Blackbird Lake
P
RAISE FOR THE NOVELS OF
J
ILL
G
REGORY
“Gregory weaves a tale of second chances, coming home, and true love that keeps readers on edge from beginning to end.”
—
Fresh Fiction
“Entertaining from the first page to the last, with a romantic relationship that sizzles and touches the heart.”
—Catherine Anderson,
New York Times
bestselling author
“A page-turner extraordinaire.”
—Douglas Preston
“Gallops out of the starting gate…A tight, well-balanced story that packs an emotional punch.”
—
Publishers Weekly
“A transfixing blend of fiery romance and spine-tingling suspense.”
—
Booklist
“For tales of romance and adventure that keep you reading into the night, look no further than Jill Gregory.”
—Nora Roberts
“A first-rate romance. Gregory…writes the stuff that romance readers yearn for. If you haven’t yet read her, you’re missing out on a great treat.”
—
Oakland Press
“Riveting…The ultimate seductive read…Unforgettable.”
—Gayle Lynds
“Stirring and imaginative. A tense, intelligent, and surprising thrill. Drum-tight in execution, fueled by imagination, the plot is as sharp as a broken shard of glass.”
—Steve Berry
“Convincing characters and a rapidly moving plot…Enjoyable.”
—
Library Journal
Berkley Sensation Titles by Jill Gregory
SAGE CREEK
LARKSPUR ROAD
BLACKBIRD LAKE
Blackbird Lake
JILL GREGORY
THE BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP
Published by the Penguin Group
Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA
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Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
For more information about the Penguin Group, visit penguin.com.
BLACKBIRD LAKE
A Berkley Sensation Book / published by arrangement with the author
Copyright © 2013 by Jill Gregory.
Excerpt from
Larkspur Road
by Jill Gregory copyright © 2012 by Jill Gregory.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.
Berkley Sensation Books are published by The Berkley Publishing Group.
BERKLEY SENSATION® is a registered trademark of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
The “B” design is a trademark of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
For information, address: The Berkley Publishing Group,
a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.,
375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.
ISBN: 978-0-425-25982-5
eBook ISBN: 978-1-101-62416-6
PUBLISHING HISTORY
Berkley Sensation mass-market edition / July 2013
Cover art by Hugh Syme.
Cover design by Rita Frangie.
Interior text design by Laura K. Corless.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.
To Rachel and Jason.
With love.
Chapter One
L
ONESOME
W
AY
, M
ONTANA
Carly McKinnon’s day had been cruising along just fine—a perfectly calm, typical, somewhat slow Wednesday in her Spring Street quilt shop.
Until late afternoon when she heard the news that Jake Tanner was back in town.
Suddenly, everything seemed to freeze for a full thirty seconds.
Of course she could still see Gloria Cartright, finished with her afternoon shift at the Lickety Split Ice Cream Parlor, thoughtfully fingering some new calico fabric on the shelves at the far side of the shop. She could still hear the sound of light traffic outside on Spring Street, and she could feel her own breath catch hard in her throat at the mention of Jake’s name.
But she couldn’t move, couldn’t speak, couldn’t
think
—not until the first ice-cold shock of the news had settled into her brain.
“Jake Tanner…are you
sure
, Laureen?” she finally asked her assistant, struggling to keep her voice calm and her face composed, as if she were talking about the chance
of rain tonight or today’s ninety-nine-cent caramel brownie special at A Bun in the Oven bakery.
“Jake Tanner?” Gloria shook her head skeptically. “That man hasn’t been back more than a handful of times in the past dozen years. Not since he first fell in love with rodeo.”
Shoving the bolt of calico back on the shelf, she eyeballed Laureen as if trying to ascertain if the other woman knew what the hell she was talking about.
“Well, I didn’t say
I
saw him.” Laureen Rowan glanced back and forth between Carly and Gloria, the small paper bag from Benson’s Drugstore containing her new red lipstick and a pack of sugarless gum still clutched in her hand. “But Deanna Mueller is positive she did. The second I stepped into Benson’s just now she rushed over in a big hurry to give me the scoop. Deanna was at the gas station filling up her minivan when Jake cruised by in his truck. She said there was a big dog leaning over his lap, its head hanging out the window. I never knew Jake to have a dog before, but Deanna insisted they were headed for Sage Ranch. Turned onto Squirrel Road right quick, she said. Deanna swears it was him. She told me, who else could it be, no one is as handsome as that Jake Tanner.”
Tell me about it,
Carly thought. A flush of heat raced through her body.
“Well, duh. That’s for sure.” Gloria nodded knowingly. “That man is smokin’. And he’s all over the TV these days, between the rodeo coverage and those beer commercials of his.” Her bright little black pepper eyes brimmed with interest. “I know if I was a dozen or so years younger,
I
wouldn’t think twice about climbing between the sheets with him.”
“Carly?” Laureen moved toward her boss in concern. “Hey. Are you all right?”
It was only then that Carly realized she was biting her lip, her hands were clenched, and her neck felt as tight as a washrag twisted in the clothes dryer.
“Sure. Fine,” she said airily, forcing her lips into a smile,
casually pushing a thick strawberry blond curl back from her usually dreamy green eyes.
“Well, you don’t look fine. You look like you’re going to fall down in a dead faint or something.” Laureen studied her carefully, her own round, pretty face worried. Forty-four and divorced, she was the proud mother of two mutts and three cats, all adopted from Lonesome Way’s overwhelmed shelter.