Little did Ali Stinson know the phone call she was about to take was going to change her life. Again.
Over a year ago, falling in love with Sam Harrington had been a monumental shift catapulting Ali from solitude and depression into companionship and joy. Moving across the country to New York with Sam as he returned into the family fold had disturbed her equilibrium, bringing a mixture of emotional highs and lows.
Ali contemplated the highest of those highs as she regarded the engagement ring currently adorning her left hand. When her ex-husband had proposed, Ali flaunted the flamboyant modern single stone in front of anyone who would look at it, like a badge of honour. After her divorce from Jack Blackhorne, she'd donated the ring to charity hoping, unlike her, it would bring good to someone else.
With Sam's ring, a family heirloom from a happy and long marriage, Ali spent hours admiring it herself, daydreaming of the life they would have together. She'd wanted to run down to city hall the next day and get married, but Sam deserved more. Sam's family deserved more as well.
Christopher and Evelyn Harrington were over the moon with the announcement of the impending nuptials. Ali was not sure but there might have been a tear in her soon-to-be father-in-law's eye when he gave his celebratory speech.
Ali could not believe her luck. Not only was she marrying the sexiest, kindest man in the world, but she was gaining a family as well. Being an only child and never having a close relationship with her parents, the family aspect was something Ali was still getting used to.
Sam had amazing parents, aunts, uncles, cousins, second cousins, friends who were like family. A parade of people now coloured her life. Most days she loved the racket and rabble of the various relations. Some days, she just wanted Sam to herself.
It had been hard at first, sharing Sam with all these new people. He was pulled in so many directions, running the Harrington Charitable Foundation, helping Leif Stewart run for office, keeping his cousin Charlie out of trouble and planning a wedding. Somewhere in there, they found time to be together, carving out pockets of personal moments to just be.
Life wasn't perfect. They hadn't sailed off into the sunset like in a fairy tale. They were both working hard to make their relationship and their new life work.
Eventually, they'd established a rhythm. Evelyn had asked to be their personal wedding planner, providing much-needed guidance and stepping in for Ali's absent mother. And to provide a little relief on the work front, Sam was hiring a permanent events coordinator.
Ali was currently in between interviewing candidates. The woman who just left looked good on paper but had been a complete bust in person. She'd given the impression the important part of her job would be the partying aspect, not the planning piece and her experience hadn't held up under scrutiny. Ali hoped the next person had more potential.
Flipping her dark hair over her shoulders, she headed for the door to grab a coffee from the kitchen when her cell phone rang. Making her way back to her desk, Ali scowled at the name on the display.
"What does she want?"
Hi there! D. L. Croisette here. Thank you so much for reading the beginning of Ruby Red 3 and the story of Ali and Sam. If you haven't read Ruby Red, Book 1 or 2, I highly suggest you do. It is not necessary, this book will stand up on it's own, but a few things might make more sense if you have their back story.
This book is a continuation of the love story of Ali and Sam and their lives together. It means our favourite couple will be doing the things that committed couples do and it's mature in nature. Please consider this your first and only warning regarding upcoming romantic scenes and adult situations.
Oh, and if you are reading this on anything else other than Wattpad, I have not given permission for it and your device is probably sustainable to all kinds of nasty stuff on those fake sites. To read this, completely free, go to Wattpad.com or this link: https://my.w.tt/F6q0CVWAr8
Whew! Now that's out of the way, let's get this story started...