Second chance bride a sa.., p.1
Second Chance Bride (A Sapphire Bay Novella), page 1
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Blurb
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Epilogue
Sandra's Books
Sandra's Bio
SECOND CHANCE BRIDE
(A Sapphire Bay Novella)
by
Sandra Edwards
Second Chance Bride
Copyright © 2014 Sandra Edwards
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. With the exception of quotes used in reviews, this book may not be reproduced or used in whole or in part by any means existing without written permission from Sandra Edwards.
Published by SE Press
United States of America
Electronic Edition: July, 2014
ISBN: 978-1934342268
This book is a work of fiction and all characters exist solely in the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. Any references to places, events or locales are used in a fictitious manner.
Digital formatting by StevieDeInk. < stevie1@steviedeink.com >
Edited by Marian Kelly. < RavensGateEditing.com >
Cover Design Copyright © 2014 Sandra Edwards
Image obtained from Fotilia.com
After being jilted, practically at the altar, Genie Wainwright heads to Hawaii to escape the well-meant pity party her friends and family are bound to throw on her behalf. What she never expects is to find someone to help her mend her broken heart.
Donnie Taylor, owner of the posh Sapphire Bay Resort, has no interest in marriage—until he meets an unforgettable guest at the hotel. What starts out as a kindhearted gesture brings Donnie something he never expects—a chance at love!
PROLOGUE
GENIE WAINWRIGHT STARED AT HER reflection in the mirror, and ignored the light but determined tapping at the door. She remained silent, soaking up the sadness of the now-empty bride’s chamber.
Just an hour ago, this room at the Jefferson Hills Country Club had been filled with revelry. Six bridesmaids—Ross’s sister, Genie’s sisters, Amanda and Amber, and three of Genie’s good friends, Shelly, Serena, and Jessica—throw in the maid of honor (her best friend Cami), Ross’s mother, Genie’s mother and grandmother, and it was like a pre-wedding party before the ceremony.
But that was before Aaron (Ross’s dad) called his wife out into the hallway. When she came back in, she’d lost the smile she’d left with. Genie had known in an instant that something was terribly wrong.
The silent isolation of the now-empty room wrapped its icy disdain around Genie, bringing her back to the present. She cleared her throat and pushed aside the memory of that devastating moment when her perfect life had ended. She didn’t want to relive it again. Not now. Not ever.
“Go away,” Genie said to the incessant knocker.
“Gene, open the door.” Cami’s unrelenting voice traveled through the walls.
Genie didn’t respond. Just kept staring at herself in the mirror. Her dark hair piled on top of her head still looked perfect. Her blue eyes were vacant of anything, even sadness, she thought. But that would come if she succumbed to the tears. She had to keep them imprisoned. She would not shed a single tear over that rat-bastard fiancé of hers—make that ex fiancé.
“Genie!” Cami yelled. “If you don’t open the door, I’m gonna kick it down.”
Yeah, right. Genie laughed a little.
“And you’ll have to pay for it,” Cami said in a firm voice.
“Go for it!” Genie said softly.
An instant later, there was a loud boom and the door swung open.
Genie jumped. Her heart slammed into overdrive. Cami peeked in, then disappeared back out into the hallway. Seconds later, she reappeared. Genie’s jaw dropped as she stared into the mirror, watching Cami waltz into the bride’s chamber in her sleeveless, knee-length blue dress, wearing a triumphant grin.
Genie glanced over her shoulder and twisted around to look at Cami’s feet. Stilettos. No way had she kicked in the door in those. Genie shook her head.
“I warned you.” Cami shrugged and dragged a chair up next to Genie. “I’m your best friend,” she said quietly. Sitting, she raked her light-brown hair behind her ear. “Why wouldn’t you open the door for me?”
“Because I know you.” Genie turned to look at her. “You’ll try to cheer me up.”
