Second Chance Bride
by Sandra Edwards
Publication Date: July 24, 2014
Genres: Contemporary, Novella, Romance
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Synopsis
After being jilted, practically at the altar, Genie Wainwright heads to Hawaii to escape the well-meant pity party her friends and family are bound to throw on her behalf. What she never expects is to find someone to help her mend her broken heart.Donnie Taylor, owner of the posh Sapphire Bay Resort, has no interest in marriage--until he meets an unforgettable guest at the hotel. What starts out as a kindhearted gesture brings Donnie something he never expects--love!
Prologue
Genie Wainwright stared at her reflection in the mirror, and
ignored the light but determined tapping at the door. She remained silent,
soaking up the sadness of the now empty bride’s chamber.
Just an hour ago, this room at the Jefferson Hills Country
Club had been filled with revelry. Six bridesmaids—including Ross’s sister,
Genie’s sisters Amanda and Amber, and three of Genie’s good friends Shelly,
Serena and Jessica—throw in the maid of honor (her best friend Cami), Ross’s
mother, Genie’s mother and grandmother, and it was like a pre-wedding party
before the ceremony.
But that was before Aaron (Ross’s dad) called his wife out
into the hallway. When she came back in, she’d lost the smile she’d left with.
Genie had known in an instant that something was terribly wrong.
The silent isolation of the now empty room wrapped its icy
disdain around Genie, bringing her back to the present. She cleared her throat
and pushed aside the memory of that devastating moment when her perfect life
had ended. She didn’t want to relieve it again. Not now. Not ever.
“Go away,” Genie said to the incessant knocker.
“Gene, open the door.” Cami’s unrelenting voice traveled
through the walls.
Genie didn’t respond. Just kept staring at herself in the
mirror. Her dark hair piled on top of her head still looked perfect. Her blue
eyes were vacant of anything, even sadness, she thought. But that would come if
she succumbed to the tears. She had to keep them imprisoned. She would not shed
a single tear over that rat bastard fiancé of hers—make that ex fiancé.
“Genie!” Cami yelled. “If you don’t open the door I’m gonna
kick it down.”
Yeah, right. Genie laughed a little.
“And you’ll have to pay for it.” Cami said in a firm voice.
“Go for it!” Genie said softly.
An instant later, there was a loud boom and the door
swung open.
Genie jumped. Her heart slammed into overdrive. Cami peeked
in, then disappear back out into the hallway. Seconds later, she reappeared.
Genie’s jaw
dropped as she stared into the mirror, watching Cami waltz
into the bride’s chamber in her sleeveless, knee-length blue dress and wearing
a triumphant grin.
Genie glanced over her shoulder and twisted around to look at
Cami’s feet. Stilettos. No way had she kicked in the door in those. Genie shook
her head.
“I warned you.” Cami shrugged and dragged a chair up next to
Genie. “I’m your best friend,” she said quietly. Sitting, she raked her
light-brown hair behind her ear.
“Why wouldn’t you open the door for me?”
“Because I know you.” Genie turned to look at her. “You’ll
try to cheer me up.”
“Well, yeah…”
“Don’t you get it?” Genie asked. “There’s nothing that you or
anyone else can say that’ll make this better.” It was hopeless. Genie knew
that. Why didn’t everyone else?
“Really?” Cami bit her bottom lip and let her gaze roll
around the room. When she settled back on Genie, she said in a tone that
eventually landed in the realm of a question, “How about…a big-ass meteor
crashed into Ross’s house and sent him straight to hell?”
A hint of laughter escaped before Genie could wrangle it in
and shove it back down into the despair pitted in her gut.
“Admit it.” Cami nudged Genie. “It was funny.”
Genie nodded. “Yeah, okay. It was kind of funny.” For a
minute. But it wasn’t enough to take away the emptiness that’d befallen her a
couple of hours ago. Ross had left her—practically at the altar. He hadn’t had
the guts to tell her himself that he didn’t want to marry her. He’d left that
chore to his parents.
“Look, I know this is hollow comfort,” Cami said softly. “But
even on his best day, Ross Harper was never good enough for you.”
“You’re right,” Genie said. It was hollow comfort. She looked
at Cami, fighting the tears that were hell-bent on escaping. “I’m supposed to
be headed to Hawaii right now. With my husband.” Her voice cracked. She choked
the hurt back down into her gut.
“I’d still go…if I were you.” Cami nodded.
“What…?”
“Hell, yes!” Cami smirked beneath deliberately raised
eyebrows. “Trade Ross’s share in. Upgrade. Go in style.”
Genie shook her head. “I can’t do that.”
“Says who?”
“I have to cancel the trip. Give him back half the money.”
Genie’s voice wavered “Don’t I?”
