Cover Reveal: EVERY TIME I THINK OF YOU by Tracey Garvis Graves {Excerpt}

 We are so excited to share the cover for the upcoming Every Time I Think of You, by New York Times bestselling author Tracey Garvis-Graves. We also have the first chapter available for you to read!

Title: Every Time I Think of You

Author: Tracey Garvis-Graves

Age Group: Adult

Genre: Romantic Suspense

Publication Date: 9/16/14

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Think of You

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Thirty-year-old Daisy DiStefano has two people she holds dear: the grandmother who raised her, and her three-year-old son, Elliott. But when Daisy’s grandmother is killed in a seemingly random act of violence, Daisy must take steps to protect herself and her child.

Despite a thriving career in San Francisco, thirty-six-year-old Brooks McClain has returned home to spend what little time his mother has left before she succumbs to the deadly disease that is ravaging her. The seasoned investigative reporter has taken a position with the local newspaper and been on the job less than twenty-four hours when he’s summoned to cover the death of Pauline Thorpe.

Brooks is all business, but the more time he spends with Daisy DiStefano, the more invested he becomes; there’s something about a single mother, a defenseless child, and an unsolved crime that has stirred Brooks’s protective instincts like nothing ever has before.

And when the unthinkable happens, Brooks will do whatever it takes to clear the name of the woman he’s fallen for and the child he’ll protect at any cost.

Romantic and suspenseful, Every Time I Think of You shows how far two people will go to fight for the ones they love, and the life they’ve always imagined.

Chapter One

  Three-year-old Elliott DiStefano hid underneath his mother’s bed when the shouting started. He

didn’t understand what the raised voices coming from the living room meant, but

instinct told him to hide.

  No one ever yelled in his house. Sometimes they used a different tone with him, firmer.

“Stop climbing everything, you little monkey,” his mama would say or, “It’s

time to pick up your toys and get ready for bed,” Nana would announce. Most of

the time he would do what they said, although sometimes they had to ask him

twice, especially if what he’d rather do was play a little longer. But they

never spoke to him in such a harsh way, and they never told him to shut up like

the man in the living room just did to Nana.

  Elliott clutched his favorite green army man tightly in his hand. His nana had given

him a bath after their early dinner at five, and asked if he was ready to put

on his pajamas. “I can do it myself,” he’d told her, and she’d smiled and

walked out of the bedroom he shared with Mama, closing the door behind her.

She’d promised they could watch a movie and that Elliott could have one of the

cookies they’d baked earlier that day for his bedtime snack. But then someone

knocked on the door and now there was yelling and no movie and no cookie.

  The man’s voice was scary and mean. Nana sounded like she was crying and as Elliott’s

fear grew he began to tremble. The yelling got a little louder, followed by a

crash and a thud. Then nothing. Was the bad man still there? What if he’d left

but planned to come back? Elliott could no longer hear Nana’s voice and he

wondered where she went. Did she leave? Did she go with the man? He curled

himself into a tight ball and began to cry silent tears.

  He had no way of knowing how much time had passed. It was dark under the bed and the

crying had tired him out, so he rubbed his stinging eyes and took a little nap.

When he woke up he desperately needed to go to the bathroom. His mama and Nana

had been so proud of him when he stopped wearing diapers, and he hardly ever

had accidents, but he couldn’t risk leaving the safety he’d found under the

bed. The minutes ticked by and though he tried his best to hold it, he peed in

his pajamas, soaking himself from the waist down. He started to shiver.

  It was quiet for a long time and then someone banged on the door and shouted something, but

Elliott didn’t know if that was bad or good. He heard voices in the living

room, not yelling, just talking, but he remained hidden. Mama would be home

soon and she’d know what to do. Elliott decided to wait for her under the bed.

  More voices, drawing closer. The door to the bedroom opened. Elliott froze, wondering if it

was the bad man coming to get him. He didn’t make a sound as a pair of legs

wearing dark blue pants, with a stripe down the side, came into view. If he

didn’t say a word or make any noise, maybe the person would leave.

  No one would have known he was there if he hadn’t coughed at that very moment. It was a bit

dusty underneath the bed, and Elliott already felt a little wheezy, like he might need another dose of his medicine.  The legs bent as someone crouched down to look under the bed and
Elliott squeezed his eyes shut, terrified of what he might see.

  “It’s okay.” The man said, speaking softly. “I’m a policeman. I’m here to help. Can you come

out from under there?” Heart pounding, Elliott didn’t answer. He couldn’t.

  More footsteps. More dark blue legs. Elliott stayed put. No one was yelling, but

Elliott’s heart was still beating fast, and his body felt like Jell-O. A lady

wearing a dark blue uniform lay down on the floor next to the bed. “What’s your

name?” she asked. She sounded a little like his mama. Her smile was nice like

Mama’s, too. He didn’t think a bad person would smile at him, so he answered

her. “Ewiott,” he whispered.

  “My name is Officer Ochoa but you can call me Regina, okay?” He nodded. “How old are you,

Elliott?” she asked. Using the hand not clutching the army man he held up three

fingers.

  “Three, huh? That’s a good age. I want you to know that you’re safe and no one will hurt

you. Can you come out from under there? Here, take my hand.” She stretched out

her hand to him and he hesitated but finally touched her palm with his fingers.

She urged him gently toward her. Once he was close enough she reached in and

grabbed him by his pajama top, pulling him the rest of the way out.

  Elliott blinked and let his eyes adjust to the light. One of the officers noticed his

wet pajamas, and his shivering, and they wrapped his Thomas the Tank Engine

comforter around him, speaking in low, soothing tones.

  “I want Nana and Mama,” he said. They could barely hear him.

“What is your mama’s name?” they asked.

  “Daisy,” he said. He knew this was true because it was the name other people called her

when they said hello. And it was easy to remember because it was the name of a

flower, and he liked flowers.

  “Do you know your last name?”

  He nodded. He and Mama had practiced saying it. “DiStefano,” Elliott said. Maybe it didn’t

come out as clearly as it sounded to him because they repeated it back like a

question and he nodded.

  The officers exchanged a glance and one of them said, “Got it.” The officer who spoke

scribbled something on a pad of paper and left the room.

  “We’re going to take you to the police station and we’ll call your mom so she can come get

you,” Officer Ochoa said. “Okay?”

  He wanted his mama more than anything, so he said okay, and when she bent down and

scooped him up, comforter and all, he put his arms around her neck. She hurried

down the hallway and just before they got to the door, when he would have tried

to look for Nana to make sure she was coming too, Officer Ochoa pulled

Elliott’s head down to her chest and all he could see was the dark blue of her

uniform.  

Tracey Garvis-Graves is the author of On the Island and Covet. She lives in a suburb of Des Moines, Iowa with her husband, two children, and hyper dog Chloe. She blogs at www.traceygarvisgraves.com using colorful language and a snarky sense of humor to write about pop culture, silly television shows, and her suburban neighborhood. You can e-mail her at traceygarvisgraves@yahoo.com. She’d love to hear from you.