Eliza Monroe has been traveling the United States for three years,
immersing herself in the towns she visits as she searches for the mother she’s
never known. She hopes returning to her grandmother’s inn in Sage Springs, Mo.,
will provide the break she needs to evaluate her lonely life.
What Eliza isn’t expecting is to have two men enter the picture,
not making her decision to stay or leave any easier. One has been her
foundation, while the other is as comfortable as she is hopping from city to
city. Throw in a kooky grandmother, a cheerful best friend, a sarcastic guest,
a town where residents and spirits interact like neighbors, and Eliza has
little time to contemplate her future.
Friendships grow, webs are spun and lies are revealed before Eliza
comes to terms with what she wants in life and learns what's really important.
I missed Grams and Lexi. I came back for one week every
September to help Grams prepare the inn for guests. This year was different.
Cedar Inn needed lots of repairs since Grams had been putting them off. Though
the biggest thing calling me home was that I needed some time off from
traveling. Still no closer to my mother or finding myself, I needed some time
to assess.
“We’ll be landing in Kansas City in about thirty minutes,”
the pilot announced, jolting me from my thoughts. “It’s a sunny seventy-eight degrees.”
That was a nice way of saying it wasn’t going to be hot as balls when we
stepped off the plane. The summers were brutal and full of humidity, which is
one of the reasons I picked fall for my yearly visits.
The man next to me snored. How did I always get stuck next
to people like this? It was like I was a magnet for weird encounters. “Please
invade my personal space” must have been written on my forehead. I knew I was
in trouble when the man plopped down in the seat and started taking up my legroom
and arm room within seconds.
I flipped off my e-reader and stowed it in my purse as I
took a deep breath and prepared to face the next few weeks that would likely
decide my future. It was time for me to determine if I wanted to continue my
journey on the road and the search for my mother, or if I should move back to
Sage Springs and be surrounded by people who loved me.
Lexi had promised to meet me at the airport and drive me to
Cedar Inn. I took another deep breath as the plane landed. As anxious as I was
about facing my future, I was excited to be stationary for a while. Seeing as
how Sage Springs was more of a, err, spiritual community, I guess you could
say, I felt excited to be around other people like me.
Mr. Snorer had awoken upon landing and was now edging his
way into the aisle. I jumped in line right behind him and stepped off the
plane. As I entered the airport gate, I steeled myself for Lexi’s little body
launching itself at me. She had a way of doing that, and I didn’t want to fall
on the airport’s dirty carpet with her on top of me, smothering me with hugs.
I glanced around for Lexi’s blonde head. Odd. I didn’t see
her. I peered around again, taking a step out of the way as families reunited
and lovers embraced. I was midway through swiveling my head when I lost my
breath and my eyes bulged. Dark blond hair, six-three, muscular build, brown
eyes, dimple.
Jake.
Lexi would not do this to me. She couldn’t. She wouldn’t
possibly send him here to pick me up. It was an hour drive to Cedar Inn. I
couldn’t be stuck in the car with Jake Brown for that long. I’d seen him twice
since I left Sage Springs three years ago. He hadn’t seen me. Since I was only
in town for a week each of the other times, I spent most of the visits at the
inn with Grams, so there was no reason for any awkward meetings.
“Eliza? That you?”
Hollie Westring hails from Kansas City, Mo. She used to be a
journalist, which probably explains her extreme dislike of the serial comma and
her preference for AP style.
After realizing the hours of journalists were not productive to
any type of social or family life, she settled into a job at a publishing
syndicate. She worked with comics, astrology columns, word puzzles and feature columns
for six years. Although she enjoyed her time there, Hollie decided to leave the
nine-to-five world and join the twenty-four/seven world of motherhood. Now she
edits from home.
When not writing, editing or reading, Hollie can be found baking
cookies or watching more than her fair share of crime TV. She’s a loyal Royals
and Chiefs fan.
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