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Kindle Edition
Laura Drake Books
Laura Drake Books
Category:
Romance
Publisher: Harlequin Superromance
Type: Fiction
Pages: 304
Copyright: August 2013
You can’t outrun nightmares on a motorcycle. Samantha Crozier knows, because she’s tried. Following the death of her father, Sam, an itinerant building contractor, sold everything and hit the road on her motorcycle, ‘flipping’ houses on her way across the country. One rainy day on the coast of California, she runs out of road – and luck.
When an accident leaves her afoot in Widow's Grove, the nightmares catch up. But can a derelict Victorian house, a stray dog, and a small town mechanic convince her to stay long enough to face them?
You can’t outrun nightmares on a motorcycle. Samantha Crozier knows, because she’s tried. Following the death of her father, Sam, an itinerant building contractor, sold everything and hit the road on her motorcycle, ‘flipping’ houses on her way across the country. One rainy day on the coast of California, she runs out of road – and luck.
When an accident leaves her afoot in Widow's Grove, the nightmares catch up. But can a derelict Victorian house, a stray dog, and a small town mechanic convince her to stay long enough to face them?
Excerpt
RUNNING AWAY FROM home at twenty-eight—that’s gotta be a first.
Keeping her movements broad and slow, the motorcycle responded to Samantha Crozier’s shifting weight. Waterproof gear snugged around her, repelling the worst of the weather. Through the visor of her full-faced helmet, the world flowed past in shades of gray and the water-shattered reflections of passing cars.
Sam’s mind moved in broad sweeps, but unlike the bike, it didn’t respond well to direction, drifting onto dangerous curves that ended in blind alleys.
I’m not running. Ohio just didn’t fit me anymore. Not after Dad died.
Besides, how could she become someone new while living in the same house, the same town that made her what she was to begin with?
Sam rolled her shoulders to ease the tension of the all-day rain ride. As much as she’d enjoyed her first glimpse of the Pacific, the wind had edged its icy fingers into her leathers, making her grateful to turn inland at Highway 101 past San Luis Obispo. A road sign announced Widow’s Grove in five miles.
An ominous name, but it somehow fit the rainy day.
The road slipped between rolling hills covered in a grass the color of a child’s sun-bleached hair. Live oaks dotted the slopes, their gnarled branches spreading more horizontal than vertical. The trunks seemed to squat in the soil, as if cringing from an unseen force, their fallen branches a testament to the siege.
New scenery—new life. Who would she become, down the road? She wasn’t sure. Except she did know she’d be someone who spoke her mind—who said it right out loud. Someone she could be proud of. The classic road anthem, “Turn the Page” echoed through her mind for the eight zillionth time in its tedious, endless loop.
It’s impossible to outrun your thoughts—even on a motorcycle.
Imagining a hot bowl of soup and a warm, dry bed, she crested a hill. Dammit! A line of red taillights flashed ahead. Too close. Her stiff fingers scrabbled for the brake. Fueled by panic, her muscles clamped down. The front tire locked in a skid.
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