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Back The Summer Cottage Save as PDF
Chapters (75)
  1. Cover
  2. Back Cover Text
  3. Praise
  4. Booklist
  5. About the Author
  6. Dedication
  7. Quote
  8. Prologue
  9. Part One
  10. ONE
  11. TWO
  12. THREE
  13. Part Two
  14. FOUR
  15. FIVE
  16. SIX
  17. Part Three
  18. SEVEN
  19. EIGHT
  20. NINE
  21. TEN
  22. Part Four
  23. ELEVEN
  24. TWELVE
  25. THIRTEEN
  26. Part Five
  27. FOURTEEN
  28. FIFTEEN
  29. SIXTEEN
  30. SEVENTEEN
  31. Part Six
  32. EIGHTEEN
  33. NINETEEN
  34. TWENTY
  35. TWENTY-ONE
  36. Part Seven
  37. TWENTY-TWO
  38. TWENTY-THREE
  39. TWENTY-FOUR
  40. TWENTY-FIVE
  41. Part Eight
  42. TWENTY-SIX
  43. TWENTY-SEVEN
  44. TWENTY-EIGHT
  45. TWENTY-NINE
  46. Part Nine
  47. THIRTY
  48. THIRTY-ONE
  49. THIRTY-TWO
  50. THIRTY-THREE
  51. THIRTY-FOUR
  52. Part Ten
  53. THIRTY-FIVE
  54. THIRTY-SIX
  55. THIRTY-SEVEN
  56. THIRTY-EIGHT
  57. Part Eleven
  58. THIRTY-NINE
  59. FORTY
  60. FORTY-ONE
  61. Part Twelve
  62. FORTY-TWO
  63. FORTY-THREE
  64. FORTY-FOUR
  65. Part Thirteen
  66. FORTY-FIVE
  67. FORTY-SIX
  68. FORTY-SEVEN
  69. EPILOGUE
  70. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  71. AUTHOR NOTE
  72. Reader’s Guide
  73. Questions for Discussion
  74. The Heirloom Garden
  75. Abby

“It’s really good,” Evan says, “especially considering very few were my friends. And we got a ton of comments.” Evan begins scrolling, and his smile grows bigger as his eyes scan. “A lot of folks already want to book when you open. So, we have to get your website and online reservation app now. And, oh, my gosh, Mom, listen to this. A local TV station out of Grand Rapids heard about our discovery, and they want to interview you about the cottage’s history and renovation. It’s exactly what you need to launch the inn and get the word out.”

“Oh, Evan,” I say, my heart racing. “I don’t know how to thank you.”

I reach over to grab his hand, but instead grab the fake cow’s foot he’s still holding. I take it from him and hold it up to my ear as if it were a telephone. “Hello? I’m trying to reach Evan.”

He rolls his eyes. I continue, since he refuses to play along. “Okay, then. U-Haul? I need a truck. I’m moooo-ving. Last name, Patty. First name, Cow.”

This time, Evan groans, and then another serious look overtakes his face, and he reaches over and grabs the cow’s foot from my hand. “I have an idea,” he says, his eyes growing wide. “Pardon yet another cow pun here, but I think we’ve found your bargaining chip, Mom.”

“What do you mean?”

As Evan explains, a grinchesque smile—much like one I’ve seen before—slowly covers my face.

“Keep your friends close and your enemies closer,” Evan says. “Isn’t that exactly what Capone would do?”

Part Eight

Rule #8:

Ice Cream Is Required

TWENTY-SIX

April

Sunlight is tumbling into my nearly completed master suite, and the space is filled with light. I can picture where my bed will be placed and my reading chair will be angled. The bedroom is warm, the reading nook in my little sunroom even warmer, and I do a spontaneous pirouette as I walk into my en suite bathroom. The tile is complete, and I run my hands over the walls and counters before taking a seat directly in the middle of my oversize shower.

Budget be damned, I think, looking up at my rain showerhead before feeling my tile again.

“Carrara marble, you sure are pretty,” I say out loud to my bathroom. “Okay, faux Carrara marble, you sure are pretty.”

I listened to Trish, Frank and Evan, who all encouraged me to splurge on my master suite, telling me I would need a spa-like refuge and retreat at the end of every day. Even the faux marble was more than I wanted to spend, but...

A smile crosses my face.

...I have a plan.