A Boy To Remember

You can’t live a lie forever

One magical summer—that was all it took for Alexis Foster to fall deeply in love with Daniel Chandler. And then she gave him up to keep Daniel from sacrificing his own dreams. But the passionate bond they shared is rekindled when Alex returns to her family’s farm...with a powerful secret.

Daniel is Ohio’s youngest state senator, and his star is on the rise. He’s also discovering a kindred spirit in Alex’s seventeen-year-old daughter. Alex has to tell him the truth even though it risks his political future...and may cost her the two people she loves most.

Was he suggesting they take up where they left off eighteen years ago?

“Are you asking me on a date, Daniel?”

He grinned. “And if I were, what would you say?”

I would say that my racing heart couldn’t take an entire evening with you. She cleared her throat. “Considering the recent events in my life—” and a few significant ones from the past “—I’d have to say no.”

He leaned his forearm on the roof of her car. “Okay, then. I’m not asking you on a date. We’d just be two friends going out for the evening to catch up on lost time. What would you say to that? See if some of the magic still exists?”

Dear Reader,

Sisters. What a mountain of complexities in that one word. I suppose a sister can be a best friend one moment and a worst enemy the next. I lost my sister to disease many years ago when we were both still children. Perhaps that’s why I’ve always longed for that special family member and gal pal to see me through the tough spots.

And maybe that explains why this miniseries for Harlequin Heartwarming, The Daughters of Dancing Falls, is so dear to my heart. The settings for the love stories of these three sisters is northeast Ohio, where I grew up. Each story is as unique as the heroine, but all share one vital commonality. Alexis, Jude and Carrie wouldn’t have found their true loves without the love and support of the other two.

I hope you will enjoy this first story, A Boy to Remember, about Alexis, the oldest. Maybe you’ll finish reading the book and call your own sister just to say I love you.

I love to hear from readers. You can contact me at cynthoma@aol.com.

Sincerely,

Cynthia

A Boy to Remember

Cynthia Thomason

CYNTHIA THOMASON inherited her love of writing from her ancestors. Her father and grandmother both loved to write, and she aspired to continue the legacy. Cynthia studied English and journalism in college, and after a career as a high school English teacher, she began writing novels. She discovered ideas for stories while searching through antiques stores and flea markets and as an auctioneer and estate buyer. Cynthia says every cast-off item from someone’s life can ignite the idea for a plot. She writes about small towns, big hearts and happy endings that are earned and not taken for granted. And as far as the legacy is concerned, just ask her son, the magazine journalist, if he believes.

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To Amanda Sue Brackett, my sister,

and to all the sisters out there who mean so much to each of us.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Introduction

Dear Reader

Title Page

About the Author

Dedication

PROLOGUE

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

EPILOGUE

Copyright

PROLOGUE

THE LUCKIEST GIRL in Ohio. How many times had Alexis Pope heard people refer to her this way? And today, driving through the lush, green pastureland that carpeted the mini ranches of Fox Creek, she could almost agree with them. Who wouldn’t feel lucky to be returning to this magical, beautiful place of grace and charm?

And yet, in truth, Alex had never really believed in luck. Yes, she was lucky enough to be raised by loving parents in this town, with its top schools and clubs. But for the most part, she had made her own destiny.

The high grades she’d achieved throughout her schooling were not handed out to a lucky student. She’d worked hard for every A. Luck hadn’t landed her in the National Honor Society. Luck hadn’t rewarded her with first chair in the high school orchestra. Years of violin study, cramped and callused fingers, had put her in that chair.

And luck hadn’t brought her back home today. No one would say “Oh, my, it’s Alexis Foster...what a lucky girl.” Especially not when they realized that she was only thirty-five years old and had recently buried her husband.

“It’s so pretty here, Mom,” her daughter said from the passenger seat. “I’m glad we came, but I hope we didn’t leave Chicago just for me. I hope you wanted to come, too.”

