rest easy. I’m not alone. I have a dog. And a new fly rod. You and the girls can turn your attentions to somebody else. Now, let’s talk dog food. The Trading Post has begun stocking a new specialty brand.” He named it, then asked, “In your opinion, is it worth the extra money?”

Zach left Nic’s office ten minutes later with Ace on a leash and a spring in his step, telling himself he wasn’t the least bit curious about a soap maker from Georgia. He had more important things than women on his mind—namely, a free afternoon breaking in his new fly rod at his favorite fishing hole up above Lover’s Leap. When he strolled into the Mocha Moose a few minutes later with the intention of getting a boxed lunch to go, he almost pivoted on his heel and marched out. Sarah Murphy, Sage Rafferty, Ali Timberlake, and Cat Davenport sat at one of the tables eating lunch. During his split second of indecision, Sarah spied him, though, and then it was too late.

“Zach!” she said, waving him over to the table. “We were just talking about you. Have you heard the news?”

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