Rock Harbor Series - 03 - Into the Deep (37 page)

10. Bree tried hard to keep her priorities right, but sometimes she let Davy’s desires determine her actions. When is it right to put your children’s needs ahead of your own? What determines the right course of action for you?

11. Naomi was fearful of Donovan’s past life. Two families are sometimes hard to blend. How would you have handled Emily’s hostility? Have you experienced being part of a blended family?

12. This book sheds light on the issue of cruelty to animals. Often we find it easy to turn our eyes away from the suffering of others. Have you ever felt God’s prompting to make a difference in someone’s life and yet turned away? What difference does it make?

13. Hilary was sometimes hard to love because of what seemed to be her overwhelming self-assurance. Is there someone in your life you have to work hard to love? How do you overcome that difficulty?

14. The villain had a score to settle and chose murder. How could he have gotten rid of the bitterness that ruined his life? Have you ever harbored an unforgiving spirit in your heart? How do you overcome that and move on?

A
CKNOWLEDGMENTS

I
t was a life-changing day at the Mt. Hermon Christian Writer’s Conference when I sat on the floor outside a workshop and first pitched the Rock Harbor series to editor Ami McConnell. She went back to her office, found the proposal in her stack, and bought that first book,
Without a Trace
. The rest is history, and here I am, still with my dream team at Thomas Nelson.

I can’t imagine writing without my editor, Ami. I crave her analytical eye and love her heart. Ames, you are truly like a daughter to me. Marketing and Publicity Director Katie Bond is a dear friend after all these years too, and I wouldn’t get far without her great ideas and constant support. Publisher Daisy Hutton is a dynamo who has taken the fiction team to a new high, and our souls were immediately knit together. Fabulous cover guru Kristen Vasgaard works hard to create the perfect cover—and does. You rock, Kristen! My entire fiction team has had a role in my career: Amanda Bostic, Becky Monds, Jodi Hughes, Ruthie Dean, Laura Dickerson, Kerrie Potts, Heather McCulloch, and Dean Arvidson. You are all such a big part of my life. I wish I could name all the great folks at Thomas Nelson who work on selling my books through different venues. I’m truly blessed!

Julee Schwarzburg is a dream editor to work with. She totally “gets” romantic suspense, and our partnership is a joy. Thanks for all your hard work to make this book so much better!

My agent, Karen Solem, has helped shape my career in many ways, and that includes kicking an idea to the curb when necessary. Thanks, Karen, you’re the best!

Writing can be a lonely business, but God has blessed me with great writing friends and critique partners. Hannah Alexander (Cheryl Hodde), Kristin Billerbeck, Diann Hunt, and Denise Hunter make up the Girls Write Out squad (
www.GirlsWriteOut.blogspot.com
). I couldn’t make it through a day without my peeps! Thanks to all of you for the work you do on my behalf and for your friendship.

I’m so grateful for my husband, Dave, who carts me around from city to city, washes towels, and chases down dinner without complaint. As I type this, he has been free of prostate cancer for almost two years, and we’re so thankful! My kids—Dave, Kara (and now Donna and Mark)—and my grandsons, James and Jorden Packer, love and support me in every way possible. Love you guys! Donna and Dave brought me the delight of my life—our little granddaughter, Alexa! She’s talking like a grown-up now, and having her spend the night is more fun than I can tell you.

Most important of all, I give thanks to God, who has opened such amazing doors for me and makes the journey a golden one.

A
N
E
XCERPT FROM
S
MITTEN

N
atalie Mansfield’s heart swelled as she stood on the perimeter of the town square and watched her niece and the other children decorate the town for Easter. A gigantic smile stretched across five-year-old Mia’s face as her Sunday school teacher lifted her to place the lavender wreath at the top of the clock.

Mia saw her and waved. “Aunt Nat, look at me!”

Natalie waved back, her smile broadening. “She’s growing so fast,” she told her great-aunt, Rose Garner. “I love her so much.”

Black threaded Rose’s silver hair, and her smooth skin made her look twenty years younger than her seventy-eight years. “I still remember the first day I laid eyes on you.”

“How could you forget? I was a morose ten-year-old who snapped your head off every time you spoke to me.”

Her aunt pressed her hand. “You changed our lives, honey. Now here you are providing a home for your niece. A full circle, just like that wreath. I’m so proud of you.”

Her aunt’s words made Natalie’s heart fill to bursting. Being part of their family, along with her four cousins, had healed her heart. “You gave me the only stability I’d ever known. I want to do the same for Mia.”

Aunt Rose wasn’t listening. A small frown creased her brow. “Something’s wrong.”

Natalie looked at the men standing a few feet away in
front of the hardware store. Their heads were down and their shoulders slumped. The dejection in their stances sent her pulse racing.

She recognized one of her coffee shop patrons, Murphy Clinton, and grabbed his arm as he walked past. “What’s happened, Murphy?” she asked.

He stopped and stared down at her with a grave expression. “The mill’s closing.”

