Book 3: The Sunshine Valley Series
Dream a Little Dream
Darcy Jones Harper is thrilled to have finally shed her reputation as the girl from the wrong side of the tracks. The people of Sunshine Valley have to respect her now that she’s the new town judge. But when the bad boy who broke her heart back in high school shows up in her courtroom, she realizes maybe things haven’t changed so much after all . . . because her pulse still races at the sight of him.
Jason Petrie wants to make amends for his past mistakes—starting with the woman he never stopped loving. Darcy may not believe that he really intends to change his bad-boy image and stick around this time but Jason vows—with the help of the matchmaking Widows Club—to pull out all the stops to convince her that they both deserve a second chance.
Tropes: small town, second chance romance, matchmakers, cowboy, bull rider, quirky dog, starting over, rom-com
Excerpt:
Darcy stared at herself in the mirror. At once-bright blond hair. At a face nearly devoid of makeup. With her hair pulled severely back from her face, her ears looked big and her eyes small. Her suit wasn’t flattering. And her shoes…She wasn’t as good at molding her appearance to the role she was playing as her mother had been.
George, why didn’t you tell me you’d recommended me for your judgeship?
The voice in her head remained silent.
And Darcy knew why. Every time George had said she shouldn’t settle for anything less than a court bench, she’d told him Jones girls were lucky to be allowed to take the bar. He’d grumble, trying to get the last word. She’d laugh, trying to discourage his delusions. What delusions? The clever old fox had pulled it off!
Darcy laughed now. A mirthless sound that echoed oddly in the empty restroom and foretold certain disaster.
On the way back to her friends, Darcy hurried around the corner of the hallway and nearly ran into Jason.
“Whoa.” His hands landed on her hips.
Darcy’s fingers came to rest on his elbows. It was purely reflex. She nearly rose up on her toes and kissed him. That was reflex too.
“Hi,” he said, a slow twinkle building in his blue eyes.
She was wired to respond to that twinkle. She wanted to lean in and—
Judges don’t neck in bars!
George!
Darcy blushed and dropped her hands. “Jason, I…”
“I’ve been meaning to ask…How are you doing since…?” Since losing George, she thought he meant. “You look nice.”
In her frumpy judge’s-wife clothes? With her hair pulled behind her big ears? Darcy shoved his hands off her. “Friends don’t lie to each other, Jason.” She tried to dart past, but he was too quick, stepping in her path.
“Honey, nothing you change on the outside can change the way I feel about you in here.” He tapped his chest. “That’s why I know you’d never have married the judge if you didn’t love him. He was such an important figure in your life. You’ve got to be hurting. Let me help.”
His words nearly undid her. Everyone had offered condolences after George died. Everyone had asked how she was doing. But no one implied that she’d been in love with George and might be heartbroken. Only Jason. He’d always given her the benefit of the doubt.
“Darcy, you could be eighty, and you’d still be beautiful to me.” Jason’s voice was deep and low, his tone heartfelt. “If you need anything, call me.”
That would be unwise. George’s stately voice filled her head.
It was good advice. Heartbreaking, but smart.
“I can’t.” Steeling herself against their attraction, Darcy lifted her gaze to Jason’s. “Things have changed. I can’t go back to who I was.” The woman who loved Jason Petrie unconditionally and put herself second to his career.
“Things changed. Past tense.” Jason gave her a small, hopeful smile. “And now they can change back. We can meet later and talk.”
“Talk.” She rolled her eyes. They both knew that when they were together, they never just talked.
“Just talk, I swear.” Perhaps to prove it, he put his hands in his back pockets. “We never really had a chance to talk before you married the judge.”
Darcy hesitated. He was right. They hadn’t found closure after their breakup. And it was all her fault.
It had been June when they’d finally talked, a few weeks after the Event.
“The sponsors expect me to kiss their eye candy.” Jason had followed Darcy around his small apartment as she collected her things, hobbling on crutches because of his recently broken leg. “You know that’s part of the way I earn my paycheck.”
“That’s an excuse.” Darcy dumped the contents of a bathroom drawer into the cloth grocery bag she’d brought. “That was no peck. That was a saliva exchange. And everyone saw.” Everyone knew he’d betrayed her. Unlike the rumors or the more innocent pictures of him bussing a rodeo queen’s cheek, here was proof.
“It’s a reason, Darcy. Not an excuse. We had a plan, you and me.”
She set the drawer on the counter and faced him. “A plan implies an end date. I’ve put my life on hold for too long.” Traveling to see him compete on the weekends instead of studying for the bar. Taking terms off to follow him on the circuit. Languishing in bed with him the few times he was home during the season. “I have to think of myself, finish what I started, reach for my dreams.”
That’s what George had said when he’d proposed marriage.
“So this is a break?” Jason had followed her to the bedroom. “You need space to find yourself?”
“Yes.” Darcy hadn’t had the courage to tell him she’d married George the day after Jason had publicly betrayed her. They’d had a civil ceremony in Greeley, a union they were only just beginning to announce. Jason would hear about it soon enough. And so she’d stuffed the few clothes she kept at his apartment into her bag and then headed for the door without telling him this breakup was for good.
“Honey?” In the here and now, Jason slid a palm across her cheek and around to the back of her neck. “Do you want to go somewhere and talk?”
“I…” It was tempting. Darcy could go back to the way things were before. Dress like she remembered what sex was. Drink and dance at Shaw’s like she didn’t have a care in the world. Perhaps let her guard down and allow Jason to defend her honor the way he used to. But could he defend her marriage or her taking the judgeship without eroding his standing in the community? She couldn’t drag Jason down like that. He had an image and endorsements to protect. “Jason, I…I can’t.”
Jason inched closer until she could practically feel his warmth. “But—”
“No.” She pushed past him and on to her new life.
The Story Behind the Story
I am fascinated by characters who come from the wrong side of the tracks (Darcy) or have made mistakes in the past (Jason). There are things these two have to work through within themselves and with the help of each other to be happy in their own skin.
This book was written during the darkness of COVID. I can’t thank my editor Alex Logan enough for her patience and pushes to make this book really shine. Otherwise, Darcy might have been too woe-is-me and Jason might have misplaced his man-card. LOL!
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