Goodbye again wyndham be.., p.1
Goodbye Again (Wyndham Beach), page 1
PRAISE FOR MARIAH STEWART
~ The Wyndham Beach Series ~
AN INVINCIBLE SUMMER
“Oh my. This book was simply gorgeous! Each of the characters we’re introduced to leaves a mark on your heart. The love that was both lost and found is enough to turn the biggest skeptic on to the idea of everything happening for a reason, and in its own time. All in all, it was a wonderful cast of characters with varied lives that are intriguing, heartbreaking, and uplifting in equal parts.”
—Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers
“This is my first by this author, and it certainly won’t be the last. Her writing is extremely engaging, and the author really brings to life the dynamics of longtime friendships and relationships and all the ups and downs that come with them. I couldn’t help but fall in love with this book.”
—Where the Reader Grows
“A multigenerational storyline, an idyllic setting, and a new series from one of my tried-and-true authors? Yes please! As much as I loved the setting and the premise of this one, the characterization is where it really shines. Maggie and her two lifelong friends were all such lovely, authentic women.”
—Novelgossip
“This story hooked me from the beginning and kept me dangling all the way through: cheering, crying, and just absorbing the decisions as Maggie finds her path to true happiness. A wonderful story I just fell for!”
—A Midlife Wife
“What makes this book so readable are the relationships and how the past ties into the future. Isn’t that the way it is for all of us? An Invincible Summer is a fast-paced, easy-to-read story delving into the relationships we have in life and how they both break and sustain us.”
—Books, Cooks, Looks
“I really loved these characters and this story. The characters just felt real and flawed in the best of ways. I found myself caring about each of the characters, which has me really excited that this book is just the beginning to a series. I will definitely be continuing on, as I want to see what happens with some of these other characters. I just want more, if I’m being honest! Read this book if you are a fan of women’s fiction, contemporary fiction, or are looking for a great summer read.”
—Booked on a Feeling
“This book was raw and real. Stewart crafted beautifully imperfect characters that allow us to see ourselves in their struggles. I spent the majority of the novel on the edge of my chair, cheering for Maggie and her daughters. This book also gives off what I’d consider Virgin River vibes, so if you like that series, grab this one and give it a try.”
—@stumblingintobooks
“What a down-to-earth, heart-filling, and sentimental read. Full of friendships, forgetting, and moving forward. The relationships and characters are realistic, charming, and the plot is a bit elusive to keep you on your toes. A very enjoyable read about love, loss, and second chances, and it is a page-turner.”
—@momfluencer
“This novel by @mariah_stewart_books is what a women’s fiction novel is all about. There’s a bit of romance, friendship, and complicated relationships. I really enjoyed how this book highlighted the messiness that life can be, but [it was] done in a lighthearted way. And the overall theme of learning lessons from the past and the courage to move forward onto new phases of one’s life was endearingly told.”
—@tamsterdam_reads
“There is so much I loved about this read. The setting of Wyndham Beach is gorgeous. I could smell the sea air, feel the warmth of the sun as the women took their coffee and sat watching the horizon. I could feel Maggie’s pull to return to her roots. I loved the female relationships in the book. Maggie is a strong but supportive mother who brings her children through crises but holds out for her own choices, and the independence of her own life. The gatherings with her friends are glorious—tattoos, rock concerts, and the warmth of conversations between women who really know and understand each other. This was such a celebration of life and especially of women of all ages.”
—@salboreads
~ The Hudson Sisters Series ~
THE LAST CHANCE MATINEE
“Prepare to fall in love with this amazing, endearing family of women.”
—Robyn Carr, New York Times bestselling author
“The combination of a quirky small-town setting, a family mystery, a gentle romance, and three estranged sisters is catnip for women’s fiction fans.”
—Booklist
“If you like the Lucky Harbor series by Jill Shalvis, you will enjoy this one. Stewart’s writing reminds me of Susan Wiggs, Luanne Rice, Susan Mallery, and Robyn Carr.”
—My Novelesque Life
THE SUGARHOUSE BLUES
“A solid writer with so much talent, Mariah Stewart crafts wonderful stories that take us away to small-town America and build strong families we wish we were a part of.”
—A Midlife Wife
“Reading this book was like returning to a favorite small town and meeting up with friends you had been missing.”
—Pacific Northwest Bookworm
“A heartwarming read full of surprising secrets, humor, and lessons about what it means to be a family.”
—That Book Lady Blog
THE GOODBYE CAFÉ
“Stewart makes a charming return to tiny Hidden Falls, Pennsylvania, in this breezy contemporary, which is loaded with appealing down-home characters and tantalizing hints of mystery that will hook readers immediately. Stewart expertly combines the inevitable angst of a trio of sisters, a family secret, and a search for an heirloom necklace; it’s an irresistible mix that will delight readers. Masterful characterizations and well-timed plot are sure to pull in fans of romantic small-town stories.”
