Hello Forever

By Krista Noorman

Can new love overcome the pain of losing her first love?

Maggie James spent years all consumed by her wedding photography business, hiding out from love after a painful breakup. When fellow photographer and consummate rogue Simon Walker came back into her life, she held him at arm's length to protect her fragile heart from being broken again. But after discovering how he selflessly helped her business in a very big way and admitting her mistaken assumptions about him, she is finally ready to give him a chance. Will fear keep her from truly opening her heart to him? Or will secrets tear them apart?

From small-town Michigan to the sunny shores of Malibu, California, Maggie and Simon must navigate their budding relationship, survive family drama, and come face to face with the past to see if their faith and ever-growing love are enough to get them to forever.

Cornerstone Series should be read in the following order:
Goodbye, Magnolia
Hello Forever
Until Then

• Language: English
• Publisher: Krista Noorman
• Release date: Jan 24, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215275030

Krista Noorman

Krista Noorman is the author of sweet romance, contemporary Christian romance, and young adult novels. She's a small-town Michigan girl, who is constantly inspired by books and movies, gets some of her best ideas while driving or walking in the woods, enjoys beautiful Instagram feeds, and loves a good peppermint mocha.Krista studied at Cornerstone University then turned to her love of photography and spent nearly a decade running her own wedding photography business, which was the inspiration for her novel Goodbye Magnolia. For most of her life, she scribbled away in journals while documenting her everyday life, but it wasn't until she took part in National Novel Writing Month, that she found her true calling and turned her pen to fiction. She's been dreaming up stories ever since.

Book preview

Prologue

It all happened so fast.

Maggie had never actually seen someone get punched or witnessed up close the cracking sound knuckles make on impact. She stood on the sidewalk in front of her apartment in complete and utter shock. How had it come to this?

Simon shook off the obvious pain in his hand as he spun around and marched toward his car.

Simon! Maggie cried.

He kept moving.

Simon Walker, you better stop walking right now!

His steps slowed.

Please don’t leave like this.

He turned to look at her. His hands were still balled up in fists, his jaw was set from gritting his teeth, and the hurt in his eyes was unmistakable.

Please don’t leave me.

His shoulders sank, and a look of sheer sadness swept over his face.

Her heart raced as he took one step toward her then turned toward his car again. You promised we would always talk to each other, she cried desperately.

He glanced back over his shoulder at her. I can’t right now.

Maggie watched Simon climb into his car and drive away. She couldn’t breathe. She thought nothing could be more painful than the day Ben broke her heart, but she was wrong. It hurt so badly that she couldn’t even cry. She felt paralyzed, in complete shock. Had she lost him? Was it really over?

Maggie whipped around to face Ben, who was holding his cheek, in pain. This is all your fault.

"My fault? He punched me."

Why did you have to come here, Ben? After all this time, why couldn’t you just let me be?

He opened his mouth to speak, but she didn’t give him a chance.

I was finally happy. Do you know how long it took me to feel that way again? And you ruined it. You ruined everything.

Chapter 1

Those emerald eyes. I had never been so affected by a girl’s eyes before—those big, bright green orbs bordered by long, dark lashes. I was a goner.

So I turned on the charm, which usually worked, but not with her. All it got me was sarcasm and an icy cold shoulder.

She disliked me. I was intrigued. She got snarky. I liked her even more.

But it was her eyes. They pierced through to my heart, to my soul, and I’ve never been the same since.

Six weeks ago.

Maggie’s hand felt small in Simon’s as they walked along the hallway of the Grand Hotel toward her room. She glanced up at him and found his eyes on her, the right side of his mouth lifted up in that signature way of his, and her cheeks warmed. Even though they had known each other since college, they didn’t know each other well—not really. Everything was so new between them. There was so much to look forward to, so much to learn, and she was excited to get to know Simon, to really know him for the man he was, not the untrustworthy cad she mistook him for.

They arrived at her room much too quickly. She didn’t want this perfect night to end—not yet.

He let go of her hand, setting their camera bags down by the door, and reached for her. His fingertips softly skimmed over her cheeks, coming to rest on her neck.

Her skin tingled along the path his fingers had taken, and she looked up into his eyes as he leaned in and touched his lips to hers. A delicious warmth spread through her entire body.

I can’t believe this is happening, Simon whispered against her lips.

What? That we’re kissing? she whispered back.

The kissing. Us. Everything. He leaned his forehead against hers. You have no idea how happy I am right now.

