Finding Promise (The Promise Series, A Small Town Romance) by Aneesa Price

in her ear before sauntering off, ignoring her show
of faked indignation, while she ignored the tingles up her spine at the feel of
his warm breath on her ear.
     
    Surveying her room as she made up the bed, she was satisfied
with how she had decorated her room. Pretty white cotton sheets, decorated with
a spray of light pink flowers on the edge of the duvet and a single flower on
each pillow, suited the cherry wood four-posted bed perfectly. A mauve throw
was a dramatic accent, strewn over the end of the bed. In the corner of the
room, an oversized wingback chair was strategically positioned, and stuffed
with pillows in white, mauve and the same light pink that graced the duvet.
Next to it stood around cherry wood occasional table, uncovered but for a white
lamp and a couple of books she’d bought in town. It was made for snuggling up
and reading. Her cupboard, the clothes no longer in suitcases and unpacked into
them, was a slightly darker wood and matched the color of the bedside tables.
She was also happy with her bathroom. Having decided against bringing more
color into the bathroom, it was white with barely noticeable touches of lilac
and wheat colored accents. This suited it better and gave the space a clean,
light feeling. She’d enjoyed the bath last night, filled to the top with
bubbled, jasmine scented water, candles flickering in the dark and listening to
Michael Bublé singing about Mrs Jones.
     
    It wasn’t the same living here by herself. In the apartment
that she’d shared with James, she had spent a lot of evenings alone and never
experienced the same sense of serenity. Evenings in the house were markedly
different to the daytime bustle brought upon by the building crew. With them
gone, it was quiet and peaceful; the only sounds were that of the ocean, a
constant lull in the background.
     
    “Hello…. Caroline, are you here?” Going to investigate, she
saw Laurel with about four other ladies standing in the hallway.
     
    “What a lovely surprise! Hi, I’m Caroline.” She was pleased
to see Laurel. Giving her a hug to say hello, she greeted the other ladies.
     
    “I’m Stella and this is Jo, Patsy and Becca.” Stella nodded
to the other women, all holding dishes in their hands. You know Laurel of
course.” Stella, a matronly woman, about Laurels age, pushed a dish into
Caroline’s hands. “Here, we’ve come to welcome you to Promise. We’ve all had a
bit of renovation work done in our time. It can make cooking really hard. So,
we thought that you could use a bit of help. And of course, we we’re just plain
nosy too.”
     
    “You’re nosy. I’m welcoming.” Jo came forward. “Honey, show
us where we can put these. My arms are about to fall off.”
     
    “That’s because she uses cement in the tuna casserole.”
Becca chirped, making the women laughed.
     
    Patsy, a by-blow from the fifties, a big shapely bob and
horn-rimmed glasses, stepped forward, “Hi Caroline. Patsy.” She shook
Caroline’s free hand. “I’m just plain nosy and proud of it.”
     
    Laughing, Caroline offered, “Please come on in. I’m afraid
that the only part of the house that’s habitable is the kitchen.” Thanking the
Lord that the big pine table and chairs had arrived yesterday, she ushered them
into the kitchen. “Oh my, what’s all this?” She asked looking at the kitchen
table. It was flooded with containers of food. She mentally thanked the Lord
again for the fridge that arrived yesterday too.
     
    “Looks like some folk beat us to it!” Laurel declared
spotting the cornucopia of food on the table. “It’s the town welcoming you,
dear.” She handed Caroline a large brown envelope. “Let’s see what you got.”
     
    It was a great selection. An old hammer had a ribbon around
it with a note saying, “My husband never uses this and I figured you’d need
it.” They all laughed and an amused Stella added, “I bet that’s Frank’s wife,
Beth. She’s always complaining how he never