The Little Bookshop of Promises Read online

  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.

  Dear Reader,

  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

  The Little Bookshop of Promises

  Debbie Macomber

  www.millsandboon.co.uk

  MILLS & BOON

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  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

  Cover

  Back Cover Text

  Dear Reader

  Title Page

  Booklist

  Dedication

  One

  Two

  Three

  Four

  Five

  Six

  Seven

  Eight

  Nine

  Ten

  Eleven

  Twelve

  Thirteen

  Fourteen

  Fifteen

  Sixteen

  Seventeen

  Eighteen

  Nineteen

  Twenty

  Twenty-One

  Twenty-Two

  Twenty-Three

  Epilogue

  Copyright

  One

  “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.

  “Come to Pro
mise,” Jane said, her voice unnaturally high with excitement.

  “Texas?” Annie murmured. “You want me to go to Texas?”

  “Oh, Annie, you’d love it! This town isn’t like anyplace else in the world. The people are friendly and kind and there’s a...a kind of caring here. Promise is small-town America at its best.” Jane’s enthusiasm was unmistakable—and contagious. “Small-town Texas at its best, too.”

  Annie smiled. “I’m sure a visit would do me a lot of good,” she said, thinking aloud, deciding then and there to take Jane up on her offer.

  “I’m not suggesting a visit,” Jane said, interrupting Annie’s musings. “I think you should move here. You need a change, a fresh start—you know you do.” She hesitated. “It might sound odd, but I have this feeling that Promise needs you, too.”

  * * *

  Staring out the display window, Dovie Hennessey watched her husband hurrying along Promise’s main street. He was headed toward her shop, and judging by the look on his face, he had something he couldn’t wait to tell her.

  “Dovie!” Frank barreled into the store a moment later, his eyes twinkling with amusement. At sixty-five, he remained muscular and fit, she noted with pride. Every time she saw him, he gave her heart a little thrill—even after three years of marriage. Their romance had begun more than a decade before they decided to “make it legal,” as Frank put it. He’d initially been reluctant, since he’d never been married before and was afraid of losing what he’d thought of as his freedom. Dovie, who’d been widowed for years, had desperately wanted the comfort and respectability of marriage. In the end Wade McMillen, the local pastor, had suggested the perfect compromise: marriage with separate residences. It hadn’t taken long, however, for Frank to move into Dovie’s house full-time.

  “My goodness, Frank, what’s gotten into you?”

  “Adam Jordan,” Frank told her, shaking his head. “I swear I’ve never seen anything so funny in my life. Just wait’ll you hear what that deputy did this time round.”

  “Sheriff Jordan,” Dovie gently reminded him. Frank had retired five months earlier, and it had been an adjustment for both of them. After serving as the town’s sheriff for almost fifteen years, he’d found it difficult to hand over the reins to someone else.

  Especially when that someone had been such an unpromising specimen as a teenager. Adam Jordan had gotten into one scrape after another and had nearly worried his parents sick before he enlisted with Uncle Sam. Somehow the army had straightened him out. To everyone’s amazement, Adam had thrived under the structure and discipline of military life. After basic training he’d applied and been accepted to Airborne Ranger School, and from there had gone on to serve a distinguished twelve years as a member of the elite outfit.

  With the recent cutbacks in the military, Adam had returned to Promise. Much to the delight of his parents, who owned the local western-wear shop, he’d applied for a job with the sheriff’s department. Frank immediately saw that he’d found his replacement. Al Green, who’d served as deputy for almost twenty years, had no desire to assume the responsibilities of the sheriff’s position.

  So Adam had arrived at precisely the right time. When Frank announced his retirement, the ex-Airborne Ranger had run for the office of sheriff and promptly been elected; that was almost six months ago now, in the November election. Frank continued to spend much of his time with Adam, helping, he claimed, with the transition. Dovie didn’t know who required more assistance, Adam or Frank.

  “Boy’s made a fool of himself with that new teacher.” Frank chuckled. “Again. Locked her keys inside her car trying to show her the importance of security.”

  Dovie groaned, embarrassed for Adam. Anyone could see he was infatuated with Jeannie French. Fresh out of college, the first-grade teacher had been hired the previous August, and Adam Jordan hadn’t been the same since. He’d done everything he could think of to attract her attention, but according to rumor, he hadn’t yet asked her out on a date. Some days, it was all Dovie could do to resist shaking some sense into the man.

  “Naturally he had no way of knowing she always throws her car keys under the front seat,” Frank explained.

  “Why in heaven’s name would she do something like that?” Dovie was exasperated with Jeannie, too. Surely the girl could figure out how Adam felt! She sighed; she could just imagine Adam’s face when he realized what he’d done.

  Frank shrugged. “Why do women do anything?” he asked philosophically. “She had her purse with her, as well as the keys for the school. Apparently she picked up the habit from her father. He’s got a ranch a ways north of here. Not much concern about theft in a place like that. Or here, either.”

