Since it’s back to school time, I’m going back to my first published novel, with a heroine who’s dealing with a troublesome young son—and an ex she never expected to see again:

The eeny-meeny-miny-mo approach to paying bills wouldn’t keep creditors from her door much longer.

Sarah Lindstrom sighed, planted her elbows on the desk and buried her face in her hands.

What she wouldn’t do for some matches or a fireplace. But the only bookstore in Dillon, Texas, wasn’t the place to find either of those things, even if she were dumb enough to resort to drastic measures. Burning the bills would only add to her problems, not solve them.

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 her 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?

Half of her wanted to scream at Tanner to let her son go; the other half wanted to behave like a calm, rational human being who understood the importance of law and order.

Well, she’d never been rational around Tanner before.

~~From the cover:

Why Is Tanner Jones Back In Town?

Seven-year-old Kevin has been a handful for single mom Sarah Lindstrom, and when the new sheriff walks through her door holding her son by the scruff of his neck for egging his car, she knows she’s lost control. But can she control herself—and keep the secret she’s kept for so many years?

Tanner Jones has no idea Kevin is his son—he lost the right to that information when he abandoned Sarah soon after graduation. Just because he’s back in town doesn’t mean he can waltz into her life—and Kevin’s—to pick up where they left off. But Sarah can’t deny the feelings she still harbors for Tanner, and can’t deny how her son is benefiting from his attentions.

When Tanner finds out the truth, what is he going to do?

Amazon  http://bit.ly/TheSheriffsSon-A

Barnes & Noble  http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-sheriffs-son-barbara-white-daille/

Books-a-Million  http://www.booksamillion.com/p/Sheriffs-Son/White-Daille-Barbara/

Harlequin  http://www.harlequin.com/storeitem.html?iid=55991

Kobo  https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-sheriff-s-son-10

Thanks for reading!