Yes?
No?
“She loves me,” Tony said.
Melanie put a hand on one hip and said, “That’s not going to stop her from throwing something at your head if you don’t do this right.”
Remembering how beautiful his little blonde angel looked with her cheeks flushed and her breasts heaving with anger, Tony said, “I don’t mind a little temper in a woman.”
Melanie covered her eyes and groaned. “David, don’t let him ruin what could be his only chance to bring her back. I really like Sarah.”
David held up two hands before him and said, “What makes me the relationship expert?”
Forgotten during the post-dinner meeting, Jace grabbed Tony’s hand and said, “You should listen to my mama, she knows everything.”
Melanie ruffled her son’s hair. “You tell ’em, Jace.”
David said, “My mother always said that God made kids cute when they were little so parents could cling to those memories in their teens.”
“As long as he doesn’t turn out like the two of you, I’ll be happy,” Melanie joked.
Tony looked down at his young advisor and said, “Jace, could you go check on the barn with David? I need a moment alone with your mother.”
Jace hesitated, not letting go of Tony’s hand until he clarified something. “You mad at her?”
Shaking his head, Tony said, “Not at all.” He smiled down at Jace. “Besides, in a scrap, I’m pretty sure she’d win.”
David said, “Come on, Jace. Let’s go see how our pregnant mare is doing. She’s looking ready to foal. Maybe tonight. You can name the new one if you’re there.” With one last look at Tony and Melanie, Jace agreed and followed David out the door.
When they were gone, Tony took out a folded piece of paper and handed it to Melanie. She opened it, gasped, and tried to hand it back to him. “I can’t accept this.”
“The property sits on the edge of mine. You can keep it or sell it, but I want you to have it. Jace deserves a place he can call his own and so do you. I spent a lot of time thinking over the past few weeks. This ranch has been my sanctuary and my curse—so well insulated from the world that I didn’t have to face what had driven me here. I think it’s been the same for you. It’s not going to be like that once we start dealing with the public again. There’ll be no place to hide. I’m hoping you see this as an opportunity, but if you don’t, you can take the money from that house and buy a place more private.”
Clasping her hands in front of her, Melanie said, “Are you firing me?”
“Damn, I’m not good at this, am I? I’m trying to tell you that you and Jace have a home, no matter what changes around here.”
Eyes glistening with emotion, Melanie hugged the paper to her stomach and said, “You’re a good man, Tony Carlton, and I was wrong. You don’t need my advice. You just go get Sarah. You’ll have no trouble talking her into forgiving you.”
“I was hoping to keep the actual talking to a minimum,” Tony said with a straight face, then winked.
Melanie laughed softly, then her expression turned serious and she said, “Just tell her how you feel, Tony, and you can’t go wrong.”
I will, Tony thought.
This time I will.
Sitting at a small wooden desk in the living room of her temporary apartment on Melanie’s parents’ ranch in Telson, Sarah wrote the two most satisfying words across an entire page of her notebook: The End.
She’d written not only one, but two short books. No, they weren’t perfect. They needed revisions, but she’d done it. She’d created a world of characters she felt others would enjoy.
They say write what you know, so I did.
Tempted (in Texas)
Torn (in Telson)
By Breshall Haas
Sure, Texas wasn’t as specific as Telson, but it sounded a whole lot better than Mussed in Mavis. Or Fucked at Fort . . . see, that didn’t even work.
Tempted was a powerful title that described the incredible journey she’d been on. A better version of it, anyway. No midnight nervous-fart-releasing laps around a cabin.
And Torn. Well, any writer will tell you that the worst of what you endure can inspire the best fiction.
Book three will have to wait until I find my own hero. Or at least until I think of another title that starts with a “T” besides “Tragic.”
She thought back to her first impression of Tony and the title for the last book came to her: Taken. In the cabin and for a short time following their return from it, she’d glimpsed what it would be like to belong to Tony. In the end, he just wasn’t where she was—and knowing how painful it was to be held hostage by the past made Sarah feel more sympathetic toward Tony than angry. He would have loved her if he’d been capable of it.