Kentucky Rich

by Fern Michaels

“Sooner or later us late bloomers blossom up,” Nealy said, tweaking Smitty’s cheek.

  Nealy stopped at a Mobil station to fill the tank of the rented Lincoln Town Car. According to the map Smitty had provided her with, she was now on Route 22 and about ten miles from Kendrick’s house. She allowed herself to look in the rearview mirror while the attendant filled her gas tank. The entire backseat as well as the floor were filled with boxes and bags of new clothing, gifts, and Christmas decorations. But it was the front seat that held the most important gift. She bent over to peer inside. A wide smile stretched from ear to ear.

  The back of the pickup truck waiting at the end of the lot held a twelve-foot Douglas fir and several evergreen wreaths that were completely decorated. By paying extra, the tree people had agreed to follow her and set up the tree in Kendrick’s living room.

  She felt excited as she paid for her gas and turned on the car’s engine. Damn, it was cold. But it was supposed to be cold for Christmas, which was just days away. Now that she was just a spit away from Ken’s house she wondered what she would do if he wasn’t home. What if he had guests? What if? Surprises were just that, surprises. It was too late now to worry about what-ifs.

  She thought about the first Christmas she’d spent with Hunt and how she’d cut the tree down herself. She’d ended up with a bush, but the kids loved it. So long ago. Another life.

  Nealy turned on her right blinker. God, she’d almost missed the turnoff. She drove steadily for another fifteen minutes up steep, winding roads before she came to Lotus Crescent Drive, where she turned left. Ken had told her there were only three houses on the dead-end street, and his was the one in the middle.

  It was a storybook house perched on the side of the mountain. Tudor in style with lots of gingerbread and diamond-paned windows. In the summer months the brown vines climbing the house would be green with shiny ivy. It looked like a house that cried for a family, not a solitary bachelor.

  Inside the six-thousand-square-foot house, Kendrick Bell was adding another log to the fire when he heard the sound of a car. Probably the meter reader, he thought as he walked over to the front window. His eyebrows shot upward at the same moment his jaw dropped.

  Nealy!

  He watched her get out of the car and look around. He could feel his heart fluttering in his chest. She’d finally come to him. Something he’d wished for, prayed for. It is a season of miracles, he thought happily. He noticed the truck, then, and the two men hefting a huge Christmas tree from the bed. Nealy was bringing him Christmas.

  She was moving to the passenger side of the car, opening the door, reaching in for something. Probably her purse. And then he lost sight of her as the two men carrying the huge Douglas fir passed in front of her. The doorbell rang. He tripped over his feet in his haste to get to the door before it rang a second time. He pulled it open, stood back, and waited.

  “Merry Christmas, Ken,” Nealy said as she stood on her toes to kiss him lightly on the cheek. “I brought Christmas. This,” she said, handing over a large basket, “is my gift to you. Good, you have a fire. Take it over there, and I’ll close the door.”

  “Where do you want this, mister?”

  His eyes on Nealy’s, the basket in his hands, he turned. “Wherever you think it will look best. Any corner. The middle of the floor is good, too. Whatever.”

  Ken was all thumbs as he worked the top of the huge wicker basket. Two shiny, dark heads popped up. They yipped and wiggled to be free of their tight cocoon of warmth.

  “This is Gracie and this one is Slick. They’re shepherds. Six weeks and three days old. Merry Christmas, Ken. They come with a lot of gear and instructions. I think they’re probably hungry and in need of some water.”

  Nealy looked around as she pretended not to see Ken’s wet eyes as he cuddled both dogs against his chest. “Nice place you have here. It’s almost too perfect. Uh-oh, looks like your tree is going in the middle of the floor.”

  “The middle is good. That way you can see it from all angles. Jesus, Nealy, I can’t believe you’re here. I can’t believe you got me two dogs! I guess my next question should be why?”

  “I hated the thought of you spending the holidays alone, and since I was going to be alone, too, it didn’t make sense when we could be together. I wanted to surprise you, but on the way here I realized one should never do things like this. I think every scenario in the world flashed through my mind. You know, all the what-ifs.”

  “I’m so glad you came. I can’t tell you how I dreaded these holidays. Other years it wasn’t so bad because I was working and there was always a Christmas party of some sort at one of the restaurants every single night. This is so much nicer. How long can you stay?”

  “I’m yours till after the New Year. Do you think you can handle me that long?”

