Y'all come on in!

Y'all come on in!

Saturday, October 31, 2015

Saturday Snippet...

Wild Cowboy Ways is on preorder sale for only $4.99 and will be out Dec. 22, so today I'm going to treat you to an excerpt. Hang on to your preorder proof from wherever you order it because there will be a fantastic contest beginning in a few weeks to celebrate the publication day and you might need that proof!!!
 
So here it is folks...never before seen footage of Wild Cowboy Ways!
 
 
Katy Logan popped her hands on her hips. That gesture usually brought all three girls to attention but since Fiona was in Houston, only Lizzy and Allie sat up straighter in their chairs. “No one ever lasts over there at the Lucky Penny so promise me that you won’t do any more than fix his roof. I heard he’s pretty damned handsome.”
 
Allie put up both palms, fingers splayed. “For God’s sake, Mama. I’m not going to marry the man. I’m going to put a roof on his house and that’s it.”
Katy pushed her dark hair, with streaks of white starting to show, behind her ears. “Your grandmother said he looked at you like he could eat you up.”
Allie took down four plates from the cabinet, put the silverware in the top one and started setting the table for breakfast. “Hell’s bells, Mama. Granny was so busy talking about Walter that she didn’t know who she was or where she was. And I smelled like pine oil and ammonia. I don’t think he wanted to bite into that. He flirted with me to get me to say I’d fix his roof. His kind isn’t interested in women like me.”
Her youngest sister, Lizzy, whipped her dishwater blonde hair up into a pony tail and went to the pantry to get several bottles of syrup. “Why can’t you find a good decent man like my Mitch? He wouldn’t have to be a preacher but he needs to be a godly man.”
“I had a man who went to church. I fell in love with him and gave him my heart and he broke it so no, thank you, not just to godly men but to any man. I’m going to the Lucky Penny to put a roof on the house, not have a fling with the new cowboy in town,” Allie said.
Lizzy plopped the syrup on the table and went to the refrigerator for the butter dish. “If you go over to the Lucky Penny, you can bet you’ll be in the gossip spot light even worse than when you left Riley. Besides every unmarried woman in Throckmorton County probably is layin’ out plans to get to know Brian. I heard that Sharlene was making a Mexican casserole to take to him. You know what that means.”
Allie popped Lizzy on the arm. “His name is Blake and I did not leave Riley. He left me and that was seven years ago. And yes, I know that Sharlene expects something hot in return for her hot Mexican casserole.”
“Mama, she hit me,” Lizzy said.
“I barely touched you,” Allie protested.
“Don’t get all pissy with me,” Lizzy said. “I’m trying to make you see that this is a bad idea. You can’t stop gossip and it’s been a long dry spell in town for good rumors.”
“Bullshit!” Allie brought out butter and a bowl of fruit. “A roofing job will only last a week. What can happen in a week?”

Thursday, October 29, 2015

Trick or Treat...

Since our small town (population less than three thousand) has a Halloween parade and carnival on Saturday night, tonight has been designated as Trick or Treat night in Davis, Oklahoma.

I was one of those over protective mothers when our kids were little. No way were they going to be encouraged to walk up to strangers' houses and take candy that might have poison in it. But when Lemar was six and Amy was almost four, I was managing an apartment complex in Tishomingo, Oklahoma and I reassessed the situation. I knew all the folks in my complex and if one of them did something stupid like give my kids tainted candy, I had the power to evict them.

So I agreed that they could go to the fifty apartments in our complex and over to their grandmother's place and aunt's and uncle's to Trick or Treat. But alas, I made the decision too late and there were no more costumes down at the store.

That was when I looked at my handsome son and decided he would be a Kentucky gentleman that evening. I slicked his hair back and put one of his father's fancy vests on him along with jeans and a white shirt and tie. He had a set of toy six guns so we added those to the costume and tucked a card in his vest pocket and he was not only a gentleman but a gambler.

Then it was on to his four year old sister. It was in the days of long dresses so I figured she could wear one of those and compliment his new status as gambler and gentleman. I pulled her long blonde hair up in a fancy do and put a little makeup on her face, reminding her again not to ever use anything but what came out of the bathroom. (She was the child who ground up poison ivy leaves the summer before until they were a paste and applied it to her face for pretend makeup. And yes, we did wind up in the emergency room!)

