Forever Hers by Walters, Ednah (top 50 books to read txt) 📕

They’d come back from their honeymoon on Saint-Noel—a group of islands in the Caribbean—a week ago and she still couldn’t believe how lucky and happy she was, how her life had changed. A year had gone by since that horrific day at her parents’ house when Nolan had tried to kidnap her at gunpoint. Even though she had testified at his trial, Jeremy Blackwell had been the star witness after turning himself in and cutting a deal with the D.A. in Charlottesville. Blackwell got a year, but Noel would never be a free man again.

As though Eddie felt her eyes on him, he glanced her way and flashed his bone-melting smile, his eyes heating up. As usual, her heart melted and her heart skipped. Amy smiled and sighed.

“Oh no you don’t,” Faith said, taking the chair across from her. “You’re not going to spend the entire afternoon making goo-goo eyes at your husband and sighing, Amy Fitzgerald. You’ve had two weeks to do that. Now we must discuss your launch party.”

Amy dragged her gaze from Eddie’s and stared blankly at Faith. “What?”

“Remember? We are throwing you a launch party for the release of your new book next Friday and you have your first book signing gig on Saturday,” Faith said. “Have you seen the reviews? Five stars.”

Amy groaned. With all the pre-wedding jitters, her honeymoon then moving to Eddie’s place, she’d completely forgotten about her new release and the book signing tour. The book she’d released six months ago had done great, but the latest one was going to be an even bigger hit. Having two famous authors in the family—Vince Knight and Iona, Eddie’s mother—helped a lot. Not only did they use their star power to smooth things over with the bookstores across the state, they planned to feature her and her book on their blogs. Her parents were flying in on Wednesday for the party and Lauren was coming in on Friday.

“We have to make sure everything is in place,” Faith added.

“How can it not be? You planned it,” Jade teased. Faith made a face.

“Besides, we have four days to work out the kinks,” Ashley added, “I want to hear about Saint-Noel. We’ve been meaning to visit, but with the new baby and everything.” She glanced at the playpen, where her baby boy, Cian, was napping. In the next playpen, Faith’s seven-month old son Ronan was busy bonding with Neil, Baron and Kara’s son. The two were born a week apart.

“Did you get to visit the general?” Jade asked.

The general was Jade’s husband’s relative on Saint-Noel. “He gave us an amazing guide who took us to the best waters for scuba-diving, beaches off the tourist grid and the best restaurants and clubs in town. We used his sailboat, which was an adventure in itself.” Amy glanced around at the three women, “Thank you guys for the launch party and for taking care of Raelynn while we were gone. I know she can be a handful.”

“No, she was a joy and good for Ella,” Ashley said. “My daughter, if you haven’t noticed, tends to be bossy. She and Raelynn knocked heads a few times, but they always made up. They’re best friends now. Look at them.”

Ella, Raelynn and Jade’s twins, Siobhan and Sean, were splashing in the kiddie pool a few feet from the men’s table, where Eddie, Lex, Baron, Chase, Vaughn, Ron and Ken lounged while sipping beer. The older generation sat a few tables away and the younger ones—teens to early twenties—were in the big pool. The Fitzgeralds were big on Sunday picnics and today was no exception. Amy had met Aunt Viv, the matriarch of the family, at her first Sunday picnic. Scary woman. She’d grilled Amy about her background, until she learned that Amy’s parents were professors. Apparently, educators ranked high in Aunt Viv’s acceptable careers. She had been very cordial to her parents when they came for Amy and Eddie’s engagement party. But the best surprise was the way her mother had clicked with Iona, Eddie’s mother. Because of that, the wedding had gone very smoothly. Eddie was still on the fence when it came to her parents though.

“Daddy…Daddy, watch me,” Raelynn called out and waited until Eddie looked at her, then she threw a toy shark under the water and dived for it. She jumped up and waved the toy. “How many seconds was that, Daddy?”

“Ten seconds, Princess,” Eddie fibbed, clapping. “Way to go.”

The other men joined him. Not to be outdone, Ella waved her toy dolphin.

“Look, Daddy. I’m going to go under for ten seconds too.” When she jumped out of the water, she received accolades from all the men too.

Sean and Siobhan had to show off too. Amy traded another smile with Eddie. As soon as he’d slipped an engagement ring on her finger, Raelynn had claimed him as her daddy, and her daughter never once mentioned Nolan or the past.

“Can we discuss the party now,” Faith asked, giving Ashley a pointed look.

Ashley made a face. “Fine, Miss Anal.”

“Someone has to stay on top of things,” Faith retorted. “That is Ms. Perfectionist to you, Miss Bossy.”

Ashley stuck her tongue out at her. Faith ignored her and placed the electronic planner in front of Amy. “I’ll be quick. While you were gone, I got a call from Aunt Iona’s marketing people. They took over the promotion of the tour and want to meet with you tomorrow. For the release party, we,” she indicated the others, “sent invitations to all our friends and coworkers, so plan on reading to a large crowd. Aunt Iona will be at the local bookstore on Saturday to offer support and so will we.”

“Vaughn will be there too,” Jade added.

“Thanks, Jade. Yeah, Vaughn too. We’ll need to sit down later in the week and go over everything. Maybe after you meet with Aunt Iona’s people,” Faith added.

“Is Faith giving you a hard time?” Eddie asked from behind Amy, surprising her.

Amy glanced up just as he lowered his head.