Bluegrass Hero

Bluegrass Hero
Allie Pleiter

Dust-covered men who smell like horses are the norm at Gil Sorrent's farm. Until a trip to Emily Montague's bath shop changes their lives. Suddenly, Gil's lovelorn farmhands are sparkling clean and attracting women instead of working! So Gil barges into the shop, surprised to find Emily, his pretty polar opposite, selling soap by the truckloads.Suddenly everyone in town is not only cleaner–they're nicer. And when our bluegrass hero tries out the soap for himself, love-shy Emily better watch out!

“Close your eyes.”

A tiny curl of enjoyment let loose in Emily’s stomach. She’d never tried to explain the power of scent before—at least not to someone as resistant as Gil Sorrent.

“You’re not gonna put anything on me, are you?” He gave her a look as if to suggest that contact with hand cream might melt the skin off his bones.

“If you close your eyes, you’ll find it easier to concentrate on your sense of smell.”

He stared at her, then closed his eyes, only to pop them open a second later.

“Keep those shut.” Emily put her hand on his shoulder and the contact did something to her she wasn’t ready to admit. “Smell this.”

He took a moment, searching for the scent. “Um…nuts?”

Emily smiled. “Almonds. See? You’re good at this.”

“Don’t let that get out,” he said, opening his eyes. She suddenly realized they were way too close for comfort. He did, too—she could tell by the way he shot up off the stool. “I’m pretty much a no-frills kind of guy, Emily, and I’d like to keep it that way.”

ALLIE PLEITER

Enthusiastic but slightly untidy mother of two, Allie Pleiter writes both fiction and nonfiction. An avid knitter and nonreformed chocoholic, she spends her days writing books, drinking coffee and finding new ways to avoid housework. Allie grew up in Connecticut, holds a BS in Speech from Northwestern University, and spent fifteen years in the field of professional fund-raising. She lives with her husband, children and a Havanese dog named Bella in the suburbs of Chicago, Illinois.

Bluegrass Hero

Allie Pleiter

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

—Galatians 5:22–23

To Savannah, because she loves horses

Contents

Acknowledgments

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Four

Epilogue

Questions for Discussion

Acknowledgments

Middleburg gets ALL of its charm—and NONE of its faults—from a lovely little Kentucky town called Midway that immediately captured my heart. Kathy Werking at Soapwerks in Midway was a willing and creative soap resource for me, and Ginny Smith, Connie Camden, the Quirk Café, the Flag Fork Herb Farm and many others showcased the region’s warm hospitality. Normandy Farm gave me the inspiration (including the china cats) for Gil’s Homestretch Farm, and many of the Homestretch concepts come from a similar program at Kentucky Horse Park.

Thanks—as always—to friends, family, Spencerhill Associates and Steeple Hill Books for walking through this challenging process beside me. Some books come to life easily. Others…well, that’s what friends and colleagues are for, aren’t they? And God? Well, He’s always got the higher plan in mind—count on it.

Chapter One