Falling For You (Sapphire Bay Book 1) Read online

  Falling For You

  Sapphire Bay, Book 1

  Leeanna Morgan

  Copyright © 2018 by Leeanna Morgan

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  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

  Thank you

  Excerpt From ‘Once In A Lifetime’

  Enjoy Other Novels By Leeanna Morgan

  Bonus Recipe - Chocolate-Glazed Cherry-Pecan Pie

  Welcome to Sapphire Bay!

  Nestled against the shore of Flathead Lake, Montana, you’ll find the imaginary town of Sapphire Bay. Here you’ll discover a community with big hearts, warm smiles, and lots of wonderful stories to be told. Romance, adventure, and intrigue are all waiting for you! Let’s explore Sapphire Bay together in Falling For You, the first book in the Sapphire Bay series.

  About This Book

  After six years of focusing on her career, Natalie Armstrong craves the peace and tranquility that only Sapphire Bay can give her. But returning to her grandparents’ cottage isn’t as easy as she imagined. No one told her about her houseguest or the unexpected changes in the small town she calls home.

  Gabe Lanigan is a former NYPD detective. His new career as a bestselling crime writer has brought him everything he didn’t want—fame, fortune, and a deep distrust of strangers. When Natalie arrives in Sapphire Bay, their unlikely friendship sparks into something he never expected. But he needs to be careful. The real reason he left New York City is closing in fast and Natalie is standing in his way.

  Falling For You is the first book in the Sapphire Bay series and can easily be read as a standalone. Each of Leeanna's series are linked so you can find out what happens to your favorite characters in other books. For news of my latest releases, please visit leeannamorgan.com and sign up for my newsletter. Happy reading!

  Other Novels by Leeanna Morgan:

  Montana Brides:

  Book 1: Forever Dreams (Gracie and Trent)

  Book 2: Forever in Love (Amy and Nathan)

  Book 3: Forever After (Nicky and Sam)

  Book 4: Forever Wishes (Erin and Jake)

  Book 5: Forever Santa (A Montana Brides Christmas Novella)

  Book 6: Forever Cowboy (Emily and Alex)

  Book 7: Forever Together (Kate and Dan)

  Book 8: Forever and a Day (Sarah and Jordan)

  The Bridesmaids Club:

  Book 1: All of Me (Tess and Logan)

  Book 2: Loving You (Annie and Dylan)

  Book 3: Head Over Heels (Sally and Todd)

  Book 4: Sweet on You (Molly and Jacob)

  Emerald Lake Billionaires:

  Book 1: Sealed with a Kiss (Rachel and John)

  Book 2: Playing for Keeps (Sophie and Ryan)

  Book 3: Crazy Love (Holly and Daniel)

  Book 4: One And Only (Elizabeth and Blake)

  The Protectors:

  Book 1: Safe Haven (Hayley and Tank)

  Book 2: Just Breathe (Kelly and Tanner)

  Book 3: Always (Mallory and Grant)

  Book 4: The Promise (Ashley and Matthew)

  Book 5: Coming Home (Mia and Stan)

  Book 6: The Gift (Hannah and Brett)

  Book 7: The Wish (Claire and Jason)

  Sapphire Bay:

  Book 1: Falling For You (Natalie and Gabe)

  Book 2: Once In A Lifetime (Sam and Caleb)

  Book 3: Before Today (Brooke and Levi)

  Book 4: The Sweetest Thing (Cassie and Noah)

  Chapter 1

  Natalie parked her truck on the side of the road and rolled down her window. For nine years she'd missed seeing the sparkling water of Flathead Lake, the mountains that rose around her like a warm and welcoming hug, and the wildflowers that grew everywhere. The colors, the light, the peace—it was all here and more.

  Nestled against the shore of the lake was Sapphire Bay, the small town that had given her so many happy memories.

  Her fingers itched to take out her sketchpad, but she had to keep moving. After countless delays and a diverted flight, it had taken three days to fly from Italy to Montana. She should have stayed with friends in Bozeman, caught up on the sleep she desperately needed. But once she'd made the decision to leave Venice, she'd wanted to get to Sapphire Bay as quickly as possible.

  With one last, lingering look at the lake, she started her truck and drove toward town.

  The number of vehicles on the road surprised her. So did the new stores that had opened. The sleepy little town with no traffic lights or fast food restaurants had changed. Cafés rubbed shoulders with antique stores. There was even a fashion boutique and a gallery. There were so many new businesses that she nearly drove past the general store.

  The first person she saw when she walked inside was Mabel Terry. Gray hair framed the same kind face and gentle blue eyes that Natalie remembered.

  Mabel was listening to a customer, smiling at what was being said.

  While they were talking, Natalie found a shopping cart and wheeled it toward the shelves. She’d buy enough food for a few days, then come back when she wasn’t so jet-lagged. Halfway around the store, she remembered the apple cider that Mabel’s husband used to make.

  She spun her cart around and nearly bumped into another woman. “Oops. Sorry.”

