Once upon a time there was this apple orchard that
flourished under the care, love and watchful eyes of several
generations. Life at the orchard was hard but it was a
beautiful place to live. Tom Cavanaugh learned the hard way
that he missed his land, the apples and the people of Virgin
River who made life on his orchard sweet and rewarding. Most
importantly his grandmother Maxie truly more parent then
grand. When he needed to stretch his wings Maxie let him
join the service and see the world. It was rather harsh as a
serviceman and when his tour of duty was over Tom was ready
to come home.
Nora and her two little girls were never fortunate to have
that kind of home. Left with an emotionally unstable mother,
she never knew her father who left after the divorce. Nora's
life was on a downward spiral being left in a miserable
cabin in the dead of winter with her two little girls by the
only man she had allowed into her life, once again learning
the harsh lesson of depending on a man. If not for the
amazing goodwill of the people in Virgin River they would
not have survived when left with no basic necessities, no
heat and virtually alone.
Instead Nora thrived and learned who she really wanted to be
--independent women and support her little family. When the
chance to work at the orchards came her way she was
determined to show the reluctant owner she could handle the
job. Most was just bluster but Nora's was resolved to make
this work, even if it meant walking several miles each way,
and working till her hands and feet blistered. She was one
tough little cookie, and that's what drew Toms attention
although he worked hard to stay indifferent.
Somehow Nora and her little girls wormed their way into his
life. He was seeing an extraordinarily attractive, bright
and accomplished woman but as the bloom on the rose started
to fade Tom realized beauty was only skin deep and
underneath was a rather shallow albeit gorgeous woman. On
the other hand there was Nora who tempted him by being real
and honest, not expecting anything from anyone, treated
everyone with respect and had an amazing capacity to love.
Nora came with a lot baggage and was surprised by Tom's
attention; even with heated kisses the idea of a future
together was just too ridiculous.
But love was in the air at the orchard, and perhaps it just
needed a little nudge in the right way to get these two
stubborn people to realize they were absolutely meant for
one another.
Welcome back once again to Virgin River. We met Nora when
she first arrived and now it is her time. Carr has written a
lovely story about second chances and seeing through the
obvious to find the real person hidden beneath. People are
multidimensional and so are the characters in this latest
Carr story, SUNRISE POINT . It is such fun to peel back the
layers to find the riches.
Former marine Tom Cavanaugh’s come home to Virgin River,
ready to take over his family’s apple orchard and settle
down. He knows just what the perfect woman will be like:
sweet, decent, maybe a little naive. The marrying kind.
Nothing like Nora Crane. So why can’t he keep his eyes off
the striking single mother?
Nora may not have a formal education, but she graduated with
honors from the school of hard knocks. She’s been through
tough times and she’ll do whatever it takes to support her
family, including helping with harvest time at the
Cavanaugh’s orchard. She’s always kept a single-minded focus
on staying afloat...but suddenly her thoughts keep drifting
back to rugged, opinionated Tom Cavanaugh.
Both Nora and Tom have their own ideas of what family means.
But they’re about to prove each other completely wrong...