A Timeless Romance Anthology: Spring Vacation Collection (7 page)

This
was the kind of man she could pin her hopes and dreams on.
This
was the kind of beginning that could grow into something beautiful.

About Josi S. Kilpack

Josi S. Kilpack is the author of eighteen novels, which include women’s fiction, romance, mystery, and suspense. Her suspense novel
Sheep’s Clothing
won the Whitney Award for Best Mystery in 2009, and she was the Best in State Award recipient for Literary Arts in Fiction in Utah in 2012. Josi is one of the co-authors of The Newport Ladies Book Club series (
Daisy
, 2012 and
Shannon
, 2013).
Baked Alaska
, the ninth book in Josi’s Sadie Hoffmiller culinary mystery series, has a release date of winter 2013.

Josi and her husband, Lee, are the parents of four children and live in Northern Utah. In addition to writing, Josi loves to read, bake, and travel. She’s completed six half marathons to date, but may never run another one, because right now she hates running.

Author website:
www.josiskilpack.com

Blog:
www.josikilpack.blogspot.com

Twitter: @JosiSKilpack

Facebook: Author Josi S. Kilpack

Other Works by Josi S. Kilpack

The Sadie Hoffmiller Culinary Mystery Series:

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Sadie+Hoffmiller&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3ASadie+Hoffmiller

Daisy (The Newport Ladies Book Club series)

http://www.amazon.com/Newport-Ladies-Book-Club-ebook/dp/B007VP01WE/

Her Good Name

http://www.amazon.com/Her-Good-Name-ebook/dp/B00462RVIM/

Unsung Lullaby

http://www.amazon.com/Unsung-Lullaby-ebook/dp/B00472N4IM/

Sheep’s Clothing

http://www.amazon.com/Sheeps-Clothing-Josi-Kilpack/dp/1590387465/

Chasing Tess

By Annette Lyon

Chapter One

Tess spritzed the curls cascading from her up-do one last time then checked her bun using the mirror in her compact. Almost there. She bit her lower lip as she turned to face her image in the full-length mirror.
Yes,
she decided, smiling with pleasure. The coral pink chiffon was the right choice for tonight. Feminine and light, perfect for a warm spring evening.

One last thing, and her ensemble would be complete. She took the jeweler’s case from the dresser top and opened it with a creak. Inside lay a thin gold chain with a heart pendant, a diamond glittering at the center point. Gently, she lifted the necklace from its box, unlatched it, and moved toward the mirror so she could put it on easier. With the clasp done up, she smoothed the necklace with her fingers and tilted her head.

“Perfect,” she whispered, although she felt silly talking to herself.

The necklace was pretty, no question. She hadn’t worn it since Valentine’s Day, when James gave it to her. For the last two months, the box had sat in her underwear drawer, covered by a pair of fuzzy pink socks so that when she got dressed each morning, she didn’t have to look at it. James had created the ideal romantic evening—dinner at a French restaurant and a stroll through a park, during which he slipped his jacket over her shoulders in true gentlemanly fashion. A full moon. It was all so ideal, she’d assumed that when he sat beside her on a park bench and pulled out a jewelry box that it would contain not a necklace, but a ring.

They’d been dating for nearly three years, since he began law school.
I can’t even think about a future—about marriage yet,
he’d said more than once.
But after I graduate...
And then his eyes always got that dreamy quality, and she couldn’t help but imagine their life together
then.

She’d understood that law school would be a hard time, what with all the long hours of studying and tests and writing. He’d even edited the law review, a high honor, and something that would look fantastic on a résumé.

But after I graduate, everything will change,
he’d assured her
. I’ll be able to focus on other things. Like us.

Even now as she stood before the mirror, she remembered the goose bumps that had broken over her arms and down her back the first time he’d made that promise.
Us.
Everything would change now; graduation was two days ago.

I suppose it was silly of me to think he’d propose on Valentine’s,
she thought wryly as she took a step back to look at her reflection one more time.
I shouldn’t have gotten upset over this necklace. He’s always said
after
graduation.

Tess was rather pleased with herself for getting over the disappointment of that night, of no longer hating the sight of the box, and, most importantly, for wearing the necklace tonight. It was the first time she’d worn it since he’d given it to her.

Tonight, everything would change. The law school graduation ceremony was over. James’s parents had planned a party to celebrate his achievement and “something else,” as he’d put it over the phone yesterday. He wouldn’t say what the “something else” was, but when she’d prodded and asked specific questions, he’d admitted that it had something to do with the future.

Which could only mean one thing: tonight was the night. He would pop the question. She would look perfect in her coral-pink dress, with his pendant resting on her breastbone, her hair curled and stacked just right, her lipstick matching her dress.

My heart will pound as he kneels and asks for my hand in front of his friends and parents.

The thought caused a flutter in her chest.

Her phone’s alarm went off, making her start, but then she smiled. She’d gotten ready exactly on time. Even if she hit traffic, she’d reach the old art museum with plenty of time to walk around the building, find the room where the party was being held—where she would finally,
finally
get that ring on her finger and be promised to the one man she planned to be with for the rest of her life. As she tucked her phone into the little cream-colored purse she’d bought just for tonight, and went out to her car, she tried not to dream too much into the future. She’d done a lot of that anyway over the years. Five months into dating James, she’d known what colors she wanted for her wedding. Granted those colors had changed three times since with the fashions. And she’d picked out the perfect cake almost two years ago. Her dress last fall.

