The Desert Flowers--Rose, page 24
###
Excitement filled Rose as she made her way back to Alec’s house. It would be wonderful to see Hank again, and with Sam’s and Nikki’s blessings, she felt as if everything was all right again.
Lily and Willow greeted her.
“Better get ready for your trip. You don’t have too much time left. We need to get you to the airport early to make sure you get through security,” said Lily.
“We booked you a first-class seat,” said Willow. “This is a big deal.”
“It was so sweet of Hank’s daughter to play matchmaker,” said Lily following Rose into her room.
“Wasn’t she the one who was so rude?” asked Willow, joining them.
Rose nodded and sat on the bed and let out a sigh. “Both of his daughters want this to work with their father and me.”
“Okay, let’s see about your wardrobe,” said Lily. “We want you to look especially beautiful.” She placed Rose’s suitcase on top of the bed and began looking through the closet.
At the sound of the doorbell, Willow said, “I’ll get it. Mom is gone.” She hurried out of the room.
“This one,” said Lily, holding up the sleeveless turquoise dress that was Rose’s favorite. “That’s what you should wear tonight for dinner.”
“I like it too,” came a deep voice from the doorway.
Lily gasped.
Rose swiveled around to find Hank standing there, his gaze fixed on her.
“Why aren’t you in Arizona?” Rose asked, stunned by his appearance.
“Where are you going?” he responded, looking at the suitcase.
Lily dropped the dress on the bed, hurried out of the room, and closed the door behind her.
Rose gaped at Hank, still trying to realize he was actually here with her. “I thought Sam was coming to see you in Arizona.”
“I made arrangements for Rob to join her there,” said Hank. “Where were you going?”
“To be with you in Arizona,” she responded.
Hank chuckled and then reached for her.
In his arms, laughter, the kind born of pure happiness, rolled out of her. Hank joined in, his bass voice ringing low.
When they stepped apart, Rose said, “What a crazy mix-up! But I’m so glad you’re here.”
His gaze reached inside her. “What we had between us was too special to let anything come between us. Work is work. But love is love, and that’s most important of all. I love you, Rose, and I want us to be together. Now and always.”
Rose’s heart stopped and then leaped to catch up. “Are you asking me to marry you?”
“Yes, I am. But there’s just one problem. I left the ring in Arizona. It was too late to go back for it after I left in a rush to catch my flight. Can you wait a couple of days?”
Rose broke into more laughter. “This is even crazier, but I promise to wait.”
He drew her into his arms again and held her close. “I love you more than you know. Leah would have me say, I love you to the moon and back. But, Rose, it’s so much more than that. Without you, I’m nothing, just a spot in the universe.”
Rose reached up and caressed his face. “You’re everything to me.”
“I love you, Rose, my Desert Rose,” he whispered in her ear before his lips met hers.
###
After a weekend of proving to one another how right their decision was, they waited at Hank’s house for Sam and Rob to join them. When Sam heard about the missing ring, she insisted she and Rob deliver the ring in person. Hank then called Nikki, and she agreed to fly in for a few days with Leah so the whole family could be together for the celebration.
That evening, with everyone having fun together, the house came alive. Rose stood outside and watched the family playing in the pool, fulfilled in a way that was brand new to her. Not only would she have Hank in her life, but she’d also have an entire family. Overwhelmed by the love she felt for all of them, she felt tears blur her vision. It took her a moment to realize Hank was kneeling in front of her.
“Rose, will you marry me? We all love you so much.” He held open a small, black velvet box.
She stared at the large round diamond surrounded by smaller ones and clasped a hand to her mouth. It was the most beautiful ring she’d ever seen, not because of its size, but because it meant so much.
“Well?”
“Yes. Of course, I’ll marry you. I love you, Hank.” She looked at the family gathered around them. “I love you all!”
“Welcome to the team,” said Sam.
Rose was still laughing as Hank stood and swept her up into his arms.
Thank you for reading The Desert Flowers – Rose. If you enjoyed this book, please help other readers discover it by leaving a review on your favorite site. It’s such a nice thing to do.
