Stilettos and pencil skirts are more successful, ambitious Pen Gallagher’s style than the jeans and boots of the ranch where she was raised. She’s fought hard for her success and spared no time for love, certain that marriage and family are not her lot. Now everything she’s worked for is jeopardized as scandal brews around her after she got involved with a man who prizes his own ambitions more. Forced to flee D.C. before her identity is revealed and she can never regain the life she battled to build, she reluctantly returns to Sweetgrass.
Former SEAL turned firefighter Bridger Calhoun, on the other hand, visits Sweetgrass every chance he gets. After a recent tragic fire in which he nearly sacrificed his own life, he is ordered to take time off—and Sweetgrass calls to him. After a lifetime spent rootless and fueled by adrenaline, Bridger wants a quiet life, a home and family of his own with a sweet, soft woman as eager for children as he is.
Then a long-legged, sharp-tongued lawyer crosses his path—and flames ignite. While he’s waiting to find Ms. Right and she’s waiting for the coast to clear…what’s the harm in a little fun? It’s only temporary, both agree—they have nothing in common except the heat that blazes high between them, and their goals could not be more opposed. Soon the fire will burn down to embers, and they’ll go on with their lives. Easy-peasy, right?
Except love may have other plans…
THE TEXAS HEROES SERIES
The Gallaghers of Morning Star
Texas Secrets
Texas Lonely
Texas Bad Boy
The Marshalls
Texas Refuge
Texas Star
Texas Danger
The Gallaghers of Sweetgrass Springs
Texas Roots
Texas Wild
Texas Dreams
Texas Rebel
Texas Blaze
Texas Christmas Bride
The Book Babes of Austin
Texas Ties
Texas Troubles
Texas Together
More Sweetgrass Springs Stories
Texas Hope
Texas Strong
Texas Sweet
Be Mine This Christmas
Texas Charm
Texas Magic
Be My Midnight Kiss
Lone Star Lovers
Texas Heartthrob
Texas Healer
Texas Protector
Texas Deception
Texas Lost
Texas Wanderer
Texas Bodyguard
Texas Rescue
Texas Blaze
Texas Heroes: The Gallaghers of Sweetgrass Springs
Book Five
Jean Brashear
Copyright © 2014 Jean Brashear
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In memory of my mother,
So brave and kind and strong, no matter how life tried to break you
An inspiration to me still, a testament to the power of love.
I miss you every day, but oh, how grateful I am to have had you.
Table of Contents
Cover
About Texas Blaze
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
The Families of Sweetgrass Springs
Cast of Characters
Map of Sweetgrass Springs
The Legend of Sweetgrass Springs
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Excerpt from Texas Christmas Bride
About the Author
Connect With Jean
To see a larger version of the current generations of Sweetgrass Springs founding families, click or tap here
To see a larger version of the current generations of Sweetgrass Springs founding families, click or tap here
SWEETGRASS SPRINGS
Cast of Characters
(titles in parentheses mark a character’s primary story)
THE FOUR FOUNDING FAMILIES:
THE GALLAGHERS (Josiah Gallagher, Sweetgrass Springs founder)
Ruby Gallagher – diner owner and the heart and soul of this struggling small town
James Gallagher – Ruby’s brother and father of twins Jackson and Penny plus Rissa.
Scarlett Ross – Ruby’s granddaughter, New York chef whose deceased mother Georgia never told her they had family in Texas (Texas Roots, Texas Dreams)
Jackson Gallagher – video game tycoon and prodigal son of James who’s been missing for twenty years (Texas Rebel, Texas Christmas Bride)
Penelope Gallagher – Jackson’s twin sister, shark lawyer who left Sweetgrass Springs behind (Texas Blaze, Texas Christmas Bride)
Clarissa Gallagher – youngest child of James and horse whisperer; the only one of James’s children who cares about the ranch (Texas Wild)
THE MCLARENS (Ronald McLaren, Sweetgrass Springs founder)
Gordon McLaren – owner of the Double Bar M Ranch with his son Ian (Texas Hope)
Ian McLaren – Gordon’s son whose mother abandoned him as a child; now runs Double Bar M Ranch. Unofficial mayor of Sweetgrass Springs and its mainstay alongside Ruby (Texas Roots, Texas Dreams)
Sophia McLaren Cavanaugh – the mother Ian has never forgiven for leaving him behind (Texas Hope)
Michael Cavanaugh – Ian’s half-brother by Sophia’s second husband. Neither Michael nor Ian was ever told the other exists (The Book Babes, Texas Hope)
THE PATTONS (Tobias Patton, Sweetgrass Springs founder)
Vernon Patton – deceased, abusive father of Veronica and Theodore (Tank)
Veronica Patton Butler – Jackson Gallagher’s teenage sweetheart left behind when he vanished. She married Jackson’s close friend David Butler. Owner of a flower farm and David’s widow (Texas Rebel, Texas Christmas Bride)
Theodore “Tank” Patton – deputy sheriff and the most reviled man in Sweetgrass Springs (Texas Hope)
THE BUTLERS (Benjamin Butler, Sweetgrass Springs founder)
Raymond Butler – deceased father of David Butler
David Butler – one of the most beloved citizens of Sweetgrass Springs. High school buddies with Jackson Gallagher, Ian McLaren and Randall Mackey. Died leaving his widow Veronica with a son Ben and twins Abby and Beth.
