But these two can't get the words out to say what needs to be said. He's there to help her again, when he's really the one that needs help. Then ten years from the date of first meeting Will, there he is at her family's resort. Already reeling from past hurts, Fern still can't let go of the memories of that twenty four hours with Will. Now his absence at the meeting Fern has longed for all year changes Fern again. A year before, Will gave Fern what she needed to change the direction of her life. But they have a firm date to meet at her family resort in one year.įern spends the year thinking about Will but when the day comes he stands her up. In Will, Fern sees what she wants but he's not hers for the taking and she's not free to take.

We don't know Will's inner thoughts but we do know Fern's and it's obvious that Will has woken Fern up in a way that needed to happen. Once again, they hold back, don't say what they need to say, and hurt themselves as much as they hurt others.īoth twenty two and beginning the next stage of their lives, Fern and Will meet for the first time and spend a glorious but bittersweet twenty four hours together. Something about her good but flawed characters just work for me. Can she do the same for him?Ĭarley Fortune has entertained me again.

Will is hiding something, and Fern's not sure she wants to know what it is.īut ten years ago, Will Baxter rescued Fern. But how could she possibly trust this expensive-suit wearing mirage who seems nothing like the young man she met all those years ago.

Will may be the only person who understands what Fern's going through. To her surprise, it comes in the form of Will, who arrives nine years too late, with a suitcase in tow and an offer to help on his lips. The place is in disarray, her ex-boyfriend's the manager, and Fern doesn't know where to begin. Instead of living in the city, Fern's back home, running her mother's Muskoka lakeside resort-something she vowed never to do. Will didn't.Īt thirty-two, Fern's life doesn't look at all how she once imagined it would. The timing was wrong, but their connection was undeniable: they shared every secret, every dream, and made a pact to meet one year later. She spent just twenty-four hours in her early twenties with the aggravatingly attractive, idealistic artist, a chance encounter that spiraled into a daylong adventure in Toronto.

Fern Brookbanks has wasted far too much of her adult life thinking about Will Baxter.

Carley fortune author