Sunday, April 28, 2013

Best Man Blog Tour with Ana Blaze

Today, I'm very pleased to be part of Ana Blaze's Best Man Blog Tour.  She was nice enough to stop by and drop off some neat prizes to be won, so be sure to hit up all the stuff on the Rafflecopter below! 
The Best Man by Ana Blaze is available April 29



Blurb

 

Beth Chase is too busy planning perfect weddings to worry about the lack of action in her own love life. But if she was looking for a man, she wouldn’t be looking at Colin Pratt. Her boss swears that Best Man Colin is a quiet scholar and science fiction writer who couldn’t possibly cause a fuss at his own brother’s wedding. He’s clearly never met the man in question. Snarky, sexy and more than a little inebriated, Colin is the final obstacle between Beth and the last perfect wedding she needs to make partner. Of course, when she helps him into a taxi at the end of the night she has no idea that he’s only just begun to poke holes in her professional exterior. Colin might have the skills to seduce a romance professional, but can he convince her that he’s the best man to share her happy ever after?

 Excerpt
 
 

 


The Best Man
© Ana Blaze
Colin followed her, snatched her hand and spun her around so her back was pressed against the wall near her bedroom door. He kissed her again, one of his magic kisses that left her weak in the knees and nearly distracted from the matter at hand.
 
 “You can’t just get all sexy every time I disagree with you.”
 
 
 His teeth teased her earlobe. “Quite right,” he murmured.
 
 
 “I’m trying to have a serious conversation here.”
 
 
“We’re amazing together. Tell me you don’t feel it too?”
 
 
“Of course I feel something, but it can’t be love.”
 
 
“Why not?” 
 
 
“It takes more than a couple days to know if you’re compatible enough to share your life with someone.”
 
 
Colin touched her temple. “You’re talking about something that comes from here instead of the thing that comes from here.” He placed his hand over her heart.   
 
 
“Yeah, well I’m pretty sure the body part you’re thinking with is a bit lower.”
 
 
Shaking his head, he pulled her hand up and placed it on his chest. “You’re under my skin, Beth. There isn’t a part of me that doesn’t want you.” He brushed her hair off her forehead.
 
 
“You took a pretty hard hit to the head the other day.”
 
 
“It started before that. You floored me the moment we met.”
 
 
“You’re claiming love at first sight?” 
 
 
“Is it so hard to believe?’ Colin skimmed her bottom lip with his thumb. “You have a stack of videos in the other room that tell me you want to believe in happily ever after. Take the chance.” 
 
 
“Those are fantasies, pretty stories about pretty people. I like them, but I don’t think they’re real.” 
 
His hands kept moving; they slid up her neck, down her arms. They tugged her shirt out of her skirt and caressed the small of her back. “Want to know what I think? I think you liked me from the start. I think you felt this connection too, right away.  You tried to act all proper but you couldn’t wait to get your hands on me.”
 
 
She laughed. “I thought you were a pain in the ass.”
 
 
“You mean you couldn’t stop looking at my arse, saucy girl.”
 

 
About the Author

Ana lives just outside Washington DC with her very supportive husband and three rather demanding cats. She loves the ocean, Indian food, IKEA, and cooking. Ana admits to watching too much television and she swears that someday she’s going to learn how to play the guitar resting on the bookshelf in her office.



Twitter: @ana_blaze

 


 

 

Blog Tour Giveaway (US only)

 
 

One lucky reader will win The Best Man ebook and a goodie pack to share with the best man or woman in their life. The pack contains candles, Godiva chocolate, Tuscan lavender soap, Sensual Massage Oil from The Body Shop and two lip treatments from The Body Shop. It will come packaged in a pretty photo box.

a Rafflecopter giveaway
 

Extra stuff

 

Mr. Right, a free novella by Ana Blaze, is available now at Smashwords.

 




 


 
Thanks from the Entranced team for being part of
The Best Man blog tour.

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

My guest today is...

Heather Thurmeier
 
 
So, let's give her a nice, warm welcome to the wonderful world of Margaret Taylor's Thoughts, yes?
 
Good.
 
When Heather and I first discussed her paying a visit, I asked her what she'd like to do. 
 