“That’s not possible,” she mumbled. Her thoughts raced. The mill was an institution and the main employer in Smitten. If it closed . . .

He finished her thought. “This town is finished.”

The aroma of the freshly brewed coffee overpowered the less appetizing smell from the drum roaster in the back room. Natalie let her cousin Zoe handle the customers at the bar as Natalie took the hot beverages to the seating area by the window where she and her friends could see white-topped Sugarcreek Mountain. Spring had come to their part of Vermont, and the sight of the wildflowers on the lower slopes would give her strength.

“So what are we going to do?” she asked, sinking onto the overstuffed leather sofa beside Reese Mackenzie.

“Do? What
can
we do?” Reese asked. Her blond ponytail gleamed in the shaft of sunlight through the window. She was the practical one in the group. Reese was never afraid of hard work, but while Natalie saw only the end goal, Reese saw the pit-falls right on the path. “We can’t
make
them keep the mill open.”

While rumors about the mill had been floating for months, no one had really believed it would fold. The ramifications would be enormous. Natalie’s business had been struggling enough without this added blow.

She took a sip of her mocha java. A little bitter. She’d have to tweak the roast a bit next time. “If the mill closes, the town will dry up and blow away. We can’t let that happen.” If Mountain Perks closed, she didn’t know how she would provide for Mia.

And she wasn’t leaving Smitten. Not ever. After being yanked from pillar to post with an alcoholic mother until she was ten, Natalie craved the stability she had found here with her great-aunts and extended family, which included her three best friends.

Julia Bourne tossed her long hair away from her face, revealing flawless skin that never needed makeup. “This is one of those things outside your control, Nat. I guess we’d all better be looking for jobs in Stowe.”

Shelby Evans took a sip of her tea and shivered. Her Shih-poo, Penelope, dressed in a fashionable blue-and-white polka-dotted shirt, turned around in Shelby’s lap and lay down on her navy slacks. “I don’t know about you all,” Shelby said, “but I wanted my kids to grow up here.”

The women had no children of their own—and none of them was even close to thinking about settling down—but that was a moot point for Shelby. She had a storybook ending in mind that included a loving husband and two-point-five children for each of them. Natalie was sure her friend would find that life too.

Natalie moved restlessly. “There has to be something we
can do. Some new export. Maple syrup, maybe? We have lots of trees.” She glanced at Julia. “What about your New York friends? Maybe you could ask some of your business friends for advice.”

Julia shrugged her slim shoulders. “They know spas. I hardly think a spa is going to save us.”

Reese had those thoughtful lines on her forehead. A tiny smile hovered on her full lips, and her hazel eyes showed a plan was forming. “We don’t have time for exports, but what about imports? Tourists would love us if they’d come visit. We have heart.” She took out her ever-present notebook and pen and began to jot down ideas.

“They come to ski in Stowe anyway,” Shelby said. “All we have to do is get them here.”

Natalie rubbed her forehead where it had begun to ache. “But what do we have to offer that’s different from any other town?”

Julia crossed her shapely ankles. “Smitten is cute with its church and all, but cute doesn’t bring tourists. I can’t even get a decent manicure in this dinky town. People aren’t going to pay for ambience. We need some kind of gimmick.”

Reese tapped her pen against her chin. “I have an idea,” she said. “Everyone jokes about the town name. Why not capitalize on it?”

“How do you capitalize on a name like Smitten?”

“What does Smitten make you think of?” Reese asked. “Love, right? What if we turn the town into a place for honeymooners?”

Shelby adjusted the bow on Penelope’s head. “I went to Santa Claus, Indiana, once. Tons of people, even in July.”

Natalie swallowed a groan. They’d all heard about Santa Claus too many times to count. She needed to derail Shelby before she broke into a rendition of “Jingle Bells.” “We could have love songs playing as people strolled the streets.”

Julia snickered and nodded toward the man striding past outside the window. “I have a feeling Carson would have something to say about that. He hated all the jokes about his name in high school.”

Natalie followed the angle of Julia’s nod. Her gut clenched the way it always did when she saw Carson Smitten. He was a man who attracted female attention wherever he went. He looked like his lumberjack great-grandfather, with his broad shoulders and closely cropped dark hair.

He had all the single women in town drooling over him. Except for Natalie, of course. If the other girls knew what she knew about him, they wouldn’t think he was so great.

“I’m still thinking about my idea,” Reese said. “This will mean new businesses, new jobs, lots of revenue pouring in. We’d have to get the entire town on board.”

Natalie’s excitement level went up a notch as she imagined the town transformed with its new mission. “The town meeting is coming up. I can present the idea there.”

“It’s a good thing you’re a selectperson,” Shelby said. “People listen to you.”

Natalie dug paper and a pen from her purse, a Brighton that Julia had given her for her last birthday. “There needs to be a cohesive plan. What would this love town look like? Besides romantic songs playing over speakers around town.” She peered at Reese’s list and copied down the items.