—Publishers Weekly
“Stewart [has] the amazing ability to weave a women’s fiction story loaded with heart, grit, and enough secrets [that] you highly anticipate the next book coming up. I have read several books from her different series, and every one of them has been a delightful, satisfying read. Beautiful and heartwarming.”
—A Midlife Wife
“Highly recommend this series for WF fans and even romance fans. There’s plenty of that sweet, small-town romance to make you swoon a little.”
—Novelgossip
“These characters will charm your socks off! Thematic and highly entertaining.”
—Booktalk with Eileen
~ The Chesapeake Diaries Series ~
THAT CHESAPEAKE SUMMER
“Deftly uses the tools of the genre to explore issues of identity, truth, and small-town kinship. Stewart offers a strong statement on the power of love and trust, a fitting theme for this bighearted small-town romance.”
—Publishers Weekly
DUNE DRIVE
“Rich with local history, familiar characters (practical, fierce, and often clairvoyant centenarian Ruby is a standout), and the slow-paced, down-home flavor of the bay, Stewart’s latest is certain to please fans and add new ones.”
—Library Journal
ON SUNSET BEACH
“Mariah Stewart’s rich characterization, charming setting, and a romance you’ll never forget will have you packing your bags for St. Dennis.”
—Robyn Carr, New York Times bestselling author
COMING HOME
“One of the best women’s contemporary authors of our time, Mariah Stewart serves the reader a beautiful romance with a delicious side dish of the suspense that has made her so deservingly popular. Coming Home is beautifully crafted with interesting, intelligent characters and pitch-perfect pacing. Ms. Stewart is, as always, at the top of her game with this sensuous, exhilarating, page-turning tale.”
—Betty Cox, Reader to Reader Reviews
AT THE RIVER’S EDGE
“Everything you love about small-town romance in one book . . . At the River’s Edge is a beautiful, heartwarming story. Don’t miss this one.”
—Barbara Freethy
“If you love romance stories set in a small seaside village, much like Debbie Macomber’s Cedar Creek series, you will definitely want to grab this book. I easily give this one a five out of five stars.”
—Reviews from the Heart
OTHER TITLES BY MARIAH STEWART
The Wyndham Beach Series (Women’s Fiction)
An Invincible Summer
The Hudson Sisters Series (Women’s Fiction)
The Last Chance Matinee
The Sugarhouse Blues
The Goodbye Café
The Chesapeake Diaries Series (Women’s Fiction / Contemporary Romance)
Coming Home
Home Again
Almost Home
Hometown Girl
Home for the Summer
The Long Way Home
At the River’s Edge
On Sunset Beach
That Chesapeake Summer
Driftwood Point
The Chesapeake Bride
Dune Drive
The Mercy Street Series (Suspense)
Mercy Street
Cry Mercy
Acts of Mercy
The FBI Series (Romantic Suspense)
Brown-Eyed Girl
Voices Carry
Until Dark
Dead Wrong
Dead Certain
Dead Even
Dead End
Cold Truth
Hard Truth
Dark Truth
Final Truth
Last Look
Last Words
Last Breat
Forgotten
The Enright Series (Contemporary Romance)
Devlin’s Light
Wonderful You
Moon Dance
Stand-Alone Titles
(Women’s Fiction / Contemporary Romance)
The President’s Daughter
Priceless
Carolina Mist
A Different Light
Moments in Time
Novellas
“Finn’s Legacy” (in The Brandywine Brides)
“If Only in My Dreams” (in Upon a Midnight Clear)
“Swept Away” (in Under the Boardwalk)
“’Til Death Do Us Part” (in Wait Until Dark)
Short Stories
“Justice Served” (in Thriller 2: Stories You Just Can’t Put Down)
“Without Mercy” (in Thriller 3: Love Is Murder)
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, organizations, places, events, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
Text copyright © 2022 by Marti Robb
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.
Published by Montlake, Seattle
www.apub.com
Amazon, the Amazon logo, and Montlake are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc., or its affiliates.
ISBN-13: 9781542033077
ISBN-10: 1542033071
Cover design by Caroline Teagle Johnson
For Kate Collins Curnin
May 11, 1969–January 12, 2021
CONTENTS
Prologue
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
AUTHOR’S NOTE
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Prologue
On the day she turned sixteen—when she was still Lydia Hess, the Bryant still seven years into her future—Liddy thought she knew how it was all going to shake out. She and her two besties—Emma Harper and Maggie Lloyd—would finish college and return to their hometown, Wyndham Beach, on the lower coast of Massachusetts, to live their happy-ever-afters with the to-be-determined loves of their lives and raise their families. Maggie, of course, would marry Brett, her high school love, but wouldn’t move back home until his professional football career was over (no one in the entire states of Massachusetts and Rhode Island doubted Brett Crawford would be drafted by a pro team, but they all, naturally, prayed he’d go to the Patriots). The three of them—Liddy, Emma, and Maggie—would always be best friends, and their children would play (and be BFFs), too. They’d live out their best lives together, grow old together, and support each other in whatever life might throw their way.
