The Inn at Eagle Point

Dear Reader,
Launching a new series is one of my very favorite things. I get to enter a
whole new setting, meet fascinating, complex new characters and, hopefully,
create situations and conflicts that will resonate with all of you. When I was
deciding the details of this latest series, I kept coming back to the
Chesapeake Bay, an area near and dear to my heart. Though I don't actually live
on the bay, my summer home is on the Potomac River just above where it enters
the bay. There are few places on earth more beautiful and serene.
Setting, however, isn't the only thing that matters. Even more important are
the characters who will fill these pages, and for this I wanted a huge,
complicated, dysfunctional family. Thus, the O'Briens. You'll meet four
generations of them over time, many of them with major issues with each other.
There will be stories of betrayal, reconciliation and, of course, love. There
will be meddling and matchmaking and tough choices. And along the way, there
will be lots of laughs and a few tears.
The Inn at Eagle Point
is Abby's story, but it is also a story about
sisters and how they stand up for each other without question. It's a story of
a powerful love, first lost, then found again. And of two proud men who
struggle to believe in second chances.
So welcome to Chesapeake Shores. I hope you'll come to love the O'Briens and
their world.
All best,

Prologue

T
he arguing had gone on most of the
night. In her room just three doors down the hall from her parents' master
suite, Abby had been able to hear the sound of raised voices, but not the
words. It wasn't the first time they'd fought recently, yet this time something
felt different. The noisy exchange itself and fretting about it kept her awake
most of the night.
Until she walked downstairs just after dawn and saw suitcases in the front
hallway, Abby hoped she'd only imagined the difference, that the knot of dread
that had formed in her stomach was no more than her overactive imagination
making something out of nothing. Now she knew better. Someone was leaving this
time—quite possibly forever, judging from the pile of luggage by the door.
She tried to quiet her panic, reminding herself that her dad, Mick O'Brien,
left all the time. An internationally acclaimed architect, he was always going
someplace for a new job, a new adventure. Again, though, this felt different.
He'd only been home a couple of days from his last trip. He rarely turned right
around and left again.
"Abby!" Her mother sounded startled and just a little edgy.
"What are you doing up so early?"
Abby wasn't surprised that her mother was caught off guard. Most teenagers,
including Abby and her brothers, hated getting up early on the weekends. Most
Saturdays it was close to noon when she finally made her way downstairs.
Abby met her mother's gaze, saw the dismay in her eyes and knew instinctively
that Megan had hoped to be gone before anyone got up, before anyone could
confront her with uncomfortable questions.
"You're leaving, aren't you?" Abby said flatly, trying not to cry.
She was seventeen, and if she was right about what was going on, she was the
one who was going to have to be strong for her younger brothers and sisters.
Megan's eyes filled with tears. She opened her mouth to speak, but no words
came out. Finally, she nodded.
"Why, Mom?" Abby began, a torrent of questions following. "Where
are you going? What about us? Me, Bree, Jess, Connor and Kevin? Are you walking
out on us, too?"
"Oh, sweetie, I could never do that," Megan said, reaching for her.
"You're my babies. As soon as I'm settled, I'll be back for you. I
promise."
Though her declaration was strong, Abby saw through it to the fear underlying
her words. Wherever Megan was going, she was scared and filled with
uncertainty. How could she not be? She and Mick O'Brien had been married for
nearly twenty years. They'd had five children together, and a life they'd built
right here in Chesapeake Shores, the town that Mick himself had designed and
constructed with his brothers. And now Megan was going off all alone, starting
over—How could she not be terrified?
"Mom, is this really what you want?" Abby asked, trying to make sense
of such a drastic decision. She knew plenty of kids whose parents were
divorced, but their moms hadn't just packed up and left. If anyone had gone, it
had been the dads. This seemed a thousand times worse.
"Of course it's not what I want," Megan said fiercely. "But
things can't go on as they have been." She started to say more, than waved
it off. "That's between your father and me. I just know I have to make a
change. I need a fresh start."
In a way, Abby was relieved that Megan hadn't said more. Abby didn't want the
burden of knowing what had driven her mother to go. She loved and respected
both of her parents, and she wasn't sure how she would have handled careless,
heated words capable of destroying that love she felt for either one of them.
"But where will you go?" she asked again. Surely it wouldn't be far.
Surely her mother wouldn't leave her all alone to cope with the fallout. Mick
was helpless with emotions. He could handle all the rest—providing for them,
loving them, even going to the occasional ball game or science fair—but when it
came to everyday bumps and bruises and hurt feelings, it was Megan they all
relied on.
Then again, why wouldn't Megan assume Abby could handle all the rest? Everyone
in the family knew that Abby took her responsibility as the oldest seriously.
She'd always known that her parents counted on her as backup. Bree, who'd just
turned twelve-going-on-thirty, and her brothers would be okay. With Megan gone,