We’re happy to announce you can preorder The Desert Flowers – Lily now! Here’s the link where you can find it available for preorder:
https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-desert-flowers-lily/id1557402044
And for your further enjoyment, here is a link for Margaritas at The Beach House Hotel, Book 5 in The Beach House Hotel Series, which is now available for preorder and will be released June 24, 2021:
Margaritas at The Beach House Hotel
https://books.apple.com/us/book/margaritas-at-the-beach-house-hotel/id1557250787
Happy Reading to All!
Enjoy an excerpt from my book, The Desert Flowers – Lily, – a Desert Sage Inn Book – 2, which will be out in the Fall of 2021.
CHAPTER ONE
LILY
In the early morning light on this March day in Palm Desert, California, Lily Weaver jogged in easy steps on the path beside the Desert Sage Inn golf course. Her life, which had seemed so settled, had recently gone through a dramatic shift. Alec Thurston, her former employer and lover, was dying and had asked her to leave her job in New York and come to his home in California to help with the sale of the inn and its transition to the buyers, The Blaise Hotel Group. Here, she’d formed friendships with Rose Macklin and Willow Sanchez, two other women he’d asked to help him as well. Alec called them The Desert Flowers. They had different jobs to help Alec, a man they each dearly loved.
Rose was working with a consultant for the Blaise Group to ensure that all social media and other PR going forward did nothing to destroy the panache of the upscale inn Alec had worked so hard to create.
Willow was working opposite the two young men in the hotel company’s ownership family who were vying to manage the inn after the sale went through.
As someone who had once been Alec’s assistant, she was on hand to take careful notes of meetings and to oversee and control the paperwork involved while the hotel company did property inspections, market research, and other due diligence activities. She worked alongside Brian Walden, another consultant hired by the Blaise Group to head their transition team.
As she followed the path by the golf course, she admired both the greens and the desert landscape. Some thought the bland colors of the desert were boring. She loved seeing sandy, rocky areas accented by green cacti and a variety of desert flowers. It made each color seem unique. Hummingbirds were in abundance, their tiny bodies airborne by the constant fluttering of their wings, allowing them to hover about the bright flowers among the growth. In the distance, snow-capped mountains glistened in the sun, adding color to the purple-gray hue of their textured surfaces.
Hearing footsteps behind her, she turned to see Brian approaching. They sometimes met in the morning as they were jogging. At one time, she’d entertained hopes of his being more than a co-worker. On their one so-called date, they’d ended up meeting a whole group working at the Desert Sage Inn, and he’d made it clear that this gathering was all business. Since then, she’d kept her distance. But despite telling herself not to dream foolishly, those secret hopes still lingered.
As he moved toward her, she observed his thick brown hair, handsome, athletic body, and the ease at which he handled his prosthetic lower left leg. Brian was the sort of man she hoped to marry someday —kind, thoughtful, and smart.
“Morning!” Brian said, coming to a stop beside her. “How’s it going? I haven’t seen you in a while. Keeping busy with Alec?”
“Actually, I’ve been waiting for you to call a meeting. As lovely as it is to be here, I like to feel as if I’m doing my job.”
“Ah, well, things have been put on hold while details are being worked on for the conversion of Desert Sage Inn to be the lead property in the new Corona Collection. I’ve missed those meetings myself.” He smiled at her.
That smile was lethal. Her heart rate kicked up. Telling herself to be professional, she said, “I’m thinking of taking up Bennett Williams’ offer for me to apply for a job in his law office. Part-time, of course, until the sale of the inn takes place. I’d still help with that and any other projects Alec might have for me.”
“So, you’ve decided to move here?” Brian said, his hazel eyes drilling into her.
“Yes,” she said. “I’ve already put my condo in New York State up for sale. I still have to convince my sister to move here, but the rest is underway.”
“I’m scouting around for places to live here on at least a part-time basis. At the moment, Austin is still home.”