Lemar stood there and watched while I worked on my makeshift costume for Amy and finally drew his little dark brows down and asked. "What is she anyway, Mama?"

"I'm making her into a lady," I answered.

"You are making a lady out of that?" His eyes were big as silver dollars.

And that is one of my favorite memories! Do kids still come to your door? Do you have a favorite memory?

Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Cowboy Appreciation Month...

The AMAZING Sara Richardson is featuring Wild Cowboy Ways on her Author Page today on FB. There's a giveaway, an exclusive excerpt from Wild Cowboy Ways that you won't want to miss and lots of fun going on over there. Take a peek and be sure to like her page while you are there.

Click right HERE to go straight to the site and read the very first excerpt from Wild Cowboy Ways! Be sure to leave a comment on her page to be entered in the contest to win her newest awesome release, Something Like Love, plus a copy of Daisies in the Canyon!

Monday, October 26, 2015

Brain Cells...

I've been out of pocket with limited Internet for a few days. During that time my brother missed getting to talk to me on my birthday so he called today. I always love talking to him and we had quite the conversation and even solved one of the big issues of getting older. And that's why do lots of people have weight problems once they pass that big 5-0 birthday.

When we are born we have a head full of empty brain cells that are slowly filled up as we age. Filled with how to go from chewing on our hands as babies when we are hungry to chewing on a sirloin steak when we are older. Or simple things like how to walk, how to go to the potty (which just delighted our mothers when that brain cell went from empty to full), how to spell our name in school.

You got the jest there! We filled up brain cells very quickly through the next sixteen years. At that time we did lose a few to rebellious times. Burned through a few with reckless driving and a few more the night we smoked those cigars and drank chocolate root beers just to show the world we could and then a few more when we thought we knew more than our parents.

Then suddenly we were out on our own and learning things like the dishes in the sink did not magically wash themselves, the lawn did not mow itself...you know all those things that parents did that we thought were just done by unicorns and fairy dust. And boy, oh boy, did we fill up a lot of brain cells in those years.

Plus there was the training for a job that required billions of cells. It didn't matter if we were digging ditches or running a company, we had to learn how to do it. And that word LEARN was one of the main culprits in puffing up the old brain cells.

Then poof, we are at retirement age and our brain cells are all overflowing. So where do things go now? What do we do?

That's what my brother and I figured out this morning. All that stuff that used to go into brain cells now goes straight to our fat cells. It has to go somewhere and that's the only avenue left. Problem solved. You are welcome!

Tuesday, October 20, 2015

Packing...

So today I got out the suitcases for another trip. The cats, Fat Boy and Boots, hate to see that happen. Usually Fat Boy crawls inside, curls up and refuses to get out. I guess he thinks he can go with us if he hides. Boots just pouts and give us the old stink eye.

It reminded me of another trip many years ago. We'd planned a cross country, from Oklahoma to Pennsylvania, trip for months but things worked out so that we could go three days earlier than planned. No problem. We had three kids, aged 5, 7 and 10 who could help us pack in a hurry so we could be on our way.

I sent Lemar, the oldest, to fetch a red T-shirt from the dryer. I could wear it with three different outfits while we were there. And Ginny, the youngest, to find red socks for her cute little overall jumper. And so went the next hour. Amy was to go get underwear for the whole family. Seven pair of each.

I packed the small suitcase that we'd use at the hotel along the way and kept working on the bigger cases that would stay in the trunk until we arrived. We loaded it all up and away we went.

Like always the kids were fairly good the first couple of hours and since it was getting on up toward evening, we figured they'd sleep through the night. So rather than being out money for a hotel, Mr. B and I decided we'd take turns and drive straight through. I knew I should sleep because at midnight it would be my turn but at ten o'clock the kids got a second wind and decided to sing.

Mr. B pulled off at a roadside rest a few minutes until the Cinderella hour and everyone took off to the rest rooms. When we got back into the car, Mr. B propped a pillow on the window and was snoring before I drove out of the parking lot. Lemar claimed his half of the back seat and Amy got the other half. Ginny was so tiny that she fit on the floorboard. Two miles down the highway I was the only one awake.

