Bayside Escape

  Bayside

  Escape

  Bayside Summers

  Love in Bloom Series

  Melissa Foster

  This is a work of fiction. The events and characters described herein are imaginary and are not intended to refer to specific places or living persons. The opinions expressed in this manuscript are solely the opinions of the author and do not represent the opinions or thoughts of the publisher. The author has represented and warranted full ownership and/or legal right to publish all the materials in this book.

  BAYSIDE ESCAPE

  All Rights Reserved.

  Copyright © 2019 Melissa Foster

  Kobo Edition

  V1.0

  This book may not be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in whole or in part by any means, including graphic, electronic, or mechanical without the express written consent of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  Cover Design: Elizabeth Mackey Designs

  Cover Photography: Wander Pedro Aguiar

  PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

  A Note from Melissa

  I am truly thrilled to bring you Violet and Andre’s story! Violet is one of those complex, mysterious characters who has been teasing me for so long, I was beyond ready to dive in and find out more about her. She’s been through a lot with her kooky mother, her disjointed childhood, and the way she was thrust into a new life as an inn owner with her estranged sister. It’s about time she found her happily ever after. You might remember hearing about Andre in Bayside Desires. He’s back in her life, and he’s not about to let her go. I hope you enjoy Violet and Andre’s sexy, romantic adventure.

  There is a very big cast of characters in this story, and each one plays an important part in Violet’s life. You can find a downloadable character list on my website:

  www.melissafoster.com/books/bayside-escape

  I have more fun, sexy romances coming up soon. Be sure to sign up for my newsletter so you don’t miss them.

  www.MelissaFoster.com/Newsletter

  If this is your first Love in Bloom novel, dive right in! All Love in Bloom stories are written to be enjoyed as stand-alone novels or as part of the larger series. For more information on Love in Bloom titles visit www.MelissaFoster.com

  Love in Bloom FREE Reader Goodies

  If you love funny, sexy, and deeply emotional love stories, be sure to check out the rest of the Love in Bloom big-family romance collection, and download your free reader goodies, including publication schedules, series checklists, family trees, and more!

  www.MelissaFoster.com/RG

  Remember to check my freebies page for periodic first-in-series free ebooks and other great offers!

  www.MelissaFoster.com/LIBFree

  Happy reading!

  Table of Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  A Note from Melissa

  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

  Epilogue

  About Bayside Romance

  About Seaside Dreams

  About Tru Blue

  About Embracing Her Heart

  More Books By Melissa Foster

  Acknowledgments

  Meet Melissa

  Chapter One

  VIOLET PACED THE floor of her half sister Desiree’s bedroom, stealing glances out the window of their waterfront inn. They’d been blessed with a gorgeous September evening, the sky was clear, and the breeze hadn’t yet kicked up. Summer House sat high on the dunes, giving Violet a gorgeous view of the beach below, where Desiree’s fiancé, Rick, mingled with his brother and friends around the beautiful arbor he’d built for the wedding. The ceremony was supposed to start in ten minutes, but Violet and Desiree’s selfish, flighty mother, Lizza, had yet to show up. Desiree had been watching the parking lot like a hawk out the front window, while Violet and three of their closest friends tried to distract her. It was bad enough that their good friend Harper couldn’t make it back from Los Angeles for the wedding or to help out at their inn while Desiree was on her honeymoon. If Lizza was lucky, she’d have an equally good excuse, or she’d have Violet to answer to.

  Rick’s sister, Mira, was nursing her newborn baby girl, Holly, as the girls chatted about the wedding. Desiree looked anxiously out the window again. If Violet had any hope of getting her down to the beach before she fell apart completely, they had to get a move on.

  “How much milk can one baby drink?” Violet asked.

  Mira touched Holly’s cheek and said, “As much as she needs or wants. As Hagen says, it’s not like she can have a hamburger.” Hagen was Mira’s little boy, who was outside with her husband, Matt. “You might as well call me Bessie from now on. I feel like a milking cow.”

