The Price He Paid

by Jean Brashear

~THE END~

  Thank you for letting me share my stories with you! Next up in the Second Chances series is THE HOUSE THAT LOVE BUILT:

  Once they had it all: the home she’d always wanted with a man who adored her, three children they cherished, a life filled with passion and promise.

  Until one troubled child cost them everything.

  After a childhood of constant upheaval, all Cleo Formby wanted was to put down roots, to fill a house with family and love. When Malcolm Channing swept into her life, she gained it all: the home, the children, the love of a good man who adored her—

  Until their firstborn daughter tore their family apart, and even the love between Cleo and Malcolm wasn’t strong enough to survive the devastation.

  Five years later, that daughter returns, destitute—with a child in tow. Cleo and Malcolm are thrown together again…and realize that their love has never died.

  But both have ties to others now, and their daughter is no less troubled than before. Being in constant proximity yet unable to be together is a constant heartache, but the welfare of this little grandson has to take first place.

  When Malcolm’s new life is shattered by treachery, can he and Cleo overcome the wounds of the past and find their way back to the magic that once filled the house that love built?

  Get your copy of THE HOUSE THAT LOVE BUILT today!

  If you enjoyed THE PRICE HE PAID, I would be very grateful if you would help others find this book by recommending it to your friends on Goodreads or by writing a review. If you would like to be informed of new releases and be eligible for subscriber-only special discounts, please sign up for my newsletter here. You can also follow me on BookBub here.

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  Thanks!

  Jean

  Please enjoy this excerpt from THE HOUSE THAT LOVE BUILT:

  Gypsy Rose Lee danced in the backyard, performing a slow bump-and-grind for an old, half-blind dog. Tom Jones wailed the melody to a steady backbeat and more brass than the law should allow.

  Cleo Channing could swear the squirrel sitting on a limb nearby was smiling.

  Today Gypsy. Tomorrow Rita Hayworth, maybe a little Ava Gardner thrown in for good measure. As Cleo’s seventy-four-year-old mother, Lola, danced, her brilliant purple-and-lime-green caftan flashed through pools of golden sunlight.

  Cleo sighed. Snuggled into plump pillows on her private sunporch in the crisp autumn morning, she stared at the skyline of downtown Austin through the steam rising from her teacup. Tom Jones and Lola were playing havoc with her much-cherished indulgence, this tranquil time to gather herself before the day. She rose early to watch dawn kiss away the dew as cats prowled beneath the forsythia and birds greeted the sun. The steady hum of traffic from Lamar Boulevard below was background music, the pulse beat of a city coming to life.

  She loved mornings, but she had missed a lot of them. Malcolm had always enjoyed sleeping until the last possible moment and had wanted her tucked in beside him.

  But Malcolm had been gone for five years; he slept in a condo now, beside his younger woman. Who was welcome to him. Cleo had crawled her way to wholeness alone. She had her own life, and she liked it fine.

  Or she’d been content with it before Lola and Aunt Cammie had shown up three months ago. Cammie was a sweetheart, but Lola had shattered the careful structure of Cleo’s world. Once again, Cleo was forced to assume her childhood role as the adult in Lola’s life; Aunt Cammie couldn’t be expected to keep a lid on her sister’s excesses. It boggled the mind to think that B-movie goddess Lola could have been born to the same parents as dainty, demure Camille.

  But nothing could bother Cleo today. Not this day. And ironic as it was, Lola would probably approve of her plans.

  Tonight, Cleo might very well take her first lover since the divorce.

  She was more than nervous, yet a delicious shiver raced through her, and a part of her melted like dark chocolate under summer sun. She had fought the lure, telling herself she was too old and Colin too young, donning her iciest reserve…all for naught.

  Fifty-one years old she was, and she should have no trouble thinking of Colin Spencer as a son. He was twelve years younger than she, for heaven’s sake.

  But he sang the praises of older women, teased her, calling her a Puritan. Pursued her and refused to let her good sense discourage him.

  Until she’d finally agreed to have dinner with him tonight—and not at the coffee shop he owned next door to her high-end gift store.

  At his apartment. Where they both knew what might happen.

  She had to be insane.

  But, oh, she was tempted.

  Where is your dignity, Cleo? It’s not seemly, not seemly at all. The voices crowded in, as they did every day. In the past, she had succeeded in listening.

  Until yesterday.

  Now the former Mrs. Malcolm Channing, mother, grandmother and respected business owner, was staring into the treetops—

  And getting hot and bothered.

  Her bedroom door opened a crack. Aunt Cammie peered around the edge, her expression apologetic. “I’m sorry. I knocked, but you didn’t hear me.”

  Cleo blinked away her fantasies. “Difficult to hear anything over Tom Jones. What did you need?” Cammie moved through the house on silent cat feet, barely stirring the air, seldom speaking. She wouldn’t have interrupted if it wasn’t important.

  Her distress registered on Cleo. “What’s wrong?”

  “I—” She glanced toward the door. “Would you please come downstairs?”

