~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ECHO FALLS, TEXAS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
THE DADDY SPELL
THE SWEETHEART DANCE
KISS ME GOODNIGHT
~~~~~~~~~~
BLUE RIBBON REVIEWS
ECHO FALLS SERIES
~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Daddy Spell
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I thoroughly enjoyed this story. The twins, Lindy and Boo, are sweet, funny and just precocious enough to be believable. Robin's wary view on life is directly attributable to the fact that everyone has used and abandoned her. She doesn't believe in happy-ever-after. Chad is such a solid, good man with deep family ties and quirky, but fun relatives. He is attracted to Robin, but falls in love with her girls first, and knows he has to prove to Robin that he isn't going to leave her. He is the stuff of "happy-ever-after" and I wanted to tell Robin to believe. I have to admit: I got the sniffles, just a bit, at the end. If you're looking for a good autumn romance, I highly recommend giving The Daddy Spell a try."
Long and Short Reviews, 4-Book Read
"This was a wonderfully charming and sweet story from beginning to end! The twins are adorable. Robin is lovely and understandably cautious. The hardest thing is she cannot believe in a happily-ever-after for herself. Chad is kind, hard-working and male! He falls for the cute pixie twins but isn't beyond staring Robin's set T-shirt when they first meet! The chemistry and tension is good and the sex scenes are "making love" scenes. This is a wonderfully sweet romance that can be read in under three hours." The Book Reporter
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Sweetheart Dance
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I loved every page of THE SWEETHEART DANCE and can't wait to read the Tom's story and other books about this family. This book is a definite keeper that you'll enjoy the first time you read it and rereading it and dip in with all elements of a perfect romance: a hot romance, a good mystery, and family seeing the couple through the rocky course of true love. Patti Ann Colt has definitely aced with this book." WRDF Reviews, Top Read Excellence
"If you enjoy stories full of remarkable characters, smoking hot love scenes and an entertaining plot, you should give this book a try." The Romance Studio, 5-Heart Read
"The SWEETHEART DANCE is nothing less than magic, a true love story that has the trials of heartbreak, nosey family, pesky kids and vengeful brothers. Meg and Bret are classic boy and girl next door characters and Ms. Colt has given such a wonderful story with the ebbs and angst that they face. I love this book. I hope Ms. Colt takes us back to Echo Falls in the very, very near future.” Romance Junkies, 4.5 Star Read
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kiss Me Goodnight
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“I hope that the author weaves more tales in this wonderful Texas town. My heart has been stolen by Echo Falls and its charming people, but that's all right with me. I don't mind a bit!” Long and Short Reviews
"...but it was the romance of Tom and Summer that was most endearing. Each one of them had to learn to give up what they wanted in order to be together. Kiss Me Goodnight is a fantastic read filled with romance, small town charm and interesting characters. You will fall in love with Echo Falls and Kiss Me Goodnight!" Sizzling Hot Book Reviews
~~THE DADDY SPELL EXCERPT~~
Robin’s eyes bulged at the salary Chad named.
Even including the antique sorting agreement, nobody paid such a ridiculous amount for someone to cook—not just cook, anyway.
Robin rose from her chair and pointed to the family room. “Could I talk to you for a minute, in there?”
“Sure.” Chad picked up his coffee cup, winked at the twins and followed her. His clothes were rumpled, his hair mussed and his light morning beard looked roguish against his tanned skin. He could tempt her heart with just the heat from his blue eyes.
She forced aside her attraction to him. Men flirted with her. Men rubbed up against her. Men propositioned her. They did not offer her jobs. Careful to keep her voice down, she went on the attack the minute he stood in front of her. “What are you up to?”
“Six-foot-one.” He grinned, quirking an eyebrow when she didn’t laugh.
“Old joke. Not funny.” Robin backed up to keep him at an arm’s length. “If you think all these promises are just going to make me fall into bed with you, you have another thing coming.”
