You know what that means?
TEASER TUESDAY!!!
I am so excited to share with you a special excerpt from my editor and dear friend's debut novel. Hollie Westring (yes, THE Hollie) wrote a novel Whispers & Wishes and it's a brilliant book. I love it! I love everything about it.
I am sooo excited to be sharing this with you right now because you'll really want to read this story! It comes out NOVEMBER 7TH. I made that extra big in case you didn't see it. Mark your calendars!
Here it is!
I missed Grams and Lexi. I came back for one week every September to help Grams prepare the inn for guests. This year was different. Cedar Inn needed lots of repairs since Grams had been putting them off. Though the biggest thing calling me home was that I needed some time off from traveling. Still no closer to my mother or finding myself, I needed some time to assess. I felt listless as I bounced from town to town, seeing people with their friends and families, and there I was—serving these happy people at cafes and restaurants. No friends or family around for hundreds of miles.
I thought spending some extra time with Grams and Lexi might fix that. Fall brought lots of tourists to Sage Springs, but the biggest weekend was Fall Fest in October. Fall Fest was Sage Springs’ greatest claim to fame. People poured in from Kansas City and several suburbs. Some of the locals dressed up in attire from the 1800s. There was kettle corn, games, lots of crafts to be bought and perused, a cider stand, all sorts of things. Business at the Cedar Inn would be good that weekend, I had no doubt, but it was the rest of the year I was concerned about.
“We’ll be landing in Kansas City in about thirty minutes,” the pilot announced, jolting me from my thoughts. “It’s a sunny seventy-eight degrees.” That was a nice way of saying it wasn’t going to be hot as balls when we stepped off the plane. The summers were brutal and full of humidity, which is one of the reasons I picked fall for my yearly visits.
The man next to me snored. How did I always get stuck next to people like this? It was like I was a magnet for weird encounters. “Please invade my personal space” must have been written on my forehead. I knew I was in trouble when the man plopped down in the seat and started taking up my legroom and arm room within seconds. At least he was asleep and had stopped doing that phlegmy snort thing he’d done as we left the tarmac at my layover in Atlanta. Gross.
I flipped off my e-reader and stowed it in my purse as I took a deep breath and prepared to face the next few weeks that would likely decide my future. It was time for me to determine if I wanted to continue my journey on the road and the search for my mother, or if I should move back to Sage Springs and be surrounded by people who loved me.
Lexi had promised to meet me at the airport and drive me to Cedar Inn. I took another deep breath as the plane landed. As anxious as I was about facing my future, I was excited to be stationary for a while. Seeing as how Sage Springs was more of a, err, spiritual community, I guess you could say, I felt excited to be around other people like me.
Mr. Snorer had awoken upon landing and was now edging his way into the aisle. I jumped in line right behind him and stepped off the plane. As I entered the airport gate, I steeled myself for Lexi’s little body launching itself at me. She had a way of doing that, and I didn’t want to fall on the airport’s dirty carpet with her on top of me, smothering me with hugs.
I glanced around for Lexi’s blonde head. Odd. I didn’t see her. I peered around again, taking a step out of the way as families reunited and lovers embraced. I was midway through swiveling my head when I lost my breath and my eyes bulged. Dark blond hair, six-three, muscular build, brown eyes, dimple.
Jake.
Lexi would not do this to me. She couldn’t. She wouldn’t possibly send him here to pick me up. It was an hour drive to Cedar Inn. I couldn’t be stuck in the car with Jake Brown for that long. I’d seen him twice since I left Sage Springs three years ago. He hadn’t seen me. Since I was only in town for a week each of the other times, I spent most of the visits at the inn with Grams, so there was no reason for any awkward meetings.
“Eliza? That you?”
See?! You MUST read this! Eeeeekkk! Sorry, I'm just a bit excited for this. Enjoy this excerpt. There's more awesome to come!
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