Sleep, like yawning, is contagious. My eyes got so heavy that I wished I'd left that roll of tape in the glove compartment. I could drive as long as they were open, right? At two o'clock I figured out that I could sleep with my right eye closed and the left one open to drive. It worked real well until I tried to wake up the right eye. It was downright cantankerous but I finally convinced it to open up and let the left one sleep a few minutes. That worked about three times and then the shifting got me into a world of trouble. There is a time in between being wide awake like the left eye and being asleep like the right one, when neither one is doing a very good job of driving.

And that's when my tires went off the road and into the gravel. I managed to get straightened up and gave both my eyes a hard lecture. Neither one of them got to sleep anymore! No, sir!

When my heart settled down and the adrenaline rush bottomed out, I looked up and saw a beautiful sign flashing ahead. It said VACANCY!!! That was an omen telling me not to trust my eyes. I put on the blinker and pulled into a motel that most normally I wouldn't even give a second look. Mr. B awoke when the car stopped and asked me if it was his turn to drive.

"Nope, we're staying right here and when we wake up we'll make the rest of the trip," I told him.

No one argued with me. The kids were so glad to have real beds that they went right back to sleep and I fell into the bed and told both my eyes they could close. And they did!

But like Paul Harvey says, "And here's the rest of the story." We got to PA and I started to unpack. We had socks but no matching pairs in the lot. Ginny had twelve pairs of under britches. Amy had two and I had fourteen. There were three pair of Hanes for men in Mr. B's size and eleven in Lemar's. I had a red shirt but it was Ginny's size, not mine. When I asked Lemar about it, he said, "But Mama, I held it up and it looked like it would fit you."

I hugged him five times and kissed his forehead even though he hated it. If he saw his mother as someone that small, be danged if I'd fuss at him.

I did the packing from then on and it was the last time we tried that "drive straight though" idea. But I still remember how funny unpacking those suitcases were that morning. And how much I loved my son for thinking I was model thin and not the chubby housewife that I was!

Friday, October 16, 2015

Newsletter...

My first newsletter went out today! If you haven't signed up for it, you can do so at my website (which is located to your right here on the blog site). It's painless and free and only takes about ten seconds of your time!

These past couple of days I've been thinking of fashion. I do have twelve granddaughters so I have to keep up with these things. But it hasn't been girls' fashion that has caught my eye.

I've been noticing that there's a kind of blue jeans that seems to affect the men folks who wear them. They can be plain jeans, designer jeans, baggy jeans, stretch jeans or boot cut jeans. Style doesn't really seem to matter as long as this funny looking round circle is faded on the back pocket.

Men and boys who wear them have this strange looking lump on the side of their jaw that looks somewhat like they might have a terrible toothache. And they talk funny, like they wallowing a hunk of lumpy oatmeal around in their mouth.

Whatever it is that comes with those jeans must taste real good because the men would rather have it in their mouths than have a pretty girl hanging on their arm. It's a given that women folks are not interested in hanky panky when their feller's cheek is all swollen out like that. I've never seen a woman latching onto a feller in one of those passionate soap opera kisses when he's got a jaw loaded up with whatever it is that comes in those jeans.

It gives them a silly lopsided grin and makes their teeth turn a strange shade of brown. When they laugh they make a "m-m-m-m" sound rather than throwing back their heads for a full blown man-type fit of laughter.

Somehow the same symptoms can show up in a feller who is wearing bibbed overalls if there's a round spot on their hip pocket or even on the bibbed pocket of their overalls. It looks something like a  denim ring worm.

I try to be very careful when I shop for the gentlemen in my family. I check really close to make sure there's not a faded circle anywhere on what I'm about to buy. If there is, I shut my check book, hide my plastic credit card and make a bee line for home.

Wednesday, October 14, 2015

Cowboy Name...

Ever wonder what your cowboy/cowgirl name might be. Well, take five seconds to type in your name as it is on your birth certificate and you will get it faster'n greased lightning.

Click HERE to figure out your name!

My Cowboy name is: Cussin' Cathy "Absolutely Horrible" Bunnypopper...the woman who tamed Reno with her bare hands, her sobering wit, and her smoldering good looks!

I'm going to run a contest today...everyone who puts their Cowboy/Cowgirl name on my FB page will get their name in the boot for one of my ebooks...Kindle or Nook. Your choice!

