When Love Happens (27 page)

Thanksgiving, Ribbon Ridge

T
ORI SAT BACK
in her chair in the grand dining room at her parents’ house and surveyed the laughter and the joy around the table. She couldn’t remember the last time everyone had been home for Thanksgiving—Christmas, yes, but Thanksgiving was hit or miss. It actually wasn’t quite everyone; Hayden was still in France. And, of course, Alex was gone.

Thinking
that simple phrase,
Alex was gone
, still caused a little squeeze in her chest, but it was getting easier. Letting Sean’s love and support guide her, she’d been finding her way back to the land of the living over the past few weeks.

After staying to ensure his father’s surgery went well, they’d taken a short honeymoon in the Scottish Highlands. Just thinking of that idyllic weekend brought a smile
to her face.

“What are you grinning about?” Sean, seated on her right, leaned over and whispered against her ear.

She reached over and touched his thigh. “Scotland.”

“Damn it. You’d mention that at the dinner table? In front of your family?”

They’d emerged from their gorgeous room at the bed and breakfast a handful of times, the most memorable being a long walk through field and forest, culminating
in another public sex act as they’d made love against a tree, of all places. She kept her voice low. “I enjoy our little forays into crazy places, but I draw the line at Thanksgiving dinner.”

He laughed. “So glad we’re on the same page.”

And they were. Once they’d gotten over the obstacle of thinking they had to work everything around their jobs, things had started to fall into place. She’d
insisted on giving him money to start his production company. He’d balked at first, but she’d argued that she wanted to invest in his ideas and talent. He’d ultimately accepted her offer, but only after he’d secured a partner, someone who’d also staked a start-up investment.

His first project was going to be the idea he’d pitched at his last job—chronicling the opening of Kyle’s restaurant, right
after Kyle flew to New York and filmed an episode of
Chopped
. Kyle was ridiculously excited about that.

She was still nervous about the restaurant opening on time, but there was nothing she could do at the moment. Aubrey was appealing the zoning fine and fighting Russ Parker’s zoning appeal, and right now they could only wait to see what happened.

“Are we ready to pry ourselves from the table?”
Dad asked from the head, glancing around at his offspring and their significant others. Everyone had a “date” except Evan and Liam.

“Please, save us from ourselves,” Derek said, standing and then holding Chloe’s chair.

“Sean, come downstairs and help me pick out a scotch to bring up,” Dad said.

“Absolutely.” He brushed a kiss against Tori’s cheek and then followed her dad. They’d become quite
close, riding together and even brewing beer along with Dylan, who’d started last summer.

Everyone stood from the table and bused all of the dishes into the kitchen. Mom took the lead in loading the dishwashers—you didn’t have a family their size without at least two dishwashers. Once they were running and the serving pans were soaking in the sink, Mom shooed everyone out and into the living
room. “I’ll lay dessert out in here a little later, okay?”

“Sounds good.”

In the living room, Dad and Sean had brought up some whiskey, port, and a couple bottles of pinot.

“It’s a good thing you and Sean stayed together,” Sara said to Tori. “Dad might’ve chosen to keep him over you.”

“No kidding.” But Tori was just happy they got along so well. She’d also fallen in love with his parents and
had been delighted when they’d accepted the Archers’ invitation to spend Christmas in Ribbon Ridge. Tori couldn’t wait for Charlie and her dad to meet, and Mom and Kay would bond insanely over everything to do with gardens.

“Liam still doesn’t have a girlfriend?” Sara asked, eyeing their brother, who stood with Sean and Dad organizing the after-dinner drinks.

“Not that I know of. He doesn’t
keep them—six months, tops—but he hasn’t gone this long without one.”

“Yeah, it’s been almost a year, right? Didn’t he break up with the last one just before last Christmas?” After Tori nodded, Sara continued, “One might wonder if there’s something secretive going on.”

Tori nudged her in the arm. “Knock it off. I’m done apologizing for keeping you all in the dark.” That wasn’t true; she wasn’t
sure she’d ever stop regretting the months she’d lost with Sean. “I really am sorry.”

