Love On Anchor Island: An Anchor Island Novel

Love On Anchor Island


Terri Osburn


All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means without the written permission of the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
Copyright © 2020 by Terri Osburn
Published by Macie Rae Publishing, Nashville, TN
Cover Design Copyright © 2020 Terri Osburn
Created with Vellum


Contents
Foreword
Other books by Terri Osburn:
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
About the Author


Dear Reader,
I am so excited to take you back to where it all began—Anchor Island. If you haven’t read the original four-book series, no worries. You can still jump right into this book. But you are going to meet lots of characters from the other books, and if after reading this one you’d like to read their stories as well, here’s the series details.
The Anchor Island books are:
Meant To Be (Beth & Joe)
Up To The Challenge (Sid & Lucas)
Home To Stay (Will & Randy)
More To Give (Callie & Sam)
In Over Her Head (Lauren & Nick) coming Feb 2021
Love On Anchor Island picks up just over four years from when we left off in More To Give, so for those who have read the previous books, you’ll get to see several of your favorite characters as parents with growing families. The hero and heroine of this book, Alex Fielding and Roxie Chandler, are brand new to the world, but both related to established characters.
Thank you to those who are long-time readers, and those of you who are just stepping into my books. Without all of you, I wouldn’t have the greatest job in the world. Please know that I am forever grateful!
Happy Reading,
Terri
PS: If you’d like to keep up with me and my work, you can always subscribe to my newsletter.


Other books by Terri Osburn:
Find them all here
Anchor Island Series
Meant To Be
Up To The Challenge
Home To Stay
More To Give
In Over Her Head*
*coming Feb 2021
Ardent Springs Series
His First And Last
Our Now And Forever
My One And Only
Her Hopes And Dreams
The Last In Love
Shooting Stars Series
Rising Star
Falling Star
Wishing On A Star
Among The Stars
Stand-Alones
Ask Me To Stay
Wrecked
Awakening Anna


Chapter One
I am going to die of boredom on this godforsaken island.
This thought had been running through Roxie Chandler’s mind since she’d agreed to this allegedly unprompted visit, that just happened to coincide with her most recent fall from grace. Despite this time not being entirely her fault, with her track record, she hadn’t been surprised when no one believed her.
Dying of boredom might actually be what she deserved.
The call from Beth—her cousin, her opposite in every way, and the only person who’d ever taken Roxie’s side in anything—had come at too perfect a time not to have been her mother’s handiwork. Seven years older and a hundred years wiser, Beth had once upon a time been Roxie’s cheerleader, her confidant, and even her conscience.
Now, she was offering a port in the storm. Literally.
After the scandal had broken, Roxie might as well have stuck a scarlet letter on her leather jacket. Even her own mother had cast judgmental glares her way when she thought Roxie wasn’t looking. And then, out of nowhere, came the call. Beth’s adopted home of Anchor Island needed help with recovery efforts after Hurricane Deloris tore through in mid-November.
The choice between getting her hands dirty or getting dirty looks everywhere Roxie went had been an easy one. Less than forty-eight hours later, she found herself standing on a car-laden ferry, floating at the breakneck speed of a lame tortoise on a blustery February day.
“Talk about a slow boat to hell,” she mumbled to herself.
“Excuse me?” came a deep voice to her right.
Roxie spun to find a man staring at her with one chestnut brow arched high. The eyes were nice and the shoulders broad, but the preppy outfit said snooze city.
“Sorry.” Roxie lifted her denim-clad bottom onto the hood of her 1972 Camaro—her most prized possession—and crossed her legs. “I wasn’t talking to you.”
“Did you just refer to Anchor Island as hell?”
Great. Now she’d pissed off a local. “I’m sure it’s fine. Don’t mind me.”
Yuppie dude wasn’t appeased. “Have you ever been to Anchor Island before?”
Ignoring the cold wind chilling her cheeks, she locked her gaze on the horizon and gritted her teeth. “No, I haven’t.”
“I didn’t think so.”
Roxie snapped. “Dude, what is your problem?”
Arms crossed, he leaned against a baby blue Prius—a Prius for God’s sake—and met her gaze. “I don’t like people insulting my home. Being small doesn’t make it a bad place.”
She paused the argument to ask, “How small are we talking?” Beth had let her know about the ferry, that there was no mall, and no fast food. Roxie hadn’t asked for any further information, fearful that she’d change her mind.
“About fourteen miles long,” the stranger replied, “but the village covers just over a square mile at the southern tip.”
One square mile? Seriously?
“Tell me you’re joking,” she begged. Maybe being the hometown pariah wouldn’t be so bad after all.
“Like I said, small doesn’t mean bad.” Both brows rose this time. “Or boring.”
Then they had very different definitions of the word boring.
Sliding across the hood, Roxie dropped to the ground in front of the stranger. She had to look up to see his face, but at five foot four, that was nothing new. “Are you the mayor or something?”
“No.” His eyes narrowed. “I’ve just encountered your type before.”
How she hated statements like that. “My type? You don’t even know me.”
Green eyes trailed down to her Doc Martens and back to her face. With a smirk he said, “Aren’t you a little old for this emo look?”
Wearing all black did not make her emo. “Aren’t you a little young for this boomer