  “You look beautiful,” Desiree reassured her.

  “Well, beautiful Bessie,” Violet said, “you’d better hurry up or the sun’s going to set.”

  “Shh,” Desiree urged. “Don’t rush her. Let Holly eat in peace.”

  Desiree looked gorgeous with her blond hair tumbling loose over the shoulders of her peach maxi dress. The corset top laced up the front, showing off her hourglass figure, and the skirt had ruffles from hips to ankles. Desiree was as proper as Violet was unfiltered, and after a lifetime of barely knowing each other, they’d spent the last couple of years forming a sisterly bond Violet had never imagined possible. The wedding was exactly as Desiree had wanted, with lots of frilly, flowery shit and sappy, tacky things, like wooden signs leading down the dune that read LEAVE SHOES HERE! YOU’RE ALMOST THERE! and THIS WAY TO YOUR FOREVER!

  At least Rick wouldn’t let Desiree down. He was determined to make sure all of her dreams came true. Desiree thought their honeymoon was going to be spent at the Monroe House, a remote Upstate New York resort, but they were only spending one week there. Desiree had never been overseas, and once their week was up, Rick was going to surprise her with an additional two weeks in Portugal. Violet couldn’t be happier for her.

  “Babies need calm environments,” Serena said, peering into the mirror and fussing with her dark hair. She had recently gotten engaged to Rick’s brother, Drake.

  Violet rolled her eyes. “Babies spend nine months getting rocked and rolled as their mommy and daddy bang like bunnies.”

  “Violet!” Desiree chided her.

  Violet set her hands on her hips and said, “Don’t even pretend you’re embarrassed by that when every one of us knows if you have good or bad sex based on the breakfasts you make for us each morning.”

  Desiree’s cheeks flushed. “But you don’t have to talk about it!”

  “Yes, she does,” Mira said with a smile. She pressed a kiss to Holly’s forehead and tucked herself back into her dress. “Look how much fun she’s having making you blush.”

  Desiree sighed.

  Emery, Desiree’s best friend, who had recently moved to the Cape, watched as Mira burped Holly and said, “I think I need a baby.”

  “Like you need a hole in the head,” Violet said. “You can barely feed yourself.”

  “That’s what Dean is for.” Dean was Emery’s fiancé, and he co-owned Bayside Resort, the property next door to the inn, with Rick and Drake. “And I have an insatiable appet ite for that man.” Emery waggled her brows, making them all laugh. She looked down at her lean, toned body, a benefit of teaching yoga at the inn, and palmed her breasts. “Besides, if I had a baby, I’d have nice knockers.”

  “Can we please hurry up so Des and Rick’s fuckery can finally be legal?” Violet waved toward the door.

  Emery bit her lower lip, giving Violet a worried look. Emery had grown up with Desiree in Oak Falls, Virginia, and she knew just how often Lizza had let her down.

  Violet glared at her.

  “Come on.” Violet grabbed Emery’s arm and dragged her away from the others. “If you mention Lizza I will kill you right here and now.”

  “I won’t,” she whispered as the others fawned over Holly and Desiree. “But…” She glanced at Desiree, who was heading for the window again.

  “No buts,” Violet said sternly. “I’ve got her.” She went to corral the others and said, “Okay, Bessie, Serena, please go keep the guys company and tell Ted we’re on our way.”

  Ted was Desiree’s father, and for the first seven years of Violet’s life, he’d also been Violet’s stepfather. Until Lizza got bored, divorced Ted, and yanked Violet out of the only happy family she’d ever known. She’d left Desiree to be raised by her father, and she’d whisked Violet away to live a nomadic lifestyle as Lizza taught English as a second language, meditated, and floated through life on a whim.

  The girls hugged Desiree, and then Violet ushered them out the door, trying to ignore the thickening of her throat as sadness rounded Desiree’s shoulders.