  So Adam was smitten and the new schoolteacher ignored him. The two of them had become a running joke around town. Jeannie was sweet enough, and a dedicated teacher, determined to make a difference in her students’ lives. And Adam, for all his skills and talents, didn’t know a damn thing about letting a woman know he was interested. Now, after a series of embarrassments, Jeannie refused to respond to Adam’s overtures. Not that Dovie believed the girl should get involved in a relationship if she didn’t want to—but for heaven’s sake, she could give Adam a chance! The pair of them needed some guidance and good advice, but Dovie didn’t know who was going to provide it. At one time that role would have fallen to her, but these days, with her antique shop doing so well, and Frank’s retirement, she already had more than she could handle. Then, there was the situation with her friend Mary Patterson, only she didn’t want to think about Mary just now.

  “How’d Jeannie take it?” Dovie asked.

  “Not too well. You’d think poor Adam had done it on purpose.”

  “He was able to unlock the car, wasn’t he?”

  “Oh, eventually, but while he was fiddling with the door, Jeannie was giving him a piece of her mind.”

  “Poor Adam,” Dovie said.

  “Poor Adam, nothing. That boy got exactly what he deserved. He was showing off his authority, playing big man in town, and it backfired. Sure, his ego got dented, but it was a lesson he won’t soon forget.”

  “And you loved it.”

  Frank sobered. “I did,” he admitted, “but not for the reasons you think. That boy reminds me of myself thirty-five years ago. Cocky as a rooster and high on self-importance. He’ll learn the same way I did—and probably a whole lot faster.”

  Dovie wrapped her arms around her husband. He was right—there were similarities between him and Adam. She just hoped it didn’t take Adam as long as it had Frank to marry and settle down.

  “By the way,” he said, “I stopped at the travel agency. Gayla had our tickets.” Frank slid the airline packet out of his hip pocket and set it on the counter. This European vacation had been planned for months. It was going to be a combination of business and pleasure; Dovie and Frank would spend two weeks touring major cities on the continent, purchasing a few antiques, visiting a museum here and there. They considered the trip a honeymoon of sorts—although Frank was quick to insist that their entire marriage had been a honeymoon—plus a celebration of Frank’s retirement.

  “Hey,” Frank said, tilting Dovie’s head up so their eyes could meet. “You should be showing more excitement than this!”

  “I am excited,” she told him, and she was. They’d talked about this trip for years, dreamed about it, too. Dovie had assumed they’d take budget tours, but Frank had insisted they go first-class all the way. While he was willing to go to a couple of museums, shop for antiques and help her arrange shipping, he wanted to make sure they had ample opportunity to enjoy the sights. And each other.

  “Dovie Hennessey, I know you too well to be fooled,” Frank said, holding her gaze. “Something’s troubling you.”

  It astonished her how well Frank did know her. She’d been married to Marvin Boyd for twenty-five years, and he’
d always been oblivious to her moods. That certainly wasn’t the case with Frank. There was an almost intuitive bond between them, one that marriage had honed and strengthened. She’d never expected to fall in love again, let alone experience a love like this. And the lovemaking, oh my, just thinking about the delights they’d found with each other...well, it made her heart beat triple time.

  “It’s Mary,” Dovie said reluctantly.

  “What’s the problem with Mary?”

  Dovie didn’t know how to answer. Mary Patterson had been Dovie’s best friend for most of her life. They’d graduated from high school together. She’d been Mary’s maid of honor, and later Mary had returned the favor. Over the years Dovie had watched Mary and her husband, Phil, raise two fine sons.

  It was Mary who had stood with her when Marvin was buried, Mary who’d helped her through the difficult months that followed. After Phil’s heart problems were diagnosed, Dovie had encouraged the couple to hand over the management of their cattle ranch to their sons and move into town. Not ready to retire completely, they’d started a bed-and-breakfast—and no one was more surprised at its success than Mary and Phil themselves. For years she and Mary had spoken on the phone every day or so, saw each other often and shared all their joys and sorrows. Dovie felt the same way about Mary as she would’ve felt about a sister.

  “You’re not answering me,” Frank said softly. His hands caressed her shoulders as he studied her.

  “Because I don’t know how.”

  “Start at the beginning.”

  If only it was that easy. “Something’s...not right.” There wasn’t anything Dovie could put her finger on, nothing she could pinpoint other than a vague feeling. In fact, until this very moment, she hadn’t intended to say a word, not even to Frank.

  “How do you mean?”

  “Not right” was nebulous, she realized, but it was the best she could do. “I don’t know,” Dovie had to admit again. “I just don’t know. But it seems we’re not as close as we used to be.”

  Frank took a few moments to consider this. “Do you think she might be a little jealous of our taking a trip to Europe?”