She refused to let herself think too far past the wedding day itself, or she’d be liable to start planning how many children they would have and even name them before James had gotten the question out. She wouldn’t plan their
whole
lives, tempting as that might be. She couldn’t wait to experience life with him, the ups, the downs, all of it. Together.

The drive to the museum felt twice as long as it should have, even though she hadn’t hit more than two red lights. After parking, she flipped down the vanity mirror to check her face one last time. She looked flushed from the excitement.

Didn’t need to use blush,
she thought with a laugh.

She headed inside and found James in the entryway, wearing a brand new charcoal gray suit with a silver tie. He was talking to a member of the staff and didn’t see her right away, so she stood by the door and admired the view. His hair was newly cut and styled with just the right amount of gel. He must have spent some time outdoors lately, because he seemed more tanned than usual. 

The worker nodded and headed back into a large room—her cue to step forward. Her sandaled heels clicked on the marble floor, echoing slightly and making James turn his head. His face lit up in the smile Tess had come to know and love.

And call
mine.
No one else got that exact smile.
He loves me. He really does.

James extended both arms and reached for her hands, pulling her close and kissing her, then nuzzling her ear with his lips and whispering, “You look fantastic.”

“I could say the same about you,” she whispered back, loving how close he was, smelling his cologne mixed with the faintest hint of spearmint on his breath.

He took her hand and led Tess into the main room, which had a flagstone floor, a raised stand on one end, a live band setting up on it, and caterers moving about smoothly at their tasks as they set up the buffet table. A good twenty tables were interspersed throughout the room, leaving a space between them and the platform. James pointed to that spot.

“For dancing after we eat.” He nodded at the band. “I’ve already requested our song.”

Perfect. Beyond perfect.
Until that moment, Tess hadn’t been sure if he thought of “Unforgettable” as their song the way she did—the duet version Natalie Cole did with her late father, the legendary Nat King Cole. To her, it had been their song ever since they’d danced to it by moonlight behind a willow tree during a friend’s wedding reception. The branches hid them from view of the wedding guests, making James the only person Tess could see.

James had sung along to Nat’s deep voice. James twirled her into a circle then brought her back and held her close. They gazed into each other’s eyes—so long it had felt like a lifetime, so short, it passed before she knew it. “I’ll never forget you, Tess,” he’d said as he pulled her close and pressed his cheek to hers and they kept swaying. After that night, any time they heard the song—and there had been a surprising number of times—James had taken her into his arms, danced, and sung in her ear. Even if they were in the middle of a crowd, a street, a mall.

“It’s gorgeous,” Tess said, taking in the room. She could picture their reception in this room, her cake on a table against that wall...

His parents must have put a lot of money into the evening. They arrived shortly after she did.

“Well, hello,” Mrs. Kennington said, sandwiching Tess’s hand between her own; Tess wanted to pull it free. His mother had never liked her, never thought her good enough for her beloved son.

“Hello,” Tess said with a smile.

She repeated James’s words in her mind.
She’ll learn to love you. It’ll take time. She doesn’t know how amazingly wonderful you are... yet.

Tess and James ate dinner at the same table as his parents and a few of his law school buddies. She said little, hoping not to give any kind of fodder for Mrs. Kennington’s negativity. James had a spot beside Tess, and had he stayed there, Tess would have been happy to sit beside James as they ate, even in silence. In the past, he’d taken her hand under the table to squeeze it in their code: three squeezes meant “I love you,” to which she replied with four squeezes, “I love you too.” He’d been known to sneak her the occasional wink and make sure to keep her glass filled, her roll buttered, and her salad drizzled with dressing.

But tonight, he hadn’t sat more than five seconds before guests greeted him, and he stood to say hello—then vanished into the crowd again. The same thing happened over and over, leaving Tess with an empty seat beside her and James’s parents pointedly ignoring her across the table.

Surely the stream of well-wishers had to end. James would eventually return to his meal beside her, wouldn’t he? But too many people and too many things pulled him in different directions. Every time he sat down and began cutting into his steak, a friend came over to talk, or he needed to meet so-and-so’s new fiancée, or something else, leaving Tess at the table, awkward and as silent as ever, giving Mrs. Kennington the occasional smile before plunging her fork back into her salad. She’d added the dressing herself. Whenever James returned, he whispered an apology as he sat and smoothed his napkin on his lap. But he never took more than a bite before he was interrupted and called elsewhere again.

Tess wouldn’t ruin his big night by complaining or nagging over being “neglected.” This party was about him. She could sit in the background and bask in the glow of her husband-to-be, who only had to pass the bar before being a bona fide lawyer. As the noise in the room increased, Tess found herself zoning off into her imagination, planning more of her upcoming nuptials. The evening would end with the spotlight on them both; she could wait.

How long of an engagement would his mother insist they have? Tess could plan a decent wedding in three months, if she hurried a few things. July or August would be perfect.

The band finished a song but didn’t start another. The conversation around the room gradually quieted as everyone turned to see the singer, who had given the microphone to Garrett Pack; she recognized him from several law-school parties. James considered him his best friend; they’d studied and crammed together, and they were both on the law review staff. Garrett made a quieting motion with one arm and waited for the remaining chatter to die down.

“Thank you for coming, everyone. This is quite an exciting night, as we all know, celebrating the accomplishment of one James D. Kennington, Esquire!” He clapped against the mic, sending a heavy noise through the speakers. The crowd clapped and whooped their approval.