  “I can’t believe she didn’t show up,” Desiree said. “I thought she really wanted to see me get married. She even said she was bringing a plus one.” Her voice went low and angry. “Why did she bother asking us to reserve the artist’s cottage for her for a month if she had no intention of showing up? We could have rented it out. You don’t think something could have happened to her, do you?”

  “No. She has spent a lifetime letting us down. This is what she does.” Violet dragged Desiree away from the window, gritting her teeth, when what she really wanted to do was hunt down their mother and give her hell.

  Lizza had always changed directions as often as the wind. She and Violet had traveled overseas, never staying anywhere longer than a few months at a time, and rarely returning to visit with Desiree. If not for the few brief, uncomfortable visits, and the time they’d spent with their grandmother every summer at the inn, Desiree and Violet would have been complete and total strangers. As it was, before Lizza had tricked them into coming to the inn a few years ago, leaving them with a mortgage, an art gallery, and a secret sex shop, they’d barely known each other. And now this? This was too much.

  “I’m sorry, Des.”

  Desiree’s eyes dampened, and Violet cursed under her breath.

  “I’m sorry.” Desiree snagged a tissue from the dressing table and dabbed at her eyes. “I know you hate when I cry.”

  “I don’t hate when you cry. I hate that she makes you sad.” Blinking away her own damn tears, she took Desiree by the shoulders and said, “Listen to me. Your father is on the beach waiting to walk you down the aisle to marry the man of your dreams, and God only knows how you managed it, but your badass biker sister is wearing a dress.”

  Desiree’s eyes swept over Violet’s body-hugging black dress, lingering on the open zipper, which started just below her ribs on her right side and wound around her torso, across her lower back, and over her left hip, exposing a trail of flesh all the way to where it ended at the top of a long slit that ran from thigh to ankle. She smiled and said, “I’m never going to see you in a dress again, am I?”

  “Not a chance in hell.” If it were up to Violet, she’d have worn a black leather miniskirt, jeans, or cutoffs, with her biker boots, a black tank top, and her leather jacket.

  “What if you get married someday?” Desiree reached up and touched Violet’s long jet-black hair. Then she touched the ink on Violet’s shoulder and arm. “You’ll make a beautiful bride.”

  “Not happening, and more importantly, we are not going to let Lizza ruin this day for you. You are gorgeous, Rick adores you, and you have the world at your fingertips, so let’s spin this positive. At least you no longer have to stress out over how Ted and Lizza will get along.” When that didn’t earn a response, she said, “Des, Lizza is always going to be Lizza.”

  “She does the best she can,” Desiree said sweetly.

  Those six words had become their mantra, and they both knew it was the truth. Their mother tried to do what she thought was right for each of her daughters. But that didn’t make Desiree hurt any less. Violet had nerves of steel. She could handle her mother’s bullshit. But seeing Desiree in pain? That killed her. With Desiree and their friends, Violet had found the stable family she’d always wanted, and she wasn’t going to let Lizza waste another second of Desiree’s happiness.

  “You know, for a girlie girl,” Violet said with a teasing smile, “you sort of suck at this wedding stuff.”

  Desiree’s green eyes—the only trait the sisters shared—widened, and her jaw dropped open. “Why? We planned every detail. You said it was beautiful and perfect!”

  Violet reached into the bag she’d brought and said, “It will be. I know you said you wanted a small wedding, and you feel like your life is here, so you didn’t invite the friends you have from Oak Falls. But you were so close to the Montgomerys that when Amber reached out to see what they could give you, there was only one thing I could come up with, and her sister did a beautiful job.” She fished out the black garter with pearl appliqué and pretty pink ribbon and lace and handed it to Desiree.

  “Violet!” She laughed. “Morgyn made this? It’s so pretty.”

  “I know you would have asked for something white or pink, but nobody bangs the headboard as loudly as you and Rick without a little naughtiness going on.”

  Desiree swatted her, her cheeks flaming red.

  “I think you also forgot you need something borrowed.”

  “Oh gosh, you’re right,” Desiree said, frantically looking around the room.

