Until You Were Gone (Calhoun Series Book 1)
Description
After witnessing her childhood obsession entwined intimately with another woman, Gabrielle Cornell sets out on a cross country journey to begin the new life that she has always dreamed of. In claiming her freedom, she leaves behind her mother, a ranch that once felt like home and the only family that she has ever known.
Seven years pass and Gaby decides a return trip to Texas is necessary, before she moves on to somewhere new. Her plan is to arrive back in Mills, Texas, the town she grew-up in, prove to everyone that she is a successful business woman and then leave, once more, without looking back.
Before she even reaches Mills, her plan begins to fall apart due to an unexpected encounter with the past. As she struggles for purchase against the past she ran from her neatly constructed world begins to crumble. Can she hold her world together in order to complete her task and leave, or will the past consume her holding her back?
While struggling with unforeseen developments at the ranch, she is presented with choices that she never believed she would have to make; choices that threaten her future happiness. Will she be able to hold onto the remaining pieces of her heart without, once again, falling under the spell of her childhood crush?
Every way Gaby turns, while she is back in Mills, presents her with conflict and strife. Will she be able to mend the rifts her departure caused in a family that she neglected? Can mother and daughter repair a relationship destroyed by misunderstandings? Will a fiancé from the past destroy the future of her new relationship?
Excerpt:
She reached the landing to the back rooms of the barn’s loft. She looked to the left and saw no Bobby Jack then to the right and saw no Bobby Jack. The only other option is the back storage room, she thought. It was an odd place for him to go. There wasn’t much in the storage room but odds and ends of the ranch’s furnishings and household wares, which had collected there over the years.
Acting on impulse, she turned and headed in the direction of the storage room. The thick plank floor boards creaked as she moved along them. The loft rooms were quiet. The only sound besides her pounding heart and her quickened breathe, was her scuffled steps scraping on the unfinished surface of the floor boards.
When she reached the storage room door she heard the faint sound of laughter. It was female laughter; that sounded much like Sandy May Allcot’s high-pitched chirping. Before Gaby could gather why she heard laughter, it became obscured and muffled and began to sound more like a low moaning.
The storage room’s door was ajar and opened enough for Gaby’s head to fit in. Cautiously, she moved her head inside the room. It was a large and deep room with few lights for illumination.
Slowly, her eyes began to adjust. This was not an easy task, considering the overhead light was a single bulb with a pull string hanging from a cord adhered to a rafter. The bulb was swinging lightly in a rhythmic swaying.
Once her eyes adjusted, a movement at the back of the storage room caught her attention. As she focused on the location of the movement, she noticed....
Seven years pass and Gaby decides a return trip to Texas is necessary, before she moves on to somewhere new. Her plan is to arrive back in Mills, Texas, the town she grew-up in, prove to everyone that she is a successful business woman and then leave, once more, without looking back.
Before she even reaches Mills, her plan begins to fall apart due to an unexpected encounter with the past. As she struggles for purchase against the past she ran from her neatly constructed world begins to crumble. Can she hold her world together in order to complete her task and leave, or will the past consume her holding her back?
While struggling with unforeseen developments at the ranch, she is presented with choices that she never believed she would have to make; choices that threaten her future happiness. Will she be able to hold onto the remaining pieces of her heart without, once again, falling under the spell of her childhood crush?
Every way Gaby turns, while she is back in Mills, presents her with conflict and strife. Will she be able to mend the rifts her departure caused in a family that she neglected? Can mother and daughter repair a relationship destroyed by misunderstandings? Will a fiancé from the past destroy the future of her new relationship?
Excerpt:
She reached the landing to the back rooms of the barn’s loft. She looked to the left and saw no Bobby Jack then to the right and saw no Bobby Jack. The only other option is the back storage room, she thought. It was an odd place for him to go. There wasn’t much in the storage room but odds and ends of the ranch’s furnishings and household wares, which had collected there over the years.
Acting on impulse, she turned and headed in the direction of the storage room. The thick plank floor boards creaked as she moved along them. The loft rooms were quiet. The only sound besides her pounding heart and her quickened breathe, was her scuffled steps scraping on the unfinished surface of the floor boards.
When she reached the storage room door she heard the faint sound of laughter. It was female laughter; that sounded much like Sandy May Allcot’s high-pitched chirping. Before Gaby could gather why she heard laughter, it became obscured and muffled and began to sound more like a low moaning.
The storage room’s door was ajar and opened enough for Gaby’s head to fit in. Cautiously, she moved her head inside the room. It was a large and deep room with few lights for illumination.
Slowly, her eyes began to adjust. This was not an easy task, considering the overhead light was a single bulb with a pull string hanging from a cord adhered to a rafter. The bulb was swinging lightly in a rhythmic swaying.
Once her eyes adjusted, a movement at the back of the storage room caught her attention. As she focused on the location of the movement, she noticed....
More Books by Anne Brown
