Starting Over on Blackberry Lane--A Romance Novel Read online

  Time for a Change—or Three!

  Stefanie Stahl has a husband with renovation ADD. He can’t seem to finish anything he starts and her house is littered with his “projects.” If he doesn’t smarten up, she swears she’s going to murder him and bury him under the pile of scrounged lumber in the backyard.

  Her friend Griffin James is suddenly single and thinking maybe she needs to sell her fixer-upper and follow her career bliss up the ladder of success, even if that scary ladder is clear across the country. Getting her place ready to sell proves harder than she originally thought. She needs help.

  She’s not the only one. Cass Wilkes, their neighbor, has an empty nest—with a leaking roof. When her ceiling crashes in, she knows it’s time to do something. When Grant Masters offers his handyman services at a fund-raiser auction, the three women go in together to outbid the competition and win their man. (Cass’s friends think she should win Grant in a different way, too!) Now it’s time to make some improvements...in their houses and their lives.

  Praise for the novels of Sheila Roberts

  “The latest in Roberts’ completely charming Icicle Falls series is both a delightful celebration of the joys of small-town life and a richly rewarding romance sweetened with just the right dash of bright humor.”

  —Booklist on Home on Apple Blossom Road

  “Engaging, sweet, and dusted with humor, this emotional romance tugs at the heartstrings.”

  —Library Journal on Home on Apple Blossom Road

  “Roberts engages readers from the first page with her colorfully distinctive characters and her amusing storytelling. She expresses the pitfalls that occur through the holiday season with flair and fun. A delightful read.”

  —RT Book Reviews on Christmas on Candy Cane Lane

  “[Roberts’] polished storytelling, a tender plot filled with charming, colorful characters, along with the lively dialogue between them, will hook readers. This sweet story will warm any reader’s heart. A truly delightful read.”

  —RT Book Reviews on A Wedding on Primrose Street

  “The Lodge on Holly Road is the ultimate in feel-good family drama and heart-melting romance.”

  —USA TODAY

  “The common thread and theme of making changes in your life for the better serve as an inspiration and make this novel a real page-turner.”

  —RT Book Reviews on The Cottage on Juniper Ridge

  Also by Sheila Roberts

  THREE CHRISTMAS WISHES

  HOME ON APPLE BLOSSOM ROAD

  CHRISTMAS ON CANDY CANE LANE

  A WEDDING ON PRIMROSE STREET

  THE LODGE ON HOLLY ROAD

  THE TEA SHOP ON LAVENDER LANE

  THE COTTAGE ON JUNIPER RIDGE

  WHAT SHE WANTS (also published as ROMANCE ON MOUNTAIN VIEW ROAD)

  MERRY EX-MAS

  BETTER THAN CHOCOLATE (also published as SWEET DREAMS ON CENTER STREET)

  Look for Sheila Roberts’s next novel

  available soon from MIRA Books.

  For Roberta,

  who’s done such a good job of starting over.

  Acknowledgments

  I’d like to start by thanking my editor and friend Paula Eykelhof, not just for the work you’ve put in on this book but for the countless hours you’ve given me these past years. You have been wonderful to work with! And speaking of wonderful, thanks as always to my agent and friend Paige Wheeler. You’ve always been there for me and I appreciate it. You’re the best! A big thanks to my husband the tool man for helping me with all things construction in this book. A house build and a remodel and we’re still together. Yay, us! Finally, a huge thanks to the whole Harlequin team for working so hard on my behalf. An author may write the story but it takes a team to make a book.

  Dear Reader,

  Thanks so much for taking time from your own busy schedule to spend some of it with me. I hope you’ll enjoy this story of restarts and do-overs. I don’t know about you, but I’ve had times in my life where I’ve taken a wrong turn and had to reboot. I’ve definitely lived with remodel nightmares just like Stefanie Stahl, hauling slabs of plywood in from the rain, begging workers not to leave, sprouting gray hairs right and left. And I definitely know the pain of losing someone. I also know that somehow, with persistence, we manage to make it over life’s hurdles. If you’re facing one right now, let me encourage you by saying that you’ll make it over that hurdle. Meanwhile, I hope you’ll enjoy the latest adventures of some of the residents of Icicle Falls as they work on starting over.

  Sheila

  SOME OF YOUR FAVORITE ICICLES

  Icicle Falls is populated with so many interesting people. Here are the ones you’ll meet most often

  Samantha Sterling-Preston: Samantha runs her family’s business, The Sweet Dreams Chocolate Company (also known as Sweet Dreams Chocolates or just plain Sweet Dreams).

  Cecily Goodman: Cecily is Samantha’s sister, and she, too, works at Sweet Dreams. With her gift for knowing who should be with whom, she gives Cupid a run for his money.

  Bailey Black: Bailey is Samantha and Cecily’s little sister. She owns Tea Time Teashop. Stop in for a cup of tea and some of her lavender cookies!

  Charley Masters: Charley owns Zelda’s, one of the town’s favorite restaurants. She’s married to Dan Masters, owner of Masters Construction.

