Restless in Carolina
Restless in Carolina
“Tamara Leigh has done it again.
Restless in Carolina
will have you falling in love with its swoon-inducing romance, characters you won’t want to leave behind, and message of hope and healing.”
—J
ENNY
B. J
ONES
, four-time Carol Award winner and author of
Save the Date
and
Just Between You and Me
“Tamara Leigh is a master storyteller who weaves deep spiritual threads with quirky characters that I love. With
Restless in Carolina
, she returns to Pickwick, North Carolina, where Bridget has determined that happily ever afters don’t exist and God isn’t fair. Open the book and be swept into her journey, one filled with laughter, tears, and a large supporting cast that will make it seem like a return to a favorite vacation spot for readers of her other Pickwick books.”
—C
ARA
C. P
UTMAN
, author of
Stars in the Night
“Wonderful wry humor, a plot that kept me glued, and delightful, unique characters—what more could a reader ask? Tamara Leigh has given us southern living with down-home charm and thoughtful insights all wrapped up in joy. Highly recommended!”
—G
AYLE
R
OPER
, author of
Shadows on the Sand
and
A Rose Revealed
“She’s as southern as fried chicken, but Bridget Buchanan is no Scarlett O’Hara. She’s spunky, quirky, and determined to save the world from environmental destruction—starting with her own family’s estate. This southern gal loves faithfully, grieves deeply, and touches tender places in our hearts. A great story!”
—V
IRGINIA
S
MITH
, author of
Third Time’s a Charm
and the Sister-to-Sister Series
“Tamara Leigh creates another of her quirky heroines, Bridget Pickwick Buchanan, in
Restless in Carolina
. Bridget is sassy and unconventional, a green peg in a brown hole. She meets her match in J. C. Dirk. Don’t miss an entertaining read about forgiving past wrongs and even the ones we love who make us crazy.”
—L
YN
C
OTE
, author of
Her Abundant Joy
LSO BY
T
AMARA
L
EIGH
Nowhere, Carolina
Leaving Carolina
Faking Grace
Splitting Harriet
Perfecting Kate
Stealing Adda
R
ESTLESS IN
C
AROLINA
P
UBLISHED BY
M
ULTNOMAH
B
OOKS
12265 Oracle Boulevard, Suite 200
Colorado Springs, Colorado 80921
Scripture quotations or paraphrases are taken from the following versions: Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.
www.zondervan.com
. New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The characters and events in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to actual persons or events is coincidental.
Copyright © 2011 by Tammy Schmanski
Published in association with the literary agency of Alive Communications Inc., 7680 Goddard Street, Suite 200, Colorado Springs, CO 80920,
www.alivecommunications.com
.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Published in the United States by WaterBrook Multnomah, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House Inc., New York.
M
ULTNOMAH
and its mountain colophon are registered trademarks of Random House Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Leigh, Tamara.
Restless in Carolina : a novel / Tamara Leigh. — 1st ed.
p. cm. — (Southern discomfort series; bk. 3)
eISBN: 978-1-60142-361-0
1. Women environmentalists—Fiction. 2. North Carolina—Fiction. I. Title.
PS3612.E3575R47 2011
813′.6—dc22
2011003735
v3.1
I dedicate this fourteenth book to my readers
,
especially those who have supported me since my first book
,
Warrior Bride,
was published in 1994 and who stayed with me
through the transition from the secular to the inspirational market
.
Thank you for believing in me and allowing me to weave
my faith journey through the characters who tumble
around in my head whispering, “Me next.”
It has been an amazing eighteen years
.
I couldn’t have experienced them as fully without you
.
1
Your presence is eagerly anticipated
at the wedding of
Ms. Trinity Templeton to Mr. Bart Pickwick
on Saturday, July 24, 10:00 a.m
.
at the Pickwick Mansion
1001 Pickwick Pike
Pickwick, North Carolina
Reception to immediately follow
Regrets Only
D
eep breath. “… and they lived …”
I can do this. It’s not as if I didn’t sense it coming. After all, I can smell an
H.E.A
. (Happily Ever After) a mile away—or, in this case, twenty-four pages glued between cardboard covers that feature the requisite princess surrounded by cute woodland creatures. And there are the words, right where I knew the cliché of an author would slap them, on the last page in the same font as those preceding them. Deceptively nondescript. Recklessly hopeful. Heartbreakingly false.
“Aunt Bridge,” Birdie chirps, “finish it.”
I look up from the once-upon-a-time crisp page that has been softened, creased, and stained by the obsessive readings in which her mother indulges her.
Eyes wide, cheeks flushed, my niece nods. “Say the magic words.”
Magic?
More nodding, and is she quivering? Oh no, I refuse to be a party to this. I smile big, say, “The end,” and close the book. “So, how about another piece of weddin’ cake?”
“No!” She jumps off the footstool she earlier dubbed her “princess throne,” snatches the book from my hand, and opens it to the back. “Wight here!”
I almost correct her initial
r
-turned-
w
but according to my sister, it’s developmental and the sound is coming in fine on its own, just as her other
r
’s did.
Birdie jabs the
H, E
, and
A
. “It’s not the end until you say the magic words.”
And I thought this the lesser of two evils—entertaining my niece and nephew as opposed to standing around at the reception as the bride and groom are toasted by all the happy couples, among them, cousin Piper, soon to be wed to my friend Axel, and cousin Maggie, maybe soon to be engaged to her sculptor man, what’s-his-name.
“Yeah,” Birdie’s twin, Miles, calls from where he’s once more hanging upside down on the rolling ladder I’ve pulled him off twice. “You gotta say the magic words.”
Outrageous! Even my dirt-between-the-toes, scab-ridden, snot-on-the-sleeve nephew is buying into the fantasy.
I spring from the armchair, cross the library, and unhook his ankles from the rung. “You keep doin’ that and you’ll bust your head wide open.” I set him on his feet. “And your mama will—” No, Bonnie won’t. “Well, she’ll be tempted to give you a whoopin’.”
Face bright with upside-down color, he glowers.
I’d glower back if I weren’t so grateful for the distraction he provided. “All right, then.” I slap at the ridiculously stiff skirt of the dress Maggie loaned me for my brother’s wedding. “Let’s rejoin the party—”