In this charming novel about the search for love, home and family, New York Times bestselling author Carla Neggers takes readers on a journey to an irresistible town they’ll want to return to over and over again
Felicity MacGregor loves organizing social events for others but her own personal life is a different story. After a brief but failed attempt at a career as a financial analyst, she returned to Knights Bridge where she enjoys running a thriving party-planning business.
Then Felicity’s life gets a shake-up when her childhood friend Gabriel Flanagan returns unexpectedly to their tiny hometown. Now a high-flying businessman, Gabe always vowed to get out of Knights Bridge, but he is back for the local entrepreneurial boot camp Felicity’s been hired to organize. Together again, they’ll finally have to face each other—and their complicated past.
Gabe and Felicity soon realize their reunion is stirring up long-buried emotions. While Gabe has big plans for his future, Felicity is discovering that hers doesn’t depend on fate—she must choose what’s right for her. But if they can find a bridge between their diverging paths, they may just discover that their enduring connection is what matters most.
Praise for Carla Neggers’ New York Times bestselling Swift River Valley novels
“A page-turning mystery and clever, slow-building romance featuring two wounded type-A personalities. [Neggers] seduces readers by expertly marrying characters, story lines and scenes, and keeps them up-to-date with series catch-ups. Her family dynamics keep it real, her costars add insight and her stars make it a keeper!”
—RT Book Reviews on Red Clover Inn
“Masterful attention to detail, conversational dialogue and past-character catch-up expertly draw readers into her potent mix of romance, mystery and small-town drama.”
—RT Book Reviews on The Spring at Moss Hill
“Appealing protagonists, good neighbors, small-town Christmas traditions, and Neggers’ own recipes make for a fine romance.”
—Publishers Weekly on A Knights Bridge Christmas
“A heady mix of romance, mystery and genuine Quabbin history packaged in an enchanting holiday tale.”
—RT Book Reviews on A Knights Bridge Christmas
“Neggers does the near impossible: she brings a small-town, family-loving heroine and a footloose hero together in an engaging romance that has its fair share of surprises.”
—Library Journal on Echo Lake
“Her people, places and things are colorfully and expertly rendered in this compelling work of fiction.”
—RT Book Reviews on Cider Brook
“Neggers captures readers’ attention with her usual flair and brilliance and gives us a romance, a mystery and a lesson in history.”
—RT Book Reviews on Secrets of the Lost Summer, Top Pick
Also by Carla Neggers
Swift River Valley
RED CLOVER INN
THE SPRING AT MOSS HILL
A KNIGHTS BRIDGE CHRISTMAS
ECHO LAKE
CHRISTMAS AT CARRIAGE HILL (novella)
CIDER BROOK
THAT NIGHT ON THISTLE LANE
SECRETS OF THE LOST SUMMER
Sharpe & Donovan
THIEF’S MARK
LIAR’S KEY
KEEPER’S REACH
HARBOR ISLAND
DECLAN’S CROSS
ROCK POINT (novella)
HERON’S COVE
SAINT’S GATE
The Ireland Series
THE WHISPER
THE MIST
THE ANGEL
THE WIDOW
Black Falls
COLD DAWN
COLD RIVER
COLD PURSUIT
Cold Ridge
ABANDON
BREAKWATER
DARK SKY
THE RAPIDS
NIGHT’S LANDING
COLD RIDGE
Carriage House
THE HARBOR
STONEBROOK COTTAGE
THE CABIN
THE CARRIAGE HOUSE
Stand-Alone Novels
THE WATERFALL
ON FIRE
KISS THE MOON
TEMPTING FATE
CUT AND RUN
BETRAYALS
CLAIM THE CROWN
Look for Carla Neggers’ next novel in the Sharpe & Donovan series IMPOSTOR’S LURE available soon from MIRA Books.
Carla Neggers
The River House
To the memory of my cousin
Mary Ann Harrell Domingos,
always in our hearts
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
Dear Reader Letter
A Recipe from Carla Neggers: Blueberry Cobbler
One
“We have to have badgers at your party.”
Felicity MacGregor knew her comment would raise most people’s eyebrows, but she also knew Kylie Shaw would be fine with it.
“Absolutely,” Kylie said. “Russ and I had a badger couple on our wedding cake.”
That spring, Kylie’s whirlwind romance with Russ Colton, a security consultant, had taken them both by surprise, never mind everyone else in their small town of Knights Bridge, Massachusetts. Felicity smiled. “Of course you did.” They were seated across from each other at the table on the balcony of Kylie and Russ’s second-floor apartment in a renovated nineteenth-century hat factory. The balcony overlooked the river, flowing gently on the warm summer afternoon. Russ had spent the past two weeks in Southern California, wrapping up his life and work there now that he and Kylie had decided to settle in Knights Bridge. They’d bought a house a mile or so farther up the river and were having work done on it before moving in later in the summer.
Kylie reached for her iced tea. “Russ let Sherlock Badger oversee security for the wedding,” she said, matter-of-fact.
Sherlock was one of her popular fictional characters. “I’m sure Sherlock did a fine job,” Felicity said.
“He’s the best. Russ likes to say we’ll be fine provided I don’t confuse my Middle Branch badgers with real badgers.”
“Who says your Middle Branch badgers aren’t real?”
Kylie beamed. “Exactly what I tell him!”
Felicity wouldn’t be surprised if Kylie was only half kidding. Under her pseudonym of Morwenna Mills, she was the creator of the Badgers of Middle Branch, a popular series of children’s books. Felicity, an event planner, was helping Kylie with a party to celebrate the newest installment in the series, set in an idyllic village on a river. The mom and dad badgers were veterinarians, modeled after Kylie’s own family. A tiny version of Sherlock Badger occupied a spot on Kylie’s worktable. She’d made the mini badger herself with scraps of fabric and tufts of dryer lint.
Unlike Felicity, Kylie hadn’t grown up in Knights Bridge. They’d hit it off upon Felicity’s return to her hometown in May, when she’d bought a house farther up on the river, just down from the site of Kylie and Russ’s new house. Felicity loved her house despite her complicated personal history with it, seeing how she’d lost her virginity there. Not in the house itself. It hadn’t been built yet. But on a blanket in front of