Sara gave her shoulders a quick squeeze. “I know. What about Evan? We ought to find him a girlfriend.”

Tori’s gaze slid to Evan, who stood near the fireplace talking with Dylan and Derek. “Don’t pester him about that.” While it looked as though Evan had never had a serious girlfriend, Tori knew he had a regular
thing going with his neighbor up in Washington. Was there a chance it could be serious?

She worked her way over to them and managed to get Evan alone a few minutes later. “I’m so glad you came down for Thanksgiving.” Evan came back to Ribbon Ridge only a few times a year, despite living just a couple of hours away. “Especially since you were here last month—and for no reason.”

His gaze, not
usually on the person he spoke to, drifted somewhere behind her. “I’d say there was a perfectly good reason. I brought you Alex’s letter.”

“That’s true.” She smiled up at him. “And I’m glad you were here. That was a rough weekend.” After she’d returned from her pointless trip to LA, Evan had been instrumental in keeping her from falling off the deep end. “How are things with you and the neighbor?”
she asked.

Evan made eye contact for the briefest instant before looking away again. “There’s nothing going on. We’re just friends.”

“Friends who hook up on a regular basis,” Tori said. “Why isn’t it more than that?” His Asperger’s made social interaction challenging, but his capacity for emotion—for love—was as great as anyone else’s she knew.

“I’m not interested in more than that. Just because
you’re all pairing off doesn’t mean the rest of us have to.” He looked toward Liam, and Tori wondered if they’d commiserated about half the family being married or on their way to getting married. Only Kyle and Maggie weren’t married or engaged, and everyone expected that to change soon.

“So you’re actually going to stay in Ribbon Ridge?” Evan asked. He shook his head. “I can’t quite believe
that. You couldn’t wait to make it big.”

Tori laughed softly. “Yeah, I know, but I think I did.” She looked at Sean, who was laughing with Liam and Dad, and knew she’d hit it bigger than she’d ever imagined. “And I’m pretty excited about my new firm. I have my first client—a new winery in Dundee.”

“Sounds great.”

“Yeah, but first I need to design our new house. Sean and I just put an offer
on a couple of acres up in the hills, not too far from Sara and Dylan.”

“Wow, you really are putting down roots.” Evan fidgeted with a button on his shirtfront. He fidgeted when he was trying to process something. It was a bit like Sara but different at the same time.

“Is there something else?” she gently prompted, not wanting to pry. Evan was an intensely private person.

His gaze settled on
her for a little longer this time but eventually moved away again. “I’ve actually been thinking of moving back here. I feel as though I should do something with The Alex.”

Alex had assigned roles to everyone—Tori was the architect, Sara oversaw the special event space and would be the event coordinator, Kyle oversaw the restaurant, Derek did the financials, Hayden was supposed to manage the hotel,
and Liam was supposed to be managing the entire project, since he was a real estate developer. However, Hayden had gone off to pursue his wine-making dream, while Liam had refused to take even a moment away from his real estate empire in Denver. That left Evan, who Alex had intended to manage all of the technical aspects, presumably the website, reservations, and that sort of thing. However,
none of that was anywhere near ready to be done. Actually . . .

“You know, you could start working on the website,” Tori said. “We could show the construction in progress, build some excitement.”

“Are you sure you want to do that? What about the zoning issues?”

“Aubrey’s doing everything she can, and it’s unlikely the court will approve Parker’s appeal.”

“I can’t believe that dick filed an
appeal.”

“Me neither, but in some ways, I think it was a blessing in disguise.” She watched as Mom walked up to Dad and slid her arm around his waist. His arm came around her shoulders as he held her close and flashed her a quick smile.

Evan’s brow furrowed. “You think it brought Mom and Dad back together?”

“I don’t think it hurt to remind Dad that he’d won Mom once and could do it again.”

Evan shook his head. “This is why I don’t get into serious relationships. I don’t understand the nuances.”

“You would, too, if you tried.” She turned her attention back to him. “So you really want to move back home? That would be great. What about your job?”

“Uh, well, you know I do a lot of it remotely.” He tugged the hem of his shirt down over his hip. “It’s actually entirely remote now.”