  “Absolutely. I think you’re going to have to help me with these dogs. As much as I’ve always wanted one, I don’t have the first clue as to what to do with them.”

  “They’re just like people, children in this case. The first thing you do is love them and then you feed them, see to their needs, love them even more, and they will love you unconditionally. It doesn’t get any better than that.”

  “No, I guess it doesn’t. Do you want to tip those guys? My hands are kind of full at the moment.”

  “I already did. Thanks,” Nealy called to the men’s retreating backs. “Oooh, it smells so good, doesn’t it? I just love the smell of balsam. I brought some wreaths for your front door and windows. We can put them up later. Now we have to take care of these little guys.”

  Dinner over, the kitchen cleaned, and the tree decorated, Ken dusted his hands dramatically as the two pups chased each other around the living room. “I think we earned ourselves a nice nightcap and a comfortable spot on the couch in front of the fire.”

  “I think that’s a great idea, Ken. The pups are wonderful, aren’t they? Watch, in about five minutes one or the other is going to fizzle out, and then they’ll curl up by the fire and sleep all cuddled up next to each other.”

  “We could do that, too.”

  “Yes, we could,” Nealy said, flopping down on the sofa. She patted the space next to her. Ken eased himself down beside her. He reached for her hand.

  “I’m so glad you came, Nealy. So, how do you like my place?”

  “I think it’s beautiful. I don’t know why, but I thought it . . . you would have used a professional decorator. Men usually do. I guess I’m surprised at your good taste. It’s obvious you like comfort,” Nealy said, referring to the deep chocolate sofa and equally deep, comfortable chairs scattered about the living room.

  “Considering my circumstances, comfort was what I was looking forward to. My doctor is angry with me. He thinks I should be exercising, walking, doing activity things, and I try but . . .”

  “You’re afraid, is that it?”

  “I’m ashamed to admit it, but yes, I am. There’s something else I should tell you. You must be wondering . . . at least . . . damn, this isn’t going to come out right. I’m just going to say it. In case you’re wondering why I didn’t . . . what’s the expression the younger people use these days? Hit on you? I’ve been . . .”

  “Afraid to have sex,” Nealy said, finishing his sentence. “That’s understandable. Tell me something. Is it your intention to hole up here for the rest of your life? Do you plan to read your life away? Television can kill you.”

  Ken laughed. “That’s exactly what Metaxas said. When she was the sickest and undergoing her chemo, Ruby still made an effort to do things. He pointed that out to me daily. I feel like a slug, and I know it’s something I have to work through. Until you stare at death you can’t understand the fear. I know the cardiologist is right. I feel wonderful. I’m just afraid if I start doing things I won’t feel this wonderful. I’ll react to every little ache and pain with panic. I guess that’s more than you wanted to know.”

  “We can work on that together starting tomorrow. You have two dogs now t
hat will need to be walked. I love walking in the crisp, cold air. Doing it together will be good for both of us. Think how nice it will be when we get back. We’ll have big cups of mulled cider while we curl up with the dogs and look at this beautiful tree. It really doesn’t get much better than that, Ken. When you do things together it makes all the difference. Whatever will be will be. Do you remember when we first met, I told you I wanted us to be friends. I still do. This is our jumping-off place.”

  “Friends it is,” Ken said, squeezing her shoulder.

  “Did I ever tell you about my first experience cutting down a Christmas tree? Actually we now refer to it as our Christmas bush.”

  “No, tell me about it.”

  They talked of the past, the present, and what the future might hold for hours and hours. They walked down their respective Memory Lanes, sharing and laughing.

  “So you got married for all the wrong reasons, eh? At least you got married. I could never bring myself to take that step.”

  “It stopped working for us early on, but it was obvious neither one of us wanted to do anything about it. Hunt looked elsewhere. I pretended not to know. I had the kids and the horses. To this day I’m not sure if we loved each other.”

  “Too bad. One good thing came out of it, your son. He seems like a great young man.”

  “He is. He practically runs the farm. Emmie is a driving force, and so is Buddy. I find myself with time on my hands, but that will change next month with the court case and Misty Blue giving birth. This foal is for Ruby, so the next three years of my life are mapped out for me. To tell you the truth, Ken, I don’t know if I have it in me at this point in time. I did promise Ruby, though. It’s something she desperately wants for Metaxas, and I can’t deny her that.”

  “Is there anything I can do to help out?”

