The term “second act” often refers to something a person devotes their life to after retiring. However, second acts can also manifest at any age when one’s life is unexpectedly altered—through the loss of a job, an upset in finances, a divorce, the death of a spouse, a change in health, an unfortunate accident, and many other life-altering events.
In Lavender Hill Cove, the first book in author Maryann Ridini Spencer’s new Lavender Hill Cove series, Spencer’s protagonist, Ella Martin, finds herself at life’s crossroads when her romantic 20th anniversary weekend reveals startling news. Turning to family in her hometown off Lavender Hill Cove for comfort, Ella finds surprises— romantically and professionally—especially when she finds her childhood friend, Sophia, in trouble. To help Sophia, Ella takes on the role of detective and realizes that faith, hope and love are the answers to resolving more than a crime.
Spencer is the award-winning author of seven books, including the Kate Grace novels (Lady in the Window, The Paradise Table, Secrets of Grace Manor, Under the Tropical Skies), and has written and produced numerous television series and movies. She is also co-producer/writer of the Hallmark Hall of Fame/CBS classic, The Lost Valentine, starring Betty White and Jennifer Love Hewitt. The film, winner of the Faith and Freedom Movieguide Award, is also part of Hallmark’s Gold Crown (DVD) Collector’s Edition and can now be live-streamed on Hallmark’s movie channels.
Spencer has also worked as a freelance food and lifestyle writer for Palm Springs Life, Desert Magazine, Ventura County Star and others. She’s the host of the Telly Award-Winning PBS series, Simply Delicious Living With Maryann (2010 to present).
Here is an excerpt from Lavender Hill Cove
Beverly Hills, California—Present Day
Ella Martin, a pretty, 42-year-old woman with shoulder-length, chestnut-colored hair and green eyes, slips out from under the covers of the bed she shares with her husband of 20 years, Jack, and into her robe. Quietly closing the master bedroom door, she exits the room and walks barefoot on the gleaming hardwood floor down a long hall to the home’s hub, the kitchen. Moonlight streams through a skylight in the ceiling and illuminates her way.
More iridescent slivers of moonlight stream through the bushes and trees viewed through the kitchen’s large, curtainless windows, in front of which sits a beautiful antique oak dining table beneath a farmhouse-style chandelier.
It’s only 3 a.m., but unable to return to sleep no matter how much she desires it, her thoughts welcome the idea of a warm, soothing cup of tea.
A cup of chamomile will do the trick.
Ella pulls out a porcelain mug etched with an array of pretty purple, yellow and pink hibiscus flowers from one of the kitchen’s white wood cabinets.
As an added backup plan to calm her nerves, she toys with the idea of taking half a melatonin tablet to ensure a return to sleep but decides against it. She needs to be alert for work in the morning, and without being able to sleep for eight or so more hours, consuming the tablet would only make her groggy for the rest of the day ahead.
Ella puts her mug with a tea bag and filtered water from the refrigerator’s door dispenser in the microwave for two minutes. She is careful to catch the oven before it signals a loud ding so as not to wake her husband or face his wrath. Jack has trouble sleeping, and Ella knows from experience any movement or sound that might wake him is to be avoided at all costs, or punishing results will follow.
With tea in hand, Ella walks gingerly toward the dining table, a magnificent find from a local estate auction. She holds the porcelain mug to her face and relishes the tranquilizing heat upon her skin. Then, after a time, Ella rubs the uneven, craggy beauty of the dark, honey-colored wood beneath her free hand. Taking another sip of tea from her mug, she scans the kitchen’s newly remodeled, country-chic gathering space, decorated in white with natural woods and accents of teal and sand. Ella acknowledges how grateful she is for this light, bright domain.
Next to the table sits a buffet. With the inclination to write in her diary, Ella leans over to reach the cabinet’s top drawer, where only she ventures, pulls out her blue, leather-bound diary and a pen, and begins to journal.
Dear Diary,
Sometimes of late, I wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat. When this happens, I have no lucid memory of my dreams or if I’ve even dreamt at all. However, what is evident as my head lays immovable upon my pillow is a lingering dread that I can’t seem to shake, no matter how many prayers I fervently and silently recite.
Tonight, it’s the same. My mind turns over the events of the previous days. Nothing extraordinary stands out that facilitates this anxious foreboding. Yet, my feelings are palpable and undeniable.
Ella looks up from the diary to reach for her mug of tea again, and her eye catches an old family photo showcased in a whitewashed wood frame sitting on top of the buffet. She examines the faces peering back at her: her 22-year-old self, younger siblings, Julie and Justin, and her parents. Taken on the day of her college graduation, Ella proudly holds her degree. She beams, surrounded by a loving family. Remembering, she returns to her diary.
