Brides and Bouquets At Cedarwood Lodge Read online

  Christmas has come to Cedarwood Lodge in the second part of the feel-good romance serial from best-selling author, Rebecca Raisin!

  Dreaming of a happily ever after at Cedarwood Lodge is Clio Winters’ current focus, especially with a winter wonderland wedding expo planned. But with brides coming from far and wide, the heat is on for Clio to fulfil everyone’s dream of a Christmas wedding!

  It seems like Clio’s new business might be off to a rocky start and surrounded by lovestruck brides she can’t help but hope for a little Christmas romance of her own…

  Cedarwood Lodge is a delectable romance told in three parts – following Clio Winters’ journey back to her hometown of Evergreen. This is Part Two.

  Praise for REBECCA RAISIN

  ‘This novel is a love letter to Paris, and even more so a love letter to books; it is absolutely a must-read book for book lovers.’ – Rather Too Fond of Books, The Little Bookshop on the Seine

  ‘Drama and romance, but most of all it’s got a more general sweetness and love and happiness that is often hard to find these days.’ – Love Reading Romance, A Gingerbread Café Christmas

  ‘Easy to read and devoured quickly, I literally could not get enough and I was so sad to finish it. It was a truly captivating, spellbinding tale of taking chances and living life to the full that I am sure will ring true with many readers.’ – Compelling Reads, The Little Bookshop on the Seine

  ‘...the perfect read to get you in the mood for Christmas and my mouth was watering after reading about all of the delicious-sounding baking.’ – Bookbabblers, A Gingerbread Café Christmas

  ‘I love love love this author, and this book cements the fact that this series is a winner!’ – Fiona, The Little Bookshop on the Seine

  ‘Fun, quick, festive reads that’ll leave you glowing from within (or in my case a puffy mess).’ – Into the Bookcase, A Gingerbread Café Christmas

  ‘I loved every second of The Little Bookshop on the Seine, easy to read, with words oozing charm and good feeling, that just made me feel warm and cosy.’ – Rachel’s Random Reads

  ‘Simply divine, with stunning writing slipping between being utterly romantic, charming and fun-filled and a little emotional.’ – Reviewed the Book, A Gingerbread Café Christmas

  Also by Rebecca Raisin

  Cedarwood Lodge

  Celebrations & Confetti at Cedarwood Lodge

  Brides & Bouquets at Cedarwood Lodge

  Midnight & Mistletoe at Cedarwood Lodge

  Once in a Lifetime series

  The Gingerbread Café trilogy

  Christmas at the Gingerbread Café

  Chocolate Dreams at the Gingerbread Café

  Christmas Wedding at the Gingerbread Café

  The Bookshop on the Corner

  Secrets at Maple Syrup Farm

  The Little Paris Collection

  The Little Bookshop on the Seine

  The Little Antique Shop under the Eiffel Tower

  Coming soon:

  The Little Perfume Shop off the Champs-Élysées

  Brides & Bouquets

  at

  Cedarwood Lodge

  Rebecca Raisin

  REBECCA RAISIN

  is a true bibliophile. This love of books morphed into the desire to write them. She’s been widely published in various short-story anthologies, and in fiction magazines, and is now focusing on writing romance. The only downfall about writing about gorgeous men who have brains as well as brawn is falling in love with them – just as well they’re fictional. Rebecca aims to write characters you can see yourself being friends with. People with big hearts who care about relationships, and, most importantly, believe in true, once-in-a-lifetime love.

