QR Code Killer (22 page)

Coming August 2012!

The Coffee Girl –
Almost
thirty, Brenna Smith isn’t sure how much more off-track her life
could be. She certainly never pictured herself living at home with
her parents, working in a job she dislikes for a loathsome boss.
The only bright spot in her mundane existence is the cute guy she
runs into every morning as she stops to get coffee.

Brock McCrae has worked hard to be able to
manage his own construction company. Handsome, successful and full
of life, he finds his world turned upside down as he falls for a
woman he knows only as The Coffee Girl.

Is there something more than a shared love of
coffee brewing between these two? Find out… in August 2012!

Coming Fall 2012!

The Cowboy’s Autumn Fall -
Brice Morgan thought love at first sight was some ridiculous notion
of school girls and old ladies who read too many romance novels. At
least he does until he meets Bailey Bishop at a friend’s wedding
and falls hard and fast for the intriguing woman.

Bailey Bishop attends her cousin’s wedding
with no intention of extending her brief visit to Oregon. Married
to her career as an archaeologist, Bailey tries to ignore her
intense attraction to her cousin’s best friend, Brice. Ready to
return home to Denver, Bailey is offered the opportunity to explore
a new archeological dig not far from the family’s ranch in Grass
Valley.

Can she keep her feelings for Brice from
derailing her plans for the future?

As the autumn season arrives, love falls on
willing hearts at the Triple T Ranch.

Available Now!

Learnin’ The Ropes -
Out
of work mechanic Ty Lewis is homeless and desperate to find work.
Answering a classified ad for a job in Harney County, Oregon, Ty
accepts when he is offered the position. Saying goodbye to his
sister and his life in Portland, he heads off to the tiny community
of Riley to begin a new adventure, unsure about his boss Lex Ryan,
a man he has yet to speak with or meet.

Lexi Ryan, known to her ranch hands and
neighbors as Lex Jr., leaves a successful career in Portland to
keep the Rockin’ R Ranch running smoothly after the untimely death
of her father. It doesn’t take long to discover her father did a
lot of crazy things during the last few months before he died, like
hiding half a million dollars that Lexi can’t find.

Ty and Lexi are both in for a few surprises
as he arrives at the Rockin’ R Ranch and begins learnin’ the
ropes.

Enjoy the first chapter…

Learnin’ The Ropes

Copyright 2012

by Shanna Hatfield

All rights reserved. No part of this
publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any
form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other
electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written
permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations
embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses
permitted by copyright law.

For permission requests, please contact the
author, with a subject line of "permission request” at the email
address below or through her website.

Shanna Hatfield

[email protected]

shannahatfield.com

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters,
businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of
the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any
resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is
purely coincidental.

Location, Location, Location

“
Git yerself out of thet durn city

and into God’s country.”

Tyler Lewis read through the classified ad a third
time, trying to decide if he was desperate enough to apply for the
open position.

Leaning against his truck door with the paper propped
on the steering wheel, cold seeping into his back from the
rain-splattered window and hunger gnawing at his insides, he
concluded he was, in fact, that desperate.

Wanted - Good mechanic able to work on a variety of
equipment in Harney County, Oregon. Certification a plus. Wages
congruent to experience. Room and board included. Must like
animals.

Ty took a deep breath, quickly typed a text message
and hit send to the number in the ad before he could change his
mind.

If someone had told him a year ago he would be living
in his pickup, unable to find a job, and willing to do just about
anything that was legal to make a few bucks, he would have laughed
in their face.

That was before the garage where he worked for the
past seven years decided to lay off all but their newest mechanic
to cut costs. Ten months later, Ty had $486 left to his name and
everything he owned was packed into his pickup.

Let go with a promise that he would have his job back
as soon as business picked up; the once-busy garage in a Portland
suburb went out of business within a few months, leaving Ty no hope
of being re-hired.

Applying for every open mechanic job he could find,
he interviewed for positions doing everything from janitorial work
to flipping burgers and couldn’t get hired on anywhere. There were
way too many people in the same sinking boat.

Five weeks ago, he gave up his apartment and moved
into his pickup. With rapidly dwindling funds, he sold all of his
furniture and anything else he didn’t need which left him his
tools, clothes, and one box full of mementos from his
childhood.