Did she want to tell us her deepest darkest secrets?  Spill some juicy gossip about celebrities?  Impart her worldly knowledge about Writing?
 
Sadly, she said no to all of those things and decided instead to introduce us all to the Hero and Heroine of her new book, Escape To My Arms
 

Don't you just love that cover?  I know I do...

Sorry, I digress, I apologize.

But, without further ado, I give you Sara and Dane...

Sara, how did you first meet your writer?

Sara: I first met Heather after a writer friend of hers posted a message on Facebook about a call for Prepper Romances. I guess she thought it would be fun to write something like that since she’s a bit of prepper. Her first thoughts for the story were of me sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic, paranoid, nervous and wondering what to do. Gee thanks for that, by the way. It would have been nice if she imaged me on a sunny beach somewhere when the sh*t hit the fan. 
What are your favorite scenes in your book: the action, the dialog or the romance?

Sara: Is this a trick question? Is anyone going to pick the talking parts when you’ve got a hunk like Dane wandering around protecting you?

Dane: Thanks, darlin’. I’d have to agree. Keeping my hands off Sara in that tight tank top of hers was a challenge.
Did you have a hard time convincing your author to write any particular scenes for you?
Dane: There’s a couple of fights scenes that took a little convincing to get Heather to write. They were grittier and darker than she usually writes and she wasn’t sure if she really wanted to take her readers to that place. But in the end, Sara and I won out and we got to defend ourselves fully. It was awesome.

Do you infiltrate your writer’s dreams?
Sara: Sometimes, yes. Sometimes Heather just doesn’t want to listen to my ideas for the story during the day when she’s writing so I have to bug her at night while she’s sleeping. Then she gets all “I had the best idea for the book last night!” even though it was my idea all along. 

What do you like to do when you are not being actively read somewhere?
Sara: I fool around with Dane. When we’re not in bed, he’s usually helping me learn to fight and shoot better.

Dane: Every now and then we head outside for a scouting mission to find out how things are going on the outside.  

Are you happy with the genre your writer has placed you in?
Sara: Absolutely! I love being in a prepper romance. It just fits me.

Dane: *Shrugs* I wasn’t crazy about the whole romance part of this genre, but it’s okay, I guess.
Sara: The romance part is the only reason you’re getting any from me, so you’d think that would actually be your favorite part of the genre.

Dane: I stand corrected.
If you could rewrite anything in your book, what would it be?
Sara: I’d like to rewrite the bad guys out of the book. I really could have done without them!

Do you like the way the book ended?
Sara: Yes and no. I’ll leave it at that because I don’t want to spoil the ending.

Would you be interested in a sequel, if your writer was so inclined?
Dane: Definitely. I’d love for readers to find out what’s been going on with us lately. It’s crazy and exciting!

What is your least favorite characteristic your writer has attributed to you?
Dane: My family history. I wish she could have come up with something a little happier for my life, but I guess it’s a big part of what makes me the way I am.

Sara: I wish she’d made me a little more confident and knowledgeable at the beginning of the book. But I needed room to grow and learn from Dane, so I guess it all worked out in the end.  And, thank you so much for having us today to chat about our book and our author. It was so much fun!
And thank you both for stopping by!  It was a pleasure to meet you.

You can catch up with all Heather Thurmeier's latest news at http://heatherthurmeier.com or on her Facebook or Follow her on Twitter
She's also been nice enough to provide us with a tiny bit of a sneak peak into the world of Doomsday Preppers!

++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Blurb
 
Sara’s been preparing for this moment her whole life—she just never believed it would actually happen. With her bug-out bag and emergency food already in her truck, her only goal is to get to her family’s hidden bunker and wait out the pandemic that’s hit every major cruise ship port in the US. But her plan quickly falls apart. She’s out of gas, her route to the bunker is now a two-lane parking lot with no alternative in sight, and her only weapon is a pocketknife. For an experienced prepper, she’s made every rookie mistake.

