Sherryl Woods - The Inn At Eagle Point

The Inn at Eagle Point
Sherryl Woods

For Morgan and TaylorWelcome to the world, little girls!You're definitely going to keep your moms and dads and big brothers on theirtoes!

Praise for the novels of
Sherryl Woods
"Woods is a master heartstring puller."
Publishers Weekly on Seaview Inn
"Compulsively readableWoods's novel easily rises above hot-button topicsto tell a universal tale of friendship's redemptive power."
Publishers Weekly on Mending Fences
"Redolent with Southern small-town atmosphere, this emotionally rich storydeals with some serious issues and delivers on a number of levels."
Library Journal on A Slice of Heaven
"Sherryl Woods always delivers a fast, breezyromance."
Jayne Ann Krentz
"Woods's latest entry in her Sweet Magnolias series (after StealingHome) is sure to please fans and entice new readers withflesh-and-bloodcharacters, terrific dialogue and substantial stakes."
Publishers Weekly on A Slice of Heaven
"Sherryl Woodswrites with a very special warmth, wit, charm andintelligence."
Heather Graham
"Sherryl Woods gives her characters depth, intensity, and the right amountof humor."
Romantic Times BOOKreviews
"Sherryl Woods is a uniquely gifted writer whose deep understanding ofhuman nature is woven into every page."
Carla Neggers

Also by
New York Times bestselling author
Sherryl Woods
WELCOME TO SERENITY
SEAVIEW INN
MENDING FENCES
FEELS LIKE FAMILY
A SLICE OF HEAVEN
STEALING HOME
WAKING UP IN CHARLESTON
FLIRTING WITH DISASTER
THE BACKUP PLAN
DESTINY UNLEASHED
FLAMINGO DINER
ALONG CAME TROUBLE
ASK ANYONE
ABOUT THAT MAN
ANGEL MINE
AFTER TEX

Dear Reader,
Launching a new series is one of my very favorite things. I get to enter awhole new setting, meet fascinating, complex new characters and, hopefully,create situations and conflicts that will resonate with all of you. When I wasdeciding the details of this latest series, I kept coming back to theChesapeake Bay, an area near and dear to my heart. Though I don't actually liveon the bay, my summer home is on the Potomac River just above where it entersthe bay. There are few places on earth more beautiful and serene.
Setting, however, isn't the only thing that matters. Even more important arethe characters who will fill these pages, and for this I wanted a huge,complicated, dysfunctional family. Thus, the O'Briens. You'll meet fourgenerations of them over time, many of them with major issues with each other.There will be stories of betrayal, reconciliation and, of course, love. Therewill be meddling and matchmaking and tough choices. And along the way, therewill be lots of laughs and a few tears.
The Inn at Eagle Point is Abby's story, but it is also a story aboutsisters and how they stand up for each other without question. It's a story ofa powerful love, first lost, then found again. And of two proud men whostruggle to believe in second chances.
So welcome to Chesapeake Shores. I hope you'll come to love the O'Briens andtheir world.
All best,

Prologue

T he arguing had gone on most of thenight. In her room just three doors down the hall from her parents' mastersuite, Abby had been able to hear the sound of raised voices, but not thewords. It wasn't the first time they'd fought recently, yet this time somethingfelt different. The noisy exchange itself and fretting about it kept her awakemost of the night.
Until she walked downstairs just after dawn and saw suitcases in the fronthallway, Abby hoped she'd only imagined the difference, that the knot of dreadthat had formed in her stomach was no more than her overactive imaginationmaking something out of nothing. Now she knew better. Someone was leaving thistimequite possibly forever, judging from the pile of luggage by the door.
She tried to quiet her panic, reminding herself that her dad, Mick O'Brien,left all the time. An internationally acclaimed architect, he was always goingsomeplace for a new job, a new adventure. Again, though, this felt different.He'd only been home a couple of days from his last trip. He rarely turned rightaround and left again.
"Abby!" Her mother sounded startled and just a little edgy."What are you doing up so early?"
Abby wasn't surprised that her mother was caught off guard. Most teenagers,including Abby and her brothers, hated getting up early on the weekends. MostSaturdays it was close to noon when she finally made her way downstairs.
Abby met her mother's gaze, saw the dismay in her eyes and knew instinctivelythat Megan had hoped to be gone before anyone got up, before anyone couldconfront her with uncomfortable questions.
"You're leaving, aren't you?" Abby said flatly, trying not to cry.She was seventeen, and if she was right about what was going on, she was theone who was going to have to be strong for her younger brothers and sisters.
Megan's eyes filled with tears. She opened her mouth to speak, but no wordscame out. Finally, she nodded.
"Why, Mom?" Abby began, a torrent of questions following. "Whereare you going? What about us? Me, Bree, Jess, Connor and Kevin? Are you walkingout on us, too?"
"Oh, sweetie, I could never do that," Megan said, reaching for her."You're my babies. As soon as I'm settled, I'll be back for you. Ipromise."
Though her declaration was strong, Abby saw through it to the fear underlyingher words. Wherever Megan was going, she was scared and filled withuncertainty. How could she not be? She and Mick O'Brien had been married fornearly twenty years. They'd had five children together, and a life they'd builtright here in Chesapeake Shores, the town that Mick himself had designed andconstructed with his brothers. And now Megan was going off all alone, startingoverHow could she not be terrified?
"Mom, is this really what you want?" Abby asked, trying to make senseof such a drastic decision. She knew plenty of kids whose parents weredivorced, but their moms hadn't just packed up and left. If anyone had gone, ithad been the dads. This seemed a thousand times worse.
"Of course it's not what I want," Megan said fiercely. "Butthings can't go on as they have been." She started to say more, than wavedit off. "That's between your father and me. I just know I have to make achange. I need a fresh start."
In a way, Abby was relieved that Megan hadn't said more. Abby didn't want theburden of knowing what had driven her mother to go. She loved and respectedboth of her parents, and she wasn't sure how she would have handled careless,heated words capable of destroying that love she felt for either one of them.
"But where will you go?" she asked again. Surely it wouldn't be far.Surely her mother wouldn't leave her all alone to cope with the fallout. Mickwas helpless with emotions. He could handle all the restproviding for them,loving them, even going to the occasional ball game or science fairbut when itcame to everyday bumps and bruises and hurt feelings, it was Megan they allrelied on.
Then again, why wouldn't Megan assume Abby could handle all the rest? Everyonein the family knew that Abby took her responsibility as the oldest seriously.She'd always known that her parents counted on her as backup. Bree, who'd justturned twelve-going-on-thirty, and her brothers would be okay. With Megan gone,Bree might retreat into herself at first, but, mature and self-contained, shewould find her own way of coping. Kevin and Connor were teenage guys. They werepretty much oblivious to everything except sports and girls. More often thannot, they found their exuberant, affectionate mother to be an embarrassment.
That left Jess. She was only a baby. Okay, she'd just turned seven last week,Abby reminded herself, but that was still way too young not to have her momaround. Abby had no idea how to fill that role, even temporarily.