Starting Over On Blackberry Lane

Time for a Change—or Three!

Stefanie Stahl has a husband with renovation ADD. He can’t seem to finish anything he starts and her house is littered with his “projects.” If he doesn’t smarten up, she swears she’s going to murder him and bury him under the pile of scrounged lumber in the backyard.

Her friend Griffin James is suddenly single and thinking maybe she needs to sell her fixer-upper and follow her career bliss up the ladder of success, even if that scary ladder is clear across the country. Getting her place ready to sell proves harder than she originally thought. She needs help.

She’s not the only one. Cass Wilkes, their neighbor, has an empty nest—with a leaking roof. When her ceiling crashes in, she knows it’s time to do something. When Grant Masters offers his handyman services at a fund-raiser auction, the three women go in together to outbid the competition and win their man. (Cass’s friends think she should win Grant in a different way, too!) Now it’s time to make some improvements...in their houses and their lives.

Praise for the novels of Sheila Roberts

“The latest in Roberts’ completely charming Icicle Falls series is both a delightful celebration of the joys of small-town life and a richly rewarding romance sweetened with just the right dash of bright humor.”

—Booklist on Home on Apple Blossom Road

“Engaging, sweet, and dusted with humor, this emotional romance tugs at the heartstrings.”

—Library Journal on Home on Apple Blossom Road

“Roberts engages readers from the first page with her colorfully distinctive characters and her amusing storytelling. She expresses the pitfalls that occur through the holiday season with flair and fun. A delightful read.”

—RT Book Reviews on Christmas on Candy Cane Lane

“[Roberts’] polished storytelling, a tender plot filled with charming, colorful characters, along with the lively dialogue between them, will hook readers. This sweet story will warm any reader’s heart. A truly delightful read.”

—RT Book Reviews on A Wedding on Primrose Street

“The Lodge on Holly Road is the ultimate in feel-good family drama and heart-melting romance.”

—USA TODAY

“The common thread and theme of making changes in your life for the better serve as an inspiration and make this novel a real page-turner.”

—RT Book Reviews on The Cottage on Juniper Ridge

Starting Over on Blackberry Lane

Sheila Roberts

www.mirabooks.co.uk

For Roberta,

who’s done such a good job of starting over.

Acknowledgments

I’d like to start by thanking my editor and friend Paula Eykelhof, not just for the work you’ve put in on this book but for the countless hours you’ve given me these past years. You have been wonderful to work with! And speaking of wonderful, thanks as always to my agent and friend Paige Wheeler. You’ve always been there for me and I appreciate it. You’re the best! A big thanks to my husband the tool man for helping me with all things construction in this book. A house build and a remodel and we’re still together. Yay, us! Finally, a huge thanks to the whole Harlequin team for working so hard on my behalf. An author may write the story but it takes a team to make a book.

Dear Reader,

Thanks so much for taking time from your own busy schedule to spend some of it with me. I hope you’ll enjoy this story of restarts and do-overs. I don’t know about you, but I’ve had times in my life where I’ve taken a wrong turn and had to reboot. I’ve definitely lived with remodel nightmares just like Stefanie Stahl, hauling slabs of plywood in from the rain, begging workers not to leave, sprouting gray hairs right and left. And I definitely know the pain of losing someone. I also know that somehow, with persistence, we manage to make it over life’s hurdles. If you’re facing one right now, let me encourage you by saying that you’ll make it over that hurdle. Meanwhile, I hope you’ll enjoy the latest adventures of some of the residents of Icicle Falls as they work on starting over.

Sheila

SOME OF YOUR FAVORITE ICICLES

Icicle Falls is populated with so many interesting people. Here are the ones you’ll meet most often

Samantha Sterling-Preston: Samantha runs her family’s business, The Sweet Dreams Chocolate Company (also known as Sweet Dreams Chocolates or just plain Sweet Dreams).

