The Sometimes Sistersby Carolyn Brown
Kindle Edition, 1st edition, 309 pages
Expected publication: February 27th 2018 by Montlake Romance
ASINB0746L1VPK
A bittersweet inheritance reunites three estranged sisters in a novel of family, trust, and forgiveness from New York Times bestselling author Carolyn Brown.
When they were growing up, Dana, Harper, and Tawny thought of themselves as “sometimes sisters.” They connected only during the summer month they’d all spend at their grandmother’s rustic lakeside resort in north Texas. But secrets started building, and ten years have passed since they’ve all been together—in fact, they’ve rarely spoken, and it broke their grandmother’s heart.
Now she’s gone, leaving Annie’s Place to her granddaughters—twelve cabins, a small house, a café, a convenience store, and a lot of family memories. It’s where Dana, Harper, and Tawny once shared so many good times. They’ve returned, sharing only hidden regrets, a guarded mistrust, and haunting guilt. But now, in this healing summer place, the secrets that once drove them apart could bring them back together—especially when they discover that their grandmother may have been hiding something, too…
To overcome the past and find future happiness, these “sometimes sisters” have one more chance to realize they are always family.
Exclusive Excerpt: The Sometimes Sisters by Carolyn Brown
After cleanup was finished, Harper went back to her cabin, but she couldn’t sit still. She flipped back and forth between the two channels on the television, but neither one kept her attention. Memories. A whole summer of them kept rising up in her mind. It was that magical time when she and Wyatt discovered sex together, when in their youthful ignorance they’d been too careless and she’d gotten pregnant. The guilt she’d felt ever since giving that precious baby girl up for adoption had never left her. Like always, she felt the need to drink or to run, but she was determined to do neither that evening.
Zed needed her, and she had to finally to face her past or she’d never move on to a future. She needed something, anything, to escape from the smothering pictures flashing through her head. She dug around in her box of books until she came up with one that she’d read a dozen times and still loved, but not even her favorite author, Katie Lane, could keep her attention.
Finally, she pulled on a jacket and went out to sit in the old metal lawn chair on the corner of her tiny porch. The stars shone bright, circling around a half-moon in a black velvet sky. On many hot summer nights in that same cabin, she’d had some wild and crazy good times in cabin number twelve with Wyatt Simpson, most of them after they’d shared a six-pack of beer.
Suddenly the little short hairs on her neck prickled and her pulse jacked up a few beats a minute, letting her know that Wyatt was really close by. Then he stepped out of the shadows and into the moonlight. She drew her long legs up and wrapped her arms around them.
“Hey,” he said. “I was out for an evening walk down that old trail behind the cabins. So are you living in this unit? I remember—”
She held up a palm. “That was a long time ago.”
“Ten years, if I remember right. We were a couple of crazy teenagers, weren’t we?”
“Oh, yes.” She nodded. He didn’t have any idea of just how crazy and irresponsible they had been that summer.
“Are you just here for a few weeks or for a long time?”
“I don’t really don’t know. I basically live a day at a time,” she answered.
He nodded. “I understand that. Mind if I sit down?” he asked.
She shrugged. “Lots of porch steps. Help yourself to whichever one looks most comfortable.”
He sat on the top step and stretched his legs out over the steps to the ground. “I never forgot that summer. How about you?”
“Of course not,” she answered. That summer had set the course for her life the past decade and given her the means for a guilt trip that she went on every spring.
“Two crazy teenagers finding each other, beer, and sex. You married?” he asked.
“No. You?”
He shook his head. “Not yet.”
“Engaged?” Harper asked.
“Was at one time. She didn’t like the idea of me being a fishin’ guide.”
She didn’t realize she was holding her breath until he answered. Not that it made a bit of difference. They were totally different people now. “What’d she want you to do?”
“I’ve got a degree in commercial business and worked for a mortgage company a year before I figured out I wasn’t cut out to wear three-piece suits.” He grinned. “How about you?”
“Been job hopping, just makin’ a livin’. Last one was working in a bar and livin’ in an apartment over the place,” she answered.
“You’re kiddin’ me!”
“Nope, didn’t finish high school, but I did get my GED. Haven’t spent a single day at college.”
He stood up. “I figured you’d own an oil well or two by now, or maybe you’d be a model for some fancy clothing place.”
“Disappointed?” she asked.
“Not in the least. We all have to find our way. As my favorite aunt used to say, it doesn’t matter what you do, long as you’re happy.”
“Sounds like a smart woman. It’s getting chilly.” She shivered. “I’m going inside.”
“I’d go get a six-pack of beer from my cabin if you’ll invite me over.” He grinned.
She shook her head and stood up. “Not tonight. We aren’t those crazy kids anymore.”
“I wish we were. That summer was the best time of my life. Maybe another time. See you at breakfast?”
“That’s my job long as I’m here,” she said. Like a famous author once wrote, that summer had been the best of times and the worst of times for Harper. What should have been a sweet awakening had turned into a bitter nightmare.
She went inside and fell forward on the bed, burying her face in the pillow. Then she rolled over and shook her fist at the window. “Why, God? Why would you put me in this cabin and send Wyatt Simpson to the lake the first week I’m here?”
