Friends--And Then Some Read online

  Here’s a peek at the guest book from the Rose Harbor Inn, featured in the bestselling novels

  THE INN AT ROSE HARBOR

  and

  ROSE HARBOR IN BLOOM

  About Your Innkeeper

  Since you won’t see any roses around just yet, you might be wondering about the inn’s name. Explaining why I chose Rose Harbor Inn will also tell you a bit about me and how I found myself in Cedar Cove.

  “Rose” is more than simply my last name. It’s to honor my late husband. Paul Rose and I were married for less than a year before he was killed in action in Afghanistan. “Harbor” is because this is the place where I was meant to drop anchor and take refuge from the storm that followed his death. My friends said to give myself at least a year before I made any major life decisions. But six months later, I couldn’t wait any longer to make a big change, even though I was still grieving quite heavily. After searching the entire country for a suitable place to begin the next phase of my life, imagine my surprise when I found what I was looking for in my own backyard.

  Buying the inn just made sense. After all, I learned all about successful entertaining from my mother. So you might say hospitality runs in my blood.

  Though Cedar Cove isn’t at all far from Seattle, where I formerly lived and worked, it can seem like a world away from the rush and crush of the big city. It’s a place that’s brought me solace and peace just when I needed them most. And no matter what’s brought you to Cedar Cove, I’d like to thank you for allowing me to open my home to you and give you a small sample of the same welcoming spirit I feel here every day.

  My mission is to make Rose Harbor Inn a place of healing and peace for all my guests. And, of course, to do everything possible to ensure you have a pleasant stay.

  —Jo Marie Rose

  About Cedar Cove

  Located on the picturesque Kitsap Peninsula, our little town sits on a quaint cove across Puget Sound from Seattle.

  The visitor’s center is ideal as a first stop. There you’ll find plenty of information on what to do in the area. There are fun, unique events year-round. In springtime, you can try your vocal prowess at the annual Seagull Calling Contest. And the entire town turns out on summer Thursdays for Concerts on the Cove.

  There’s a dedicated parking area for guests at the inn. Since just about everything you’ll want to see is in easy walking distance from Rose Harbor Inn, you can leave your car and explore Cedar Cove on foot.

  From the Guest Book

  Ask anyone who runs an inn and they’ll tell you that the most effective and economical form of advertising is word of mouth. As you’ve likely gleaned, I think Rose Harbor Inn is a special place. But you don’t have to take my word for it. Here’s a selection of recent entries from my guest book, including those from Josh and Abby, my very first guests.

  “I was in town to take care of some unpleasant family business surrounding my stepfather’s illness. From the moment I stepped into Jo Marie’s inn, I felt welcome. The fireplace was lit, and I still remember the smell of fresh bread the instant I stepped through the door. The Rose Harbor Inn, along with reuniting me with an old friend, helped ease the stress of my visit. I’m sure I’ll return. And not just because Jo Marie makes the best scrambled eggs I’ve ever eaten!”—Josh Weaver

  “Jo Marie is the best! Let’s just say I wasn’t too happy about coming back to Cedar Cove where I grew up. I left a long time ago with a lot of unpleasant memories and only came back for my brother’s wedding. A lot of stuff has changed around here.… I think mostly for the better. The people are amazing and Jo Marie is a great addition to the town. I’m happy to be going back home to Florida with good memories of Cedar Cove. One thing Jo Marie said to me that I still remember is ‘We run from foolish things, don’t we?’ I’m not running from the past anymore, that’s for sure. Thanks, Jo Marie, for a great stay! I’ll keep in touch for sure.”—Abby Kincaid

  “Hi, Jo Marie! I wanted to say thank you for everything. My grandparents’ fiftieth-anniversary party was a huge success—even if things did get off to a rocky start with all the bickering. I hope you’ll forgive us for making a bit of a scene. We couldn’t have found a better place to stay and I’m looking forward to coming back … maybe when my grandparents celebrate their seventy-fifth anniversary. Or you never know, you might hear from me before that.”—Annie Newton

