Autumn in the City of Angels

by Kirby Howell

  “Lightning, Shad. The expression is ‘greased lightning,’” Ben said, sighing heavily.

  “I know, but my horse’s name is Thunder. So you see what I mean? See how that works?”

  “But it doesn’t work,” Ben argued, and I saw we were in for a short lecture on the origin of the expression. “It doesn’t make sense-”

  “Guys,” I interrupted.

  “You have to come to the dance, Winters. My fireworks are going to light up the sky like it’s the Fourth of July.”

  “Connie’ll get her there,” Ben said to Shad.

  “I don’t know. Connie might have to bind and gag her,” Shad added.

  “I’d like to see that,” Ben said.

  “I’d pay to see that,” Shad countered and nodded, the sombrero wobbling on his head.

  I sighed and glanced sideways at Grey, who leaned back against the counter and folded his arms across his chest. His usually composed face appeared sad.

  “You know, fertilizer?” I heard Ben say and refocused my attention. “You said you’ve been wanting some for your garden at home.”

  “Took us a week to collect that much. Hope you appreciate the shi–”

  “Joke’s getting old, Shad!” Ben rolled his eyes.

  “I was just going to say I hoped she appreciated what we went through,” Shad said, crooking an eyebrow at me. “Cause you know, not all fertilizer is created equal. We scooped only the best for you, Autumn.” He batted his eyelashes.

  “Thanks guys. It’s a weirdly useful gift,” I said. “I really should go.” I smiled at them, then glanced at Grey and started to the front of the store.

  I only went two steps when a siren pierced the air, wailing loudly over the howl of the wind outside. I froze, my eyes darting to the store’s dusty windows.

  Footsteps thumped loudly from behind me, and Shad flew by, flicking the sombrero onto a shelf as he flung open the door and ran into swirling dust outside. He paused just outside the door, looking toward the nearest guard tower. The wind pressed his shirt against his torso, and he protected his eyes with cupped hands. I saw him mouth what could only be a curse but couldn’t hear anything over the wind. He rushed back to the doorway.

  “They lit the beacon!” he shouted. “It’s not a drill!”

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Dana Melton and Jessica Alexander, who write under the name Kirby Howell, have been writing together since 2000 when they met as freshman in their first scriptwriting class at the University of Alabama. Dana, a native Southerner, quickly showed Jessica the ropes and the joys of living below the Mason Dixon Line. Having lived in nearly every other part of the country, it didn’t take Jessica long to acclimate to sweet tea, grits and football. Four years later, with a couple film degrees under their belts, they moved to Los Angeles to pursue their professional writing careers.

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  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  This book would not have been possible if it weren’t for the love, advice, talent, and support of many people.

  We’d like to first thank our lovely beta readers: Amanda, Anna, Ashley, Beth, Brian, Cara, Connie, Courtney, Dan, Debbie, Izza, James, Jen E, Jen K, JR, Judy, June, Karen, Katie D, Katie G, Kristin, Laura, Lush, Matt, Megan, Morgan, Sarah, Todd, Wendy, Yuya, and last but not least, Momma Howell and Momma Kirby. You all provided the steam that we were empowered by (and some names for the book, too).

  This book was ingeniously edited by Kristin Walters. Your speed with grammer still amazes us. We owe you one.

  Judy Bogdonove taught us the difference between lay and lie. Though, I’m sure we’ll need another lesson soon.

  Raine McNeil... you make us look good, girl. Your cover art is second to none. Thank you for your spectacular talent.

  Beta # Zero and “Autumn” modeling services generously provided by A.Z.P. You read the first treatment back when Autumn was engaged and in her twenties and Ben was a single dad. Thank you for allowing us to take really close pictures of your face. You rock for dying your hair red for us... again.

  Thank you for taking 1,127 pretty pictures for us to use for our book covers, Brian Alexander (aka the original “Mister”). We owe you a Scotch.

  Cudos to Heather Whidden, owner of “Reflections Of” Photography, for taking our brilliant author picture while enduring a day long “Autumn” tour of Los Angeles.

  Grey would not have had such intelligent things to say if it weren’t for our astrophysics and aeronautics advisor, Eric Melton. Thanks for keeping the tv turned down while we worked at the kitchen table.

  Thank you, Anne Alexander, for proofing our Gaelic, and to the gentlemen of Clan MacAlister for pointing us in the right direction. Fortiter!

  Fellow author, Katie Alender, gave us our first advice about writing a novel. Chris Loveall gave us more priceless advice on developing our story. Jen Pooley gave us our last advice, setting us out on the brave adventure of independent publishing. Thank you for helping us get from ‘there’ to ‘here’.

  Thank you to Mike Everleth for the patient tutorial on ebook formatting, Brice Shultz for the awesome marketing graphic design, and Bob Everland for the tech support when our website took a nosedive.

  Finally, we’d like to thank Glenda Williams for introducing us in Scriptwriting 101. Roll Tide, ya’ll.