“I believe I invited you to cook. C-O-O-K. You want to forget the whole deal, fine by me. No cook, no sorting through the antiques and no paying me back for the clock. It’s that simple.” Chad smiled, giving the appearance of just a friendly, ordinary neighborhood farmer. He didn’t succeed. He was too sexy. “I pay my debts.” She ground her teeth.
“Then, I just hired a cook.” He rubbed his hands together, his expression gleeful. Closing the distance between them, he leaned to whisper in her ear. “By the way, Robbie, when I invite you to my bed, the words will be M-A-K-E L-O-V-E.”
~~DEDICATION~~
My inspiration for The Daddy Spell came from two things, my love of fall and pumpkins and my father—two seemingly unrelated ideas that collided into a wonderful story. My father believed in family and made certain in all he did that family came first. The Applegate family is near to my heart, then, because they represent his strength of purpose and immeasurable love.
Thanks to my family for knowing they come first for me even when my head is wrapped around a story.
Also, my heartfelt thanks to my Circle Girls—Kelly Schaub, Carrie Lofty, Isabel Martens, Diane Drew—who critiqued multiple versions of this story. Without their friendship, mentorship, wicked editing pens and persistent nagging to submit, Robin and Chad’s story would still be gathering dust in the bottom of the drawer. Kudos, ladies!
~~CHAPTER ONE~~
Tummy down in the packed dirt near the backyard fence, Boo Harmon scooted next to her twin sister, Lindy. Cicadas buzzed in the tall trees behind their house, a good magical sound. She bent her head close to her sister’s and began the chant. “Shasta, masta, lasta, poo.”
Lindy joined in. “Frogs legs, bat wings, black cat scratch, snatch us a daddy, just like that.” Lindy snapped her fingers. Boo tried a couple of times, but her fingers wouldn’t make the sound. Huffing, she rolled to her back.
“Bibbity, bobbity, boo,” Lindy whispered.
Boo got to her knees, glaring at her sister. “Don’t add that. It won’t work. We need a daddy, not a fairy good mother.”
“That’s fairy godmother, ya silly head, and it worked for Cinderella. She got a gigantic pumpkin to ride in and a pretty dress and Prince Charming kissed her.” Lindy stuck out her tongue.
Boo returned the gesture. “I’m not a silly head and we don’t want a daddy to kiss us. Well, maybe we do, but we want him to kiss Mommy more.”
“Are too a silly head.”
“Am not!”
Next door, an engine roared. Mr. Pearson pushed his rusted, brown mower back and forth over the dead lawn and dandelions. With his shirt off, his fat rippled like strawberry Jell-O and his fierce scowl made Boo want to run and hide. On the turn, the lawn mower died in a puff of blue smoke.
Mr. Pearson kicked the tires and swore.
Boo sucked in a breath. “Lindy, maybe we’d better not use our spell here. I don’t want him to be our daddy. He says too many bad words and Mommy wouldn’t like that.”
“You’re right.” Lindy got to her feet.
Boo rose, too, and brushed off her favorite shorts.
They wanted a daddy. Mommy refused to look. Santa didn’t deliver daddies. The Easter bunny and the Tooth Fairy didn’t either. So, they were going to get one themselves by us
ing the spell from the story Mommy read them.
Lindy remained quiet for a minute, chewing on her lip. “He’s too fat anyway. I want our daddy to give us piggyback rides without getting red in the face and snorting like he does.” She snorted like a pig in imitation.
Boo shrieked, giggling until her stomach hurt.
Mr. Pearson approached the fence, pointing a finger at them. “Git.”
Scared by the big man, Boo grabbed her sister’s hand and raced to the back porch, sitting on the top step. The hot wind tossed brown leaves across the sidewalk below them. “I want our daddy to chase the icky things out from under my bed.”
“I want our daddy to read Green Eggs and Ham and have a nice, warm lap.” Lindy sighed.
“And he’ll be big and strong and won’t yell and will like hot dogs and peanut butter and jelly and not broccoli.” Boo’s stomach squished. “Blek.”
“He has to be somebody Mommy really likes and he has to kiss her like they do on TV.” Lindy twisted the strand of hair until her finger turned red.
