THE
backup
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ONE PASS AWAY: A NEW SEASON
BOOK TWO
©2020 MARY J. WILLIAMS
Copyright © 2020 by Mary J. Williams.
All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be copied, reproduced in any format, by any means, electronic or otherwise, without prior consent from the Copyright owner and publisher of this book.
First E-book Printing, 2020
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Writing isn’t easy. But I love every second. A blank screen isn’t the enemy. It is an opportunity to create new friends and take them on amazing adventures and life-changing journeys. I feel blessed to spend my days weaving tales that are unique—because I made them.
Billionaires. Songwriters. Artists. Actors. Directors. Stuntmen. Football players. They fill the pages and become dear friends I hope you will want to revisit again and again.
Thank you for jumping into my books and coming along for the journey.
HOW TO GET IN TOUCH
Please visit me at these sites, sign up for the Mary J. Williams newsletter, or leave a message.
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MORE BOOKS BY MARY J. WILLIAMS
Harper Falls
If I Loved You
If Tomorrow Never Comes
If You Only Knew
If I Had You (Christmas in Harper Falls)
Hollywood Legends
Dreaming with a Broken Heart
Dreaming with My Eyes Wide Open
Dreaming of Your Love
Dreaming Again
Dreaming of a White Christmas
(Caleb and Callie’s story)
One Pass Away
After the Rain
After All These Years
After the Fire
Hart of Rock and Roll
Flowers on the Wall
Flowers and Cages
Flowers are Red
Flowers for Zoe
Flowers in Winter
WITH ONE MORE LOOK AT YOU
One Strike Away
For a Little While
For Another Day
For All We Know
For the First Time
The Sisters Quartet
One Way or Another
Two of a Kind
Three Wishes
Four Simple Words
Five More Minutes (The Sisters Quartet Christmas)
Six Days (The Sisters Quartet Wedding)
Rock & Roll Forever
Almost Paradise
Almost Blue
Almost Everything
Almost Home
Almost Like Being in Love (A Rock & Roll Forever Christmas)
One Pass Away—A New Season
The Devil Wears Blue Jeans
The Back-Up Plan
The Last Honest Man
AUDIOBOOKS
ONE PASS AWAY SERIES
After the Rain – click here
After All These Years – click here
After the Fire - click here
HOLLYWOOD LEGENDS SERIES
Dreaming with a Broken Heart – click here
Dreaming with My Eyes Wide Open
HARPER FALLS SERIES
If I Loved You – click here
If Tomorrow Never Comes – click here
If You Only Knew – click here
If I Had You – click here
THE SISTERS QUARTET
One Way or Another - click here
Two of a Kind - click here
ROCK & ROLL FOREVER
Almost Paradise - click here
Almost Blue - click here
Almost Everything - click here
Almost Home - click here
Almost Like Being in Love – click here
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
HOW TO GET IN TOUCH
MORE BOOKS BY MARY J. WILLIAMS
AUDIOBOOKS
PROLOGUE
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
EPILOGUE
PROLOGUE
▲ ▼ ▲ ▼ ▲
LOVE AT FIRST sight. Fact or fiction?
Levi Reynolds smiled as he remembered the first words Piper Winslow ever said to him. More of a challenge than a question, her green eyes a bit hazy from weariness and a few precisely timed shots of her drink of preference—ice-cold, premium-grade vodka—she seemed to dare him to produce an answer she could rip to shreds with her sharp, smart-ass brain.
If Levi recalled correctly, he hadn’t been in the best of moods when Piper approached him. All he wanted was to exit the noisy ballroom, get in his car, roll down the windows, and crank up some tunes. Perfection equaled an open road and a heavy foot on the accelerator. The last thing he needed was to be waylaid by a nonsensical question delivered by a woman whose bad mood almost rivaled his own.
As the memory solidified, Levi’s smile widened. From the first moment, Piper Winslow was impossible to ignore. How could he not be drawn to a fiery-haired woman with an attitude to match? A woman who, despite her momentary belligerence, was also adorably tipsy. Not drunk, but floaty—her word. And, looking into her soft-focus green eyes, he saw no reason to argue.
Levi would learn in the years to come that Piper was a woman who knew how to handle her alcohol.
As the band played one more syrupy love song, despite his wish to be anyplace else, Levi was intrigued. Instead of leaving, he watched as Piper hitched up the mermaid-style skirt on her dress and climbed onto the barstool to his right.
“Vodka. Straight up,” she told the bartender. She leveled her gaze onto Levi. “Love at first sight. Fact or fiction? I’m Piper by the way. Can I buy you a drink?”
Because Levi neither accosted women nor was he a glutton for punishment, he swallowed his sudden and illogical desire to plant a kiss on the woman’s full, red lips. He cleared his throat as he reminded himself that he was, at heart, a gentleman.
“Levi.” He smiled. “The drinks are free.”
“So they are,” Piper said with a wink of one green eye. “Well, what’s the verdict?”
“Love at first sight is a fallacy,” Levi stated, ignoring the flutter of increased interest. “Lust, yes. But love? Absolutely not.”
“Exactly!” Piper slapped a palm onto the bar. The sound was loud enough to momentarily rouse the drunk four chairs away. “And yet, three weeks after they first laid eyes on each other, the happy couple has tied the knot. Why?”
Rubbing the back of his neck, Levi pondered the question. One answer came to mind.
“The need to justify twenty-one days of sexual hijinks.”
“Reasonable assumption, but you are way off the beam, my newly acquired friend.” Piper sighed. “The reason you see me dressed in a bright pink taffeta confection straight out of every bridesmaid’s worst nightmare isn’t because of an overload of sex but a massive case of unfulfilled desire.”
“Unfulfilled?” Levi glanced toward the door, remembering the newly married couple’s hasty retreat after a rushed cake cutting ceremony. He’d wondered at the time why the groom looked so wild-eyed. Now he had his answer. “She wouldn’t sleep with him until he put a ring on her finger?”
“Typical,” Piper said with a scoff. “Place the blame on the woman.”
“You mean…? He wouldn’t…?” The idea was too inconceivable for Levi
