Cover Copy
He’s determined to set things right, no matter the cost.
The last person Abby Crawford wants to face down is country music superstar Seth Kendall. Last time she did, she flat-out lied so he’d go to Nashville without her. She’s never understood why their mutual best friend proposed, but she went with it so her baby wouldn’t be fatherless. Now she’s a divorced mother of a teenager, and secretly Seth’s biggest fan.
Seth is home in McAllister, Texas for his father’s funeral…and a chance to meet the daughter he’s never known. He’s willing to face the music of his own making and admit he’s known about his little girl all along. For fifteen years he’s kept his distance because Abby told him to follow his dreams without her, insisting she didn’t love him. But now he won’t leave until he knows his daughter and she knows him, even if it means facing the woman who broke his heart for good.
Confessing she’s lied about her daughter’s paternity all these years won’t be easy for Abby, especially with her ex blackmailing her to keep the secret. And Seth doesn’t know the hardest truth of all: Every love song he plays on his guitar still plucks her heartstrings.
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Books by Sara Walter Ellwood
Colton Gamblers Series
Gambling On A Secret, Book One
Gambling On A Heart, Book Two
Gambling On A Dream, Book Three
Singing to the Heart
Heartstrings
Heartsong
Published by Kensington Publishing Corporation
Heartstrings
A Singing to the Heart Novel
Sara Walter Ellwood
LYRICAL PRESS
Kensington Publishing Corp.
www.kensingtonbooks.com
Copyright
Lyrical Press books are published by
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Copyright © 2013 by Sara Walter Ellwood
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First Electronic Edition: MONTH YEAR
eISBN-13: 978-1-61650-455-7
eISBN-10: 1-61650-455-2
First Print Edition: MONTH YEAR
ISBN-13: 978-1-61650-868-5
ISBN-10: 1-61650-868-X
Printed in the United States of America
Dedication
To the musicians in my family... Marcus and Laura.
I love you!
Acknowledgements
First, I have to thank my amazing critique partners, D’Ann Lindun, Chloe Blaire, and Martha Ramirez for all the times they read and reread this story through its various incarnations. I will forever be indebted to these wonderful writers for all their hard work and valuable time. Secondly, I have to thank my editor, Piper Denna. She is awesome, and I’m so glad fate brought us together.
And never lastly, I have to thank my family for their love and continued support. I love you.
Foreword
I’ve always been a fan of country music. When I was little, I’d dress up in my prettiest dress and my grandma’s sofa doilies and stand on her coffee table, belting out at the top of my lungs to her old 8-tracks of Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers. For years, I had the words to Dolly’s Jolene and Kenny’s The Gambler memorized and could sing them at a drop of a hat.
My big dream of being the next Dolly Parton was quickly squashed when my third grade music teacher told me I couldn’t hold a tune in a bucket and refused to let me in the school chorus. Granted, I still can’t sing, but I often find myself humming those old country songs. Heartstrings is my tribute to my love of country music. It is also a study of determination. This story has been through more rewrites than I can count. But in the end, I think it’s one of my favorites. I hope you fall as much in love with Seth, Abby and Emily as I have.
Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.
Love, Sara
Prologue
December 1983
Seth tightened his arms around his father’s neck and stared down at Momma lying on the bed of white in the big box. Daddy had cried last night. He’d never seen his daddy cry before. Not even last summer when Ol’ Blue died. The coonhound had been his hunting dog forever. Something bad must be wrong.
“Daddy, why won’t Momma wake up?”
His father rubbed his back and held him closer. He trembled as he spoke. “Your momma went away, buddy. She can’t come home.”
He pulled away. “Like Ol’ Blue did?”
Daddy swallowed so hard his throat moved up and down. “Yeah, son. Just like Ol’ Blue.”
He looked back at Momma. She was so pretty. Her yellow hair fixed in a fancy hairdo, and her face all made up as if she were going out to sing somewhere.
Daddy hated Momma’s singing. They fought about it all the time. “Daddy, I heard you and Momma fighting the other night.” He turned back to meet his father’s eyes again. “What’s a divorce? And why did you call Momma a--a whore?”
Daddy glanced around as several of the other people standing nearby looked at them. He carried him over to a chair against the wall and sat with him on his lap. “You don’t need to worry about that.”
Momma never was like Mike’s mom. Carolann played with Mike and his baby sister and even Seth, and Abby when her mom brought her over to play. Carolann baked cookies and made up games.
Momma never had time for him or his friends. She always seemed so sad. The only time she was happy was when she was getting ready to go out. Momma drank a lot