Starting Over

  Starting Over

  Cheryl Douglas

  Copyright © by Cheryl Douglas

  Smashwords Edition

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, including photocopying, graphic, electronic, mechanical, taping, recording, sharing, or by any information retrieval system without the express written permission of the author and / or publisher. Exceptions include brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  Persons, places and other entities represented in this book are deemed to be fictitious. They are not intended to represent actual places or entities currently or previously in existence or any person living or dead. This work is the product of the author’s imagination.

  Any and all inquiries to the author of this book should be directed to: info@cheryldouglasbooks.com

  Starting Over © 2013 Cheryl Douglas

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  Starting Over

  Eve Bolton is at a crossroads in her life. After caring for her beloved aunt during a terminal illness and coming to terms with the fact she may never be able to get pregnant, she retreats to her childhood home, where she’s not just the wife of a business tycoon, she’s someone the townspeople know and love. This gives Eve a sense of identity she thought she lost. When her husband asks her to come home, she decides it’s time for her to start over… alone.

  Alex Bolton has been so preoccupied running his family’s business that he lost sight of what’s important. Eve. He knows she’s been going through a difficult time, between trying to get pregnant and losing the woman who raised her, but he never expects her to tell him she’s leaving him. He knows he has a lot to make up for, but he’s willing to do whatever it takes. The question is, will it be too late to save their marriage?

  Table of 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

  Other Books by Cheryl Douglas

  Coming Soon

  Chapter One

  Eve Bolton sat at her aunt’s bedside holding her hand. Her mind tortured and blessed her with every sweet memory they’d shared since she was a little girl. Her aunt was more than a surrogate parent; she was an inspiration. She was an example of how much a woman could accomplish if she believed in herself, even when everyone else failed to recognize her talent.

  “Eve…”

  “I’m right here, Aunt Sharon. Can I get you something?”

  “No.” Her eyes drifted closed again. Sharon had been in and out of sleep for the past four days, when the pain medication served its purpose and allowed her to rest peacefully.

  Eve knew it wouldn’t be much longer before her spirit left them. Eve had dreaded that day ever since the doctor gave Sharon her grave diagnosis four months ago, but she didn’t want to believe it would happen. She’d wanted to believe her aunt, with her indomitable spirit and passion for life, would defy doctors. Eve wanted Sharon to be one of many who proved to the medical community that their opinions were just that—opinions, not law.

  Eve’s eyes landed on the framed photo beside the antique iron bed. She was twelve in that picture, wrapped in her aunt’s loving embrace. It was the third summer Eve had spent at the inn, and during those two months of vacation, they decided it was where she belonged. When Eve had asked her aunt if she could live with her instead of returning to her mother’s home, her aunt didn’t even hesitate. She said Eve would always have a home with her.

  When her parents divorced, Eve’s father had moved across the country to marry his mistress and her mother went from a steadfast and reliable parent to a woman Eve barely recognized. Sharon blamed her sister’s transformation on a mid-life crisis brought on by her husband’s cheating, but Eve couldn’t help but feel abandoned by both of her parents when she needed them most.

  A soft knock on the door drew Eve back to the present. She didn’t know which was worse: reliving painful memories or facing the grim reality of what the next days and months would bring. She would have a funeral to plan, an inn to learn how to run, and an unimaginable loss to grieve. The latter seemed almost unthinkable. Her life would never be the same without Aunt Sharon. “Come in,” she said quietly, not wanting to disturb her aunt.

  Dan MacDonald, the Lakeside Inn’s manager, opened the door a fraction of an inch. His gaze drifted to the bed, and he sighed when a grimace passed over Sharon’s face. “How is she?”

  Eve beckoned for him to enter, craving company to see her through the dark hours ahead. Dan had been her rock for the past three months while she’d helplessly watched cancer steal her aunt’s energy and enthusiasm for life. Dan was Eve’s first love, but since she’d left Richmond to go to college almost twenty years ago, she’d relegated him to the back of her mind so she could focus on building a new life with her husband. Letting go of the past was the only way she could convince herself that leaving home was the right decision.

  “She’s coping,” Eve said gently, wishing she could do more to ease her aunt’s burden.

  “And you?” Dan asked. “How are you coping, Evie?”

  He’d always read her so easily. She often wondered if he was the only person who really understood her, outside of her aunt. “I’m hanging in there.”

  Picking up Sharon’s frail hand and holding it, Eve tried to transfer some of her strength, wishing she could give Sharon the will to fight for another day. Eve knew wishing her aunt would continue to hold on when she was in so much pain was selfish, but the thought of never speaking to her again left a gaping hole in Eve’s heart that no amount of joy or laughter would ever displace.

  “Did you call Alex?” Dan asked, sliding his hand into the front pocket of his worn jeans.

  Her husband and former boyfriend had always tried to be civil to each other—for her sake and because of their mutual respect for her aunt—but it was no secret it was an effort.