Cecily Goodman: Cecily is Samantha’s sister, and she, too, works at Sweet Dreams. With her gift for knowing who should be with whom, she gives Cupid a run for his money.

Bailey Black: Bailey is Samantha and Cecily’s little sister. She owns Tea Time Teashop. Stop in for a cup of tea and some of her lavender cookies!

Charley Masters: Charley owns Zelda’s, one of the town’s favorite restaurants. She’s married to Dan Masters, owner of Masters Construction.

Cass Wilkes: Cass is good friends with the Sterling sisters and Charley. She owns Gingerbread Haus and keeps everyone in town happily supplied with gingerbread houses and gingerbread boys and girls. (If you’re wanting something fancy to serve for dinner, try her cream puff swans.)

Muriel Sterling-Wittman: In spite of being widowed twice, Muriel has managed to find a positive outlook on life. With a blossoming career as a writer she is considered the town’s wisewoman.

Pat York: Pat owns Mountain Escape Books and she and Muriel have been friends for years.

Olivia Claussen: Olivia is another one of Muriel’s close friends and owns the Icicle Creek Lodge. She recently married James Claussen, who now helps her run the lodge.

Dot Morrison: Dot, also a member of Muriel’s group of friends, is known for her smart mouth and her goofy sweatshirts. And her big heart. Her restaurant, Pancake Haus, is the place to go for a great breakfast. She’s also good friends with Cass Wilkes.

Tilda Black: Tilda the cop helps keep law and order in Icicle Falls. She’s a tough cookie but, like her mom, Dot Morrison, she has a good heart.

Stacy Thomas: Stacy owns Timeless Treasures, the perfect place to find a lovely antique or a china teacup.

Beth Mallow: The town’s seamstress. For years her mother was a mover and shaker in the community. Beth never had children of her own, but that didn’t stop her from taking in foster kids or helping her mom raise her nephew Colin.

Ivy Bohn: Looking for the perfect Christmas decoration or ornament for your tree? Go see Ivy Bohn at Christmas Haus.

Maddy Donaldson: If you need someone to make something happen, talk to Maddy. She is the quintessential volunteer. (Ask anyone who lives on Candy Cane Lane.)

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Praise

Title Page

Dedication

Acknowledgments

Dear Reader

SOME OF YOUR FAVORITE ICICLES

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Five

Epilogue

Recipes

Apple Stir-Fry

Strawberry-Rhubarb Crisp

Apple Scones

Extract

Copyright

Chapter One

Cass Wilkes had wanted to liven up her empty-nest existence, but having her dining room ceiling fall in was not on her list of ways to do it. She’d just come home at three in the afternoon from the usual Saturday swamping of customers at her bakery, Gingerbread Haus, with sore feet and a desire for a bubble bath and a cup of chocolate-mint tea. Looking at the water and the soppy chunks of Sheetrock on her dining table and floor, and the white glop everywhere, she now had a desire for something with more of a kick.

Currently there wasn’t anything stronger than cooking sherry in the house. That meant there was only one way to deal with this situation. She walked right back out the door and to her car. Destination: Zelda’s, one of Icicle Falls’ favorite gathering spots, owned by her friend Charley Masters. Charley would give her a Chocolate Kiss, a boozy chocolate number that was one of the restaurant’s specialties, and hopefully she’d also dispatch her husband, Dan, owner of Masters Construction, to deal with the ceiling problem.

Back in her car Cass texted her friend. Emergency. Have Chocolate Kiss ready.

You okay? came the concerned reply.

Yeah, but my house isn’t.

Uh-oh, Charley texted back. Will have drink ready.

On my way.

The restaurant was empty, set up for the evening rush, which would start around five with the sundowner crowd, seniors taking advantage of the early dinner bargains. By six thirty there wouldn’t be an empty seat anywhere, and people would be crowding in, waiting for a table. She was glad it was quiet now. If she had a complete nervous breakdown the only witnesses would be Charley and the staff.