  Cleo wanted to ask if it could wait until she’d soaked up her morning’s peace. Or nestled in one more absurd fantasy of tonight.

  Tom Jones wailed, and Cleo gave up. Serenity and Lola Fontaine lived in alternate universes. Only a faulty memory would allow Cleo to hope otherwise. She set down her cup, trailing one finger across its tiny painted violets, and rose, brushing aside the afghan as she slid her feet into satin slippers.

  Aunt Cammie was already halfway down the stairs. Cleo barely noticed the smooth walnut beneath her hand as her mind jumped to possibilities. Her aunt was a former nurse who could handle a wide range of emergencies; she was gentle but always forthright. So what was going on?

  Nearing the bottom of the stairs, Cleo noted the emotions leaping across Cammie’s features. Unease. Compassion.

  Yearning.

  Even before Cleo turned in the same direction, something was already telling her that everything had changed.

  “Hey,” said the daughter Cleo hadn’t seen in six years. The girl who’d made the ten years before that a living nightmare. Cleo couldn’t quite register that Victoria was here, in the flesh. That she looked like hell.

  But it was the sight of the little boy with her that sucked all the air out of the room.

  “My God in heaven, he’s the spitting image of David.” Lola rushed past Cleo, caftan swirling around her tall figure.

  Cleo hadn’t even heard her mother come inside. She stood there frozen, hoping the pain couldn’t pierce the calluses that bone-deep grief had built around her heart.

  David. Her son, who’d been lost to them for six years. No one ever said his name anymore, as though he’d never existed. But he had. He did. Within Cleo’s heart, the child who’d been an unexpected gift still lived. Still breathed.

  Hadn’t died at the hands of the wraith in her doorway.

  Cleo tried to move her feet. Use her voice. Something to dance away from the boulder of longing rolling her way. Anything to keep from screaming at her firstborn.

  “Mother—” Victoria’s eyes, so empty and dark and hot, scraped at Cleo’s heart…pleading for comfort and hope.

  Cleo’s conscience had almost pushed the message from brain to feet to propel her forward.

  But not soon enough.

  Gaunt and strained, Cleo’s lost daughter shivered, a survivor close enough to safety to give up the struggle. The fever
ish glint left her eyes. With one shaking hand, she stroked the boy’s hair.

  Then, like a rag doll, Victoria crumpled to the floor.

  …Excerpt from THE HOUSE THAT LOVE BUILT by Jean Brashear © 2019

  The SECOND CHANCES series includes:

  Click on the cover below to learn more

  BOOKS by Jean Brashear:

  Click on the covers below for more on each book

  THE TEXAS HEROES series:

  THE GALLAGHERS OF MORNING STAR

  Secrets will be revealed and the lives of four people will be shattered as they learn that who they are and where they come from is not at all what they always believed.

  Texas Secrets: Former SEAL Boone Gallagher returns to the only home he’s ever known only to find that the ranch has been willed to a stranger who doesn’t want it—and he must keep her there for thirty days, or it will be lost to them both.

  Texas Lonely: A loner who’s lost faith in love is the only hope for a mother and child on the run

  Texas Bad Boy: Disgraced bad boy has his chance for revenge against the beautiful society girl who chose money over his love

  The Gallaghers Of Morning Star Boxed Set

  THE MARSHALLS

  Texas Refuge: Haunted former detective is the only sanctuary for an actress being stalked by a madman

  Texas Star: Sexiest Man Alive becomes a white knight for a woman who keeps trying to escape him

  Texas Danger: Down on his luck rancher is the only hope for a socialite on the run from the mob

  The Marshalls Boxed Set

  THE WORLD OF SWEETGRASS SPRINGS

  Nestled in the Texas Hill Country, tiny Sweetgrass Springs was founded by four veterans of the Texas Revolution, and for over a century the town and their ranches grew and prospered. Nowadays, however, too many of the town’s children leave for the big city as soon as they can escape, and Sweetgrass is barely hanging on. The heart and soul of Sweetgrass is Ruby Gallagher. Her daughter vanished from Sweetgrass right after high school, but Ruby, owner of community gathering place Ruby’s Café, remains, keeping vigil, hoping for her daughter’s return. She is fighting to save her ancestors’ legacy, but the town is dying, and it’s breaking Ruby’s heart.

  Then the granddaughter she never knew existed arrives and sets in motion a new life for this eccentric, lovable spot in the road…where hope never fades and love never dies. Readers call it “a special place for hearts that need healing.”

  Texas Roots: A Paris-trained chef on the run finds Texas family she never knew existed and a sexy cowboy she doesn’t dare love

  Texas Wild: Sexy SEAL turned Hollywood stuntman returns home to find his buddy’s little sister all grown up

  Texas Dreams: Take two reluctant brides and two frustrated grooms, mix with both clans of Gallaghers and season with a SEAL or three, a movie star, a Hollywood Barbie and a country music giant—and get not one but two surprise weddings

  Texas Rebel: A former rebellious teen turned billionaire’s reunion with his teenage sweetheart and a secret baby he never knew about

  Texas Blaze: What happens when a shark lawyer in stilettos has a fling with a hot firefighter determined to find Suzy Homemaker?

