Happily Ever After

By Denise Hunter

Molly may not be the Smitten Book Club's biggest reader, but her new friend Gage seems to read her like an open book.

Molly's really more of a romantic comedy movie fan than a reader, but being a member of the Smitten Book Club is so much fun that she reads the selections anyway. And the Book Club has seen her through some dark days.

When Gage Turner offers to help Molly with her failing business, her book club talks her into accepting his help, even though Molly wonders if his motives are pure. After all, his business could easily absorb her customer base. But in truth Gage has admired Molly for years and has been hoping for a way to connect with her. Will his efforts prove fruitful or will Molly's pride get in the way of her own happily ever after?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: May 29, 2005
• ISBN: 9781401691448

Denise Hunter

Denise Hunter is the internationally published, bestselling author of more than forty books, three of which have been adapted into original Hallmark Channel movies. She has won the Holt Medallion Award, the Reader’s Choice Award, the Carol Award, the Foreword Book of the Year Award, and is a RITA finalist. When Denise isn’t orchestrating love lives on the written page, she enjoys traveling with her family, drinking chai lattes, and playing drums. Denise makes her home in Indiana, where she and her husband raised three boys and are now enjoying an empty nest and three beautiful grandchildren. DeniseHunterBooks.com; Facebook: @AuthorDeniseHunter; Twitter: @DeniseAHunter; Instagram: @deniseahunter.

Book preview

A man in love is in want of an opportunity to prove himself chivalrous. A clever girl will take him up on it.

PEARL CHAMBERS, The Gentlewoman’s Guide to Love and Courtship

CHAPTER ONE

Molly Moore’s shoes squeaked as she limped toward Smitten Expeditions.

Her legs moved like floppy noodles, her soggy clothes clung to her chilled frame, and there was something slimy tucked between two of her pruney toes. What should’ve been a triumphant return felt more like a walk of shame.

She flung open the door and slogged across the rustic wood floor toward her office, plucking river muck from her hair.

Heather DeMeritt’s blond head popped up from behind the registration desk. She’d spent many hours helping Molly with the financial end of the business this past year. Her blue eyes widened. What happened to you?

Molly stopped in her tracks, her arms falling like hickory branches in a windstorm. Wet branches. Soggy, limp, dead branches.

If anyone ever asks you to go white-water rafting, say no. If they ask you to take a party of six whiny tourists on a four-hour guided white-water rafting trip, say no. And furthermore, if you’re ever given the chance to run a stinking expedition business—even if it’s handed to you on a silver platter —run like the hounds of hell are on your heels, and don’t look back.

Molly fell into the rollaway chair, heedless of the expensive leather. She dropped her head against the cushioned back and closed her eyes. Please, God. Can you just rewind time for me? Just a tiny little bit?

That bad?

Molly snorted, barely containing the sob that built in her throat. The group had seemed so jovial at first. So friendly. By the end of the trip, they weren’t even speaking to her. And that had actually been a relief after being raked over the coals for three hours. Bright side: new vocabulary words. None she’d ever use, however.

Her eyes teared up behind her closed lids as the insults replayed. They cancelled their activities for the rest of the week.

Still, today was good. $69.00 times six . . . Heather paused for two seconds. $414.00.

Beautiful and smart. So not fair. Plus she saw the silver lining in everything. Only this time there wasn’t one. I had to refund their money.

All of it?

It’s what you do when you torture tourists for four hours. Besides, that seemed less expensive than the lawsuit they mentioned.

They should’ve paid for lunch at least.

Molly sighed. Lost it.

What do you mean?

I mean I lost it. Down the river. Buh-bye club sandwiches. Buh-bye fruit cups and organic chips. Buh-bye expensive, waterproof cooler, floating down the Green River, keeping my food cool and dry for all of eternity.

Heather wrinkled her nose. Sorry.

Molly covered her face. I’m such a loser. Her hands muffled her voice. Why did I think I could do this?

"You can do this. You just need . . . practice."

I have a couple scheduled for fly-fishing at ten tomorrow.

Heather winced. At least it’s not rafting?

Dwight made it look so easy—leave with a rosy-cheeked batch of tourists and come back best friends. Not a hair out of place. Not a drop of water clinging to his scruffy beard. Limp-free and whistling some happy tune. Show-off.

Maybe he’ll come back.

Molly shook her head. He’s moving to Ohio as we speak. His mom needs full-time care immediately.

Maybe you can get someone else to teach you the ropes.

Teach her the ropes. She’d been sole owner of the business for a year now, since Curtis’s passing. She should know the ropes, all of them.

