Hope on the Island: A Perfectly Stated Series Novella

By E.S. McMillan

We all make mistakes…right?

 

Hope Lewis has made her fair share of mistakes where love is concerned. The first one was letting the man who stole her heart walk away without a fight. The next was settling for a love that was doomed from the start and the third (and biggest) was introducing her husband to her best friend.

After catching her husband and so-called best friend in a compromising position, Hope decides it is time to finally make the right choice. With her heart and dignity in a million pieces, Hope heads to the one place she has always felt safe and loved..home.

 

Will Hope be able to find what she is looking for in the picturesque town of Isle of Springs, Rhode Island or will this just be another mistake to add to her long list?

• Language: English
• Publisher: E.S. McMillan
• Release date: Aug 10, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201983093

Book preview

Chapter One

I don’t know what I am doing wrong, I said with a sigh into the phone I was holding up to my ear. Letting my eyes roam around the room I’d shared with my husband for the past fifteen years; I couldn’t help the feeling of dread that had taken root in the pit of my stomach. Something was definitely wrong between the two of us, and I had no idea where to begin to fix it. I could feel him pulling away from me.

What are you talking about? You and Jeff are the perfect couple, my best friend, Trina, replied. There was a hint of annoyance in her voice, and I knew that the excuses to get off the call with me would soon follow. The last thing she wanted to do was sit around and make me feel better when there were a million other ways she could be spending her time.

Do you want to help me pick out something new to bring some spark back into my love life? I asked, hoping Trina would jump at the chance to go shopping with me. I needed her and knew this was my best chance of getting her help. I’ll even throw in lunch at wherever you want to eat.

I can’t today, she said quickly.

What’s up?

I am surprising the new man in my life with a lunch quickie.

Oh! How did I not know that she was seeing someone new? Was I that wrapped up in my own drama that I completely missed the new man in Trina’s life? I was such a sucky friend. No wonder she didn’t really want to talk to me or spend any time hanging out anymore.

Can we raincheck? she asked, snapping me out of the pity party that I had thrown myself in my mind.  

What? I questioned, not understanding what she was asking. I was way past the point of pretending that I was paying attention to Trina.

What about tomorrow?

For what?

Shopping! Trina informed me. You were the one who put it out there.

Oh, that works. Standing up from my bed and walking over to the window that overlooked my backyard, I let my eyes settle on the gazebo I’d had specially designed and built as a wedding gift for my husband. I felt my lips pull up in a smile as my mind took a trip down memory lane, and I remembered the day that I surprised Jeff with the gazebo. He had always wanted one, and I was so excited and proud to be the one to make this particular wish a reality for him.  

Hope! Hope! Are you still there? Trina screamed into the phone, causing me to move the small device away from my ear.

Sorry, I said quietly as I shook the memories from my head and made my way back to the spot I had just vacated. Plopping back down on the bed that I shared with my husband, I looked over and noticed his side was completely untouched.

If you are really worried about you and Jeff, maybe you should put the spark back into the relationship, Trina offered.

What do you mean?

Surprise your man, she offered with a familiar sexiness in her voice that I had heard her use when she was laying her famous trap for an unsuspecting man. Trina was everything I was not, and sometimes I found myself wondering how we were even friends. I was a jeans and t-shirt kind of girl, and she was a sexy black dress and stilettos type. We were complete opposites, but our friendship worked. She had been my best friend for the past twenty plus years, and I didn’t know what I would do without her.

You’re going to have to help me out a little bit with this one, I said as I sat up a little straighter and gave her my full attention.

Girl, get yourself all dressed up and surprise your man. Make him lock his office door and turn his phone off.

Does that really work? I asked, not too sure about her instructions. I had seen it play out in countless movies and read about it in books. I just wasn’t sure