“Did you get the car parked okay?” she asked him, her nerves insisting that she make small talk with her own husband. Her mind needed the break from the overwhelming sadness if only for a moment. “I thought you’d missed the service.”
“Sorry it took me so long. Ran into Sylvester Stallone on the way back from the lot and stood by him while the preacher was talking.”
Of course he had, because Marcus Johanneson was a magnet for Hollywood types, and a slew of them had shown up today.
“It was a beautiful ceremony.” He wrapped his arm around her. “How are you doing?”
She rested her head against his shoulder, needing his strength today. “It was lovely, made more so by how pretty it is here in Georgia.”
“But nothing can compare to you,” he said, dropping a kiss into her hair.
Sera reached for his hand and gave it a squeeze. Returning to her adopted state for Jessie’s funeral had been hard, but being back a few days, Sera knew this was where she belonged. Marcus seemed to want their marriage to return to the way it had been when they were newlyweds, before Finn came along, when she’d always been the one to mold to Marcus’s career, his life. Yet she yearned for her days back here in Summer Shoals, where she was simply Sera. No reputation. No money. No expectations.
Only Marcus wasn’t a part of that life, and she didn’t know if she could live here in the place she loved without the man she loved.
“Georgia, and Summer Shoals in particular, has become one of my favorite places in the world,” she said with complete honesty. Saying the words aloud seemed to give them wings but left her shaky. She needed to be away from Marcus for a moment to get her head together. “I’m going to go pay Jessie my respects.”
“Then let’s—”
“Alone, please.”
He dropped her hand. She regretted hurting him. But she needed a little more time and space to work out how she planned to go forward with her life. And her relationship with Marcus was still a work in progress. Jessie’s death made it even clearer that a person’s time on this earth was limited. Each day needed to be cherished.
A crush of people had quickly separated Sera from Maggie and Lil. So Sera tried to slowly edge her way around and was captivated by the elaborate casket spray. The blanket of the tiniest perfect bluebonnets, with Indian paintbrush tickling stalks of red clover, resembled a Texas sunset. Jessie hadn’t ever lived in the Lone Star state, but most people considered her the perfect Texas cowgirl. Funny how a fictional role could change the whole world’s perception of a woman.
Not only had someone spent a fortune on the out-of-season Texas wildflowers, but they’d also integrated Jessie Wyatt’s signature Wild West outfit of white leather into the flowers. And right on top were her famous deerskin gauntlets with fringe of gold and stones that had once been rumored to be genuine sapphires, rubies, and diamonds.
“Are they going to entomb her costume?” a woman next to Sera asked.
“Sure looks that way,” someone else whispered.
“But it’s a collector’s item—a representation of an important Hollywood icon. Seems like it would be better served in a museum somewhere.”
Sera couldn’t agree more. Especially the gauntlets, because although Jessie had owned several skirts and vests, only one pair of authentic gauntlets existed. One night over sangria at an after-party, Jessie had shared a secret with Sera. Those gauntlets were insanely valuable, given to Jessie by her husband as an anniversary present. Not that anyone else knew that. Rumors had been bandied about for a few years, but with some well-executed PR by Jessie’s agent, the gossip had eventually been written off as Hollywood lore.
The helicopter took another spin above, and camera lenses shimmered in the bright sunlight. Then more flashes and clicks came from beyond a private family mausoleum less than fifty feet away, just outside the funeral’s security perimeter. Entertainment rag reporters were wily and persistent.
Apparently, she wasn’t the only one to spot the intruders, because several Bartell County deputies raced off toward the culprits.
One of Teague’s guys hollered, “Y’all need to get on out of here. This is a private event.”
“Dude, this is a free country,” a so-called reporter yelled back. “Maybe I’m here visiting my grandma.”
“With that camera equipment? What? Were you planning to take family portraits?”
Sera tried to suppress a smile, because truthfully, those country boys weren’t prepared for the likes of ruthless paparazzi. They had no remorse and no manners. And if a story put them in the position to make a buck, they didn’t care one bit who they hurt.
