Wind Chime Wedding (A Wind Chime Novel Book 2)
Read Wind Chime Wedding (A Wind Chime Novel Book 2) Online
Authors: Sophie Moss
If you listen to your heart, it will always lead you home...
Second grade teacher, Becca Haddaway, is weeks away from walking down the aisle with her high school sweetheart when she learns that the Heron Island Elementary School is about to be shut down. In the midst of a whirlwind of wedding planning, she launches into a last-ditch effort to save it. But the one man who can help her is determined to make her question every decision she has ever made—including the man she’s about to marry.
Former Navy SEAL and son of the current Maryland governor, Colin Foley, is finally starting to feel whole again after losing his leg on a career-ending deployment in Afghanistan. After struggling for months to figure out what to do with his post-military life, he’s found a new mission—opening a rehab center for wounded veterans on the peaceful Chesapeake Bay island. All he needs now is a woman to share his new life with…and he knows exactly who he wants.
With a little help from the island’s magical wind chimes, can Colin convince Becca to change her mind before it’s too late?
Copyright © 2015 Sophie Moss
All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without prior written permission of the publisher.
This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead is entirely coincidental.
Published by
Sea Rose Publishing
Print edition ISBN numbers:
ISBN-13: 978-0692470978
ISBN-10: 0692470972
Wind Chime Novels
Seal Island Trilogy
FOR THE MEMORY OF MY GRANDMOTHER
Frances M. Nace
1917-2004
M
iss Haddaway?”
Standing in the doorway to her classroom, Becca Haddaway glanced down at eight-year-old, Luke Faulkner. He was clutching a piece of paper in his hands and shifting self-consciously from one foot to the other. “Hey, Luke. Is your mom running late again?”
“I don’t know.” He looked down and pushed the paper toward her. “This is for you.”
Becca’s heart melted when she unfolded a pencil drawing of a bunny with big floppy ears in a field of clover. “This is so sweet. Thank you, Luke… But wouldn’t you rather give this to your mom? I’m sure she’d love to have it.”
He shook his head. “I want you to have it.”
Becca scanned the crowded hallway filled with parents and students heading out for the long weekend. She didn’t see his mother anywhere. “Why don’t you stay and hang out for a while? I picked up some colored pencils at the store the other day. You could do another drawing for your mom, and then I could walk you home afterwards.”
“That’s okay.” He dug the toe of his sneaker into the tile. “She’ll be here.”
Becca frowned when she spotted the holes in his shoes. His grass stained jeans looked like they could use another spin through the washing machine, and she was pretty sure he was wearing the same sweatshirt he’d worn yesterday.
Bending down to untangle the frayed laces of one of his shoes that had come untied, she glanced back up at his face, watching him for a reaction. “You’ve been quiet in class this week.”
His small mouth thinned, his hands tightening around the straps of his backpack.
“I know things have been hard at home since you lost your father,” Becca said gently, leaning back on her heels after she finished tying his shoe. “I’m always here if you want to talk, even outside school hours. You know I only live a few houses down from you. If you ever need anything, all you have to do is knock.”
He nodded, avoiding her eyes.
Most schools would caution teachers to not get so involved in their students’ personal lives, but this was Heron Island—less than three miles wide, with a population of only eight hundred year-round residents. People made it their business to know what was going on in their neighbors’ lives, as much to look out for one another as for the gossip. More than one person had mentioned being concerned about how Luke might be getting on at home these days. It was her responsibility to make sure none of her students slipped through the cracks.
The sound of a rattling muffler drew her gaze out to the parking lot. A small, beat-up sedan pulled up to the entrance of the elementary school and Luke’s mother jumped out of the driver’s seat, rushing toward the glass doors.
“I have to go,” Luke said, already jogging down the hallway to meet her. “Happy Easter,” he called back over his shoulder.
“You too,” Becca said, rising slowly back to her feet.
Courtney Faulkner pushed through the entrance. Her face was pale. Her dark blond hair was piled in a messy knot on top of her head. And she was still wearing her black hairdresser apron. She caught Becca’s eye and mouthed, ‘
I’m sorry
,’ as she grabbed Luke’s hand and pulled him back toward the car.
Becca watched them drive away. She knew Courtney was doing her best. She was probably in a hurry to get Luke home and fed and shuttled over to her brother’s house so she could race off to her second job, where she worked as a night shift housekeeper at one of the hotels a few towns over.