by Lisa Patton
To you, dear reader, and all the Facebook and Instagram friends who have tirelessly commented, read, liked, and shared … thank you. I well know it is your support that has spread the word about my books, and I owe you a HUGE debt of gratitude.
And finally, to the Master Storyteller—my Advocate, my Counselor, my Prince of Peace. I owe every single word in this book to You.
ALSO BY LISA PATTON
Whistlin’ Dixie in a Nor’easter
Yankee Doodle Dixie
Southern as a Second Language
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Lisa Patton, bestselling author of Whistlin’ Dixie in a Nor’ easter, Yankee Doodle Dixie, and Southern as a Second Language, is a Memphis, Tennessee, native who spent time as a Vermont innkeeper until three subzero winters sent her speeding back down South. She has over twenty years of experience working in the music and entertainment business and is a graduate of the University of Alabama. The proud mother of two sons, eight bonus children, and eleven grandchildren, Lisa lives in the rolling hills of Nashville with her husband and their four-legged furry daughter named Rosie. You can sign up for email updates here.
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CONTENTS
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Epigraph
One: Miss Pearl
Two: Miss Pearl
Three: Miss Pearl
Four: Miss Pearl
Five: Miss Pearl
Six: Wilda
Seven: Wilda
Eight: Wilda
Nine: Wilda
Ten: Wilda
Eleven: Cali
Twelve: Wilda
Thirteen: Cali
Fourteen: Miss Pearl
Fifteen: Miss Pearl
Sixteen: Cali
Seventeen: Wilda
Eighteen: Wilda
Nineteen: Wilda
Twenty: Cali
Twenty-One: Miss Pearl
Twenty-Two: Cali
Twenty-Three: Miss Pearl
Twenty-Four: Wilda
Twenty-Five: Cali
Twenty-Six: Wilda
Twenty-Seven: Cali
Twenty-Eight: Wilda
Twenty-Nine: Miss Pearl
Thirty: Wilda
Thirty-One: Miss Pearl
Thirty-Two: Miss Pearl
Thirty-Three: Cali
Thirty-Four: Cali
Thirty-Five: Cali
Thirty-Six: Wilda
Thirty-Seven: Wilda
Thirty-Eight: Wilda
Thirty-Nine: Cali
Forty: Miss Pearl
Forty-One: Wilda
Forty-Two: Miss Pearl
Forty-Three: Wilda
Forty-Four: Cali
Forty-Five: Cali
Forty-Six: Miss Pearl
Forty-Seven: Wilda
Forty-Eight: Miss Pearl
Forty-Nine: Wilda
Fifty: Miss Pearl
Fifty-One: Cali
Fifty-Two: Miss Pearl
Fifty-Three: Wilda
Fifty-Four: Cali
Fifty-Five: Cali
Fifty-Six: Cali
Fifty-Seven: Wilda
Fifty-Eight: Miss Pearl
Fifty-Nine: Cali
Sixty: Miss Pearl
Sixty-One: Miss Pearl
Sixty-Two: Cali
Sixty-Three: Cali
Sixty-Four: Wilda
Sixty-Five: Cali
Sixty-Six: Wilda
Sixty-Seven: Miss Pearl
Sixty-Eight: Cali
Sixty-Nine: Wilda
Seventy: Miss Pearl
On a Personal Note
Acknowledgments
Also by Lisa Patton
About the Author
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. All incidents and dialogue are products of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Where real-life figures appear, the situations, incidents, and dialogues concerning those persons are entirely fictional and are not intended to change the entirely fictional nature of the work. In all other respects, any resemblance to persons living or dead is entirely coincidental.
RUSH. Copyright © 2018 by Lisa Patton. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
www.stmartins.com
Cover photograph of house © istock/ghornephoto
The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.
ISBN 978-1-250-02066-6 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-25002274-5 (ebook)
eISBN 9781250022745
Our ebooks may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at 1-800-221-7945, extension 5442, or by email at [email protected].
First Edition: August 2018