Amie Denman - Meet Me On The Midway

It’s time to take a chance

Evie Hamilton has big plans for Starlight Point, her family’s amusement park. Determined to prove she’s more than a by-the-numbers accountant, Evie is all set to open a brand-new marina and renovate the century-old Lake Breeze Hotel. She’s planned for every possible roadblock...except the handsome, infuriating new fire inspector.

Firefighter Scott Bennett doesn’t want to be the bad guy. But when he looks at Evie’s plans, all he can see are the potential disasters. He wants to help Evie build for the future, but letting go of the past feels dangerous. Almost as dangerous as trusting Evie with his heart.

“There’s no excuse for playing with fire.”

Scott heard the hard edge in his voice but couldn’t help it.

Evie crossed her arms as she continued to look across the bay. Probably waiting for the towboat so she could get out of here as soon as possible. She turned back to him. “Don’t you ever play with fire?” she asked.

Scott felt her words like a punch. Felt the air drop ten degrees colder. “No,” he said. He was sorry he’d tried to be nice.

“So those stories about firefighters being closet pyromaniacs are just rumors?”

Heat crept over his neck and ears like a burn.

“No one I know or have ever worked with,” he said, clipping off the words with deadly deliberation, “would think it was fun to mess around with something that could kill.”

He stopped himself before he said too much.

Dear Reader,

Thank you for visiting Starlight Point as you read Meet Me on the Midway. No matter the season, I believe it’s always a good time for a summer romance!

This is the third of the Starlight Point Stories miniseries. The first book, Under the Boardwalk, follows the eldest of the Hamilton children the first summer he inherits Starlight Point. Jack Hamilton finds true love with Augusta after a roller-coaster romance. In the second book, Carousel Nights, middle child June Hamilton struggles with a tough choice: continuing her Broadway career or coming home to Starlight Point for good. This third book follows the youngest member of the family, Evie, as she finds her place at Starlight Point. Proving herself as more than just an accountant means she has to take risks with the family business. She also risks her heart with a man who stands in her way but sweeps her into a summer romance.

This is my ninth published novel, but I still fall in love with my characters every time. I hope you’ll love spending time with Evie and Scott at Starlight Point. Thank you for reading my book, and please visit me at amiedenman.com, follow me on Twitter, @amiedenman, or send me an email at author@amiedenman.com.

Happy summer, wherever you are!

Amie Denman

Meet Me on the Midway

Amie Denman

www.millsandboon.co.uk

AMIE DENMAN is the author of nine contemporary romances full of humor and heart. Born with an overdeveloped sense of curiosity, she’s been known to chase fire trucks on her bicycle and eavesdrop on lovers’ conversations. Amie lives in Ohio with her husband, two sons, a big yellow Labrador and two cats. She believes everything is fun, especially wedding cake, show tunes, roller coasters and falling in love.

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To my husband, with whom I fell in love many summers ago at an amusement park just like Starlight Point.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Introduction

Dear Reader

Title Page

About the Author

Dedication

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

CHAPTER NINETEEN

CHAPTER TWENTY

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

EPILOGUE

Extract

Copyright

CHAPTER ONE

THIS SHOULD HAVE been my big day. Evie Hamilton wore a white linen dress and high-heeled sandals as she stood on the long sunny dock in the Starlight Point Marina. The project she’d dreamed up for her family’s amusement park last summer and worked on all winter was scheduled to open today. The morning weather was perfect. Reporters lined a parallel dock, and a camera crew from the local news station waited. Starlight Point would be on the cover of the July issue of the Roller Coaster Times.

“You look like an advertisement for summer in that gorgeous dress,” Evie’s sister, June, said. “Why don’t you toss your plain navy blue skirts and dress like this all the time? It’s more dramatic.”

“The role of the dramatic sister is already taken,” Evie said. “And nothing is less practical than white linen. If it rains, I’m going to look like a naked waif.”

“You might get a good offer,” June said. She stood next to Evie and smiled and waved at the reporters.

Evie shook her head. “The only offer I want right now is the offer of a signature on our occupancy permit from the local fire inspector.”

“It’ll work out,” her sister advised her. “Cut the ribbon and pretend the whole project is on time and boaters will be eating seafood at the restaurant for dinner.”

“But they won’t,” Evie whispered. “The new fire inspector refused to sign our permit yesterday even though Jack met with him and pled our case.”

“Should have gone yourself,” June said. “You’re much prettier than our brother.”

“I couldn’t. I was meeting with our construction super to see if there was a chance of fixing the supposed violations and widening the fire lane around the restaurant overnight.”

June gave her sister a hug. The sun shone brightly on Starlight Point and happy screams from the roller coasters drifted across the newly renovated marina. Gleaming white powerboats tugged at their dock lines in the gentle breeze and the blue water of the bay sparkled.

New docks for seasonal and transient boaters stretched across the marina, but the gas lines running under the docks were currently dry. Because Starlight Point was right on Lake Huron, there was a new terminal for the ferry that made fifteen round trips a day to downtown Bayside. Just off the docks, a new restaurant and gift shop blended old-fashioned amusement park décor with modern conveniences. A shower house and comfort station for boaters completed the project.

It was all just as Evie imagined it would be. She’d convinced her brother and sister to go along with the plan based on her careful calculations of return on investment. Boaters would dock, fuel up, eat at the restaurant and stay overnight. While they were there, they would buy tickets to Starlight Point and scatter their cash over the amusement park with food and merchandise purchases. It was all part of Evie’s plan to bump up revenues by improving accommodations.