She gazed up at him thinking Texas suited a big guy like him. She could even imagine him in a Stetson.
“I’d better go,” Brian said. “Don’t worry. I’ll let you know when the next big meeting takes place. And if you need any help getting that job with Bennett Williams, call me. He owes me.”
“Thanks.” She lifted her hand to say goodbye as he jogged away. His steel blade made a distinctive sound as it hit the pavement in syncopation with his other foot. She sighed. The man was dreamy.
Lily watched him for a moment and then headed back to Alec’s house where she and the other Flowers were living. Life here was so pleasant. Her childhood had been harsh with an absentee father and an alcoholic mother who was distant, even cruel, a lot of the time. She’d been forced to be strong and self-sufficient even when she had the care of her sister, ten years younger and the daughter of a different father. A teacher had given her some guidance, but pride kept her from asking for more help, which is why she’d sometimes found it difficult to maintain relationships as an adult. Now, at forty-two, she was hoping to find the love she’d missed so much in her life. Alec had been the one to introduce her to a calm, secure, loving lifestyle. She longed to have that again.
She sighed and picked up speed. Enough of fairy tales about finding a prince. It was time to get real.
###
Back at the house, Lily freshened up and then went to talk to Alec. At one time, she’d hoped he’d ask her to marry him. But Alec had been honest when they started dating, telling her marriage was not part of it. She should’ve known he’d stay true to his word. He was that kind of man. But their relationship was a gift. He’d taught her to open her heart to love, to find respite from the chaos that had always surrounded her. Before that, she’d been cautious about letting a man into her life. God knew she didn’t have the example of a wise woman to follow. She’d never known her father, and the men her mother had hung out with were unreliable creeps she’d never accept.
As she walked toward Alec’s wing of the house, sadness filled her at the thought of him dying. She considered it a real honor that he’d trusted her, along with Rose and Willow, to help him get his hotel safely sold before he died. The Desert Flowers act was like that television show with the man and his three angels, Charley’s Angels, on a mission to save the inn. Lily loved being part of it.
At the entrance to his private space, Lily knocked gently at the door and cracked it open.
“Alec?”
“Here,” came a voice weakened by the cancer that was slowly stealing his life.
Lily stepped into the living area to find him reclining on a lounge chair and smiling up at her. “Lily, my dear. How are you?”
Usually a large, rangy man with thick gray hair and startling blue eyes, a Sam Elliott look-alike, Alec’s thin body and weakened state tore at Lily’s insides.
She pulled a chair up next to his and took hold of his hand. “I’ve wanted to talk to you. I’m left doing almost nothing while meetings have been delayed. Rose and Willow are very busy, but I’m not. I’m used to doing my share of work and am thinking of taking Bennett Williams’ offer for me to come work for him on a part-time basis. With my upcoming move here, it might be wise for me to have work outside of the project for you. How would you feel about that?
Alec’s blue-eyed gaze rested on her. “I think if it suits you, it’s something you should do. Bennett wouldn’t ask you to work for him if he wasn’t serious about it. He told me he was very impressed with you. And you couldn’t find a nicer guy to work with. Not only is he my lawyer, he’s a friend. He now has a young partner working with him. Another great guy.”
“The transition period you hired us for is three months. But you know I’d be happy to stay for as long as you wish and do anything I can to help you.”
“Yes, I know. Three months seemed like such a long time. Now, I’m trying to make it through these last two months before the sale goes through,” said Alec. “Any day beyond that is an unexpected gift.”
Tears filled Lily’s eyes. “I wish this hadn’t happened to you.”
His lips curved into a crooked smile. “So, do I. But after I get through all this, I’ll be with Conchita and the baby. At least, I hope I will.”
Lily nodded. It was a well-known story that Alec’s wife and baby had died in a house fire for which he’d always blamed himself. That’s one reason he had vowed never to marry again. Some people thought it was twisted thinking, but Lily understood his devotion to them. He’d shown her what love could mean, and though she’d asked for and wanted much more from him, she knew deep down it wasn’t ever going to happen. After he ended their relationship, he found her a job with a business associate in Phoenix and helped her move on with her life. But he could never erase the love and gratitude she felt for him.
