Instead, Mirelle had been simply a front for illegal activities that had gone on under her nose. And she’d never once, in the whole two years, suspected. Never wanted to look. She’d simply been grateful for the focus, the distraction from her grief. His offer had come right after she’d lost her only family, and she’d boxed up her mother’s effects without a look. Instead of immediately leaving for parts unknown as her mother had always done when things got crazy, she’d tried something radical: she’d planned to stay in one place. She’d been too devastated to think straight, had been ripe pickings for Andre’s machinations.
She’d been grateful, so grateful for the rescue. She’d lost her only compass in a life spent on the move, and she’d welcomed the chaos and endless work that allowed her not to think. The solace of someone who cared.
Except Andre hadn’t really cared, had he? She’d been a dupe, and she’d walked into his trap with gratitude, playing her part to perfection.
The velvet-lined trap had sprung just when her future seemed brightest, when she was at last emerging from grief and loneliness.
Only to wind up in handcuffs, with her picture on the front page of the newspaper and featured on the evening newscast. Andre had escaped scot-free, no doubt on some tropical island drinking mai tais with a new idiot, while she stood holding the bag because he’d put her name on the more damaging documents.
And she’d thought him so sweet to both bankroll the venture and give her Mirelle.
She’d been trapped in New York for twelve days while the District Attorney had bled her brain dry, then she’d been freed under the stipulation that she’d testify against Andre and his cohorts—should they ever be found. On one of many sleepless nights, wandering the apartment filled with hated memories of Andre, in desperation she’d dragged out a box of her mother’s things. There, in her mother’s girlhood diary, a stunned Scarlett had discovered family. In Texas, of all places, one of the few states she and her mother had not lived.
A grandmother, still alive, from what little Scarlett could determine…a treasure she’d longed for all her life. Why Georgia Ross had never spoken one word of Sweetgrass Springs or family was reason for caution, certainly, but Scarlett had decided that once she had her life back together, she would seek the answers she craved to the riddle of her mother’s past.
Then came a late night visit from two very scary men there to silence her before she could testify. Thanks to her drunken neighbors’ screaming battle, the cops had shown up next door, and she’d been left with the memory of a knife to her throat and a whispered warning.
Scarlett’s timeline had abruptly sped up. She’d left town within hours.
Texas had been the only place she could think of to go. To pay a visit to the grandmother she’d never known existed and to buy herself a few days to think what to do next.
She had nowhere else to go. No options.
Okay, she still had her skills, and there might be some corner of the world where no one read the headlines. Truth to tell, New York only thought of itself as the center of the universe—there were other foodie towns like Santa Fe or San Francisco, other places where her skills could take her. Where the confidence she’d once had in spades could land her a new position.
If only she weren’t so tired. So scared.
What if her grandmother wanted nothing to do with her? Why had her mother kept her family a secret? A million things could be wrong, so many ways this could go bad.
She was alone as never before in her life. Until two years ago, there had always been her mother. They had moved often, yes, but they were a team, they were solid. As long as they’d had each other, they needed little more.
How Scarlett missed her.
In Georgia’s place remained only a mystery.
Who was her mother? Why did she leave here and never say one word to Scarlett about this place, when they had always been so close? Why did Scarlett have to find out about it when she could ask no questions? Was there some reason she should stay away, too? Her mother had been footloose but not foolish.
It was only a meal. A chance to reconnoiter. She didn’t have to say anything to a soul.
The road ran alongside a ribbon of water, and a little further she could see it wind through the town next to a three-story courthouse that formed one corner of the town square, most of the buildings dark and closed, only a handful of them taller than one story. It was surely the tiniest town she’d ever seen.
She rounded the corner, and one building spilled out light in welcome. Ruby’s Café. Owned by one Ruby Gallagher.
The grandmother Scarlett had never known existed.
Scarlett sucked in a deep breath for courage. She’d been the new kid countless times.
But her mother had always had her back.
Nonsense. I’ll be okay. I’m a grown woman. It won’t matter if she can’t love me.
…Excerpt from TEXAS ROOTS by Jean Brashear © 2013.
Buy TEXAS ROOTS
Buy book 2 TEXAS WILD
Buy book 3 TEXAS DREAMS
(Book 4 TEXAS REBEL upcoming)
* * *
OTHER TITLES BY JEAN BRASHEAR
THE PEARL OF PARADISE (novella)
Five years ago, covert operative Damon Alexander became guardian of the sacred ivory carving, the Pearl of Paradise, and he sacrificed any chance for a life with the woman he loved to save her from being killed by his archenemy, Kwan. The vow curses him to die, should he leave holy ground, but his enemy is back and is picking off those Damon cares for most, taunting Damon to risk the curse to stop him.
Lily Shen has spent five years closing off her heart from Damon after his devastating betrayal, but hearing that he means to sacrifice his life to stop the killing, she knows that she may have the only means to save him—by revealing to him that he has a son. When Kwan kidnaps their child, the love that never died draws them together in a race to find some means to break the curse and save the son Damon has never met.
Buy THE PEARL OF PARADISE (novella)
THE LIGHT WALKER
Newly-minted detective Jace Carroll’s innocuous first case plunges her into a world of shifting realities. At the center of the tangled knot is the mesmerizing and mysterious Dante Sabanne, a wealthy recluse whose proficiency with ancient poisons, mystical lore and exotic sexual practices makes him by turns a crucial expert witness, a devastating lover…and possibly the man behind a cult whose profane rituals have turned from depraved to deadly.
The powerful attraction between them complicates everything, as the Jace who thought she knew exactly who she was and what she wanted becomes both pawn and queen in a battle between the dark and the light. Innocents will die if she makes the wrong choice between the evidence before her eyes and the yearnings of a heart she is no longer sure she can trust.
A scorching tale of suspense, passion and magic from USAToday bestselling author Jean Brashear.
Buy THE LIGHT WALKER
THE CHOICE
Deep-cover FBI agent Drake Cullinane is driven by guilt over a terrorist attack he couldn’t prevent. It’s taken him years to become the trusted head of security for arms dealer Klaus Hafner, the man responsible for that attack, and he’s within days of taking down Hafner and his whole network.
Jillian MacGregor found a splashy way to apply to be one of Klaus Hafner’s bodyguards, and she’s out to kill the man the mysterious Cullinane is sworn to protect, seeking revenge for her sister’s death at Hafner’s hands.
White-hot attraction flares between them, but both are hiding dangerous secrets. Only one of them can win—and if they cannot learn to trust each other, both of them could die.
Buy THE CHOICE
About the Author
USAToday bestselling Texas romance author of the popular TEXAS HEROES series and over 30 other novels in romance and women’s fiction, a five-time RITA finalist and RT BOOKReviews Career Achievement Award winner, Jean Brashear knows a lot about taking crazy chances. A lifelong avid reader, at the age
of forty-five with no experience and no training, she decided to see if she could write a book. It was a wild leap that turned her whole life upside down, but she would tell you that though she’s never been more terrified, she’s never felt more exhilarated or more alive. She’s an ardent proponent of not putting off your dreams until that elusive ‘someday’—take that leap now.
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Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Box Set Contents
TEXAS SECRETS
About Texas Secrets
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Epilogue
TEXAS LONELY
About Texas Lonely
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Epilogue
TEXAS BAD BOY
About Texas Bad Boy
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Epilogue
The Gallaghers Family Tree
Entire Texas Heroes Series
Excerpt from Texas Refuge
Excerpt from Texas Roots
Other Titles by Jean Brashear
About the Author
Connect With Jean
Texas Heroes: Volume 1 Page 54