Robyn Carr Read online

  Sometimes the happiness we’re looking for has been there all along...

  Adele and Justine have never been close. Born twenty years apart, Justine was already an adult when Addie was born. The sisters love each other but they don’t really know each other.

  When Addie dropped out of university to care for their ailing parents, Justine, a successful lawyer, covered the expenses. It was the best arrangement at the time but now that their parents are gone, the future has changed dramatically for both women.

  Addie had great plans for her life but has been worn down by the pressures of being a caregiver and doesn’t know how to live for herself. And Justine’s success has come at a price. Her marriage is falling apart despite her best efforts.

  Neither woman knows how to start life over but both realize they can and must support each other the way only sisters can. Together they find the strength to accept their failures and overcome their challenges. Happiness is within reach, if only they have the courage to fight for it.

  Set in the stunning coastal town of Half Moon Bay, California, Robyn Carr’s new novel examines the joys of sisterhood and the importance of embracing change.

  Praise for #1 New York Times bestselling author Robyn Carr

  “Brimming with insight, tender sensuality, sympathetic characters, and family anxiety, this story blends painful realities with healing love in a strong, uplifting tale that will lure both women’s fiction and romance fans.”

  —Library Journal, starred review, on The View from Alameda Island

  “This is well-crafted women’s fiction, where the emotional journey is paramount.”

  —BookTrib on The View from Alameda Island

  “This novel of sisters and secrets has a pleasant setting, a leisurely pace, and a sweet story line for Krista that will please fans of Carr’s Virgin River series. Themes of responsibility, forgiveness, and the agony and ecstasy of female relatives will appeal to readers of Debbie Macomber and Susan Wiggs.”

  —Booklist on The Summer That Made Us

  “The summer flies by as old wounds are healed, new alliances are formed, and lives are changed forever... With strong relationship dynamics, juicy secrets, and a heartwarming ending, it’s a blissful beach read.”

  —Kirkus Reviews on The Summer That Made Us

  “A satisfying reinvention story that handles painful issues with a light and uplifting touch.”

  —Kirkus Reviews on The Life She Wants

  “Insightfully realized central figures, a strong supporting cast, family issues, and uncommon emotional complexity make this uplifting story a heart-grabber that won’t let readers go until the very end.”

  —Library Journal, starred review, on What We Find

  “Robyn Carr has done it again... What We Find is complex, inspirational, and well-written. A romance that truly inspires readers as life hits them the hardest.”

  —San Francisco Review Journal on What We Find

  “Carr’s new novel demonstrates that classic women’s fiction, illuminating the power of women’s friendships, is still alive and well.”

  —Booklist on Four Friends

  Robyn Carr is an award-winning, #1 New York Times bestselling author of more than sixty novels, including highly praised women’s fiction such as Four Friends, The Summer That Made Us and The View from Alameda Island, as well as the critically acclaimed Virgin River, Thunder Point and Sullivan’s Crossing series. Virgin River is now a Netflix original series. Robyn lives in Las Vegas, Nevada.

  RobynCarr.com

  Robyn Carr

  Sunrise on Half Moon Bay

  Also by Robyn Carr

  Sullivan’s Crossing

  THE COUNTRY GUESTHOUSE

  THE BEST OF US

  THE FAMILY GATHERING

  ANY DAY NOW

  WHAT WE FIND

  Thunder Point

  WILDEST DREAMS

  A NEW HOPE

  ONE WISH

  THE HOMECOMING

  THE PROMISE

  THE CHANCE

  THE HERO

  THE NEWCOMER

  THE WANDERER

  Virgin River

  MY KIND OF CHRISTMAS

  SUNRISE POINT

  REDWOOD BEND

  HIDDEN SUMMIT

  BRING ME HOME FOR CHRISTMAS

  HARVEST MOON

  WILD MAN CREEK

  PROMISE CANYON

  MOONLIGHT ROAD

  ANGEL’S PEAK

  FORBIDDEN FALLS

  PARADISE VALLEY

  TEMPTATION RIDGE

  SECOND CHANCE PASS

  A VIRGIN RIVER CHRISTMAS

  WHISPERING ROCK

  SHELTER MOUNTAIN

  VIRGIN RIVER

  Grace Valley

  DEEP IN THE VALLEY

  JUST OVER THE MOUNTAIN

  DOWN BY THE RIVER

  Novels

  THE VIEW FROM ALAMEDA ISLAND

  THE SUMMER THAT MADE US

  THE LIFE SHE WANTS

  FOUR FRIENDS

  A SUMMER IN SONOMA

  NEVER TOO LATE

  SWEPT AWAY (formerly titled

  RUNAWAY MISTRESS)

  BLUE SKIES

  THE WEDDING PARTY

  THE HOUSE ON OLIVE STREET

  Look for Robyn Carr’s next novel,

  available soon from MIRA.