  Cass Wilkes: Cass is good friends with the Sterling sisters and Charley. She owns Gingerbread Haus and keeps everyone in town happily supplied with gingerbread houses and gingerbread boys and girls. (If you’re wanting something fancy to serve for dinner, try her cream puff swans.)

  Muriel Sterling-Wittman: In spite of being widowed twice, Muriel has managed to find a positive outlook on life. With a blossoming career as a writer she is considered the town’s wisewoman.

  Pat York: Pat owns Mountain Escape Books and she and Muriel have been friends for years.

  Olivia Claussen: Olivia is another one of Muriel’s close friends and owns the Icicle Creek Lodge. She recently married James Claussen, who now helps her run the lodge.

  Dot Morrison: Dot, also a member of Muriel’s group of friends, is known for her smart mouth and her goofy sweatshirts. And her big heart. Her restaurant, Pancake Haus, is the place to go for a great breakfast. She’s also good friends with Cass Wilkes.

  Tilda Black: Tilda the cop helps keep law and order in Icicle Falls. She’s a tough cookie but, like her mom, Dot Morrison, she has a good heart.

  Stacy Thomas: Stacy owns Timeless Treasures, the perfect place to find a lovely antique or a china teacup.

  Beth Mallow: The town’s seamstress. For years her mother was a mover and shaker in the community. Beth never had children of her own, but that didn’t stop her from taking in foster kids or helping her mom raise her nephew Colin.

  Ivy Bohn: Looking for the perfect Christmas decoration or ornament for your tree? Go see Ivy Bohn at Christmas Haus.

  Maddy Donaldson: If you need someone to make something happen, talk to Maddy. She is the quintessential volunteer. (Ask anyone who lives on Candy Cane Lane.)

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven


  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Epilogue

  Recipes

  Apple Stir-Fry

  Strawberry-Rhubarb Crisp

  Apple Scones

  Excerpt from Home on Apple Blossom Road by Sheila Roberts

  Chapter One

  Cass Wilkes had wanted to liven up her empty-nest existence, but having her dining room ceiling fall in was not on her list of ways to do it. She’d just come home at three in the afternoon from the usual Saturday swamping of customers at her bakery, Gingerbread Haus, with sore feet and a desire for a bubble bath and a cup of chocolate-mint tea. Looking at the water and the soppy chunks of Sheetrock on her dining table and floor, and the white glop everywhere, she now had a desire for something with more of a kick.

  Currently there wasn’t anything stronger than cooking sherry in the house. That meant there was only one way to deal with this situation. She walked right back out the door and to her car. Destination: Zelda’s, one of Icicle Falls’ favorite gathering spots, owned by her friend Charley Masters. Charley would give her a Chocolate Kiss, a boozy chocolate number that was one of the restaurant’s specialties, and hopefully she’d also dispatch her husband, Dan, owner of Masters Construction, to deal with the ceiling problem.

  Back in her car Cass texted her friend. Emergency. Have Chocolate Kiss ready.

  You okay? came the concerned reply.

  Yeah, but my house isn’t.

  Uh-oh, Charley texted back. Will have drink ready.

  On my way.

  The restaurant was empty, set up for the evening rush, which would start around five with the sundowner crowd, seniors taking advantage of the early dinner bargains. By six thirty there wouldn’t be an empty seat anywhere, and people would be crowding in, waiting for a table. She was glad it was quiet now. If she had a complete nervous breakdown the only witnesses would be Charley and the staff.

  True to her word, Charley was at a booth in the back of the restaurant with a Chocolate Kiss martini set at Cass’s place, along with a plate of nachos. “The crisis kit,” she said, stealing a cheese-drenched chip. “Chocolate, booze and carbs.”

  Cass slid into the banquette. “Bless you.” She took a sip of her drink and then dived into the nachos. “I so needed this. Well, not my butt.” That seemed to be ever expanding. “My soul, for sure.”

  “What’s wrong at your house? Did your rotting deck finally fall in?”

  “Worse than that. Half my dining room ceiling is now sitting on the table.” Grandma’s dining table. Her grandmother had given her that when she first bought her house in Icicle Falls. She only used it on holidays but it had huge sentimental value. If not for the protective pad and a tablecloth it would have been completely ruined.

  Good friend that she was, Charley looked properly horrified. “Oh, no.”

  “Oh, yes,” Cass said miserably. “I knew I was going to need a new roof soon, but I didn’t think it was this bad. I didn’t go up to the attic to see what that’s like. It must be grim, since my dining room is now a war zone. Please tell me Dan can fix this so I don’t have to pull out my hair.”

  “Dan can fix it,” Charley assured her. “But count on him telling you that you need a new roof.”

  Cass glanced out the restaurant window at the rain dumping on the window boxes of the various shops and buildings, bouncing off car roofs and slithering along the street in streams. April showers bring May flowers, her mom liked to say. They also brought roof leaks and wrecked mahogany dining room tables. Ugh. How long had that water been collecting in her attic before it crashed through the ceiling? And shouldn’t it have given her a warning by dripping a little?