Maybe you can get some kind of certification? Heather asked. Is there a training program you can attend?

Certification isn’t required in Vermont. I just need to know what I’m doing so I don’t kill anyone. You don’t know anyone who can raft, fly-fish, and rock climb, do you? Molly jerked upright and grabbed the schedule, flipping ahead a couple of days. Oh my gosh. I have to learn to rock climb by Thursday. She dropped her head to her hands. I’m gonna kill somebody.

How about the guy from Explorations? Gage Turner. He could teach you.

He’s my competitor. Besides, he hates me.

Heather laughed. There’s not a soul on God’s green earth who hates you, Molly.

Well, he does. And he made it plenty hard to get this business off the ground. Her late husband had had plenty to say about Gage Turner. She couldn’t remember the details, but his name brought up all kinds of bad feelings. There had been some kind of rivalry between him and Curtis in high school that had dragged into adulthood.

Are you sure? He’s on the chamber board with me. He seems nice.

Nice enough to rescue a competitor? I doubt it. I just need to find someone to take Dwight’s place before I chase off all my customers.

Molly had placed a help-wanted ad yesterday, the second Dwight had quit. An outdoorsy college student would fit the bill, but college wasn’t out yet. And when it was, Noah would be out of school. She couldn’t leave her son for hours at a time. He was only eight. But she couldn’t afford to pay much. Then again, she couldn’t afford more refunds either. She had to do something and quick, before she lost it all.

If only we could find that gold, Heather said.

Really, Heather? You still believe Pearl Chambers hid a treasure?

Well, we never really followed through on Lia’s idea that it could be right in ‘the heart’ of your house.

Molly’s husband, Curtis, had been the last surviving member of the Chambers clan, and Molly and her son, Noah, still lived in the family’s homestead.

The eternal optimist. Molly smiled at her friend. You’re certainly welcome to do another search.

Friday after book club?

Why not.

Okay. I’ll pass the word to the girls. Heather set her hand on Molly’s shoulder. Don’t worry. We are going to find it. I just know it. And when we do, all your troubles will be over.

Gage Turner stepped into Smitten Expeditions and closed the door behind him. He scanned the refurbished space with the eye of someone in the business. Clean, wide-plank floors, good lighting, organized product. Pretty small, but nicely done. Rustic and rugged, visually appealing.

Somewhere a TV or radio was playing. The front desk was unattended, so he followed the noise to the open office door off to the side.

Molly Moore stood in the middle of the cramped office facing her desk, feet shoulder-width apart. Her slender right arm whipped back and forth through the air. She mumbled something to herself, repositioned, and repeated the motion.

Whip it, she whispered. Just . . . whip the wrist. Nice and smooth. She followed through the motion again, wiggling her cute little rear end as she repositioned.

Gage’s lips turned up. He leaned into the doorframe and cleared his throat.

She spun around, dropping her raised hand casually to run her fingers through her straight honey-colored hair. He’d never been close enough to notice the faint smattering of freckles that dotted her nose or the golden slivers that flecked her brown eyes.

Nice technique.

A pretty blush bloomed on her cheeks. She opened her mouth. Closed it. Crossed her arms over her chest. He decided he liked her flustered. A lot.

It didn’t last long, though. A second later her eyes snapped, and her delicate jaw clenched. She shut off the fly-fishing video playing on her laptop and turned to glare at him. You could knock.

Hmm. Feisty worked too. Door was open.

She lowered her chin. Can I help you?

He stepped into the office and extended his hand. Gage Turner. Don’t think we’ve actually met. She knew who he was. Smitten wasn’t that large, especially off-season.

She eyed his hand as if it were a snake. A venomous one. An instant later she took it. He’d known she would. Had somehow known she was incapable of being outright rude.

Molly Moore, she said begrudgingly.

Her hand felt small and delicate in his, but there was strength in the line of her jaw and determination in her eyes, in the set of her slender shoulders. Of course she was strong. After what she’d been through with her husband’s death, there was no doubt about that.

Can I help you? she asked again in a tone that belied her words.

Actually, I was wondering if I could help you.

Her pretty eyes narrowed on him as she pursed her generous lips. "Heather," she squeezed out.

Excuse me?

She rounded her

Reviews for Happily Ever After

[soitgoes5-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I enjoyed this book but I was a bit disappointed by the selections. I feel like there are a lot more profound and beautiful endings in many well known classics. Several of the excepts were quite good but many were just okay.
The photographs were beautiful.