Free Chapter Friday: Small Town Summer

Twenty years of marriage ended in a conversation Rachel never saw coming. Now she is sitting in her car outside the only home she has known as an adult, taking one last look before she drives away from it for good. This is where Moonshire Bay begins.

Small Town Summer is Moonshire Bay book 1. Read it free in Kindle Unlimited.

Prefer to listen? Here is where to find the audiobook.

Here is the whole first chapter. If it grabs you, the link to keep going is right below it.

Chapter one

Rachel sat in her car and took one last look at the family home—well, if you considered two people a family, which was how she'd always thought of herself and her now ex-husband, Richard. They'd never had kids, not by choice but by biology, and while realizing that limitation had been tough, she'd been able to deal with it knowing that she had Richard. Until she'd learned that she didn't.

She'd only recently found out that, apparently, he hadn't felt the same way as she did about the "'til death do us part" vow. A wave of sadness washed over her as she fought back tears, but she was determined not to cry. She'd shed enough tears over him and had told herself that she had to stop the pity party and move on. Just as he had. She'd loved Richard and hadn't wanted a divorce. She'd begged and pleaded to go to counseling to work things out, but he'd said there was nothing left to work out.

She'd finally realized that she couldn't fight the inevitable. Her marriage was over. She needed to focus on moving on to the next chapter of her life, whatever that might hold, and stop dwelling on the past, which she couldn't change.

If only it weren't so hard. When you'd spent twenty years with someone who was your best friend, your lover, the most important person in your life, figuring out how to navigate life alone was hard. She tried not to think bitterly that Richard didn't seem to have the same problem. She didn't want to be that bitter woman scorned, but that was hard to avoid.

Richard already had a girlfriend, one fifteen years younger, as he had told her conversationally; one still young enough to have children, he hadn't said, but the thought had lingered there between them. Richard had always assured her that not having kids was fine and that he only needed her, but she'd realized, after the fact, that she'd had her doubts about that. He hadn't been trying to hurt her by telling her about his new companion, he'd said, but just wanted her to know before one of their mutual friends told her. How on earth had he thought that the news wouldn't hurt her? She was a bit incredulous that he couldn't grasp that it would. He wasn't an idiot and was normally empathetic and compassionate. He'd seemed surprised that she'd been upset after he'd told her. She'd never understand how he could be so insensitive.

The divorce had been fairly easy, as far as divorces go. In fact, she would have thought it was as pain free as divorces could go until last week when she was coming out of the office of her ob-gyn only to run into Richard and his new fiancée, as Rachel hadn't missed the sparkle of a diamond on the woman's left ring finger. Though that hadn't been the biggest shock. Seeing the bump on the woman's belly had made it obvious why they were walking into the office Rachel was walking out of, and she thought she might throw up. Clearly his affair had been serious for a long time, and to use the same doctor she had gone to for years made her finally realize how little Richard cared about her and made her wonder if he ever had.

The house had been sold, the assets evenly divided, and she'd bought a condo across town. It wouldn't be ready to move into until late August, as the sellers hadn't moved out yet, and once they did she would be having some work done.

Since she had no place to live for a couple of months, she'd decided to put her stuﬀ in storage and take the summer oﬀ, something that she hadn't done since she was a student. At that moment, she had the time and, fortunately, the money to do pretty much what she wanted, within reason. She'd rented a house for the summer in Michigan, in a lakeside community north-east of Detroit called Moonshire Bay.

It looked small and quaint and like the perfect place to spend some time figuring out how her life was going to look in her next chapter, or rather, how she wanted it to look. Everything that she'd always wanted in life she'd worked hard to make happen, but this time she didn't have a long-term plan. She hadn't thought about any plans that didn't include Richard in years and she wasn't sure she knew how to plan without him. She needed to figure out how any new plans were going to look. Flying solo was an adjustment and she knew she needed time to get used to the idea.

She backed out of the driveway for the last time and hit the road, determined to put the memories behind her as she did the miles.

After an uneventful drive, Rachel pulled into the driveway of her rental house a few hours later. A green Jeep was already there, waiting. She assumed it belonged to Laura Fuller, the caretaker of the property, who was meeting Rachel to give her the keys to what would be her new home for the summer, along with a quick overview of the place. She parked her car next to the other one and got out.

A blonde woman in her late forties or early fifties came out onto the porch and waved. "You must be Rachel," she said when Rachel reached the porch.

"I sure am."

small town summer pin Free Chapter Friday: Small Town Summer

"Come on in. Can I get you something to drink? Water or iced tea? I made some for your arrival. Not the water—you'll always have water—but the tea," she joked.

