9781618850676UnchainedMelodyHunter Read Online Free Page A

You’ve got a way of making a party sound like a damn wake! I can remember—”
    Ethan
cut him off. “I can, too, brother, but I am not the same man I used to be, or
rather, I am not the same man I thought I was.”
    Alex
slapped the granite counter top so hard he hurt his own hand. He was about to
come back with a few choice words when the phone rang. “Stir my sauce.” Ethan
instructed Alex, but Alex beat him to the phone. He was afraid it was Shelley
Thompson calling to confirm and Ethan would stop the party before it ever got
off the ground.
     
    * * * *
     
    Annalise
thought she had followed the directions precisely, but apparently she was lost.
She waited for the B&B to answer so she could make sure she was on the
right track.
    “ Lost Maples ,
may I help you?” What a nice voice. She was immediately intrigued and was
imagining what the face that went with the drawl looked like. She was no longer
in the market for male companionship, but she still enjoyed looking.
    “Hello,
this is Annalise Ramsey. I’m on my way in and I have just turned on Lonely
Street and the street is not on my iPhone map. Am I lost?” She internally
chuckled at the name, Lonely Street—they had to be kidding. What was this, the
Heartbreak Hotel?
    “No,
in fact you’ve almost made it, just keep coming down Lonely Street and you’ll
be here before you know it. Oh, and by the way, it’s not Lonely Street—it’s
pronounced Lo-nelly, a family that used to own the property. I wouldn’t want
you to get the wrong impression of our happy establishment.”
    “Good
to know and thanks. See you in a minute.”
    Annalise
hung up and kept going. She was glad Lonely Street wasn’t indicative of the
atmosphere, she was looking for inspiration—not depression. She was weeks
behind her own self-set deadline and desperately needed to churn out a few
chapters. Thinking of deadlines, she decided to give Cecile a call, her
secretary answered, “Passion Publishing, Cecile Rogers’ office. May I help
you?”
    “Lily,
this is Annalise. May I speak to Cecile?” She wasn’t on hold but a few seconds,
before Cecile picked up.
    “Where
are you?”
    “I’m
on Lonely Street, headed for The Heartbreak Hotel.”
    “What
are you talking about?”
    “Just
kidding. I’m within shouting distance of the B&B, I think. I just wanted to
thank you for your concern and assure you that I will have the first three
chapters on your desk in three weeks.”
    “Perfect.
I just know The Lost Maples will have the right atmosphere to put you back in the writing mode. Listen,
while I have you on the phone I wanted to let you know your publicist called
and she has put an article about you in all of the Houston area papers. I gave
her a blurb on the book you’re doing now and apparently it has generated some
excitement.”
    “Okay.
I don’t really want a lot of excitement, but I know you want to sell books, so
I better get to writing. I’ll call you in a couple of days.” Excitement—great,
that’s all she needed.
    Lonely
Street was prettier than it sounded and when she rounded the last curve and
caught a glimpse of Lost Maples ,
she gasped. This had to be one of the most beautiful places she had ever seen. The
grounds were extensive and huge oaks and pecans spread their great branches
wide making deep, dark, inviting shade where hundreds of hostas were planted
and groups of benches and chairs invited the guests to take a load off, drink a
cup of coffee and shoot the breeze. She also saw a couple of dogs which was one
of the reasons she had agreed to come to this place, because they would take
Tiny.
    The
main house was huge, a Victorian farmhouse painted the lightest of pale
yellows. Flowers were everywhere, in the beds in front of the house as well as
in containers on the wide front steps and on the veranda that wrapped around
the entire first floor.
    Individual
cabins sat in a half-moon shape around the three-story structure and each one
was painted the same