  “Oh Jo Marie, I can’t thank you enough for the wonderful stay at your beautiful inn. Kent and I had an even better time than we expected at our anniversary celebration. And renewing our vows on the waterfront made me feel as young as when Kent proposed there. I do hope you’ll forgive our behavior. It seems that marriage doesn’t necessarily get any easier even after fifty years! You opened your home and your heart to us, and I’m so grateful our granddaughter Annie found your lovely inn. After our chat with you on the porch, I’ll keep you in my thoughts. Thanks for all you did to help make our return to Cedar Cove a magical experience. We’re eternally grateful.”—Julie Shivers

  “Thanks for everything, Jo Marie. Especially the butter and bacon. I’ll take every chance I can get to aggravate my wife. And we got engaged at the movie theater, not the waterfront.”—Kent Shivers

  “Please ignore Kent, Marie. I tried to get him to erase what we wrote above. But it was in pen.”—Julie Shivers

  “Jo Marie, you’re a real pro. Are you sure you’re new to innkeeping? You made our stay comfortable and memorable. Thanks again for being so flexible and saving a room on the ground floor for the Shivers. They don’t get around as well as they used to, though you’d never know it if you’d seen them on the dance floor at their anniversary party. It made me hope I can find someone to grow old with, too. In fact, after this weekend, I think that might be a possibility. I’m off to the South Pacific soon.… I’m sure I won’t stay anywhere as amazing as your inn.”—Oliver Sutton

  “I honestly thought I was going to regret staying at a bed-and-breakfast. But Jo Marie was so gracious and respectful of my privacy. Traveling while fighting cancer is more exhausting than I can convey. Jo Marie made me feel welcome and comfortable, going above and beyond to do so. Even something as simple as my favorite candy bar meant so much. Jo Marie, I’m not sure what the future has in store for me, but whether I’m home in New York or even back in Seattle, I’ll always be thankful for my stay at your inn. In so many ways, it was the trip of a lifetime.”—Mary Smith

  SHOPS AND LOCAL LANDMARKS ON OR NEAR BLOSSOM STREET

  A GOOD YARN is wedged between a florist and a beauty shop. An alleyway runs behind the shop. The shop has a second-floor apartment and large display windows with striped awnings. Whiskers, the cat, sleeps in the display windows.

  SUSANNAH’S GARDEN is a florist next door to A Good Yarn.

  THE BEAUTY SHOP is on the other side of A Good Yarn. Perhaps one day we’ll find out more about what’s happening in there.

  THE FRENCH CAFÉ serves delicious meals across the street from A Good Yarn. It also has a striped awning.

  BLOSSOM STREET BOOKS is three doors down from A Good Yarn. It hosts regular book-club events and its owner lives upstairs.

  IT FIGURES is the local exercise salon.

  THE SEATTLE PUBLIC LIBRARY is a wonderful resource for the town.

  THE SHOP ON BLOSSOM STREET is the first book that I wrote in the Blossom Street series, and it introduces Lydia Hoffman. Lydia is a cancer survivor who opens her yarn shop, A Good Yarn, in 2004 as a leap of faith and a show of confidence in the future. Lydia hopes to bring in customers by offering a beginner’s baby-blanket knitting class. She chooses a pattern designed by Ann Norling—and you can find this pattern on my website, by the way. The first people to sign up are a diverse group of ladies.

  LYDIA HOFFMAN Owner of A Good Yarn Shop.

  WHISKERS The shop’s calico cat.

  BRAD GOETZ UPS driver. A Good Yarn Shop is on his route, and he’s quite interested in Lydia!

  CODY GOETZ Brad’s son from a previous marriage.

/>   MARGARET Lydia’s sister. Works at A Good Yarn Shop and teaches crochet.

  ALIX TOWNSEND Shows up at Lydia’s shop to learn how to knit. She needs to do community service for a marijuana possession charge that she accepted to protect her roommate. Alix dresses like a “goth” and wears a black leather jacket year round. She works at a video store on Blossom Street.

  JACQUELINE DONOVAN An unhappy socialite whose marriage is on the rocks. She takes the baby-blanket knitting class to try to welcome a pregnant daughter-in-law into the family.

  CAROL GIRARD Attorney who desperately wants to have a baby. She and her husband are going through IVF treatments. Carol hopes a positive attitude and the process of knitting a baby blanket will help her to conceive.

