Before Anyone Else
before anyone else
By Leslie Hooton
TURNER PUBLISHING COMPANY
Turner Publishing Company
Nashville, Tennessee
www.turnerpublishing.com
Before Anyone Else
Copyright © 2019 Leslie Hooton. All rights reserved.
This book or any part thereof may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this book are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
Cover design: Emily Mahon
Book design: Tim Holtz
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Hooton, Leslie, author.
Title: Before anyone else / Leslie Hooton.
Description: Nashville : Turner Publishing Company, 2020. | Summary: “As a designer of upscale restaurants, 30-year-old Bailey Ann Edgeworth can go into an empty space and immediately see what it would take to create a beautiful and memorable environment. Unfortunately, she’s not nearly as good at designing her own life”-- Provided by publisher.
Identifiers: LCCN 2019025024 (print) | LCCN 2019025025 (ebook) | ISBN 9781684424009 (paperback) | ISBN 9781684424016 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781684424023 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Women interior decorators--Fiction. | First loves--Fiction. | Psychological fiction. | GSAFD: Love stories.
Classification: LCC PS3608.O5985 B44 2020 (print) | LCC PS3608.O5985 (ebook) | DDC 813/.6--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019025024
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019025025
Printed in the United States of America
17 18 19 20 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.
—Virginia Woolf
Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.
—Ecclesiastes 4:12
For the woman who taught me to read and love books
Before anyone else,
For my first editor who uttered the phrase “red ink is love”
before anyone else,
and for doing my brand of crazy with me
before anyone else,
Mama, Sarge, and the CEO of me,
Elizabeth Hooton
Contents
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
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-One
Chapter Forty-Two
Chapter Forty-Three
Chapter Forty-Four
Chapter Forty-Five
Chapter Forty-Six
Chapter Forty-Seven
Chapter Forty-Eight
Chapter Forty-Nine
Chapter Fifty
Chapter Fifty-One
Chapter Fifty-Two
Chapter Fifty-Three
Chapter Fifty-Four
Chapter Fifty-Five
Chapter Fifty-Six
Chapter Fifty-Seven
Chapter Fifty-Eight
Chapter Fifty-Nine
Chapter Sixty
Chapter Sixty-One
Chapter Sixty-Two
Acknowledgments
Chapter One
As I walked into VERT, memories washed over me. They filled me with unmitigated delight. But if I’m being perfectly honest, they also filled me with just a little disgust. Two-thirds standing water. One part full-blown tsunami.