She lifted her eyes to his. I’m happy, too.

Yeah?

She nodded, mesmerized by the colors in his eyes—deep green that blended into rich shades of gold and brown, the rim a dark grey-blue. She’d never noticed how beautiful his eyes were until that moment.

His arms wrapped around her back as he pulled her close and kissed her again, slow and oh-so-tender.

She slid her hands up his chest, winding her arms around his neck, his nut brown hair soft against her forearms. Her stomach fluttered when he deepened the kiss. The pounding of his heart against her chest set hers to the same quick rhythm.

Simon returned his forehead to hers. You could come stay in my room tonight. His voice was low and intimate.

She pulled away to look at him, eyes wide with astonishment. Are you propositioning me?

He chuckled. I didn’t mean it like that. He was quiet for several beats and seemed to struggle to find his words. I’m just so scared to let you go right now. He tightened his hold on her.

Why?

I’m afraid I’ll wake up tomorrow and none of this will be real.

Maggie was surprised to see legitimate fear in those gorgeous eyes of his. I’ll be right here in the morning, Simon. She touched her lips to his. This is real.

He hugged her tightly. I can’t stand the thought of being away from you anymore. Not even for a moment.

She sighed. She couldn’t have put it any better herself.

Simon held her in his strong arms for a while, and she didn’t move. She stayed right where she was, because it felt like he needed her to.

When some hotel guests passed them in the hallway, they finally parted.

Maggie fished the room key from her bag and turned to face Simon once more. Goodnight.

Goodnight, Canon.

She laughed aloud at the nickname he had given her back in their college photography classes due to her Canon brand camera. Are you really gonna keep calling me that? Even now?

Of course.

Simon grinned at her in a way she had never noticed before. It wasn’t his usual flirtatious grin. There was something different behind his eyes, something more. It was tenderness and affection, adoration and …

Dare I even think it? Could it be? Love?

The possibility made the flutter in her stomach begin all over again.

She gave him a coy smile, and he leaned in for one more kiss.

See you in the morning, she promised.

He slowly nodded his head in acceptance.

She entered her room quietly, so as not to disturb Sarah, and slowly inched the door closed as she watched him walk away.

He moved forward reluctantly, shuffling his feet a little with each step, obviously still nervous about letting her go. A glance over his shoulder and one more smile, and he disappeared around the corner.

She clicked the door closed and leaned back against it with a sigh. Is it morning yet?

swirlheartline

Maggie flipped her legs over the edge of the bed and glanced back at Sarah, who was still snoozing in her bed across the room. The warm glow of dawn lit their hotel room, ushering in a new day and a new chapter in Maggie’s life.

She stretched her arms above her head as she walked to the window to take in the view of the Straits of Mackinac. Normally, she would have felt miserable the morning after photographing a wedding—a wedding hangover, as they always called it—but the usual headache and sore muscles didn’t seem to phase her on this morning. She was too happy to notice the pain.

After so many years of being single, she finally had someone in her life again—the most unlikely person, actually. She never thought Simon would be the man for her. He was cocky, condescending, and egotistical. Not to mention a womanizer. At least that’s what she believed when they met their freshman year at Cornerstone College. Within the first month of classes, her roommates, Emma and Michelle, were smitten with him—as well as just about every other girl on campus. And when he broke Emma’s heart by the end of first semester, she was convinced that her first impression of him was absolutely correct.

It wasn’t until last year when Simon and his uncle opened a photography studio in Maggie’s small town that things began to change. The massive wall Maggie had built up after her broken engagement to Ben slowly started to come down. One by one, the bricks began to crumble and fall away, no matter how hard she fought to keep them in place. And at yesterday’s wedding, when she learned of Simon’s plan—the one he had hidden from her—that wall came crashing down to the ground.

Maggie stood and opened the armoire to retrieve her outfit for the day—a white cami to wear under her lacy rose tank top, khaki capris, and a pair of strappy brown sandals. Much more casual than the dresses she had been wearing the past two days at Lacey and George’s Mackinac Island wedding. The event had been epic, as she knew shooting the wedding of two wealthy politicians’ children would be.

When Maggie had showered, applied some makeup, and pulled her sandy blonde hair back into a ponytail, she emerged from the bathroom to find Sarah sitting up in bed, rubbing her neck.

Wedding hangover? Maggie asked. Sarah always worked so hard assisting her with weddings.

Sarah grumbled in reply.