Bree might retreat into herself at first, but, mature and self-contained, she
would find her own way of coping. Kevin and Connor were teenage guys. They were
pretty much oblivious to everything except sports and girls. More often than
not, they found their exuberant, affectionate mother to be an embarrassment.
That left Jess. She was only a baby. Okay, she'd just turned seven last week,
Abby reminded herself, but that was still way too young not to have her mom
around. Abby had no idea how to fill that role, even temporarily.
"I won't be that far away," Megan assured her. "As soon as I've
found a job and a place for all of us, I'll come back for you. It won't take
long." Then, almost to herself, she added, "I won't
let
it
take long."
Abby wanted to scream at her that any amount of time would be too long, any
distance too far. How could her mother not see that? But she looked so sad.
Lost and alone, really. Her cheeks were damp with tears, too. How could Abby
yell at her and make her feel even worse? Abby knew she would simply have to
find a way to cope, a way to make the others understand.
Then she was struck by another, more terrifying thought. "What about when
Dad goes away on business? Who'll look out for us then?"
Megan's expression faltered for just an instant, probably at the very real fear
she must have heard in Abby's voice. "Your grandmother will move in.
Mick's already spoken to her. She'll be here later today."
At the realization that this was real, that if they'd made arrangements for
Gram to move in, then this separation was permanent and not some temporary
separation that would end as soon as her parents came to their senses, Abby
began to shake. "No," she whispered. "This is so wrong,
Mom."
Megan seemed taken aback by her vehemence. "But you all love Gram! It'll
be wonderful for you having her right here with you."
"That's not the point," Abby said. "She's not
you!
You
can't do this to us."
Megan pulled Abby into her arms, but Abby yanked herself free. She refused to
be comforted when her mother was about to walk out the door and tear their
lives apart.
"I'm not doing this
to
you," Megan said, her expression pleading
for understanding. "I'm doing it
for
me. Try to understand. In the
long run it's going to be best for all of us." She touched Abby's
tearstained cheek. "You'll love New York, Abby. You especially. We'll go
to the theater, the ballet, the art galleries."
Abby stared at her with renewed shock. "You're moving to New York?"
Forgetting for a moment her own dream of someday working there, making a name
for herself in the financial world, all she could think about now was that it
was hours away from their home in Chesapeake Shores, Maryland. A tiny part of
her had apparently hoped that her mother would be going no farther away than
across town, or maybe to Baltimore or Annapolis. Wasn't that far enough to
escape her problems with Mick without abandoning her children?
"What are we supposed to do if we need you?" she demanded.
"You'll call me, of course," Megan said.
"And then wait hours for you to get here? Mom, that's crazy."
"Sweetie, it won't be for long, a few weeks at most, and then you'll be
with me. I'm going to find a wonderful place for us. I'll find the best private
schools. Mick and I have agreed to that."
Abby desperately wanted to believe it would all work out. At the same time she
wanted to keep her right here answering questions until she forgot all about
this crazy plan, but just then a taxi pulled up outside. Abby stared from the
taxi to her mother in horror. "You're leaving right this minute, without
even saying goodbye?" She'd guessed as much earlier, but now it seemed too
cruel.
Tears streamed down Megan's cheeks. "Believe me, it's better this way.
It'll be easier. I've left notes for everyone under their bedroom doors, and
I'll call tonight. We'll be together again before you know it."
As Abby stood there, frozen with shock, Megan picked up the first two bags and
carried them across the porch and down the front steps to the waiting cab. The
driver came back for the rest, followed by Megan.
Standing in the empty foyer, she tucked a finger under Abby's chin. "I
love you, sweetheart. And I know how strong you are. You'll be here for your
brothers and sisters. It's the only thing that makes this separation
okay."
"It is
not
okay!" Abby replied vehemently, her voice starting
to climb. Until now, she'd mostly kept it together, but the realization that
her mom wasn't even sticking around to handle the initial fallout from this
made her want to scream. She wasn't an adult. This wasn't her mess to solve.
"I hate you!" she shouted as Megan walked down the steps, her spine
straight. She shouted it again just to make sure her mother heard the anger in
her voice, but Megan never looked back.
Abby would have gone on shouting until the taxi was out of sight, but just then
she caught a movement out of the corner of her eye and turned to see Jess, her eyes
wide with confusion and dismay.
"Mommy," Jess whispered, her chin wobbling as she stared through the
open doorway at the disappearing taxi. Her strawberry-blond hair was tangled,
her feet bare, the imprint of her old-fashioned chenille bedspread on her
cheek. "Where's Mommy going?"
Calling on that inner strength everyone believed she had, Abby steeled herself
against her own fear, tamped down all the anger and forced a smile for her
little sister. "Mommy's going on a trip."
Tears welled in Jess's eyes. "When's she coming back?"
Abby gathered her sister in her arms. "I'm not sure," she said, then
added with a confidence she was far from feeling, "She promised it won't
be long."
But, of course, that turned out to be a lie.