For my FB page click right HERE!!!

Tuesday, October 13, 2015

To Catch a Bouquet

Fall in love at sea with our stories!

Last spring, two amazing authors, Barbara Longley and Heather Burch joined me on an inspirational cruise with Princess Cruises in conjunction with Kindle Love Stories. We each wrote a short story about a couple who fell in love on a Princess Cruises ship and on November 3 we will go on another cruise to promote our stories as well as our other works.

Starting today, October 13, To Catch a Bouquet is FREE for your Kindle on Amazon. Click HERE to go right to the site and download it to your Kindle!

One Upon a Night at Sea by Barbara Longley and Kiss Me Maybe by Heather Burch are also free.

Check us out at Kindle Love Stories Facebook, Kindle Love Stories Twitter, kindlelovestories.com, and on Princess Cruise Line social networks. Happy reading and we hope you enjoy falling in love with our characters as much as we did when we were writing the stories.

TO CATCH A BOUQUET: A straight-talking redhead, a tried-and-true cowboy, and a magical week on the high seas.

Annie Grace Thomas would rather be hauling hay than spending a week on a cruise ship, no matter how spectacular it happens to be…at least until she meets Clint.

Clint McCall wouldn’t be on that ship if it weren’t for his parents’ wedding anniversary and vow renewal—a family celebration he couldn’t possibly refuse to join. But when a bouquet unexpectedly comes sailing through the air at him—and he looks down at the cute little redhead who is holding the other side of it—little does he know that his life is about to change forever.

Monday, October 12, 2015

Titles...

No one just plain holds down a job, brings home the bacon and is a middle-classed person anymore. Everyone has to be something. After all, who wants to go to a ten, twenty or fifty year class reunion or meet an old flame's wife on the street and say that they are a waitress or a cashier or even just the grandmother of a dozen rowdy grandchildren.

Not that any or all of the above is beneath anyone's dignity. A job is a job and sometimes they're harder to come by than a dollar to buy a loaf of bread. It's all good honest work and brings on wrinkles as fast as "presidenting" the U.S. of A.

But it does not sound as good as a title with a fancy name. Everyone wants to be something high sounding and the more words the title has the better. It can stretch into a whole paragraph and that makes whoever is giving themselves that title very important and a great benefit to the community where they live.

And if they can't have a nice, long really rich sounding title then they want to be "into" something.

Take for instance Cousin Hortense. She's always been a "few French fries short of a Happy Meal" and we all had to help her or she would have never graduated from the Northside Elementary School. But nowadays she is the Assistant to the Head Director of Engineering in a local business. Which means she is the dishwasher down at Mabel's Bar and Grill located in the alley behind the dry cleaning place.

Remember Beulah Beth Smith who dated Bubba Buford in high school. Ask her what she's doing the next time you run into her at the grocery store. She'll tell you that she's into computers which means she runs the electric cash register at Bubba's Tire Shop down south of town.

And me? I smile and whisper, "I'm the keeper of coupons."

Everyone knows I'm a romance author but whispering that makes them think I've told them a secret. They can't wait to get away from me, pull out their cell phones and call all their friends to report. "Hey you remember Carolyn Brown from Tishomingo High School? Well, she's doing something for the government. I don't know if it's the FBI or the IRS but be careful what you tell her because she's the keeper of coupons and I bet she could get you locked up with a wink and a nod."

What the keeper of coupons really means is that I'm the tight wad who peels out a stack of coupons at the check out counter and make the cashier be sure to give me double duty on anything under one dollar. It's posted right out there on the outside of the entrance door so I fully well expect to have full credit for my coupons. Or I could call the IRS or the CIA or maybe the WGAD agency. That last one stands for Who Gives A Dang but shhhh...it sounds important.

Contest...

There is a contest going on over on my Author's FB page. Check it out and like my page if you haven't already. All you have to do is comment on the post with the cowboy boots to get your name in the drawing for a signed book...drawing happening tomorrow morning.
https://www.facebook.com/Carolyn-Brown-198727816879253/timeline/

Sunday, October 11, 2015

RECIPE REQUEST

Kristy has finished reading The Yellow Rose Beauty Shop...and has requested that I post the recipes for Cream Puff Cake and Ranch Potato Salad again! So here they are, folks. ENJOY!!!
 
