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See Bride Run!
Amazon Kindle
Barnes and Noble
Category:
Romance
Publisher: Authorfriendly
ISBN-10: 1505711983
Type: Fiction
Pages: 210
Copyright: Dec 22, 2014
ISBN-13: 9781505711981
Price: $2.99 (eBook)
Can rich girl Annie find happiness living in a garage apartment, wearing second-hand clothes, and making her way around town on a borrowed bicycle? As for Sam, can he put his past behind him and trust that Annie won’t run home to daddy when her new life presents one obstacle after another?
Pushed too far..
Atlanta’s billionaire heiress Annie Hartford has no desire to marry a man she does not love; but her controlling father has been calling the shots for his 29 year-old daughter her entire life. This time he has pushed Annie too far.
With minutes to spare before she is to walk down the aisle in front of 600 guests, Annie is forced to make a decision. She hijacks the family limo, only to have it break down in small town Pinckney, Georgia. Annie, who has never wanted for anything, suddenly finds herself homeless, penniless, with only the clothes on her back, a designer wedding gown and diamond tiara.
~~~
Can she find happiness?
Small town lawyer and restaurant owner Sam Ballard has been unlucky in love, and the last thing he needs is a red-hot blonde in a short waitress uniform who seems hell-bent on breaking every dish in his Dixieland Café. Still, he can’t very well fire her, she has won the hearts of everyone in town.
Can rich girl Annie find happiness living in a garage apartment, wearing second-hand clothes, and making her way around town on a borrowed bicycle? As for Sam, can he put his past behind him and trust that Annie won’t run home to daddy when her new life presents one obstacle after another?
Excerpt
Excerpt from See Bride Run!
Pleading exhaustion to her current dance partner, Annie returned to the bar, only to find Darla and Hank missing. The bartender in overalls returned wearing a grin.
"Some of your dance partners have taken a shine to you," he said. "They want to buy you a drink. Several, in fact. What'll you have?"
"I don't want anything right now," Annie replied as politely as she could, considering her head felt as though it was ready to split open. "Would you happen to know where my friend went?"
"She left with that other feller. Said to tell you'd she'd be back in a jiffy."
"When you see her, would you please tell her I'm waiting for her in the car?"
"What do I look like, Western Union?"
"I'm sorry to impose—"
"I'm just havin' fun with you," he said, his chubby face breaking into a grin. "I'll tell her."
Annie made her way out the door, leaving a good por¬tion of the noise inside. She passed a couple of men sitting on the tailgate of a truck but pretended not to see them.
"Hey, baby, you lookin' for some comp'ny?"
"No thanks," she said, and kept on walking.
"Hey, that ain't no way to be," one of them said as he caught up with her. "What'd I ever do to you?"
He was a beefy fellow; she was no match for him. Plus, there were two of them.
"Please—" She stopped and turned, only a second before he spit a wad of chew¬ing tobacco on the ground. "It has nothing to do with you. I have a splitting headache, and I just want to be alone," Annie said. She resumed walking. Where the hell had Darla parked?
"I got a headache powder in the truck."
Sure he did, Annie thought. And she had a hundred dollar bill in her pocket. It finally hit her that Darla's car was missing, and the thought of being stranded at a place like Ernie's almost made her weep. Why would Darla have left her? Especially knowing she didn't have a dime to her name? She didn't even have enough money to call anyone. Besides, who would she call?
"You can drink it down with a cold beer, and that headache'll be history."
Annie saw a car turn off the highway into the parking lot, and she prayed it was Darla's. She almost went weak with relief when it turned out to be a Jeep driven by Sam Ballard. He pulled up beside her.
"Out slumming tonight, Annie?"
"I beg your pardon?"
"If you're looking for trouble, this is the place to find it." Sam slammed the Jeep into park and climbed out. Annie noticed the stranger's friend had come up and both of them towered over Sam.
"I asked you what the hell you're doing and who these men are?" he almost shouted.
Annie's jaw dropped. "I don't have to take this—"
The man next to Annie nudged her. "Do you know this guy?"
"Yes, I—"
"I happen to be her husband," Sam said, his words clipped and precise. "She has a new baby at home wait¬ing to be nursed. She told me she was running to the store for disposable diapers."
"Oh, well—" The man looked from Sam to Annie and back to Sam. "Hey, man, we don't want to cause no trouble between married folks. Me and my brother was just passing through town." He regarded Annie. "You should be home with your kid, lady." He looked at the other man. "C'mon, let's get outta here."
Annie was glad it was dark and nobody could see the crimson color on her face. "That was despicable," she told Sam.
"Would you rather see me get beat up by the rhino brothers?" He didn't give her time to answer. "Where is Darla, and what the hell are you doing in a dark parking lot with two bozo’s you don't know?"
"I don't know where Darla is, and I don't have to answer your questions."
"Great. Then I'll just leave you here to fend for yourself." He turned and climbed back inside the Jeep.
"Wait!" Annie hurried over. "Darla's car is gone. She took off with some guy named Hank."
"So you decided to wait for her in a parking lot filled with drunk rednecks and bikers. Great idea, Annie,” he said, sarcasm ringing loud in his voice. “Now I see why your father had to make all your decisions." He regretted his choice of words the minute they left his mouth, the very second he saw Annie's face fall. But, dammit, she could have gotten in bad trouble there.