"That was nice of you; you sure didn't have to do that."

"I know," Laura responded matter-of-factly. "I just like guests to feel welcome."

As they entered the kitchen and Rachel looked around, she observed that the pictures she'd viewed online didn't begin to do the house justice. For a cottage in the woods, it was very modern, with white cabinetry, stainless steel appliances, and a beautiful granite countertop, nicer than the one in her old house. The walls in the kitchen were a soft, pale yellow with gray accents. The overall eﬀect was very homey, making the house feel lived in, in a good way. She could already picture herself drinking her morning coﬀee at one of the barstools while looking through the living room to the beautiful outdoors. A happy feeling washed over her for the first time in months. She embraced the optimism.

Laura poured them both a glass of tea and handed Rachel hers. "Follow me and I'll give you a tour."

The house wasn't all that big, but it had an open floor plan that made it feel spacious. Rachel couldn't help but think about how much Richard would've liked the house, a thought she tried to quickly banish. She didn't want any thoughts of Richard tarnishing her fresh start. She needed to work on not thinking about him at all. If only there were a pill she could take for that, she mused.

"So, you're staying the entire summer?"

Rachel nodded. "Is that unusual?"

"Frankly, yes. We mostly get families coming out for a week's vacation or retirees like me who spend the whole summer, not young things like you."

"You're a retiree?" Rachel asked, shocked because Laura certainly didn't look to be retirement age.

"Yep. Just turned sixty-five last month. My husband, Harvey, and I stay here summers. Our family is back in Pittsburgh, or we'd stay here permanently. But I just can't give up seeing those grandkids all the time. I help out the owner in exchange for a reduced rate at their other property, and also to get me out of the house. I like to stay busy. So, here is my absolute favorite part of this property," she said, changing the subject, "the patio."

With a flourish, Laura opened the floor-length blinds on the patio door and slid the glass door open. Wow, Rachel thought. It was breathtaking. There was a large wooden deck with steps that led down to brick pavers that continued all the way to the beach. There was a hot tub in one corner, a bricked-in grill, an outdoor fridge, and a fire pit in the middle of a gorgeous, outdoor sectional with umbrellas to put up if you wanted to block the sun.

Rachel sucked in her breath.

"See, I told you this was the best part." Laura smiled.

"You weren't kidding. The rest of the house could be a dump and who would care? Not that it is, but I might just spend all summer out here."

"Will you be having any family join you while you're here?"

There it was, the family word that felt like a punch to the gut, something else she was going to need to get used to.

"Nope. Just me," she answered with forced cheerfulness and a smile that was probably more like a grimace.

"How nice," Laura said without skipping a beat, though surely she noticed a fleeting glimpse of sadness on Rachel's face. Laura wasn't one to pry, clearly, because she didn't comment. "Let me show you the rest of the house, especially the hot water heater. It can be temperamental at times. There's also a binder on the kitchen counter that has all the house information you'll need, as well as some restaurant menus and where to get groceries, that kind of thing."

Laura took her through the rest of the house, and it was all beautiful. Rachel became more and more excited about her stay as they toured, feeling like it would be exactly what she needed.

"Listen, I'll get out of your hair now so you can get settled, but if you want, let's meet in town for lunch tomorrow. I'll show you around there and introduce you to some people. We're a very close-knit community, and the people here are great."

"I would love that."

"Great. Meet me at noon at May's Café. It's right in downtown on Main Street. You can't miss it."

Rachel walked Laura to the door, said goodbye, and then brought the rest of her things in. By the time she'd unpacked and roamed around, checking out all the nooks and crannies, she was thirsty, so she refilled her iced tea from the pitcher that Laura had so thoughtfully provided and went back out onto the deck.

Settling down in a heavily padded, yellow and white striped chaise lounge, she took a deep breath and sighed. It was not an unhappy sigh, but rather one of contentment now that she was in this beautiful house overlooking the beach. She was sitting and watching several families out enjoying the sand, when a man caught her eye. The beach was probably three or four hundred feet away, so while she couldn't make him out clearly, she could tell that he was probably about her age. He had quite a nice physique and she squinted to get a better look. She started laughing even though no one was around to hear her. The thought of being attracted to someone and dating again seemed so absurd to her; she hadn't considered being with anyone else since splitting from Richard. She'd lain awake many nights thinking that that part of her life was over, though maybe it wasn't. She wasn't sure she was ready to open herself up to anyone again, but maybe she shouldn't rule it out entirely.

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Small Town Summer is Moonshire Bay book 1. Get your copy here — free to read in Kindle Unlimited, or listen to the audiobook.

The Moonshire Bay series

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