The Little Bookshop Of Promises
Somewhere between a car accident and a divorce, Annie Applegate stopped believing in happy endings.Now, she just wants to disappear. And the tiny town of Promise fits the bill. With its winding streets and melting-pot of residents, it’s the perfect place for Annie to hide away and open the bookshop she always dreamed of owning.Until her new-found peace and quiet is disturbed by Lucas, a widower who rivals Annie as the most cynical person in town.With his troubled past and precocious children, Lucas is the last person she should be getting involved with. But when he asks for her help, Annie comes to realise that, maybe, going it alone isn’t the solution after all…Previously published as Promise, Texas
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Let Debbie Macomber take you into the HEART OF TEXAS
In Promise, Texas, people know what really matters—family, friends, community. And they know that love gives meaning to every day of their lives.…
Some of the people in Promise are from old ranching families—like the Westons and Pattersons—folks who arrived in the Hill Country more than a century ago. And then there are newcomers like Annie Applegate, who opens a bookstore in town. Some might say Annie does things backward. She marries a widowed veterinarian for the sake of his kids…and discovers that marriage can lead to love.
In Promise, everyone’s life is a story! The people here, like people everywhere, experience tragedies as well as triumphs, sorrow as well as joy. This town, like towns everywhere, has its share of secrets. But whether times are good or bad, you’re never alone in a place like Promise. And as Annie Applegate knows, that makes all the difference.
I hadn’t intended to write another book about Promise, Texas. When I finished the HEART OF TEXAS series, I was satisfied that I’d told the story of Promise, and solved the mystery around Bitter End. I was looking forward to new projects. New characters. Fresh plots and locations.
Then the letters started to arrive. Such eloquent, beautiful letters. Letters that stirred my heart and made me feel both humble and privileged to be a writer. Letters that asked for more. My readers wanted more of Promise, more stories about these characters. Thanks to my publisher MIRA (especially Paula and Dianne) for making this possible. I also want to thank Ann Cacciapaglia, friend, neighbor and vet-intraining. And thank you to my readers for validating my belief in the goodness of people everywhere and the pleasures of life in small-town America.
If this is your first trip to Promise, sit back and enjoy. If this is a return journey, be prepared to meet all your old friends and shake hands with a few new ones. This is the book you said you wanted! And my readers always seem to know my heart….
I eagerly look forward to hearing what my readers think about each book. You can write me at P.O. Box 1458, Port Orchard, WA 98366.
Debbie Macomber
Make time for friends. Make time for Debbie Macomber.
DEBBIE MACOMBER
CEDAR COVE
16 Lighthouse Road
204 Rosewood Avenue
311 Pelican Court
44 Cranberry Point
50 Harbor Street
6 Rainier Drive
74 Seaside Avenue
8 Sandpiper Way
92 Pacific Boulevard
1022 Evergreen Place
1105 Yakima Street
A Merry Little Christmas
(featuring 1225 Christmas Tree Lane and 5-B Poppy Lane)
BLOSSOM STREET
The Shop on Blossom Street
A Good Yarn
Susannah’s Garden
(previously published as
Old Boyfriends)
Back on Blossom Street
(previously published as Wednesdays at Four)
Twenty Wishes
Summer on Blossom Street
Hannah’s List
A Turn in the Road
Thursdays at Eight
Christmas in Seattle
Falling for Christmas
A Mother’s Gift
Angels at Christmas
A Mother’s Wish
Be My Valentine
Happy Mother’s Day
On a Snowy Night
Summer in Orchard Valley
Summer Wedding Bells
This Matter of Marriage
Summer Brides
Home for Christmas
The Perfect Match
The Summer Wedding
Not Just for Christmas
No Place Like Home
Summertime Dreams
There’s Something About Christmas
THE MANNINGS
The Manning Sisters
The Manning Brides
The Manning Grooms
THE DAKOTAS
Dakota Born
Dakota Home
Always Dakota
The Farmer Takes a Wife (Exclusive short story)
To Irene Goodman for one hell of an idea
Contents
“Annie, I’m so sorry! I can’t tell you how sorry I am.”
Annie Applegate shifted the receiver to her other ear and blinked repeatedly. Jane Patterson’s sympathetic voice had brought tears to her eyes.
“You should’ve let me know,” Jane continued.
It’d taken Annie nearly twelve months to write her childhood friend about the disasters that had befallen her in the past two years. Jane had called the minute she’d read the letter; Annie was grateful for that, although even now, a friend’s genuine sympathy threatened her shaky resolve in a way that indifference didn’t.
“I...couldn’t,” she said. “Not right away.”
Four years ago, Jane had left southern California—where Annie still lived—and moved to Promise, a town in the Texas hill country. She’d gone there to work in the local health clinic as partial payment for her medical-school loans. Her parents had been dismayed and delighted in equal parts when their only daughter married a local rancher and settled in the small community.
“What are you going to do?” Jane asked briskly. She’d always had a practical, we-can-deal-with-this quality that Annie envied. “What are your plans?”
Annie wished she knew. The question was one she’d asked herself a thousand times since the car accident and everything that had followed.
“Do you think you’ll stay in California?” Jane pressed when Annie didn’t answer.
“I...I don’t know. Probably not.” Only she had nowhere to go, nowhere she needed to be, and no real family to speak of. Her friends here all seemed at a loss. They urged her to get on with her life; what they didn’t understand was that she needed a completely different direction. A new sense of purpose. If she was going to pick up the shattered pieces that had once been her comfortable orderly existence and move forward, she had to make some real changes first.
