Reconsidering Riley

RECONSIDERING RILEY

by

Lisa Plumley

Smashwords Edition

* * * * *

previously published by Kensington
Publishing

GIRLY GIRL...

Jayne Murphy is a woman on
top. From trendy haircut to perfect pedicure, she's a vision of
city-smart style, wrapped around the brains and intuition that made
her very first book a bestseller. The truth is, Jayne's
relationship manual, Heartbreak 101, was inspired by her
all-too-personal experience with gorgeous,
capable...outdoorsy...photojournalist Riley Davis, who stole her
heart--and promptly skipped town with it. Now, by way of
researching her next project, Jayne's organized a workshop for
dump-ees. But it becomes apparent that the "retreat" she's planned
could be hell on her high heels--and her heart--when the leader for
her group's week-long nature jaunt turns out to be none other than
a certain...

...GOODBYE GUY

Riley has no idea he planted
the seeks for Heartbreak 101, much less that Jayne's the guru whose
devotees he'll be leading through the wilderness. He does know that
helping his grandparents run their rustic Arizona lodge is only a
temporary respite from the wanderlust that led him away from her,
back into a life of nonstop adventure--and loneliness. Jayne's
version of "roughing it" reminds Riley all over again how different
they are...and how much he's missed her. The challenge now isn't
just getting everyone out of the woods in one piece, but making
sure that Jayne's next book has a happily-ever-after
ending...

* * * * *

Copyright © 2014 by Lisa Plumley

This ebook is licensed for
your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be resold or given
away to other people. If you would like to share this book with
another person, please purchase an additional copy for each
recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it,
then please respect the hard work of this author by purchasing your
own copy. Thank you!

* * * * *

USA TODAY best-selling author Lisa Plumley
has delighted readers worldwide with more than three dozen popular
novels. Her work has been translated into multiple languages and
editions, and includes contemporary romances, western historical
romances, paranormal romances, and a variety of stories in romance
anthologies. Her fresh, funny style has been likened to such reader
favorites as Rachel Gibson, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, LaVyrle
Spencer, and Jennifer Crusie, but her unique characterization is
all her own.

Visit Lisa at her website,
www.lisaplumley.com
,
follow her on Twitter
@LisaPlumley
,
connect with her official Facebook page at
www.facebook.com/lisaplumleybooks
,
or circle her on Google+ at
www.google.com/+Lisaplumley
today!

Lisa also writes cozy mysteries
as 
Colette London
. Her
Chocolate Whisperer series (featuring chocolate expert—and amateur
sleuth!—Hayden Mundy Moore) kicked off with Criminal Confections
and Dangerously Dark and continues with The Semisweet Hereafter in
October 2016, all from Kensington Books.

Visit www.colettelondon.com today to sign up
for updates on Colette's books, catch all the news on Facebook at
facebook.com/colette.london.books
,
follow
@Colette__London
on Twitter, or circle her on Google+ at
http://google.com/+Colettelondonbooks
today.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Chapter One

Note from the Author

Email Reminders

What People Are Saying...

Series Books by Lisa Plumley

Complete Book List: Lisa
Plumley
 

Cozy Mysteries by Lisa Plumley (writing as Colette
London)

Complete Book List: Colette
London

RECONSIDERING RILEY

by

Lisa Plumley

Chapter One

Jayne Murphy hadn't intended to tackle the
rugged Northern Arizona wilderness armed with not much more than
pink stilettos, a tin of Altoids, and two hardcover copies of
Heartbreak 101: Getting Over The Good-Bye Guys
. But when she
arrived at the Hideaway travel adventure lodge shortly before noon
on the sunny Monday morning that was to begin her weeklong trip, it
became immediately clear to Jayne that intentions didn't
necessarily mean a thing.

Reality, on the other hand, did.

And Jayne's reality included none of the
things she'd been prepared for. Where were the valets? she wondered
as the airport shuttle jolted to a stop in a cloud of red dust.
Where were the private spa cabins, the chic outdoorsy breakfast
tables, the back-to-nature Jacuzzis?

In their places were a lot of boulders, a
hand-lettered "parking" sign, two picnic tables beneath the trees,
and a single long, low building accented with smaller outbuildings.
It looked like Abe Lincoln's summer home. Like
Frontierland
come to life. Like, like—Jayne took a deep breath and fought back
her panic at being thrust unexpectedly into such hardscrabble
surroundings, trying hard to fit the scene into her personal frame
of reference—like a grunge-meets-L.L. Bean ad layout.

Minus the glossiness, of course.

She swiveled in her seat toward the van
driver who'd transported her and her five companions from the
airport in Sedona. "Is this the gatehouse? The garage?" She
couldn't keep the hopefulness from her voice. Maybe Arizonans
envisioned the standard two-and-a-half car number differently than
she did. "Someone's private residence?"

He chuckled. "No, ma'am. This here's the
lodge."

"The
Hideaway
Lodge?"

"The very same."

Jayne frowned in confusion. Her publicist
had led her to believe the Hideaway Lodge was about as rustic as
the Ralph Lauren department at Macy's. She couldn't help but feel a
little misled.

"And home base for you ladies for the next
week, I understand." The driver pulled out the keys and tossed them
jauntily in the air before catching them. "Welcome to the back
country."

His door creaked as he opened it. He jumped
out, ostensibly to retrieve their luggage. That was when Jayne
realized he wasn't kidding. This really was It.

Faced with the truth—that the research for
her next book was going to take place here in PaulBunyanville and
that a compensatory sea salt aromatherapy rub followed by a
champagne cool down was unlikely at most—she rallied her spirits
and prepared to make the best of things.

