Forever Yours, Amber Falls Book 2 sneak peek!
Happy 2025! Please enjoy this sneak peek of Forever Yours, Chapter 1. Release date 1/14/2025, you can pre-order at any time!
Amber
Falls
FOREVER YOURS
Rachael Heinan & Kimberly Metcalf
©Copyright Rachael Heinan & Kimberly Metcalf 2025
Chapter One
Her
heart had stopped the first time she’d seen him in Amber Falls. On a fall day
over a year ago, she’d been at the front window of Books and Beans, her
downtown coffee shop, watching the leaves waltz in the street, her mind
wandering as she wiped off a table. Then he’d walked by, and the leaves’ rhythm
changed to a tango. He looked the same. Tall, with wheat colored hair styled in
an undercut. With a face chiseled out of granite, he possessed the look of
strength that only someone who did physical work for a living had. His lips
were pursed, as though whistling, and his hands were shoved into pockets. The
picture of a man without a care in the world.
She’d
felt like she was in a fog and had flipped the sign of Books and Beans to
closed. She’d hurried outside but hadn’t had to go far. He’d pulled open the
door to a business two doors down from hers and entered it. She’d walked over
and stood, looking through the frosted-edged glass window and had seen the man
from Boston, moving behind a gleaming wood bar top.
She’d
focused her eyes on the sight in front of her. Finnegan’s. Her heart had
started beating again, fast and uncomfortable this time, and she’d reached out
to steady herself, bracing one of her hands on the rough brick wall. The
movement must’ve caught the man’s eye and he’d glanced over. He’d squinted at
her, the moment suspended in time, then had shaken his head and gone back to
pouring a beer, a smile lighting his face as he’d handed a glass to the patron
across the bar top. He doesn’t recognize me. Feeling a little a whoosh
of lightheadedness at the realization an incredulous laugh had bubbled up from
deep inside and she’d backed away from the window and walked back to her shop.
Devlin
shook off the memory of that day, stretched upward and yawned. She knew she
looked different now. Her long bleach blonde locks had been shorn off and she’d
gained a handful of pounds, still thin, but no longer painfully so. It wasn’t
really a surprise that someone she’d met in a dark bar, then proceeded to have
sex with in a dark hotel room, over a year ago, wouldn’t recognize her. She’d
smoothed one hand over her natural brown pixie style, an unconscious habit
she’d developed after cutting her hair, affirming to herself she was still
there, that chopping off her hair hadn’t also taken away her identity.
Since
her move to Amber Falls, she’d become friends with two wonderful women, the
curvaceous redhead Prudence Hardwick and the petite auburn spitfire Annabelle
Winters. She didn’t want to dwell on the past, but it was hard not to when
Prudence falling in love with Greyson Atwood had brought her past crashing into
her present. Devlin would’ve been happy to leave the blurry image of Gabe
through the etched glass as the last time she’d seen him, however, Prudence’s
said soulmate was Gabe’s brother.
Greyson
was a movie star who’d left the glitz and glamor of Hollywood to pursue
teaching the craft to others. He’d returned to his hometown a few months ago
and won the heart of Prudence. Dark where his brother was light, Greyson was
taller than Gabe by only a fraction, with the perfect smoldering looks to play
his signature role of Ben Stone in a series of hit spy movies. Their happiness
had made things very difficult for Devlin over the last few months, as she’d
had to come up with creative ways to avoid being in the same room with Gabe.
Since
then, she’d perfected the Irish Goodbye—or the French Exit or the Dutch
Leave—whatever people called it. Should Gabe show up anywhere she was, she
could ghost the place like a pro. But now? It had become almost impossible
considering her friendship with Prudence and Prudence’s relationship
with…well…it all was getting very complicated. Tonight was New Year’s Eve. The
night was going to be rough, and she wasn’t sure how to navigate it since
everyone would be at Finnegan’s to ring it in. She’d heard Gabe would be
working, but she had a feeling she couldn’t avoid him all night.
One
thing at a time, you haven’t even gotten out of bed. She shifted her focus back to her daily tasks, glad
she’d made the decision to close early today. She’d been able to hire someone
to help part time with the shop so she knew she wouldn’t have to open tomorrow,
giving her a rare day to sleep in. Today was not one of those days. She
shivered at the predawn chill in the air as she threw back her duvet. Amber
Falls had had very little snow so far this winter, but when she looked out of
her loft window to the dark downtown streets, she noticed flurries.
Devlin’s short hair made
mornings a breeze as she hurried with her early ablutions. She locked her door
and made her way down the flight of stairs that led into the Books and Beans
office. Quick access from living to working was one of the reasons she had
chosen this location in Amber Falls.
Her
loft was above the coffee shop, which made for an easy commute. Floor to
ceiling windows looked down over the town square, double-paned and soundproof.