Boo released the hair, rescuing Lindy’s finger. There had never been a daddy around their house, not even one. On TV, a daddy looked like something pretty special. “So where do we look next? We need a daddy.”
Boo balanced her elbows on her knees and watched the rolling, gray clouds cover the sun while she thought of an answer. Mommy was great. Except for broccoli, she gave them good things to eat, took them for car rides in the country and gave the best hugs and kisses.
But there were some things only a daddy could do. Boo frowned, remembering just that morning. A daddy could make Mommy not cry.
Lindy shrugged her shoulders. “We have to use the spell someplace else.”
Boo pulled Lindy up from the steps and they linked hands.
“Girls?” Mommy came around the side of the house. “You want to go for a drive?”
Boo looked at Lindy and grinned. “Sure,” they yelled together.
Mommy walked to the car. “Let’s go, then, before it rains.” Boo and Lindy hurried to catch up.
The grocery store. The library. The park. Everywhere Mommy took them they’d try the spell for a daddy.
They needed him. Mommy needed him.
An hour later, Robin Harmon listened to her daughters whispering in the backseat and peeked in the rearview mirror to watch their faces. They were such a joy and today she needed their good cheer. She had submitted job applications at three different places with uncertain, depressing prospects.
She turned the corner and started down the next country road highlighted on her map, intent on learning her way around the area. They wouldn’t go far, but she didn’t want to return home yet. Their shabby house wasn’t located in the best neighborhood and the atmosphere kept her nerves at a fingernail biting edge. If she hadn’t been so naïve and idealistic about the girls’ father, she’d be in veterinarian school now instead of single and locked in financial distress. A little detour through the country would shake off her doldrums.
Turning her head, she listened to them exchange secrets and smiled. She wouldn’t trade her daughters for an education or for money, but sometimes her mood shifted like Texas weather. Lifting her foot off the gas, she slowed the car, determined to settle her disposition with a slow and easy drive.
Her twenty-year-old, compact Toyota sped along for several miles. Cool air blew across her elbow, propped in the open window. The temperature drop felt good after the intense heat of the mid-September afternoon. The sky darkened and a cascade of pelting raindrops hit her windshield. She pulled her arm inside the car and rolled up the window. Thunder rumbled in the distance, as if the brunt of the storm was hitting south of Echo Falls, Texas—her new home.
A dog came out of nowhere. The large size blob of black-and-white fur blended so well with the steady rain that Robin didn’t see it until she was almost on top of the animal. She stomped her foot on the brake. Her car skidded on the wet pavement, but didn’t stop. The dog bounced against the bumper, stumbled for a few steps and collapsed on the ground with a pain-filled yelp.
Robin cringed, her stomach lurching into queasy. Hands shaking, she pulled her car to the shoulder. She turned off the ignition, set the emergency brake and flashers and got out. The tempo of the rain increased, soaking her T-shirt.
The wet fabric clung to her skin, making her shiver.
The dog lay stunned, its chest and stomach heaving.
“Mommy, what happened?”
Robin looked over her shoulder. Lindy had slid from the back seat into the driver’s side and opened the door. “Stay in the car, Lindy.” She watched until her daughter shut the car door again.
The dog struggled to its feet, cried out and plopped back to the ground, deflating like a balloon. Robin laid her trembling hands on the animal’s side. The mutt growled.
“Easy. Let me see how bad it is.” Having lived and worked with a veterinarian in her foster home, she made a quick search for broken bones or injuries and didn’t find any. Robin gently felt the animal’s stomach, but the mutt twisted around and nipped at her. Sighing, Robin scratched the dog’s ears to calm her. The dog’s belly was full of puppies and she appeared close to delivery.
Scruffy. Dirty. Thin. Pregnant.
Probably mistreated, too, judging from the scabs around her throat.
No collar.
Robin nibbled on her lower lip, weighing her options.
“Mommy?” Lindy hung out the now open car window. “Is the doggie all right?”
