All Autumn
Page 27
Red spread across Autumn’s cheeks. “Is there a secret tunnel we can sneak out of?”
Delighted with her, I laughed. “Not that I know of.” It wasn’t easy to embarrass Autumn, and it was totally adorable when it happened.
Adam came around the corner, his gaze alighting on the cake. “Uh-oh,” he said, then looked straight at Autumn, whose cheeks went beyond red to flaming.
“Connor ate it,” she yelled.
Adam and I both snorted. My brother met my eyes, and I could see that he was happy for me. There weren’t any candles to blow out on Mary’s cake and make a wish over, but I still made a wish that he would one day find an amazing woman to love him. That he’d end up as happy as me.
“Sure, I’ll take the blame, but Mary’s not stupid,” I said, then grabbed Autumn’s hand. “Let’s go face your firing squad.”
“Mary really is going to kill her,” Adam said a bit too cheerfully as he lifted the cake.
I had to drag Autumn up the stairs, but I didn’t blame her for doing her best to go in the opposite direction. I’d be deathly afraid of Mary’s revenge at seeing her cake defiled, too.
“You both are asses,” Autumn said right before we walked into the City Hall main room where every single person here tonight had divided themselves like the parting of the Red Sea, making a path for us to walk through. Mary stood at the end, hands on hips, looking like an avenging angel. Still wearing his cape, Beauregard sat obediently beside her.
“They do the hootchy-kootchy down there?” Granny hollered.
I turned my face to Granny and winked.
“They did!” she shouted, then cackled.
Beside me, Autumn pressed her face against my arm and groaned.
Hamburger Harry stuck a mason jar of moonshine into my hand. “Fer tha honeymoon.”
I grabbed it. No way was I turning down a jar of his ’shine, honeymoon or not. Adam stepped around us and carried the cake to Mary, holding it out to her like an offering.
“I’m a dead woman,” Autumn muttered.
I couldn’t stop my laughter. There was probably no better place to fall in love than this crazy town. I tucked her under my arm and led her to her fate.
Mary’s flavor of the month stood beside her, clicking pictures on his phone. Before morning they’d be splashed all over the valley’s Facebook page.
We stopped in front of Ms. Marvel, and I said, “I ate that missing corner of your cake.” Yes, I’d sacrifice myself for my girl.
Mary let out a deep laugh. “Nice try, but we know better. Never put a cake near Autumn when she’s sad.” Mary glanced at Autumn. “You good now?”
Autumn blushed again. “Very.”
“Great. And just so you know, that was a red herring cake. I woulda never locked you in a room with the one meant for our heroes and guests here tonight. Now go dance with your honey.” She raised her hand, waving it in the air, and the band began to play.
At hearing the opening bars of “When a Man Loves a Woman,” I smiled at Mary, who gave me a satisfied nod. I handed my jar of moonshine to Adam.
“That’s mine. No sneaking any.” Then I took Autumn’s hand and led her to the dance floor. For Autumn I could ignore a little pain in my ankle. I’d danced with her before at high school dances, two friends just having fun. But we’d never slow danced together. I slipped my arm around her back and pulled her close. “Hello, beautiful,” I whispered into her ear.
“Hello, handsome,” she whispered back. She slid her hands to the back of my neck and rested her face on my chest.
How had I not recognized this woman as my soul mate the first time I saw her? Well, maybe not in first grade, but long before now. It seemed like we’d wasted too much time getting to where we were tonight. But that just meant we had a lot to make up for, and we were going to have fun doing that, starting right now.
“How soon can we blow this joint?” Autumn said.
I laughed. My girl was on the same page as me. At hearing a whine, we both looked down to see Beau grinning up at us.
“Ready to go home, Beau?” He barked twice. I reached down and picked up the leash trailing behind him. “Lead the way then.”
Autumn grabbed my hand. “Wait.” She pulled me to the kitchen, coming to a stop at a large chocolate sheet cake. Decorating the top were thirteen shirtless male figures, representing those of us in Mary’s calendar, I supposed.
“Which one is you?” Autumn said. She studied the figures, then grabbed the knife next to the cake. “This one.” She cut a large square out of the cake with one bare-chested man on it, then looked up at me with Autumn mischief in her blue eyes. “I’m going to eat you.”
I grinned at her. “I’m so on board with that.” This woman was going to be the death of me, but I would go out with laughter on my lips.
Coming Soon
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What’s next for Sandra?
STILL SAVANNAH
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Book 3 in the Blue Ridge Valley Series
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Coming in October!
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He was her first love, the boy who broke her heart. When her life falls apart she turns to the man he is today. She is a wounded soul, and he is just the man who can help her heal, but only if he dares to risk his heart again.
* * *
Known simply as Savannah, a beautiful face on the covers of glamorous magazines, Savannah Graham has the perfect life… or so it seems to the world. Behind closed doors her reality is far from perfect. When a person she should be able to trust threatens her, she returns home to Blue Ridge Valley, the only place she feels safe. The valley is also where he lives, her first and only love.
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Adam Hunter stepped out of Savannah Graham’s life nine years ago so she could follow her dream. She was his first love, and there is still an ache in his heart for what he lost every time he sees her face on the cover of a magazine. Now she’s home, needing protection, and he can’t refuse. When the danger is over, she will return to her glamorous life. So she’s not the only thing he as to protect, he also needs to safeguard his heart.
Acknowledgments
I’ve said this in a previous acknowledgment, and it still holds true. It takes a village…
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Where do I even start? With romance readers, I think. Without lovers of romance books, I wouldn’t be writing this because there wouldn’t be a book. Damn, I love y’all for so many reasons. For reading mine and other authors’ books, for telling your friends about a book you love, for leaving reviews on those books.
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I’m so lucky to have a whole list of readers who want to know why I can’t write faster, and who do tell their friends they just have to read about Logan and Dani, or Nate and Taylor, or Dylan and Jenny. I know all your names, and it’s a lengthy list, which is the only reason I’m not naming you all here. Just know that I love you!
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To the members of my Facebook group, Sandra’s Book Salon, OMG, you guys are the best… I mean the very best, most fun people ever! I seriously love each and every one of you. You make me laugh and sometimes you make me cry, but you always make me happy to be a part of such an amazing group.
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From my very first book published, I’ve thanked my friend and critique partner Jenny Holiday, who is an amazing storyteller. Jenny and I live in two different countries, me in the US and Jenny in Canada, but we’ve never let a little thing like eight hundred or so miles between us amount to a big deal. Jenny, I think we’re twins separated at birth.
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I want to talk about editors. They are just about my favorite people in the book world. Without my editors my books would suck (not kidding). Oh, there would the bones of a good story, but my editors rein me in, tell me where I need to go deeper, and make suggestions for new scenes to better your understanding of the story. Mel
ody Guy and Ella Sheridan, you both are rock stars!
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To my family, my love for you knows no bounds. I know you don’t understand how I can spend days inside my head, but you still let me be weird and you still love me. I love you back, so much!
About Sandra
Bestselling, award-winning author Sandra Owens lives in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. Her family and friends often question her sanity but have ceased being surprised by what she might get up to next. She’s jumped out of a plane, flown in an aerobatic plane while the pilot performed death-defying stunts, gotten into laser gun fights in Air Combat, and ridden a Harley motorcycle for years. She regrets nothing.
Sandra is a Romance Writers of America Honor Roll member and a 2013 Golden Heart Finalist for her contemporary romance Crazy for Her. In addition to her contemporary romantic suspense novels, she writes Regency stories.
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