Winning her over means winning everything
Sophie Callahan is PI Brad Harringtonâs best lead to tracking down the man heâs been hired to bring to justice: Sophieâs own thieving father. But when Brad arrives at The Pampered Pooch, just behind a litter of stray kittens, the pet-store owner is the big surprise. This scrappy, huge-hearted woman with charm to spare gets to Brad in a way no one has ever been able to before. She spends her life findingâand makingâhomes for others: abandoned pets, her young niece. Heâll have to tell her why heâs really here. Which means heâll have to choose between his sail-away dreams and the chance to build a forever homeâwith her.
âWhat do you want from me?â
âI donât want anything.â Brad pointed to the stairs. âBut thereâs a little girl down there who thinks of you as her world. As her everything. As herââ
âDonât say it.â Sophie lunged forward and pressed her palm over his mouth. âIâm better as Ellaâs aunt.â
Brad pulled her hand off his mouth, anchoring her with their linked fingers. She searched his face, watched the emotions in his gaze and the words backing up against his closed lips. Maybe he finally understood.
âI lied.â His voice was low. âI do want something from you.â
Sophie waited. The attic seemed to be closing in on her. She shivered. âWhat?â
Brad tugged her close. âThis.â
Sophie stopped fighting, stopped running and stopped hiding. There was so much she couldnât be. Couldnât have. But this moment, sheâd take this.
Dear Reader,
As a child, our family hopscotched across the US for my fatherâs job. Living in Pittsburgh meant begging to be allowed into my brotherâs backyard snow huts and cheering on the Steelers. Houston brought rodeos and the largest flying cockroaches Iâve ever seen. Northern California introduced us to towering redwood trees and Lake Tahoe. And Hawaii gave us Christmas Day at the beach and a sense of aloha that remains with me today. My parentsâ relocations continued after my brothers and I moved out and Iâve been fortunate to experience even more new cities on my trips to visit them.
But one place has been a longtime favorite: San Francisco. I loved to visit the city as a child and I still cherish the time I lived there after collegeâever grateful for the lasting friendships I made. Friends who today I consider family. I fell in love in the city and seventeen years later, my husband and I still talk about our first date to the Orpheum Theatre followed by a toast at The Fairmont Hotel.
Iâm so thrilled to be able to write a series set in San Francisco with characters who discover all theyâve ever needed can be found in the City by the Bay, if they only open their hearts.
I love to connect with readers. Check my website to learn more about my upcoming books and sign up for email book announcements, or chat with me on Facebook (carilynnwebb) or Twitter (@carilynnwebb). Let me know what your favorite city is and Iâll add it to my ever-expanding places-to-visit list.
Happy reading!
Cari Lynn Webb
www.CariLynnWebb.com
CARI LYNN WEBB lives in South Carolina with her husband, daughters and assorted four-legged family members. Sheâs been blessed to see the power of true love in her grandparentsâ seventy-year marriage and her parentsâ marriage of over fifty years. She knows love isnât always sweet and perfectâit can be challenging, complicated and risky. But she believes happily-ever-afters are worth fighting for.
To my daughter, Emma, whose laughter brightens every day. I love you more than you know. Donât ever stop laughing.
Special thanks to Melinda Curtis and Anna J. Stewart for answering every plotting SOS whether it was a late-night text, early morning email or last-minute Skype session. And thanks to my husband and family for their continuous encouragement and inspiration.
CHAPTER ONE
âTHE WIRE TRANSFER was completed yesterday at the request of George Callahan.â The financial advisor for Pacific Bank and Trust in San Francisco watched Sophie Callahan over a bland manila file folder. âThe account is empty.â
Empty. Sophie shifted sideways in the leather chair and crossed her legs as if that might minimize the impact of the womanâs firm yet unapologetic voice. An ache wrapped around Sophieâs throat and squeezed. âYouâre certain?â
âYes. The funds have been withdrawn.â She slid a floral tissue box closer to Sophie as if on cue. As if the efficient financial advisor had played out this scenario many times before and the tissues were standard procedure.