Summer by the River
by Debbie Burns
Publication Date: 3/2/2021
Making a fresh start in a new part of the country is challenging, but fate and good fortune lead young single mother Josie Waterhill and her six-year-old daughter to a cozy Midwestern town right on the river. There, Josie can raise Zoe away from the violence of the life she once knew, and make a new home in the historic tea house where they’ve been invited to stay.
The tea house seems too good to be true, until Josie’s elderly
landlord Myra welcomes more guests—journalist Carter O’Brien and his giant
rescue dog, Buttercup. Carter is charming, compassionate…and way too curious.
Carter’s interest in Josie deepens and he inadvertently stirs up trouble when
he uncovers things that Josie would rather not have known. Ready or not, Josie
has to let go of her painful past so she can create a glorious future.
Debbie Burns is an award-winning and bestselling author and 2019 HOLT Medallion
Award of Merit recipient. Her highly praised Rescue Me romance series features
happily ever afters of the two and four-legged kind. She lives in a gingerbread
house that's almost cute enough to eat in Saint Louis.
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Read an Excerpt:
A suave and polished journalist
showing up unannounced to dig up long-buried secrets wasn’t a good thing. Josie
was certain of that.
By
the time she got the temperamental printer working and returned to the terrace,
Josie noticed most of the weekend’s guests had finished their tea, cake, and
scones and were dispersing. Zoe and Carter were halfway down the hillside, and
the hair on the back of Josie’s neck prickled at the sight of her daughter
being so carefree with a stranger. Her feet itched to join them, but she
checked herself. Certainly, there was no better place than here to give Zoe a
bit of trust and see what she did with it. Josie busied herself with cleaning
off the empty tables on the expansive brick patio. As they rounded the top of
the yard, Carter nodded toward Josie. “Myra’s right. These gardens are
spectacular.”
“Thanks.”
She set the packed-full busser tub on the closest table and slipped his license
out of her pocket, offering it his way.
“Would
you like my card?” he asked as he tucked his license back into his wallet. “As
I mentioned, I’m freelance, but you can Google me. Plenty of my work is
online.”
“Thanks.”
It
was a simple, gray-scale business card with his contact information and an
image of an old-fashioned typewriter. She’d never known anyone who made their
way on this earth exclusively by stringing words together, and was impressed.
She was a numbers person. With numbers, she could always find her way. Words
were different, complicated. Sometimes they told the truth; other times they
were wickedly deceitful.
“So,
tell me,” he said with a lopsided grin, “was your asking for my license a
formality in case I steal a few towels while I’m here, or in case I follow in
my grandfather’s footsteps?”
Josie
fought back a laugh as his words sank in. “Around here, you never know.”
Carter
was boyishly charming—she’d grant him that. She bet that smile could grab
attention a hundred feet away. And then there was that dimple on his right
cheek.
“Do
you, uh, want to see your room?”
“Sure,
that’d be great.”
They
headed inside, with Zoe pausing to point out all her favorite places on the
lower floor, such as the window seat in the breakfast room at the side of the
kitchen that had a clear view of a robin’s nest.
“This
house is truly phenomenal,” Carter said as they ascended the massive staircase
to the second floor. Josie forced her gaze away from his fingers as they
brushed the top of the mahogany banister.
“How
many rooms does this place have?” Carter tapped the rounded newel as he took in
the second-floor split hallway.
“Six
with private bathrooms,” she answered, “plus two on the third floor that share
a bathroom. Your room’s down the hall. It’s a great room—a lot of space and one
of the best bathrooms in the house. And a wonderful view of the gardens out
back.”
“Spoken
like someone who knows it well.”
“You
could say that.” Josie opted not to add that, when it was just her, Myra, and
Zoe here, she often went into that room for a soak in the oversized bathtub
after Zoe was out for the night.
“Nice,”
he said as she swung open the door. He paused to take it in and nodded
appreciatively. “They don’t make houses like this anymore, do they? Great bone
structure.”
“If
it wasn’t for the Victorian wallpaper covering it all up, you mean?”
He
grinned, his teeth gleaming. “Looks like I’m in a lady’s retreat after all. Is
that what happened to the guy who pulled out? He didn’t have a tolerance for
lace and doilies?”
“He’s
mad at his father for getting married again,” Zoe piped up.
“Zoe,
honestly. Sometimes I think you hear through walls.” Josie shrugged. “It’s one
of those weddings that’s not without a bit of controversy. They were childhood
sweethearts who ended up marrying other people. Their spouses have passed away,
and now they’ve found one another again.”
“But
Linda says they’re hurting everybody’s feelings,” Zoe added. “Acting so
in looove.” She drew out the word like it was replete with cooties.
Carter
laughed. “Kid, you’re wise beyond your years.”
Josie
ran her fingers down Zoe’s hair. “So… Make yourself at home. You’re Myra’s
guest. The key is on the dresser. It’s bulky to carry around. If you don’t want
to take it with you into town, you can drop it with Myra.”
He
strolled over to the dresser and inspected the brass skeleton key. “No plastic
cards here, huh?”
“We’re
all about authenticity. Oh, I almost forgot. In honor of the wedding,
everyone’s being treated with the getaway package from back when this place ran
as a B and B. That means homemade cookies and wine delivered each night around
nine. There’s a menu on your bed for tomorrow’s breakfast. And there’s
champagne in the mini fridge and some extras on the tub as well.” Her cheeks
warmed involuntarily at the last bit.
He
cocked an eyebrow. “Is that so? Too bad I’m traveling alone”
She
took Zoe by the hand to leave.
“And
you’ll just be down the hall if I have any questions about how to work the tub
or anything, right?” Carter asked, the playful grin returning to his face.
After
that introduction of his, it didn’t surprise her that he was a flirt. “You
strike me as being tech savvy. But if you have trouble, ask your questions
early. I’m off duty tonight after I deliver cookies.”
He
tsked. “What a shame.”
Josie
pulled Zoe out of the room and closed the door before the smile that was
tugging at her lips broke through to the surface.
***
Excerpted from Summer by the River by Debbie Burns. © 2021 by Debbie Burns. Used with
permission of the publisher, Sourcebooks
Casablanca, an imprint of Sourcebooks, Inc. All rights reserved.
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