Page 4 of The House on Blueberry Lane

“IS EVERYTHING COMING together for your wedding?” Velvet asked her good friend Sierra Crane as they shared breakfast at the Witherspoon Café. It was a restaurant in Catalina Cove, known for serving a wonderful breakfast that included their signature blueberry muffins and also a delicious lunch and mouthwatering dinner.

Velvet thought Sierra was glowing and had been since she and Vaughn Miller announced their engagement last month on Christmas Day. Velvet hadn’t been surprised. It had been obvious to anyone who’d observed the couple that they were in love. The wedding would be held in March on the grounds of Vaughn’s family estate, Zara’s Haven.

She and Sierra had moved to Catalina Cove around the same time. For Sierra, it had been returning home after her divorce, to the place where she’d been born, to raise her six-year-old goddaughter, Teryn. And for Velvet, it had been relocating to a place far away from Jaye Colfax to heal her broken heart.

“Yes, everything is set,” Sierra said, smiling from ear to ear. “I think Teryn is even happier than I am. She adores Vaughn.”

“Well, I don’t know three individuals more deserving of happiness,” Velvet said, after taking a sip of her coffee. Like Sierra, Vaughn Miller had been born in Catalina Cove and moved away after high school. He returned to the cove several years ago and would soon become the CEO of the cove’s largest employer when the present CEO and the richest man in the cove, Reid Lacroix, retired later this year.

“What about you, Velvet? Don’t you think you deserve happiness as well?”

Velvet tilted her head and looked at Sierra. There were only two people in the cove who knew her history. People she trusted. The first had been Reid Lacroix. He had known her parents since they’d attended college at Yale together, and her dad and Reid had been on the university’s rowing team.

It was at her parents’ memorial service when Reid had approached her and said if she ever needed to get away, she should visit Catalina Cove. It was just the place to heal from the pain caused by grief. Velvet hadn’t taken him up on his offer then, but she had a few years later when she’d visited the cove to heal from another type of pain—a broken heart. While staying for the weekend at the bed-and-breakfast, Shelby by the Sea, she had fallen in love with Catalina Cove and decided to move from Phoenix and make it her permanent home.

Knowing Sierra was waiting for her response, Velvet said, “Yes, everyone deserves happiness.”

“Even you?” Sierra prodded.

She knew why her friend was asking and gave her the only answer she could. “Yes, even me. However, for some, happiness can be an elusive thing. Just like love.”

“Only if you decide not to go after it.”

“But I did go after both happiness and love, Sierra. And that didn’t get me anywhere.”

“Promise me you won’t give up on them. Take it from someone who had to learn the hard way. I almost lost the love Vaughn had offered to me because I didn’t want to take a chance on my heart getting broken again. Now I’m glad I took that chance.”

Sierra paused, then asked, “How is that neighbor situation working out with you and Jaye Colfax?”

Velvet took a sip of her coffee. “Not so bad, considering we’re technically living under the same roof. He officially moved in a few weeks ago. Although I’ve caught glimpses of him through my window, our paths haven’t crossed.”

“I guess that’s good for you, then.”

“Yes, considering the man I left Phoenix to avoid ends up moving to the same town where I am and becomes my neighbor.”

“Umm, maybe that was divine intervention,” Sierra said, smiling over the top of her cup.

“Or it could be somebody up there doesn’t like me very much.”

“Or...it could be that somebody up there likes you a lot.”

“Meaning?”

“What if he’s changed?”

Velvet rolled her eyes. “Jaye Colfax? Not a chance. Honestly, it doesn’t matter if he has. I no longer love Jaye. I admit my heart went pitter-patter when I saw him at that town meeting, and for a moment I thought I still loved him, but now I know that I’ve gotten over him and have moved on.”

Sierra leaned over the table and whispered, “Well. I got it from a very reliable source that Jaye Colfax put a stop to any gossip about him being on anyone’s must-do list. He even made sure Laura Crawford knew he wasn’t available.”

That made Velvet smiled since Laura wasn’t one of her favorite people. The woman, whose family was one of the wealthiest in town, looked down her nose at the less fortunate. In other words, she was a snob. So was her brother, Webb.

Velvet had noticed the first week Jaye moved in that a few different women tried to visit. It was obvious they hadn’t made it over his threshold. No real surprise there. The one thing she knew about Jaye was that he preferred doing the choosing and the chasing. In other words, women who sought him out were a turnoff and he didn’t have a problem letting them know it.

Velvet looked at her watch. “I need to leave to get to school on time.”

“Okay, and remember what I said. You deserve to be happy just as much as anyone else.”

VELVET WASN’T SURE why Sierra’s words lingered in her mind for the rest of the day, even when her full concentration should have been on her students. She taught high school and volunteered as a gymnastics coach two days a week. Since moving to the cove, both had kept her pretty busy—too busy to think about the reason why she’d moved here. And now that very reason, Jaye Colfax, had moved right next door.

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