Change of Heart Read online

  Change of Heart

  Judith Keim

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  BOOKS BY JUDITH KEIM

  CHILDREN’S BOOKS BY J. S. KEIM

  PRAISE FOR JUDITH KEIM’S NOVELS

  Change of Heart | A Seashell Cottage Book | Judith Keim | Wild Quail Publishing

  Dedication

  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

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  CHAPTER ONE

  About the Author

  Acknowledgements

  BOOKS BY JUDITH KEIM

  The Talking Tree – The Hartwell Women – 1

  Sweet Talk – The Hartwell Women – 2

  Straight Talk – The Hartwell Women – 3

  Baby Talk – The Hartwell Women – 4

  The Hartwell Women Series – Boxed Set

  Breakfast at The Beach House Hotel –1

  Lunch at The Beach House Hotel – 2

  Dinner at The Beach House Hotel – 3

  Christmas at The Beach House Hotel – 4

  Fat Fridays – Fat Fridays Group – 1

  Sassy Saturdays – Fat Fridays Group – 2

  Secret Sundays – Fat Fridays Group – 3

  Finding Me – A Salty Key Inn Book – 1

  Finding My Way – A Salty Key Inn Book – 2

  Finding Love – A Salty Key Inn Book – 3

  Finding Family – A Salty Key Inn Book – 4

  A Christmas Star – A Seashell Cottage Book

  Change of Heart – A Seashell Cottage Book

  Going Home – A Chandler Hill Inn Book – 1

  Coming Home – A Chandler Hill Inn Book – 2 (Late 2019)

  Home at Last – A Chandler Hill Inn Book – 3 (Early 2020)

  Winning BIG – a little love story for all ages

  For more information: www.judithkeim.com

  CHILDREN’S BOOKS BY J. S. KEIM

  The Hidden Moon – The Hidden Moon Series – 1

  Return to the Hidden Moon – The Hidden Moon Series – 2

  Trouble on the Hidden Moon – The Hidden Moon Series – 3

  Kermit Greene’s World

  For more information: www.judithkeim.com

  PRAISE FOR JUDITH KEIM’S NOVELS

  THE BEACH HOUSE HOTEL SERIES

  “Love the characters in this series. This series was my first introduction to Judith Keim. She is now one of my favorites. Looking forward to reading more of her books.”

  BREAKFAST AT THE BEACH HOUSE HOTEL is an easy, delightful read that offers romance, family relationships, and strong women learning to be stronger. Real life situations filter through the pages. Enjoy!”

  LUNCH AT THE BEACH HOUSE HOTEL – “This series is such a joy to read. You feel you are actually living with them. Can’t wait to read the latest one.”

  DINNER AT THE BEACH HOUSE HOTEL – “A Terrific Read! As usual, Judith Keim did it again. Enjoyed immensely. Continue writing such pleasantly reading books for all of us readers.”

  CHRISTMAS AT THE BEACH HOUSE HOTEL – “Not Just Another Christmas Novel. This is book number four in the series and my introduction to Judith Keim’s writing. I wasn’t disappointed. The characters are dimensional and engaging. The plot is well crafted and advances at a pleasing pace. The Florida location is interesting and warming. It was a delight to read a romance novel with mature female protagonists. Ann and Rhoda have life experiences that enrich the story. It’s a clever book about friends and extended family. Buy copies for your book group pals and enjoy this seasonal read.”

  THE HARTWELL WOMEN SERIES – Books 1 – 4

  “This was an EXCELLENT series. When I discovered Judith Keim, I read all of her books back to back. I thoroughly enjoyed the women Keim has written about. They are believable and you want to just jump into their lives and be their friends! I can't wait for any upcoming books!”

  “I fell into Judith Keim's Hartwell Women series and have read & enjoyed all of her books in every series. Each centers around a strong & interesting woman character and their family interaction. Good reads that leave you wanting more.”

  THE FAT FRIDAYS GROUP – Books 1 – 3

  “Excellent story line for each character, and an insightful representation of situations which deal with some of the contemporary issues women are faced with today.”

  “I love this author's books. Her characters and their lives are realistic. The power of women's friendships is a common and beautiful theme that is threaded throughout this story.”

  THE SALTY KEY INN SERIES

  FINDING ME – “I thoroughly enjoyed the first book in this series and cannot wait for the others! The characters are endearing with the same struggles we all encounter. The setting makes me feel like I am a guest at The Salty Key Inn...relaxed, happy & light-hearted! The men are yummy and the women strong. You can't get better than that! Happy Reading!”

  FINDING MY WAY- “Loved the family dynamics as well as uncertain emotions of dating and falling in love. Appreciated the morals and strength of parenting throughout. Just couldn't put this book down.”

  FINDING LOVE – “I waited for this book because the first two was such good reads. This one didn't disappoint.... Judith Keim always puts substance into her books. This book was no different, I learned about PTSD, accepting oneself, there is always going to be problems but stick it out and make it work. Just the way life is. In some ways a lot like my life. Judith is right, it needs another book and I will definitely be reading it. Hope you choose to read this series, you will get so much out of it.”

