Alex didn’t comment when her jeans became flecked with ash. She watched Rosalie somberly, stoically, following the bits of ash as they fell, the chunks of bone as they hopped and rolled down into the valley below.
Finally, Rosalie took the bag by the corners, tipping the rest of Gran out into the desert. She set the bag and empty box aside, tilting her head to rest on Alex’s shoulder, letting her ash-covered hands rest in her lap. She was sad, but she was also peaceful. Alex kissed her hair before returning her gaze to the goldening land before them, reaching over to take one of Rosalie’s ashy hands in her own.
“You ready to go back?”
“I want to sit here for a bit.”
Alex turned her attention back to the land sprawled before them. It was quiet for a moment before Rosalie took a deep breath and let it out in a calm, satisfied sigh.
“You know how I told you on our first night at Corte del Cuervo that I didn’t know where I was from?”
“Yeah.”
Rosalie took another slow, peaceful breath. “I know now.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
Alex turned her head to look at Rosalie, but Rosalie kept her gaze set on the desert with its forgiving vastness. She stared out at it, giving Alex’s hand a squeeze.
Alex smiled and turned her attention toward the landscape before them.
About the Author
Lily R. Mason started writing fan fiction for Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women when she was eight years old. Since then, she’s written everything from plays to poetry to trauma treatment protocols to novels to grant applications; the only written art to stump her to date is Twitter.
Lily has written books in a variety of genres, including her debut coming-of-age novel, Taking the Long Way, and its follow-up domestic drama, Me and You and Daisies. She explored multiple realities in Wherever the Dandelion Falls, and immersed herself in months of research for her historical fiction YA novel, Lilies of the Bowery, which was named one of the top five Lesbian YA Books of 2015 by AfterEllen. She was a featured presenter at ClexaCon 2017 where she gave a lecture on the difference between smut, sex, and love scenes in fiction.
Lily is a mental health provider, personal assistant, and author. She has BA in Psychology and an MS in Counseling and currently practices therapy in San Francisco’s Bay Area. She’s passionate about music education, cheese, and positive LGBT representation in media.
Other books by Sapphire Authors
Add Romance and Mix – ISBN – 978-1-948232-06-7
Briley Anderson hasn’t been in a serious relationship for the past two years. The pain of her last breakup has made her weary of giving her heart away again. She spends her days flipping houses and her down-time baking treats for her neighbors. Falling in love wasn’t in her plans, but then again, neither was her next-door neighbor.
Leah Daniels is a divorced mother of two and a grandmother at the age of forty-nine. Love was the last thing she was looking for, especially with a woman sixteen years her junior. All she was hoping for was a quiet neighborhood to raise her fifteen-year old son.
What she hadn’t expected was the unavoidable draw she felt toward Briley.
Through laughter, heartache, love, and fear it’s up to Briley and Leah to figure out if what they’ve created is strong enough to make a relationship last and if taking the chance on love is really worth the risk.
Reclaiming Yancy – ISBN – 978-1-948232-04-3
Her bossy best friend Roxie criticizes her risky behavior, and warns that she’d better shape up before something serious happens. Her socialite mother loves when she dresses properly, but laments that the clothes hang off her strong yet unhealthily lean body.
Colorado rancher Yancy Delaney is a woman grieving past losses, escaping her past by running from any commitment—except to her beloved horses and her work at Valley View, the rural medical organization her family founded.
Enter Dr. Genevieve Lambert, the hot new medical director of Valley View’s rural clinics, where Yancy is Board Director. They immediately feel the sparks of attraction, but Gen wants no part of Yancy’s seduction game or her reputation for casual one-nighters. And Yancy’s missteps and risk-taking may finally be catching up with her, resulting in an injury to herself and a path of broken hearts left in her dust.
Gen and Yancy embark on a journey of romance fraught with rocky rides. Can they overcome their tough trails and find true love?
Highland Dew – ISBN – 978-1-948232-11-1
Bryce Andrews, west coast sales director for Global Distillers and Distribution, is tired of the corporate hamster wheel. She needs a change.
A craft whisky trade show offers her inspiration and a chance to revisit Scotland and the majestic scenery of the Speyside region—best known for the “Whisky Trail.” Bryce and her coworker, Reggie Ballard, need to find a wholly original whisky for their international distribution division by visiting a number of small distillers.
A blind curve, a dangling sign, and weed-choked driveway draw Bryce directly into a truly unique opportunity. She discovers a struggling family, a shuttered distillery, and a spitfire of a daughter called home to care for her confused father.
Fiona McDougall—the only child and heir to the MacDougall & Son legacy, had her career teaching in Edinburgh curtailed by fate…or serendipity.
When the stars finally align, the two women work together to resurrect a dream for themselves and the family business—if they can weather the storms of unscrupulous business practices in the competitive whisky market.
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