Although it was expensive, the one thing he refused
to give up was his iPhone. Without it, he would be completely cut
off from the rest of the world. It served as his phone, computer,
camera, radio, filing system, and number one job-hunting tool.

Wondering if he’d lost his mind for responding to the
latest ad, he was Googling information on Harney County when a tap
on the glass at his back startled him.

Looking through the water streaks, he grinned and
rolled down the window.

“Hey, you might melt out here,” he said to his
sister, Beth, as she stood under a huge umbrella.

“Not likely,” she said with a smile. “Come inside and
have some dinner with us, Ty. You’ll freeze out here tonight. The
weatherman said it might even snow.”

“In Portland? You’re talking crazy,” Ty said,
stuffing his phone in his pocket and getting out of his truck.
Locking the door, he followed his sister across the street and up
to the tiny studio apartment she shared with her husband Nate. Ty
tried to hide a smile as he watched Beth waddle off the elevator
and down the narrow hallway. Eight months pregnant, she was
definitely looking the part.

Opening the apartment door, the smell of baking bread
made Ty’s stomach grumble in anticipation. Beth gave him a narrowed
glare.

“Did you eat anything today?” she asked, as Ty helped
her take off her jacket and hung it on a peg by the door.

Hanging his coat next to hers, he nodded his
head.

“What did you eat?” Beth asked, not quite believing
his response, knowing he would sometimes only eat one meal a
day.

“Half a granola bar.” Ty said, not making eye
contact.

Beth sighed and turned into the kitchen that was
smaller than her former storage closet. Nate lost his job seven
months ago and they gave up their former spacious apartment to cut
costs.

She handed Ty a piece of bread slathered with peanut
butter and jam before returning to her dinner preparations. Leaning
against the wall between the kitchen and the main room of the
apartment, Ty ate the sandwich as slow as his starving stomach
would allow and watched his sister.

Waiting eight years to start a family, both Beth and
Nate wanted to make sure their careers were stable and they could
adequately provide for a child. The week after they found out she
was expecting, Nate came home with the news he’d been laid off from
his job as a technical engineer.

Employed as an office manager for a busy dental
office, Beth had great benefits and a good salary. Even with her
income, they were forced to give up their nice apartment and move
into this tiny studio until Nate could find another job.

After months of Nate’s applications being rejected,
they both were worried about what would happen when the baby
arrived. Beth originally planned to take three months of maternity
leave, but now she was thinking more along the lines of two or
three weeks. Nate might have to become a stay-at-home dad if things
didn’t turn around soon and none of them could begin to think how
they would squeeze a baby into the cramped living space.

From the entry door, there was the tiny kitchen to
the left. A hallway to the right led to the bathroom which was
separated from the living and sleeping area by a long double-sided
closet that essentially made up a divider wall.

Ty looked around the open room, taking in the couch
and small television, the one end table with a lamp, the small
kitchen table surrounded by chairs, and the big king-sized bed that
took up the bulk of the floor space. Even if he felt right about
intruding into Nate and Beth’s home, which he didn’t, there wasn’t
room for him.

Stepping back into the kitchen, Ty leaned against the
counter and watched Beth stir something in a big pot. The
mouth-watering aroma of chicken and herbs filled his senses. The
last good, hot meal he’d eaten was with Beth and Nate four days
ago.

Getting odd jobs through friends and acquaintances,
Ty was mostly paid in cash. He saved what he could, but always
bought a few bags of groceries and brought them over to Beth and
Nate. In trade, she cooked him a hot meal while he made use of the
bathroom, taking a long, hot shower and stretching out on their
couch for an hour or two.

Without a home of his own, he sometimes parked across
the street from Beth’s apartment when he wasn’t out job hunting or
hanging out at the library researching jobs.

Since it was February, it was too cold and wet to
stay outside much. He would certainly be glad when spring arrived.
Winter was definitely not the best time to be homeless.

“What can I do to help?” Ty asked, washing his hands
at the sink, ignoring the pangs of hunger that ripped through his
stomach.

“Set the table?” Beth asked as she peeked into the
oven, holding her hand under her rounded belly as she bent over.
Before she could stand up, a gasp escaped from her lips and she
gripped the counter.

“You okay, sis?” Ty looked at her in concern as he
dried his hands. If she went into premature labor, he was the last
person she wanted to be around. He couldn’t stand to see a woman
cry, suffer, or be upset.