Those were the first words Lizzie had spoken in many miles. The silence had caused Alex to worry that her daughter, grieving over the loss of her father, would rather not have made this trip. She covered Lizzie’s hand with hers and smiled. “Of course I wanted to come, sweetheart. I think the change of scenery will do us both good. And you know how happy Grandpa will be to see you.”

“Auntie Jude will be here, won’t she?” Lizzie asked.

“You know your auntie Jude. She is as much a part of this acreage as the trees and the grass.”

“And Aunt Carrie?”

“The last I heard, Carrie was out west taking forestry classes. Unless she surprises us with a visit, I doubt we’ll see her.”

Dr. Martin Foster’s three daughters were as different as could be. But one thing they all had in common. Each of them knew she was loved by her generous and supportive father. Each one knew she could always come home.

Alex turned into the drive, which led to a tall iron gate with the words Dancing Falls stamped in gray steel across the rails. With a touch of whimsy, a metal medallion showing a frothy waterfall lent authenticity to the name her father had chosen for his patch of heaven.

“The gate is open,” she said. “Grandpa is expecting us.”

They drove a quarter mile under ancient oak and maple trees before the house came into view. As stately as ever, its white brick walls and ebony shutters gave a majestic feel to the Georgian structure. Alex pulled around the circular drive and turned off her engine. Martin Foster, looking young for his sixty-four years, was dressed in tan chinos, a light blue golf shirt and boat shoes, his thick gray hair catching an Ohio breeze. He came down the front steps before Alex had opened her car door.

“You made it,” he called, opening his arms to his daughter and granddaughter. He managed to fold them both into a hug at the same time. “I’m so glad you’ve come. I’m going to do my darndest to see that we make the most of this summer before Lizzie goes off to college.”

Alex kissed her father’s cheek. He meant that promise. But could a bottomless well of paternal caring erase the grieving of the past months? Alex stole a glance at Lizzie and found her bravely trying to smile, exactly what she had done during the funeral five months ago, exactly what she had been doing since. How Alex wished she could see a genuine smile on her daughter’s face again. But the girl had adored Teddy Pope, and she missed him with an unquenchable ache.

“I guess it’s all been said a million times, Lizzie.” Martin’s voice was gentle. “I know I said it at the funeral, but I’m so sorry about your father. I miss him, too. He was a good friend as well as a colleague.”

“I know, Grandpa. Thanks.” Grabbing her backpack from the car, Lizzie walked into the house.

Martin put his arm around Alex’s shoulders. “She’ll be all right, darling. She just needs time.”

Right. And she needs to keep living the lie, Alex thought. The lie that Teddy Pope was her father.

CHAPTER ONE

AT SEVEN O’CLOCK PRECISELY, Dr. Foster’s housekeeper announced that dinner was served. Alex, Lizzie and Martin headed for the family dining room but were interrupted when the back door slammed.

“That must be Jude,” Alex said.

“Of course it’s Jude,” Martin replied. “She may live in that apartment above the tack room, but at least she has the good sense to come here for her meals. Your sister has never been accomplished in domestic arts.”

Jude Foster O’Leary, wearing what was obviously a hastily put-together outfit consisting of a belted aqua T-shirt over a long madras skirt, bounded into the dining room just behind her adorable five-year-old son, Wesley. The child still wore what Dr. Foster called his “barn clothes”—jeans, a button-down shirt and scuffed cowboy boots—but his hands looked clean and his hair had been combed. Alex couldn’t say the same for her sister. Humidity-frizzed strands of blond hair refused to be tamed like the rest of her mane in the long braid down her back.

“Hey, you two,” Jude said, hugging her sister first. “It seems like an age since I was in Chicago for Teddy’s...” Realizing her niece might not be prepared to relive those memories, Jude glanced guiltily at Lizzie before kissing her cheek. “Yup, it’s been too long, and I’ve missed you both. How are you doing, honey?”

