DAY & BOOK 4: CHASING THE LEGACY

BOOK #9 OF THE HALO LEGACY SERIES

RELEASED JULY 1, 2013

ALL NINE BOOKS OF THE 

HALO LEGACY SERIES

ARE JUST 99 CENTS EACH 

THROUGH JULY 9, 2013!

The celebration of my Halo Legacy Series continues today with an excerpt from book #4. CHASING THE LEGACY could be reporter Layla Dalton's biggest story--or destroy the tentative peace she is building with her past and the bomb tech who has loved her since high school. Many of us in the United States celebrate this July 4 with fireworks, but this book starts out with an explosion of a different kind. 

***

Grady was more entranced by Layla than the old house they were walking through. She touched the woodwork and walls with reverence and sparkled with excitement when she talked about Beth's expanded café and gift shop moving in, as well as setting up her own newspaper and printing shop. 

When they arrived on the second floor, Layla opened the double doors to the grand ballroom with a flourish. 

"Miss Stella and her husband used to dance in this room. All by themselves, sweeping and swooping around the entire room to music only the two of them could hear--" Layla stopped abruptly. Laughed self-consciously. "At least, that's how the story goes." 

The curtains at the windows fluttered, and a soft sighing like the muted music of an orchestra drifted around the room. 

"If Miss Stella says it happened that way, I believe her," Grady said. 

Layla looked at Grady for a moment. "You see her too?" 

"Doesn't everyone?" 

Slowly, Layla shook her head. "Most people think I'm crazy when I talk about Miss Stella." 

"Most people don't see beyond their own lives." 

For a long moment, Layla simply stared at Grady. She didn't think he was making fun of her, but trusting people didn't come easily. "Let me show you the telescope." 

As she led the way up to the top floor of the house, Layla was overly conscious of Grady behind her. Of the shiver of excitement that he might be watching the sway of her hips and-- 

"Here we are." Layla turned and forced a smile as she pushed away the lure of falling into Grady's arms. 

However, his gaze seemed focused on the magnificent telescope pointed toward the heavens. "Do you come here at night and watch the stars?" 

"Sometimes." Layla tried to keep the disappointment out of her voice. Didn't Grady find her attractive? 

Then he turned his full attention on her and a smile formed on his features, like the sun emerging over the eastern horizon. Layla's breath caught in her throat and her heartbeat accelerated. Like one foot had slipped into an abyss. 

She stepped back, catching herself emotionally. "And that's the grand tour." 

Quickly, before she decided the risk was worth taking, she moved back toward the stairs. And safety. 

"What are the other rooms on this floor?" Grady followed more slowly and glanced into the open door of a room tucked into one of the turrets. 

"Just...old stuff." Layla slipped between him and her old bedroom, deftly closing the door on the private world of her childhood. 

Unfortunately for her peace of mind, that left Layla standing with her back to the door, facing Grady. Up close. 

"Why did you leave town and not come back for so long?" 

(Copyright Genene Valleau, writing as Genie Gabriel)