After all, there was a lot riding on this
week's activities. Her whole future depended on what happened here
in Arizona. And now that she'd discovered where that future lay,
Jayne intended to grab every opportunity with both pink-manicured
hands. Starting this minute.

"Okay, ladies." Moving into full leadership
mode, she raised her voice to gain the attention of the five
chattering women on the van's bench seats behind her.
Simultaneously, she pulled a compact from her handbag. "This is it.
The beginning of the next chapter of your life: breaking free!"

Everyone cheered. The driver, hauling bags
from the storage area behind the final seat, shook his head.

"You're about to make your entrance into
that new life. Compacts at the ready!" With a swift look, Jayne
confirmed that each woman had withdrawn the leopard-print
pressed-powder compact she'd been issued. "Okay...primp!"

Nose-tickling powder pouffed into the air,
sent adrift by the force of six puffs diligently in action. Various
perfumes filled the spaces between the seats. Lipsticks were
passed, mouths puckered, hair fluffed. Finally, Jayne surveyed her
own reflection, blew a kiss into the mirror, and snapped her
compact shut. A series of echoing clicks followed.

"What's our motto?"

"If you look good, you feel good!"

The ladies' enthusiastic response made Jayne
smile. Obviously, the mini-orientation session she'd held while
waiting in Phoenix for their connecting flight here had paid off.
Satisfied, she complimented everyone on their efforts.

There was nothing better, she thought as she
gave her charges a fond look, than helping people in need.

"All right, then. Let's go!"

"Yay!"

Ready or not, Jayne led the charge. Opening
the van's passenger-side door, she thrust her T-strap stilettos
bravely into the high-desert air. She touched the reddish dirt with
her toes. She grabbed her handbag and both books she'd brought,
then emerged into the sunlight with a smile on her face.

The adventure was about to begin.

Ten minutes later, the adventure had yet to
begin, and Jayne was getting a little worried. Not that she meant
to show it. Her ladies' sense of confidence and well-being depended
on her, and she wasn't going to let them down.

Luckily, she'd brought enough luggage to see
them through any contingency...even, as was the case right now, the
mysterious absence of their lodge hosts.

The place was as deserted as a Thanksgiving
swimwear sale. No one had answered their knock at the Hideaway
Lodge's locked front door. No one had answered their cell phone
call to the number Jayne's publicist had listed on her itinerary.
No one had arrived in their driver's wake and explained the whole
mess while handing out complimentary bottles of Evian and
creatively-assembled finger foods.

More's the pity, Jayne decided. She really
could have used a little nosh. Maybe some of those cream cheese
stuffed cherry tomatoes, or a nice mini quiche Lorraine. She hadn't
had a bite since breakfast—but with only airport food available,
who could blame her? Her favorite blueberry frappe bath gel was
probably more edible than the average stuff served up between
concourses.

She'd been looking forward to the lunch
she'd thought would undoubtedly await them at the lodge. Instead,
Jayne's stomach rumbled as she traversed—yet again—the distance
between the lodge's front door and their assembly in the parking
lot.

Seated on various pieces of Jayne's
hard-sided signature-baby-blue luggage, the women all looked to her
for guidance. The game of gin rummy being played atop her steamer
trunk of shoes came to a stop.

"Still no answer."

They drooped. Grudgingly, the players
resumed their game. Although Jayne didn't know any of them well
yet, their disappointment tugged at her.

"But I'm sure it's only a matter of time.
I'll see what I can do."

For privacy, she strode into the shadow of a
semi-crumpled pickup truck with its hood raised. Careful not to
brush her close-fitting baby blue print silk shirtdress against the
vehicle's grimy exterior, she took out her cell phone and dialed.
Her publicist answered on the third ring.

"Francesca? It's Jayne.
Listen, about this research
trip you planned—"

"Jayne! Great to hear from you! How are
things in the Southwest?"

Jayne covered her phone-free ear, the better
to hear Francesca speaking from her noisy Snap Books cubicle in
faraway—and blissfully civilized—New York City.
"They're...unexpected. This Hideaway Lodge is—"

"Rustic, yes? Charming? Quiet? All the
things you're going to need to work on that next blockbuster for
us. Don't worry about a thing. I've got every detail covered."

That was what worried her. "When you said
you were sending me and my workshop participants on an 'adventure
travel trip' to get away from it all, I thought that was just one
of those sayings. You know. Like 'instant classic,' or
'wash-and-wear hair.'" She tossed her own shoulder-length tresses
in frustration. "I think they actually have outhouses in this
place!"

Francesca hooted. "
Those
didn't show
up on the website picture when I was scouting locations for
you."

"I think you mistook them for the guest
cabins."

"Hmmm. Maybe. There
were
several of
them...."

Jayne didn't want to speculate on the
reasons for that. "All I wanted was someplace private and serene.
Someplace where my workshop participants wouldn't be bothered by
reminders of the problems they were leaving behind."

"By which you mean the 'good-bye guys.' The
ex-boyfriends."

"
And
ex-husbands, ex-lovers,
ex-unforgettable-one-night-stands. Yes."

Jayne's gaze fell on the two hardbound
books—copies of the book
she'd
actually written—stacked on a
nearby boulder to give her handbag a clean spot to rest.
Heartbreak 101: Getting Over The Good-Bye Guys
was her claim
to fame and the key to her newfound purpose, all in one. If its
follow-up workbook was going to be half as successful, she needed
to make Francesca understand her dilemma.