  Follow her on Twitter @jaxandwillsmum

  Facebook https://www.facebook.com/RebeccaRaisinAuthor

  Website rebeccaraisin.com

  I’m forever indebted to Helena Kendrick from Love Reading Romance. Her marketing and promotional help is priceless and I am so thankful I get to use her genius for my books. Thanks, Helena for putting up with me, and taking a million screen shots whenever I am technically challenged! I owe you lots of vin blanc…

  Find Helena here: http://tours.readingromance.com/p/book-tour.html

  For Marie Webdale whose friendship spans the oceans that separate us

  Contents

  Cover

  Blurb

  Praise

  Book List

  Title Page

  Author Bio

  Acknowledgement

  Dedication

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Endpages

  Copyright

  Chapter One

  Blustery winds lashed at the windows, rattling the shutters, and a draught raced up the staircase in an eerie woo. December had well and truly arrived, bringing with it icy winds and sheeting rain and the urge to snuggle by the fire. But there was no time for that with only a few days until our bridal expo, and Christmas to plan too.

  “Tell me this place isn’t haunted, Clio,” a wide-eyed Amory said, clutching a loop of silver tinsel to her chest like a safety blanket.

  “With the ghosts of boyfriends past?” I teased, warming my hands by the fire. It crackled and popped, a comforting soundtrack to frosty nights with us holed up in the lodge, working away in one room or another. While the main renovations had been done, there was always something else that needed some attention. From polishing paint-smudged finger-printed balustrades, to excavating the debris from a musty unused cupboard we’d missed the first time around.

  She grinned. “You wish.”

  “No I do not wish. Men complicate everything!”

  The creaks and moans of the lodge didn’t bother me any more. I was used to the grand old dame making her presence felt in the whispers of wind, and shivers of brocade curtains. And if the ghosts made their presence felt then who was I to judge? I hadn’t mentioned it to anyone, but sometimes I awoke with a start, and had the feeling I wasn’t alone. Which was all sorts of crazy and I put it down to fatigue and erratic dream-filled sleep.

  “Speaking of men,” Amory said falling into a plush wingback chair that we’d rescued from the basement and rejuvenated. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but I was thinking back to a few weeks ago – the night I arrived actually – and I could be mistaken; did I interrupt you and Kai? I wasn’t paying attention at the time, but I’m sure you were in his arms like… lovers.” Her eyes twinkled mischievously and it was all I could do to keep my expression neutral.

  Damn it! I had tried very hard to forget all about Kai and the spontaneous kiss under the moonlight. He had left before I was up the next morning, and I hadn’t heard a peep from him since. He’d probably forgotten all about me and Cedarwood by now, and thus there’d been no point confiding in Amory about my brief clinch with the bronzed, blond, surfer, yogi, Australian project manager – just to describe him briefly – who’d helped shape the lodge back into the beauty of its halcyon days. Without him here, the work days lost some of their shine, for me anyway.

  “In his arms?” I said doubtfully, as if she was silly to suggest such a thing. “God, no. We had been discussing the… the cleanup. Probably why he hotfooted out so early the next day.” I lifted a shoulder as if it was nothing, but the mention of Kai and that kiss still had the ability to make me woozy. What could I say, it had been a long time since I’d been plagued
with thoughts of a man in the romantic sense – it jolted me, those long dormant feelings.

  Not fooled, Amory narrowed her eyes and said breezily, “Oh, my mistake, this postcard must be for someone else then…” With a playful smile she waved the postcard in front of me.

  With a shriek I snatched it from her, and held it to my chest. “Did you read it?”

  She faux gasped, “I would never do that!”

  “You liar!” I laughed, and lobbed a cushion at her.

  Even if Amory had read the postcard, which I had no doubt she had, I wanted to read it alone and savor it. I peeked at the festive picture on the front of a snow covered park with a line saying: wish you were here. Of course, I instantly read too much into it…

  “Well, aren’t you going to read it?”

  “Later,” I said. “It’s probably just a polite reminder asking for his last invoice to be paid.” Which I really needed to do. Was I subconsciously holding out so he’d call me? No, no, no. I was just time poor, that’s all it was.

  She rolled her eyes dramatically. “As if, just read the damn thing. And then we can dissect every word for hidden meaning.”