“No,
you don’t.” Cami said with an arrogant laugh. “Ross owes you a hell of alot more
than a trip to Hawaii. That’s for sure.”
Maybe Cami was right. Ross did owe Genie for the hurt and
humiliation he’d caused her today. But did she really want to spend the next
week on the island of Maui—lovers’ paradise—alone?
Genie shook her head. “That’s just what I need. A week at a
resort that caters to honeymooners.”
“The heck with that,” Cami said. “Go to Oahu. The north
shore, where it’s nice and quiet. There’s that swanky resort up there. Sapphire
Bay or something like that. My parents love that place.”
Well if Cami’s parents loved it, that was a sure sign it
wouldn’t be a singles’ playground.
Sapphire Bay sounded perfect. Exactly the kind of place Genie
could mend her broken heart. A place where there would be no eligible men—at
least none that’d pique her interest.
* * *
Donnie Taylor had come from old Texas oil money. When he
turned twenty-six, he’d gone to his father with the idea for Sapphire Bay
Resort—an upscale haven set in paradise. His father had been hesitant, but
Donnie’s mother had insisted—even though her son would be moving half a world
away.
Five years later, Sapphire Bay Resort was no longer the best
kept secret on the island of Oahu. Located on the North Shore, it appealed to
the more discerning customer rather than the party crowd, who liked to hang out
at Waikiki. And that’s the way Donnie liked it.
He enjoyed living in paradise. He enjoyed running the resort.
What he didn’t enjoy was his mother’s constant nagging about grandchildren. It
had gotten worse when she decided to move to Hawaii about a year ago, after his
father died.
Donnie hated disappointing her, but how could he make her see
that he hadn’t met a women he’d want to spend the rest of his life with, much
less father her children.
But that hadn’t stopped Marla Taylor. She’d finagled her way
into volunteering at the hotel’s concierge desk, but Donnie knew she was
only positioning herself to scan the women as they came and went. So far, she
hadn’t throw any of the hotel’s guests at him, but it wasn’t for lack of
effort. Donnie knew it was only a matter of time before she found the one she
deemed Ms. Right.
He strolled through the open veranda, smiling and greeting
hotel guests and staff alike with an amiable nod. His mother wasn’t at the
concierge desk, and that troubled him as he headed for the elevator and his
office on the second floor.
His secretary, Lorna, hadn’t come in yet. As Donnie recalled,
she’d said something about a doctor’s appointment today. Passing by Lorna’s
work space, he wondered
where his mother was and what she was up to?
Opening the door to his office, he found Marla Taylor sitting
at his desk. She was in her late fifties and not a bad looking woman—as far as
mothers go—and Donnie couldn’t understand why she didn’t concentrate on her own
love life.
“Morning, Mother.” He called her mother because he
knew it bugged her.
“Something wrong with your desk?” He stood beside his
chair, staring down at her.
“No. I just wanted to talk to you.” Her Texas drawl was alive
and kicking and truth be told, so was Donnie’s, just not as pronounced. It was
hard to get rid of something that’d been more than twenty-five years in the
making.
“What can I do for you?” he asked, thumbing through the files
on his desk, pretending to look at them.
“Well for starters….”
“Never mind.” He raised a hand as if that’d stop her. But
something had to. Donnie had bigger problems than his mother’s need for
grandchildren. “Mom, I really don’t have time right now. Erin called in sick,”
he said of one of the two dayshift hostesses for the Beachcomber Café, one of
four restaurants on the resort’s grounds. “I’ve got to find a replacement to
handle her duties.” There was no way the other hostess, Kelly, could handle the
crowd by herself. Donnie wondered if he could get one of the waitresses from
the Oceanview to stand in?
Marla stood. “I can do it.” Her voice was calm, but her
eagerness was shining brightly on her face.
It wasn’t the greatest idea, but it wasn’t the worst either.
Marla could easily handle the task of greeting the coffee shop’s patrons. She’d
also be on the female diners like a dog with a bone once she found out they
were single. And she would find out.
“Mom…” He glared at her and issued a stern warning. “You
can’t be pestering the female diners in the restaurant.”
“Donnie.” She used her scolding tone. What she didn’t know
was that it hadn’t worked on him since he’d turned ten. “People in Hawaii are
friendly. I intend to merely uphold that tradition.”
He latched onto her arm and guided her toward the door.
“Don’t make me regret this, Mother,” he said, shuffling her out into the
hallway.
At this point, Donnie had been able to appease the resort’s
guests his mother had been interrogating. Thankfully, they were easily amused
with comps for dinner at the Wishing Well, Sapphire Bay’s world-renowned
steakhouse. He didn’t want to get to the point where he had to start handing
out free passes to the hotel’s best suites because of his mother’s hare-brained
schemes.
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