Page 14 (1/2)

Chapter One

Jade McKenzie would rather point her sporty car in any direction other than Haven, Georgia’s s to the airporton up to Nashville for her cousin’s wedding, where she’d be forced to wear a hideous orange chiffon gown guaranteed to clash with her rich, red hair

Orange? Who the hell chose that as a wedding color?

Oh, but it wasn’t just the dress that had thrust Jade into a fouldrove her to the point of needing an entire bottle of cabernet to get through Of course, if she had that, she ran the risk of getting a nice red wine all over her tacky dress If she thought that would get her out of the whole ordeal, she’d gladly make the sacrifice

Jade never fit in with her faling, pretentious group just weren’t her people Since birth, her parents had tried to mold her, to create her into someone she wasn’t Well, more her mother than her father He’d passed ahen Jade had been a toddler, so she didn’t recall his role in her life Her mom expected pleated pants, perfectly coiffed hair, and a smile at all times

There was only one person in the entire McKenzie clan Jade actually wanted to see, and that was her spunky, out-spoken, eighty-year-old nana

Jade didn’t knohere she had ever truly fit in and felt like part of a unit, but she kneho her people were The people ould have her back and share a glass of hile discussing a bad blind date They were her best friends and the sole reason she was still here in this tiny toith hts

As Jade turned on to the one-lane road leading to the small airport owned by her best friend, Livie Daniels, and her husband, Jax Morgan, Jade s apart when she, Livie, and their other friend, Melanie, had rolled into town over a year ago Now, through the help of their s—Livie and Jax were expanding and rand for the town of Haven

The ia for the past few years offering another option, one quainter and oal once they were officially up and running

Jade pulled her car up next to the hangar where Jax kept his Cessna Skycatcher She’d learned quite a bit since co forces to revaer and a nose wheel Things she never thought she’d need to know at the age of thirty-two, but here she was, discovering aviation was not only fascinating, she found the sport rather sexy

She parked her car out of the way of the construction crew’swas nearly coift shop, and she positively couldn’t wait to get that going There wasn’t a doubt in her mind that this place would beco town

As Jade sat there, she irounds They would need reenery and accent rocks It couldn’t get too feminine and had to look professional and classy

And she was stalling Jade wouldshrubs than get on that plane for a wedding she’d rather give up her favorite running shoes than to attend

On a deep sigh, Jade pushed her door open, grabbed her purse, and rounded the car to the trunk Might as well get this over with One rehearsal and dinner, one wedding and reception, then she’d be heading back home in two days That was all she had to survive of her faain untilwell, otbridesmaid

The McKenzies had long ago given up asking her to join therateful But there were still certain events she was obligated to attend because her , close-knit family She’d only spoken to her mother on the phone a handful of times since “the incident”—her mother’s words

The incident would be the scandal Jade had the nerve to bring upon their family Not that her mother cared, but Jade refused to put up with sexual harassment so, yeah, she’d come forward, and she wasn’t the least bit sorry

Jade jerked her suitcase from the trunk and extended the handle As she wheeled it behind her, she clicked the key fob to lock her car and