Dane believes he’s safe in his cabin, off the beaten path and in the woods with his own source for water, electricity and an endless supply of food to hunt. After finding Sara stranded and alone, he’s suddenly not only providing for and protecting himself, but also the girl who wandered out of the woods and into his life. When looters come looking to take what he has, Sara and Dane’s only option is to make a run for their last hope—the bunker.

Can Sara and Dane find safety in each other’s arms and will they survive long enough to escape to a future together?

Excerpt:

Sara sipped her wine and nibbled on another square of chocolate. He was right. Again.

They didn’t know what would happen in the future. Hell, they didn’t even know if there was a future to look forward to at this point. So why shouldn’t they enjoy the moments like this one while they could? Moments when they were safe, warm, fed, and comfortable. They might not get many more nights like this if things kept getting worse, as they seemed to be. Best to savor the time while you had it instead of squandering it away with fights.

At this point, she didn’t even know what future awaited her at the bunker. Would she live with her family for the rest of their lives, never to interact with people from the outside world again? That’s sort of what they wanted, wasn’t it? Wasn’t that why they hadn’t told anyone about the bunker, because they couldn’t trust anyone?

What if this was her last night on her own? It might be her last night to live her life however she wanted to before she had to start making group decisions with her family.

“You’re right.” She polished off the last of her wine in a big gulp. Her head already swirled with the effects of the alcohol. She’d always been a lightweight when it came to getting drunk. Tonight would be no different. Good thing she’d planned to stop at one this evening. She had other plans for the rest of the night.

“Right about what exactly? I said a bunch of stuff.”

She put her wineglass on the floor and took his hand in hers. “You were right about enjoying this moment we have tonight since we don’t know what the future holds, or even if we have a future.”

“Does this mean I’m forgiven?” He smiled, squeezing her hand.

“Yes. And then some.”

Sara took the wineglass from his hand and set it down next to hers, then straddled his lap, resting her hands on his chest. She pressed her mouth to his, delighting in the surprise on his face.

She wasn’t a throw-caution-to-the-wind kind of girl, but for once she was going to do just that, since she didn’t know if she’d have wind to be cautious of later on. Tonight, she’d live by her feelings. Tomorrow she’d go back to surviving.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Heather, Sara and Dane, thanks again for sharing yourself with us.

Don't forget to have a look at Heather's new book, Escape To My Arms, which is available right now on Amazon, B&N or with her publisher, Decadent!

Amazon   Nook  Decadent

As always, thanks for stopping by.
 
Until next time.
 
Margaret Taylor
 
 

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

And the Winner is...



And the Winner Is...
 
 
The Envelopes have been opened...(Ok, I read the comments)...
 
The Votes have been counted...(I wrote everything down)...
 
And the General Consensus is...(It got 7 out of 15 votes)...
 
ROO!
 
Now the name was actually submitted by my neighbor across the street (I promise you, it was!) but, since I really appreciate everyone coming around to my poor blog and giving it some love (*tears up, sniffles* I'm so proud!)  I'm gonna do something a little different where the prizes are concerned.
 

Everyone who commented or voted, is going to get an ARC of Prophecy of Love.  (YAY!  The crowd goes wild!)  It should be ready sometime in the next month or so, so if you didn't leave your email before and you want a copy, please leave it in a comment after this post.

The GC, the Character and Pet appearance in my next book will go to my neighbor across the street, of course, she did submit it after all. 

But, All of you, whether you voted, or suggested a name, will get mentioned in the dedication!  After all, if you wonderful ladies and gents hadn't been nice enough to come around over the last four days and help me with this, I'd still be calling him "Hey You" or "Come mere"!  So, it's the least I can do, right? 

And finally, mainly because while I like Roo, I really do, I also liked everything else submitted and have decided his official name will be:

Sir Bandit Maximillian Roo, The Gunny of Paradoxes!
 
Do I know what it means?  At 4 am, *laughs* I haven't a clue!  But it sounds super cool don't cha think? So, I'm gonna run with it...
 
Again, in all seriousness, thank you all so much for having fun with this and helping me out.  For an Author, I'm horrible with names, I really am.  I struggle, a lot sometimes, with getting just the right one for my H/H's - much to their chagrin - and have numerous name generators book marked in my browser, trust me!
 
