The Spring at Moss Hill (Swift River Valley, 6) - Hardcover

Buch 6 von 9: Swift River Valley

Neggers, Carla

 
9780778319399: The Spring at Moss Hill (Swift River Valley, 6)
Hardcover
ISBN 10: 0778319393 ISBN 13: 9780778319399
Verlag: MIRA, 2016

Inhaltsangabe

New York Times bestselling author Carla Neggers returns to charming Swift River Valley, where spring is the time for fresh starts and new beginnings… 

Kylie Shaw has found a home and a quiet place to work as an illustrator of children's books in little Knights Bridge, Massachusetts. No one seems to know her here—and she likes it that way. She carefully guards her privacy in the refurbished nineteenth-century hat factory where she has a loft. And then California private investigator Russ Colton moves in. 

Russ is in Knights Bridge to keep his client and friend, eccentric Hollywood costume designer Daphne Stewart, out of trouble. Keeping tabs on Daphne while she considers starting a small children's theater in town doesn't seem like a tough job until he runs into Kylie. Her opposition to converting part of the old hat factory into a theater is a challenge. But his bigger challenge is getting Kylie to let loose a little…like the adventurous characters she depicts in her work. 

Kylie and Russ have more in common than they or anyone else would ever expect. They're both looking for a place to belong, and if they're able to let go of past mistakes and learn to trust again, they just might find what they need in Knights Bridge…and each other. 

*** 

The Spring at Moss Hill paints a vivid picture of the beauty, hope and new beginnings that come with the change of season in New England.

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Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Carla Neggers is the New York Times bestselling author of the Sharpe and Donovan series featuring Boston-based FBI agents Emma Sharpe and Colin Donovan and the Swift River Valley series set in small-town New England. With many bestsellers to her credit, Carla and her husband divide their time between their hilltop home in Vermont, their kids' places in Boston and various inns, hotels and hideaways on their travels, frequently to Ireland. Learn more at CarlaNeggers.com.

Auszug. © Genehmigter Nachdruck. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

"What do you think a private investigator would want me to stock in his fridge and pantry?"

The provocative question came from Ruby O'Dunn, up front by the cash register at the Swift River Country Store, a fixture in Knights Bridge, Massachusetts, for at least a century. Ruby was speaking to Christopher Sloan, a local firefighter. Kylie Shaw, out of sight in the wine section, had spotted them coming into the store. Now she wished she'd been paying closer attention to their conversation. Private investigator? What private investigator?

"He's from Beverly Hills," Chris said. "I'd start with that."

"He works for a Beverly Hills law firm. I don't know if he's actually from Beverly Hills."

"Close enough."

"It'd almost be easier if we were having him stay with my mother. She's got a fully stocked kitchen."

"She also has goats."

"Don't get me started. I cleaned out their stalls this morning.

It's bedlam at her place. Even staying there a few days would be a lot to ask. Moss Hill is a much better choice."

Kylie held tight to a bottle of expensive champagne.

Moss Hill?

Moss Hill was a former nineteenth-century hat factory that had undergone extensive renovations and opened in March, with offices, meeting space and residences. She'd moved into one of its four loft-style apartments five weeks ago. So far, she was the only tenant. She accepted that the other three apartments wouldn't stay empty, but she hadn't ever—not once—imagined a private investigator moving in, even temporarily.

She missed what Chris said in response to Ruby. Ruby went on about wild mushrooms, artisan cheese and artichokes, but Chris finally told her to focus on basics. "Put a six-pack in the fridge," he said. "It'll be fine."

Ruby muttered something Kylie couldn't make out, and Chris left, apparently with a six-pack of his own.

Kylie placed the champagne in her basket. She'd promised herself she would take time to celebrate once the daffodils were in bloom, and they were definitely in bloom. The last time she'd come up for air and tried to celebrate had been in August. She'd ended up at a Red Sox game with a negative, burned-out carpenter who complained for seven innings. She'd been relieved when the game didn't go into extra innings and had told him she'd had a call from her sister, a veterinary student at Tufts, to get out of going back to Knights Bridge with him. Before that, she'd split a bottle of wine with a condescending sculptor in Paris, celebrating her first children's book as both author and illustrator. These little children's drawings you do are sweet, Kylie, but… He'd shrugged, leaving her to imagine the rest of what he was pretending to be too polite to say. She couldn't make a living as an illustrator, they weren't real art, they weren't any good, anyone could do it. It had been that kind of but.

She headed to the cash register with her basket. She could always have her champagne alone on her balcony and toast the stars and the moon, with gratitude. Maybe invite the Beverly Hills PI.