  Contents

  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

  Epilogue

  Excerpt from The Country Guesthouse by Robyn Carr

  Chapter One

  Adele Descaro’s mother passed away right before Christmas. While she missed her mother, Adele was relieved to know she was no longer held prisoner in a body that refused to serve her. It had been four years since the stroke that left her crippled, nonverbal and able to communicate only with her eyes and facial expressions. Adele had been her primary caretaker for those four years and now, with Elaine at rest, she could get back to her own life. If she could remember what it was.

  She was thirty-two and had actually spent the last eight years mostly as a caretaker. Mostly because Adele had also helped to care for her disabled father for four years. Her mother had done much of the work and then, within just a few months of his death, she had suffered her debilitating stroke. Devastated by this cruel turn of events, Adele resigned from the part-time job she’d taken as a bookkeeper at a local inn and dedicated herself to Elaine’s care full-time. There had been help from a visiting nursing service and from Justine, her much older sister. Justine was, in fact, twenty years older, now fifty-two.

  Adele was happy she had made her mother’s care her priority, but was aware that in doing so, she had allowed herself to hide from her own life, to put off her own growth and keep her dreams and desires just out of reach. Now her opportunity was at hand. She lived in the comfort of the home she’d grown up in, had friends in her little town and the time to pursue whatever her heart desired.

  Justine, a successful corporate attorney in Silicon Valley and the mother of two teenage girls, hadn’t been able to pitch in
much time so she contributed to the cost of Elaine’s care and provided a modest income for Adele. She had made it a point to stay with Elaine every other Sunday so Adele could have at least a little freedom.

  The truth was that for the past four years, or actually eight if you really thought about it, Adele had been fantasizing about how she would reinvent herself when the time came. Now that it was here, in the cold rainy months of a typical Pacific winter, she realized she had yet to come up with a plan.

  Adele had left her graduate studies in English Literature at Berkeley to return home when her father was released from the hospital. “To help out,” she told her mother. Her father, Lenny, had been a maintenance supervisor for the Half Moon Bay school district and had taken a bad fall while trying to fix a heating vent in the ceiling of an auditorium. He was in a body cast for months, had several spinal surgeries and spent years either in traction or a wheelchair. But the worst of it was his pain, and he became dependent on powerful pain medications.

  Adele’s mother needed her help, that was true. But she might still have continued her graduate studies. But Adele had another problem. She fell in love and got pregnant—accidentally. The father of her baby didn’t want the child, so in addition to her pregnancy, she suffered a broken heart. She’d intended to raise the child on her own but she’d suffered complications; her baby was stillborn and her already broken heart was completely shattered. The safety of her home was her refuge, even with her disabled father’s condition casting a pall over life there.

  Then, as if to drive home the fact that she was not quite ready to get on with her life, her mother had her stroke.

  And now, here she was, still with no plan whatsoever. She gazed out the kitchen window. It was early March in Half Moon Bay, and fog sat on the beach every day until noon. It was like living in a heavy cloud. Adele had no motivation whatsoever. She found herself eating a cardboard container of lentil soup from the deli while standing over the kitchen sink, alone. She was wearing a lavender chenille robe and had slopped some soup on the front. She was not ready for bed early; she hadn’t bothered to get dressed today. She could have spent the day reading great literature or better still, drafting a life plan. Instead, she’d watched a full day of M*A*S*H reruns while lying on the couch.

  She’d been sleeping on the couch for months. She and the couch were as one. She had often slept there in her mother’s final days so she could hear her in the night. Adele’s bedroom had been little more than a changing room.

  The doorbell rang, and she looked down at the mess on her robe. “Great,” she said. She took another spoonful of soup, then went to the door. She peeped out. It was Jake Bronski, probably her closest friend. He held up a white bag so she could see he brought something for her. She opened the door.

  “Hi, Jake. Sorry, but I’m just on my way out...”

  “Right,” he said, pushing his way in. “You were invited to a pajama party, I suppose?”

  “Yes, as it happens,” she said meekly.

  “Well, you look stunning, as usual. Why don’t you slip into something a little less comfortable while I set the table.”

  “I will if you promise not to clean the kitchen,” she said. “It annoys me when you do that.”

  “Someone has to do it,” he said. Then he smiled at her. “Go on, then.”

  “All right, but eventually this has to stop,” she said, even though she had no desire for it to stop.

  She went to her room, the master bedroom. It had been her parents’ room until they each got sick and they converted the only bedroom downstairs, which had an adjoining bath, into a sick room. They were fortunate that her father had remodeled the house a bit before his accident since these old homes didn’t usually have large spacious main floor bathrooms.

  Maybe that was why she had trouble sleeping in her bed—it was her parents’ when they had been healthy and happy.

  She stripped and got into the shower. Jake deserved that much. She blew out her curly hair and rummaged around for a pair of clean jeans. Of course she came from that ilk of women who gained rather than lost weight in their grief. How was it you could barely swallow any food and yet gain weight? She sighed as she squeezed into the uncomfortably tight jeans and added some lip gloss.

