Long Road Home (35 page)
“Both sight unseen,” Janet reminded her.
“There were photos on the internet.” The real estate agent had sent the link after Rachel had responded to a classified listing in
Restaurant Magazine
.
“Blurry photos. And what you could see isn’t going to win you any Michelin stars.” “I’ll admit it looks as if it could use a little work. But it’s rather . . . unique.” In a rustic, Oregon ranching country way.
“Unique.” Janet sniffed. “That sounds like real estate jargon for a dump. Along the lines of a ‘Honeymoon Special.’ Or ‘Handyman Fix-up.’ For heaven’s sake, Rachel, just because Alan died doesn’t mean you have to banish yourself to the wilderness.”
“I’m not banishing myself,” Rachel repeated what she’d been saying since she’d come up with the plan. “I’m starting a new life.” In a new town and a new house where every room she went into didn’t remind her of her husband, forcing her to face all the years they’d never have together.
“So, start a new life here,” Janet insisted. “Expand your catering company or open a small restaurant, begin dating again, enjoy yourself for a change.”
“I tried dating, remember?” Her one-time excursion into the singles world, with the agent who’d listed the Manhattan apartment Alan used whenever he stayed in the city, had turned out to be an unqualified disaster.
Janet shrugged. “So, Bernie was a bust. There are a lot more fish in the sea.”
“That’s probably true enough. But I’m not into angling these days.”
“I’m really going to miss you.” Janet threw her arms around Rachel.
Moisture stung her eyelids as Rachel returned the hug. “And I’m going to miss you.”
“I’ll come visit,” Janet promised as they parted.
“By next summer I should have the café running well enough to take a few days off,” Rachel said. “We’ll drive over to the beach. The scenery’s supposed to be magnificent, and Chef Madeline Durand has opened a restaurant and cooking school on the coast.”
“I’ll bet her restaurant’s not in a log cabin,” Janet said.
“You’d win that bet. But it is in the Shelter Bay farmhouse she grew up in.”
“How quaint.” Janet shook her head. “Sorry. I really don’t mean to sound so negative. I just don’t want to lose my BFF. I’ll fly out there next summer,” she confirmed.
Rachel wished Janet wasn’t making it sound as if she were planning a trip on a Conestoga wagon to the wild and wooly western wilderness country.
Her decision hadn’t been entirely impulsive. Using due diligence, she had, after all, searched out River’s Bend’s website and discovered that the town that billed itself as “Oregon’s Most Western Town—where spurs have a job to do and cowboy hats aren’t a fashion accessory,” had a year-round population of three thousand, eight-hundred and thirty-six citizens. The top two industries were ranching and tourism, the second due to its outdoor lifestyle, proliferation of dude ranches, and the number of western movies that had been filmed there.
“It’s a date,” she said. Both women’s smiles were forced. As they walked back into the house, Rachel knew that in spite of all best intentions and promises, their lives, which had been entwined for so many years, were inexorably drifting apart.
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Other Books from JoAnn Ross
The Shelter Bay series
Beyond the Sea
(pre-publication title, A Sea Change)
Christmas in Shelter Bay
, November, 2016
The Castlelough series
River’s Bend Series
River’s Bend
(Cooper’s story)
Long Road Home
(Sawyer’s story) Pre-publication was Hot Shot
Orchid Island Series
7 BRIDES for 7 Brothers Series
Finn—7 Brides for 7 Brothers (Book 7), December, 2016
About The Author
JoAnn Ross wrote her first novella—a tragic romance about two star-crossed mallard ducks—for a second grade writing assignment.
The paper earned a gold star.
And JoAnn kept writing.
She’s now written around one hundred novels (she quit keeping track long ago), has been published in twenty-six countries, and is a member of the Romance Writers of America’s Honor Roll of best-selling authors. Two of her titles have been excerpted in
Cosmopolitan
magazine and her books have also been published by the Doubleday, Rhapsody, Literary Guild, and Mystery Guild book clubs.
JoAnn lives with her husband and two fuzzy rescued dogs, who pretty much rule the house, in the Pacific Northwest.
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Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
About the Book
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Excerpt from River’s Bend
Other Books from JoAnn Ross
About The Author
Table of Contents