The Sea Glass Cottage Read online

  An unexpected homecoming brings hope and healing to three generations of women...

  The life Olivia Harper always dreamed of isn’t so dreamy these days. The sixteen-hour work days are unfulfilling, and so are things with her ex-fiancé, who suddenly wants to take up where they left off. But when she hears that her estranged mother, Juliet, has been seriously injured in a car accident, Liv has no choice but to pack up her life and head home to beautiful Cape Sanctuary on the Northern California coast.

  It’s just for a few months—that’s what Liv keeps telling herself. But as Liv gets closer to Cape Sanctuary, the painful memories start flooding back: Natalie, her vibrant, passionate older sister who downward spiraled into addiction. The fights with her mother, who enabled her sister at every turn. The overdose that took Natalie, leaving her now-teenaged daughter, Caitlin, an orphan.

  As Liv tries to balance her own needs with those of her injured mother and an obstinate, resentful fifteen-year-old, it becomes clear that all three Harper women have been keeping heartbreaking secrets from one another. And as those secrets are revealed, Liv, Juliet and Caitlin will see that it’s never too late—or too early—to heal family wounds and find forgiveness.

  Praise for New York Times bestselling author

  RaeAnne Thayne

  “[Thayne’s] books are wonderfully romantic, feel-good reads that end with me sighing over the last pages.”

  —Debbie Macomber, #1 New York Times bestselling author

  “As always, Thayne shines a light into the scared corners of the heart and illuminates the beauty hidden inside.”

  —Amazon Book Review on The Cliff House

  “Entertaining, heart-wrenching, and totally involving, this multithreaded story overflows with characters readers will adore.”

  —Library Journal on Evergreen Springs (starred review)

  “RaeAnne Thayne is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors.... Once you start reading, you aren’t going to be able to stop.”

  —Fresh Fiction

  “Thayne’s realistic characterization grounds the hope of falling in love with the trials and tribulations that so often come with it.”

  —BookPage on Serenity Harbor

  “RaeAnne has a knack for capturing those emotions that come from the heart.”

  —RT Book Reviews

  “Her engaging storytelling...will draw readers in from the very first page.”

  —RT Book Reviews on Riverbend Road

  “Tiny Haven Point springs to vivid life in Thayne’s capable hands as she spins another sweet, heartfelt story.”

  —Library Journal on Redemption Bay

  “[Thayne] engages the reader’s heart and emotions, inspiring hope and the belief that miracles are possible.”

  —#1 New York Times bestselling author Debbie Macomber

  “Entertaining, heart-wrenching, and totally involving, this multi­threaded story overflows with characters readers will adore.”

  —Library Journal on Evergreen Springs (starred review)

  “Deliciously flirty and totally engrossing.”

  —Library Journal on Sugar Pine Trail

  “Serenity Harbor is riveting to the very end.”

  —BookPage

  “RaeAnne Thayne is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors.... Once you start reading, you aren’t going to be able to stop.”

  —Fresh Fiction

  “Endearing small-town residents and bratty cats add humor to this heartwarming, steady-paced holiday romance.”

  —Publishers Weekly on Sugar Pine Trail

  Also available from

  RaeAnne Thayne

  and HQN

  The Cliff House

  Haven Point

  Snow Angel Cove

  Redemption Bay

  Evergreen Springs

  Riverbend Road

  Snowfall on Haven Point

  Serenity Harbor

  Sugar Pine Trail

  The Cottages on Silver Beach

  Season of Wonder

  Coming Home for Christmas

  Hope’s Crossing

  Blackberry Summer

  Woodrose Mountain

  Sweet Laurel Falls

  Currant Creek Valley

  Willowleaf Lane

  Christmas in Snowflake Canyon

  Wild Iris Ridge

  For a complete list of books by RaeAnne Thayne,

  please visit www.raeannethayne.com.

  NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR

  RaeAnne Thayne

  The Sea Glass Cottage

  About the Author

  RaeAnne Thayne finds inspiration in the beautiful northern Utah mountains, where the New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author lives with her husband and three children. Her books have won numerous honors, including RITA® Award nominations from Romance Writers of America and a Career Achievement Award from RT Book Reviews. RaeAnne loves to hear from readers and can be contacted through her website, www.raeannethayne.com.

  Whenever I am asked to provide acknowledgments and a dedication to my book, I am overwhelmed with gratitude for all those behind the scenes who have a role in bringing to life my initial raw idea to a completed book my readers can hold in their hands. As always, I am deeply indebted to my editor, the wonderful Gail Chasan (and her amazing assistant, Megan Broderick); to my indomitable agent, Karen Solem; to Sarah Burningham and her hardworking team at Little Bird Publicity for tirelessly helping spread the word about my books; to Lisa Wray and her marketing team at Harlequin; to my assistants, Judie Bouldry and Carrie Stevenson, for keeping me on track; and to everyone else at Harlequin—from the art department for their stunning covers to the copy editors, sales force, production team and everyone else I may have failed to mention.

