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  To her dismay, Bree laughed. “Ah, Kiera, surely you know that none of this was ever about the stew. It was a way to keep the sparks flying between you and Bryan. Now that the job has been done effectively and a marriage proposal’s on the table, do you honestly think there’s a single O’Brien who won’t do whatever it takes to seal the deal?”

  “But how on earth can I marry a man who’d win by cheating?” Kiera asked.

  “I doubt Bryan, Deanna, Nell or anyone else sees it that way. They’re only trying to ensure your happiness. It’s a little mixed up.”

  “A little?” Kiera asked incredulously.

  “Okay, a lot, but it’s the O’Briens we’re talking about. Love and family trump everything else.”

  “Well, our deal is off if that’s the way he wins,” Kiera said stubbornly. “And that’s the last I intend to say about that.”

  She marched out of the flower shop with her chin up and her temper ready to take on anyone who crossed her today, including Bryan and every one of the sneaky O’Briens, starting with Nell. What she’d do about Deanna, who was staying under her very own roof, was something she’d have to consider very carefully. The girl was, after all, just trying to support her father, and even Kiera was wise enough not to want to tamper with that bond.

  *

  Attendance at the fall festival had never been higher. Though the crowd milled about the various booths buying crafts and jars of homemade preserves, it was clear that anticipation for the cooking contest was running high. It was all anyone was talking about. And while people were sampling desserts and other specialties from the participating chefs, the lines for the Irish stew were the longest. Kiera watched in amazement. It was clear everyone in Chesapeake Shores now knew about the outrageous bet between Bryan and Kiera. Despite Kiera’s declaration to Bree, the O’Briens were now oddly unified in telling every person they met on the town green that a vote for Bryan was a vote for love.

  Dillon pulled Kiera aside as she was about to start the preparations for making another gigantic batch of her stew. “Do you want to win this wager?”

  “You know my stew is the best,” she said.

  “Not what I asked. Do you love this man or not?”

  She shrugged. “I just don’t want to make it easy for him, which it seems everyone in town has conspired to do now. Nell and the others have turned it into some romantic fantasy. It’s not about the stew at all, anymore.”

  “Kiera, my darling girl, you don’t make loving you easy on anyone,” her father said, his tone wry. “What will you do if your stew wins? Will that make you happy, to win the prize and lose this man you’ve come to love? And don’t be denying to me that you love him, because it’s been plain as day for a while now.”

  “I wasn’t going to deny it. As for what I’ll do at the end of the day if I happen to win, you’ll have to wait and see. Given the way the O’Briens are trying to stack the deck against me, it seems unlikely to come to that.”

  At six that evening, as the sun was setting and the final votes were being counted, she and Bryan stood nervously on the stage on the town green waiting for Nell to announce the winner of the Irish stew cooking contest.

  Eventually Nell stepped to the microphone, her expression shaken. “Ladies and gentlemen, the winner of the first annual fall festival cooking contest by one vote is…Kiera Malone!”

  The announcement was greeted by a hesitant mix of cheers and stunned silence.

  Kiera wasn’t sure what she expected to find when she looked into Bryan’s eyes, but it certainly wasn’t the gleam of satisfaction she found there.

  “You wanted me to win?” she asked, shocked.

  “You deserved to win. Even I voted for you. A whole bunch of times, in fact. I wasn’t entirely sure if I’d bought enough tickets, but then Dillon said he’d buy a few more.”

  Kiera was thoroughly confused and not entirely sure what to make of this turn of events. “But the stakes…? Didn’t you want the victory?”

  “If you’re asking if I didn’t want you enough, the answer’s no. I didn’t want you this way. I want you because my love is enough for you, not because my Irish stew is better than yours.”

  She felt a smile spread across her face then. Her own very large gamble had paid off, after all. “In that case, then perhaps you can steal that microphone from Nell’s hand and make an announcement of your own.”

  “What announcement would that be?”

  “One that’s sure to please this crowd, even the sneaky O’Briens, who believe that love conquers everything. You can tell them that I might have won the trophy, but you won an even better prize. You got the woman and her trophy.”

  Bryan laughed, exactly as she’d intended, proving that he understood her as few men did.

  “You’re a very complicated woman, Kiera Malone,” he declared.

  “But life with me will never be dull.”

  “That’s the bonus I’m counting on,” he said, taking the microphone from Nell.

  He repeated exactly the words she’d suggested, then went down on one knee in front of her with a ring in hand. Kiera saw the satisfaction on her father’s face, on Nell’s and on Moira’s. Even Deanna was cheering as Kiera let him slip the ring on her finger.

  Bryan rose and drew her to him for a long, lingering kiss that stirred the crowd as nothing else had. With her heart filled with joy, she couldn’t help thinking that a little of that Chesapeake Shores magic she’d heard so much about had indeed rubbed off on her.