  “He’s in Seattle on business.” Eve pressed her lips to the cool, thin skin on the back of Sharon’s hand. The veins were more pronounced since she’d lost so much weight. The fingers that used to fly across her keyboard as she poured her heart and soul into her next novel had been immobile for too long.

  Dan scowled. “He should be here with you. What the hell is the matter with him?”

  “He has a company to run.”

  Eve knew how Dan felt about her husband’s work ethic, but Alex felt he was doing what he had to do. When Alex’s father had died five years earlier, he left his steel company to his wife, but Alex ran it. The business employed thousands of people and supported both Alex’s mother and sister. He owed working hard to the people who depended on him for their livelihoods.

  Eve was used to defending her absentee husband. She’d made excuses when he couldn’t make it to a friend’s house for dinner or had to postpone their vacation at the last minute because of a crisis at work. It came with the territory, or she told herself. In the face of her aunt’s early demise, Eve wondered whether she’d been cheating herself all these years by staying
married to Alex because… she loved him. Even after all they’d been through, she still loved her husband. But she didn’t know if that was reason enough to stay anymore.

  “Aren’t you getting tired of his excuses?” Dan asked, clenching his jaw. “I sure as hell am.”

  Dan had been hearing Alex’s excuses from Eve for three months. Every time Alex promised to visit on the weekend or take a few days off mid-week, something always came up. And now it would be too late for him to say good-bye to her aunt. Eve had to admit that hurt. He knew how much Sharon meant to her. Eve could really use a hand to hold, but the only one available was the last hand she should be thinking about holding—Dan’s.

  “He’s doing what he has to do.” Eve closed her eyes, wishing away the tears that threatened to fall. She didn’t want Dan to see her cry. The last time she’d cried in front of him had been the night before she went away to college. She’d fallen apart in his arms, vowing she would never love anyone as much as she loved him. But then Alex came into her life and made her believe a love as powerful as theirs was destined to last forever.

  “I don’t buy that. He has an army of people working for him. He could delegate some of the shit he has to deal with so he could be here for you.”

  Eve didn’t have the strength to defend her husband when she was trying to convince herself his behavior wasn’t the straw that would break their ten-year marriage.

  “Eve…” Sharon’s eyes fluttered open as Eve stroked her hand.

  “Do you need something for the pain?” Eve asked, leaning in closer.

  “No.” Rolling her head to the side, Sharon tried to smile at Dan.

  Dan was the reason the inn had been running so smoothly all these years, and Sharon never let him forget it. All of the employees adored their boss, but Sharon and Dan had always had a special bond. That may have been because of his adoration for Eve when everyone thought they were too young to know what real love was. Everyone except Sharon. She’d always told Eve that love came when and if the time was right. It didn’t care whether you were fifteen or fifty-five, which was why she’d never given up hope. She said her Prince Charming could very well be out there waiting to meet her. Just because she hadn’t met him didn’t mean she didn’t expect to.

  Eve loved her optimism. Even more than that, she admired the fact that her aunt had built an enviable life with a wide circle of friends, a career she loved, travel, and a home she opened to anyone passing through their small town.

  “I’ll give you two a few minutes alone,” Dan said, smiling at Sharon. “Last I heard, Harry was throwing a fit because the berries hadn’t come in yet and the dessert special tonight is blueberry cheesecake.”

  Sharon offered a weak smile before swallowing. “Tell him not to give you any trouble, or he’ll have to deal with me.” Sharon’s voice was barely more than a whisper, and every intake of breath required supreme effort. It broke Eve’s heart to see her struggle, but she couldn’t find the words to let her aunt go.

  “You got it, boss lady,” Dan said, winking at her. Dan squeezed Eve’s shoulder as he walked past, and she wanted to reach up and hold it there just because the contact felt so good. It seemed like forever since she’d felt a man’s arms around her, holding her and promising that everything would be all right.

  Sharon waited until Dan left before she whispered, “He’s such a good man.”

  Eve smiled as she turned to look at the closed door. “Yes, he is.”

  “I think he still loves you.”

  Eve didn’t know how to respond to that, so she said nothing.

  “I used to imagine the two of you running this place after I was gone.”

  Eve held her breath, uncertain what her aunt was preparing to say. Eve would do almost anything for her, and if she was about to impart one dying wish, Eve would be hard-pressed to refuse.

  “But that was a long time ago. When I still thought maybe…”

  “Maybe what?” Eve asked, wishing her aunt would go on talking forever. Her laugh. Eve would miss her laugh most of all. When she closed her eyes, she could still hear the wonderful robust sound, even though it felt like months since she’d heard Sharon laugh like that.

  “Maybe he was the one for you.”