  FINDING FAMILY – "Completing this series is like eating the last chip. Love Judith's writing, and her female characters are always smart, strong, vulnerable to life and love experiences."

  "This was a refreshing book. Bringing the heart and soul of the family to us."

  CHANDLER HILL INN SERIES

  GOING HOME – "I absolutely could not put this book down. Started at night and read late into the middle of the night. As a child of the ’60s, the Vietnam war was front and center so this resonated with me. All the characters in the book were so well developed that the reader felt like they were friends of the family."

  "I was completely immersed in this book, with the beautiful descriptive writing, and the authors' way of bringing her characters to life. I felt like I was right inside her story."

  SEASHELL COTTAGE BOOKS

  A CHRISTMAS STAR – "Love, laughter, sadness, great food, and hope for the future, all in one book. It doesn’t get any better than this stunning read."

  "A Christmas Star is a heartwarming Christmas story featuring endearing characters. So many Christmas books are set in snowbound places...it was a nice change to read a Christmas story that takes place on a warm sandy beach!" Susan Peterson

  CHANGE OF HEART – “CHANGE OF HEART is the summer read we’ve all been waiting for. Judith Keim is a master at creating fascinating characters that are simply irresistible. Her stories leave you with a big smile on your face and a heart bursting with lov
e.”

  ~Kellie Coates Gilbert, author of the popular Sun Valley Series

  Change of Heart

  A Seashell Cottage Book

  Judith Keim

  Wild Quail Publishing

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, public or private institutions, corporations, towns, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

  No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review. This book may not be resold or uploaded for distribution to others.

  Wild Quail Publishing

  PO Box 171332

  Boise, ID 83717-1332

  ISBN# 978-1-7327494-1-2

  Copyright ©2019 Judith Keim

  All rights reserved

  Dedication

  This book is dedicated to my husband, Peter, who has never had a change of heart about our being together. Thanks for all these wonderful years! Love you!

  CHAPTER ONE

  Emerson “Em” Jordan closed her eyes as the sound of the music enveloped her in a cloud of happiness. She was taking part in her sister’s wedding at a resort along the Gulf Coast of Florida, but in her mind, it might as well be her own celebration. The dreamy man holding her hadn’t proposed yet, but she was pretty sure he soon would. She’d dropped all kinds of hints about a Valentine engagement and a wedding a year later on Valentine’s Day. It had been a dream of hers from the time she was a girl.

  In a burst of noise, the image of dancing disappeared. Em sat bolt upright in bed and stared out her bedroom window. Through the glass she saw a colorful display of fireworks, and then she heard another loud bang.

  Em lowered her head into her hands and sobbed as she recalled what had happened earlier that evening. The Fourth of July picnic turned into a disaster when her boyfriend, Jared King, had announced he needed to talk to her about something important. When she saw his serious expression and how he was shuffling his feet, a nervous habit of his, her stomach did a somersault. She’d watched her family and friends head out to walk the four blocks to the town park to watch the fireworks and wished she could run after them.

  As he studied her, Jared took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “ Like I said, we need to talk. I can’t do this any longer. I love you, Em, I do, but I’m not in love with you. It’s time to call it quits.”

  She lifted a hand to her cheek as if he’d slapped her and reeled away from him. “You’re breaking up with me? Like this?”

  He sighed. “It’s not working. And it’s not going to.”

  Shocked, she stared at him wide eyed, certain she was about to throw up. She staggered over to one of the picnic tables set up in her parents’ backyard and plopped down on the bench beside it. Bending over, Em put her head between her legs hoping to stop the world around her from spinning.

  “Are you all right?” Jared asked, standing a safe distance from her.

  Anger straightened her. “I’m not all right, Jared King! You just broke my heart! I’m not sure I’ll ever be all right again!”

  “I’m sorry, Em. I really am.” He’d simply turned and walked away, leaving her to clutch her body, too weak to run after him, her dreams scattered around her like crushed blossoms.

  ###

  For the next few weeks, Em managed to continue working at the family’s flower shop, but, in truth, she barely functioned. Jagged edges of her broken heart kept poking her insides, taking away her breath, stealing the cheerfulness she usually wore like a comfortable old sweater to protect her. Not even the sweet smell of freesia in the flower shop could chase away the pain of Jared’s words. It was a good thing that Jared lived in New York City, an hour away. She couldn’t bear to see him.

  She returned to her task of putting together a basket of summer wild flowers. She loved making things look as natural as possible, and woven baskets were good containers for the colorful blooms.

  “How are you coming with the Williams order?” her grandmother, Julia Jordan, asked as she entered the work area.

  “Almost done,” Em said, standing back to appraise the placement of flowers.

