A figure stirred in the entry hall. "She's at the cafe. Everything's fine."
She froze on the bottom step. "Ian." All she could think of was how angry he'd been the night before, how distant. "Why are you here?"
His posture was relaxed. His gaze, no longer cold, scanned her from head to foot. "Tweety Bird boxers, huh?" He grinned, and something inside her eased.
Abruptly she registered her wild mane, her unbrushed teeth. "Um…wait here, all right?" She didn't linger for him to answer but instead raced back up the stairs. She'd showered off the feel of Kostov's man last night, but—
Kostov.
She shuddered. She should be packing. She should already be gone, regardless of what Judge and the sheriff intended. She raced through brushing her teeth and snagged her hair back in a scrunchie. She'd dress and get rid of Ian, then slip out before anyone noticed.
She yanked open the bathroom door.
Ian loomed there. "In case you had any idea of sneaking out, just thought you'd want to know that you're not only being watched over, you're being watched, period."
"What?" She frowned. "You can't imprison me here."
"I can try. Ruby lost the key or she'd have locked you inside the bedroom last night. Instead, folks just took turns on sentry duty."
Her eyes popped. "You cannot be serious."
He closed the distance between them. "As a heart attack. You're not leaving without me."
Her jaw dropped open. "Without…how can you say that? You can't go. Everyone depends on you here."
"Lots of folks depend on you, too, but that doesn't seem to matter."
"I've taught Henry how to cook everything on the menu, and Nana's better now, too."
"You think she's gonna stay better with you gone? She's seventy-one, Scarlett, and tough as nails, yes, but not immortal."
Her heart squeezed. "I know that. I wish…"
"Seems to me you should give folks a chance to weigh in on how much protection they want you to provide them. You might find that everyone here is pretty set on keeping you and taking their chances."
"Rissa's not. Jeanette sure won't be."
He snorted. "Jeanette recognizes what you mean to Ruby, and Rissa…well, she makes a career out of being ornery, but she doesn't mean it."
"So you say. She was pretty clear with me."
"Rissa's been left by more folks than I have. She's just…cautious."
"Cautious, maybe. Bull-stubborn and cranky, if you ask me."
A smile played over his lips. "She'll grow on you." Then his eyes went solemn and intent. "Hasn't this place grown on you some already?"
"Of course it has, but—"
"But nothing." His gaze sharpened. "Have I grown on you?"
You're not leaving without me. She remembered all the books, the longing, but… "Ian, you wouldn't seriously leave here. What would your dad do without you?"
"What I want to know is what would you do without me. Would you miss me, Scarlett?"
Only with every breath. But she couldn't let herself think of that. "It doesn't matter."
"It matters to me." His eyes got the look she'd seen on them before when they were making love, only this time it was deeper and more intense.
"You were furious at me," she pointed out. "You barely spoke to me last night."
His jaw clenched. "Because you nearly got killed trying to be noble!"
"So did you! He held a gun on you! He would have shot you!"
"He didn't. I won."
"But next time you might not—" she cried. "I can't take the chance, Ian—I can't have you dying for me!"
"So you'll just kill me instead by leaving?"
She fell silent. "I—it's not that I don't wish—"
"Wish what, Scarlett? Tell me."
"I wish I could stay!" she exploded. "I wish I could be here forever and ever, that I could be here with Nana and you and make a life and a home and—" She pressed her lips together. "But I can't." Her voice dropped. "I'm afraid to."
His eyes went chocolate warm. "I'm afraid, too, sweetheart. Only I'm afraid of what I'll become without you. My dad told me that he should have compromised, that my mother didn't really want to go, she just needed him to meet her halfway. I'll meet you more than halfway, Scarlett. If Judge and the sheriff can't work their magic, I'll leave here with you, but I am not living the rest of my life without you."
"But…what will happen to everyone without you?"
"It's a problem, isn't it? My dad's actually started talking about putting my concept into practice. Then we'd be able to supply beef for your snazzy events center and restaurant. Sweetgrass might get its second chance to live, and your grandmother might be able to see her dream come true."
"You don't play fair, Ian McLaren."
"Fair doesn't get me the win, Scarlett Ross. What's your middle name, by the way?" He leaned into her, so close she could feel the heat of his broad chest.
"I'm not telling you." She tried to take a step back, but that put her against the sink, and the bathroom shrank to half its size with him in there with her. "And winning isn't everything."
"It is when we're talking about winning you. I'm gonna win you, Scarlett Henrietta Ross."
"Henrietta?"
"Okay, Eloise?" His boots bumped her bare toes. He lifted her with ease and set her on the sink. Bent and pressed his lips to her throat.
Her head fell back. "Not even close."
"I'll just have to keep guessing." He nibbled his way up to her ear.
She moaned. "Ian…this is serious."
"Ethel." His mouth hovered over hers. "That's a serious name."
She tried to shake her head, but he was kissing the corner of her mouth. "I can't think when you do that."
"I have no intention of stopping for the next fifty or so years."
Her hands clutched at his shoulders. She shoved him back. "Ian…" She gnawed at her lower lip. "Do you honestly believe this can work? Us?"