So, not having to think of this and having your help has meant a great deal!
 
Thanks again and for stopping by,
 
Until next time.
 
Margaret Taylor   

Sunday, April 14, 2013

Alright peeps, As Promised, It's time to Vote...

 























Alright Folks, It's Time to Vote for your Favorite:
 
 
So, here's how this is going to work.  I'm going to list the options for this little guys name below and what you need to do is leave a comment with either the name and/or number of your choice.
 
Remember, there's some cool prizes to be won too, so make sure you vote by Midnight, April 14th!  I'll post the winning name and the person who nominated it tomorrow afternoon!
 
The Prizes:
 
1. Obviously, the puppy's forever gratitude, especially if it's a really, super, duper, cool name!
 
2. An ARC of Prophecy of Love (When it's available - we're still in content edits so after this, I should be able to start sending it out, but just think, you'll be the first to have one yeah?)

3. A mention in the dedication of my next book.  Just FYI, I'm working on a shifter series but more to come on that later.

4. A character named for you and your choice of puppy names (IE: You'll get a human - Male/Female your choice and His/Her pet will get the puppy's new name...We'll collaborate a bit on this one as I get deeper into the Shifter Series.)
 
5. Just because I'm cool like this, I'm gonna throw in a $15 GC to Amazon or B&N, your choice. 
 
And the Nominees Are:
 
Now, I was going to pick only three, but there are some really awesome choices, so I'm actually going to pick five from those submitted:
 
1. Roo & and full version Romperoo (Since this seems to be the consensus so far and he does flop around a lot!!)
 
2. Paradox (Just because I'm weird like that!)
 
3. Maximillian (Because it's a very manly name and when he sits, his front paws are sort of bowed)
 
4. Gunny (I've said, I love the Military, and always liked Gunny, *grins*.)
 
5. Bandit (The harness does sort of look like a bandana and he's sneaky sometimes...*grins*)
 
So, there you go folks.  You have all day to make your choice and I'll announce the winner(s) in the morning, so be sure to stop back by and have a look!
 
As always, thanks so very much for stopping by and you have my thanks for helping me choose what to name the darling.  No, really, you do!  The response has been phenomenal!!!!!
 
Until tomorrow,
 
Margaret Taylor



Thursday, April 11, 2013

Need Your Help Everyone...

So, today, while I was out and about for the day job, something strange happened.

I'm driving along, heading for home and a voice spoke in my head.  Now, being an Author I'm quite used to this...matter of fact it'd been happening all day long if you must know because I was working on my WIP as I drove from stop to stop...but this voice interrupted everything else and said...

STOP!

So, I did.  I pulled off into a gas station, looked around for a moment and what did I see across the street?  The San Antonio Animal Shelter....

I sighed.  Keep in mind, I already have 5 cats, but I've learned over the years that when that little voice in my head gets that loud, I listen.

I put my car in gear, drove across the street and two hours later...

Please meet the newest member of my family...

 
 
This is a two-month old (8 week) Mini-Pin/Chihuahua mix.  He is one of a litter of five, two girls, three boys that today I'm proud to say I rescued from a kill shelter.  (They are trying to go No Kill though, so props for that!) 
 
Now, the girls named him "Amigo", but I'm sorry he just doesn't look like an "amigo" to me, so here's where YOU come in and can win some awesome prizes to boot!
 
Here's the dealio...
 
I'm going to run a contest until Saturday, April 13 at Midnight EST.  From now until then, please post what you think this little guy should be named in a comment below.  On Saturday, I'll pick the three best names and post them here to be voted on.  On Monday, the top vote getter (I'll tell you how to vote in the next post) will be chosen and thus the puppy will be happy!  (He's happy right now, he's sleeping soundly on his new Giraffe on his blankie bed!  But I can't keep calling him "Hey You" or "Come mere".)
 
 
 
 
See?  Told you he was...
 
Anyway, here's what you can win.
 
The name with the highest votes on Monday will get the following:
 
1. Obviously, the puppy's forever gratitude, especially if it's a really, super, duper, cool name!
 

2. An ARC of Prophecy of Love (When it's available - we're still in content edits so after this, I should be able to start sending it out, but just think, you'll be the first to have one yeah?)