As I look at a photo taken on the day of my college graduation, my mind floods with memories of that day and the joyous celebration with relatives and friends that followed at our home by the bay in Lavender Hill Cove. Situated on Long Island’s North Fork, home to many Victorian homes and estates, sprawling vineyards, antique stores with unique finds and stunning coastal views, Lavender Hill Cove holds many fond memories.
Bang! The ferocious wind outside the kitchen nook smacks a shrub branch against one of the window panes and knocks Ella out of her reverie. Turning her attention to the greenery as it dances ferociously outside the window with every swoosh of the wind, she is mesmerized. As she continues to write in her diary, she occasionally raises her head from the journal to watch as the dark, muted sky morphs into a radiant, purply pink and orange-colored spectacle along the horizon as the morning sun breaks. In awe of nature’s beauty, Ella’s spirits rise. She returns to the graduation photo and, putting pen to paper, once again, remembers.
Twenty Years Ago, Lavender Hill Cove, New York
Gusts of wind thrash against the family station wagon traveling down the semi-deserted highway some 78 or so miles to New York’s JFK airport in Queens. A crack of lightning rips through the dark morning sky, and the subsequent downpour belies the weatherman’s morning prediction of sunny summer skies.
Ella Blake, a pretty, 22-year-old sitting in the middle row behind her parents, nips at her cuticles. Her two younger siblings, Julie and Justin, 14 and 12, sit uncharacteristically silent beside her in the station wagon’s third row.
“Michael, would you like me to drive?” asks Ella’s mother, Audrey. Her husband’s face, twisted into a painful grimace, resembles a dam about to break. Unable to speak, Michael shakes his head, stoically declining Audrey’s offer. He wipes away a few watery drops that have escaped down his cheeks. Concerned and empathetic to her husband’s grief, Audrey sighs, dips into her purse, and offers Michael a tissue.
“Michael, would you like me to drive?” asks Ella’s mother, Audrey. Her husband’s face, twisted into a painful grimace, resembles a dam about to break.
No! Michael holds up his hand firmly, signaling to his wife to stop. He will not give in to his tears. Audrey slips the tissue back into her purse and, wearily, turns toward her children. Ella still nervously chews her cuticles, and Justin and Julie are morosely quiet and look as if they are about to vomit. Audrey’s gaze turns back toward Ella, and with her eyes, silently asks, “Why are you doing this?”
Ella loves her family, and although their pain is palpable, her youth, in part, contributes to her inability to understand the depth of their despair.
The intensity and undercurrent of unexpressed emotions teeter on an explosion. Eventually, under the atmospheric weight, Julie and Justin begin to squirm. Like their father, however, the children remain unflappable.
“Why do you have to move? Why can’t you stay here with us?” Justin suddenly blurts out what’s on everyone’s mind.
Justin’s question gives Ella pause, and she gulps. Her heart hurts. How best to answer this question yet again?
“I told you, I’m a college graduate now,” says Ella softly, with compassion. “I have to work, and that job is in Los Angeles. You’ll understand when you’re older.” These are the only words she can think to say or have the wherewithal to muster.
“Will you visit us?” asks Julie.
“Of course, I’ll visit,” gushes Ella. She reaches out to hug her siblings. “I’ll write. I’ll call all the time. I’m not leaving you—I’m just moving to where the work is—for the career college prepared me to pursue.” This repeated line has become her mantra when explaining her need to move away from any family, 3,000 miles across the country from New York to California.
“She’s going on to a new life,” Ella’s father remarks as he grabs tightly onto the steering wheel as if for support before releasing a horrible, guttural sound that he tries to squelch.
With tears streaming down her cheeks now, Audrey turns to look at Ella again.
Unable to bear her parents’ pain, Ella turns toward her siblings, who cower, cinched shoulder to shoulder in fear. Once again, Ella’s heart shudders. While, on the one hand, she is torn and feels the impending pain of separation too, she also bravely anticipates fantastical dreams of what may come by doing what she’s been brought up from birth and educated to do: forge her unique path.
The car remains silent as it travels through the torrential downpour toward the airport. The only sounds to be heard are the wails of howling wind and pulverizing rain as they smash mercilessly against the station wagon’s frame.
Excerpted from Lavender Hill Cove, with permission. Copyright 2023, Maryann Ridini Spencer. Spencer will give a talk and sign books from 1 to 4 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 27, at Barnes & Noble, located at the Shops at Palm Desert, 72840 Highway 111. Learn more at MaryannRidiniSpencer.com.
Going Home to Begin Again: An Excerpt From Maryann Ridini Spencer’s New Novel, ‘Lavender Hill Cove’ is a story from Coachella Valley Independent, the Coachella Valley’s alternative news source.