RANCH POTATO SALAD

Scrub potatoes and cut into chunks. (I leave the skins on because it gives the potato salad more color)
Cover with water in a large pot and cook until done. Do not overcook or the potatoes will turn to mush when you stir in the other ingredients.
While they are cooking, chop the green onions and cook the bacon. Mix those with the other ingredients and gently stir into the cooked potatoes. Refrigerate several hours before serving.

 Cream Puff Cake
1 stick margarine

1 cup water

1 c. all purpose flour

4 eggs

1 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese

4 c. milk

3 3.5 oz pkgs. Vanilla pudding mix

1 (12 oz) container frozen whipped topping, thawed

¼ cup chocolate syrup

 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).

In a large heavy saucepan, heat butter and water to boiling over medium-high heat. Add flour and reduce heat to low. Cook and stir until it forms a ball and pulls away from the pan. Remove from heat and transfer to a large bowl. Beat in eggs, one at a time, beating well after each egg.

Spread in bottom and up the sides of an ungreased 9x13 inch pan. Bake at 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) for 35 minutes. Cool completely.

To make the filling: In a large bowl, combine cream cheese and milk and beat until smooth. Add pudding mix and beat until thickened. Spread over cooled shell. Top with whipped topping, and drizzle chocolate syrup over the top.
 
 

Sunday Sermon...

Some days, I feel like taking those giant steps like we did in that child hood game, but most days it's tip toeing across the high line and hoping that I'm going in the right direction because it might be the biggest step I'll ever take!

Wednesday, October 7, 2015

Pen Name... Real Name...

So this morning we were talking over about pen names vs. real names.

I started off writing under Abby Gray since this whole idea of writing romance was going to be a big SECRET. The name took a lot of thought because after all it was going to be the next huge thing in romance books. I could envision NY Times lists, movie deals, needing to buy a bigger wheel barrow  to use to cart all my money to the bank. And OMGoodness, I certainly did not want my lifestyle to be upset by the paparazzi, now did I?

Abby was my one eyed, black and white cat. Her one eye symbolized tunnel vision. I was giving up oil painting, needle work and even retiring my sewing machine to write the great novels of the next century--2000 was right around the corner those days. The color of her fur, black and white, symbolized the writing on the page. But now I needed a last name and my maiden name was Gray. That symbolized that everything is in shades of gray. Even the most evil villain has a soft spot somewhere and even the purest saint will have a little taint somewhere on her white robes of righteousness.

So there, it was my secret. The name was chosen.

But as Paul Harvey used to say, "And now the rest of the story."

My sister was so excited that I'd finally gotten a toenail into the door that she sent out a press release to three newspapers. My mother checked into buying a gilded snake oil wagon and an old mule to take my books on the road to sell along with her liniment for arthritic aches and pains. The bank wouldn't give her a loan for the wagon so she had to put on her Sunday best every time I had a new release and march up and down Main Street telling everyone she knew about the new book.

The line died! That's devastating in a writer's world. It means that there will be no NY Times list, no movie deals and the old rusted out wheel barrow with a bumpy tire will do just fine for many years. I did find a new publisher and decided to use my own name--Carolyn Brown--the very one that my mama and daddy gave me at birth.

Again, "And now the rest of the story."

Had my mama know that Carolyn and Louise both were two of my daddy's old girlfriends, she might have named me Abby or Gertrude or Bessie and she probably would have divorced him a lot sooner than she did.

So the name on the book is mine and after more than 70 books, I don't think I'll be changing it again. And so far I haven't had a problem with the paparazzi. The wheel barrow hasn't needed replaced. And although I've made the NY Times, I haven't had any movie producers knocking on my door.

Sunday, October 4, 2015

Sunday Sermon...

 
And this is my sermon to myself this Sunday morning. I'm not working toward happiness at the end of my life. I'm working toward taking one step at a time and being happy with each experience, even if brings sorrow or joy...to find something good in the experience that takes me a step on forward in this journey of life. If I'm happy then people around me will feel it, see it and want it for themselves so y'all come on and journey with me in my destination.

Saturday, October 3, 2015

Snippet Saturday...