The original floors had been polished to perfection and she swore you could
glide over them with socks on, and she’d just maybe tried this a time or two.
It was a large open space with two updated bathrooms, a main and a master, and
a cook’s kitchen. One door led down to the office below and one down to the
street. This. This is home. The deal was signed.
While
the loft was a gleaming example of downtown living, the shop had been left to
deteriorate. On the short walk to the shop, Devlin thought about the past year
and how she had spent those first hot summer months preparing the shop to open.
She had found out very soon after arriving that Amber Falls was a special town.
They celebrated the changing of the seasons with a joviality that bordered on
crazy, but she loved it, becoming immersed in the seasonal cheer. She’d just
participated in the latest Fall Festival, getting into the spirit by having a
hot apple cider stand at the hay bale maze and a coffee and dessert stand at
the Funny Friday Frights Street dance. She’d even kept her shop open late on
Wine Wednesday to get some foot traffic in the door by handing out samples of
her new fall flavors.
The
extra work had been worth it. Between the Fall Festival and running pop-up
carts at farmer’s markets and craft fairs, the extra attention her shop had
gotten took her from steady to thriving. Over the last few months, Devlin had
drafted a business plan that included an expansion of her shop. She was trying
not to get ahead of herself, but she wanted both a larger book section, and
something else that would keep customers in her store for longer than it took
to drink a cup of coffee. She was also not quite ready to leave what she had
created at this location, it had become her own little slice of paradise.
Devlin entered her office and turned on the sound system to play throughout the
shop. She took a deep breath as she reached the counter, the strong aroma of
coffee beans calming any negative thoughts in her head. She started her morning
meditation, to focus on the quiet music and just breathe. In and out, her mind
drifted to which bean would be the prominent smell for the day. Ah, hazelnut
is winning out. She grabbed the grounds and started them as her daily house
blend.
Motion
outside the front door caught her eye and she glanced at the clock on the wall.
Six a.m.—too early for customers, she didn’t open for another half an hour. She
saw the person wave and recognized Annabelle. Devlin hurried to open the door
and let in Annabelle—and a frigid gust of wind.
“You’re
out early today, AB,” Devlin observed, using the group’s nickname for Annabelle
as she re-locked the door and walked behind the counter.
“You
know us journalists never sleep.” Annabelle gave a melodramatic shiver,
stomping her feet on the mat at the door to release the fine snow that had
collected on the toes of heeled winter boots that were better suited for
anything but winter. “His Supreme Earldom said we could all have tomorrow off,
but only if we met our deadline today. I’m sure I’ll get done with just enough
time to get dressed before heading over to Finnegan’s tonight.” Annabelle spoke
of her boss at The Amber Falls Bee, Sebastian Locke. Their hate-hate
relationship was legendary.
“That makes for one long
day. Are you still planning to stay here tonight after the party?”
“You know it. Slumber
party!” Annabelle’s mouth widened in a jaw-breaking yawn, as she peered behind
the counter. “It smells so good, what do you have started?”
“I
have today’s house blend brewing—hazelnut.” Devlin took a cup from the tall
stack and filled it. “Tell you what, why don’t I bring you a pick-me-up after I
close and grab your dress from your place so you can get ready here? I’ll have
a fresh pot on.”
“You know I love you, and
not just because I could inject your coffee into my veins, right?”
“I was hoping you loved me
for more than just the coffee, but you know I need to hear it spoken out loud.”
Devlin grabbed a bagged muffin from behind the counter. “Blueberry?”
“I
haven’t eaten a single cookie all Christmas season so I could fit into my dress
tonight, but, at this point I’ll eat all the sugar and carbs if it’ll keep me
awake.”
“I sized up my flapper
dress so I could enjoy Mrs. Crenshaw’s apple pie, and I savored every bite,”
Devlin said, referencing the town’s elderly busybody.
“You
look the same to me, Dev. Where are these extra pounds you’re talking about?”
“They all landed about here.”
Devlin gestured to her midsection in a vague, absentminded way.
“Well,
I don’t care where anything lands so, yes, I’ll take the muffin. Hey, how’s
that new girl working out?”
“Emma’s
great. She’ll be opening the shop in the morning.”
“That’s good news, we can
let loose tonight.”
Devlin’s stomach turned as
she thought again about seeing Gabe tonight. “Yeah, we all need to party a
little.” She swallowed down a wave of nausea. Get it together, Watkins!
Annabelle
narrowed her eyes and peered at Devlin. “You seem to be turning an odd shade of
green. Are you sure you want to go?” she asked.
Devlin
felt a hint of contrition about how she’d informed Annabelle and Prudence about
Gabe. I am glad they know. The rest of it, though? At the time it
had seemed like such a teensy tiny white lie. She preferred to call it a
non-truth, the word lie seemed so…dramatic. The smallest of non-truths, really.