  As always, I owe the deepest of debts to my hero of a husband and our three children, who have somehow managed to put up with my deadline craziness for more than sixty books. I love you all dearly.

  Finally, this particular book would not have been possible without three cherished friends who helped me see the possibilities: Jill Shalvis, Marina Adair and Joan Swan. I can’t thank you enough for all your help!

  To our newfound family, Shane, Ryan and Brad. Our lives have been changed forever by your willingness to open your hearts.

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Epilogue

  1

  OLIVIA

  She could do this.

  Olivia Harper approached the nondescript coffee shop across the street from her apartment in the Lower Queen Anne neighborhood of Seattle.

/>   The place wasn’t necessarily her favorite. The servers could be rude, the food overcooked and the coffee rather bland compared to the place she preferred a few blocks east. The ambience at the Kozy Kitchen wasn’t particularly cozy, or “kozy,” either, for that matter, featuring cracked vinyl booths and walls that had needed a new coat of paint about a decade earlier. The Kitchen, as those in the neighborhood called it, was too tired and dingy to attract many hipsters, with their laptops and their slouchy knit caps and their carefully groomed facial hair.

  Right now, it was perfect for her needs. Olivia stood outside the door, ignoring the drizzle and the pedestrians hurrying past her on their way to somewhere far more interesting and important than this run-down diner.

  Every instinct inside her cried out for her to rush back down the street, race up the three flights to her apartment, climb into her bed and yank the covers over her head.

  Any normal person would feel the same in her situation, especially after enduring a life-changing event like she had experienced five days earlier.

  Her reaction wasn’t out of the ordinary. In the five days since she had witnessed a horrific assault at another diner, the nightmares still haunted her, so vivid she had awakened every morning smelling spilled coffee, blood and fear.

  She closed her eyes, still hearing the screams of the barista, the enraged yells of the junkie senselessly attacking her, Olivia’s own harsh, terrified breathing.

  She could feel the floor tiles under her knees and the cushions of the booth pressing into her back as she huddled on the floor, trying to make herself disappear.

  Until that experience less than a week earlier, Olivia had blithely gone through life with absolutely no idea what a craven coward she was.

  If she had ever thought about it, which, quite honestly, she hadn’t, she might have assumed she would be the kind of person always ready to step up in the face of danger. Someone who could yank a child out of the way of a speeding car or dive into a lake to rescue a floundering swimmer or confront a bully tormenting someone smaller than him.

  Someone like her beloved father, who had given his life to save others.

  Instead, when her moment to stand up and make a difference came along, she had done absolutely nothing to help another human under attack except crouch under a table and call 911, all but paralyzed by her fear.

  Shame left a bitter taste, even five days later. She hated remembering that she had done nothing while that junkie had fired a gun in the air then used it to pistol-whip the barista again and again.

  Olivia had wanted desperately to run out of the coffee shop and find help but she’d been afraid to do even that, not sure if he had more rounds in his weapon.

  The attack had seemed to last hours but had only been a moment or two before the barista herself and another customer, a woman approximately the age of Olivia’s mother, had finally put an end to the horror.

  That customer, just walking into the otherwise empty coffee shop, had sized up the situation in an instant and demonstrated all the strength and courage that had completely deserted Olivia. Instead of hurrying out of the coffee shop to safety, she had instead run to the barista’s aid, yelling at the junkie to stop.

  Startled, he had paused his relentless, horrifying random attack and had eased away slightly. That had been long enough for the barista, battered and bleeding and crying in pain, to pick up a carafe of coffee and throw it and its piping hot contents at him.

  Olivia could still hear his outraged yell and the shouts of a neighborhood police officer who had finally responded to her call, ordering everyone down to the ground.

  In five minutes it was over, but Olivia had relived it for days, especially coming face-to-face with the stark realization that she was a craven coward.

  Steve Harper would have been ashamed of her.

  Amazing, the lengths a person could go to deceive herself. All this time, Olivia thought she was strong and decisive and in control.

  In certain areas of her life, maybe. Hadn’t she moved away from her hometown in Northern California to go to college twelve years earlier and never looked back? That had taken strength. And she had built her own social media marketing company in her own time, working nights and weekends until she now had clients across the globe.