“I’m okay, Auntie Jude,” Lizzie said. She reached for her cousin and wrapped her arms around him. “You look like a real cowboy, Wes,” she said. “A really hunky one.”

The boy giggled. He had a little-boy crush on his cute big cousin.

“Glad you made it for dinner,” Dr. Foster said.

“Are you kidding? I knew my sister was due today, so I wouldn’t have missed it.” She smiled at Alex. “Besides, I could smell Rosie’s chicken enchiladas from the barn.”

Jude was the first to admit that she was much more comfortable in jeans and a work shirt than a dress. But to her credit, she managed to fluff her long skirt gracefully over the seat of one of Martin’s reproduction twentieth-century Chippendale chairs.

Jude had been Alex’s rock during Teddy’s funeral. Sadly, her sister understood all too well what the family was going through. She’d lost her own husband five years before when he was serving in Afghanistan. Now she managed the Paul O’Leary Foundation she’d established in his honor. Paul had possessed a heart as generous as his willingness to serve his country, and the money that came into the foundation was used for several philanthropic endeavors.

“Still not giving up your rooms over the barn to come back to the house, I see,” Alex said.

Dr. Foster chuckled as he passed the platter of enchiladas and Spanish rice. “I’ve tried everything I can think of to get her to move in with her mother and me, but she insists on staying out there with the animals.”

“I’m here when you need me,” Jude said. “Besides, the barn is barely two-tenths of a mile from the house, Daddy. It’s not like I’m living in a foreign country.”

“But I still worry. You’re remote out there...”

“When don’t you worry, Daddy?” Jude said with a hint of impatience. “Wes and I are perfectly safe. If anyone comes near the barn, Mutt barks like the world is coming to an end.”

Alex smiled to herself. Mutt was hardly a mongrel as his name suggested. He was a purebred Bernese mountain dog that Jude had come across in her work with animal rescue. She’d bonded with the friendly black-and-white dog immediately and brought him into her living quarters as the family mutt. The name just stuck.

“How about you, Wesley?” Alex said. “Do you like living above the barn?”

The child shrugged. “Sure. It’s okay.”

Conversation strayed to matters of gossip and local news until Jude asked the customary question. “How’s Mama doing tonight, Daddy?”

“She’s resting comfortably,” he said. “The nurse told me she didn’t have one of her anxiety attacks today.”

“I went up earlier,” Alex said. “I think she might have recognized me. At least I hope so.”

“I’ll go up and see her later,” Jude said. Her offer was met with pretended enthusiasm. Everyone knew that Maggie Foster, suffering from late-stage Alzheimer’s disease, wouldn’t know if her daughter came into the room or not. A good day was when Maggie’s eyes focused long enough to bring hope to one of her family. Unfortunately, any hint of recognition had been rare the past year.

Once dinner was finished and the dishes had been cleared, Lizzie took Wesley into the family room for a game of War with Grandpa’s worn deck of cards.

“So how is my niece really doing?” Jude asked after a moment.

Alex tried to convince her that things were not so bad. “She’s improving all the time. In the last weeks she’s even gone out with her friends, but I think she’s been looking forward to the end of her senior year and the opportunity to come here. An apartment, no matter how spacious, doesn’t offer the same healing benefits as this farm.”

“She looks thin,” Jude said. “And I agree with you. After a few months here, she’ll get some color back in her cheeks and be more like her old self.”

“We’ll have to keep her busy,” Martin said. “Maybe she can volunteer at the hospital a couple of days a week. We can always use more teens.”

“I’m not sure a hospital environment is what she needs right now,” Alex said.

Martin agreed. “Who’s got another idea?”

“She can help out at the barn,” Jude offered. “I can definitely use a hand with feeding and grooming.”

Alex remained silent for a few moments as she considered these suggestions. “Maybe,” she finally said. “But I’m hoping to find an activity that is more in line with Lizzie’s interests. Remember, she joined the drama club at school and scored the lead in the senior class play. I thought perhaps I could contact Glen Spenser.” She focused on her father. “Does he still head up the summer stock theater?”