"I honestly believe I am going to spend the rest of my life making sure it does. Come on, Scarlett. I'd just have to follow you around the country like a stray pup. It would embarrass Blue."
She wanted to laugh. Instead, tears sprang to her eyes. She buried her face in her hands.
"Sweetheart? What did I do?"
Oh, her heart was going to explode with terror and longing and…joy.
Ian peeled her hands from her face and held them. "Tell me what's wrong." His brown eyes were so earnest.
"I want it, all of it. The marble slab and the wood cookstove and the courthouse and my grandmother and…you. I want you, Ian, so badly I can't think, but—"
"You took one hell of a chance coming to Sweetgrass, honey," he said gently. "You didn't know what would happen or what you would find."
She watched him. Nodded.
"Can't you take a chance on me, too? Have faith that we will find a way out of this tangle you're in?"
She could hardly see through the sheen of her tears. "Even if I did, what do I know about staying anywhere?"
"You just start with one day. Today." He bent and kissed the drops from her lashes. "Let us take care of you, Scarlett. Believe we'll fight like hell to defend you—believe that I will do whatever it takes to keep you safe. To make you happy."
His voice was a low, seductive murmur that called to her heart's deepest longing. "Come home to Sweetgrass, darlin'. Sink some roots right here in Texas. Make a home with me."
If she'd ever heard sweeter words, she couldn't recall them.
I don't know why you left, Mama, but I'm closing the circle. Regardless of what I might have to do to make it happen, I'm coming back to stay.
And the place in her heart that had been lonely for so long filled with a warmth that felt like her mother's blessing.
"Magnolia," she whispered.
Ian blinked.
"It's my middle name." She smiled at him.
A slow, answering smile spread over his beloved face. "Welcome home, Scarlett Magnolia Ross." The
n he scooped her up, walked out into the hall and swung her in a circle while she laughed for sheer joy.
"Let's go tell Ruby," he said as he bent to kiss her. "Honey, we have got ourselves some big plans to make."
EPILOGUE
At halftime a few days later, Ruby stood in her accustomed spot in the courthouse cupola, looking out over the town she loved. She no longer kept watch for her daughter, but this time of peace and reflection was a hard habit to break.
Peace. Her job wasn't done yet, but for the first time in many years, she had a peaceful heart and she had hope.
Scarlett had been released from any obligation in New York. The DA, it seemed, had located the sorry excuse for a man who'd taken such advantage of her granddaughter, and he was singing like a little bird, telling all he knew about Kostov in exchange for a lighter sentence.
And Sweetgrass would have a chance to live again. Scarlett and Ian's plans would take money none of them had, but Scarlett swore she could find investors.
Ruby already knew one, however, whose help she might finally relent and accept.
It's time, Jackson. Time you came back home. Veronica needs you. Sweetgrass needs you.
Just then, the cafe's back door opened, and Ruby spotted Ian drawing Scarlett outside, stealing a kiss under the benevolent light of the evening star. She could hear Scarlett's delighted giggle.
Ruby didn't need to make a wish on a star this night. She didn't have her daughter, would always grieve for her absence…but she had Georgia's child to treasure, to surround with years of pent-up love.
Love…sighed a soft voice, barely audible.
A faint light shimmered off to Ruby's right.
She turned, but as always, the shape vanished, leaving a palpable sense of sorrow in its wake.
"Scarlett stayed for love," Ruby said to The Lady. "That's not enough?"
Only silence greeted her.
Ruby shook her head and turned back to stare out into the growing night. What would it take for The Lady to find her peace? Who was she waiting for? Maybe The Lady would always grieve, always mourn. Maybe there was nothing Ruby could do to help her, sad as the thought was.
But tonight she wouldn't worry over that. Tonight was for celebrating the living. The hope. The love.
Love enough to stay.
-THE END-
Next up: TEXAS WILD, the story of Rissa Gallagher and Randall Mackey
Hollywood's hot playboy stuntman Randall Mackey replaced the adrenaline rush of his career in the SEAL teams with another life courting danger, but that existence is jeopardized by injury. He returns to Sweetgrass Springs, where his teenage exploits made him a legend, only to find that his buddy's tomboy little sister has grown up in very interesting ways. If he thinks, however, that sought-after horse trainer Rissa Gallagher will simply fall into his arms and help him dodge dealing with a haunting past and a future that looks grim, Mackey might want to think again.
Coming soon in The Gallaghers of Sweetgrass Springs series is TEXAS REBEL, Jackson and Veronica's story. The earlier, connected Gallaghers of Morning Star books, along with other titles in the TEXAS HEROES series, are listed below.
If you liked TEXAS ROOTS, I would be very grateful if you would help others find this book by recommending it to your friends on Goodreads or by writing a review on Smashwords. If you would like to be informed when my next release is available, please sign up for my newsletter here.
Thanks!