  “That’s okay,” the woman said. “I’ve done the same thing myself. The aisles aren’t very wide.”

  Natalie smiled and kept walking. After going up and down another two aisles, she stopped and frowned.

  “You look lost. Can I help?”

  The same woman she'd nearly collided with was standing beside her. “The owner of the store used to make his own apple cider. Do you know if he’s still selling it?”

  “I sure do. Follow me.” The woman pushed her cart across the store and stopped in front of a small refrigerator. “Here you go.”

  Stacked in neat rows were at least a dozen bottles of Allan's homemade cider. “Thanks. I don’t know how I missed them.”

  “I’m not sure why they’re separate from the other drinks. But at least you know where they are now.” The woman held out her hand. “I’m Brooke. I haven’t seen you in Sapphire Bay before.”

  “My grandparents owned a cottage here. I used to stay with them each summer, but I haven’t been back for a long time.”

  “I moved here two years ago and it’s the best thing I ever did. Is this a visit or are you planning on staying?”

  Natalie looked over her shoulder. It was silly to think that anyone would care about who she was, but old habits were hard to break.

  A man took something off the shelf behind her.

  After he’d moved away, she turned back to Brooke. “I thought I’d stay for a few weeks and see how everything goes.”

  Mabel rushed across the store with her arms open wide. “Well, I do declare! If it isn’t Natalie Armstrong. It’s been too long since we’ve seen you.”

  Natalie returned Mabel’s hug. “It’s good to see you, too. I’m surprised you recognized me.”

  “You haven’t changed one bit. We misse
d seeing you at your grandparents’ funeral.”

  “I was living in Europe and couldn’t get home.” Natalie swallowed the knot of grief that lodged in her throat. To this day, she regretted the decision she’d made. It had taken her too long to realize that work should never come before family.

  Mabel’s generous smile turned into a frown. “I hope you pre-booked your accommodation. There’s a craft fair and a concert this weekend. The hotels are full.”

  “I’m staying at my cottage for a while.”

  “The cottage at the end of Bluewater Road?” Mabel seemed confused. “But someone’s living there. It was rented a couple of months ago.”

  Natalie’s eyes widened. “Rented? Mom didn’t tell me someone’s staying there.”

  “Are you sure the person is living in Natalie’s cottage?” Brooke asked.

  Mabel nodded. “He’s come into the store a couple of times but doesn't say much.”

  A massive headache started to build behind Natalie’s eyes. “I’ll pay for my groceries, then go and see him. Someone’s made a mistake.”

  Brooke took a business card out of her pocket. “Take this. If you get stuck, give me a call. I have a spare bedroom you can use.”

  She didn't think she'd need it, but Natalie took the card anyway. “Thanks. I'm sure it will be okay.”

  “Don’t forget your apple cider,” Brooke said quickly.

  Natalie added two half-gallon containers of cider to her cart. She might not need to use Brooke’s spare bedroom, but she would definitely need the cider.

  Gabe’s fingers paused over the keyboard. He glanced at his story outline, then back at the page he'd spent the last hour rewriting. It wasn't working. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t find a convincing way to make a dead body appear in Zac Connelly's orchard.

  His dog, Sherlock, looked up and sighed.

  Gabe smiled. “You’re right. It’s time for a break. Let’s go for a walk.” Before he could push back his chair, Sherlock was sitting in front of the French doors, waiting to escape.

  As soon as the doors opened, his black German Shepherd bolted down the path that led to Flathead Lake.

  Gabe limped after him, wincing as a sharp pain shot down his right leg. He knew not to sit in one position for too long, but time had a way of disappearing when he was writing. In the next couple of hours he wanted to finish the second chapter of his book. But that depended on the dead body floating in the Hudson River.

  Sherlock had disappeared, but he wasn't worried. The German Shepherd rarely went more than a hundred yards from him. He'd be in the forest, sniffing out a skunk, chasing a red squirrel, or terrorizing the neighbor's cat.

  He took a deep breath, enjoying the sweet scent of the pine trees surrounding the property. After spending most of his life in New York City, Sapphire Bay was like living in a parallel universe. He'd only been here for three months, but he couldn't imagine going back to the concrete jungle he'd called home.

  His cell phone rang. Gabe sighed. Sometimes, the rest of the world found you whether you wanted it to or not. He looked at the caller display before answering. “Hi, Caleb.”

  “Where are you?”

  Gabe stopped walking. The urgency in his friend’s voice worried him. “Walking toward the lake. Why?”

  “A woman is coming to see you. She’s the granddaughter of the original owners of the cottage. She doesn’t know you’ve rented the property.”

  “Why does that matter?”

  “She was going to stay there.”

  Gabe rubbed his leg. “She can’t. I’m here.”

  “That’s up to you to work through. I just wanted to let you know that she’s on her way. Her name is Natalie.”

  Of all the things he needed right now, an unexpected visitor wasn’t one of them. “Where did you see her?”

  “She was buying groceries at the general store. I overheard her talking to Mabel.”