  It was hard to hide anything from Amory, but I kept the farce up, not willing to give in so easily. “Can we get back to decorating?” I motioned to a box from which shiny baubles and sparkly tinsel spilled out, dusting the floorboards with glitter. “All we’ve done so far is make a mess.”

  “Fine,” she grinned. “Let’s throw some tinsel around while we talk.”

  She was incorrigible, and wouldn’t give up until I’d read the damn card and deliberated over every single syllable with her.

  Her innocent act didn’t fool me though – I wasn’t the only one keeping secrets. She’d been at Cedarwood for a couple of weeks now, and her lips remained firmly clamped about why she’d hastily left Manhattan.

  I hadn’t pushed for details, hoping Amory would share when she was ready. I had a feeling it was something to do with her boyfriend Cruz, and not a problem at the agency, from the amount of work calls she was fielding, telling them with good grace she was on a sabbatical.

  I waggled my eyebrows, sensing an opportunity. “Fine, I’ll tell if you will.”

  “Oh you cunning little minx.” She puckered her lips.

  “Learned from the best,” I winked.

  “Fine.”

  “Fine.”

  “You first.”

  I flipped the postcard over and read Kai’s loping scrawls:

  When the noise of the city gets too much, I think of Cedarwood. The silence, the stars, and being surrounded by the beauty of nature. What happened the night of the party?

  Kai

  Mortification colored me scarlet. What happened? A kiss happened, and not your run-of-the-mill kiss either, a knee trembler, a time stopper, a gasp inducer, the type I’d only ever read about before, but was I alone in that thought? He hadn’t called since had he?

  “Come on, the suspense is killing me!”

  I handed the card to Amory and she pretended to read it for the first time. “I knew it! God, you must’ve been so annoyed when I stumbled in at that exact moment!”

  I let out a nervous laugh. “The timing wasn’t ideal, but I was happy to see you. Besides, as you can clearly see, it didn’t mean anything to him. The poor guy got out of there as quick as he could so he wouldn’t have to face me again.”

  A scoff escaped her pinked lips. “Where does it say that?” She made a show of re-reading it, squinting at it up close.

  Giving her a long look I quoted from memory: “What happened? Not exactly a declaration of love, is it?” In my heart of hearts I hadn’t expected anything less. So far my love life had been underwhelming. It wasn’t that I didn’t want romance, it was more that I hadn’t found anyone who flipped my world upside down. And I was just too busy to waste time with Mr Right Now’s.

  Amory stared me down like I was an unruly child.

  “What’s that face supposed to mean?” I asked, folding my arms.

  With a huff she said, “You’re looking for a reason to cast him off, before it’s even started! If you read between the lines of what he wrote he’s saying he misses Cedarwood, which really means he’s missing you, and he’s asking if the kiss meant something to you, because it clearly did to him! Men don’t send correspondence if they don’t care, for god’s sake.”

  It was my turn to scoff. “It doesn’t mean that at all! If he was interested he wouldn’t have left before the sun rose the next day, would he? It was like he couldn’t get out of here fast enough. The postcard is a reminder, hey pay your bills, lady. Which I intend to do once we get all of this work done.” I sighed. There was never enough time, and my nerves became more frayed the closer the bridal expo crept. Love would complicate things, better instead if I focused on my friends, my brides, and my business. Just like usual, work, work, work.

  I bent to the box of decorations, and busied myself rummaging.

  In a softer tone Amory said, “Darling, he stayed on longer than he was contracted, that is saying in invisible letters – he’s keen.”

  Who knew what anything meant when it came to men? Kai was more sensitive and quiet than I was used to and I didn’t know how to read him, or his postcard. He was gone, and that was that.

  Micah wandered in, lugging another big box of Christmas decorations, and I was glad for the interruption. Having my easy-going best friend from Evergreen and my fashion-conscious best friend from Manhattan in one place might have proved tricky for some, but not for these two. They gelled from the get-go and delighted in ganging up and teasing me good naturedly, just as I would expect from both of them. Proof I had good taste in friends.

