All Out of Gratitude: Kismet Bay, #7

By Dawn Brower

Ophelia Strange had her heart broken in the last year of college by the only man she ever loved and she never got over him. Still, she went home and built a life for herself--never expecting to see him again. So when Roman Cacy shows up in the small town of Kismet Bay for Thanksgiving she has to re-evaluate everything and discern the truth. By the end of the holiday she might have more to be grateful for than she thought...

• Language: English
• Publisher: Monarchal Glenn Press
• Release date: Nov 19, 2019
• ISBN: 9781386750840

Book preview

All Out of Gratitude

All Out of Gratitude

Kismet Bay Book Seven

Dawn Brower

All Out of Gratitude Copyright © 2019 by Dawn Brower

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Life is a succession of lessons which must be lived to be understood. 

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Acknowledgments

Many thanks to Elizabeth Evans. There are no words that I can express on how much your help means to me. Thank you for all you do for me and the wonderful things you helped me bring to the world.

Sometimes the hardest thing you can do is give someone a second chance. This is for everyone who took that leap of faith and didn’t regret it.

Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Afterword

About The Author

Also by Dawn Brower

Excerpt: Diamonds Don’t Cry

Prologue

Chapter 1

EXCERPT: Better as a Memory

Prologue

Chapter 1

Autumn was in full bloom and Ophelia Strange loved it. There wasn’t a season she didn’t like, but she was partial to the cool brisk weather that brought hot cider, cute boots, and warm sweaters. She loved the smell of fallen leaves and the colors that were splashed across the landscape. In her opinion, there was no more perfect time of the year. Not to mention it brought Thanksgiving, and not long after it Christmas. Their family all gathered together and she looked forward to it more than anything. Running Blooms of Destiny with her cousin Amadea Strange was wonderful, but sometimes that didn’t fulfill her enough.

Her contribution to Thanksgiving dinner was making the center piece for the large dining room table at her Uncle Adam’s house. Her Aunt Rosaline had exact expectations of what she wanted. Every year was different, but Ophelia looked forward to the challenge. This year her aunt had decided to go with a golden harvest as the theme. Which could really mean anything… But Ophelia had decided to take it literally and make a centerpiece that was all gold colors that also represented a harvest. She’d spray painted a cornucopia so it shimmered a brilliant golden color and picked flowers in different shades of yellow and placed them around gourds and Indian corn inside the cornucopia. All that gold seemed like a little too much so she placed some red and orange begonias throughout for a splash of color.

That’s coming along nicely, Amadea said as she walked into the backroom. Auntie Rosaline will love it.

I hope so, she said. You know how difficult she can be if everything isn’t exactly how she wants it to be.

Don’t go begging for problems, Amadea said. She shook her head and frowned. At least you don’t have to get up before dawn and go help her cook. It’s going to be a nightmare.

Ophelia was grateful she didn’t have to do that. Aunt Rosaline would be akin to a drill sergeant as she prepared dinner. They always had Thanksgiving at their place because she had a professional kitchen with several ovens and space to prepare everything. Because Uncle Adam was the mayor he entertained a lot and they had a dining room large enough to accommodate the entire family. Aunt Rosaline took her hosting duties seriously and she had lists upon lists that she checked off as she went. Ophelia loved her, but sometimes, usually around Thanksgiving, she wondered at the wisdom of such a feeling.

You do have my sympathies, she told Amadea. "I’m gong to spray this and