Return to Summerhouse Read online

  Acclaim for Jude Deveraux’s

  THE SUMMERHOUSE

  The dazzling bestseller that asks the provocative question inside every woman’s heart: have you ever wanted to rewrite your past?

  “Thought-provoking, entertaining, and downright delightful.”

  —Amazon.com

  “A wonderfully wistful contemporary tale.”

  —Barnesandnoble.com

  “A time-travel motif…with a female buddy twist that will make fans smile.”

  —Booklist

  “A wonderful, heartwarming tale of friendship and love.”

  —America Online Romance Fiction Forum

  And look for these stunning New York Times bestsellers from Jude Deveraux!

  SOMEONE TO LOVE

  “A fabulous tale…. Delightful paranormal romantic suspense…. The fast-paced story line grips the reader…and never slows down until the final explosive climax.”

  —Harriet Klausner

  “Deveraux harmonizes the whole satisfactorily.”

  —Publishers Weekly

  FIRST IMPRESSIONS

  “An entertaining read…the surprise ending is a fun fillip for longtime fans.”

  —Booklist

  “An adventurous tale spiced with both humor and danger.”

  —Romantic Times magazine

  ALWAYS

  “Engaging…a delightful otherworldly fantasy.”

  —Thebestreviews.com

  “Cannot be put down until the last word is read…. Truly amazing.”

  —Romance Reviews Today

  FOREVER AND ALWAYS

  “An intriguing paranormal tale…loaded with action.”

  —Thebestreviews.com

  FOREVER…

  “Irresistibly eerie, yet decidedly a love story, Deveraux’s offering bursts with high-spirited repartee and bizarre but bewitching characters.”

  —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

  “[A] modern fairy tale…. this is Deveraux at her most pleasurable.”

  —Booklist

  WILD ORCHIDS

  “[Deveraux] does a superb job of building up to her chilling conclusion.”

  —Publishers Weekly

  THE MULBERRY TREE

  “Mystery, romance, and good cooking converge….”

  —People

  HOLLY

  “A fast-paced tale with more than one deadly twist…. [A] sexy story.”

  —Library Journal

  “Readers who like their Christmas on the hot side should go straight to Holly…. Romance with a dash of mystery and threat.”

  —Barnesandnoble.com

  More acclaim for Jude Deveraux

  “Jude Deveraux’s writing is exquisite and enchanting.”

  —BookPage

  “A master storyteller.”

  —The Literary Times

  “Any novel by Jude Deveraux is just plain fun to read, and she keeps readers on the edge of their seats.”

  —The Advocate (Baton Rouge, LA)

  “Deveraux instinctively knows what every woman is searching for—her own knight in shining armor.”

  —Romantic Times magazine

  BOOKS BY JUDE DEVERAUX

  The Velvet Promise

  Highland Velvet

  Velvet Song

  Velvet Angel

  Sweetbriar

  Counterfeit Lady

  Lost Lady

  River Lady

  Twin of Fire

  Twin of Ice

  The Temptress

  The Raider

  The Princess

  The Awakening

  The Maiden

  The Taming

  The Conquest

  A Knight in Shining Armor

  Holly

  Wishes

  Mountain Laurel

  The Duchess

  Eternity

  Sweet Liar

  The Invitation

  Remembrance

  The Heiress

  Legend

  An Angel for Emily

  The Blessing

  High Tide

  Temptation

  The Summerhouse

  The Mulberry Tree

  Forever…

  Wild Orchids

  Forever and Always

  Always

  First Impressions

  Carolina Isle

  Someone to Love

  Secrets

  Pocket Books

  A Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

  1230 Avenue of the Americas

  New York, NY 10020

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2008 by Deveraux, Inc.

  All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information address Pocket Books Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020

  POCKET BOOKS and colophon are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Deveraux, Jude.

  Return to Summerhouse / by Jude Deveraux.—1st Pocket books paperback ed.

  p. cm.

  ISBN-13: 978-1-4165-9647-9

  ISBN-10: 1-4165-9647-X

  1. Female friendship—Fiction. 2. Time travel—Fiction. I. Title.

  PS3554.E9273R48 2008

  813'.54—dc22 2007047652

  Visit us on the World Wide Web:

  http://www.SimonSays.com

  Return to Summerhouse

  Part One

  One

  Amy closed her suitcase and looked around the bedroom she shared with her husband, Stephen. Everything was neatly in place, just the way she liked it. Stephen teased her that she’d fall down dead if the clock showed eight A.M. and she didn’t have all the beds made. But he didn’t fool her; he liked the house to be clean and neat as much as she did.

  She sat down on the buttoned bench at the foot of the bed and sighed. I can’t do this, she thought for the thousandth time. For that matter, why was she being made to do it? She wasn’t good with strangers, wasn’t good in social situations where she had to meet people and make chitchat. She liked going to the same places, seeing the same people, and talking about their same lives. So what was wrong with that? If it made her feel safe, so what?

  Just because Stephen and his father knew some therapist and she suggested that Amy get away for a while didn’t make it necessary. Besides, what gave that woman the right to tell other people what they should do with their lives?

  “You have on your sulky face again,” Stephen said from the doorway.

  It flashed through her mind that this was her last chance to show her husband how much she hated being sent away, so she tried to keep her look of anguish. But it didn’t work. He was leaning against the doorway, wearing dark gray trousers and a crisp white shirt. Sunlight was coming in from the window across the stairs behind him, making the light hit his dark blond hair in a way that made a halo around his head. When he smiled, his blue eyes seemed to emit starlight. She could feel her body growing limp.

  “Don’t give me that look,” he said. “The kids are downstairs diving into their Froot Loops and we don’t have time to…” He gave a little one-sided grin and nodded toward the bed.

  It took Amy three whole seconds to react. “You gave them Froot Loops? Do you know what’s in that stuff? Sugar!” She was running toward him and the doorway when he caught her about the waist.

  “That got you out of your stupor,” he said, pulling her to him. “They’re not eating an