Face your demons and get on with life, the voice in her head said clearly. Was God speaking to her? If he was, then he didn’t know just how big her demons were.
***
After cleanup was finished, Harper went back to her cabin, but she couldn’t sit still. She flipped back and forth between the two channels on the television, but neither one kept her attention. Memories. A whole summer of them kept rising up in her mind. It was that magical time when she and Wyatt discovered sex together, when in their youthful ignorance they’d been too careless and she’d gotten pregnant. The guilt she’d felt ever since giving that precious baby girl up for adoption had never left her. Like always, she felt the need to drink or to run, but she was determined to do neither that evening.
Zed needed her, and she had to finally to face her past or she’d never move on to a future. She needed something, anything, to escape from the smothering pictures flashing through her head. She dug around in her box of books until she came up with one that she’d read a dozen times and still loved, but not even her favorite author, Katie Lane, could keep her attention.
Finally, she pulled on a jacket and went out to sit in the old metal lawn chair on the corner of her tiny porch. The stars shone bright, circling around a half-moon in a black velvet sky. On many hot summer nights in that same cabin, she’d had some wild and crazy good times in cabin number twelve with Wyatt Simpson, most of them after they’d shared a six-pack of beer.
Suddenly the little short hairs on her neck prickled and her pulse jacked up a few beats a minute, letting her know that Wyatt was really close by. Then he stepped out of the shadows and into the moonlight. She drew her long legs up and wrapped her arms around them.
“Hey,” he said. “I was out for an evening walk down that old trail behind the cabins. So are you living in this unit? I remember—”
She held up a palm. “That was a long time ago.”
“Ten years, if I remember right. We were a couple of crazy teenagers, weren’t we?”
“Oh, yes.” She nodded. He didn’t have any idea of just how crazy and irresponsible they had been that summer.
“Are you just here for a few weeks or for a long time?”
“I don’t really don’t know. I basically live a day at a time,” she answered.
He nodded. “I understand that. Mind if I sit down?” he asked.
She shrugged. “Lots of porch steps. Help yourself to whichever one looks most comfortable.”
He sat on the top step and stretched his legs out over the steps to the ground. “I never forgot that summer. How about you?”
“Of course not,” she answered. That summer had set the course for her life the past decade and given her the means for a guilt trip that she went on every spring.
“Two crazy teenagers finding each other, beer, and sex. You married?” he asked.
“No. You?”
He shook his head. “Not yet.”
“Engaged?” Harper asked.
“Was at one time. She didn’t like the idea of me being a fishin’ guide.”
She didn’t realize she was holding her breath until he answered. Not that it made a bit of difference. They were totally different people now. “What’d she want you to do?”
“I’ve got a degree in commercial business and worked for a mortgage company a year before I figured out I wasn’t cut out to wear three-piece suits.” He grinned. “How about you?”
“Been job hopping, just makin’ a livin’. Last one was working in a bar and livin’ in an apartment over the place,” she answered.
“You’re kiddin’ me!”
“Nope, didn’t finish high school, but I did get my GED. Haven’t spent a single day at college.”
He stood up. “I figured you’d own an oil well or two by now, or maybe you’d be a model for some fancy clothing place.”
“Disappointed?” she asked.
“Not in the least. We all have to find our way. As my favorite aunt used to say, it doesn’t matter what you do, long as you’re happy.”
“Sounds like a smart woman. It’s getting chilly.” She shivered. “I’m going inside.”
“I’d go get a six-pack of beer from my cabin if you’ll invite me over.” He grinned.
She shook her head and stood up. “Not tonight. We aren’t those crazy kids anymore.”
“I wish we were. That summer was the best time of my life. Maybe another time. See you at breakfast?”
“That’s my job long as I’m here,” she said. Like a famous author once wrote, that summer had been the best of times and the worst of times for Harper. What should have been a sweet awakening had turned into a bitter nightmare.
She went inside and fell forward on the bed, burying her face in the pillow. Then she rolled over and shook her fist at the window. “Why, God? Why would you put me in this cabin and send Wyatt Simpson to the lake the first week I’m here?”
Face your demons and get on with life, the voice in her head said clearly. Was God speaking to her? If he was, then he didn’t know just how big her demons were.
***
About the Author
Carolyn Brown is a New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author and a RITA finalist. Her books include romantic women’s fiction, historical romance, contemporary romance, cowboy romance, and country music mass-market paperbacks. She and her husband live in the small town of Davis, Oklahoma, where everyone knows what everyone else is doing—and reads the local newspaper on Wednesdays to see who got caught. They have three grown children and enough grandchildren to keep them young. When she’s not writing, Carolyn likes to sit in her gorgeous backyard with her two cats, Chester Fat Boy and Boots Randolph Terminator Outlaw, and watch them protect their territory from all kinds of wicked varmints like crickets, locusts, and spiders. Visit her online at www.carolynbrownbooks.com.
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This treally sounds like a great read. Thanks for the excerpt and giveaway chance.
ReplyDeleteCarol Luciano
Lucky4750 at aol dot com