“He sure does. That’s a great idea. Spenser’s group is supposed to be getting ready for several performances of The Music Man. If Lizzie could get a role, rehearsing, learning lines—all of that will take up a lot of her time.”

“If Lizzie gets a part, I’ll have to make sure Glen understands her situation,” Alex said.

“You don’t really want her treated differently because she lost her father, do you?” Martin asked.

“No. But I need to be assured that she’ll be in a healing, supportive environment.”

When both Martin and Jude stared at her, she added, “I guess I’ve become an overprotective mother.”

She felt her eyes well with tears, and her father got up, came around the table and sat beside her. “What about you, Alexis? How are you doing? Losing Teddy, worrying about Lizzie. I can see this is all taking its toll on you.”

Alex leaned her head against her father’s shoulder. Along with Teddy, her mother and father were the only people in the world who knew the truth about Lizzie’s birth, everything but the biological father’s name. As far as everyone else was aware—her sisters, and Lizzie herself—Teddy Pope was her dad. Through the years Jude had asked leading questions. But Alex had dodged all of them and believed that no one, not even Lizzie’s biological father, whom Alex hadn’t seen in almost eighteen years, could have been a better parent than Teddy.

“Tomorrow will be a better day, baby,” Martin said. “Rest up the remainder of the weekend and see Glen on Monday. I have a hunch that the bright lights of Fox Creek’s summer theater will be exactly what the doctor ordered for our Lizzie.”

Alex sighed. If only she could count on that.

* * *

MONDAY, USING THE pretense of going to the rural farmers’ market, Alex drove with her daughter past the Red Barn Theater. “Oh, look, it’s still in business,” she said, glancing at Lizzie to gauge her interest.

Lizzie leaned forward in her seat. “I wonder what production they’ll put on this summer.” She pointed to a sign near the road. “It’s The Music Man. And they’re announcing auditions. I love that musical.”

Alex slowed the car. “Me, too. Why don’t we turn around and go inside to check out what parts haven’t been filled.”

Lizzie shrugged, showing less enthusiasm than Alex had hoped for. “Mom, I didn’t know you were interested in theater,” she said.

Alex raised her eyebrows in an incredulous stare. “I was thinking about you, honey. You’re the actress in this family.”

The use of the word family seemed to leave a pall hanging over the car. As Alex pulled next to the renovated barn, Lizzie just said, “Oh.”

Once they were inside the theater, Lizzie’s demeanor changed. Her gaze darted around the interior, seeming to take in everything at once—the red velvet chairs, the rough-hewn rafters, the elevated stage with lights above and below. The stage lights weren’t illuminated now, but one could just imagine... And Lizzie obviously was.

A man a couple of decades older than Alex called from the stage. “Can I help you?”

Glen Spenser was eighteen years older than the last time Alex had seen him at the Birch Shore Resort on Lake Erie. He had been their guru back then, both for the actors, like talented Daniel Chandler, and for the set builders and extras, like Alexis Foster.

Glen shielded his eyes from the glare of the overhead lights and came slowly down the steps at the side of the platform. “We’re having tryouts today,” he said. “If you’d like to audition...”

He stopped midway down the aisle. “Oh, my gosh, Alexis Foster!” He quickened his pace and took Alex’s hand. “You haven’t changed a bit. Still that gorgeous strawberry blond hair and a dazzling height of... What are you, five foot nine?” He chuckled. “I can still remember needing a prop from the top shelf and calling for you to come get it for me.”

Alex smiled. “Hi, Glen. You haven’t changed, either.”

“Oh, honey,” Glen said. “It’s been almost twenty years, hasn’t it?” He smoothed his hand over the sparse hair at his crown and smiled. “I think I’m even shorter now. Old age does that to a guy.”

“How have you been?” Alex asked.

“Busy. Doing some graphic art work for local businesses and still puttering around theaters. Can’t seem to get it out of my blood.”