Jean
Get the entire TEXAS HEROES series:
TEXAS SECRETS
(Boone and Maddie, The Gallaghers of Morning Star #1)
TEXAS LONELY
(Mitch and Perrie, The Gallaghers of Morning Star #2)
TEXAS BAD BOY
(Dev and Lacey, The Gallaghers of Morning Star #3)
TEXAS REFUGE
(Quinn and Lorie, The Marshalls #1)
TEXAS STAR
(Josh and Elena, The Marshalls #2)
TEXAS DANGER (coming soon)
(Case and Samantha's story, The Marshalls #3)
TEXAS ROOTS
(Ian and Scarlett, The Gallaghers of Sweetgrass Springs #1)
TEXAS WILD
(Mackey and Rissa, The Gallaghers of Sweetgrass Springs #2)
TEXAS REBEL (coming soon)
(Jackson and Veronica, The Gallaghers of Sweetgrass Springs #3)
Please enjoy the following excerpts…
THE GALLAGHERS OF MORNING STAR:
Dalton Wheeler vanished from Morning Star, Texas nearly forty years ago under suspicion of murder, leaving behind him a trail of secrets, scandal and lives torn apart in the wake of his reported death. The woman he loved married another, and life went on. Now the main characters in this tragedy are all gone, and in the wake of the final man's last will and testament, the past has roared back with a vengeance. 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
(Boone and Maddie, The Gallaghers of Morning Star #1)
Up-and-coming chef Maddie Collins finds out that her father's life was a lie when she is bequeathed a family homeplace she never knew existed—by the husband of the only woman her father ever loved. Former SEAL, sexy cowboy Boone Gallagher arrives back in Texas to discover that the father who drove him away has struck one last blow. The only place he's ever thought of as home now belongs to a woman who doesn't want it, and he must keep her there for thirty days—or it will be lost to them both.
"Who are you? What are you doing on my ranch?"
Gray eyes went wary, studying him for a long moment that made Boone's spine tingle with unease. Fringed with thick dark lashes, a striking black ring around the irises, her eyes softened.
"Are you Boone or Mitch?"
He stared at her. "I'm Boone," he replied, frowning. "How do you know my name?"
She stuck out one slender hand to shake his, her eyes still soft. Too soft. Almost like an apology. "I'm Maddie Collins. Your father mentioned you in his letter."
He forgot the extended hand. "What letter?" Boone had only gotten a telegram, and that only after Sam was dead and buried.
"You didn't—?" Her eyes darted to the side, looking toward the house. "He didn't...?"
"Didn't what?" His stomach clenched. "Why are you here?"
The woman named Maddie swallowed, then straightened, shaking her dark brown hair back over her shoulders as if preparing herself. In the sunlight, it glowed hints of red like the sky's warning of storms to come.
Then her next words wiped out all thoughts of silky dark hair and husky voices.
"Your father left the house to me."
"He...what?" But even as he waited for her reply, he believed her, this stranger in too-bright gypsy colors who didn't belong here. He'd been crazy to hope that anything might have changed between him and his father, that Sam had regretted abandoning his sons.
"I'm sorry. I—I thought you would already know."
Her regrets didn't help. At that moment, he knew only one thing. He wasn't through losing things that mattered. He'd been a fool to think otherwise.
Even in death, the man who'd been barely a father still denied him the only place he'd ever thought of as home.
…Excerpt from TEXAS SECRETS by Jean Brashear © 2011.
Buy TEXAS SECRETS
Buy Boone's long-lost brother Mitch's story TEXAS LONELY
Buy the secret baby's story TEXAS BAD BOY
* * *
THE MARSHALLS:
Quinn and Josh Marshall are all that is left of a once-loving family, both born protectors, men who never hesitate to put themselves on the line to defend others.
TEXAS REFUGE
(Quinn and Lorie, The Marshalls #1)
Wounded hero Quinn Marshall is haunted after nearly dying in a failed attempt to save his sister. The last thing the former homicide detective wants is another woman to watch over, but someone important to his
brother is in trouble, and Quinn's basic nature is to protect. Soap opera star Lorie Chandler has already lost her husband to an obsessed fan and now her son is the madman's new target.
While the police hunt the killer, Quinn's rugged Texas ranch is the ideal hiding place for Lorie and her child. Neither Quinn nor Lorie expects the explosive heat or the powerful emotion that flares to life in his canyon refuge, yet there is no future for them and both are painfully aware that their time together can only be temporary. When the madman finds them, Quinn's sole focus is on keeping Lorie and the boy he's come to love safe, even though his success will mean that he will have to give them up to a life where he cannot belong.
Quinn Marshall jolted awake in his seat.
The acrid scent of candle smoke seared his nostrils. He glanced around and remembered he was on a plane. Took a deep breath.
The passenger beside him still slept.
But the flight attendant's gaze was locked on his.
Had he cried out in his sleep?
"Sir?" she whispered, dark curls falling forward. "Are you all right?"
"I’m fine."
"Can I get you something?"
My old life back. "No. Thank you."
She hesitated. He flattened his gaze and sat still, willing her to give up. What he needed was beyond even her best intentions.
Texas Roots: The Gallaghers of Sweetgrass Springs Page 22