Juanita appeared. “Hi, Lily. Time for your medicine, Alec.”
Lily got to her feet and kissed Alec on the cheek. “Have a nice day. I hope to see you tonight.” She moved the chair back into place. “See you later. ’Bye, Juanita.”
Juanita smiled at her and turned back to Alec. Juanita Sanchez was a cousin of Alec’s wife, Conchita. She and her husband, Pedro, were Willow’s parents and had worked for Alec for years. They were lovely people. Juanita and Pedro were the kind of people Lily wished she’d had as parents.
Back in her room, Lily looked at her reflection in the mirror. She was of medium height with curves in all the right places—curves she’d once done her best to hide. Her shoulder-length blond hair was highlighted by both her hairdresser and the desert sun. Freckles, few enough to be of interest, were sprinkled across her nose. She’d always thought she was drab. But Willow and Rose had helped her change—not only with her wardrobe but in believing in her self-worth.
Taking a deep breath, Lily called Bennett Williams’ office and asked to speak to him. Her fingers were cold with nerves, and she almost dropped her phone. She was uncomfortable putting herself out there.
“Well, hello,” said Bennett after her call went through. “I’m glad to hear from you. I hope you’re calling about a job because I’ve just learned that one of the women in the office is going on maternity leave.”
Lily’s breath left her in a puff of surprise. Things didn’t usually come that easily to her. “ That’s just what I wanted to talk to you about. I’ve decided to stay in Palm Desert following my work for Alec and will need a job. May I make an appointment to meet with you?”
“Absolutely. Send me your resumé, and I’ll have my assistant schedule a time for you to come into the office.” He paused. “I’m glad you called Lily. As I mentioned to you earlier, I’m impressed with your work.”
“Thank you.” Lily ended the call and sat down on her bed, struggling to accept what had just happened. The arrangements had fallen into place so quickly it almost seemed as if it had been preordained. That, or maybe her luck had changed. Either way, she was going to update her resumé and send it along as soon as possible.
###
Two days later, Lily dressed carefully for her interview with Bennett and his staff. In New York, the law firm for whom she worked had insisted on conservative clothes. Here in the desert, Lily agreed with Rose and Willow that brighter colors were acceptable.
Her black skirt, white-on-white print blouse, and hibiscus-colored soft jacket looked both professional and light-hearted. Studying herself in the mirror, Lily smiled at the changes living here had made to her appearance. The tan on her skin and the lack of stress lines on her face made her appear younger than her age and healthier than she’d ever been.
When Lily walked out to the kitchen to face the inspection Willow and Rose were sure to give her, she felt confident.
“Wow! Look at you!” said Willow, smiling at her.
“You look terrific,” Rose immediately agreed. “Good luck with the interview.”
Lily smiled. “Thanks. For once, I’m not a nervous wreck. Bennett made it seem as if it were a mere formality. I’m hoping so, anyway.”
“He’d be lucky to have you on his staff. How many texts and calls have you received from your old job in New York?” said Rose.
Lily laughed and shook her head. “Too many. They keep promising to raise my salary if I come back. They increase the amount each time they call, but I finally told them I’m staying here no matter what they offer me.”
“I’m so glad you are,” said Willow. “Sarah is too.”
Lily filled with pleasure. While Rose was spending time with Hank Bowers, the consultant the Blaise Group had hired and who was now her fiancé, she, Willow, and Sarah Jensen spent time in the evening together whenever they were all free. Sarah, a part-time assistant manager at the inn, lived at home with her parents and two-year-old son while her husband was serving in the military in Afghanistan. They’d quickly become friends. With this kind of support, Lily felt comfortable about her decision to move here. She hadn’t yet chosen a place to live because she needed to sell her condo first. Her sister, Monica, who lived nearby her, had promised to make sure the condo was ready for showings. So far, no luck, but Lily felt uncharacteristically optimistic.