True to her word, Charley was at a booth in the back of the restaurant with a Chocolate Kiss martini set at Cass’s place, along with a plate of nachos. “The crisis kit,” she said, stealing a cheese-drenched chip. “Chocolate, booze and carbs.”

Cass slid into the banquette. “Bless you.” She took a sip of her drink and then dived into the nachos. “I so needed this. Well, not my butt.” That seemed to be ever expanding. “My soul, for sure.”

“What’s wrong at your house? Did your rotting deck finally fall in?”

“Worse than that. Half my dining room ceiling is now sitting on the table.” Grandma’s dining table. Her grandmother had given her that when she first bought her house in Icicle Falls. She only used it on holidays but it had huge sentimental value. If not for the protective pad and a tablecloth it would have been completely ruined.

Good friend that she was, Charley looked properly horrified. “Oh, no.”

“Oh, yes,” Cass said miserably. “I knew I was going to need a new roof soon, but I didn’t think it was this bad. I didn’t go up to the attic to see what that’s like. It must be grim, since my dining room is now a war zone. Please tell me Dan can fix this so I don’t have to pull out my hair.”

“Dan can fix it,” Charley assured her. “But count on him telling you that you need a new roof.”

Cass glanced out the restaurant window at the rain dumping on the window boxes of the various shops and buildings, bouncing off car roofs and slithering along the street in streams. April showers bring May flowers, her mom liked to say. They also brought roof leaks and wrecked mahogany dining room tables. Ugh. How long had that water been collecting in her attic before it crashed through the ceiling? And shouldn’t it have given her a warning by dripping a little?

Except when was the last time she’d been in her dining room to notice any drips? Other than hanging out with her pals for their chick-flick nights, she hadn’t had much of a social life. Her daily schedule consisted mainly of work, eating takeout from Zelda’s or the Safeway deli while watching TV, and sleeping. Repeat. This was alleviated by occasional visits home by the kids, but those visits weren’t nearly frequent enough, and mother-child text sessions never lasted long. Afterward it was just her, rattling around in a house that was as much in need of fixing up as she was. This was her life now that the last little chick had left the nest.

She missed those chicks. Sometimes Cass could hardly believe they were grown. The slide into this new phase had felt both gradual and sudden. When her three kids were small the chaos of life as a single parent had seemed never-ending. But now, suddenly, here they were, launched and mostly out of the house. Dani was happily married and a mom herself, and her bakery in Spokane was doing well. Willie was graduating from college with a degree in environmental science and resource management in June and this would be his last summer home, although she knew she wouldn’t see much of him. Amber, the baby, was a freshman at Western and was only home during the summer. Between working and hanging out with her friends, she was gone more than she was around.

Even Tiny, the family Saint Bernard, was no longer there to fill the empty spaces. Tiny had gone to doggy heaven a year ago and Cass hadn’t been able to bring herself to replace him.

She took a guzzle of her Chocolate Kiss. “My life is driving me to drink.”

“Don’t worry,” Charley said, picking up her cell phone. “Dan will make everything better.”

Cass thought of her current existence and muttered, “He won’t be able to make everything better.”

Charley frowned in concern, but before she could comment, her husband had answered and she was busy dealing with Cass’s crisis. “Thanks, babe,” she said after explaining the problem. “He’s just finishing up the new place on Cedar,” she told Cass after she’d ended the call. “He’ll be right over.”

“Poor guy, having to work on a Saturday.”

Charley showed no sympathy. “It’s good for him. Keeps him out of trouble. Anyway, it’s nice that things are booming here in town. Job security.”

“I hate to bug him when he’s working so hard,” Cass said. “But he was the first one I thought of.”

“That’s how it should be with friends,” Charley said. “Anyway, he doesn’t mind.” She studied Cass. “So, what else is bothering you? I get the impression the ceiling is just the final straw.”

