Courting Country by LoRee Peery

 

Courting Country Blurb:

 

Taggart Bauman has secretly loved Kylie Gordon since they were young, but she married his best friend. When Kylie is widowed, Taggart promises to take care of her. And even though he could be free to profess his love, he chooses to keep his feelings a secret. If Kylie knew that he'd failed to save her husband, she'd never forgive him. He knows, because he can't forgive himself.

After being alone for so long, Kylie believes an online dating service is her last chance at finding love. But she continually finds herself in "situationships" that require Taggart to rescue her.

 

When at last she reconnects with Eldon Wenz, an old friend from their college years, she thinks perhaps this is finally her second chance at love...but just in case, she asks Taggart to accompany her when she travels to Eldon's ranch.

 

But sometimes things are not what they seem, and when one more situationship crops up, Taggart vents his resentment and tells Kylie she needs to work out the choices she's making.

Will Taggart lose Kylie forever, friendship and all, or will Kylie realize that what she's been searching for has been right in front of her the whole time?

 

“In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.” ~ Proverbs 16:9

 

Taggart closed his ideas document and picked up a pen. In between freelance jobs as a ghostwriter, and only two articles pending with magazines, he needed to find someone to interview. He ran a pen through the fingers of his right hand baton fashion, then transferred it to his left. Not quite as adept with his less dominant hand, the pen hit the floor.

A new email ping stopped him from reaching for the dropped utensil. Great news. He’d received approval for his profile on the Country Courting site Kylie raved about. He clicked on the link, checked out the options on screen, and then sat back to consider his next move.

He’d always viewed those blind connections as risky. Especially since Kylie posted on a site two years after Eldon died.

Taggart had cautioned her, ever aware of Eldon’s dying cry.

She acted as though she hadn’t heard Taggart’s admission of carrying for her, and found herself enmeshed in a nasty situation rather than a lasting relationship. She deserved happiness, and claimed she wanted the same for him. But not with him.

To help him understand her actions, he’d try the dating site without expecting any grandiose outcome. Though he wasn’t serious about making a connection beyond friendly companionship, so Kylie viewed h8m in a different light than friendly guy. She’d forever be the only woman of his choice.

Relationship. Companionship. Friendship. All those –ships made him curl his lip. How about those who found themselves in a situationship? Now, that was a great word to describe a mess.

Scrolling through the profile pictures, Kylie’s lovely face appeared in a shot he’d snapped.

She claimed her silver hair made her look old.

He loved it. Much better than his own unruly red thatch that she called endearing.

Kylie even said some woman would love to run her fingers through the strands, just to experience the texture.

Now there was a possible topic for an article. What percentage of people, men or women, took the chance on meeting someone blind, and then ended up victims? Any manner of abusers, control freaks, or predators could be lurking as liars behind smiling profile pictures, even fake profile pictures. The position they’d place themselves in presented a different manner of putting one’s life on the line. Who’d print such a piece, since editors recognized Taggart Bauman as the author of articles written about people who chanced physical danger on the job, or for an adrenalin rush?

He shook his head to clear it and gazed into the image of periwinkle eyes that touched him soul deep.

His phone rang. He leaned for the pen with one hand and reached for his cell with the other. The number wasn’t in his contact list, but he answered anyway.

“Hey, Tag, ole buddy. Got your number off the alumni list. Decided not to wait for our twentieth reunion to connect.”

Twentieth? Oh, high school. The voice sounded vaguely familiar. “Who’s this?”

“Wenz. Eldon. South Dakota rancher now.”

“Hey, man. Good to hear from you. Has it been, twenty years?”

“Half. The only reunion I attended was our tenth. Then I left Lincoln and ended up taking over my stepfather’s ranch here in South Dakota. I haven’t been back to Nebraska since. I’ve followed you. You’ve written mighty fine words over the years.”

“Thanks, man. Nice to connect with someone from the old gang. Wait till I tell Kylie.”

“She’s the very reason I’m calling. I’ve got a wild idea I need your wordsmithing help with.”

Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Courting-Country-LoRee-Peery-ebook/dp/B08HR2HJCG

Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Courting-Country-LoRee-Peery-ebook/dp/B08HR2HJCG

Pelican link: https://tinyurl.com/y6djgxnr

 

Bio:

 

Nebraska country girl LoRee Peery writes fiction that hopefully appeals to adult readers who enjoy stories written from a Christian perspective, focusing on the romance. These include novels and novellas for women and men in the Contemporary, Romance, Historical, Time Travel, and Mystery/Suspense categories. She writes of redeeming grace with a sense of place. Her Frivolities Series and the book based on her father’s unsolved homicide, Touches of Time, are available on Amazon. She is who she is by the grace of God: Christian, country girl, wife, mother, grandmother and great-, sister, friend, and author. Connect with LoRee: www.loreepeery.com

https://twitter.com/LoreePeery

https://www.facebook.com/LoReePeery

Find her publications at Pelican http://tinyurl.com/kwz9enk

And Amazon https://www.amazon.com/LoRee-Peery/e/B004UAGL2W