  A GOOD YARN is the second book, written to accommodate reader demand! I wasn’t necessarily planning another trip to Blossom Street, but my readers had to know what happened next. Lydia and Brad are becoming involved, but Brad’s ex-wife, Janice, is making demands. Suddenly Lydia is unsure of her place in Brad and Cody’s life. Lydia’s shop is thriving, and she’s now offering a sock knitting class. The sock pattern, designed by Nancy Bush, is available exclusively in the book.

  ELISE BEAUMONT A retired librarian and knitter who has had to move in with her grown daughter, Aurora, and Aurora’s husband, David, after losing her life savings. Elise is thrown into a panic when she learns her ex-husband, Maverick, a professional gambler, is coming to visit with hopes of establishing a relationship with his daughter.

  BETHANNE HAMLIN Has dedicated her life to her husband, Grant, and her two children, Andrew and Annie. After twenty years of marriage, Grant is leaving her for a younger woman. She’s all alone in a big house. She finds a connection with the women at A Good Yarn.

  COURTNEY PULANSKI A teenager who has come to live with her grandmother. Dragged to A Good Yarn shop and senior swimming sessions, Courtney learns how to build friendships and find self-confidence.

  ALIX TOWNSEND Continues to knit and is a frequent customer at A Good Yarn. She has completed a course of study as a pastry chef and is now working at the French Café across from A Good Yarn.

  COLETTE BLAKE Lydia’s renter above the shop.

  SUSANNAH NELSON Owns Susannah’s Garden, a flower shop next door.

  DEBBIE MACOMBER’S TOP TEN FAVORITE THINGS TO DO IN SEATTLE:

  Since we live near Seattle, we naturally like to visit and enjoy all the city has to offer. Here are ten of my recommendations for fun things to do while in town:

  1. Stroll along the historic waterfront area where the Washington State ferries arrive and depart. Maybe you can catch the ferry to visit my hometown of Port Orchard, the inspiration for Cedar Cove.

  2. That ferry ride can make you hungry. I like to visit the landmark fish-and-chips restaurant, Ivar’s, on the Waterfront for fresh seafood and chowder in a bread bowl.

  3. From there, head over to climb the steep stairs that lead to the historic Pike Place Market.

  4. My grandchildren love the Seattle Aquarium with its beautiful Pacific Coral Reef.

  5. The Seattle Art Museum is always worth a visit and has a lovely café where you can rest your feet.

  6. The Seattle Center houses the Pacific Science Center and the famous Space Needle, landmarks that were built originally for the 1962 World’s Fair.

  7. While at the Seattle Center you can also visit the Experience Music Project, where you’ll find locals and tourists mingling among the listening stations.

  8. By now almost everyone must know we are a football family. We regularly attend Seattle Seahawks football games at CenturyLink Field.

  9. While waiting for football season to begin, we catch Seattle Mariners games at Safeco Field.

  10. I just love to shop at Westlake Center, and when I’m there, I always stop in at the nearby Barnes & Noble.

  BACK ON BLOSSOM STREET is the third novel in the series. Lydia’s customers are knitting a lace prayer shawl called The Alix Knit Prayer Shawl, designed by Myrna Stahman.

  LYDIA GOETZ Has married Brad Goetz and is happily making a home with him.

  SUSANNAH NELSON Owner of Susannah’s Garden, a flower shop next door to A Good Yarn. Her daughter, Chrissie, sometimes helps out in the shop.

  COLETTE BLAKE Is a widow and rents the apartment above A Good Yarn Shop. Her husband died in a tragic accident a year before. After her husband’s death, Colette had a one-night stand with her boss, Christian Dempsey. Colette quits her job at Dempsey Imports after finding out something disturbing about Christian, and she accepts a job at Susannah’s Garden.

  ALIX TOWNSEND Is working as a pastry chef at the French Café and engaged to Jordan Turner, a youth pastor. She’s trying to stay sane while her future mother-in-law plans a fancy wedding for her and Jordan. She’d prefer a quiet and simple celebration.

  MARGARET LANGLEY Lydia’s sister and mother to Hailey, twelve, and Julia, seventeen. Margaret and her family are thrown into turmoil trying to deal with Julia’s injuries after a carjacking incident.

  BETHANNE HAMLIN Has started a party business.

  COURTNEY PULANSKI Is in college in Chicago and teaching her friends how to knit.

  ELISE BEAUMONT Is nursing her husband, Maverick, through a recurring bout of cancer.

