One Thanksgiving in Lusty, Texas by Cara Covington (short novels in english TXT) 📗



The Lusty, Texas Collection

One Thanksgiving in Lusty, Texas

Pamela knows time’s running out. Too soon, Drs. Adam and James Jessop will be leaving Maryland to return to Lusty, Texas. She’s drawn to both but won’t choose between them. She can’t see a happy ending here.

Adam and James Jessop nearly let this chance slip through their fingers. Then they learn Pamela’s father needs help—and they use helping him to their advantage.

Pamela agrees to marry them and return to Texas with them, grateful she no longer has to worry about her father. But the men don’t quite understand how their actions are interpreted by their family.

Soon, Adam and James are trying to figure out how to correct their blunders, while their grandmothers, Chelsea Benedict Jessop-Kendall and Madeline Kennedy Benedict, have another mission in mind—finding the grifters who swindled Pamela’s father.

Everyone agrees that Adam and James are clueless. But no one expected the turn the women’s mission takes when love strikes the most unlikely subjects.

Genres: Contemporary, Historical, Ménage a Trois/Quatre, Western/Cowboys

Length: 58,766

ONE THANKSGIVING IN LUSTY, TEXAS

The Lusty, Texas Collection

Cara Covington



Siren Publishing, Inc.

www.SirenPublishing.com

A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK

One Thanksgiving in Lusty, Texas

Copyright © 2018 by Cara Covington

ISBN: 978-1-64243-550-4

First Publication: November 2018

Cover design by Harris Channing

All art and logo copyright © 2018 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.

All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

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PUBLISHER

Siren Publishing, Inc.

www.SirenPublishing.com

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I write so that others may read. Without those readers, there would be no reason to write. I am continually humbled by the devotion of my readers. So to all of you who have, over the years supported me, I send to you my deepest and most sincere thank you.

My more astute readers will recall a scene in an earlier book, about another “previous generation” mother, Abigail Parker Benedict and her suitors, Carson and Michael. The heroine in this story, Pamela Franklin Jessop, appeared in a scene in that earlier book, Labor Day In Lusty Texas, when the women of Lusty were making jam and memories. A portion of that scene appears in this book, from Pamela’s perspective. For the sake of continuity, I quoted Grandmother Chelsea exactly—because I really couldn’t make her words any better than they already were.

A special shout out goes to all of my friends in the Lusty Ladies reader’s group. Thank you not only for reading and for your friendship, but for mentioning me and my books across the Internet. It means a lot to me that you’d take the time and the energy to support me in this way, and to promote me to your friends and strangers alike. I do count each and every one of you as a friend of mine, and you’re each of you true blessings to me.

The act of writing a manuscript in and of itself is a solitary occupation. But it takes many people’s hard work to produce the book. I am indebted to all who have contributed to the production of this book. My thanks go to my beta readers, Angie Buchanan Jones and Sandy Ebel. Thank you, ladies for your keen insight and your wonderful sense of plot and characters.

Last but never least, I am grateful to the professional women and men of Siren-BookStrand Publishing. My editor, Devin, truly is a gem and my copy editors are excellent. The entire team makes my work sparkle.

Everlasting thanks goes to Amanda Hilton, for saying yes twelve years ago. I always hoped to someday be a published author; but not even in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine I would be a published author with more than fifty titles to my credit.

Cara Covington

November, 2018

DEDICATION

Thanksgiving is a time of family, and this series is a celebration of family. This book is dedicated to my husband, David, first and foremost. My partner in life for more than 46 years, he has stood with me far more often than against me. With each passing year, the bond between us only strengthens.

This book is also dedicated to my children, two of whom are here on earth and my grandchildren, six of whom are here on earth, along with three and counting great-grandchildren.

And to my son Anthony and my granddaughter, Avery Jessica, father and daughter, awaiting us all in Heaven.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Morgan Ashbury, also writing as Cara Covington, has been a writer since she was first able to pick up a pen. In the beginning, it was a hobby, a way to create a world of her own, and who could resist the allure of that? Then, as she grew and matured, life got in the way, as life often does. She got married and had three children, and worked in the field of accounting, for that was the practical thing to do, and the children did need to be fed. And all the time she was being practical, she would squirrel herself away on quiet Sunday afternoons and write.

Most children are raised knowing the Ten Commandments and the Golden Rule. Morgan’s children also learned the Paper Rule: Thou shalt not throw out any paper that has thy mother’s words upon it.

Believing in tradition, Morgan ensured that her children’s children learned this rule, too.

Life threw Morgan a curve when, in 2002, she underwent emergency triple bypass surgery. Second chances are to be cherished, and with the encouragement and support of her husband, Morgan decided to use hers to do what she’d always dreamed of doing—writing full-time.

Morgan has always