A Small-Town Girl. Shelley Galloway

      “Where are you off to now?” Cary asked

      “I have a gardening lesson. I’m trying to grow lilies, but they’re not doing well. As of right now, they may be dead by Easter.”

      “I never pictured you as a gardener, Gen.”

      “That’s the problem! I’m not.” She smiled.

      Cary squeezed her hand. “How about I stop by later and check up on those lilies?”

      “You sound like you’re talking in code.”

      Pausing at her car door, he said, “Maybe I am. Maybe I want to do far more than check out your flowers.”

      “Maybe I’ll let you stop by.”

      The look in her blue eyes made him step a little closer, wrap his arms around her waist…and press his luck.

      Gen looked around the high school parking lot. “You’re not thinking of kissing me here, are you? I’m in my uniform. That would—”

      “—be a really good idea,” he said quickly.

      After all, Cary Hudson might be Lane’s End High’s favorite teacher and he might have been known to have the patience of a saint. But he’d never been one to run from a challenge.

      Dear Reader,

      You may remember meeting Gen Slate in my October 2006 book Simple Gifts. From the time Gen realized that Keaton, the hero of that story, wasn’t going to be the man for her, I knew I wanted to give Gen a romance of her own. I hope you’ll agree that Cary Hudson is her perfect match.

      What really prompted this book is my beagle, Phoebe. From the moment we brought her home as a puppy, my whole family has loved her sweet disposition, her oh-so-soft ears and her loving nature. But not her stomach!

      Phoebe’s constantly on the search for food, and it’s gotten her into a lot of trouble. She’s eaten plates of Christmas cookies, jumped on tables for pizza, foraged in trash cans and has even been known to snatch sandwiches out of children’s hands.

      But Phoebe’s claim to fame is the time she ate a good portion of a beautifully baked ham just minutes before a dinner party. Yep, when my husband called to say he—and the vice president of his company—were minutes from our home, I was staring at my ham on the ground and a very sick-looking beagle. If you’d like to hear the whole story, I hope you’ll visit my Web site. I’ve written all about The Dinner Party That Almost Wasn’t, and have a really cute picture of Phoebe there, as well.

      I hope you’ll let me know your thoughts about A Small-Town Girl. I’d love to hear about your dog antics, too! Visit me at www.shelleygalloway.com or write to me at Shelley Galloway, 10663 Loveland-Madeira Rd., #132, Loveland, OH 45140.

      Shelley Galloway

      A Small-Town Girl

      Shelley Galloway

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      ABOUT THE AUTHOR

      Shelley Galloway loves to get up early, drink too much coffee and write books. These pastimes come in handy during her day-to-day life in southern Ohio. Most days she can be found driving her kids to their activities, writing romances in her basement or trying to find a way to get ahead of her pile of laundry. She’s also been known to bug her husband to talk to her, since she spends an inordinate amount of time alone.

      Shelley taught school for over a decade before turning to her first love—writing. She was thrilled to find out that Cinderella Christmas, her first novel with Harlequin Books, made the Waldenbooks bestseller list. Shelley also happens to spend a lot of time online. Please visit her Web site at www.shelleygalloway.com.

      Books by Shelley Galloway

      HARLEQUIN AMERICAN ROMANCE

      1090—CINDERELLA CHRISTMAS

      1134—SIMPLE GIFT

      To Penny and Susan E.

      To Kim and Carrie and Theresa, too.

      Teacher friends who will know just what I mean when I say that teaching school is a lot more fun with good friends.

      Contents

       Chapter One

       Chapter Two

       Chapter Three

       Chapter Four

       Chapter Five

       Chapter Six

       Chapter Seven

       Chapter Eight

       Chapter Nine

       Chapter Ten

       Chapter Eleven

       Chapter Twelve

       Chapter Thirteen

       Chapter Fourteen

       Chapter Fifteen

       Chapter Sixteen

       Chapter Seventeen

       Chapter Eighteen

       Chapter Nineteen

       Chapter Twenty

       Chapter Twenty-One

       Chapter Twenty-Two

      Chapter One

      Twenty signs on Campbell Road screamed the words Lion Pride in bold, black letters. A large black-and-gold cardboard lion, its tail bobbing in the bitter February wind, crouched precariously above the intersection. Three teenagers bundled in black-and-gold hooded sweatshirts darted down the sidewalk. Golden balloons bounced against a parking meter.

      Basketball fever had claimed everyone and anyone in Lane’s End, Ohio.

      Everyone except for Gen Slate. She was trying to figure out how to navigate her Subaru Outback through the heavy traffic.

      Drumming her fingers on her steering wheel, Gen wondered if she was ever going to get her errands done or ever get accustomed to life in her new hometown.