Yesterday was a happy day in my house, as we celebrated the anniversary of the day my first novel was published! For today’s Teaser Tuesday, we’re taking a trip to Dillon, Texas, with a clip from that book, The Sheriff’s Son:

If one more straw would snap the camel’s back, as Daddy used to say, then one more debt, one more unplanned doctor visit, one more call from Kevin’s school ought to bring down a whole herd of cattle.

The thought of her son made Sarah sigh again.  It was only a few weeks into the new school year, and in that short time, he’d given her more grief than in all seven years of his life combined.

At the sound of the bell over the door, she glanced at the clock.  The Bookies had arrived a bit early.

She smoothed the loose curls escaping from her braid, ran a hand over the front of her dress and smiled.  Nowadays, besides reading, her only form of entertainment came from The Book Cellar’s novel discussion group, an assortment of local women ranging from former schoolteachers to ranch wives to several of her own stay-at-home-mom friends.

Halfway through the office doorway into the large, overflowing bookstore, she froze.  Her mouth hung open, the greeting she’d intended to call out shriveling on her tongue, sliding back down her throat, curdling in her stomach.

Her “one more straw” had arrived.

Instead of the group of women she’d expected to see, a man stood at the front of the store, framed between a pair of ceiling-height bookcases.

Tanner Jones seemed to fill her vision, standing taller and more broad-shouldered than she ever remembered, but looking, unfortunately, all too familiar.  Except for the deputy sheriff’s badge decorating his chest and the gun resting on his hip.

A frown rumpled his brow and his hand gripped the back of a bright blue T-shirt, pulling up with just enough pressure to keep the boy inside the shirt dancing on tiptoe.

A single mother’s worst nightmare.  Doubled.

The son she never wanted to see in trouble.

The man she’d once loved.  Once lost.  And never wanted to see again.

“Mom!  I–”

“Hold it, son,” Tanner broke in.

Her stomach dropped.  His voice had deepened with the years, but his once well-loved drawl triggered a fully-illustrated volume of unwanted memories.

Sarah focused instead on Kevin, whose yelp revealed much more than his missing front tooth.  What had he done?  And why did Tanner have to be the one to catch him?

~~

Hope you enjoyed the visit to Dillon! You can find the book (and a connected novel, Court Me, Cowboy) at all your favorite e-tailers, including:

 

Amazon  

Barnes & Noble  

Books-a-Million  

Harlequin  

Kobo

 

Thanks for reading.

All my best,

Barbara