Stella threw herself at Sam, nearly knocking him over. “Yes. Yes, yes, yes,” she sobbed into his neck. “Absolutely, I will marry you.”
The ring was a simple white gold band with a circle-cut diamond in it, but it could have been an old gum wrapper for all Stella cared. She was going to marry Sam Warren.
Once they’d hugged and kissed and she’d ogled the ring, Stella gasped. “I have to call Jace.”
Sam’s expression shifted again, his mouth tilting up in a smirk. “That’s actually another thing that didn’t quite go to plan. We were supposed to get engaged at Romano’s, and Jace was going to be dressed as the server who brought us our celebratory wine.”
Stella sighed. “Oh, that does seem nice.” Then, she gasped. “Wait? Does that mean he’s here? In Willow Beach?”
Before Sam could answer, there was a knock at the door. Stella turned to Sam, but he just shrugged, acting innocent. Stella ran to the door and threw it open to find a bag with a Romano’s logo stamped on the side.
“Did someone order some wine and cannolis?” Jace moved the bag aside. “Hi, Mom.”
The tears Stella had just gotten under control started falling again, and she pulled Jace into the apartment and wrapped him in a hug.
“What are you doing here?” she sobbed.
“Sam texted me a few minutes ago that the plan had changed. Before I left the inn, Georgia called Romano’s to get an emergency bag of cannolis ready for me to pick up.”
“You’re staying at the inn?”
He nodded. “Georgia has been hiding me away since yesterday afternoon.”
Jace had been to Willow Beach to visit Stella several times since she’d moved in, but it still felt like she hadn’t seen him in ages. Every time she saw him, he looked broader and older. He’d grown out his beard and started working out at the university’s rec center.
Everything about the dynamic of Stella’s family was changing before her eyes.
Sam appeared and pulled Jace into a hug, thanking him for his help. The two had bonded over their love of cars and football, and Stella watching the two of them talk.
As they all settled in on the couch with cannolis and wine—soda for Jace—Stella realized that everything about her life had changed in a matter of months, and nothing had gone how she’d planned, but that didn’t matter. Sometimes, apparently, things had to go off track so you could get to where you were always supposed to end up.
Stella looked around her apartment, decorated with her artwork and pictures of Jace over the years. She looked at the man who would one day be her husband and her baby boy who was growing into a man before her very eyes. Stella thought about all of the people she’d met and come to love and all of the memories she was going to make in Willow Beach, and she couldn’t imagine how her life ever could have been any different.
As far as Stella was concerned, everything in her life was perfect.
Thanks for reading! There’s more to come for the Baldwin family and friends in Willow Beach. Click here to check out JUST SOUTH OF SUNRISE now!
It’s never too late in life to give love a second chance.
When fate (and a stubborn niece) force fifty-something divorcee Liza Hall to take on a new catering client, the last face she expects to see is Benjamin Boyd.
As in, the very handsome, very familiar Ben who broke her heart many years ago.
That’s bad news indeed. Her quiet life in Willow Beach is just what she’s been searching for. Why give that up and invite the memory of heartbreak back in?
But it’s tough for Liza to resist pressure from her young niece, the pleas of a desperate client, and the man who has always known how to tug on her heartstrings.
And soon, Liza finds herself getting drawn closer and closer to a man she swore off for good.
Can a second shot at love leave her better off than the first?
Fate, family, and food all weave together in this heartwarming second chance romance women’s fiction novel from bestselling author Grace Palmer.
Come back to your favorite seaside town, grab a cup of coffee with the Baldwin family at the Willow Beach Inn, and get ready to fall heads over heels for the later-in-life love story you’ve been craving.
Click here to get JUST SOUTH OF SUNRISE now!
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Also by Grace Palmer
Sweet Island Inn
No Home Like Nantucket (Book 1)
No Beach Like Nantucket (Book 2)
No Wedding Like Nantucket (Book 3)
No Love Like Nantucket (Book 4)
Willow Beach Inn
Just South of Paradise (Book 1)
Just South of Perfect (Book 2)
Just South of Sunrise (Book 3)