“Well, yeah…”
“Don’t you get it?” Genie asked. “There’s nothing that you or anyone else can say that’ll make this better.” It was hopeless. Genie knew that. Why didn’t everyone else?
“Really?” Cami bit her bottom lip and let her gaze roll around the room. When she settled back on Genie, she said in a tone that eventually landed in the realm of a question, “How about…a big-ass meteor crashed into Ross’s house and sent him straight to hell?”
A hint of laughter escaped before Genie could wrangle it in and shove it back down into the despair pitted in her gut.
“Admit it.” Cami nudged Genie. “It was funny.”
Genie nodded. “Yeah, okay. It was kind of funny.” For a minute. But it wasn’t enough to take away the emptiness that’d befallen her a couple of hours ago. Ross had left her—practically at the altar. He hadn’t had the guts to tell her himself that he didn’t want to marry her. He’d left that chore to his parents.
“Look, I know this is hollow comfort,” Cami said softly. “But even on his best day, Ross Harper was never good enough for you.”
“You’re right,” Genie said. It was hollow comfort. She looked at Cami, fighting the tears that were hell-bent on escaping. “I’m supposed to be headed to Hawaii right now. With my husband.” Her voice cracked. She choked the hurt back down into her gut.
“I’d still go…if I were you.” Cami nodded.
“What…?”
“Hell, yes!” Cami smirked beneath deliberately raised eyebrows. “Trade Ross’s share in. Upgrade. Go in style.”
Genie shook her head. “I can’t do that.”
“Says who?”
“I have to cancel the trip. Give him back half the money.” Genie’s voice wavered. “Don’t I?”
“No, you don’t,” Cami said with an arrogant laugh. “Ross owes you a hell of a lot more than a trip to Hawaii. That’s for sure.”
Maybe Cami was right. Ross did owe Genie for the hurt and humiliation he’d caused her today. But did she really want to spend the next week on the island of Maui—lovers’ paradise—alone?
Genie shook her head. “That’s just what I need. A week at a resort that caters to honeymooners.”
“The heck with that,” Cami said. “Go to Oahu. The north shore, where it’s nice and quiet. There’s that swanky resort up there. Sapphire Bay or something like that. My parents love that place.”
Well, if Cami’s parents loved it, that was a sure sign it wouldn’t be a singles’ playground.
Sapphire Bay sounded perfect. Exactly the kind of place Genie could mend her broken heart. A place where there would be no eligible men—at least none that’d pique her interest.
CHAPTER 1
DONNIE TAYLOR HAD COME FROM old Texas oil money. When he turned twenty-six, he’d gone to his father with the idea for Sapphire Bay Resort—an upscale haven set in paradise. His father had been hesitant, but Donnie’s mother had insisted—even though her son would be moving half a world away.
Five years later, Sapphire Bay Resort was no longer the best kept secret on the island of Oahu. Located on the North Shore, it appealed to the more discerning customer rather than the party crowd that liked to hang out at Waikiki. And that’s the way Donnie liked it.
He enjoyed living in paradise. He enjoyed running the resort. What he didn’t enjoy was his mother’s constant nagging about grandchildren. It had gotten worse when she decided to move to Hawaii about a year ago, after his father died.
Donnie hated disappointing her, but how could he make her see that he hadn’t met a women he’d want to spend the rest of his life with, much less father her children.
But that hadn’t stopped Marla Taylor. She’d finagled her way into volunteering at the hotel’s concierge desk, but Donnie knew she was only positioning herself to scan the women as they came and went. So far, she hadn’t throw any of the hotel’s guests at him, but it wasn’t for lack of effort. Donnie knew it was only a matter of time before she found the one she deemed Ms. Right.
He strolled through the open veranda, smiling and greeting hotel guests and staff alike with an amiable nod. His mother wasn’t at the concierge desk, and that troubled him as he headed for the elevator and his office on the second floor.
His secretary, Lorna, hadn’t come in yet. As Donnie recalled, she’d said something about a doctor’s appointment today. Passing by Lorna’s work space, he wondered where his mother was and what she was up to?