“Nor should you,” Alex said. She took Lizzie’s arm. “This is my daughter, Lizzie. We’re going to be here for the summer.”

“Wonderful. Staying out at the farm, are you?”

Alex nodded. Everyone in the area knew about Dancing Falls. Most everyone had been to barbecues there or knew the medical skills of Martin Foster.

Glen cupped his hand under his chin and appraised Lizzie. “You’re as pretty as your mother,” he said. “But your dark hair suits your olive complexion. You didn’t get that from the Foster girls.”

Lizzie smiled. “I guess not, but my dad was fair, too. So who knows? Genetics is a mystery to me.”

Alex quickly jumped into the conversation. “I thought Lizzie might want to audition. Do you have any parts left?”

“You bet. One very important part. Zaneeta Shinn, the mayor’s daughter. It’s not a big role, but it’s vital to the production.” Glen took Lizzie’s hand and began walking her to the stage. “Read for me now, honey. I know it’s a cold reading, but you can take a script home and practice and come back tomorrow for a retry if you want.”

Lizzie shot her mother a perplexed look as she was more or less propelled toward the stage. But she was smiling. Just like Alex was almost always smiling during that summer eighteen years ago.

Just like she was smiling now—until she heard the door open behind her and turned to see who’d come into the theater.

Later, when she had time to think about it, she would have to admit that recognizing Daniel after eighteen years from thirty yards away down a long aisle was as natural as breathing. Only she wasn’t breathing now. She felt light-headed and dizzy, fighting an urge to flee and a struggle to draw air into her lungs.

Alex was aware of noise around her though she felt as if she were in a vacuum. Someone on stage, working on the set, pounded a hammer. Overhead a fluorescent light buzzed and pulsed. And Glen hollered, “Hey, Danny. You’re just in time, buddy. We’ve got a new audition for Zaneeta, and Larry needs a hand building the bridge.”

“I came as soon as I could,” Daniel responded, walking down the aisle toward Alex. His voice was as familiar as the sound of the waves on shore that summer, or the soft beat of rock and roll coming from a window in the summer staff’s dormitory. Alex trembled, almost as if his words had been whispered into her ear.

Of course he was nowhere near enough to whisper anything into her ear. But she could see he hadn’t changed. The years had been good to Greenfield’s native son, the young man who’d risen from humble roots to succeed in college and become the youngest state senator ever sent to Columbus from their district.

He slowed his pace when he got to Alex, gave her a brief smile as he walked past, and said, “Morning.”

Then he refocused his attention on the stage. A hint of silver threaded the dark, wavy hair at his temples. Hair the same color as Lizzie’s. He moved with the purposeful gait of a politician, each step determined and powerful. There had been nothing subtle about Daniel back then. There wasn’t now.

And all the self-esteem and confidence Alex had acquired during her marriage to Teddy vanished in that one awful moment. Daniel Chandler didn’t have the faintest idea who she was.

Eighteen years earlier

“SO WHAT DO you think, Alexis? Does Birch Shore Resort look any different now that you’re going to be working here? You used to love coming here when you were a kid.”

Martin followed the signs leading to the employees’ dormitory, keeping his large SUV within the twenty-mile speed limit.

Alex’s anxiety had reached new heights in the last five miles. Granted, she was only seventy-five miles from Dancing Falls, but this home away from home seemed remote and alien, while at the same time exciting.

Martin pulled up in front of Pelican House, a two-story wooden structure built for Birch Shore employees. “Remember, Alexis, the first floor is for girls only. The second is for the boys. No wandering around in the middle of the night.”

Martin’s smile took the sting from his words. “Stop teasing, Daddy,” Alex said. “I’m here to earn money for college.”

“And don’t I appreciate it!”

Martin and Alex got out of the car, and he opened the back cargo door. She’d managed to cram her most necessary possessions and three months of clothes into two suitcases and three large boxes, but getting them to her room wouldn’t be such an easy task.