Maggie flitted about the room gathering equipment and securing her laptop in her bag. She finished folding her clothing and packed up, leaning hard on her suitcase as she worked on the zipper.

How much coffee have you had this morning? Sarah groaned as she crawled from the bed.

None.

Sarah stretched, and her eyes narrowed. Oh, I get it. A huge smile spread across her face. You’re in lo-o-ove.

Maggie dismissed her with a wave, trying to hold back a smile of her own.

So, I take it last night went well?

Maggie’s smile broke through as she remembered all that had happened the night before—their kisses in the photo booth and on the porch and outside their hotel room door.

I’m really happy for you, Mags.

Maggie beamed. Thanks.

It’s about time, really. I tried to tell you. He’s a good guy.

I know. I guess I just had to figure that out on my own.

Well, I’m glad you finally did. Sarah’s phone beeped then with a text message. Your brother says you need to get me home right now, because he misses me like crazy.

"Awww, who knew Tommy could be such a romantic."

Yesterday was our six month wedding anniversary.

Oh my gosh! You’re right. Well, why don’t you just leave with DeDe right after brunch so you can get home to your man.

Why? Are you staying on the island?

Maggie shrugged her shoulders. Maybe we’ll stay and catch a later ferry. It’s a beautiful day.

Sarah smiled at her, then slowly meandered around the room and into the bathroom.

Maggie paced and stared at the clock. She wanted nothing more than to go find Simon, but Sarah was taking her good old time getting ready.

She plopped down on the bed and grabbed for her purse in search of the photo booth pictures from the wedding reception. They had been taken moments after she told Simon she knew the truth, after she realized how very wrong she had been about him. Maybe it had been forward of her to pull him into the booth and kiss him like she had, but she wanted him to know without a doubt that she wanted to be with him. The photo booth going off had been a surprise, but now they were left with wonderful pictures of their first moments together. And those moments … sigh. She reached up and touched her lips and her stomach somersaulted. A little blush rose to her cheeks as she replayed their kisses again in her mind.

The squeak of the shower turning off returned her to the present. Finally. They had fifteen minutes until they were supposed to be at a brunch with the newlyweds and their parents.

Sarah, Maggie spoke through the bathroom door. Are you about done in there?

Just about, she replied.

Maggie’s phone suddenly buzzed to signal a text. Simon.

Where are you, beautiful? I miss you.

A huge smile spread across her face as she typed.

I miss you, too. Be there soon.

Sarah came out of the bathroom, gorgeous as always, with eight minutes to spare. Her dark hair was twisted up in a loose bun, and she looked stunning in a yellow floral sundress.

Maggie anxiously grabbed her camera. Let’s go.

No sooner had they walked out of their room than Simon came strolling down the hall toward them. A wave of happiness hit Maggie at the sight of him.

I couldn’t wait. He grinned and shrugged his shoulders.

Three steps and she was in his arms. The feel of his lips against her temple made her sigh.

"Awww, you two are so cute," Sarah declared, and she walked on ahead of them.

Simon let go and reached for her hand, winding his fingers through hers as they followed Sarah.

Maggie wasn’t sure her feet were even touching the floor. Simon’s thumb moved back and forth against the back of her hand, his forearm softly brushing against hers as they walked. It felt heavenly. She looked up and found him staring at her the way he had the night before. She wondered if that simple look would always set her heart aflutter. She hoped so.

He leaned closer. You’re still here.

I told you I would be.

"It is real."

She smiled up at him. It is.

swirlheartline

You don’t have to take pictures if you don’t want to, the new Mrs. Summers informed Maggie, who stood next to the table with camera in hand ready to snap photos of the brunch. We’d love for you to relax and enjoy yourself. You’ve all worked so hard for us the past couple days. This is our thank you.

That’s so nice, Lacey, Maggie replied. I’d still like to take a few if that’s all right.

Lacey nodded. By all means.

The west end of the hotel porch was a lovely location for brunch. Maggie circled the table, photographing the place settings, flowers, and attendees as they enjoyed conversation over coffee and tea. She stepped back and took a wide shot of the table in the bright morning light with the crisp, blue water of the straits in the background.

Lacey’s father, Governor David Hartman of Michigan, and George’s father, Senator John Summers from Connecticut, were in a lively discussion about their golf game earlier that weekend. Their wives shared knowing glances, and Maggie even noticed Lacey’s mom rolling her eyes.

Sarah and