3. A mention in the dedication of my next book.  Just FYI, I'm working on a shifter series but more to come on that later.

4. A character named for you and your choice of puppy names (IE: You'll get a human - Male/Female your choice and His/Her pet will get the puppy's new name...We'll collaborate a bit on this one as I get deeper into the Shifter Series.)

and finally,

5. Just because I'm cool like this, I'm gonna throw in a $15 GC to Amazon or B&N, your choice. 

But, to me that's just a bonus.  Isn't it infinitely cooler to have a puppy's undying gratitude, get mentioned in a book and be a character in that same book?

I'm just sayin'...

So, with that, I'll leave you now to think up some really cool names.  Please, don't go with the standard though.  I'm Pagan so the weirder the better!  Get me?

And to start things off, we already have two potentials...

My roommate has submitted Tardis - which stands for: Tiny and Relative Dogs In San Antonio - or if you're a Dr. Who fan, which we are in this house, it's a big blue telephone box too!

And my neighbors daughter across the street has submitted, Roo - mainly because when I took the little guy over for intro's to their dog - a wonderful weiner dog by the name of Lilly - my little guy was bouncing around like a Kangaroo while they played.

If you like either of those names, feel free to say so below.

Until Sunday,

Thanks, as always for stopping by.

Margaret Taylor.

Sunday, April 7, 2013

Now He's Done It!

So, today while I was taking a break from writing to flip through my Twitter account and re-tweet things of interest, I ran across a couple of different articles from Best-Selling Author and Marketing Guru Jonathon Gunson.

He's talking about what to do with your social media accounts, what not to do and so on and he's a very informative gentlemen.  His articles are well-written, well-researched and well-presented in ways that are easy for people to understand.

A good one is,   and another, Seven Easy Ways To Completely Sabotage Your Book Sales Just to give the man some love.

But that's not what spurred this blog into action.  No, it was a comment he sent to @SamanthaDighton

Jonathon said:  Thanks for the RT @SamanthaDighton The Pixar story rules went far and wide. PS. Have you seen 'Wreck it Ralph'?

To which I replied:
      
Loved that movie! So many memories of early/mid/late, ok, earlier this morning on World of Warcraft
 
About 20 minutes later, I got an email to let me know he'd given that reply a "favorite".  I laughed like a little kid!  I swear I did...I think I might have even cracked a tooth too while I was smiling.  I couldn't believe that a Best-Seller Author and Marketing Guru would favorite something I said...
 
Wow!
 
Little old me...who knew right?
 
But, that's not the reason for this post.  It really isn't.  (Love to Jonathon though!).
 
No, what it spurred, as things often do with me, was some of the childhood memories Wreck-It-Ralph had given me when I watched it a couple of weeks ago.
 
Things like...
 
My very first video game system...which, by the way, was an Atari!  Yes, I said it, I dated myself, but there ya go!
 
Or,
 
I wrote my very first short story on an old Royal Typewriter!  *gasp*  *shock* *horror*  Yep, you guessed it, I dated myself again.  And when I say typewriter, I'm talking about the massive, green MONSTER that sat on my mother's desk.  It was non-electric, had no form of correction except for me and my handy dandy little eraser pencil and erasable paper and if I got to typing fast enough, the tongues which slapped against the ribbon and ultimately onto the paper, tangled like a train wreck and I had to stop mid-thought and untangle them before I could keep going!
 
Or,
 
My Horse.
 
Now, for those of you that don't know, I grew up on a Ranch.  We had 52 people that worked for us and a number of horses, cows, chickens...well, you get the idea.  I also had this horse named Jared.  And Jared was well...special.
 
He was the smartest horse I've ever known and the most ornery!  Only myself, or on the rare occasion my father, could ride him.  He was almost 18 hands high and we think there was a Clydsedale somewhere in his family history.  There had to be because that was the only way we could find to explain his height and his smarts.
 
Anyway, Jared over the years became quite infamous for his antics and because my current WIP is set on a Horse Ranch, in Wyoming, I thought what better way to pay homage to a very fond, very loved and very missed part of my past than to incorporate him into the work.
 