She’d told Prudence and Annabelle, at an extra boozy ladies’ night, the story
about her and Gabe. The part about Boston was truthful. At one point, however,
she’d told the girls that she and Gabe had met in Amber Falls after her move,
had talked over what happened in Boston and decided to move past it. In truth,
this had never happened. She had seen him, but he had no clue she was
there. I’ll deal with this later.
Devlin
nodded and turned away, pretending to wipe down a spot on the counter. She
wouldn’t be able to ghost them tonight, but she was sure she’d find a way to
disappear whenever Gabe came around. “I’m a grown woman and we have a deal.”
She sighed then set down the rag and looked at her friend. “Sorry, AB. I’m just
distracted. The night will be perfect.”
Annabelle
reached out and squeezed Devlin’s hand. “I know it will. So, dinner at the bar
is still a go? We don’t have to get there until late, I’m sure I’ll be working,
and I want you to get a nap in.”
“Tell you what, when I drop
off coffee after I close, let’s see where you are in your day, and we can plan
more then.”
“I
like it. Whatever happens, we can be back here as soon as we’ve decided the
rest of New Year’s Day is better spent sleeping.”
“You have no idea how
excited I am to sleep past five a.m.” Devlin took a long drink from her own
coffee.
“I don’t like to get up
that early, but I know what you mean about sleeping in.”
“Hey, what do you think the
over-under is on Prudence and Greyson making it to the bar tonight?”
Annabelle pondered the
question for a moment. “Well, they’re in the honeymoon phase of their
relationship, and they already ditched out on our Boxing Day get together, so I
expect them to be all over each other as long as they can and not show up to
the bar until, say, eleven fifty-three p.m.”
“That’s specific, even for
you.”
“I’m
hoping they show up, but we’ll be okay if they don’t. New love is a crazy
drug.”
Devlin cast her eyes toward
the counter, trying not to feel the slightest hint of envy for the couple. I
am human after all.
“Hey, I’m sorry,” Annabelle
said. “I was so serious when I said we don’t need to go.”
“I’m
going to be damned if I let someone, a man no less, ruin a sensible plan.
Besides, both you and Prudence know my history with Gabe, so I have nothing to
hide from you.” She crossed her fingers behind her back.
“I was hoping you’d say
that, but if you change your mind, I’ll do whatever you want.” Annabelle took a
sip and leaned her back on the counter, pointing to the opposite wall. “You
know, I just read the art gallery between you and Finnegan’s is going up for
sale soon. The story is going to be in the next edition of The Bee.”
Devlin
ignored the flush that crept over her at the mention of Finnegan’s, the new
information ricocheting around in her head. At that moment, she had a clear
vision of expanding her shop into the soon-to-be-vacant space. She’d been in
the gallery only once—it had been cluttered with art, the owner getting ready
for a new exhibit. The space was small for a downtown location but perfect for
her plans, and she wouldn’t have to move her shop. She rested her elbows on the
counter and stared at the separating wall.
“Woah, earth to Dev.”
Annabelle waved her hand in front of Devlin’s vacant eyes. “You’re cleared for
re-entry, Captain.”
Devlin
blinked, confused, then broke out into a large grin. “I’m gonna buy the place!”
“What?”
“I
haven’t said anything to you and Pru yet,” Devlin confessed, “but I’ve been
working on a plan to expand Books and Beans and I haven’t found any place that
fits what I wanted as well as this location.”
“That’s great news.”
“I’d
love to expand my book and merchandise area. I’ve researched market trends, and
the college students are more apt to buy extra things when they’re already
there and it’s convenient for them.”
“How convenient,” agreed
Annabelle.
“This opportunity is
perfect.”
“I’ll see what other info I
can get when I’m at work and I’ll shoot it off to you.” Annabelle finished her
coffee and looked at her now empty cup, a hint of sadness in her eyes.
“You
don’t know how much I’ll appreciate that. How about a refill for the road,
friend?”
“You read my mind. Can I
get two shots of espresso in that house blend, please?”
“Are you sure about that?”
“It’s going to be
a two-shot kind of morning.” She paused and took a deep breath as if sensing
something. “I can feel something in the air.”
She
could go the whole night without seeing Gabe, she knew she could. Sure, at some
point he’d come over and say hi to Annabelle, but when she saw him heading
over, she could make an excuse to leave. Plus, the night was going to be so
busy, and since Gabe was working, he wouldn’t be hanging out with them, he’d be
focused on running his business.
The
overhead doorbell chimed, and a regular customer walked in. Devlin put on her
best business smile and told herself she’d deal with whatever happened tonight
when—if—it happened.