  “Three more boxes to go. Jesus, Clio, when you decorate you don’t go lightly do you?” he wiped a layer of sheen from his brow.

  I stared him down. “It’s Christmas, Micah. And you of all people should know what that means.” When I lived in Evergreen as a teenager, Christmas was left to me, and that meant Micah was roped in to help, no matter how much he complained. From decorating the fir trees in the front yard, to hanging fairy lights in the window, he was part of every step, willing or not. Secretly, he adored Christmas but thought it unmanly to admit it. I could read that guy like a book back then, and nothing had changed.

  “It means carols on a loop, eggnog for weeks, and lots of sparkly things, right?”

  “Right! And that’s just the beginning,” I added, grinning. Christmas was my favorite time of year. And that meant any Grinches had to suffer in silence or face my steely-eyed glare. I had plans for an intimate Christmas Eve party, with all the trimmings. It didn’t matter if I was hosting a party for four or four hundred, it had to be right. The lodge would shine so brightly you’d see it all the way from Australia if you squinted hard enough. So what if I liked Christmas? It was the one time of year when you could be sentimental and surround yourself with friends who were more like family. I loved every single part of it, including decorating like my life depended on it.

  Amory held up two baubles to her ears like earrings. “We should get some tacky Christmas jewelry. You know the type that flashes?” She swapped the baubles for a trio of star statues that she centered on the coffee table.

  “We definitely should.”

  “Are you going to reply? I notice he’s scrawled a return address on the card…” She took an ornate angel from the box and set it on the mantelpiece, casually bumping me out of the way with her hip.

  I bent to the box and grabbed a length of golden glittery beads out, intending to wind them around the stairwell bannisters in the lobby. “I don’t know. Anyway, what about you? Why’d you leave Manhattan?”

  I propped the postcard on the mantle, near the rosy red stockings hanging on an angle waiting to be stuffed by Santa (a girl could still believe).

  A gold Christmas candle threw light around the space, flickering festively. Amory nodded to Micah’s bent head, as if
to say not in front of him.

  “Oh, don’t mind Micah. He’s used to doling out advice to women.” Better if there were no secrets between us, then less chance I would talk out of turn. Besides, Micah was a good sounding board. He wasn’t dismissive like some men could be. Still, Amory shrunk back as if she didn’t want to share with him just yet.

  Micah got the hint and said, “How about I make us some eggnog, my secret recipe?” He waggled his brows and I knew that meant he’d probably do his usual heavy-handed trick and add too much bourbon. He said it had to buzz on your tongue or it wasn’t Christmas. Yeah, right. Micah just really liked bourbon.

  “Bring back a plate of gingerbread men too! The ones with the little snowflake scarves!” Something to soak up the alcohol…

  “And grab some of those reindeer cookies Georges made!” Amory faced me, patting the soft swell of her belly. “Your chef will be my downfall, you know.”

  “Mine too. Let’s worry about that next year.”

  She nodded. “Yeah, no one watches their weight over Christmas. That’s just rude.”

  Micah shook his head ruefully as he wandered down the hallway, “Just yell out if I can do anything else, princesses.”

  The Christmas carols had finished so I pressed the go button again, smiling as Dean Martin warbled Let it Snow… Peeking outside, snowflakes seesawed down, blanketing the ground white; I couldn’t wait for the brides to see Cedarwood in all its wintry glory, flashing festively and dusted with soft white snow.

  It was Christmas card perfect. Warm, welcoming and ready for guests.

  “Anyway,” I dragged myself back to the decorations and took some reindeer bunting from the box. “What happened? Tell me everything…”

  Amory fiddled with big golden wreath for the front door, bending it back into shape and said, “It’s a long story.”

  “We’ve got time.” She’d try anything to avoid talking about it, and it was totally out of character for her.