Today's excerpt is from Evening Star which is on sale at Amazon for only $1.99. It's the third book in the Drifters & Dreamers trilogy. The first two are Morning Glory and Sweet Tilly for you die-hard, read-in-order fans but all of them can be read as stand alone sweet romances. Again, thank you from the depths of my heart, to all you who read my books, share them with your friends, write reviews and tell your neighbors about them. Y'all are all truly the wind beneath my writing wings.

* * * * *
 
Addison Carter had never been so humiliated or downright mad in her entire life. Her father and brother had said she’d never be accepted as a female doctor and she’d proved them wrong. At least for three days, she had. Now she had to get back on that train and retrace her journey from Healdton, Oklahoma to eastern Arkansas. Eat crow and wash it down with pride. If she could find a hole she’d gladly crawl in it and die.

“No, they won’t win,” she muttered under her breath and drew her light weight coat closer against the bitter cold northern wind whistling down Main Street, kicking up red dust devils along he way. “They won’t take my pride,” she declared a little louder.

Besides, embarrassment couldn’t even come in second in the race with pure old mad. She could have chewed up Magnolia Oil executives and spit pieces of their sneers from Oklahoma to the Pacific Ocean. She’d survive and no one would ever know she’d been fired before she ever opened her doctor’s kit. She wouldn’t let her family or anyone in Arkansas know she’d been sent packing just because she was a woman. She’d enlist in the service as a nurse and go overseas first. She’d heard tell they took women for that job. She eyed the new black leather satchel at her feet, a present from her brother when Magnolia Oil Company sent her the contract and the letter. No, they didn’t need to meet Addison Carter. They’d seen the school records, read the many letters of recommendation from the professors. They’d hire her without an interview. After all, women were named Sue or Edna. Not Addison. That was reserved in the holy courts of heaven for the male gender.

Euphoria lasted until she arrived at the Magnolia Oil Company office where the driver ushered her in with a big grin on his face. When the officers of the company looked up from behind a massive mahogany desk, their faces registered nothing less than pure shock. Addison Carter was a woman. Great God, they couldn’t have hired a woman. Addison was a man’s name. What was she doing with a man’s name? When the sputtering stopped, the driver said he’d take her back to Ardmore to catch the next east bound train. They put their heads together and decided that they’d put her up in the Hotel Ardmore for one night. One of the men was going back there after five o’clock that evening. Surely she could entertain herself in Healdton for three hours. According to them, it was senseless to make an extra trip to Ardmore just to return her.

“Might bankrupt the whole damn company,” she muttered, shoving a strand of kinky, curly red hair out of her face. The driver had put two trunks and her bags beside a bench in front of the Drug Store according to the swinging sign right above her head. She’d plopped down on the bench, determined that she’d seen all of Healdton, Oklahoma she ever wanted to see. What had seemed like paradise in the letters now looked like only a dusty, dirty little cotton town that had been stung by the oil boom bug.

The bitter north wind picked up speed and dust blew into her face. Few people were out and Addison sure didn’t blame them. She shoved her hands down into her coat pockets and wished for gloves but they were packed down inside the trunk and she wasn’t about to dig into her personal things right there in public.

“Cold, ain’t it?” A lovely lady with dark hair and the clearest blue eyes Addison had ever seen sat down beside her on the bench. “You comin’ or goin’?”

“Thought I was comin’ until I got here but now I guess I’m goin’,” Addison said.

“I’m Tilly Sloan. Where you coming from?”

“’Bout as far west in Arkansas as you can go.  With a good throwing arm, a body could pitch a rock across the Mississippi River into Tennessee. Thought I had a job but found out real quick some men can’t abide a woman doctor.”

“You got that right. Want to come inside for a cup of hot chocolate or coffee?” Tilly nodded toward the door leading into the drug store.

“I’m Addison Carter. I’ve got three hours before my ride takes me back to Ardmore. Might as well,” Addison picked up her doctor’s bag and carried it with her.

“That looks like …” Tilly opened the door.

“A doctor’s bag? That’s exactly what it is. Magnolia Oil hired me. I really am a doctor.”

Tilly’s eyes widened until they were as big and round as the moon. “Magnolia hired a woman?”

“No, they hired a man. They got a woman and fired her before she had time to sneeze. Hired me without an interview on the basis of my recommendations and good grades. I’m right out of medical school. Turned out they thought Addison was a man.”

