Hummingbird Lane by Brown, Carolyn (good books to read for beginners TXT) 📕

“You and Em. You’d think you were blood sisters,” Teddy chuckled.

“Honey, we’re more than that. We are sisters of the heart,” Sophie said and hopped out of the SUV the minute he parked.

She and Emma met in the middle of the yard and hugged each other just like they had when they were girls. “Guess what? I’ve got wonderful news. Number three is on the way. I’m about to catch up with you. I couldn’t wait to tell you in person.”

“Well, if you’re going to catch up with me, you’d best have twins. I’m due in June with number four,” Emma laughed.

“That’s fantastic. For the first time, we get to have babies in the same month,” Sophie said. “But twins or not, this is the last one for our family. How about yours?”

“We agreed in the beginning that four was our magic number.” Emma looped her arm in Sophie’s and led her toward Filly’s house.

“Have you heard from Victoria?” Sophie asked.

“She called about a month ago. She said she might fit a short visit in next year. She really doesn’t like this place or what I’ve done with my life,” Emma answered.

“You are fast becoming the famous artist you always wanted to be,” Sophie assured her.

“I’m happy, and that’s what matters.” Emma smiled.

Arty set Lia on the ground, and she toddled over to Filly and put up her arms to be held. Josh came around the end of the trailer with Gracie right behind him. Jody bailed off the porch, grabbed Johnny by the hand as soon as Teddy freed him from the car seat, and led him off to the porch, where two puppies tumbled around playfully. “Mine,” Jody said seriously, pointing at one, then turned his finger toward the other one and said seriously, “Yours.”

Teddy carried Anna Rebel across the yard and handed her off to her grandmother. “Here you go, Rebel. She’s all yours for the next while.” He turned to focus on Sophie. “I guess we just got a dog, Sophie.”

“Looks that way,” Sophie laughed. “Next Thanksgiving, we’ll have a baby to add to this circus.”

“That’s fantastic news.” Jonathan stepped off the porch of one of the extra trailers. “I always wanted a big family, but all I got was Teddy. I’m glad that I get lots of grandbabies.”

“So am I.” Rebel snuggled her face down into her granddaughter’s wispy blonde hair. “We’ve all sure got a lot to be thankful for this year.”

“Yes, we do,” Filly said. “Me and Arty are about to bring out the food. Arty’s turkey is perfect this year, and my pumpkin pies turned out great. I swear, it’s always better when you kids all come home for Thanksgiving.”

Sophie slipped an arm around Emma. “Yes, it is.”

“Know what I’m most thankful for every day of every year?” Emma asked. “That you rescued me and brought me down here to this place. Heaven can’t be any better than this.”

“Amen,” Josh agreed.

Dear Reader,

Friends come into our lives at different seasons for different reasons. That was the way with Emma and Sophie. They’d come into each other’s lives as children and then were torn apart for several years, but when they needed their old friendship again, it returned at just the right time. While I was writing this story, I felt like Emma and Sophie were in the room with me, telling me all their heartaches and joys. I’ve laughed with them, cried with them, and gotten angry with them. When I finally wrote the last words, they were very real people to me, and I was glad to have had the privilege of telling their story.

As I’ve said before, it takes a village to produce a book. The writer starts with an idea, but it needs good editors to help the author give it polish and finesse. With that in mind, I have several people to thank for taking this from a rough idea to a finished product. First of all, my thanks to my agent, Erin Niumata, and my agency, Folio Literary Management, for all they do; to my editors at Amazon/Montlake, Alison Dasho and Anh Schluep, for continuing to believe in me; and to my team for everything from copyediting to cover designs; to my amazing developmental editor, Krista Stroever, who took a lump of coal and helped me turn it into a diamond; and to my readers for their support and love.

Special thanks for this book go to my son, Charles Lemar Brown, for the picture of the hummingbird on the cover, and to Vienna Pharaon for giving me permission to use her quote. As always, my love to Mr. B for everything he does to help me, from first edits to washing the dinner dishes so I can write one more chapter.

Until next time,

Carolyn Brown

About the Author

Photo © 2015 Charles Brown

Carolyn Brown is a New York Times, USA Today, Publishers Weekly, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author and a RITA finalist with more than one hundred published books to her name. They include women’s fiction and historical, contemporary, cowboy, and country music romances. She and her husband live in the small town of Davis, Oklahoma, where everyone knows everyone else, including what they are doing and when—and they read the local newspaper on Wednesdays to see who got caught. They have three grown children and enough grandchildren and great-grandchildren to keep them young. For more information, visit www.carolynbrownbooks.com.