  Except when was the last time she’d been in her dining room to notice any drips? Other than hanging out with her pals for their chick-flick nights, she hadn’t had much of a social life. Her daily schedule consisted mainly of work, eating takeout from Zelda’s or the Safeway deli while watching TV, and sleeping. Repeat. This was alleviated by occasional visits home by the kids, but those visits weren’t nearly frequent enough, and mother-child text sessions never lasted long. Afterward it was just her, rattling around in a house that was as much in need of fixing up as she was. This was her life now that the last little chick had left the nest.

  She missed those chicks. Sometimes Cass could hardly believe they were grown. The slide into this new phase had felt both gradual and sudden. When her three kids were small the chaos of life as a single parent had seemed never-ending. But now, suddenly, here they were, launched and mostly out of the house. Dani was happily married and a mom herself, and her bakery in Spokane was doing well. Willie was graduating from college with a degree in environmental science and resource management in June and this would be his last summer home, although she knew she wouldn’t see much of him. Amber, the baby, was a freshman at Western and was only home during the summer. Between working and hanging out with her friends, she was gone more than she was around.

  Even Tiny, the family Saint Bernard, was no longer there to fill the empty spaces. Tiny had gone to doggy heaven a year ago and Cass hadn’t been able to bring herself to replace him.

  She took a guzzle of her Chocolate Kiss. “My life is driving me to drink.”

  “Don’t worry,” Charley said, picking up her cell phone. “Dan will make everything better.”

  Cass thought of her current existence and muttered, “He won’t be able to make everything better.”

  Charley frowned in concern, but before she could comment, her husband had answered and she was busy dealing with Cass’s crisis. “Thanks, babe,” she said after explaining the problem. “He’s just finishing up the new place on Cedar,” she told Cass after she’d ended the call. “He’ll be right over.”

  “Poor guy, having to work on a Saturday.”

  Charley showed no sympathy. “It’s good for him. Keeps him out of trouble. Anyway, it’s nice that things are booming here in town. Job security.”

  “I hate to bug him when he’s working so hard,” Cass said. “But he was the first one I thought of.”

  “That’s how it should be with friends,” Charley said. “Anyway, he doesn’t mind.” She studied Cass. “So, what else is bothering you? I get the impression the ceiling is just the final straw.”

  “I don’t know,” Cass said with a shrug. “I guess I’ve got a case of empty-nest syndrome. Coupled with getting-olditis,” she added. “I’m going to be flippin’ forty-six next month.” Eew. She consoled herself with more of her Chocolate Kiss. “And you know what comes after that?”

  “Forty-seven.”

  “And then fifty-seven and then...” She finished off her drink. “My life is evaporating before my very eyes.”

  “You’re not that old,” Charley protested.

  “I’m not that young, either. Where am I going? What am I doing with my life?”

  “You’re kidding, right?”

  Cass scowled at her empty glass.

  “You’ve raised three great kids single-handed. You’ve got a thriving business. Everyone loves you.”

  But no one in particular loved her. Other than her kids, of course, and they had to. It came with the territory.

  Oh, well. You couldn’t have everything. “I don’t know what my problem is.”

  “I do,” Charley said with an emphatic nod. “You need a man.”

  “Been there, done
that. Maybe I’ll get a puppy and call it good.” One divorce had been enough. Marriage was risky business.

  “Puppies are great,” Charley agreed. “Men are even better. Why don’t you splurge and get both?”

  “Oh, sure.”

  “Online dating, baby.”

  Cass shuddered. “You’ve decided me. I’ll get a dog.”

  They’d just finished the nachos when Dan Masters joined them. At six foot two and with shoulders like a bull, he was a commanding presence, the kind of man you knew could handle any crisis. Wouldn’t it be nice to have something like that of her very own?

  Yeah, but not likely. The population of Icicle Falls wasn’t exactly brimming with men her age. The closest was Dylan Wright, who’d been single for years. Somebody would come along and whip him into shape someday, but considering the lack of chemistry between them whenever he came into the bakery, it wouldn’t be her.

  “So your roof’s leaking, huh?” Dan said, seating himself next to his wife.

  He kissed Charley, and Cass felt a tiny stab of envy. She looked wistfully at her empty glass. “It’s gone from leak to ‘get the ark.’ I have a major flood happening at my place.”

  Dan shook his head. “I warned you that roof was starting to look grim. Up here in the mountains you really need a metal roof.”

  “I think my place was built before there was such a thing,” she said. “Anyway, I’d have to sell a kid to be able to afford a metal roof.” Even with Mason pitching in his share for the kids’ college, she still had a lot of money going out.

  “Well, no worries. We’re supposed to have sun tomorrow. I can come over and patch the leak and fix your ceiling.”

  Thank God.

  “Meanwhile, put out a bucket.”

  “Or a horse trough. I really appreciate it, Dan. I owe you gingerbread boys for life.”

  “You already give him plenty of gingerbread cookies,” Charley said.

  “Hey, don’t discourage the woman,” Dan told her. Then to Cass, “Patching the roof is only a temporary fix. You’re bound to have more problems in the future, so you’d better start looking for a roofer.”