  “I’ve got you covered.” Violet reached into the bag again and handed her a small pink-and-white batik pouch she’d made. “You’re borrowing the pouch. What’s inside is a gift.”

  Desiree opened the pouch and shook out a gold necklace with two dainty interlocking yellow and white gold rings. Her eyes dropped to the matching necklace around Violet’s neck, and her eyes welled with tears. “Sister necklaces?”

  “Don’t get all sappy and ruin your makeup. Emery will give me hell if you do.” She secured the necklace around Desiree’s neck, choking back her own emotions. “It symbolizes infinite strength, protection, and unity. The rings move freely but are forever connected. No matter where we are, we’ll always have each other.”

  Desiree threw her arms around Violet’s neck.

  “Oh God, more hugging?” Violet teased. It had taken her a long time to get comfortable with Desiree’s frequent outpourings of affection, but as she embraced the sister she’d missed for so many years, her heart swelled. “Okay, bridey. Time to put that garter on and get down to the beach to marry your man.”

  They rushed down the wide staircase. Desiree stopped on the first floor and grabbed Violet’s hand. “Wait! Our shoes! We left them in the room.”

  Violet groaned. “We’re leaving them at the top of the dunes anyway. Do we really need them?”

  “But what about the Harley-Davidson Tybee boots Donovan special ordered for you?” Donovan owned Swank, the Provincetown boutique where Violet and Desiree had bought their dresses.

  “I’ll wear them tonight. Come on, before Rick thinks you backed out.”

  “Like he’d ever think that.”

  They headed for the back door just as the front door flew open and their mother breezed in, waving her hands and flashing her Julia Roberts smile. Her long dress was tie-dyed in orange, black, and white. It was cut wide and deep at the neckline and belted at the waist, with a long flowing skirt and billowing sleeves. Lizza was tall and slim, and like Violet, her dress was slit right up to her thigh, giving her a youthful appearance.

  Her wild chestnut mane swished past her shoulders as she came at them. “Hello, my darlings!”

  Violet froze, anger bubbling up inside her.

  Lizza threw her arms around Desiree and said, “Happy wedding day, Desi.”

  “I thought you weren’t coming,” Desiree said uneasily, her eyes shifting to Violet over Lizza’s shoulder.

  Lizza released her and embraced Violet equally as eagerly. “Violet, look at you! Why, the Cape has been good for you, hasn’t it?”

  “Where have you been?” Violet asked curtly, annoyed that the first words out of her mouth weren’t an apology for Desiree. “Des has been waiting all day.”

  “It’s okay,” Desiree said. “I’m just glad you made it.”

  “It’s not okay,” Violet seethed. “When you say you’re going to be at your daughter’s wedding, you show up before the start of the ceremony, which we’re now late for.”

  “Oh, Desi, I’m sorry. Vi’s right,” their mother said. “It’s been a busy day, and I wish I could have come sooner. You didn’t think I’d miss your wedding, did you?”

  Violet scoffed. Desiree elbowed her, silently chastising her with pleading eyes as the front door opened again. Lizza spun around and said, “There you are!” She ran toward the door, arms up, blocking their view of what had to be a crazy man since he was traveling with their mother.

  She lowered her arms to take his hand and spun around with a beaming smile and said, “Girls, this is my plus one!”

  Violet couldn’t breathe.

  Standing before her was the man she’d left behind in Ghana more than two years ago. The man who had asked her to move to Boston and become his wife. Beautiful, loving, talented Andre Shaw. His hair was the color of desert sand. It was longer on top than she remembered, cut short on the sides. He must still run his hands through it, because it was tousled, and a few wispy bangs hung over his thick brows. She could still feel his chiseled cheeks beneath her fingers, his warm lips on hers, and the slide of his aquiline nose against her skin. A dusting of scruff covered the devastatingly sexy cleft in his chin, but his loving dark eyes—the ones that still haunted her dreams—bore a mix of shock and pain, as if he’d seen a ghost.