Texas Blaze

by Jean Brashear

  He tilted her chin up. “I thought that once.” He pressed a tender kiss to her lips. “But that was before I met a wasp-tongued diva, a warrior goddess who will fight just as fiercely for us, for our children, for me…that’s why you’re here, right? You’re fighting for me? For us?”

  “I thought I was volunteering to be Suzy Homemaker,” she pouted.

  Bridger started laughing. “You would so suck at that.”

  “But it’s what you wanted…”

  “I grew up. I quit being a kid who wanted that safe place he’d never had. I’m a grown man now, Legs, and what I want is…you. Only you. Forever you. Just the way you are, Shark Girl.”

  “No Suzy?”

  “No Suzy.”

  “Six kids?”

  “We could try one first. See what you think. And I’m good with kids.”

  “You are. I might not be hopeless, either. I had an excellent example in my mom.” She chewed her lower lip. “Jackson wants to hire me, but it would mean traveling some.”

  “Traveling from where?”

  She grinned. Shook her head. “Sweetgrass—do you believe that?”

  “He mentioned something about that. Right before he basically told me to go screw myself if I couldn’t find some way to work things out with you.”

  She smiled broadly. “He was a little more gentle with me. But pushy.”

  “So we have a billionaire Cupid to thank?”

  She laughed then, and he knew he would do anything to keep that light shining from her eyes. “Never say that to him. He already thinks he knows everything.”

  “He’s about to wind up with three kids if he plays his cards right with Veronica. Those twin girls will teach him different, for sure.”

  She laced her fingers behind his neck and looked up at him. “Can we seriously do this? Live a normal, Sweetgrass kind of life?”

  “Honey, there is absolutely nothing normal about Sweetgrass.”

  She laughed, and he joined her.

  Then she sidled a look at him. “Did you, um, happen to see anything…odd…at the spring?”

  “The spring? In Sweetgrass, you mean?” His eyes went wide. “Why? Did you see someone—uh, anything?”

  “No! Maybe.” She shook her head rapidly. “Doesn’t matter.”

  You are not my one…but you are hers.

  Bridger grinned, knowing how unearthly occurrences would spook his Shark Girl. He wouldn’t push it now.

  But he would be thinking about what that might mean.

  For now, he concentrated on kissing her again, feeling the fire blaze between them higher than ever.

  But this was no flash fire, over and done in seconds. This was a flame that would sometimes flare, sometimes settle into a slow, sweet burn…but would never be put out.

  This was forever.

  This was Sweetgrass Springs.

  Where hope never fades…and love never dies.

  ~THE END~

  Thank you for letting me share my stories with you!

  Next up is TEXAS CHRISTMAS BRIDE:

  It’s the first Christmas in Sweetgrass Springs, Texas for several newcomers who have found a real home for the first time—or found home again. As Jackson Gallagher works to save his hometown from withering away by relocating his business empire there, the only gift he really wants is to marry the teenage sweetheart he thought he’d lost forever—but Veronica Patton Butler has other hearts to care for, however much she loves Jackson.

  Bridger Calhoun is more than ready to make Penelope Gallagher his bride, but however much she adores him, Shark Girl is dragging her heels on tying the knot—which seems to be a maddening tradition among Gallagher women.

  Come join the fun…the heartache…the sweetness, as Sweetgrass prepares for a community celebration that will bring the Morning Star Gallaghers and the Marshalls to town, along with several of Jackson’s Seattle geeks and more than one lost soul about to find a place to belong—

  In eccentric, lovable, unforgettable Sweetgrass Springs…the small town where hope never fades and love never dies.

  HOLIDAY COOKIE RECIPES INCLUDED!

  Start reading TEXAS CHRISTMAS BRIDE today!

  If you enjoyed TEXAS BLAZE, I would be very grateful if you would help others find this book by recommending it to your friends in such places as GOODREADS, BOOKBUB and writing a review. If you would like to be informed when my next release is available or get news of special prices on my books, please sign up for my newsletter here. You can also follow me on BookBub here.

  I love hearing from you, so please contact me through any of the options at the end of this book.

  Thanks!

  Jean

  Please enjoy an excerpt from TEXAS CHRISTMAS BRIDE:

  CHAPTER ONE

  “Why did I think it was a good idea to cater Jackson’s company Christmas party with Nana off on her honeymoon?” Scarlett McLaren moaned as she juggled pans in the kitchen of her grandmother’s diner.

  “Because pregnancy hormones have fried your brain?” answered veteran waitress Jeanette Carson.

  Sweetgrass Springs was so small that they were all doing double-duty until Scarlett could properly staff Ruby’s Dream. The high-end restaurant and events center was her brainchild, created from the old decommissioned courthouse her grandmother Ruby had held onto for years, hoping to someday make Sweetgrass thrive once more. Juggling the need to keep her grandmother’s diner open while searching fruitlessly for restaurant talent who’d relocate to this tiny burg, Scarlett was a good month behind her planned schedule for opening the new place.

  She’d sure forgotten to plug getting pregnant into her schedule.

  But she’d promised Nana, and she was determined she’d make Sweetgrass vibrant again.

  “A misguided sense of love, City Girl,” opined Scarlett’s cousin, Rissa Gallagher Mackey. “My brother knows talent. He also knows a sucker when he sees one. It’s how he became a bazillionaire. Go sit down for a minute.”