Beth Butler – David’s sister who died in the car accident that caused Jackson Gallagher to be banished
OTHER IMPORTANT SWEETGRASS SPRINGS CHARACTERS:
Randall Mackey, close friend of Ian McLaren, Jackson Gallagher and David Butler. Joined the Navy after high school; became a SEAL. After leaving the service, wound up as a stuntman in Hollywood (Texas Wild)
Bridger Calhoun, former SEAL buddy of Mackey’s, now a firefighter (Texas Blaze, Texas Christmas Bride)
Harley Sykes (wife Melba, a quilter) – one of the coffee group that meets every morning at Ruby’s. One of the town’s most colorful characters.
Raymond Benefield (wife Nita, also a quilter) – one of the coffee group
regulars.
Arnie Howard – coffee group regular at Ruby’s who’s been warming Ruby’s bed for many years but can never convince her to marry him
Jeanette Carson – sharp-tongued veteran waitress at Ruby’s. Attended high school a few years behind Ian McLaren, for whom she’s been carrying a torch for years (Texas Charm)
Brenda Jones – skittish teenaged waitress at Ruby’s who just showed up in Sweetgrass one day and has secrets she keeps (Texas Sweet)
Henry Jansen – busboy turned cook at Ruby’s; young man whose chivalry towards Brenda turns to blushes when noticed (Texas Sweet)
Spike Ridley – tattooed Goth pastry chef with an attitude; her skills are unparalleled, but her motto might as well be “have mixer will travel.”
Walker Roundtree – country music superstar; spars with Jeanette and performs at several Sweetgrass weddings (Texas Charm)
The Legend of Sweetgrass Springs
Lost and alone and dying, thirsty and days without food, the wounded soldier fell from his half-dead horse only yards from life-giving water. His horse nickered at the scent, and the soldier gathered one last effort to belly his way to the edge of the spring.
But there he faltered. Bleeding from shoulder and thigh, he felt the darkness close in on him and sorrowed for his men, for the battle he would lose, for the fight he would not finish. In his last seconds of life, he wished for the love he would never find.
Rest, a lovely, musical voice said.
He managed to drag his eyes open once more.
And gazed upon the face of the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.
And perhaps the saddest. Her eyes were midnight blue and filled with a terrible grief as she lifted a hand toward him.
I am dying, he thought. I will never know her.
But the woman smiled and tenderly caressed his face as she cradled his head and brought life-giving water to his lips.
You will live, she said. Be at peace. Let the spring heal you.
Around him the air went soft, the water slid down his throat like a blessing. His battered body relaxed, and the pain receded.
Sleep, she said. I will watch over you.
He complied, his eyes heavy. His injuries were too severe; he knew he could not live. But though he would not wake up, he was one of the fortunate, to have an angel escort him into the afterlife. Thank you, he managed with his last breath.
Wake. All is well.
The soldier opened his eyes, surprised to feel soft grass beneath him, trees whispering overhead. From nearby, he heard the bubbling music of the spring.
Then he saw her, his angel. Where am I? Is this heaven?
Her lips curved, but her eyes were again midnight dark with sorrow. You are still of this world.
Who are you? he asked. Why are you sad?
She searched his eyes. Will you stay with me?
I would like nothing more, but I cannot. I must return to my men.
She turned her face away, and he felt her grief as his own.
I’ll come back. When the battle is over and I am done, I will come back to you.
You won’t. A terrible acceptance filled her gaze. I will never have love. Once I was mortal like you, and I was loved, but I turned away from it. From him, my one true love. He was beloved of The Fates, and they cursed me to wait. I cannot leave this place.
Wait for what?
It doesn’t matter, she said sadly. You must go. They always go.
I’ll come back. I’ll set you free. Tell me how, and I’ll do it.
She stared into him for a long time, then shook her head. There’s only one way.
What is it? he asked eagerly, rising strong and well again, already searching for his horse to ride away.
She watched him in silence. Made herself invisible because she knew.
Where did you go? he called out, searching the clearing, striding to the spring to peer into its depths. When he didn’t see her, with a heavy heart he mounted, but for a moment he lingered. I’ll come back, I promise. You can tell me then. I’m sorry, but my men need me, and I have to go. I will return for you.
He wouldn’t, she knew. They never did. She’d brought her eternal loneliness on herself, and she was losing hope.
So she watched him ride away after one last look.
