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Chapter 1

Prologue—Dawn

Two weeks ago...

I rushed up the stairs of Boozy Books, my e-reader under my arm, and jogged into the upstairs café. The book club meeting had already started, and my friend Emma waved me over to her table where she’d saved me a seat. I slid into the chair and sent her a grateful smile.

“You’re late,” she whispered.

“Got hung up at the restaurant,” I whispered back. “Busy day.”

We both joined the discussion of this month’s book, ‘The Mystery of Cedar Cove’ and sipped on icy cold martinis. Our friend Evie, who owned this bookstore, had the genius idea of combining a book club with alcohol. Every month had a theme. This month was “Martinis & Mysteries”, so we were drinking martinis as we discussed the cozy mystery we’d read. It wasn’t something that I normally read, but I’d enjoyed it more than I thought I would.

Of course Emma and I had also helped Evie solve her own mystery. We’d pulled off a Scooby Doo caper and caught the guy who’d been vandalizing Evie’s store, much to the chagrin of the local police department. But it all worked out. We’d nabbed the vandal, and Evie had nabbed the police chief. None of us had seen that coming, not with how much she hated cops.

After years of being single, Emma and Evie had both found love recently, leaving me the only single woman standing. Not that I minded. I preferred it that way.

Evie whistled from the front of the room, catching everyone’s attention.

“I hope you all enjoyed our Martinis & Mysteries selection. Our next book has had a lot of requests. I’m pleased to announce that next month we will be reading “The Biker’s Bride” by Janet Oliver. The theme will be Bourbon & Bikers, with a selection of bourbon available to try at our next meeting. Thank you all for coming, and please stop by the front table if you’d like to purchase next month’s book.”

Emma and I waited until all the ladies had filed out, then began helping Evie collect glasses and trash. As we cleaned up the café area, we chatted.

“How are things with you and Chief Hottie?” Emma asked.

Evie turned a little pink. “Good. We’ve been together pretty much every night since we nabbed Brian Peterson.”

“Hmm, no wonder you’ve been quieter than normal on the group chat,” I teased. “You’ve been having crazy monkey sex with the police chief.”

Evie gave me a cocky smile. “You know it, sister.”

Evie was the most outrageous one in our little best friend trio. Emma was practical and thoughtful and me, well, I was somewhere in the middle.

“You know,” Emma started, “I’ve got Wyatt, and now Evie’s got Jake, and—.”

“Nope!” I interrupted. “Don’t even say it. I do not want a relationship. I’m too old to deal with some idiot man. I like my life just as it is.”

“You’re only forty-five, you’re five years younger than both of us,” Emma protested.

“I’m an old soul. And honestly, I’m disappointed in both of you. You were always so happy to be single until you met Wyatt and Jake.”

“I didn’t say a thing,” Evie protested. “Be single, I don’t care, as long as you’re happy. Just don’t shut yourself off to the possibility of meeting someone special. Now how about we finish up these leftover martinis?

Chapter 2

Dawn

I walked around the dining room, examining the space with a critical eye. We’d just finished the lunch rush, and we’d be quiet for a few hours until dinner service began. As always, I felt a surge of pride as I looked around Dawn’s. I’d worked hard to make my self-named restaurant successful and the fact that I’d done it completely on my own made it sweeter.

Of course, it was also a bit lonely sometimes.

Chloe, my daughter and the assistant manager of the restaurant, was in the break room with the rest of the team, eating lunch while I kept an eye on the front. Chloe was twenty-seven, and after working at the restaurant all the way through school, had surprised me when she told me she wanted to put her business degree to work right here at home. I loved that this would be my legacy to my daughter, a business that I’d built through hard work and determination. After growing up without a father, she deserved that.

I heard the roar of a motorcycle engine and frowned. Why did those damn things have to be so loud?

The door opened and I turned to greet the new customer. With the sun at his back, I could only see his shadow. Tall, well over six feet, with broad shoulders covered by a leather motorcycle jacket, and muscular thighs lovingly hugged by faded jeans. Yum.

I walked closer, getting a better look at him. The man pulled off his helmet, shoving it underneath one muscled arm. He had dark hair that was peppered with streaks of gray, a square jaw covered in dark scruff, and bright blue eyes. I’d only seen that shade of blue on two people: my daughter and my ex-husband.