At fifty-nine, Liddy was in turn amused and chagrined by her younger self’s naivete when she considered her bold predictions hadn’t even been half-right once it was all added up.
Liddy and Emma did return to Wyndham Beach after college graduation (University of Rhode Island and Smith, respectively), Liddy to marry Jim Bryant, son of the town’s most successful insurance agent, who had the policies for all the local properties, autos, and businesses locked up. Emma had married Harry Dean, who was older by thirteen years and the son of the president of the First National Bank of Wyndham Beach (and destined to follow in his grandfather’s and his father’s footsteps to the bank’s big corner office). Maggie had strayed most from the script, having (shock!) broken up with Brett after his second season with the Seattle Seahawks, and instead of coming home—where Liddy and Emma could have supported her through whatever heartbreak she must have been enduring, had she taken them into her confidence, which inexplicably she had not—Maggie had stunned everyone by up and moving to Philadelphia, where, two years later, she married Art Flynn, a Philly lawyer, and settled into a life that had been step one in totally blowing up Liddy’s life plan.
Maggie had lived happily on Philadelphia’s Main Line, raising her two daughters and teaching in the private school they attended. Grace, her older daughter, had gone to law school and joined her father’s firm, Flynn Law, after passing the bar. She married the man she’d thought was her one true love, but that hadn’t worked out so well. Natalie, the younger of Maggie’s daughters, taught English at a community college in a Philly suburb and was the single mother of four-year-old Daisy. Both Maggie’s girls had made some questionable decisions over the past few years—mostly where men were concerned—but then again, Liddy conceded, who hadn’t at some point in their life? Three years ago, Art died from a cancer diagnosed only months before his death, and Maggie’s seemingly happy life had come to a screeching halt.
Emma and Harry had one son—Christopher—who’d been a joy to Emma but a source of contention to Harry from the day the boy discovered music. Harry’s vision for their son’s future had had Chris following in his footsteps straight to Harvard and eventually to the office of the president of the bank, but once the boy learned to play the guitar, it was all over. Chris had set his sights on becoming a rock star, and that was exactly what he’d done, becoming the international voice and face of DEAN, the band that had its humble beginnings in the Wyndham Beach garages of their ever-changing teenage participants. Nine years ago, Harry had had a sudden heart attack and died without ever reconciling with his son. Since then, Chris and his wildly successful band—the final lineup having solidified in college—had traveled around the world several times, leaving little time for trips home to visit his lonely mother. So much for Em’s happy ending.
Liddy’s blueprint for her own future hadn’t quite held up, either. She and Jim had bought the house his great-grandfather had built in Wyndham Beach, and they’d planned on renovating it and filling it with children. After years where she’d suffered a series of miscarriages and a stillborn son, Liddy had become mother to a healthy baby girl, Jessica, who’d been the center of Liddy and Jim’s universe from the moment of her birth. Jessie had grown into a remarkable young woman, kind and beautiful and blessed with amazing artistic talents, and who, at twenty-nine, with no apparent warning, had taken her life. A year to the day later, Jim had asked for a divorce, and the collapse of Liddy’s world had been complete.
So much for happy-ever-after.
Chapter One
Every morning upon waking, Liddy’s first thought was of her daughter, and the choice she’d made to end her life without ever confiding in her mother the intent or the reason. Four years after the fact, Liddy was still searching for answers.
In the solitude of her quiet house, Liddy spoke aloud to Jessie several times over the course of each day. Sometimes it might be merely a quick, “Morning, sweetie.” Other days it might be a little more complex, as when Liddy wanted to buy the town’s only bookstore from its retiring owner. She’d gone over all the pros and cons with both her lawyer and her accountant, then later, at home, with Jess. In the end, remembering how her daughter had loved going to the shop and searching for the perfect book, Liddy had followed her heart and signed the papers, jumping in with both feet, taking possession of the building and the business. If nothing else, the prospect of turning the closed, run-down bookstore into a lively, thriving business had put a new bounce in Liddy’s step. The plan for the renovation—however intimidating it might be—had lent new purpose to her days.
As she walked toward the center of Wyndham Beach on a late August morning, the chorus of the last song she’d heard before she’d left the house still playing in her head (Sting’s “Fields of Gold”), Liddy mentally ran through the day’s agenda: remove all the books from their shelves and box them up, then move all the bookcases to the center of the shop so the walls could be painted. The floors needed refinishing, but she had no idea how that could be accomplished given the limitations of the shop itself. Where would everything go while the work was being done? She’d have help with the packing of the books and the painting, but still, the logistics of it all were daunting. There was much more on the overall to-do list, but if she thought about the work in its entirety, she’d exhaust herself. Probably pass out from the stress right there on Front Street. People coming into town to shop or mail letters or meet friends for breakfast would step over or walk around her prone body. She could hear them complaining about her lack of consideration: “Humph. You’d think Liddy’d at least have had the courtesy to pass out on the grassy strip between the sidewalk and the street instead of right in the damned middle of everything.”