Only love can set me free, she whispered softly.
Love strong enough to stay.
Chapter One
Penelope Gallagher strode out of her office near the nation’s Capitol, her stilettos striking crisp taps on the tile floor, her pencil skirt perfectly tailored for her lean frame. Life was good—couldn’t be better, in fact. She had a career that was arcing ever higher, a star rising into the heavens, thanks to a mind as sharp as her twin’s, if not with Jackson’s streaks of sheer brilliance. What her brother could do with math was little short of a miracle, but she had her own skill set, mining the intricacies of language. She could arrow in on the subtleties of legal nuance, the tiny nuggets of strategy contained within a combination of letters and punctuation impenetrable to most.
Her specialty in land use law had made her exceedingly valuable as an expert witness in many a congressional hearing.
She was smart and sharp…and okay, she had to admit it: being beautiful didn’t hurt.
Pen, as she was known professionally, didn’t think she was better because she had a lucky arrangement of facial features or long legs that seemed to lock up a man’s mind.
She already knew she could outthink most men she met, even before the looks she displayed to maximum advantage befuddled their brains.
Princess, her father had called her all her life. She had been his favorite, and he’d put her on a pedestal she’d enjoyed.
Penny, her warm, loving mother had dubbed her, expecting her to be real and down to earth.
Her father had pampered her, her mother had cherished her, and her twin had kept her grounded. Her younger sister, Clary, had been just…a kid. Too much younger to be competition or annoying, too star-struck by her elder sister to compete.
Pen had swept through high school, a trail of broken hearts in her wake, everyone clear that she would never settle in Sweetgrass Springs, that the town was too small for her. She was meant for more.
Then her family had imploded, her mother dead, her twin—the other half of her—vanished, her father gone cold and mean with grief. She’d done her best by Clary that final horrible year, but then it had been time to leave for college.
She’d been so grateful. Home was no longer home. She’d arrived at Brown and wrapped the mantle of her beauty and brains around her shattered heart. She’d moved on. She excelled at everything she tackled. She built a new life, a solid one where she was respected and admired, where she was untouchable. She’d shed her virginity in college, had chosen her lovers carefully out in the business world. Liaisons to further her ambition, they were.
If Princess had become Ice Princess, well, that was what she’d wanted. That was by design. Ice kept her safe.
Power kept her safe.
Then she’d gone and lost her mind. She still couldn’t believe she’d even been tempted by a married man. She’d fought hard against it—Sweetgrass Springs and her rearing had made their mark on her. Sweetgrass was all about family and honor and doing the right thing.
She was not and would never be a cliché in this town where power was a drug and women were too often commodities powerful men consumed like so many potato chips.
But Hugh Rutherford was intense in his pursuit.
And he wouldn’t be married for long.
Besides, she was a sophisticate. She had never belonged in the tiny town, that barely-there burg of fifteen hundred souls. She was meant for more, always had been, just as—
A pang invaded her heart. Would she ever get over the loss of her twin?
She exhaled deeply. Tried to settle. Jackson was gone—not dead, she had to believe, because his absence was only an ache, not the black terror she was positive she’d experience
if the twin bond was permanently severed. Jackson still lived, or she wouldn’t be able to breathe, but he had been gone for seventeen years, the other half of her, and he hadn’t cared enough to let her know he was safe.
She’d been alone a long time—no home, no husband, no children.
Soon that would change. Hugh would be her family, once he was rid of that bad marriage. Yes, as a name often mentioned for a future Presidential run, he had to be careful, and the timing must be right. He would be an excellent leader for the country, and she was behind him one hundred per cent.
First Lady. Her lips curved slightly at the notion. She was not hardwired to be a helpmeet—she took care of herself. Even as her father’s Princess or the queen bee of her high school, she’d been bent on controlling her future. Back then she’d been determined to escape Texas and carve out a name for herself. She’d be in charge of her life and never, ever accept the powerlessness and vulnerability with which love shackled you.
Ambition was good. Working hard. Controlling her destiny.
Then she had testified before that Senate subcommittee in her capacity as a land use expert witness. Met the Senator from Georgia, who’d asked for a meeting.
They’d danced around the attraction for months because she’d been so determined, so focused, so driven to succeed, to not be foolish, however breathtakingly attractive she’d found him. The attraction was clearly two-way, and Hugh had refused to take no for an answer.
Now here she was, head over heels, despite her best intentions. Yes, she still lived and breathed ambition, but with Hugh, she felt…treasured. Special.
Pen dismissed all the ways in which this wasn’t ideal that she’d yielded her heart to a man she couldn’t claim publicly. She had his heart as he had hers, and that was what mattered. This state of transition wouldn’t last long.
One day soon, they’d have it all.
She stopped at the reception desk and flipped through her messages as she proceeded down the hall to her office. Once inside, her assistant Priscilla glanced up, her face white.
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