  When she returned, she found the kitchen had been cleaned and the table was set for two with place mats, good dishes, wine and water glasses. Jake had even put his offerings in serving dishes—tri-tip on a platter, Caesar salad, green beans sprinkled with pieces of bacon. On the counter were a couple of generous slices of cheesecake with berries on top. A bottle of wine had been opened and was breathing.

  “Your mother isn’t coming?” Adele asked.

  “Dancing with the Stars is on,” he said, by way of explanation. “What did you do today?”

  “Not too much,” she said.

  He held her chair for her. “Addie, have you given any thought to talking to someone? A professional? I think you might be depressed.”

  “You think someone can talk me out of it?” she asked facetiously.

  “What if you need medication?”

  “Jake, my mother just died!”

  “I realize that,” he said. “But for the last few years we talked about the things you wanted to do when you weren’t tied down anymore.”

  “That’s true, but I didn’t want her to die! And I think my grief is normal, under these circumstances.”

  “I couldn’t agree more, but you’re turning into a shut-in. You are free to live for yourself. You can finally get together with friends, get out, do things.”

  “Enjoy this wet, cold weather, you mean? Maybe when the sun comes out, I’ll feel more motivated.”

  “You had a long list of things you were going to do. I can’t even remember everything...”

  She remembered. “I was going to remodel or at least give this house a face-lift so I could put it on the market, find myself a chic little apartment with a view, finish my graduate studies, date Bradley Cooper—”

  He smiled. “I can help with the house,” he said. “Anything I can’t do, I can find you the right person. Have you seen Justine lately?”

  “I don’t see too much of her now that I don’t need her to help with Mom,” Adele said. “She brought the girls down a couple of times after Christmas.”

  “She should do better than that,” Jake said, frowning.

  “I could just as easily go to San Jose and see her. She’s not the only one in this relationship.”

  “I don’t think she realizes how much you need her,” he said.

  “Well, we’re not close. We’re family. We’d never be friends if we weren’t family. We’re nothing alike.”

  “Lots of siblings say that about each other. I’m not close to Marty. If he weren’t in constant need of money, I’d never hear from him.”

  The two of them did have that in common, Adele thought, but for very different reasons. Marty, short for Martin, was Jake’s younger brother. He’d been twice married, had three kids from those two wives, presently had a girlfriend he was living with, and was not doing very well at supporting his extended family.

  For Adele and Justine, the twenty-year age difference was just the beginning. They had never really lived in the same house. Justine was in college when Adele was born. Elaine had been in her forties when surprised by a second pregnancy. Then, probably because of her age and experience, Elaine made Adele the center of her universe in a way Justine had never been. Adele had been dreadfully spoiled, her parents doting on her every moment.

  It wasn’t as though Justine had been pushed to one side, but she certainly didn’t get as much attention. Many times Justine had told Adele the story of her asking their mother to make her wedding gown, Elaine having been a gifted seamstress. But, according to Justine, Elaine had said, “How could I find the time? I have a small child!” When Justine pointed out that the
small child was now in school, Elaine had said, “But I have myself and Adele to get ready for the wedding!” So how could she find time to make a complicated gown for the bride?

  It had ever been thus as far as Justine could see. Adele was the chosen one and Justine was expected to understand, step aside and worship her darling baby sister. Justine’s great accomplishments, and there were many, were taken in stride while Adele’s merest babble was praised to the skies. Justine used to claim, “If Adele put a turd in the punch bowl, Mother would say, ‘Look what Addie made! Isn’t she brilliant?’”

  As Adele remembered too well, her parents didn’t exactly respond that way when she came home from college pregnant, refusing to name the father. Her own father reacted like he’d been shot in the gut, and her mother cried and cried, wondering what miscreant had knocked up her pure and precious daughter.

  When her baby boy had been born dead, Adele’s father pronounced that now she could start over while her mother had called it a blessing. It was only Justine who had offered true and genuine support. “Having children of my own, I can’t imagine what you must be going through. Anything I can do, Addie. Anything. Just tell me what you need.”

  That was probably the closest Adele and Justine had ever been. It was brief, bittersweet but meaningful. There would always be at least that bond.

  “I think tomorrow night we should go to a movie,” Jake said. “We haven’t done that in years.”

  “Not years,” she argued. “Maybe almost one.”

  “Let’s get out,” he said. “Not that I don’t like our dinners in, but how about a movie. I’ll sit and quietly eat popcorn while you ogle Bradley Cooper.”

  “You know the first time you rescued me I was about four years old.”

  “More like ten,” he corrected. “Headfirst into the pool and you sank like a rock.” Jake had been a lifeguard at the community pool. He was eight years her senior and like a big brother to her. After that incident he taught her to swim. Now she could swim like a competitor when she got the chance. They had almost a lifetime of history. Their families lived a block apart in an older residential section of Half Moon Bay, California. Mr. Bronski used to walk to his market every day, Mrs. Bronski often visited with Addie’s mother and they both volunteered at the schools. Beverly Bronski remained Elaine Descaro’s most frequent visitor until her death.