PURCHASE UNDER THE GUN
Also by Kelsey Browning
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PROPHECY OF LOVE SERIES
Sexy contemporary romance
Stay With Me
Hard to Love
TEXAS NIGHTS SERIES
Sexy contemporary romance
Personal Assets
Running the Red Light
Problems in Paradise
Designed for Love
G TEAM SERIES w/NANCY NAIGLE
Southern cozy mysteries
In For a Penny
Fit to Be Tied
In High Cotton
Under the Gun
Gimme Some Sugar
JENNY & TEAGUE NOVELLAS
Contemporary romance
Always on My Mind
Come a Little Closer
STEELE RIDGE SERIES
Romantic suspense collaboration with Tracey Devlyn & Adrienne Giordano
The BEGINNING
Going HARD
Living FAST
Loving DEEP
Breaking FREE
Roaming WILD
Stripping BARE
Enduring LOVE
STEELE RIDGE: THE KINGSTONS
Craving HEAT
Tasting FIRE
Searing NEED
Striking EDGE (Coming 2019)
Burning ACHE (Coming 2019)
NOVELLAS
Sexy contemporary romance
Amazed by You
Love So Sweet
Also by Nancy Naigle
The Adams Grove Series
Book 1:: Sweet Tea and Secrets
Book 2:: Wedding Cake and Big Mistakes
Book 3:: Out of Focus
Book 4:: Pecan Pie and Deadly Lies
Book 5:: Mint Juleps and Justice
Book 6:: Barbecue and Bad News
Boot Creek Series
Book 1:: Life After Perfect
Book 2:: Every Yesterday
Book 3:: Until Tomorrow
Single Titles
Sand Dollar Cove
Christmas Joy
Hope at Christmas
Christmas in Evergreen
Dear Santa
The Secret Ingredient (Coming in 2019)
Christmas in Evergreen: Letters to Santa (Coming in 2019)
Christmas Angels (Coming in 2019)
inkBLOT – co-written with Phyllis Johnson
About the Authors
USA Today bestselling author Kelsey Browning writes contemporary romance, romantic suspense, and cozy mystery. Her Georgia-set, co-authored G Team mystery is described by readers as “The Golden Girls meet Dirty Harry.” Her single title romances garner reviews that call her writing funny, sassy, and full of sizzling chemistry. Originally from a Texas town smaller than the ones she writes about, Kelsey has also lived in the Middle East and Los Angeles, proving she’s either adventurous or downright nuts. These days, she makes her home in northeast Georgia with her tech-savvy husband, her smart-talking son, and a (fingers crossed) future therapy pup. Find
Kelsey online at KelseyBrowning.com. For info on her upcoming releases, subscribe to her Sass Kickin’ News.
USA Today bestselling author Nancy Naigle whips up small-town love stories with a dash of suspense and a whole lot of heart. She began her popular contemporary romance series, Adams Grove, while juggling a successful career in finance and life on a seventy-six-acre farm. Two of Nancy’s novels, Christmas Joy and Hope at Christmas, premiered on Hallmark Countdown to Christmas in 2018. Now happily retired, she devotes her time to writing, antiquing, and the occasional spa day with friends. A native of Virginia Beach, she currently calls North Carolina home. Join Nancy on Facebook and sign up for her newsletter at www.NancyNaigle.com.
Acknowledgments
We are so grateful to the fabulous team of people who help us bring The G Team Series books to you.
Heartfelt appreciation to our amazing editing team: Deb Nemeth, who has been with us every step of the way. We’ve decided she gets to be an honorary granny with the two of us. Thanks for always making us look smart and the grannies look good! And to Kimberly Cannon, thanks so much for being the clean sweep before we go to press.
A toss of colorful confetti to celebrate our artistic team: Michelle Preast, who originally brought our vision of the grannies to life, then put both of us in character format so we could all play together. We’re having a ball with the cartoons, especially as we hit the road on our Spring 2015 2600-mile road trip to celebrate book three in this series. And thank you, Keith Sarna, for wiggling us into your schedule to help us create yet another beautiful book cover.
A big 21-gun salute to our law-abiding technical advisors: Wilson, you swooped in at just the right time to help us work through the bad-guy scenarios and reined us in when we went a little loco. Not an easy job. And thanks again to Adam Firestone, who outfitted Abby Ruth with her gun collection and taught us about antique Spanish firearms. That research has been so much fun to pull back out every time Abby Ruth gets wild. And that’s pretty often.
A toast to our amazing street team, the Dangerous Darlings. Y’all rock. We appreciate every single post, tweet, pin, and face-to-face share of our books to your friends.
Most importantly, we both have the best support system in the world. Our families—especially Miss Bettie, Tech Guy, and Smarty Boy—and closest friends make every moment we spend creating this series that much more special because you’re all a part of it.
AND TO ALL OF YOU READING THIS ~ THANK YOU!
In High Cotton
Copyright © 2015, Kelsey Browning and Nancy Naigle
Trade Paperback ISBN: 978-0991127252
Large Print ISBN: 978-0991127245
Cover Art Design by Keith Sarna
Digital release, April 2015
Trade Paperback release, April 2015
Crossroads Publishing House
P.O. Box 2294
Advance, NC 27006
Warning: All rights reserved. The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work, in whole or part, in any form by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, is illegal and forbidden, without the written permission of the author.
This is a work of fiction. Characters, settings, names, and occurrences are a product of the author's imagination and bear no resemblance to any actual person, living or dead, places or settings, and/or occurrences. Any incidences of resemblance are purely coincidental.
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