Keeping You Forever (A Harbor Love Series)

Keeping You Forever ~ Harbor Love Series

Copyright © 2013 Jaclyn Marulanda

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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

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Cover Photo © Azmo31/Dreamstime.com

Cover Designer © 2013 Monkey Business Graphic Design

Editor Kathryn Riehl

www.facebook.com/Riehl.Faith.Productions

Formatting by Black Firefly

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November
…

      
T
wo more miles thought Grace as she pushed herself to finish her morning run. The sun was barely up, just starting to peek over the trees and glimmering over the water. It was cold; the only noise was her heart beat pounding in her ears and the waters off the harbor with boats preparing to set sail into the Atlantic Ocean. Bar Harbor, Maine was home to Grace, it was home since she was four years old.

  As she made it to the end of the street she bent over, sucking air in her lungs and letting her legs relax.

     “I don’t know why I run in this weather” she thought, as she sucked in more air feeling the cold. The bitter air hit her lungs with a chilling sting. She glanced around taking in the sight of the boats in the harbor, the sun was now rising up past the trees and she pushed off again, one foot in front of the other, picking up the same steady rhythm and making her way back home.

     “Morning sunshine, you look like you could use a chair.” Autumn kicked out the stool next to her as Grace plopped down on it, resting her elbows on the counter.

   “Grace why do you get up so early just to run? You have a great body, even without killing yourself with these morning runs.” With thirty approaching she knew her body wasn’t going to maintain itself without some work.

      “Autumn we can’t all be twenty two! You got the better genes of all three of us, just look at you!”

 Autumn was the youngest of the three sisters. Grace was the oldest, she took over caring for her sisters when her mother left town when Autumn was seven. Life was never the same. She gave up everything to take care of her sisters. She made sure they had a good home, food on the table every night and stability, something she never had as a child. Paige was the middle child, smart, pretty and a dreamer, when she was eighteen she left Bar Harbor for New York, to peruse her art career, never looking back. Grace admired her will and dedication to follow her dreams, since that was something she didn’t have a chance to do. Barely making it out of high school, college was never an option but she was still happy for sister and even happier when Autumn didn’t mention leaving on her eighteenth birthday.

     “You’re hot! Trust me, I know these things,” Autumn said.

 Grace didn’t care for being hot anymore, but she would settle for pretty and maybe a glance or two from the opposite gender. Hoping off the   stool she tried remembering when her last date was. “If you can’t even remember your last date you really are lame.” she thought, shutting the bathroom door. It had been three years since her last boyfriend, Denny. He left her for a  twenty-one year old bleach blonde that he met at the bar on a Saturday night. He said it was true love.

Well Miss true love left Bar Harbor and Denny two weeks later to go back to her life in California. Of course he came begging for forgiveness but all he got was the door slammed in his face and the middle finger. Grace really wanted someone to love, and she wasn’t going to settle for the bottom of the barrel pickings. This is exactly what Denny was.

     “Are you coming to Geddys tonight?” Autumn loved her job at Geddys restaurant. It was the only historical theme restaurant in Bar Harbor. It had amazing food and an even more amazing atmosphere.

    “I don’t know I might just stay home tonight and watch a movie or something.” It was a typical Friday night for Grace,  pizza, beer, and a movie. A romantic movie probably, one that would make her feel even worse about her three year dating slump.

  “Oh come on Gracie, please come out, you always stay at home. Just come out have a drink and keep me company at the bar.” Autumn begged.

   What else did she have to do, it’s not like she had a line of guys waiting for her at the door. “Fine, I’ll be there, she pointed at her sister,” but you better have a volcano bowl ready for me. I could use a serious drink.”

     Yeah right, who was she kidding; she knew the volcano bowl would mean the hangover from hell. She couldn’t even share the volcano bowl with Autumn and not have a hangover.

     “I’ll see you later Grace, and don’t worry I’ll have your cheese burger and beer waiting. We both know I’ll have to peel you off the sidewalk if you order the volcano bowl.” Autumn said, grinning as she walked out the door. 

      At least it was Friday, and having two days off from her eight to five banking job was a plus side to her dateless weekend she thought, as she slipped on her high heels.

  “I guess I better take my butt to work since prince charming isn’t paying the bills.” Grace didn’t love her job at the bank but she didn’t hate it either. She had worked there for almost ten years.  If things worked in her favor she would be promoted to branch manager. This would include a pay raise and that was all the motivation she needed to get off of her butt and into her car….if it would even start.

 “Please start––please get me to work and home again,” She said out loud as she made her way down the drive way. It was still early so she wasn’t in a rush. She always made sure to give herself a little extra time to coax her car into starting. With her budget in the red, her car was always last on the list of things that needed fixing.

      Something caught her eye next door. It had been for sale for a year, it was a cute, small cottage home on top of the hill looking down at the harbor, but no one ever seemed to take to it. Until now. It had a new owner. He ripped the sold sign out of the yard and tossed it next to the mail box. He didn’t look like a friendly neighbor, he didn’t even wave back.

Ok, Oscar the grouch
.

  “I hope I never need to borrow a cup of sugar from him.”

 It was her lucky, day because once she turned the key, the engine came to life. “Thank you sweet Jesus, now please work later.”

Being a bank teller on a Friday was busy work. Everyone wanted to cash their paychecks, just to go out and spend it.

 The day was over and it was time to pray that her car would start. It didn’t matter if the car started after it got home, she would probably just walk to Geddys. That was a plus to living so close to Main Street in Bar Harbor, everything was in walking distance.

      Her car started again, proving it really was her lucky day. “Maybe I should play the lottery,” Grace said, as she pulled out of the parking lot and headed home.