*~*Love Note: Aiden to Laurel – Somebody Like You by Donna Alward*~*
A kiss to last a lifetime
Aiden Gallagher was only five years old when he appeared in a photograph on the Kissing Bridge. The town of Darling, Vermont, has used Aiden’s image on the famed bridge—local legend has it that a kiss there results in everlasting love—as part of its tourism campaign. Now, twenty years later, Aiden is asked to recreate the moment with the woman he once kissed: Laurel Stone.
Recently divorced, there’s nothing Laurel wants less than to pretend happily-ever-after with Aiden. As teenagers, their romance was no fairy tale—and Laurel has never quite forgiven Aiden for breaking her heart. But now that she is back in her hometown, and keeps bumping into police officer Aiden, Laurel can’t deny that there’s still a strong flicker between her and her old flame. Could it be that the Kissing Bridge is working its magic on Laurel and Aiden—and that all true love ever needed was a second chance?
Aiden puts his heart into his note…
Keep reading to see the full Love Note!
Dear Laurel,
I know I was the last person you wanted to see that day your garden center was robbed and vandalized. We’d done a pretty good job of avoiding each other, hadn’t we? I mean, you’d been back in Darling a couple of months and I worked pretty hard at staying out of your way. Eventually, though we had to come face to face.
I knew you were still mad at me. Knew you thought you had a right to be. And you weren’t wrong. You just didn’t know the whole story.
I didn’t know how to tell you how I felt back then. I was seventeen. We’d been friends a long time, and taking that leap from friendship to…something more, well, it’s tough. People still talked about our picture in town hall, too. Maybe we were cute in our ring bearer and flower girl stuff, but that kind of thing follows you around. As you well know. Darling’s a small town, with all the pros and cons that come with that.
So when I asked you out on a date, and when we started kissing in my car…damn, honey. Seventeen or seventy, that was pure heaven. So amazing it scared the living shit out of me. And being a dumb-ass boy – yes, boy – I’d only got up the nerve to try because the guys on the team dared me to. When you found out…well, I deserved what you said and I deserved that milk shake. That’s why I threw the cup across the room and ran out. I deserved everything you threw at me, and more.
I wish I’d had the guts to make you sit down and listen back then, but I don’t think I was ready, or mature enough, to be honest with feelings of that magnitude. So I’m telling you now, Laurel. I love you. I’ve loved you since we were five and I kissed you on the Kissing Bridge and since we nearly went all the way in my car and now, when you’re the strongest, loveliest, most deserving woman I know. No one deserves a fairy tale more than you, sweetheart. I hope you let me give it to you.
All my love,
Aiden
While bestselling author Donna Alward was busy studying Austen, Eliot and Shakespeare, she was also losing herself in the breathtaking stories created by romance novelists like LaVyrle Spencer, Judith McNaught, and Nora Roberts. Several years after completing her degree she decided to write a romance of her own and it was true love! Five years and ten manuscripts later she sold her first book and launched a new career. While her heartwarming stories of love, hope, and homecoming have been translated into several languages, hit bestseller lists and won awards, her very favorite thing is when she hears from happy readers.
Donna lives on Canada’s east coast with her family which includes a husband, a couple of kids, a senior dog and two crazy cats. When she’s not writing she enjoys reading (of course!), knitting, gardening, cooking…and is a Masterpiece Theater addict.
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What a heartfelt love note. I read the prequel and know the backstory. Pre-ordered it and really looking forward to it.
Hmm, book boyfriend is a difficult for me… I think I’d opt for Graham Posner from “The Geek’s Guide to Unrequited Love”.