  GRANDMA SARAH TURNER Offers a safe haven for Alix when she needs it most. Alix and Jordan are married at her cottage.

  TWENTY WISHES is the fourth novel in the Blossom Street series. On Valentine’s Day, Anne Marie Roche and several others gather their Widows Club to celebrate the holiday. Instead of grieving, they get together to celebrate their friendship and their memories. They each create a list of wishes and dreams to look forward to.

  ANNE MARIE ROCHE Widow and owner of Blossom Street Books. Nine months after the death of her husband, Robert, she is still grieving. She volunteers at the local grade school for a lunch-buddy program. She has an apartment above Blossom Street Books.

  BAXTER Anne Marie’s dog, a Yorkie.

  BRANDON Robert’s twenty-nine-year-old son from his previous marriage.

  MELISSA Robert’s twenty-four-year-old daughter from his previous marriage. She dislikes Anne Marie intensely.

  ELLEN FALK Anne Marie’s lunch buddy, an eight-year-old girl being raised by her grandmother, Dolores.

  ELISE BEAUMONT Joins the Widows Club celebration after losing her husband, Maverick, from a long illness. She is a frequent book-store customer and book-club member, and she’s a customer at A Good Yarn.

  SUMMER ON BLOSSOM STREET is the fifth Blossom Street novel. The knitting pattern included in the book—and on my website—is a Cable Sampler Scarf.

  Lydia is attracting new customers to A Good Yarn by offering a different sort of class, a Knit to Quit. The pattern, a Cable Sampler Scarf, designed by Bev Galeskas, will offer seven different blocks of cables increasing in complexity as the scarf progresses. Perhaps concentrating on each new block will help the class members focus on something other than the item they are trying to give up!

  PHOEBE RYLANDER She’s trying to put distance between herself and Clark Snowden, the man to whom she was engaged. He’s not faithful, and Phoebe can see it will be a pattern. Clark is fighting to win her back, and Phoebe’s resolve is weakening.

  ALIX TURNER Is working at the French Café and loving her life with Jordan. She started smoking again shortly before her wedding to Jordan and wants to quit, but she’s having a hard time of it. She and Jordan are trying to start a family, and Alix needs to quit smoking now.

  BRYAN “HUTCH” HUTCHINSON Is suffering from heart disease and soaring blood pressure due to a frivolous lawsuit and the pressures of running his family’s candy company. Hutch’s doctor suggests something that is meditative and relaxing, like knitting!

  ANNE MARIE ROCHE And her adopted daughter, Ellen, have returned from a trip to Paris and are settling into being a family. But a stranger is asking questions about Ellen at the bookstore.…

  TIM CARLSEN Is Ellen’s biological father. He’s trying
to reach out to the daughter he didn’t know he had. Anne Marie is cautious. She is not sure if she can trust Tim and is not about to give up her new daughter.

  CASEY MARSHALL A troubled twelve-year-old girl in desperate need of a family. Casey forms an attachment to Lydia’s mom, who lives in an assisted-living complex.

  A TURN IN THE ROAD is the sixth book in the series. This book involves characters from Blossom Street, but takes place during a road trip. Bethanne Hamlin, her daughter, Annie, and her former mother-in-law, Ruth, are three generations on the road together from Washington to Florida. It’s a trip I am very familiar with as my husband Wayne and I travel south every winter. Bethanne needs time to sort out her feelings about her ex-husband, Grant, who wants a reconciliation. Annie is feeling jilted when her boyfriend takes off for a European adventure without her. Ruth is determined to attend her fiftieth high-school reunion, no matter how far away it is. Perhaps she’ll reconnect with her teenage love? A knitting pattern for a beaded wedding purse is available on my website.

  BETHANNE HAMLIN Bethanne’s catering/party business is going strong.

  GRANT HAMLIN Bethanne’s ex-husband, recently divorced for the second time. He’s come to realize what a good thing he had with Bethanne and is hoping to win her back.

  ANDREW HAMLIN Bethanne’s son, planning his wedding to Courtney Pulanski.

  ANNIE HAMLIN Bethanne’s daughter, intent on bringing her parents back together.

  RUTH HAMLIN Would love to reconnect with friends from her high-school years in Florida.

  ROYCE ZEBULON Ruth’s high-school prom date and first sweetheart.