  “But he’s not,” Eve said softly, knowing that much was true. She loved Dan as a friend, but if she hadn’t married Alex, it would have been someone else. Still, Eve had questioned her decision to marry Alex a time or two over the years. They were different people from different worlds. Early in their marriage, she convinced herself it didn’t matter—she’d believed they loved each other enough to bridge any gap—but they seemed to be growing further apart every day, and she didn’t know how to get him back. Or whether she even wanted to.

  “No, he’s not. But is Alex?”

  Eve and Sharon hadn’t talked about her marriage in some time, not since she’d confessed to her aunt that they were having trouble getting pregnant. That was more than a year ago, and the chances of that happening were lessening with every passing day. She still wanted a baby more than anything, but she didn’t want to bring a baby into a fragile marriage. Especially since she knew first-hand the impact divorce could have on a vulnerable child. Eve hesitated, unsure whether she should answer, yet she knew that may be her last chance to have a heart-to-heart with the woman she’d always considered a mother. “I don’t know anymore.”

  “You still love him?”

  So much it hurts. She knew if she said that, her aunt would tell her to go home and fight for her marriage, but New York didn’t feel like home anymore. Being back in Vermont, Eve had to admit it was the only place she’d ever felt truly at peace.

  “You do.” It was a statement, not a question. Of course, her aunt always knew what was in her heart. She rarely had to ask.

  “Yes.”

  “Does he still love you?”

  The fact that she couldn’t answer that cut Eve to the core. She wanted to believe he did, but she’d been gone so long. Before she left, they’d already drifted so far apart she didn’t know how much longer they could pretend they still had a marriage worth fighting for. Every time she thought about asking for a divorce, the words got trapped in her throat. He would give her that sexy, lop-sided grin that always made her heart skip a beat, and she would fall in love with him all over again. Her husband wasn’t a bad man. He wanted to be all things to all people, and he didn’t realize he was failing the one person he’d promised to stand by forever. “I don’t know.”

  “You should know.” Sharon tried to squeeze her niece’s hand but didn’t have the strength. “You deserve to know.”

  “I’ll talk to him. Soon.”

  “Promise me?” A tear slid down Sharon’s softly lined cheek. “I love you so much. I just want you to be happy.”

  When Eve couldn’t hold it in any longer, she let her head rest on the bed, beside her aunt’s hand, as her tears fell on the quilt she’d crafted for Sharon for Christmas last year.

  “It’s going to be okay,” Sharon said, patting her head.

  They stayed like that until Eve heard the terrifying sound of her beloved aunt drawing her last breath. Lifting her head, Eve prayed she would see Sharon’s chest rising and falling, but it was too late. She was gone.

  Sharon’s eyes were closed, and she looked as serene in death as she had in life. She still had an aura around her, and as Eve looked around the old room, she knew she would always feel her spirit there. In the home they’d shared.

  Chapter Two

  Alex felt physically sick when he walked up the stone path to the Lakeside Inn and saw his wife in another man’s arms. And not just any man. Her former lover.

  At the sound of his footsteps, Eve turned toward him. Her long, honey-blond hair fell in soft waves over her shoulders. He’d always loved running his fingers through the silky strands when she laid her head on his chest. She used to do that after they made love. God, that seems like a lifetime ago.

  “Alex.” She looked at him
as if he was a stranger trespassing on sacred land. “What are you doing here?”

  He saw her bright green eyes were rimmed with red, a sure sign she’d been crying. “Myra called. She said she thought I should come, that Sharon was…” He cleared his throat, not knowing how to say it without sounding callous. “That she didn’t have much time left.”

  Alex cursed himself for not coming sooner, for not being the shoulder his wife cried on when she needed comfort. Every day he faced another crisis, put out another fire. Days turned into weeks until his wife looked at him as if she didn’t know him anymore, and that scared the hell out of him.

  “She shouldn’t have done that,” Dan said, putting his hands on Eve’s shoulders. “Evie’s been doing just fine without you all this time. We’ll get her through this.”

  Alex wanted to tell Dan to take his filthy hands off his wife, but Eve didn’t need the added stress of a brawl on the front lawn. “How is Sharon?” Alex tried to ignore the other man’s hands on his woman.

  “She’s gone.” Eve covered her mouth when a sob escaped.

  Alex stepped forward but clenched his hands at his sides when Dan pulled Eve back against his chest, wrapping his arms around her shoulders.

  “It’s gonna be okay, sweetheart,” Dan said quietly. “You’ll see. We’ll get through this together.”

  Alex felt like retching all over the freshly cut grass. Another man was obviously in love with his wife, and judging by the way she turned into his arms, the feeling may be mutual. He watched them embrace, her eyes closing as Dan pressed a kiss to her forehead. Alex wanted to pry them apart, to demand she seek comfort in his arms, but he couldn’t force her to feel something she didn’t. Could he? If he dropped to the ground and begged her to give him another chance, to let him prove he was worthy of her love, would it erase all the nights she’d waited for him at home?