“I don’t know,” Cass said with a shrug. “I guess I’ve got a case of empty-nest syndrome. Coupled with getting-olditis,” she added. “I’m going to be flippin’ forty-six next month.” Eew. She consoled herself with more of her Chocolate Kiss. “And you know what comes after that?”

“Forty-seven.”

“And then fifty-seven and then...” She finished off her drink. “My life is evaporating before my very eyes.”

“You’re not that old,” Charley protested.

“I’m not that young, either. Where am I going? What am I doing with my life?”

“You’re kidding, right?”

Cass scowled at her empty glass.

“You’ve raised three great kids single-handed. You’ve got a thriving business. Everyone loves you.”

But no one in particular loved her. Other than her kids, of course, and they had to. It came with the territory.

Oh, well. You couldn’t have everything. “I don’t know what my problem is.”

“I do,” Charley said with an emphatic nod. “You need a man.”

“Been there, done that. Maybe I’ll get a puppy and call it good.” One divorce had been enough. Marriage was risky business.

“Puppies are great,” Charley agreed. “Men are even better. Why don’t you splurge and get both?”

“Oh, sure.”

“Online dating, baby.”

Cass shuddered. “You’ve decided me. I’ll get a dog.”

They’d just finished the nachos when Dan Masters joined them. At six foot two and with shoulders like a bull, he was a commanding presence, the kind of man you knew could handle any crisis. Wouldn’t it be nice to have something like that of her very own?

Yeah, but not likely. The population of Icicle Falls wasn’t exactly brimming with men her age. The closest was Dylan Wright, who’d been single for years. Somebody would come along and whip him into shape someday, but considering the lack of chemistry between them whenever he came into the bakery, it wouldn’t be her.

“So your roof’s leaking, huh?” Dan said, seating himself next to his wife.

He kissed Charley, and Cass felt a tiny stab of envy. She looked wistfully at her empty glass. “It’s gone from leak to ‘get the ark.’ I have a major flood happening at my place.”

Dan shook his head. “I warned you that roof was starting to look grim. Up here in the mountains you really need a metal roof.”

“I think my place was built before there was such a thing,” she said. “Anyway, I’d have to sell a kid to be able to afford a metal roof.” Even with Mason pitching in his share for the kids’ college, she still had a lot of money going out.

“Well, no worries. We’re supposed to have sun tomorrow. I can come over and patch the leak and fix your ceiling.”

Thank God.

“Meanwhile, put out a bucket.”

“Or a horse trough. I really appreciate it, Dan. I owe you gingerbread boys for life.”

“You already give him plenty of gingerbread cookies,” Charley said.

“Hey, don’t discourage the woman,” Dan told her. Then to Cass, “Patching the roof is only a temporary fix. You’re bound to have more problems in the future, so you’d better start looking for a roofer.”

“And a pot of gold,” Cass said. The restaurant window framed a gray, rainy sky. “Where’s the darned rainbow when you need it, anyway?”

* * *

Stefanie Stahl came home with her son late Saturday afternoon from a visit with her sister in Seattle to find that her husband had been busy in her absence. She was greeted by the whine of a table saw, and where there’d once been a wall between her living and dining rooms, now there were only studs covered with an opaque plastic sheet. A fine film of dust had crept out and was covering the hardwood floor in the living room as well as her furniture. She could see a pile of Sheetrock behind the plastic curtain, and beyond that hung one of those lamps carpenters often used when working at night. In its murky shadow stood a man happily creating chaos.

The day before the bridal shower she was throwing for her best friend.

That did it. She was going to hit Brad over the head with his hammer and bury him in the backyard under the pile of scrounged lumber that had been there since last August.

“Daddy!” their six-year-old son, Petey, called and began pawing at the heavy plastic in an effort to get where the action was.

“You stay right here,” Stef commanded. “It’s dangerous in there.” And it was going to be really dangerous for a certain husband when she got to him.

