The Wishing Season Read Online Free PDF

all pegged. “You don’t know me.”
    “We need to talk to her, and we need to do it together.” He gave her a pointed look.
    “What? You don’t trust me?”
    “Why would I? You’re a stranger.”
    “I nursed you back to health!”
    “You gave me a concussion.”
    She glared at him. She wasn’t getting anywhere with him. Just like she wouldn’t get anywhere with Mrs. Simmons. The woman would talk in circles until their minds were spinning like blender blades and their signatures were scrawled across the dotted lines.
    “Fine. We’ll talk to her. But don’t get your hopes up.”

Chapter Seven
    PJ SHUT HER CAR DOOR AND PULLED HER SWEATER TIGHT against the evening chill. Gravel crunched under her Sperry’s, and a cricket chirped nearby. She walked around the side of her parents’ farmhouse, breathing in the smell of freshly cut grass. In the distance newly planted cornfields stretched over rolling hills all the way to the setting sun.
    Home.
    After the day she’d had, she needed this. The conversation with Mrs. Simmons had gone just as she’d suspected. She and Cole, slightly dizzy from the older woman’s monologue, had left the house with signed copies of the contract.
    Okay then. She would make this work. She’d find a way to turn a profit and convince Mrs. Simmons that her restaurant deserved a place in the community.
    As she neared the backyard the sounds of laughter, chatter, and family were almost enough to draw a smile. The smell of grilling chicken grew stronger until her stomach rumbled in anticipation.
    She rounded the corner, entering the backyard with its shade trees and cozy patio. The twinkle lights were already on, though the sun hadn’t set. A game of two-on-two stopped at her arrival.
    “PJ’s here!” Mom called, coming in for a hug. Everyone descended at once. Her dad. Ryan. Jade and Madison with their husbands.
    She scanned the group for her six-month-old nieces. Only then did she see the banner and balloons.
    “Wait,” PJ said. “What’s going on?”
    Mom pulled back from the hug. “I ran into Mrs. Simmons at the café. She refused to tell me the decision outright, but I could tell . . . What’s wrong?”
    “Where do I start?”
    “What happened?” Madison asked. “I thought you had this all sewn up.”
    PJ looked from sibling to sibling. Smart Madison with her successful veterinary practice. Jade, newly married to the mayor, with her musical talent and her very own adorable twins. Dependable Ryan, who seemed to succeed at everything he did. Marriage notwithstanding.
    “Well, it’s sort of good news,” PJ said.
    Jade shifted a fussy baby to Daniel, who walked toward the house for a bottle or something. “Then why the long face?”
    “Let’s go sit down.” Mom tugged her to the cloth-covered picnic table, already set with tableware, a Ball jar of freshly cut pink peonies in the center. Her siblings sat opposite her, while her dad, Beckett, and Grandpa returned to the grill nearby.
    It was time to look at the bright side. This was happening, like it or not, and the alternative wasn’t acceptable. Besides, she couldn’t stand to see I-told-you-so looks on her siblings’ faces.
    “Bottom line is, I’ll be opening the restaurant, just not the bed-and-breakfast—at least for now. So it’s good. I get to run myown restaurant right out of culinary school. How many people get that opportunity?”
    “But what are you going to do with all those rooms?” Ryan asked.
    “Have babies?” Jade’s rings clinked together as she laced her fingers.
    “Not funny,” Mom said. “Let’s get her married first.”
    Jade gave a wry grin. “Gee thanks, Mom.”
    Mom rubbed her shoulder. “Now, honey, I didn’t mean anything by that. You know we couldn’t love the twins more.”
    “Seriously.” Madison tossed her long brown hair over her shoulders just in time for Beckett to come up behind and rub them. “Why not the B & B? I thought it was a sound idea, if a bit much to take