Jaylie
Caldwell shared her first kiss many moons ago with Holt McCaffrey along the
property of Honeysuckle Cove Inn. She’s sure he’s forgotten the moment, but she
never will. Jaylie’s dreams led her to Chicago and a coveted position as
evening anchor for Channel 8 News, while Holt stayed behind to climb the ranks
of the Honeysuckle Cove Police Department. But, when an emergency calls Jaylie
home, Holt is waiting.
Holt McCaffrey is honor bound to protect the community of Honeysuckle Cove, so, when an accident puts the life of a friend in jeopardy, he holds himself personally responsible. He’s finally gotten his wish from a long-ago moonlit night when he shared a sweet kiss with Jaylie Caldwell—she has returned home. But will the terms of her homecoming leave any room for forgiveness...or for him?
Holt McCaffrey is honor bound to protect the community of Honeysuckle Cove, so, when an accident puts the life of a friend in jeopardy, he holds himself personally responsible. He’s finally gotten his wish from a long-ago moonlit night when he shared a sweet kiss with Jaylie Caldwell—she has returned home. But will the terms of her homecoming leave any room for forgiveness...or for him?
~~~~~
Jaylie Caldwell leaned forward in
the chair and pressed her cheek against the kitchen table with a sigh.
Exhaustion burrowed into her bones. She’d give away her entire collection of
shoes for a cup of coffee, but she couldn’t summon the energy to rise from the
seat and crank up the coffeemaker on Grandma Nan’s kitchen counter to brew a
pot.
Thank goodness Gran had come home
from the hospital and was finally in her own bed again, sleeping peacefully
with the help of painkillers Dr. Metz had prescribed. The past few days had
been nothing short of a raging tempest woven with worry and frazzled nerves.
Gran had taken a tumble down the
back porch steps and cracked her head hard enough to open a gash that required
half-a-dozen stitches. It was no small miracle she hadn’t broken a leg or a
hip, as well. Thankfully, Gran’s bones proved as hardy as her stubborn streak.
Thank
goodness…
Jaylie’s gaze wandered along
painted sunflower yellow cabinets and over walls where a flurry of
carefully-framed photos and drawings spoke to the years she’d spent growing up
in the modest frame house. The pastel of an outdoor scene that she’d designed
for Gran’s sixtieth birthday stood the focal point. The image was frozen in
time, a cheerful splash of color that spoke to Gran’s vibrant personality.
Hopefully, that fighting spirit
would carry Gran through this tough time and into a full recovery. As far as
Jaylie had gathered up to this point, something in the back yard had spooked
Gran during a storm that swept through last Friday night. When Gran had
ventured outside to check things out she’d slipped on the porch stairs and
taken a tumble. How long she’d lain there on the pavement, unconscious and
bleeding, remained a mystery. Mrs. Talley, Gran’s longtime neighbor, had
discovered her as she went to fetch the morning paper. Zeke, Gran’s quirky
chocolate lab, had alerted Mrs. Talley with a lengthy bout of uncharacteristic,
frenzied barking.
News of the accident traveled
fast through the tightknit Honeysuckle Cove community. During the forty-eight
hours Grandma Nan had spent in the hospital, good wishes, along with enough
food to fill a supermarket chain, filtered into the house. Platters of various
sizes filled the fridge and overflowed onto countertops. Mrs. Werner’s apple
cobbler sweetened the air while a plate of brownies that had been heaped tall
enough to feed an army winked from the center of the cozy dining table tucked
into the bay-windowed breakfast nook. And the fridge…Jaylie could barely get
the door to close after storing all the perishables.
No one in this house would go
hungry. No, sir. Jaylie’s hips widened just thinking about the buffet of fried
chicken and vegetable lasagna, baked honey ham and sweet potato casserole. Just
about everyone in town had stopped by to check on Gran.
Everybody loved Grandma Nan.
She’d taught third grade at Honeysuckle Cove Elementary for over forty years.
Just about every resident under the age of fifty had come through her classroom
at one time or another. Each had stories to share about their adventures.
Whether they proved class clown or valedictorian mattered not an ounce to Gran.
She loved each and every one of them with every fiber of her being, just as
she’d spent a lifetime loving Jaylie. Memories of a school year spent with
Grandma Nan were sure to last a lifetime.
Tears welled in Jaylie’s eyes as
the events of the past forty-eight hours filtered through her mind. Exhaustion
and worry burrowed into her bones.
“I almost lost you, Grandma Nan,”
she whispered. Her only response was the tick of the clock on the wall over the
sink. She wished with all her heart that she could turn back its hands. She
might have arrived in time to shelter Gran from the fall. Then, instead of Gran
sleeping off the pain of her injury while Jaylie fretted, they’d be sitting
here together, playing a board game and laughing over silly things. She
sniffled as tears spilled over to run down her cheeks. “And I couldn’t bear to
lose you. I need you, Gran. You’re all I’ve got.”
How many times over the years had
Gran sheltered her from danger…from heartache and pain? More than she could
count.
Jaylie had come to live with Gran
the summer between her second and third grades of school. What was meant to be
merely a weeklong visit together while her mom went off on a honeymoon with her
third husband, stretched to two weeks and then an entire month. Before she knew
it, August rolled around without any sign of her mother.
When Jaylie finally asked, Gran
gently explained that her mother had gotten into a tight spot and she was going
to get some much-needed help to get back on her feet. It was years before
Jaylie realized that ‘tight spot’ included the new husband, prescription drugs,
and a very serious brush with the law.
Being separated from her only
living parent might have made other girls her age homesick, but not so much
Jaylie. Life with her mother had meant missed school days, spotty meals, soiled
clothes that never seemed to fit, and lots of lonely afternoons spent tiptoeing
around the rundown apartment they leased while mom holed up in her bed, nursing
a chronic headache.