The plastic had been taped in place, but she made her way through and marched over to where Brad stood, happily whipping up sawdust, and tapped him on the shoulder. He just about jumped out of his skin.

“Hey, don’t sneak up on a guy like that!” he said. “I could’ve sawed my hand off.”

“You’re lucky I don’t saw your head off. What are you doing?”

He flipped up his safety goggles. “What do you mean, what am I doing? You said you wanted an open-concept floor plan and an eating bar off the kitchen. That’s what I’m doing.”

“I said that months ago.” And she certainly hadn’t meant for him to do it.

“So you should be glad I’ve finally got the time. I’m all caught up at the office and decided I’d start on it. This, by the way, is your eating bar,” he informed her, pointing to a pile of boards.

Brad had taken over a lucrative branch of a national insurance company, which was what had brought them to Icicle Falls. He was still a one-man operation with no office help other than the occasional assistance Stef gave him. Surely he had something more to do at work, someone who needed life insurance. Right now he needed plenty of it. She knew she should’ve left Petey at home with him. Then he would’ve been too busy with their son to trash the house.

She threw up her hands in disgust. “Now? You had to start on it now?”

“Sure. Why not?” Down went the safety goggles and he reached over to turn on the saw again.

She grabbed his hand to stop him. “Because Griffin’s bridal shower is tomorrow. That’s why not. How am I supposed to have a bridal shower here with this mess?”

Brad seemed shocked by that. Which showed how much he listened. “Aw, shit. That’s tomorrow?”

“I told you that!” Did he have sawdust in his ears? “And now my guests get to look at this...disaster.”

She was about to march off when he took her arm. “Sweet Stuff, I’m sorry. I just wanted to surprise you.”

“You surprised me, all right,” she said with a scowl.

Meanwhile, Petey was bouncing up and down on the other side of the curtain, shouting, “Daddy, Daddy!”

“Just a minute, big guy.” He pushed the goggles back up on his head and gave her a pleading smile. “Come on, Stef—don’t be mad. I only wanted to make you happy.”

Yes, he’d had the best of intentions. He always had the best of intentions. Sadly, he was better at good intentions than he was at finishing projects, as the half-done patio with its pile of paving stones out back could attest. Not to mention the master bathroom with the missing tub. That had been last month’s project. When it came to home improvement projects, the man was totally ADD.

“You haven’t even finished the bathroom,” she reminded him.

“I was going to, but then I remembered you wanted that wall knocked out and I thought you’d like it done for your party. Which I forgot was tomorrow,” he hastily added. “I thought I had time.”

He always thought he had time. Bradley Stahl operated on his own unique timetable.

If he operated at all. When they’d first bought the house, they’d talked about ways they could improve it. But they hadn’t shared the same vision. Stef had assumed they’d go at it methodically, one project at a time, hiring competent contractors. Brad had envisioned himself as perfectly competent, insisting on doing the work and saving them money. So far this was not working out.

“Da-ad!”

“Coming, big guy,” Brad called and beat a hasty retreat before she could say anything more.

With a growl Stef kicked the pile of sawdust. She wished it was Brad’s behind. What was she going to do now? She had a dozen women coming the next afternoon. Even if Brad skipped church, he couldn’t get rid of this mess before the bridal shower.

Maybe she could get someone else to host, like Cass. Cass Wilkes had taken her and Griffin under her wing when they’d arrived in Icicle Falls a year ago, both new to town, both wondering how to go about fitting in. Cass had connected Griffin with a book club, and when she found out that Stef was a movie buff, she’d included Stef in her weekly chick-flick-night gatherings with her friends. Not only had Cass become a good friend and neighbor, she also was single. No husband underfoot messing things up. She probably wouldn’t mind if they switched the party to her house. Stef could bring the eats, and Cass could provide the sawdust-free environment. She put in an SOS call.

“Oh, Stef, I’d do it in a heartbeat but—”