Opening the door to his office, he found Marla Taylor sitting at his desk. She was in her late fifties and not a bad looking woman—as far as mothers go—and Donnie couldn’t understand why she didn’t concentrate on her own love life.
“Morning, Mother.” He called her mother because he knew it bugged her. “Something wrong with your desk?” He stood beside his chair, staring down at her.
“No. I just wanted to talk to you.” Her Texas drawl was alive and kicking, and truth be to
ld, so was Donnie’s, just not as pronounced. It was hard to get rid of something that’d been more than twenty-five years in the making.
“What can I do for you?” he asked, thumbing through the files on his desk, pretending to look at them.
“Well, for starters—”
“Never mind.” He raised a hand as if that’d stop her. But something had to. Donnie had bigger problems than his mother’s need for grandchildren. “Mom, I really don’t have time right now. Erin called in sick,” he said of one of the two dayshift hostesses for the Beachcomber Café, one of four restaurants on the resort’s grounds. “I’ve got to find a replacement to handle her duties.” There was no way the other hostess, Kelly, could handle the crowd by herself. Donnie wondered if he could get one of the waitresses from the Oceanview to stand in?
Marla stood. “I can do it.” Her voice was calm, but her eagerness was shining brightly on her face.
It wasn’t the greatest idea, but it wasn’t the worst either. Marla could easily handle the task of greeting the coffee shop’s patrons. She’d also be on the female diners like a dog with a bone once she found out they were single. And she would find out.
“Mom…” He glared at her and issued a stern warning. “You can’t be pestering the female diners in the restaurant.”
“Donnie.” She used her scolding tone. What she didn’t know was that it hadn’t worked on him since he turned ten. “People in Hawaii are friendly. I intend to merely uphold that tradition.”
He latched onto her arm and guided her toward the door. “Don’t make me regret this, Mother,” he said, shuffling her out into the hallway.
So far, Donnie had been able to appease the resort’s guests his mother had interrogated. Thankfully, they were easily amused with comps for dinner at the Wishing Well, Sapphire Bay’s world-renowned steakhouse. He didn’t want to get to the point where he had to start handing out free passes to the hotel’s best suites because of his mother’s hare-brained schemes.
Genie Wainwright hid away in her room the first few days she was in Hawaii. On her sixth morning, she awaken at 5:00 a.m. and went down to the beach to take photos of the incredible sun rise. After breakfast at Oceanview’s morning buffet, she went back to the beach and perched herself under an umbrella. She was early. The only company she had (other than beachside vendors) was a half-washed-away sandcastle, probably a leftover remnant from yesterday.
As the resort’s guests began to dot the shoreline, Genie found solace in the sight and sound of whispering waves crawling up onto the shore and then prowling back out again.
Around 11:30, hunger pangs nagged at her sanity so she decided to head back up to the hotel to grab some lunch. She pushed herself up from the beach chair, smiling to herself. She could stay right here at Sapphire Bay for the rest of her trip and be quite content. As pricey as this place was, it wasn’t as costly as the honeymooners’ paradise over on Maui. Cami’s bright idea had bought Genie a few extra days just by moving over to Oahu.
That settled it. Before she headed home she was going to visit the resort’s gift shop and buy Cami an awesome ‘thank you’ present.
Genie fished around in her beach bag and came out with a sarong, which she wrapped around her waist, and a tee shirt that she pulled down over her bikini top. Slipping her feet into her pale green Reef thongs, she liked the idea that what she was wearing was suitable attire for any restaurant on the island.
She trekked back inside the hotel and decided to try the Beachcomber Café.
A woman about the same age as Genie’s mother approached her with a smile. The coral print Hawaiian-style dress she was wearing looked good on her. Her dark hair was short and perfectly coiffed. Her makeup was done to precision. Her smile brightened her eyes and instantly flooded Genie with feelings of cheer.