  “Looks wonderful, sweetheart.” After the death of her husband many years ago, her grandmother had opened the flower shop she’d named Rainbow’s End in their small, upstate town of Ellenton, New York. In her seventies, Julia was still an attractive woman with gray hair cut in a bob, sparkling eyes, and a face that reflected beauty enhanced by her inner peace. Em smiled. Of all the people in the family, her grandmother understood her best. Two optimists who came together. Didn’t the name of her flower shop say it all?

  Later, as Em was putting together a bouquet for a husband to send as a surprise to his wife, she couldn’t hold back the question that had been gnawing at her insides. “Gran, Jared told me he loved me, but he wasn’t in love with me.” It still hurt to say the words.

  Her grandmother’s blue-eyed gaze, so like her own, rested on her thoughtfully. “He wasn’t the right man. Don’t worry. You have time.”

  “But, Gran, I’ll be thirty-two next spring! And every man I meet ends up being wrong for me. First, there was Garrett. He turned out to be gay, for heaven’s sake.”

  Gran clucked her tongue. “The opera singer in New York was the hardest for me to imagine your marrying. Imagine him already married to a concert pianist on tour!”

  “Yeah, that was another bad time. He’d told me he was lonely. I thought it was because he was living so far away from family. I didn’t imagine him having a wife. Neither he nor news releases ever mentioned it.”

  Gran placed a hand on Em’s shoulder. “I’m so glad you agreed to come back to Ellenton to live. The trouble with you, Emerson, is you want to believe only the best in everybody in every aspect of your life. That makes you a special person, but one who is bound to get hurt.”

  “I know everyone teases me about being a Pollyanna, but I’d prefer to live happily rather than face doom and gloom all the time.”

  Gran drew her into a hug. “Maybe it’s time for you to have a change of heart, become a little more careful, more realistic. Nothing too drastic, mind you.”

  Em laid the red rose in her hand on the workbench. “Are you saying it’s time for me to grow up?”

  “In a way,” she said kindly, brushing Em’s long, blond hair away from her face. “You and I, we’re two of a kind. We dream of what could be without seeing things as they really are. Who knew my husband would die at a young age, leaving me with a young son to raise and no money?”

  “I’m glad you decided to open a flower shop. I love it.” Em drew a shaky breath. “But, Gran, I hope you understand I can’t go through Valentine’s Day working here. That’s when Jared was supposed to propose to me.”

  “No worries. I already figured that out. Besides, my neighbor, Marilyn, needs to find a job. I promised I’d hire her on a part-time basis, thinking if she worked out, I’d bring her on board full-time before the holidays. That will give you a chance to start thinking about opening the landscape design business you’ve been talking about.”

  Relief sprinted through Em. She’d never want to hurt her grandmother, but no way, no how could she endure making beautiful bouquets, lovely nosegays, or single-rose love letters of her own design for others during the romantic time of Valentine’s Day.

  ###

  As fall hurried through September and October toward the holidays, depression hit Em hard. She had no intention of dating anyone, but still, holidays were no time to be alone. She was struggling to find something to make her feel more positive about her life.

  “Why don’t you go away for Valentine’s Day?” her sister, Elena, suggested. “I have the perfect place for you. Remember the house Mom and Dad thought of renting for my wedding? Seashell
Cottage? Maybe that’s something you could do. Get a friend to share the cost, then go and have fun! I’ll text you the number for the rental agency.”

  Em felt like magically flying through space to Philadelphia to give her sister a hug. “That’s perfect! I’ll look them up on the web and give them a call. Thank you, sis. That would be a wonderful break for me—a break I really need. I’m pretty sure I can talk Kat into going with me. She’s single again and is as depressed as I am.”

  They chatted for a few minutes longer, and then Em clicked off the call and hurried over to the computer in the flower shop. She found the website easily, and before she could stop to think about it, she called the rental office.

  “Palm Rentals and Realty,” a cheerful voice answered. When Em queried her about Seashell Cottage, the woman at the end of the line said, “Funny you should call. The young, married couple who were going to rent it cancelled yesterday. It seems she’s pregnant and won’t be able to travel at that time. Any chance you could take all ten days they had? It’s the only free time we have for the winter.”

  “I think so. Let me speak to my friend, and I’ll confirm that with you by the end of the day.”

  Em clicked off the call and immediately called Kat.

  “Whassup?” said Kat.

  “I’ve got the perfect plan for Valentine’s Day,” said Em, unable to hold back her excitement. “I want you to go to Florida with me for ten days. Go to the website for Seashell Cottage and tell me what you think. We could share the cost, have a great getaway, and forget our dating troubles.”

  A customer walked into the flower shop. “I’ve got to go. Call me back ASAP.”

  With a new spring in her step, Em went to the front of the store and took down the information for an anniversary bouquet. The older, gray-haired gentleman dictating what he wanted was adorable. Wearing jeans and a bright-blue flannel shirt that matched his eyes, he seemed full of life as he spoke.