That'd be the day. She didn't plan to do anything to invite his scrutiny.

Ruby was lifting a basket off a stack by the register. Kylie had met all four O'Dunn sisters around town—the country store, the library, the town offices where their mother worked—but didn't know any of them well. She'd moved to Knights Bridge last summer and kept telling herself she wanted to get to know people there, but so far, they remained acquaintances, not friends. Ruby and Ava, fraternal twins and the youngest O'Dunns, were theater graduate students, Ava in New York, Ruby in Boston. A natural redhead like her three sisters, Ruby had dyed her hair plum-black and tied it back with a bright pink scarf. She wore a long black skirt, a white T-shirt and a denim jacket, with black boots and no jewelry.

"Oh, Kylie, hi," Ruby said. "I didn't see you back there."

"I couldn't resist the wine sale."

"Ah. Champagne, I see. Excellent. Did you hear Chris Sloan and me talking just now? A private investigator will be here from California tomorrow. He'll be staying in the apartment across the hall from you."

"What's he investigating?"

"One of his clients is giving a master class at Moss Hill next Saturday," Ruby said. "Daphne Stewart—she has roots in town."

"She was here last September for the vintage fashion show at the library," Kylie said. "Hollywood costume designer. I remember."

"Did you go?"

"No, I didn't." She'd been fiddling with a project ahead of hitting the Send button. Work was always her excuse for not being more social. "I heard it was a great success."

"The fashion show raised a lot of money for the library and the historical society." Ruby hooked her basket on one arm. "Daphne's a character. Russ Colton—the private investigator arriving tomorrow—is making sure everything's set for her arrival. It'll be Moss Hill's first public event. You should come, Kylie. You'll be right there."

"Thanks. I'll give it some thought."

Ruby held up her basket. "I need to fill this up. I should get moving. Good to see you."

"You, too," Kylie said, but Ruby had spotted someone she knew and taken off down the canned-goods aisle.

Kylie set her basket on the counter.

A private investigator and a respected, longtime Hollywood costume designer on their way to town—to Moss Hill. Just what I need.

She held back a groan. If she couldn't fake excitement, best to be neutral.

She unloaded her groceries. In addition to the champagne, she'd picked up plain yogurt, cheddar cheese, flax-seed bread, coffee and mixed spring greens, all local to her quiet part of New England, west of Boston.

After paying for her groceries, she stepped outside. The beautiful April afternoon greeted her like a warm smile from a friend. She took in the quaint, picturesque village center. She was standing on Main Street, opposite the common, an oval-shaped green surrounded by classic houses, the library, churches, the town hall and a handful of small businesses. The long winter had released its grip. The grass was green, the trees were leafing out, and daffodils were in bloom. She had been working nonstop for weeks—months—and getting out into the warm spring air felt remarkably good, almost as if she'd come to life herself.

She noticed dark-haired, broad-shouldered Christopher Sloan farther down Main Street. He was the fifth of the six Sloan siblings, with four older brothers. She couldn't imagine having five brothers. She didn't have any brothers. The O'Dunns and the Sloans and other families had lived in Knights Bridge for decades, even for generations. Ruby and Chris had grown up together. That created bonds and a familiarity that Kylie couldn't pretend to have in her adopted town.

Or want.

Not now at least.

She arranged her groceries in her bike bags, aware of a vague uneasiness about the arrival of a private investigator at Moss Hill. It wasn't just that she wasn't thrilled about it. She'd worked hard not to draw attention to herself during her months in Knights Bridge.

But it would all work out, she told herself as she climbed on to her bike. She had champagne, food and coffee. If she so much as sensed this Russ Colton was going to cause trouble for her, she could hide out in her apartment for days, content in her world of evil villains, handsome princes and daring princesses.

Moss Hill was quiet even for a Saturday afternoon. Kylie's mud-spattered Mini was the only vehicle in the parking lot, so new it didn't have a single pit or pothole. She could feel the ten-mile round-trip ride in her thighs as she jumped off her bike. She'd relished the slight breeze and the fresh scents of spring in...

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Verlag
MIRA
Erscheinungsdatum
2016
Sprache
Englisch
ISBN 10 
0778319393
ISBN 13 
9780778319399
Einband
Gebundene Ausgabe
Anzahl der Seiten
304
Kontakt zum Hersteller
Nicht verfügbar
Verantwortliche Person
HarperCollins Publishers Ireland
enquiries@harpercollins.ie

Mayor Street Upper 39/40
Dublin
D01 C9W8
Irland

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ISBN 10:  0778318672 ISBN 13:  9780778318675
Verlag: MIRA, 2016
Softcover