But with Gran Jaylie experienced
warm hugs, loads of laughter, chicken and dumplings, and clothes that smelled
like sunshine. Best of all, Gran never cocooned herself in the bedroom, begging
a headache. Jaylie longed to stay with Gran forever. She’d told Gran as much.
So as Gran set out to prepare her
classroom for the coming year, Jaylie tagged along. When the school bell
ushered in a new school year, Jaylie was issued a front row seat—right next to
Holt McCaffrey who lived in the sprawling house right next door to them. Jaylie
knew this because while riding the shiny new bike Gran had given her for her
birthday, she’d spied him in the yard, chasing his dog and playing fetch when
he returned from a summer-long trip out west with his parents.
She’d spent the entire year—a
magical year—catching the bus, sharing lunch snacks and trading notes with
Holt. She’d learned the meaning of friendship and discovered her first—and
only—true love.
Blue-eyed Holt McCaffrey.
Jaylie stayed the next year with
Gran, and the next. And every one that followed. Gran gave her more than money
could ever buy. Jaylie felt wanted…and loved. Gran was never too busy to help
her to bake chocolate chunk cookies or listen to her school day adventures.
They’d even performed together in the mother-daughter talent show Jaylie’s
eighth grade year. The crowd had issued a standing ovation.
As high school graduation loomed,
Jaylie had confided to Gran her feelings for Holt. Gran had listened with a
twinkle in her eye and a grin on her lips.
“God works in mysterious ways,”
Gran had assured her with a tone of confidence Jaylie wished she also felt.
“You’ll see, Jaylie.”
Wasn’t that the truth! Less than
a month later Gran had dried Jaylie’s tears when Holt asked Megan Daniels to
senior Prom instead of her. Not that Jaylie could blame him for that. Megan was
a petite brunette bundle of TNT and the cheerleading captain. And, as the only
daughter of the most successful real estate agent in Clover Cove, she owned a
closet full of designer clothes. She zipped around town in a cherry-red ragtop
Miata—a far cry from Jaylie’s department store wardrobe and the used sedan she
shared with Gran.
It didn’t help matters when Megan
confided an unsettling secret to Jaylie just a few weeks later, implicating
Holt in her misadventures. The unexpected news broke Jaylie’s heart.
She couldn’t even consider the
details now and forced all thought of that fateful day from her mind. There was
no going back, no undoing what was done.
Instead of dwelling on what
couldn’t be changed, Jaylie had embraced the opportunity to put distance
between her and Holt. High school graduation came and went. She’d packed her
suitcase and moved halfway across the state to study journalism. Four years
later, bachelor degree in hand, she’d snagged a job as a reporter with the
Windy City’s Channel Eight News.
Since then she’d been woefully
lax on her visits to Gran. Her studies had left little free time and the move
to Chicago made day travel impossible. She learned early on that vacation days
proved few and far between for an inexperienced college graduate trying to
stake her place in the media world. Over the course of six years she’d worked her
tail off. She’d climbed the ranks of the fickle news industry in record time,
clawing her way to the coveted position as evening news anchor. Life had been a
dream come true.
Except for missing Holt and
wishing…always wishing for something more in that arena, though she knew it
could never be.
Then a few months ago the station
was bought out and wham, the hard-won
position was snatched from her. It mattered not one iota that she had more
talent and experience in her pinky finger than the new GM’s niece, who had
happily—and with a haughty dose of arrogance—slipped into Jaylie’s seat at the
anchor desk.
Jaylie had seethed over this turn
of events. She’d buried herself in a dark pit and covered the hole with
self-pity. She’d finally crawled from the trench to phone Gran and share her
disappointment. Together, they’d decided her best option was to come home to
the cove and hash things out. Jaylie had felt a surge of optimism. Gran always
knew just how to tackle even the toughest problem and come out on top. Jaylie
had actually been packed and ready to head this way when the call about Gran’s
fall had come through.
“You need
to come home right away, Jaylie.” Holt’s voice, steeped with
concern that had her nerves standing at attention, drifted through her ears. “Nan’s had an accident. I’m not sure if
she’ll be…I mean, I don’t know how bad it is.”
Emotions churned through Jaylie.
Worry over Gran blended with the most subtle hint of delight over speaking to
Holt again after so many years.
God works
in mysterious ways…
Zeke sauntered into the room. He
padded over to Jaylie, sniffed the tile, and plopped down at her feet.
“There’s my good boy.” Jaylie
swiped tears from her cheeks and extended a hand to offer him a soothing stroke
along his flank. “You’re my hero, baby. You summoned help for Gran. I owe you
bigtime. I’ll never forget that.”
A low-pitched rumble bubbled up
from Zeke’s throat. He pressed his grizzled snout to Jaylie’s knee as if he
understood the depths of her appreciation.
“Yes, you’re a good boy,” she
cooed. “The best.”
The sound of a motor drew
Jaylie’s attention through the broad bay window that flanked the breakfast
nook. Zeke’s ears perked as he rose on all fours. He lumbered to the window and
propped his front paws along the ledge.
A police cruiser wound its way up
the drive. Impeccably-waxed paint along the front hood glinted beneath the
mid-May sun. The driver’s eyes were shielded by a pair of reflective sunglasses
but Jaylie would recognize the strong curve of that chiseled jaw anywhere, even
after all this time.
Holt McCaffrey.
He pulled beneath the shade of
Gran’s beloved century-old elm tree and killed the motor. A breeze rustled
through the leaves as he leaned back in the seat and rested behind the wheel,
probably debating whether or not to come inside.
That in itself brought a
whole new level of heartache.
~~~~~
