Ever After (50 page)

One night they were sitting on the bed, each with a computer on their lap. “Holy—” Jamie said, his eyes wide.

Hallie looked at him. “What is it?”

He turned his laptop to face her. On the screen was a photo of a house with a deep porch and a glassed-in room.

“Is it the one from your dream?”

“Yes,” Jamie said and they exchanged looks. “It's
exactly
the one I imagined.”

Without saying anything, they both knew who was behind this. After months in the house, they no longer commented on what the Tea Ladies did. They'd had Caleb and Victoria Huntley to dinner twice and Caleb had talked about the ladies as if he'd known them personally. When Jamie and Hallie spent a long weekend in Colorado with his family, Caleb had asked if he could house-sit. Later he said he'd had a lovely visit with the ladies.

By that time Hallie and Jamie were so used to things being moved, needlework that finished itself, doors that opened and closed by themselves, that they didn't question a mere conversation.

Leland had visited once and Hallie had loved getting to know him better. When Leland showed up, he had a box of information about what happened to his ancestor after he'd been made to leave Nantucket. It was the story of a man with a broken heart that never fully healed.

The three of them spread all the documents out on the tables in the tea room, turned out the lights, and left them there. The next morning everything had been neatly stacked on one table, but a photo of a portrait of Leland as an old man was missing. There was a card beside the papers. In pretty, old-fashioned handwriting, it said

THANK YOU
,

JULIANA HARTLEY

Jamie and Hallie thought the card was very sweet, but Leland said, “I need a drink.”

For the rest of his visit, Hallie and Jamie refrained from mentioning the resident ghosts.

Hallie looked at the picture of the house on the computer screen. “I like it. What does Uncle Kit say about it?”

Jamie read the email. “He's bought a big old house for himself in a small town in Virginia. He says that when he saw this house—and it's for sale—he thought of you and me.”

He read more of the email. “Ah. Here it is. I knew Uncle Kit had an ulterior motive. He says the town has only one doctor. It did have two, a father and son, but last year the father died. Now the son is having to work long hours on his own and he needs help.”

He looked at Hallie. “Uncle Kit says this town is near a big lake with many houses on it. According to him, there are lots of injuries to people who sit all winter, then in the summer think they're still teenagers. He says a physical therapy clinic would do well there.”

Jamie's eyes were intense. “What do you think?”

“I like the idea very much,” she said. “What about you? Think you're ready to be a doctor again?”

“I think maybe I'm ready to try. Part-time, anyway.” Pausing, he looked at her. “If you'll be there to help me, that is.”

“Yes,” she answered, her eyes serious. “I will go with you wherever you want to go. Or stay here with you.”

For a moment they looked at each other, then their computers were pushed aside, and they were in each other's arms.

They knew that wherever they went, whatever they did, they wanted to do it
together
.

I'd like to thank my dear trainer, Mary Bralove, for her expert advice on physical therapy. She told me and showed me what to do. Thank you!

As they have through several books, my Facebook buddies stuck with me through the daily ups and downs of writing this novel. From coming up with character names to venting about copyeditors, they were there. Thank you very much.

I want to thank my beloved editor, Linda Marrow, who listens and laughs and endlessly encourages me.

I have a new publishing house, Random House, and I want to thank everyone there. They are always kind and considerate and helpful.

In researching this book, I read a lot about PTSD—and cried through all of it. There are not enough thanks in the world for our soldiers, for our wounded warriors. We owe you everything!

Please join me on Facebook and hear the truth about writing.

By the way, the story of Cale and Kane is in a short story, “Matchmakers,” in
The Invitation
. Caleb's story is in
True Love
, Graydon and Toby are in
For All Time
, and J.T. and Aria are in
The Princess
. The story of Dougless and Nicholas's father is in
A Knight in Shining Armor
.

J
UDE
D
EVERAUX
is the author of forty-two
New York Times
bestsellers to date, including
Moonlight in the Morning
and
A Knight in Shining Armor
. There are more than sixty million copies of her work in print worldwide.

jude-deveraux.com

Facebook.com/JudeDeveraux

@JudeDeveraux1