  Of course, she was terrified to take the leap and make her side hustle her full-time job. She still put in long hours handling information technology for a medical conglomerate because the pay was good and the benefits amazing—even though her ex-fiancé worked in the administration for said conglomerate and made her life unnecessarily difficult, simply because she had broken off their engagement six months earlier.

  She was constantly running from any situation she found emotionally threatening.

  “Are you going in?”

  A man was holding the door for her, she realized. He was about her age and not bad looking in a slightly rumpled, professor sort of way.

  She started to take a step inside after him but fear froze her in place. She couldn’t do it. Not yet.

  “I’m waiting for someone,” she lied.

  “Here’s a crazy idea. You could always wait inside, where it’s dry.”

  He smiled, his brown eyes friendly and with a glimmer of interest.

  “I’m good,” she mumbled.

  He shrugged and let the door between them close with a disappointed sort of look.

  Yeah, she was a coward when it came to dating, too. She had one serious relationship in college that had ended by mutual agreement. Then she’d become engaged to the first guy she dated out of school, until she realized neither one of them loved the other. They were simply together for convenience.

  She had convinced herself that a mildly enjoyable relationship was the safer choice. What if she loved someone passionately, fiercely, and then lost him suddenly, as her mother had her father? Sixteen years later, there were times Juliet still seemed shattered.

  So many things could go wrong. A car accident. A plane crash. A heart attack.

  A burning building where a man might run inside to save people, despite his daughter begging him not to do it.

  Olivia shoved her hands into her pockets against the damp Seattle afternoon. Nothing would take the chill from her bones, though. She knew that. Even five days of sick leave, huddling in her bed and mindlessly bingeing on cooking shows hadn’t done anything but make her crave cake.

  She couldn’t hide away in her apartment forever. Eventually she was going to have to reenter life and go back to work, which was why she stood outside this coffee shop in a typical spring drizzle with her heart pounding and her stomach in knots.

  This was stupid. The odds of anything like that happening to her again were ridiculously small. She couldn’t let one man battling mental illness and drug abuse control the rest of her life.

  She could do this.

  She reached out to pull the door open, but before she could make contact with the metal handle, her cell phone chimed from her pocket.

  She knew instantly from the ringtone it was her best friend from high school, who still lived in Cape Sanctuary with her three children.

  Talking to Melody was more important than testing her resolve by going into the Kozy Kitchen right now, she told herself. She answered the call, already heading back across the street to her own apartment.

  “Mel,” she answered, her voice slightly breathless from the adrenaline still pumping through her and from the stairs she was racing up two at a time. “I’m so glad you called.”

  Glad didn’t come close to covering the extent of her relief. She really hadn’t wanted to go into that coffee shop. Not yet. Why should she make herself? She had coffee at home and could have groceries delivered when she needed them.

  “You know why I’m calling, then?” Melody asked, a strange note in her voice.

  “I know it’s amazing to hear f
rom you. You’ve been on my mind.”

  She was not only a coward but a lousy friend. She hadn’t checked in with Melody in a few weeks, despite knowing her friend was going through a life upheaval far worse than witnessing an attack on someone else.

  As she unlocked her apartment, the cutest rescue dog in the world, a tiny, fluffy cross between a Chihuahua and a miniature poodle, gyrated with joy at the sight of her.

  Yet another reason she didn’t have to leave. If she needed love and attention, she only had to call her dog and Otis would come running.

  She scooped him up and let him lick her face, already feeling some of her anxiety calm.

  “I was thinking how great it would be if you and the boys could come up and stay with me for a few days when school gets out for the summer,” she said now to Melody. “We could take the boys to the Space Needle, maybe hop the ferry up to the San Juans and go whale watching. They would love it. What do you think?”

  The words seemed to be spilling out of her, too fast. She was babbling, a weird combination of relief that she hadn’t had to face that coffee shop and guilt that she had been wrapped up so tightly with her own life that she hadn’t reached out to a friend in need.

  “My apartment isn’t very big,” she went on without waiting for an answer. “But I have an extra bedroom and can pick up some air beds for the boys. They’ve got some really comfortable ones these days. I’ve got a friend who says she stayed on one at her sister’s house in Tacoma and slept better than she does on her regular mattress. I’ve still got my car, though I hardly drive it in the city, and the boys would love to meet Otis. Maybe we could even drive to Olympic National Park, if you wanted.”

  “Liv. Stop.” Melody cut her off. “Though that all sounds amazing and I’m sure the boys would love it, we can talk about that later. You have no idea why I called, do you?”

  “I... Why did you call?”

  Melody was silent for a few seconds. “I’m afraid there’s been an accident,” she finally said.

  The breath ran out of Olivia like somebody had popped one of those air mattresses with a bread knife.

 
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