Dean gazed at the huge canvas that dominated the longest wall of the living room, the reason they were celebrating their honeymoon here instead of upstairs in their bedroom. He stroked her shoulder. “I don’t think any bridegroom ever got a better wedding present.”
“I saw it in a dream.” Blue tucked her head into the crook of his neck. “Exactly how it was going to be for us. I hardly slept while I worked on it.”
She’d painted the farm, but like all the rest of her creations, this was a magical world of summer and winter, spring and fall. She’d opened the walls of the farmhouse to show everything going on inside. In one room, all of them sat around a Christmas tree. In another, they surrounded an old woman blowing out birthday candles. Puppies romped in the kitchen. A Super Bowl victory party took place in the backyard, and the town’s Fourth of July celebration filled the side yard. On the front porch, a tiny figure in a beaver suit, minus its head, sat on a Halloween pumpkin. A well-worn path led from the farm to the pond, where a father and daughter played their guitars next to the water and a woman with long blond hair raised her arms to the sky. Horses grazed in the pasture. Fanciful birds perched on the roof of the barn. And right above the farmhouse, a hot air balloon descended with a pair of smiling babies peering over the basket, natural born charmers each one.
Dean’s wedding ring glimmered in the flames as he pointed toward the left side of the canvas. “After the hot air balloon, that’s the part I like best.”
Blue didn’t have any trouble figuring out what he meant. “Somehow I knew you’d feel that way.”
The gypsy caravan sat beneath a canopy of trees. Thick vines held the wheels firmly in place. She and Dean stood nearby, and the people they loved danced all around them.
Author’s Note
I know writing is supposed to be a solitary profession, but so many people support and encourage me, it doesn’t feel that way. I’m grateful to the readers who send me such lovely e-mail and also keep me company on the SEP Bulletin Board at susanelizabethphillips.com. That’s where I got to know Beverly Taylor, who was kind enough to share her vast knowledge of East Tennessee with me. (“No, Susan. You can’t call it Eastern Tennessee.”) Thanks also to Adele San Miguel for her Tennessee insights and to Dr. Bob Miller for once again advising me on football player injuries. Several teachers helped me understand eleven-year-olds, including Kelly LeSage and my dear friend Susan Doenges. Also, some charming fourth and fifth graders did their best to set me straight. Thank you, all.
My emotional support begins with my husband, Bill; my sister Lydia; my wonderful sons; and the best daughters-in-law in the world, Dana Phillips and Gloria Taylor. In addition, I give thanks every day for my gifted, funny, insightful writer friends, especially Jill Barnett, Jennifer Crusie, Jennifer Greene, Kristin Hannah, Jayne Ann Krentz, Jill Marie Landis, Cathie Linz, Lindsay Longford, Suzette Van, Julie Wachowski, and Margaret Watson. Then there are all the booksellers and librarians who continually find new readers for me. I truly appreciate it.
Professionally, I have the most fabulous team in the world supporting me at William Morrow and Avon Books, beginning with my editor, Carrie Feron. It is a joy to work with so many extraordinary people in the art, editorial, marketing, production, publicity, and sales departments. Yes, I know how lucky I am. Steven Axelrod has been my agent since he was in elementary school. It’s been a great partnership. Sharon Mitchell, my able assistant, knows how to do everything and I’d be lost without her.
Finally, a huge thanks to my son Zach Phillips for letting me use two of his songs, “Why Not Smile?” (copyright 2006) and “Cry Like I Do” (copyright 2003). Zach, you truly rock.
About the Author
New York Times bestselling author SUSAN ELIZABETH PHILLIPS has found fans all over the world with her warm and wonderful contemporary love stories. She lives in a suburb of Chicago with her husband, and has two grown sons.
www.susanelizabethphillips.com
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Also by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
Match Me If You Can
Ain’t She Sweet
Breathing Room
This Heart of Mine
Just Imagine
First Lady
Lady Be Good
Dream a Little Dream
Nobody’s Baby but Mine
Kiss an Angel
Heaven, Texas
It Had to Be You
Credits
Cover design by Honi Werner
Cover photograph by Jan Cobb
Copyright
This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
NATURAL BORN CHARMER. Copyright © 2007 by Susan Elizabeth Phillips. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
Microsoft Reader January 2007 ISBN 978-0-06-128506-6
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