Tilly laughter was loud enough to make the druggist peer over the tall counter at the back of the store. “That’s a hoot. So you’re a doctor and they don’t want you. Where you going now?”

“They offered to buy me a ticket back to Arkansas where I’m from, but I can’t go back.”

“Get ya’ll a cup of coffee?” Cornelia, the lady behind the fountain, asked.

“I’d like hot chocolate. Doc?” Tilly raised a dark eyebrow.

“Same. And thanks for using that title,” Addison said.

“You are very welcome. Why can’t you go back?”

“Because my father and brother said I was wasting my time getting a medical degree. They said even though women can go to college now and get the training, I’d never find a job. When Magnolia hired me, I made them eat crow. There were going away parties. A huge story on the front page of the newspaper about women finally breaking into a man’s field. I was a celebrity. Addison Carter was about to make her mark in the world. A woman doctor working for a big oil company in Oklahoma. If I went back, I’d be the laughing stock of the whole state.”

Cornelia brought two steaming cups of hot chocolate. “How’s Ford adjusting to the farm?” She asked Tilly.

“Right well. I swear he was born to be a farmer and just using the sheriff’s badge to support himself until he found the right farm.”

“Or the right woman,” Cornelia smiled.

“I’ve only been married a couple of weeks. The sheriff was on his way out of town when I figured out I was in love with him and proposed,” Tilly explained.

“Congratulations. You proposed?,” Addison sipped the chocolate. It did taste good. She hadn’t eaten since early morning. Too nervous for the lunch served on the train. Too angry to eat after the men had dismissed her like something they’d tracked in on their boots from the hog lot.

“Woman’s got to do what a woman’s got to do. It was either propose and be happy, or let him go and be miserable. I don’t like misery,” Tilly said. “Besides he’s a natural born farmer. Just like I am.”

“You don’t look like a farmer. I’d have classified you as anything but a farmer. Maybe a model for one of those New York magazines.”

“Keep talking, Doc, and I’ll hire you myself.”

Before Addison could reply the front door literally flew open and another woman ran inside. She was as stunning as Tilly and her eyes were frantic.

“Tilly,” she said breathlessly, “come quick. Tucker’s been hurt. Briar went over there and found him on the ground. He’s fallen off the barn roof. Looks like a leg’s broken and who knows what else. We’ve got to go to Ardmore and bring a doctor. Ford and Briar have him up in his bedroom but he’s not conscious.”
“No we don’t have to go to Ardmore. We’ve got a doctor right here. Come on Addison Carter. I’ve got your first patient waiting. Hurry up. We’ll help you load your things into my car and take you out to the Evening Star.”

“But …” Addison started to protest.

“But nothing. You a doctor or not? Tucker may be dying. I need help and I don’t have time to drive twenty three miles to get it if you can fix him,” Clara’s blue eyes flashed.

“I’ll go but I might miss my ride,” Addison thought out loud.

“I’ll take you anywhere you want to go if you’ll just come on with me and take care of Tucker,” Tilly was already at the door and beginning to pick up luggage while she talked.

“Who’s Tucker?” Addison asked as Tilly drove like a bat set loose from the bowels of hell, cold dust boiling up behind her car, knuckles white as she gripped the steering wheel, eyes scared half out of her mind.

“He and the lady in the car ahead of me, Clara, are my cousins. But we were all born within months of each other and we’re more like siblings. Tucker owns the farm right next to Clara’s and not far from mine. And he’s going to hate you, so get ready for it.”

“Why? What did I do?”

“You know how stubborn those men were at Magnolia Oil about having a woman doctor? Well, multiply that times ten and you’ve got Tucker Anderson.”

“Hells bells,” Addison breath rushed out in a gush.

“Yep,” Tilly nodded and set her foot down even heavier on the gas pedal.

 

 

Thursday, October 1, 2015

Cruising...

Next month I have the amazing privilege of going on a cruise with three amazing authors, Heather Burch, Barbara Longley and Linda Lael Miller! For your reading pleasure before the cruise begins and during the time we are at sea, Kindle Love Stories and Princess Cruise Lines is offering a tremendous sale on some of our books starting today. My line up looks like this...

All on sale for only $1.99!!!
Check out the cruise and see what Barbara and Heather have on sale right HERE!