She hadn’t seen Trace McCabe since the night they’d gotten married.
Recollections of his smile flashed through her memory like summer lightning. Memories of the hurt and confusion her decisions had caused stung like the sparks coming off a Fourth-of-July sparkler.
Her stomach flipped and her hands began to sweat.
Trace McCabe.
The reason Jennifer had stayed away from her hometown for eight years.
Then she turned, and his easy grin became a look of disbelief, shock—followed by a flash of anger.
Dangerous thoughts and emotions shook her. Her stomach jittered just as it used to when she was seventeen.
Perhaps her feelings hadn’t been buried as deeply as she’d thought.
Dear Reader,
To me, September is the cruelest month. One minute it feels like just another glorious summer day. And then almost overnight the days become shorter and life just hits. It’s no different for this month’s heroes and heroines. Because they all get their own very special “September moment” when they discover a secret that will change their lives forever!
Judy Christenberry once again heads up this month with The Texan’s Tiny Dilemma (#1782)—the next installment in her LONE STAR BRIDES miniseries. A handsome accountant must suddenly figure out how to factor love into the equation when a one-night stand results in twins. Seth Bryant gets his wake-up call when a very pregnant princess shows up on his doorstep in Prince Baby (#1783), which continues Susan Meier’s BRYANT BABY BONANZA. Jill Limber assures us that The Sheriff Wins a Wife (#1784) in the continuing BLOSSOM COUNTY FAIR continuity, but how will this lawman react to the news that he’s still married to a woman who left town eight years ago! Holly Jacobs rounds out the month with her next PERRY SQUARE: THE ROYAL INVASION! title. In Once Upon a King (#1785), baby seems to come before love and marriage for a future king.
And be sure to watch for more great romances next month when bestselling author Myrna Mackenzie launches our new SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE miniseries.
Happy reading,
Ann Leslie Tuttle
Associate Senior Editor
The Sheriff Wins a Wife
Jill Limber
To Matthew and Zachary: my newest little heroes
Books by Jill Limber
Silhouette Romance
The 15 lb. Matchmaker #1593
Captivating a Cowboy #1664
Daddy, He Wrote #1756
The Sheriff Wins a Wfe #1784
Silhouette Intimate Moments
Secrets of an Old Flame #1266
JILL LIMBER
lives in San Diego with her husband. Now that her children are grown, their two dogs keep her company while she sits at her computer writing stories. A native Californian, she enjoys the beach, loves to swim in the ocean, and for relaxation she daydreams and reads romances. You can learn more about Jill by visiting her Web site at www.JillLimber.com.
THE BLOSSOM BEE
The Buzz About Town
By: Harriet Hearsay
We’ve got the dirt…straight from the pigpen!
It seems Jennifer Williams, now of Dallas, is back in town and helping her niece with Petunia the pig. But don’t you know, this girl is clueless about hogs and she nearly landed flat on her behind the first time in the pen. Surprise, surprise—guess who was there to pull her out of the muck and straight into his arms? Her old flame, Sheriff Trace McCabe! This columnist is definitely ready to watch the mud fly between these two!
Contents
Chapter One
Jennifer Williams tried to avoid breathing through her nose.
It had been eight years since she’d been to the Blossom County fair, and she’d forgotten how bad the smell of the animal barn could get during the heat of the day.
She’d never been involved in 4H in school. Her mother hadn’t allowed her or her sister to participate. Ellen Williams had declared that no daughter of hers was going to lower herself to clean up after an animal. Jennifer had felt left out; all her friends had raised 4H animals. But now, standing beside the smelly pen that held her niece Kelly’s 4H entry, Jennifer thought perhaps her mother had had a point.
Petunia the pig was large, pink and cranky. As far as Jennifer was concerned, Petunia was a three-hundred-pound porcine nightmare that was not going to end anytime soon.
This was not how Jennifer had anticipated spending her summer. But when her older sister, Miranda, called three days ago asking for help with a difficult pregnancy, Jennifer had taken vacation time from her job as a forensic accountant, packed up her seven-year-old son, Zack, and left Dallas.
She’d moved from Blossom the summer after high school, and aside from brief visits home to see her sister and bury her mother, she’d stayed away. There were too many bad memories here. And she wouldn’t have come back now, but Miranda and her daughter, Kelly, were family—outside of Zack, the only family Jenn had.
Petunia gave a squeal of displeasure, pulling Jenn out of her reminiscences. She watched as the very pregnant pig struggled to her feet and knocked over her water bowl.
The