  Anyone who spent more than a day in Sapphire Bay ended up in the general store. “Thanks for warning me.”

  “No problem. How’s the book coming along?”

  “Slowly. You don't know how to get a dead body from the Hudson River to Delaware, do you?”

  “Refrigerated truck?”

  “Too risky.”

  “Boat?”

  “Maybe.” Sherlock sprinted toward Gabe with something dangling from his mouth. “I’ve got to go. I’ll call you tonight.”

  “Good luck with Natalie.”

  “I don’t need luck. I’ve got a copy of the rental agreement and a screenshot of the original listing. If Natalie has a problem with that, she can talk to the person who rented me the cottage.”

  “I’m looking forward to hearing how that conversation turns out. Call me after seven o’clock.”

  Sherlock dropped an old shoe on the ground.

  Gabe said goodbye to Caleb, then studied the rotting shoe. An idea started to form in his mind. An idea that might just get his dead body across to Delaware.

  He knelt beside Sherlock and rubbed his ears. “Have I told you what a brilliant dog you are?”

  Sherlock’s big brown eyes seemed to laugh at him. At least someone was having a good day.

  As soon as Natalie stacked her groceries into the truck, she pulled out her phone. Her mom would know if someone was renting their cottage. The only problem was that her mom didn’t realize she was in America.

  It only took a few seconds for Kathleen Armstrong to answer the phone. “Natalie? Why aren’t there a lot more digits in front of your number?”

  The pounding in her head was getting worse. “Hi, mom. I’m in Sapphire Bay.”

  “Our Sapphire Bay? In Montana? Why didn’t you tell me you were coming home?”

  “It’s complicated.”

  She heard her mother’s sharp intake of breath. “Calling me isn’t all that complicated. I thought you were in Venice getting ready for your next exhibition?”

  If Natalie felt stressed before she’d called her mom, she felt worse now. “Someone broke into my apartment and stole two of my paintings.”

  “Oh, my Lord. Were you hurt?”

  “No. I was at the opening of a friend’s exhibition when it happened.”

  “Thank goodness for that,” Kathleen sighed. “I worry about you. If something goes wrong, there’s not a lot I can do from Indianapolis.”

  There was no point reminding her mom that she’d been living in Europe for nine years. Until a month ago, nothing had happened. “I need to paint two new canvases for Lorenzo’s gallery. I thought coming to Sapphire Bay would give me a better chance of finishing them. But someone told me grandma’s cottage has been rented.”

  “Oh, dear. I didn’t know you were coming back. Gabe is a friend of a friend. He was desperate for somewhere to stay, so I let him rent the cottage. But he’s only using grandma and granddad’s rooms. Our side of the cottage is still empty.”

  Natalie leaned against the side of her truck. Her grandparents’ cottage was originally a small two-bedroom home. When her parents divorced, her grandparents added another three bedrooms, a small living room, and a kitchen onto the cottage. She’d lived there with her mom until they’d moved to Bozeman.

  “Why didn’t you tell me you rented the cottage?”

  “I tried calling you, but you were at the Art Expo in Milan,” Kathleen said quickly. “I spoke to your landlord. He said he would tell you when you got back.”

  Natalie sighed. Her landlord was a nice man, but he wasn’t the most reliable person on the planet. “He didn’t say anything.”

  “Is there somewhere else you can stay?”

  The chances of finding a property with enough space to set up a studio weren’t great. “I’ll call a realtor and ask.”

  The traffic lights outside the general store turned red and a line of trucks stopped. “When did Sapphire Bay become so popular?”

  “About three years ago. It’s less busy during winter. If you need anything—”

  “No. I’m fi
ne. I’ll go and see the man who rented the cottage. Did he know someone else might be living in the rest of the cottage?”

  “No, although the rental agreement only gives him access to grandma and granddad’s side of the cottage. If it makes you any happier, Gabe used to be a detective in the New York Police Department. If you decide to stay, you couldn’t ask for a better neighbor.”

  “We’ll see,” Natalie said. “I’ll call you tonight and let you know what’s happened.”

  “You can always catch a flight to Indianapolis and stay with me.”

  “Thanks, mom. I appreciate the offer, but I’ll speak to Gabe first.” When they’d finished talking, Natalie slid the phone into her pocket and opened the driver’s door. She was so tired she was tempted to fall asleep in the truck. And if talking to Gabe didn’t work out, that’s what she might have to do.

  Gabe opened his front door. The woman standing on his porch didn’t look like any landlord he’d met. With her long brown hair pulled into a ponytail, black jeans, and a baggy red T-shirt, she could have been one of the hundreds of tourists passing through town.

  Her deep blue eyes regarded him suspiciously. “Are you Gabe?”

  He crossed his arms in front of his chest, leveling his best bad cop stare in her direction. “It depends on who’s asking.”

  She didn’t even flinch. Interesting.

  “I’m Natalie Armstrong. One of the owners of the cottage.”

  “I thought you might be.”

  Natalie’s eyes narrowed. “You knew I was coming?”