  Rissa reached for a pan, and Scarlett slapped her hand. “Don’t even think about it,” she growled.

  “Hey, I can cook. Penny’s not the only one in the family.”

  Behind them, Rissa’s hot husband snickered. “Babe, step away from the stove.” Randall Mackey smiled and drew her into his arms. “No offense, darlin’. Everyone knows you’re a genius with horses. We all have our strengths. Plus some of us multi-task.” Mackey nodded toward Rissa’s sister Penny, cooking with a bluetooth in her ear, talking a mile a minute. “Anybody know who she’s talking to?”

  “China, probably. Or Katmandu—who knows? Poor Bridger. Ever since she took the job helping Jackson run his video game empire, I don’t think her phone has left her side. It’s probably surgically attached,” Rissa mused.

  “You didn’t catch the two of them making out at the spring last night, obviously.” Mackey grinned. “My man has his talents, and one of them is seducing Shark Girl right out of her socks.” He peered around Rissa. “Is she cooking in…stilettos? Doesn’t that hurt?”

  Just then, a young voice piped up from the doorway to the dining room. “Cousin Scarlett, could we do it again, the Gallagher Thanksgiving meal? Where everybody is there?” Rissa and Mackey’s adopted son Eric asked.

  “Absolutely. Every Thanksgiving. Consider it a standing date.”

  The seven-year-old didn’t look reassured. He opened his mouth, then shut it.

  “What is it?”

  His eyes slid to the side. “For Christmas, I meant,” he said softly. “Only maybe…better.” The child had come a long way from the abuse of his past, but he was still hesitant to ask for much. “Never mind.”

  “What do you mean by better? What would you like us to do differently?”

  Eric pointed around the room. “Them.”

  “Them? Oh, you mean invite more people?”

  Blonde hair bounced as he nodded eagerly. “Some people don’t have anybody. They shouldn’t be sad on Christmas Day.”

  “I can’t argu
e with that.”

  Rissa’s gaze met hers, dark with anguish over what this child had suffered in his short life. “We’re going to have a great Christmas, Eric. I promise you that.”

  Perfect trust showed in the boy’s face as he looked up at his new mother. “I know that. But I want everyone to have one.”

  “Let me think on it, Eric,” Scarlett responded. And tried not to feel exhausted. Christmas. Lordy, she’d barely survived Thanksgiving. She’d loved having everyone together, but brutal morning sickness seemed as though it would never end. She’d shoved Nana off on her extended honeymoon right after, lying through her teeth that she felt fine. Her husband Ian was still being a bear because he knew the truth, hovering over her every move like an avenging angel.

  She noticed their second waitress, Brenda Jones, avidly listening. The girl was a mystery to them all, a stray, probably a runaway, sweet and shy and nervous. Nana had taken her in, no questions asked.

  “What did you all do for Christmas back home, Brenda?”

  The timid girl halted mid-step. “Me?”

  Scarlett nodded for her to continue.

  Hazel eyes darted like a frantic rabbit. “Nothing special.” Brenda’s slight shoulders curled inward.

  Shy former busboy turned cook’s helper Henry Jansen, of all people, piped up to cover the awkwardness. “My granny worked for other folks a lot, so we saved our celebrating until Christmas night, after she was done serving the rich folks.” His chin remained high, his expression forbidding pity. “Soon as I was old enough, I helped her whenever I was allowed. We got to take the leftovers home, and I knew Granny liked that because she could get off her feet and skip cooking a meal. I learned to cook soon as I got big enough. Not like you, of course.”

  “You’re turning into a fine cook now, Henry.” Scarlett glanced between the two, then wondered who else here had experienced a less than storybook Christmas. Here she’d thought she was the only one who’d passed that holiday and so many more longing for what she was sure everyone else had. Mama had tried hard to make the day special, but with no family around…

  Her heart clenched as she thought about how much family she’d had here, all along. She and her mother hadn’t needed to be alone.

  She’d never understand how a mother could rob her own child of that. She stroked her belly and made a promise. You will never be so terribly alone.

  Meanwhile, there were people here whose pasts she couldn’t change.

  But their present day could be very different. “Eric,” she called out.

  “Yes, ma’am?”

  Scarlett caught Rissa’s beaming pride at her adopted son’s manners.

  “Tell me more about what better looks like to you.”

  “Really?” Hope bloomed on the child’s face.

  “Really.”

  …Excerpt from TEXAS CHRISTMAS BRIDE by Jean Brashear © 2014

  Start reading TEXAS CHRISTMAS BRIDE today!

  THE SWEETGRASS SPRINGS STORIES in order:

  TEXAS ROOTS (Ian and Scarlett)

  TEXAS WILD (Mackey and Rissa)

  TEXAS DREAMS (a reunion of all the Texas Heroes families)

  TEXAS REBEL (Jackson and Veronica)

  TEXAS BLAZE (Bridger and Penelope)

  TEXAS CHRISTMAS BRIDE (a Texas Heroes reunion)

  THE BOOK BABES

  TEXAS HOPE (Michael and Laken)

  TEXAS STRONG (Tank and Chrissy)

  TEXAS SWEET (Brenda and Henry)

  BE MINE THIS CHRISTMAS (Gib and Dulcie)

  TEXAS CHARM (Jeanette and Walker)

  TEXAS MAGIC (Dominic and Lexie)

  BE MY MIDNIGHT KISS (Steph and Gavin)

  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?