Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 91357 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91357 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
* * *
When Nicole moved to Serendipity, she hadn’t thought she’d need a formal dress, but having been raised to always be prepared, she’d saved her favorite one and stored it in the back of her closet. She dressed in a sapphire-blue dress with silver shoes, not allowing herself to second-guess or change.
Macy had given her the address for the country club where the event was being held, and as she pulled up to the filled parking lot, nerves assailed her. She didn’t know anyone here, not really. Despite the urge to turn around and go home, she continued on to the valet and gave them her car.
As a man took her small Mercedes and drove off, Nicole had no choice but to gather her courage and head inside. She walked in and the first thing she noticed was a table with beautiful red and white flowers—red for heart disease, she assumed—and picked up the heart-shaped card with her name on it. Table five. That meant nothing to her since, other than Macy, she had no friends here. Well, there was Sam, but she didn’t know what to think about things between them. She put the place card in her silver clutch and made her way into the lobby area, looking for Macy.
The first familiar face wasn’t Macy but Erin, Sam’s sister, the woman Nicole’s twin had stalked and nearly run down with her car. For someone who’d given birth a few months ago, she looked amazing in an emerald-green sheath dress. The green brought out her eyes, which were so much like her brother’s.
Erin she could handle, but her now-husband Cole? He was another story. Nicole still vividly recalled him bursting into the small interrogation room at the police station, yelling at her and demanding answers. Only Sam’s presence had reassured her, and though Cole had eventually come to believe that Nicole only wanted to help, he was still intimidating enough that she’d like to avoid him if she could.
She turned away from the couple and toward the bar, only to hear Erin call out her name.
Okay then. She’d have to deal with them after all.
Straightening her shoulders and tightening her grip on her purse, Nicole turned to find Erin walking up to her.
“I thought it was you,” Erin said, her tone welcoming. “Sam and Macy said you’d moved to town. Somehow I missed seeing you at Joe’s, but I heard you were there.”
Nicole was unable to hold back a smile at Erin’s warm rambling. It didn’t seem like she held a grudge about her sister. “How have you been?” Nicole asked, still wary.
“Great. Motherhood is amazing. You have to meet my baby girl.”
At that, Nicole relaxed her muscles and her guard. Erin had been pregnant last time Nicole had seen her. “Congratulations. What’s your daughter’s name?” she asked.
“Angel. And she is one. Unless she’s crying.” Erin laughed, but the love and maternal devotion in her eyes caused an unexpected lump of emotion to settle in Nicole’s throat.
“I’m glad things are going well for you,” Nicole said, meaning it.
“Thank you. I’m happier than I thought I could be. Marriage is amazing,” she said with a wink.
“That I wouldn’t know,” Nicole murmured. She’d broken her engagement in Manhattan and had every intention of leaving both thoughts and discussion about it there. “But I’m happy for you. After everything you went through, you deserve smooth sailing.”
Erin met her gaze. “So do you. I’m not sure I ever got the chance to thank you for coming here in the first place to warn me about your sister. That was . . . brave, and it couldn’t have been easy.”
Nicole sighed. The truth was she hadn’t known Erin or anyone in Serendipity when she’d driven here to warn her. Her goals in doing so had been twofold, and she might as well be up front with Erin.
“All I wanted was for my sister to get the help she needed, and I didn’t want anyone to get hurt.” And she definitely hadn’t wanted her twin to do anything she couldn’t undo or would have to live with for the rest of her life.
Erin nodded in understanding.
“I should thank you for advocating for Victoria’s mental health,” Nicole said to the woman who, at the time of the incident, had also been an assistant district attorney. As the victim, she hadn’t been in charge of the case, but Nicole knew Erin had pushed hard for her sister to get help. “You could have just come down on the side of putting her in jail.”
“It was the right thing to do,” Erin said.
A low growl behind her told Nicole that Erin’s husband didn’t agree.
“Cut it out,” Erin said. “It’s over and done with. Nicole’s living here now, so let’s all play nice.”
Cole wrapped his arms around her waist and nodded at Nicole. “Welcome to town,” he said, sounding as if he just might mean it.