“Good morning,” the woman said, then laughed, looking at her watch. She nodded and glanced back up at Genie. “It is still morning. Sometimes I lose track.” Still laughing at herself, she added, “Just one?” Genie nodded. The woman grabbed a menu and motioned for Genie to follow her. “Would you like to sit out on the terrace? It’s a lovely view.”
“That’d be great,” Genie said, following the woman through the restaurant. A gentle breeze blew past as they moved outside. “You’re right,” Genie said, taking in the sight of intense blue waters glistening in the sunlight. “What a gorgeous view.”
The hostess led her to the far corner table, one that could seat four. “Here.” She smiled at Genie. “This table affords the best view.”
Genie pulled a chair out and sat. “Thank you,” she said, accepting the menu from the hostess.
“Brianna will be your server today,” the woman said. “Can I bring you something to drink while you look over the menu?”
Genie thought about it briefly and decided to quench her thirst with something that had a little flavor. “Raspberry iced tea sounds really good.”
The hostess trotted away, but was back before Genie had time to take an extended look at the waves tumbling lazily toward the shore.
“My name is Marla,” she said, setting the glass of tea in front of Genie. “If you need anything else, just flag me down.”
When the waitress came around, Genie ordered a warm flank steak salad with mint and cilantro, and a fruit bowl. Once the waitress walked away, Genie checked her phone for messages. She ignored them all, except the text from Cami asking how she was doing. Genie answered back: Fine, thanks. Looking forward to a few more lazy days on the beach and not having people pitying me.
After she’d sent the message, Genie laid her phone on the tabletop and steered her gaze back toward the ocean. It practically hypnotized her. The resort’s guests were sunbathing on the beach. Children were playing along the water’s edge. Swimmers splashed around. Surfers road their boards out, in hopes of catching a decent wave. The scene was idyllic and, if only for a moment, chased her troubles away.
When the food arrived, Genie barely tore her gaze away from the scene as she began eating while still concentrating on the panoramic sight before her. The simplicity of the waves rolling back and forth left her with a peaceful feeling. She wouldn’t mind staying here forever.
Marla had been watching the lone diner, the pretty girl she’d seated out on the terrace, while she ate her meal. She’d half-expected to see a man join her, but no one ever did. She couldn’t imagine the young woman being in Hawaii alone, but if she was, Marla would use it to her advantage. She headed toward the girl.
“Honey…” Marla said, standing over her. “Is your husband off working and leaving you to fend for yourself?”
“Huh?” The girl looked up at her.
“I can’t imagine why you’d be here eating all by yourself.”
“No.” She chuckled. “I don’t have a husband. I’m dining alone because I’m here alone.”
Marla sighed. “May I?” she asked, nodding toward the empty chair across from the young woman.
The girl shrugged. “By all means.”
“What in the world would bring someone such as yourself to Hawaii alone?”
“It’s a long story.”
Marla sensed the pain hiding behind her smile. Her sad blue eyes gave it away. “Well,” Marla said, “you’ve come to the right place, Miss…”
“I’m sorry.” The girl blushed a little. “I’m Genie Wainwright.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Genie. Where are you visiting us from?”
“California. Just outside San Francisco.”
Marla stood. “If you need anything at all, be sure to let me know. If you can’t find me, just ask around for me. I’m Marla Taylor.” After a quick smile, Marla strolled away. She had everything she needed, for the time being. For now, she was going to find out how long Ms. Wainwright would be with them. As long as she wasn’t leaving tomorrow, there was no reason in the world why she and Donnie shouldn’t meet.
CHAPTER 2
DONNIE TAYLOR HAD COME TO LEARN that it was never a good sign to find his mother behind the registration desk. He strolled toward her with a smile, in hopes of putting a stop to her latest stunt—whatever it was.
“Mother…” He stopped across the counter from her and looked at her for a long moment. “I thought you were manning the hostess station in the Beachcomber?”