  Texas Christmas Bride: All he wants is the girl he thought he’d lost forever.

  The Book Babes: Five women began as a reading group and became family…but now change is rippling through the group. (A surprise Sweetgrass Springs connection!)

  Texas Hope: Can two brothers who never knew each other existed overcome the secrets of a woman who abandoned one son and lied to the other?

  Texas Strong: Can a man who’s never trusted anyone and a woman who’s trusted all the wrong men defy the odds and open their hearts to each other?

  Texas Sweet: When a stranger who holds the keys to her identity arrives in town, will the girl everyone knows as Brenda come to terms with her past or run again?

  Be Mine This Christmas: The man he’s become is not the boy she once knew—and he may never forgive her, once he knows the secret she’s been concealing.

  Texas Charm: He’s a country superstar; she’s a small town waitress. When the real world slams into their reverie, whose heart will be the one to break? (Contains an original song written for this book)

  Texas Magic: One billionaire…one tomboy…one night of magic. Miracle or mirage?

  Be My Midnight Kiss: It’s New Year’s Eve…and now or never for these two hearts

  Boxed sets:

  The Gallaghers Of Sweetgrass Springs Boxed Set 1 (Books 1-3)

  The Gallaghers Of Sweetgrass Springs Boxed Set 2 (Books 4-6)

  LONE STAR LOVERS

  Heart-tugging, action-packed and passionate stories of the close-knit Sullivan/Sandoval family of four brothers and one sister, plus the three Morgan sisters, orphaned and separated for many years, whose lives reconnect as they become part of the family circle.

  Texas Heartthrob: Hollywood’s hottest star is a man in disguise when he encounters a woman who’s lost everything…but her secrets. When the world catches up to them, will the price of their lies cost them everything?

  Texas Healer: Special Forces medic holds the power to heal both a doctor’s injured body and her wounded heart…but she can’t stay in his world—and he can’t leave.

  Texas Protector: A detective forever haunted by the night when he couldn’t save a young girl from trauma—now she’s a cop herself and he has to send her undercover to lure a murderer.

  Texas Deception: A plucky crusader falls for a down-on-his-luck stranger—only to learn too late that he’s the villain determined to destroy her town

  Texas Lost: A hard-nosed detective targeted by internal affairs and the woman who’s professional evaluation will make or break his career. A a growing attraction between them risks first his case…and then her life.

  Texas Wanderer: When she’s lost all her dreams and is finally finding a place to call home, will she place her trust—and her heart—in the hands of a wanderer with secrets?

  Texas Bodyguard: He’s undercover as a bodyguard to a film star because her best friend is his top suspect. When she comes to mean too much to him, confessing his deception means risking his career—but not coming clean with her could risk her life

  Texas Rescue: A haunted warrior who lives in the shadows encounters a small, valiant woman who’s a champion of lost causes, and the vibrant light within her lures him from the darkness. When she is rocked by a brush with evil, can he make her feel safe again…and can she convince him that he deserves to live in the light?

  Lone Star Lovers Boxed Set (Books 1-3)

  SECOND CHANCES series

  Love deserves a second chance…

  Guarding Gaby: Gabriela Navarro believed she and Eli Wolverton would always be together…until he abandoned her.

  Bringing Bella Back: They had the perfect marriage…until he lost his way. Then he lost Bella.

  The Price He Paid: The golden boy and the rebel girl who cost him everything

  The House That Love Built: Once they had it all: a home with a man who adored her, three children they cherished, a life filled with passion and promise. Until one troubled child cost them everything.

  The Road Back Home: Can her family forgive what she can’t forgive herself?

  Dream House: Her dream house is the scene of his nightmares.

  DANGEROUS TO LOVE stories

  Is he her enemy…or will he save her?

  Dark, deadly and dangerous, they operate in the shadows, guarding the women they love but cannot have.

  The Choice: Only one of them can win—and if they cannot learn to trust each other, both of them could die.

  Mercy: He went to prison for twenty years to save her…can he save her again?

  The Light Walker: A brand-new detective. A mesmerizing, mysterious billionaire suspect. A powerful attraction that threatens the balance in a battle between the dark and the light

  Dangerous To Love Boxed Set

  About the Author

&nbs
p; A letter to Rod Stewart resulting in a Cinderella 16th birthday for her daughter might have been the first step on Texas romance author Jean Brashear’s path to being a New York Times and USAToday bestselling author of more than 50 novels in romance and women’s fiction.

  Jean’s stories are hailed as “feel-good romance at its finest” and her quirky small towns are called “a special place for hearts that need healing.” All are evidence of Jean’s heartfelt belief that love is the most powerful force in the universe, and her stories reflect that bone-deep commitment to spreading her faith in the goodness that exists inside us all.

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