Sudden tears stung her eyes. "You can just go straight to hell for all I care." She started walking.
He climbed back into the jeep and pulled up beside her. "I'm sorry, Annie. That was a lousy thing for me to say. Get in, and I'll take you back to Darla's."
"I'd rather walk."
"You can't walk. It's dangerous this time of night."
"I can take care of myself. Contrary to what you might think," she added angrily.
They had reached the highway. "I'll bet you don't even know how to get to Darla's trailer."
Annie wasn't listening. It had been such a miserable day, not to mention humiliating as hell, and her head felt as though it would explode. She had spent the better part of the evening wondering what she was going to do with her life and cursing the fact that she hadn't taken charge long ago. The last thing she needed was for Sam Ballard to show up and rub her nose in it.
"Annie, I'm warning you, either get in the Jeep, or I'll personally put you in."
She kept walking.
Sam gunned his engine and parked a good distance ahead of her. He climbed out, then slammed the door so hard, his Jeep rocked on its wheels. Teeth gritted, he closed the distance between them, then, without warning, hefted her up and threw her over his shoulder. She kicked and squealed like a stuck pig.
"Shut up!" he ordered. "Folks'll think I'm kidnapping you." She screamed louder, and he gave her a sound whack on the behind.
Annie saw red. She kicked her legs and flailed her arms and finally grabbed a handful of his hair. Sam let a few obscenities fly before he realized someone had pulled up behind them. He turned but was blinded by headlights. He blinked several times before he realized it was the highway patrol.
"Dammit, Annie, look, what you've done now." He heard the door open and close, was barely able to make out the silhouette of a patrolman.
"What's going on here?" the uniformed man said.
Annie continued to pummel Sam in the back but glanced around at the sound of another's voice. "Oh, Officer, thank God you're here. I'm being abducted."
"Abducted, huh?" The patrolman spit what looked like a wad of chewing tobacco on the ground, and Annie wondered if everybody in town chewed it. "Well, we don't put up with the likes of that in Pinckney, Georgia ma'am." He reached for his gun. "I reckon I don't have any choice but to shoot him."
In disbelief, Annie watched the patrolman pull his gun out of the holster and aim it at Sam. She screamed. "No, wait!"
"Put her down, pal," the armed man said. "I'm warning you, I got this sucker aimed right for your goozle."
Sam sighed heavily and dropped Annie to the ground. She landed in a heap.
"Now move away, lady, so I can take my aim."
"Officer, please let me explain," Annie cried, crawling along the gravel as fast as she could. She pulled herself up by the man's pants leg. "He, uh, Mr. Ballard here, was only offering me a ride. I was lying about being abducted."
"He probably told you to say that, didn't he?" The patrolman pushed her aside. "You need to turn your head, miss. I've done this sort of thing before, and it ain't a pretty sight."
"Oh, my God, no!" Annie threw herself in front of Sam, acting as a shield.
Sam stood there with his arms crossed over his chest, the lines in his face tense, as if holding himself in check while Annie sobbed and carried on like a character in a bad soap opera. "Okay, Buster, you've had your fun. I'd like to go home now."
The other man chuckled and stuck his revolver back in its holster. "Listen, Sambo, you're going to have to learn to start charming the ladies a little better. You can't just throw a woman over your shoulder like a sack of taters and haul her off. You have to buy them flowers and candy and—" He paused and looked around as though wanting to make sure they weren't overheard. "You might have to write a few lines of poetry. It don't matter if it don't rhyme."
Annie's head swiveled from side to side. "Excuse me, but do you two know each other?"
Sam looked at her. "This is Johnny Ballard, my cousin. Folks call him Buster. He's a real prankster."
"So all this was just a big joke at my expense," she said. She glared at Sam. "You let me grovel and beg for your life like some idiot nutcase. How dare you!"
A car screeched to a halt, and Darla jumped out and came running. She looked panicked. "What's wrong? Is somebody hurt?"
"Well, now, ain't you a sight for sore eyes," Buster said. "Why don't you and me go for a spin in my patrol car. I'll even let you play with my siren."
"Annie, what's going on?" Darla asked.
Annie tried to explain everything that had happened since she'd last seen her friend. It was all she could do to get the words out, what with her stammering and sputtering. Her heart was still racing.
"Didn't the bartender give you my message?" Darla asked. "Hank needed cigarettes. I told the bartender to tell you I was going to the convenience store not far from here, and that I'd be right back. Only, I didn't know Hank was going to hang around and look at dirty magazines."
"Would you please take me home?" Annie asked, realizing that she was trembling. "You're welcome to go back to Ernie's and stay as long as you like, but I'm exhausted."
"Sure, honey. We can go."
"I'll walk back," Hank said, having come up in the meantime. He kissed Darla on the cheek. "I'll call you, babe."
Buster put his hand on Annie's shoulder. "I hope I didn't scare you, young lady. Sam and I are always cut¬ting up."
"Actually, I think the whole scene was disgraceful," she said. "I hope you have your little notebook handy because you need to file assault and battery charges."
Buster looked startled as he reached into his pocket. "Is this for real?"
“I’ll let you decide,” Annie told him. She balled her hand into a tight fist, swung around with all her might, and slammed it into Sam Ballard's face. Sam, caught off guard, reeled back, lost his footing and sank to the ground.
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