Harlequin Heartwarming: April 2022 Box Set by Lisa Childs

Author:Lisa Childs
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2022-02-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

TWO YEARS AGO, she’d said goodbye to Tim, not knowing it would be for the last time. She’d been inwardly fuming because he wanted her to put a pause on her career. Two days ago, she’d said goodbye to Mason. However, she’d known it at the time and had been outwardly fuming because he wanted to distance himself rather than take a chance on love.

So here she was, at a ceremony she’d been anticipating for months, wanting to be anywhere else than wedged between her aunt Hyacinth and her friend Becks. Most of all, what she wanted, despite Mason’s stubbornness, was a future with him. She wanted him to wake up to the hard truth that sometimes people didn’t come home. That didn’t mean love ended; it just meant the people left behind had to find a way to go on.

That was what this memorial rock signified to her. A way of showing Evan and Chloe that Tim’s sacrifice hadn’t been forgotten and that they would go on.

For this new relationship to end like it did? Her heart broke yet again. She questioned giving Mason space for him to explore the idea of the two of them, when that space had provided distance for him to run away rather than embrace the risk of loving someone.

Their time wasn’t a waste, though, and she wouldn’t trade it for anything. He’d awakened in her the need to become part of Hollydale again. Reconnecting with friends and finding a new relationship with her mother might not have happened without him and their nightly talks, when she’d laughed at his anecdotes and stories, and embraced the colorful world around her.

During that time, Mason had transitioned from her charming playboy neighbor to her loyal, brave friend who’d taken up a spot close to her heart. Someone whose spirit for adventure and the open road unlocked something profound in her, something she’d never connected with. That time at the waterfall sparked a special moment and she’d always remember it.

When they delivered Natalie’s baby together, her feelings for Mason only deepened. That slow burn grew. Mason caring for those in need showed her a side of him he didn’t brag about or show off for attention. That was another layer to him, one he hid behind a smile and that ginger charm.

Making house calls in the middle of the night wasn’t a bad way to capture her heart, either. Those kisses curled her toes.

The mayor handed her a pair of scissors and she stopped dwelling on what might have been. With Phillip leaving for Wilmington and a new director on the horizon, announced today, one with innovative ideas about attracting visitors and community programs, the botanical garden’s future look stronger than ever.

Lindsay smiled at the crowd as the relatives of other fallen first responders took their places next to her. On cue, she cut the ribbon and then she walked to the front row of the reserved seats, searching the crowd for the person she knew wouldn’t be there.

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