Howdy, y’all. Sunrise over Texas is my very first historical, set in the early days of Texas. Teaching social studies, particularly Texas history, has always been my favorite subject, so it kind of surprises me that I didn’t come up with an idea before now.
Texas was a wild place then, and Mexico wanted people to settle it, and Americans wanted to move west. Stephen F. Austin was an empresario, appointed by the Mexican government to bring 300 families to Texas. Actually, his father got the grant, but died before he could carry it out. And you know about men who need parental approval, even after a parent has died, right?
So Stephen F. Austin founded the town of San Felipe on the Brazos River, now about halfway between Houston and San Antonio if you follow I-10. He brought over these families, including my heroine and her husband. Not such a good plan, it turned out.
A really cool thing I learned when researching this—my grandmother’s great-grandfather came to Texas before the Old 300, as the original families came to be called. His last will and testament was signed by Stephen F. Austin, who was a lawyer. Cool, right? I slipped Josef de la Baume into this book as a nod to my heritage.
Blurb:
Texas Frontier, 1826
Kit Barclay followed her husband into the wilds of Texas only to be widowed. Stranded with her mother- and sister- in-law to care for, with no hope of rescue before winter sets in, Kit has only one goal: survival. So when a lone horseman appears on the horizon, and then falls from his mount in fever, Kit must weigh the safety of her family against offering aid and shelter to the handsome stranger.
Trace Watson has lost everything that ever mattered to him. Trying to forget, he heads to the frontier colony of San Felipe, not caring if he lives or dies. But when he wakes to discover he’s being nursed back to health by a brave young widow, he vows to repay her kindness by guiding the three women back to civilization, no matter what the cost.
Soon, Kit and Trace are fighting the elements, Indian attacks and outlaws—as well as feelings they both thought were long buried…
Excerpt:
San Felipe was civilized enough to have a proper jail, with bars, if not a bed. At least he had a chamber pot. Trace sat on the bare ground of the cell, his hands draped over his bent knees, running his tongue over his teeth. None were loose, thank heaven, but he’d taken a pounding
from the other soldiers in the regiment. He could still hear Kit’s screams above their shouts.
He should never have let her see that.
Almanzo had already stopped by to let him know that he’d be standing trial for assaulting a soldier, and that he would have to wait until Mr. Austin returned to hear the case. Because he wasn’t a citizen of the colony, he’d be kept in jail until Mr. Austin consented to release him to Almanzo’s custody. Almanzo had been highly amused that the tables were turned and that he was getting Trace out of trouble this time. Trace failed to see the humor.
The clank of keys to the outer door of the wooden building was accompanied by an imperious swish of skirts. He knew that sound, and looked up through swollen eyes to see Kit stride through the door, a basket over her arm.
He tried to get to his feet but pain shot through him, stealing his breath. The key grated in the lock and she was against him, shoring him up, ordering the young soldier who’d accompanied her to fetch a chair.
“You shouldn’t be here,” he managed. “People will talk.”
“I’m repaying a kindness to a man who risked his life to save mine and that of my family,” she said briskly, as if she’d already considered it.
He was torn between wanting her to keep her distance and knowing he couldn’t resist her touch. He ached to feel her fingers on his skin. She coursed one hand down his side. He flinched so abruptly, his vision blurred as pain shot through him.
In the next moment her arms were around him and he couldn’t even react because he was focusing on not vomiting.
“Your ribs?”
His knees hit the dirt floor and he managed a nod as he drew in a breath. Her fingers worked the buttons of his shirt as he dropped back against the wall. She gasped and sat on her heels, moving her hand from the center of his chest to rest on his stomach. He looked down to see what upset her. His stomach was black and blue with bruises.
No wonder every breath hurt.
“How many times did they kick you?” she murmured, her fingers fluttering over his skin.
“Don’t know.” The pain subsided under the gentleness of her hands. “Kit, I—you can’t do this. There’s probably a doctor around.”
“Not one I’d trust,” she muttered.
Her breath feathered over his stomach and his body reacted, unbelievably, despite the pain. He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to concentrate on the rancid scent of the room and not the scent of her hair. This was not the time or place to become aroused.
“Can you make it home?”
“I can’t leave.”
“Yes you can. Lieutenant Greer dropped the charges, considering the circumstances.”
He forced his aching swollen eyes open. “You went to him?”
She didn’t meet his gaze, instead focusing on his bruised chest. “It’s not right that you’re here.”
He grunted his assent.
“That doesn’t mean I think you were right.”
He tightened his jaw at her imperious tone. “You could have died out there.”
“You already knew it was my choice.”
“I know it wasn’t. You know how I know that? You would never risk Agnes and Mary like that. When they insisted they stay with you, you would have put aside what you wanted and gone, just to keep them safe. I know that about you.”
“That’s not the person I was then, Trace. I was wild with grief.”
“You don’t pull that far inside yourself.” He watched her reaction, but she didn’t look at him.
“I still say, no kind of man would have walked away from three women out there.”
“You’re not mad at Lieutenant Greer.” She touched a wet cloth to the corner of his mouth.
“No.” He held her gaze. “I’m not mad at him.”
“Let it go. You can’t blame John either. ‘Whither thou goest,’ remember? He’s gone. There’s nothing to be done now. Please, Trace, let me take you home.”
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“Honey, you can bare whatever you want. I’m not dropping my pants for anyone else.” Bastian’s rich butterscotch voice held a note of iron. “You’ve talked about my sex life, or lack thereof, quite enough to a certain writer who shall remain nameless.”
higher. “I do like anticipation, the building excitement, the pulse-pounding, breathless wait for that one moment when everything—” She dropped her eyes to his zipper “— and I do mean everything, comes together at the end.”
When you’re living through a tough time, do you go somewhere lovely in your mind?
Grant and Vivi Michaelson share everything in their marriage: love, commitment—and their wildest sexual desires. But their relationship is tested when Vivi admits she wants a threesome with Grant’s old friend Cade, proposing their annual trip to the lake as the perfect opportunity to fulfill her fantasy.