He's been renamed Duke in the book but I know who he is and now, so do you.
 
So, without further ado, allow me to set the scene for you.
 
Tara, our Heroine, has been shot and is having a second surgery to remove a chunk of bone from where it has settled next to her heart.  Dane, our Hero, Tara's family and some of the Cowboys that work her have gathered in the waiting room to well...wait.
 
Now, keep in mind as you read, the stories the crew tells about their Boss, Tara and her horse, Duke actually, really and truly happened in real life.  Only, replace Duke with Jared and Tara with...yep, you guessed it, Me. 
 
So, with that said, enjoy this brief blip into my own past...
 
---------------------------------------
 
In the end, Thad convinced Dane to give his consent and by noon on May 14th, she was back under the knife.  It had taken some doing, but after all the arguments were said and done, he had to agree that this was her best hope.  It was her only hope actually.  Leaving the bone piece in her chest would kill her, more quickly than not doing something about it.
Still, he’d never known time could move so slowly.  He, Thad, Madie, Simon and half-a-dozen of the cowboys milled about the waiting room and every time he checked the clock, it seemed to have only moved a minute. 
Max had stayed at the Ranch to keep everyone working and Tara would have liked that.  The place was her pride and joy after all.
“I can just hear her now,” Madie whispered tearfully, as if she’d read his thoughts.  “This place doesn’t quit just because I get shot…”
The tension broke with those not-so-simple words and they shared had a chuckle. 
One of the cowboys said, “You guys remember that time she broke her leg?”
Simon rolled his eyes and muttered under his breath.  “Don’t remind me!”
The group laughed and he looked at the one who’d spoken.  “What happened?”
Jones sat forward, elbows on his knees and twirled his hat in his long fingers.  “It was what, guys, ten, eleven years ago?”
Another of them, Blake he thought, answered the question and picked up the tale.  “Twelve,” he said.  “She’d just come back from college.  She strutted around for all of a day, I think, all proud of her degree, trying to be a little lady and what not…until she climbed up in the hay loft.”  He chuckled, shaking his head.  “Someone,” he shot Simon a look.  “Forgot to tell her one of the boards was loose up there.  Next thing you know we hear a screech and the most god-awful string of curses you’ve ever heard echoing out of the barn.”
Richard leaned back in his chair, a wide smile on his weathered face.  “We all go running in, thinking the place was on fire or something and can’t find her.  You could only hear her, shrieking and cussing for all she’s worth.  Eventually we made our way into the loft and there she is, mad as a wet-hen with one leg danglin’ through the floor.”
“She wasn’t to be outdone though,” Simon chimed in.  “She came back from Doc’s place and the next day she appears crutches and all, with her cast painted up like a cowboy boot…”
The group laughed heartily and he couldn’t help but join in.
“Or how about that time Duke threw her?” someone said.
He lifted an eyebrow in surprise.  “He did what?”
Blake was quick to defend the horse.  “Oh, it was purely accidental.  Not much scares that big galoot but he is absolutely terrified of prairie dogs.  We’ve never known why, but he will bolt sure as shit, if one gets close enough.” 
He waved a hand.  “Anyway, she’s out for a ride one day, I think she was runnin’ fence line, wasn’t she?”  After a nod from a few of the others, he went on.  “We all knew where she was and thought nothing of it when she wasn’t back by evening.  She likes sunsets and sometimes will stay in the far pasture to watch them.” 
He shrugged a bit.  “So on this day, we didn’t worry when she wasn’t back by dinner.  About an hour after we eat, here comes Duke up to the house, without her.  We checked him over but didn’t find anything wrong.  But big baby tears off into the barn, opens his stall and goes in, all but cowerin’ in the corner.  We thought that was odd and were saddlin’ up to go look for her when here she comes, soakin’ wet, muddy from head to toe with one boot missing.  She walks right past us into the barn, fuming so hard I swear there was steam comin’ out of her ears.”
Most of the group was already laughing and Blake was barely able to finish.  “She slams into the stall and for a good thirty minutes, cusses that horse out in at least nine different languages I think…” he finally managed, holding his sides.
Simon, wiping tears of mirth from his eyes, added his two cents.  “It was ten,” he said between guffaws.  “Remember? She’d just finished learnin’ Russian…”
