Best friends survive life and find second chances

Debbie McComber’s “Window on the Bay” is a story of friendship and second chances. If you read Ms. McComber’s books, you know that there is always plenty of romance, angst and a happy ending. Most of us enjoy her books because they give us hope that things will all work out if we are patient and keep an open mind.

Jenna and Maureen met as teens and have been best friends ever since. The two had planned a trip to Paris, but life got in the way. Both married college sweethearts, had children and endured the pain of divorce.

At this point, Jenna has been an ICU nurse at Seattle Central for over 20 years. Maureen has been a librarian in Seattle’s downtown branch for nearly as long. They are once again planning that long-delayed trip when Jenna’s mom falls and breaks her hip. The required surgery brings Jenna face to face with Dr. Rowan Lancaster. One look and sparks fly, but Jenna isn’t looking for a relationship. Jenna has a strict rule of never dating anyone from the hospital but keeps bumping into Rowan.

For the first time, Jenna has an empty nest and she’s starting to enjoy it. Her son, Paul, is doing well studying engineering, and her daughter, Allie, has just moved into the dorm for her freshman year. Where Paul is calm and easy going, Allie is all drama. She quickly makes friends with fellow freshman Mackenzie, and the two proceed to drink, party and rebel. Mackenzie and Allie share a common bond as both grew up with uninterested fathers. Jenna is glad Allie has a friend, but she also wonders if the girls will go off track.

Unbeknownst to Jenna, Paul has chosen a different career path, but he knows how she’d feel about that and can’t bring himself to tell her.

Maureen’s “nest” has been empty for a couple of years, and she, too, enjoys the quiet, though she relishes her weekly lunches with her married daughter, Tori. Recently, Maureen has had an unusual library patron.

For several weeks, an attractive man named Logan has been asking her to suggest books for him to read. He’s both irritating and intriguing, and Maureen finds herself looking forward to his weekly visits. Both women have dated but never found a man who caused a “green light” reaction. Something about Logan makes Maureen move him to “yellow light” status. She has always dated highly educated, professional men, but Logan works as a plumbing foreman in construction. Apparently, opposites do attract.

Like it or not, the relationships move forward in fits and starts. All four want a relationship, yet each carries the burden of previous failures and current obligations. Jenna is still reeling from Paul’s change of plans when her trust in Rowan is rocked by the revelation that he is Mackenzie’s “jerk-of-a-father.” He insists that he didn’t know she was in Seattle, but Jenna shuts him out.

Maureen is also suffering when Logan allows his work buddies to refer to her as a prude and mocks him for attending the ballet. Both situations may be nothing more than a misunderstanding, but neither woman will back down.

In the end, it is up to the kids to force a conversation and reconciliation. Each one learns that patience, understanding and openness are essential to any healthy relationship, and that love can force its way into even the most tightly closed heart.

AT A GLANCE

BOOK: “Window on the Bay”

AUTHOR: Debbie McComber

PUBLISHER: Arrow

PUBLISHED: Aug. 8, 2019

PAGES: 288

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