Rose Harbor in Bloom by Debbie Macomber

everything.”
    “I do hope she’ll be back soon,” Julie said.
    “I’m sure she will be,” I promised. “Can I offer you some coffee?” I asked.
    All three refused, so I gave them their room keys. Kent and Julie ambled toward their room. Oliver followed with their luggage. I could hear the anniversary couple snapping at each other as they headed down the hallway outside the kitchen.
    So this was the loving couple Annie had bragged about? Oh, dear.
    Oliver stepped out of their room and closed the door.
    “Everything all right?” I asked.
    “I think so. I just hope they don’t end up killing each other before the party.”

Chapter 8
    Following breakfast, Mary lay down on the bed and rested. After thirty minutes, she felt refreshed enough to take a short walk. The oncologist had urged her to get back into life as much as possible. A walk in the fresh air would do her good.
    She was encouraged. While she still moved slowly, she could feel her energy returning. She wasn’t ready to leap tall buildings in a single bound, Superwoman-style, as she once had, but that was fine. This was progress. At least she wasn’t hanging over a toilet and clinging to the sides with both hands while losing the contents of her stomach. Despite all the advances in anti-nausea medication, Mary found they just weren’t effective for her.
    Coming down the stairs, she half expected Jo Marie to race out of the kitchen to check on her. Pausing on the bottom step, shewaited for the innkeeper to seek her out. When Jo Marie didn’t immediately show, Mary rounded the corner and peeked into the kitchen. The dog was nowhere in sight, either. Apparently, Jo Marie was busy elsewhere, which was just as well.
    Her steps were measured and slow as Mary left the inn and started down the steep hill toward the waterfront. She felt drawn to the grassy area by the gazebo. The sun was out, and the day was still young. A big sign posted on a community board advertised the entertainment that was scheduled to start the following month: Concerts on the Cove.
    One of the acts scheduled to play was a singer who was advertised as comparable to Tony Bennett, as if that was even possible. George had taken her to see Tony Bennett years ago. Tony had come to Seattle, and knowing how she enjoyed the singer, George had finagled tickets to a sold-out event. He’d held her hand during the entire concert. Oh, how romantic he’d been. Thoughtful and caring.
    With the other men in her life, the lovemaking had been frantic, done in a fever, ripping off each other’s clothes as they hurried toward the bed. It was never like that with George. With him, the lovemaking was slow, attentive, tender … and, oh, so very loving.
    George again.
    Seeing she was in close proximity to Seattle, it wasn’t surprising that George wasn’t far from her thoughts. In fact, he seemed to be front and center from the moment the plane’s wheels had bounced against the tarmac.
    Sitting on one of the picnic tables close to the gazebo, Mary looked out over the waters of the cove and focused her gaze there. Just around the point of land was Seattle.
    And George.
    Men had come in and out of her life, but there had been only one George. She loved him then, and she loved him now. Biting into her lower lip, she struggled with emotion. Her throat thickenedand her chest burned. Again, she blamed the cancer. This blasted disease had taken control of her well-ordered life. Having cancer infuriated her. It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t right. She exercised; her diet was balanced; she got regular medical exams. She didn’t deserve to have to deal with this.
    When she’d first gotten the news it’d felt like a death sentence, but she’d decided that if she was going to die then by heaven she would go down fighting. And so with characteristic resolve she’d fought. With every ounce of strength she possessed, with every bit of her will, she faced cancer head-on. She refused to lie down and wait to die. It