The
morning flew by. It had been busier than she’d expected but the stream of
customers was down to a trickle by the time she closed the shop in the early
afternoon. Her mind had been occupied all morning by her work and her patrons,
but now that she had a moment to think, her mind wandered, as it did most days,
to Gabe. She scrubbed at some dried-on caramel syrup harder than she had to
then threw her rag on the counter.
“Enough of this,” she
muttered to herself. “You have a full and rewarding life. You came to Amber
Falls to start a business, not a relationship. Get your mind off that man.”
The
gods were not listening. She cursed Hades as the one person she didn’t want to
think about strode past her shop. Gabe stopped and, without warning, turned and
reached for the door, trying to yank it open then peering through the glass
when it held firmly shut.
Devlin was surprised to find herself ducking down behind the counter, her heart pounding. The door rattled once more then went silent. She wished she knew who the god of good luck was and offered vague thanks that she’d remembered to lock the door, sure the right deity would intercept it. She inched up to peer over the counter, relieved to see her doorway empty once again. If that wasn’t a sign to get the hell out of there, she didn’t know what was. She finished her work and grabbed Annabelle’s coffee. She crept to the door, feeling so much trepidation that she ended up tiptoeing. She wasn’t sure what she expected, but when Gabe failed to appear outside the door, or in the immediate vicinity, Devlin hurried the few blocks to The Amber Falls Bee.
She
went straight to Annabelle’s office but had to go searching for her when she
wasn’t behind her desk. She cocked her head to the side, listening for the
familiar strains of—ah, there it was—the now familiar raised voices of enemies
in the wild. The thought crossed her mind to leave the coffee on Annabelle’s
desk, but she remembered they needed to finalize the details of tonight’s
plans. Plus, no one wanted cold coffee, and who knew how long they’d be if
someone didn’t interrupt them. She followed the raised voices to Sebastian’s
office.
“Winters,
it isn’t going to snow. They’ve forecast two storms this year that ended up
being some wind blowing around tiny amounts of flurries. Each of those storms
had front page headlines for a week predicting a ‘snowpocalypse’ that never
happened.”
“This storm is a Nor’easter,
sir,” Annabelle explained to Sebastian in a voice meant for school children.
Devlin
leaned into Sebastian’s office in time to see the most baffled expression cross
his face. It looked like he’d been pacing the room while Annabelle had one of
her hips propped against his desk, her arms crossed.
“I don’t—” He stopped
pacing and raised one of his hands to his temple like he was massaging away a
headache. “What the hell is the difference?”
Annabelle
mimicked his gesture. “Do you even read your own newspaper? The articles we’ve
printed have gone into minute detail about the differences,” she snapped,
adding at his glare, “Sir.”
“Hey, guys!” Devlin chimed
in.
“Devlin!” Sebastian broke
into a smile. “It’s good to see you.”
“I didn’t know you’d be
with Annabelle, otherwise I would’ve brought you something, too.” She held up
the coffee.
“That’s nice of you to say,
but Winters and I are done here.” He turned to face Annabelle. “You’re
dismissed.”
Devlin could see the
pressure building in Annabelle’s lithe frame and grabbed her hand, pulling her
out of the office and throwing a quick bye over her shoulder. She whispered to
Annabelle, “You have to print something about the Nor’easter.”
Annabelle
looked like she was ready to go back in and battle it out with Sebastian but
took a deep breath and stated loud enough to hear throughout the office, “It’s
already done, it’ll be on the front page tomorrow.” A loud crash came from
Sebastian’s office. He’d heard. Annabelle propelled them down the hall to her
office. “I was just letting him know as a courtesy that the front page was
changing with the new forecast.”
“You think it’ll turn out
to be a bad one?”
“I’ve heard reports of three
feet, Dev, but it could be a lot more.” Annabelle took the coffee and settled
into her chair. She slid off her boots and took a sip. “Wanna sit? I have a few
minutes.”
“Not today. I do want to
try to get a nap in if I still can.”
“I hope you take one long
enough for the both of us.”
“How’s the workload
coming?” Devlin leaned her shoulder against the doorway. “Will you still be
done early?”
“We’ve had to change the
entire front page around now that the new forecast has come out.” Annabelle
glanced at the clock. “I can’t see us being out of here any earlier than eight.”
“That’s fine by me, no need
to rush on my behalf.”
“How
about this, I’ll finish up here and grab dinner on the way over to your place.
That way we’re not spending the whole night at the bar?”
Devlin
nodded. “Great idea. I’ll run over and get your bag.”
“Thanks,
Dev. I’m sorry this storm is throwing a wrench into our plans.”
“Hey, the new year will
ring in no matter what we do and I for one find comfort in that fact. See you
tonight.” Devlin turned to go but stopped. “You know, this is Sebastian’s first
real winter. Atlanta only has two seasons—hot and rainy. You should cut him
some slack.”
Annabelle snorted into her coffee. “I will do no such thing.”
Comments
Post a Comment