WELCOME TO TYLER-JOIN THE CROWD
Sit in the bleachers and catch up on the latest gossip. Share the passions and pastimes of America’s favorite hometown.
THE HOMETOWN HERO AND THE LADY COACH
Patrick Kelsey, Tyler’s former all-star, is not impressed to learn that Tyler High’s new football coach is a woman. But Pam Casals isn’t what Patrick expects.
CAN THEY CREATE A WINNING TEAM?
Pam’s bright, vivacious and dedicated. Her infectious enthusiasm inspires everyone around her. Yet, when Patrick tries to get close to her, she backs off. Patrick begins to wonder if there’s something important Pam isn’t telling him...
Previously Published.
“What are you doing, Patrick?”
Pam frowned, uneasy under his gaze.
“I enjoy looking at you. Life is for enjoying, Pam, and I enjoy you.”
“Is life for enjoying, Patrick?”
He nodded. “I decided that it was some years ago, when I had to reevaluate my life after a big disappointment.”
So he, too, had known disappointment. Pam was curious, but she decided to keep the discussion impersonal. “Disappointments that change our lives stay with us. At least, the lingering effects do.”
“Right now, I don’t want to think about past disappointments. It’s Friday night, I’m out with the loveliest woman in town, and all’s right with my world. How about yours?”
She warmed under his heated gaze. “My world’s pretty fine right now, too.”
He nodded toward the crowded room. “What do you say we blow this joint? I’d like to be alone with you.”
That sent her blood racing, but not with fright. With anticipation. Taking his hand in hers, she pulled him up and headed toward the door.
Welcome to Harlequin’s Tyler, a small Wisconsin town whose citizens we hope you’ll soon come to know and love. Like many of the innovative publishing concepts Harlequin has launched over the years, the idea for the Tyler series originated in response to our readers’ preferences. Your enthusiasm for sequels and continuing characters within many of the Harlequin lines has prompted us to create a twelve-book series of individual romances whose characters’ lives inevitably intertwine.
Tyler faces many challenges typical of small towns, but the fabric of this fictional community will be torn by the revelation of a long-ago murder, the details of which will evolve right through the series. This intriguing crime will culminate in an emotional trial that profoundly affects the lives of the Ingallses, the Barons, the Forresters and the Wochecks.
Renovations have begun on the old Timberlake resort lodge as the series opens, and the lodge will also attract the attention of a prominent Chicago hotelier, a man with a personal interest in showing Tyler folks his financial clout.
Marge is waiting with some home-baked pie at her diner, and policeman Brick Bauer might direct you down Elm Street if it’s patriarch Judson Ingalls you’re after. The Kelseys run the loveliest boardinghouse in town, and you’ll find everything you need at Gates Department Store. Pam Casals gives hometown favorite son, Patrick Kelsey, a run for his money when she hires on as Tyler High’s new football coach. So join us in Tyler, once a month, for the next eleven months, for a slice of small-town life that’s not as innocent or as quiet as you might expect, and for a sense of community that will capture your mind and your heart.
Marsha Zinberg
Editorial Coordinator, Tyler
Bright Hopes
Pat Warren
Special thanks and acknowledgment to Pat Warren for her contribution to this work.
Special thanks and acknowledgment to Joanna Kosloff for her contribution to the concept for the Tyler series.
CONTENTS
“A WOMAN FOOTBALL COACH?” Patrick Kelsey laughed out loud. “Come on, Miss Mackie. You’ve got to be kidding!”
Josephine Mackie sat back in her desk chair, adjusted her round, rimless glasses on her long, thin nose and looked up at the tall gym teacher. “Why, Patrick, don’t tell me you’re a chauvinist. Not with that superachiever mother of yours and three charming sisters.”
Patrick ran a hand through his short, dark hair. That was the one drawback to growing up and living in a small town like Tyler, Wisconsin. Everyone knew you, your family and most of your business. Miss Mackie had been principal of Tyler High School when he was a freshman twenty years ago. She wasn’t meddlesome so much as knowledgeable—about everyone. He flashed her what he hoped was a disarming smile.
“Not me. It’s just that...well, these are guys,