In Shelter Cove
Beyond all reason, Brianna wanted his touch.
She wanted Jason to take her in his strong arms and hold her, really hold her, the way a man holds a woman he needs to take to bed. If she allowed herself to think, it would be over, so she chased away the logic clamoring to be heard and closed the distance between them. She slid her arms around his waist and pressed her lips against his shocked mouth. She wanted to soak up his strength, taste forgetfulness on his lips, be herself again, a woman—not a mother, not a wife, not a widow. She didn’t want to cry anymore, didn’t want to feel like a lost ship on a stormy sea. She wanted an anchor to something real.
She sucked his tongue into her mouth, hearing him groan, feeling his hands drop to her hips. She could feel every inch of his body lined up with hers. He angled his head one way and then the other, giving her only small moments to breathe before he came back for more. She liked the relentless onslaught. She didn’t have time to think, only to feel, and she was feeling really, really good, until Jason suddenly jerked away.
He gave her a hard look, searching her face for something—she didn’t know what. “Do you really want this, Brianna? Me—you? What the hell are we doing?”
Turn the page for praise of bestselling author
Barbara Freethy’s heartwarming romances
Praise for the first novel in the Angel’s Bay series
Suddenly One Summer
“This book has it all: heart, community, and characters who will remain with you long after the book has ended. A wonderful story.”
—
New York Times
bestselling author
Debbie Macomber
“
Suddenly One Summer
delivers a double whammy to the heart. Ms. Freethy cuts to the core with her
depiction of a woman in jeopardy and a man who no longer believes that life has anything to offer. . . . A story that will keep you spellbound.”
—
Winter Haven News Chief
(FL)
“A large cast of townspeople adds to this intriguing, suspenseful romance, which is the first of Freethy’s Angel’s Bay novels. Freethy has a gift for creating complex, appealing characters and emotionally involving, often suspenseful, sometimes magical stories.”
—
Library Journal
“
Suddenly One Summer
transported me to a beautiful place and drew me into a story of family secrets, passion, betrayal and redemption.
—New York Times
bestselling author Susan Wiggs
“Angel’s Bay, brimming with old and new relationships, some floundering and others new with hopes and dreams, promises many poignant and heartwarming stories.”
—
Fresh Fiction
“Freethy has written a suspenseful and captivating story, weaving in human frailty along with true compassion, making every page a delight.”
—Reader to Reader Reviews
“Angel’s Bay is a place I’ll want to visit time and again. . . . Freethy has done a beautiful job of weaving a compelling story while having the patience to fully develop characters who will become our friends, characters with whom we will share joys, sorrows, and all of life’s adventures.”
—Romance Novel TV
“A well-written, captivating story, with good pacing that will leave you satisfied as it unfolds. There is a little bit of everything—romance, mystery, and inexplicable events—a fascinating story sure to make your summer reading a pleasure.”
—Romance Reviews Today
And for award-winning author Barbara Freethy
“Barbara Freethy delivers strong and compelling prose.”
—
Publishers Weekly
“Fans of Nora Roberts will find a similar tone here, framed in Freethy’s own spare, elegant style.”
—
Contra Costa Times
(CA)
“Freethy skillfully keeps readers on the hook.”
—Booklist
“Freethy’s star continues to gain luster.”
—Romantic Times
Also by Barbara Freethy
On Shadow Beach
Suddenly One Summer
Now Available from Pocket Star
Cove
BARBARA
FREETHY
POCKET
STAR
BOOKS
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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2010 by Barbara Freethy
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information address Pocket Books Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.
First Pocket Star Books paperback edition May 2010
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Designed by Jill Putorti
ISBN 978-1-4391-7325-1
ISBN 978-1-4391-7326-8 (ebook)
To Dorothy Freethy, for her always enthusiastic support and for being the best mother-in-law a woman could have!
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Don’t forget
to click through after
IN SHELTER COVE
for an exclusive sneak peek
at Barbara Freethy’s next heartwarming tale
THE WAY BACK HOME
Available from Pocket Books July 2012
Many thanks to my fabulous editor, Micki Nuding, who has helped me bring the characters of Angel’s Bay to life. Much gratitude goes to my writing friends who were always there to offer ideas and share chocolate when my plot and characters were not cooperating—Jami Alden, Bella Andre, Diana Dempsey, Carol Grace, Tracy Grant, Lynn Hanna, Candice Hern, Anne Mallory, Monica McCarty, Barbara McMahon, Kate Moore, Poppy Reiffin, Christie Ridgway, and Veronica Wolff. Thanks also to the local art gallery owners who shared their knowledge of art and gave me a glimpse into their world.
In Shelter Cove
ROLOGUE
150 years ago
Grief ripped through him as midnight approached. During the day he could stay busy enough not to think, but at night the agony always caught up to him. His fingers tightened around the paintbrush, his hand shaking from not enough sleep and too much whisky. His eyes blurred with weary tears; he could barely see the canvas in front of him.
It was wrong that he was alive to paint and that his beloved Eve was gone. He could still see the terror in her blue-violet eyes as the waves crashed over the bow and the ship began to splinter apart. She’d reached for him, her fingers curling around his, as she begged him to stay with her. Ruthlessly, he’d had to break her grip. Not for his sake but for hers. It was women and children first. He’d forced her to get into the lifeboat. He’d thought he was saving her life, but her boat had never made it to shore. For days, he had walked the beach, searching for her, but she was lost to him.
Two years later, he was still trying to bring her back.
He dipped his brush into the paint and placed it on the canvas, and her face took shape in front of him: the pure porcelain quality of her fair skin, the soft dip of her dark red hair in the center of her forehead, her delicate shell-like ears, the perfection of her sweetly curved mouth, the soft thrust of her sometimes stubborn jaw, the deep love in her eyes. She’d given up everything to be with him, and he’d never been worthy of such sacrifice.
Tears ran down his cheeks as he gazed into her eyes. She seemed to be trying to tell him something.
“That’s not me. Not really me.”
Her voice was sad and a little angry, as if she were frustrated with his inability to paint her portrait.
“Try again.
See
me, Victor. See me for who I really was. Don’t be like the others; see what was real about me. That’s who I want you to remember.”
“Not
was,”
he shouted, his voice echoing through the small cottage. He put the painting aside and picked up another canvas. He would get it right—and then she would come back to him.
He painted all night, into the next day and the next after that, until there were three portraits. He called them
The Three Faces of Eve:
the sweet saint, the seductive siren, and the desperate woman.
Exhausted by his efforts, he set down his brush, stumbled to the couch, drank the last bit of whisky, and waited for her to return.