And now here he was, trying to navigate his way out of the maze of a national broadcasting company all on his own so he could get back to Lovestruck and his twins in time for his mom to get to her knitting class at Main Street Yarn.
A security guard took mercy on him, escorted him to the elevator and left him with directions on how to get to the exit. Once he reached the ground floor, he removed the name badge and security clearance from around his neck, returned them to the guard station and pushed his way through the smoked glass double doors.
The sun glinting off the surrounding skyscrapers was almost blinding. Jack stood for a second, disoriented by the city’s assault on his senses. Manhattan was everything that Lovestruck wasn’t—bustling, expansive, exhilarating. It thrummed like a great big beating heart, and he could see why Madison loved it so much. He knew better than to hope she’d come back to Vermont, and that was okay. Really, it was. He just wanted a chance to love her the way she deserved to be loved. They could make it work, somehow. He didn’t have a plan, but he was willing to move heaven and earth to figure it out.
If it was what Madison wanted.
If it wasn’t?
Jack’s chest ached as if there was nothing but a hole where his heart had once been. He didn’t want to consider that possibility—not until he was back in Lovestruck where he could lick his wounds and try and figure out a way to get on with his life.
He turned in the direction of the cabstand on the corner, but just as he took his first step, he thought he heard his name above the din of the honking horns, siren wails and street noises that were all part of the unique music of Manhattan. He paused, certain his mind was playing on tricks on him, because that lovely lilt had sounded an awful lot like...
“Madison?” He squinted into the sunlight.
And all of a sudden, there she was, walking toward him like something out of a dream—an angel with wind-tossed hair and eyes as warm as autumn in Vermont. Voice like a lullaby.
Her footsteps slowed to a stop about ten feet away from him. She looked smaller than he’d remembered, daintier somehow. And then he realized she was wearing flat shoes instead of the towering heels she’d always worn to wobble her way around Lovestruck. He studied them for a second, cocking his head, and when he looked back up, their gazes locked.
Jack reached into the side pocket of his cargo pants and pulled out the apple he’d brought with him—the one from the fire station. He offered it to her as if it was a Valentine. As if it was his heart.
Madison launched herself at him then, crashing into his arms with such force that he nearly toppled over. So he held on to her as tightly as he could, whispering each and every item from his list into her hair, not for an audience this time, but just for them. Just for her.
And when he was finished, right before she pressed her lips to his, she smiled and whispered the words that were the best sort of balm to his aching heart. “Take me home, hero. Take me home to Lovestruck.”
The Lovestruck Bee
Wedding Announcements
Jules/Cole
On Saturday, December 25, Madison Jules, familiar to readers of this newspaper as our parenting columnist and newly appointed fashion editor Queen Bee, married Lieutenant Jack Cole of the Lovestruck Fire Department. Lieutenant Cole is known nationwide as Fired Up in Lovestruck, devoted dad, letter-writing enthusiast and Queen Bee’s number-one fan.
The wedding took place at Lovestruck Community Church on Main Street, and was attended by Jason “Cap” Anderson, who together with Alice Jules, gave the bride away. The groom’s eight-month-old twin daughters served as honorary flower girls, while Toby the Chinese crested acted as ring bearer. The bride has asked us to be sure and note that Emma and Ella Cole were dressed in delicate white tulle by Vera Wang, a recent fan of Queen Bee and Fired Up in Lovestruck’s letters to the editor, and that Toby the dog “stunned in a hand-knitted dog tuxedo of angora yarn and a collar made from fresh flowers.”
Wade Ericson of the LFD stood as best man, alongside maid of honor, Felicity Hart of New York City. The reception was held at the Mansion on Orchard Drive, where guests dined on vanilla apple wedding cake with buttercream frosting and red-apple martinis.
The couple is registered at Sephora.
The Lovestruck Bee
The editor-in-chief has been asked to print the following correction to yesterday’s Jules/Cole wedding announcement:
Maid of Honor Felicity Hart is no longer a resident of New York City and now has plans to relocate to Lovestruck because “it’s as cute as a button and she’s always had a thing for firemen.”
Don’t miss Teri Wilson’s next book in the Lovestruck, Vermont miniseries, available December 2020 from Harlequin Special Edition!
Keep reading for an excerpt from More than Neighbors by Shannon Stacey.
WE HOPE YOU ENJOYED THIS BOOK FROM
Believe in love. Overcome obstacles. Find happiness.
Relate to finding comfort and strength in the support of loved ones and enjoy the journey no matter what life throws your way.
6 NEW BOOKS AVAILABLE EVERY MONTH!
More than Neighbors
by Shannon Stacey
Chapter One
“Is that our new house, Mommy?”
Meredith Price might