The laughter echoed across the waiting room. 
When it had died a bit someone else said, “Or how about the great parade incident of 2004?”
A few of them groaned, quite loudly and Simon hung his head.  “She will never live that one down…”
He couldn’t help himself.  “What happened?”
It was Madie that told this one, her face crinkling with a smile.  “Used to be a time that Jackson’s Run had a Founder’s Day parade; every year round about June the whole town would come together.  They’d build floats, the High School Band would march, the mayor would ride threw and so on.  It was a week-long celebration that was really more of an excuse to party than anything else.  But, this particular year, Duke had discovered…kittens.”
The group groaned again and he had no idea what that meant.
“The big numskull had taken it upon himself to protect anything smaller than he was,” Madie mused.  “It started with one of the barn cats givin’ birth in his stall a couple of months before.  As the babies had grown, he’d taken to lying down and letting them crawl all over him.”  She shook her head.  “It was quite the sight, trust me.  Anyway, Duke was set to be the lead horse that year and start the parade and Tara was so proud!  She talked about it, non-stop for days.”
Again, the group was already beginning to laugh and he wanted her to hurry up and finish so he could get the joke too.
Which she did…
“So, they’re lining things up, getting ready to head down Main Street.  Only there’s one problem, nobody can find Duke!  Tara’s runnin’ all over, looking for him and suddenly there he is…”  She burst into laughter but managed to add, “with a nice, cute, fluffy black kitten hangin’ from his mouth.  He puts his head up, walks to the front of the parade and heads out.”
Everyone burst into laughter but he didn’t quite get it…yet.
Simon picked up the tale because Madie had fallen into helpless giggles.  “Just about everyone in town knows how smart he is, so they thought nothin’ of Tara not being with him and fell into line.  It wasn’t until they were about half-way down Main that someone noticed the kitten Duke had a hold of, had two, bright white stripes down its back…and it wasn’t amused at being rescued.”
Jones, seeing his confused look, explained between chuckles.  “It was a skunk, Dane, a baby skunk and the mamma skunk wasn’t happy about her missin’ baby…”  He made a face.  “Mamma came tearin’ around the corner of Crawley’s liquor store and smack into the middle of the High Schoolers, spraying for all she’s worth…”
Another of the Cowboy’s continued the story when Jones couldn’t.  “They scream and scatter and Mamma goes barrelin’ through the rest of the parade, under floats, over them, sprayin’ anything and everything in her path…”
“It was pandemonium!” Simon added, leaning back in the chair because he couldn’t sit up straight any longer.  “She even got the Mayor, who’d gotten out of his car to see what the ruckus was about.”
He finally got it and once his laughter started, he simply couldn’t stop…
When he could though sometime later, he also understood why she hadn’t been all that mad after the ring-around-the-barn incident on their wedding day.  From their stories, it was apparently the norm for something like that to happen.  She probably would have been more upset if it hadn’t and thought something was wrong.
He leaned back in the chair, chuckling now and again as they waited for word from the Doctor.  His wife was quite the character, just like her horse and their stories only served to reinforce what he’d figured out in the days before.   
She was a fighter, a scrapper and wouldn’t just give up without one hell of a knock-down, drag-out brawl…
And he was, without a doubt, 100% head over heels in love with her…
If she lived through this, no correct that, when she lived through it, he would make sure she never forgot it either!
He pulled the ring out of his jeans pocket, where it had been since she’d thrown it at him and sighed softly.  Despite its lack of flash and pomp, it belonged on her finger.  He should have put it there before she went in and the thought that she might leave this world without knowing how he felt made his heart jerk, hard…
 
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I truly hope you didn't spew anything upon your keyboards or monitors...really, I do.
 
I also truly hope you enjoyed reading that as much as I did writing it.

Oh, and now that I've shared some of my more fond, if embarrassing, childhood memories, I'd love to hear yours too!  So, please, feel free to share!
 
Until next time.
 
Thanks for stopping by.

Margaret Taylor