  *

  Afterword

  Beginning with the first book I ever wrote way back in the early 1980s, readers have always asked if my settings were real or fictional, especially the small-town settings in so many of my series. Though I have written a number of books in real and recognizable big cities—Miami, Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York, among others—the vast majority of my settings have been small towns and were the products of my imagination.

  That doesn’t mean they weren’t inspired by a very real town, and in just a few weeks, I’ll be introducing readers to that town in a nonfiction book—A Small Town Love Story: Colonial Beach, Virginia. This tiny beach community of some 3,500 or so year-round residents on the Potomac River has been the home of my heart throughout my life. I spent summers there as a child and a teen, and I’ve been returning ever since to the house my parents bought when I was only four years old.

  There are rich memories and romantic daydreams around every corner. Colonial Beach has a quirky, wonderful past and is full of captivating storytellers. Its quintessential small-town flavor makes this real-life town every bit as charming and fascinating as any town I’ve ever created.

  So for all of you who’ve always wondered about who or what might have inspired this story or that one—from Trinity Harbor to Chesapeake Shores, from Serenity, South Carolina, to Whispering Wind, Wyoming—A Small Town Love Story: Colonial Beach, Virginia will give you some insights. I hope you’ll be fascinated by the town’s history and charmed by some of its residents—and maybe, if you’re lucky, you’ll get to visit someday. In the meantime, check your local bookstore for this glimpse into some of my favorite memories and the people who make life in Colonial Beach worthy of a story of its own.

  All best,

  Sherryl

  “Sherryl Woods writes emotionally satisfying novels about

  family, friendship and home. Truly feel-great reads!”

  —#1 New York Times bestselling author Debbie Macomber

  Part memoir, part oral history, #1 New York Times bestselling author Sherryl Woods gives us a rare and intimate look at Colonial Beach, Virginia, the town of her past summers, a place that stole her heart long ago and provided the basis for the many fictional small towns in her bestselling novels.

  True to Woods’s signature style of focusing on characters who are at the center of their communities, here she has woven together the stories of the very real people who helped shaped this seaside town.

  A Small Tow
n Love Story

  Available now!

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  “Woods is a master heartstring puller.”

  —Publishers Weekly on Seaview Inn

  For ten years Emily Dobbs and Marcie Carter have been the closest of friends. They’ve raised their kids together, shared joy and heartache and exchanged neighborhood gossip over tea. But when a series of unthinkable events unfold, the bond between the families could be shattered forever.

  When things seem darkest, both women discover that sometimes the first step toward a better future is mending fences with the past.

  Mending Fences

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  “Sherryl Woods gives her characters depth, intensity, and the right amount of humor.”

  —RT Book Reviews

  Join the O’Brien family in Chesapeake Shores, where stories of friendship, family and love are only just around the corner—you may never want to leave.

  The Inn at Eagle Point

  Flowers on Main

  Harbor Lights

  A Chesapeake Shores Christmas

  Driftwood Cottage

  Moonlight Cove

  Beach Lane

  An O’Brien Family Christmas

  The Summer Garden

  A Seaside Christmas

  The Christmas Bouquet

  Dogwood Hill

  Willow Brook Road

  “Woods’s amazing grasp of human nature and the emotions that lie deep within us make this story universal.”

  —RT Book Reviews on Driftwood Cottage

  Return to the charming Trinity Harbor series with classic stories of intrigue and second chances by #1 New York Times bestselling author Sherryl Woods.

  About That Man

  Ask Anyone

  Along Came Trouble

  “Heartwarming…Woods shows us that while finding one’s way in life, it is critical to seize what is important.”

  –RT Book Reviews on The Summer Garden

  Make sure to also visit the small town of Serenity, South Carolina, in the Sweet Magnolias series.

  Stealing Home

  A Slice of Heaven

  Feels Like Family

  Welcome to Serenity

  Sweet Tea at Sunrise

  Honeysuckle Summer

  Midnight Promises

  Catching Fireflies

  Where Azaleas Bloom

  Swan Point

  “Emotionally satisfying novels about family, friendship and home.”

  —Debbie Macomber, #1 New York Times bestselling author

  Or catch up on the unforgettable and beloved Perfect Destinies saga, where love always finds the Carlton family in the most unexpected places.

  Isn’t It Rich?

  Priceless

  Treasured

  Destiny Unleashed

  “Woods employs her signature elements—

  the Southern small-town atmosphere, the supportive network of friends and family, and the heartwarming romance—to great effect.”

  —Booklist

  Order your copies today!

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  ISBN-13: 9781488028328

  Lilac Lane

  Copyright © 2017 by Sherryl Woods

  All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this ebook on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, M3B 3K9 Canada.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

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