“Really? That’s fantastic! Where are you going to live?”

He gave a little shrug. “I don’t know. I might just live here for a little while, until I figure things out.”

Tori wondered if there was more to this than what he was telling her but again decided she wouldn’t ask—not now, anyway. With him in Ribbon Ridge, she’d have plenty of time to ferret out what was really going on.

Sean came over
and handed her a glass of whiskey. “I took the liberty of pouring you the Glen Grant we brought back with us.”

She inhaled the smoky, vanilla-tinged scent. “Mmm, love it, thanks.”

“Yeah, we probably should’ve brought more than two bottles—your dad loves it, too.”

“Sounds like I ought to try it then,” Evan said, heading over to where Dad stood with the drinks.

“Everything all right?” Sean asked.
“You looked a little intense while you were talking to Evan.”

“Everything’s fine. He’s thinking of moving home.”

Sean blinked, his long, dark lashes fanning over his incredible blue eyes. “Wow, so many Archers back in Ribbon Ridge . . . What will your parents do?”

“Throw a party.” Tori chuckled. “It’s going to make Mom’s year. After Hayden comes home—and presuming he stays home—Liam will be
the only holdout.”

“I know I only just met him, but I can’t see him coming back, can you?”

Tori shook her head as she sampled the delicious scotch. “No, but stranger things have happened, I suppose.”

Sean slipped his arm around her and drew her close. “Like you quitting your job and moving back here?”

“Like hooking up at a New Year’s Eve party and getting married five weeks later.” She splayed
her palm against his chest. “Who does that?”

Sean leaned close to her ear. “Very, very smart people.” He snagged his teeth on her earlobe and gave a playful tug.

A delicious shiver raced up her spine. Would their attraction ever wane? She hoped not. “Knock it off. We can’t go upstairs yet. If we don’t try to cram a little of Mom’s dessert down our throats, she’ll be disappointed.”

He sighed.
“If you insist.”

“It’s not about what
I
want. You know I cherish every moment we spend together and that I don’t know if we’ll ever be able to make up for the time I stupidly cost us.”

He squeezed her waist. “Hey, stop that. You can’t keep beating yourself up. We’re good now. You’re good, right?”

“I’m better than good.” She leaned up and kissed him, digging her fingers into his chest as love
overwhelmed her. “I’m happy.”

First and foremost, I have to thank my husband and kids for their unending tolerance and support of my ridiculous writing schedule. You make everything worthwhile, and I love you like crazy.

Thank you to my agent, Jim McCarthy, for appreciating the pool scene and my editor, Nicole Fischer, for always knowing what needs what where. I enjoy working with you both so much.

As
always, thank you to the NW Pixie Chicks and our amazing annual retreat. I wrote a third of this book that weekend, and Operation Divorce Me wouldn’t have turned out half as awesome if not for your input. Rachel, Becky, Courtney, Elisabeth, and Cathy, you girls are scary and hilarious at the same time. I think we’re all in agreement that Rachel’s chocolate martinis make everything better, and Courtney’s
“cheering” could’ve saved the Super Bowl.

A special thank you to Erica Ridley, Lynda Aicher, and Joan Swan—excellent writers and even better friends. Also, thank you to Laura Marney for answering my questions about British healthcare!

Finally, I want to thank my family, which is not large like the Archers’. I love them just as fiercely, however, and we have a silliness factor that just might
eclipse the Archers’ intensity. Dad, I wish you were here.

Full disclosure:
Notting Hill
is one of my absolute favorite films.

Thank You!

Thank you for reading
When Love Happens
! I hope you’re enjoying the Archer family as much as I am, and I hope you’ll come back to Ribbon Ridge for Evan’s story, tentatively titled
The Idea of You
.

Ribbon Ridge is a fictional town based on several cities
and towns dotting the Willamette Valley between Portland and the Oregon Coast. It’s pinot noir wine country, very beautiful and picturesque—and a short drive from where I live. My brother actually dwells right in the heart of it in a tiny town with no gas station or grocery store (he recently informed me they now have a smallish grocery store/carniceria). There is, however, an amazing antique mall
in a historic schoolhouse.

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