Boo pushed out next to her. “Did we hit it, Mommy?” Boo’s head tipped to the sky. The slowing raindrops bathed her face.
“Yes, honey. It was an accident. I didn’t see her until it was too late to stop. You two get back inside the car before you get soaked.”
“I love the rain, Mommy. It doesn’t hurt to get wet.” Boo grinned.
Robin shook her head. Her sweet daughters—they loved rainy days and walking in puddles. Both of them loved animals, too.
“Can we take it home, Mommy?” Boo’s tone of voice begged for a positive answer.
Robin groaned, her head pounding.
“Is it a girl or a boy?” Lindy asked. Robin’s heart stalled.
“It’s a girl and no, honey, we can’t take it home.” Robin snapped her mouth shut before the girls noticed the quiver in her voice.
Her conscience rebelled at the choices open to her. She wouldn’t leave her and she couldn’t take her. The dog was too big for the front seat. Even if she moved one of the girls’ car seats to the front, the backseat wouldn’t hold the other girl and the dog. Plus, her landlord, Mr. Pearson, barely tolerated her girls, let alone a pet. She wasn’t sure if Echo Falls had an animal shelter, she had no cell phone to call and she certainly didn’t have the money to pay for the dog’s care herself. Deposits and first month’s rent for their dismal house had depleted her savings; the girls didn’t understand she could barely keep a roof over their heads, food on the table and the car running. One more mouth would be too many.
Looking down the road both directions, she checked for a house or another car. Instead, she found wide-open fields of corn crops and an empty stretch of pavement. The dog struggled to its feet, held for a few moments, then a spasm in her belly made her drop to the ground. She needed some good food, rest and a warm place to have her puppies.
A strong gusty wind plastered her shirt to her frame. The rain slowed to a mere drizzle, the replete hush from the sudden change unsettling. Lindy and Boo got out of the car and tiptoed toward her. She stifled a smile, appreciating the humor in their sneaky attempt. She didn’t have the heart to send them back to the car. The girls went down on their knees beside her.
“Be careful.” Robin stroked the dog gently around the neck. “Injured animals don’t always understand that people are trying to help them. They can bite.”
“She won’t bite us.” Boo’s little hands imitated her mother’s stroking of the animal’s fur. Lindy’s reach was a little more hesitant, bu
t she soon was petting the animal, too.
A set of headlights pierced the drizzle, catching Robin’s attention. Looking back toward her car, she saw a truck approaching.
“Get to the side of the road and stay there.” “But, Mommy,” Boo whined.
“Go!” She watched until the girls were safe by the edge. Walking back to her car, she waited for the truck to pull alongside.
Chad Applegate appreciated the soothing rhythm of the rain plopping on his windshield. After enjoying an impromptu dinner with his grandmother—her savory cooking served alongside another grilling about getting a girlfriend—he was grateful for nature’s noise and nothing else.
Shifting in his seat, he groaned from his over- full stomach. “Grandma’s cooking beats mine hands down. Again, as always.”
He smiled. His truck tires slid a bit on the pavement as he rounded a curve. He gripped the wheel, slowed a little more and concentrated on the ten-mile drive from town to his farm. The rain was much needed. It fed the thirsty ground, settled the Texas dust and hopefully signaled the start of a cooler fall. His pumpkin crop could stand some relief from the blistering summer heat.
Up ahead, Chad saw a car parked at the side of the road, its blinkers flashing. He pressed the brake to slow his truck and snapped off the wipers, now dragging on an almost dry windshield. A slender woman waved him down. Neither the woman nor her car looked familiar. Chad stopped his truck several yards from the vehicle.
She started toward him. Tight blue jeans molded to trim, long legs and a curvy, tight bottom. A wet, yellow T-shirt clung to well-rounded breasts.
Sweat pooled at the base of his spine. “Man, oh man!”
She walked around the front end of his truck.
He hit the switch to roll down the window, cataloging the wet auburn hair, the hurried grace of her movement. When she reached him, he lost himself in brown, doe eyes.
Echo Falls, Texas Boxed Set Page 1
