âTom? Are you there? Itâs Kelly.â
âYes,â he said. âIâm here. Whatâs wrong?â
Tom understood that something must have happened. Something bad. Kelly hadnât called him in ten years, though at first he had deluded himself that she might.
âI donât know if you heard about Lillith Griggs. I mean, she became Lillith Griggsâyou knew she and Jacob got married, didnât you?â
âYes, I knew that.â He and Jacob still kept in touch, still wrote now and then, though of course, Jacob didnât admit that to Lillith, who had, like Kelly, been one of Sophieâs bridesmaids and therefore subscribed to the official position that Tom Beckham was scum. âWhat about Lillith?â
âShe was killed in a car accident. Three days ago.â
Tom hadnât known Lillith well, but sheâd always seemed much moreâ¦alive than most people. She was a beauty, a brain and a class clown all in one. What kind of accident had been potent enough to extinguish all that?
âIâm sorry to hear that. How is Jacob?â
âHeâs a mess,â Kelly said. âThatâs why Iâm calling. The funeral is tomorrow and he hopes you can come. He needs a friendâ¦and you seem to be the one he wants.â
It was subtle but he could hear how inexplicable she found that fact to be. âOkay,â he said.
âYouâll come?â She must have been expecting an argument.
âYes. Tell him Iâll be there. What time is the funeral?â
âOne. But Tom, if I tell him youâre coming, and then youâ¦â
âKelly, Iâm telling you I will be there. Have I ever lied to you?â
âNo,â she said slowly. âNot to me.â
Dear Reader,
Sometimes, true love makes an appearance at the worst possible moment. When youâre too young, when youâre living on another continent, when youâre on opposite sides of a stormy issue. Or when youâre about to marry her best friend.
For Tom Beckham, the hero of Happily Never After, falling in love with Kelly was the dumbest thing he could do. Well, maybe the second-dumbest. The first was getting engaged to beautiful but troubled heiress Sophie Mellon.
The three glamorous Mellon siblings have always been clouded in a miasma of rumors. Their neighbors hear things they canât quite understandâand donât dare to repeat. But Tom, a young, ambitious lawyer, didnât care. Sophieâs good looks and impressive mansion could help his career, and that was all that mattered.
Until he fell in love with her bridesmaid. Until ugly rumors became hideous truth. Until he left Sophie at the church, dressed in antique lace, her beautiful face streaming with tears.
He spent ten years trying to forget Kellyâand the terrible truth about the woman he almost married. But now members of the wedding party are starting to die. Heâll have to face all his old demonsâincluding his love for Kellyâif heâs going to survive.
I have a special fondness for the âreunionâ romance. I adore the thought that, like water seeking an outlet, true love can trickle through the years, overcoming the most daunting barriers, navigating the most amazing bends and turns. And then, somehow, find its way safely home. I hope you enjoy watching Tom and Kelly earn their second chance.
My next Harlequin Signature Select book, Quiet as the Grave, will also feature a couple who must endure years of separation. Thanks to my Firefly Glen readers who wrote asking for Mike and Suzieâs story, these two fascinating characters will finally find out whether puppy love has the strength to survive in the realâand very dangerousâadult world.
I love to hear from readers! Please visit my Web site at www.KathleenOBrien.net, or write me at P.O. Box 947633, Maitland, FL 32794.
Warmly,
Kathleen OâBrien
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
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Bonus Features
THE BEST VIEW of the tortured and beautiful Mellon house was from the top of the East River Bridge. In winter, when the elm trees had shivered themselves to skeletons, you could see everything, right down to the statue that had toppled over in the fern garden twenty years ago and had never been set right.
Mrs. Mellon must hate to see the sheltering leaves fall, Kelly Ralston thought as she turned right on Market and headed toward the bridge. The proud old woman would hate feeling so exposed. Coeur Volé had been built a hundred years ago, but even then it had been designed for privacy. And that was long before Sebastianâs accident, Mr. Mellonâs death or Sophieâsâ¦
Long before tragedy knocked on the door of Coeur Volé and apparently moved in to stay.
Even so, Kellyâand probably half the population of Cathedral Coveânever crossed the bridge without slowing down to stare. She did it now, though it was a foggy autumn midnight, not winter, and she couldnât realistically expect to see anything but shadows.