  “Oh, you bet. We can always use an extra hand. It might be good for you, Ken. You could see what my world is like. What it takes to train a winner. It’s like no other feeling in the world. It’s not something I can explain; it’s something you have to be part of, something you have to experience. You’re more than welcome to go back with me. Hell, I’ll even pay you.”

  “An honest-to-God salary?” Ken said in pretended amazement.

  “Yep.”

  “Are you worried about the lawsuit?”

  “I’m not worried for myself, but I am worried about my brothers. I did a dumb stupid thing. Of course it didn’t seem dumb or stupid at the time. I went back to fix up the house for them. It was drab and dingy, and they needed things to be warm and bright. At least I thought they did. I told myself I was letting the sunshine back into their lives. The courts could decide to rip the farm right out from under them. That hateful old man forged his brother’s name to a document. The whole thing is just one damn big mess. It looks like the Colemans have a legitimate claim to SunStar Farms. We, on the other hand, have a claim on the whole ball of wax where they’re concerned. Unfortunately, their holdings at the moment are worth zip. We had to give our samples for DNA. The Coleman lawyer laughed her head off when Clem told her we wanted DNA samples from Seth Coleman. Then the craziest thing happened a few weeks ago. It was a fluke to end all flukes. Ruby gave me a locket that Fanny Thornton had given to her a long time ago. For no reason other than she wanted Ruby to have it. When I told Ruby about the DNA she told me about the locket. In it was a lock of Seth Coleman’s hair on one side and on the other side was a lock of Sallie’s hair. Ruby said Sallie Thornton never gave up the search to find her siblings, and the one time Seth and his family went to her mountain in Las Vegas, she took a snip of it while he was sleeping. I don’t know why she would do something like that, but I’m glad she did. I just don’t know what’s going to happen. It’s a real mess. If I dwell on it, I make myself crazy.”

  “And the search for your other relatives, how’s that going?”

  “It isn’t. Nick said the detective just took my money and didn’t do anything. I’m beginning to think he’s right. I have two choices. I either do the search myself, or I find another detective agency. I’d kind of like to do it myself. Once Misty Blue gives birth, I could take a few months to work on finding our people. Nick and Emmie can handle the foal for a little while. For the most part, it’s just watching him to make sure he doesn’t hurt himself. They’re just so frisky at that age. Kind of like those two guys sleeping over there,” Nealy said, pointing to the two sleeping puppies. “By the way, their names are Gracie and Slick. I forgot, I already told you that.”

  Ken roared with laughter. “Gracie and Slick. Perfect! For whatever good I’ll be to you, I’d like to help, Nealy. Two heads are better than one.”

  “Do you mean that, Ken?”

  “To coin a phrase from my good friend Nealy Clay, I never say anything I don’t mean.”

  “I think we’re going to have quite a few things to toast when we usher in the new year next week. I’m so glad I came up here.”

  “So am I.” Ken sighed. “So am I. Our time will come, Nealy. I promise.”

  Nealy snuggled deeper into the crook of his arm. She smiled contentedly.

  “I’m going to hold you to that promise, Ken.”

  “I never make promises I have no intention of honoring, Nealy.”

  Dear Reader,

  I hope you enjoyed meeting Nealy Coleman Diamond between the pages of this first book in my new trilogy. I had a lot of fun developing Nealy and watching her grow so she could get ready to move into the second and third books—Kentucky Heat and Kentucky Sunrise. I believe she’s every bit as wonderful and enticing as Billie Coleman and Fanny Thornton.

  I don’t know about you but I’m always sad when I turn the last page of a book. Inevitably, I want more. For that reason, I’ve included the first chapter of Kentucky Heat for your enjoyment.

  I think all, or, at least, most of you know I love writing about women who become strong because they persevere and prevail. To me there is no greater entity than family. For that reason, I would like to share two poems, written by good friends about the meaning of family. On my best day I could never write a poem. Perhaps that’s why I treasure these two, and want to share them with you.

  There is something else I want to share with you. I’m taking cooking lessons! I have to tell you, it’s hard giving up the pinch, the dab, just pour, don’t measure, method of cooking. I don’t know if I’ll ever become a gourmet cook or not, but I’m enjoying the classes. Cooking kind of reminds me in a way of writing a book. You start with nothing and create something from that nothing. From me to you, I share this, my first culinary endeavor. I got an A on the dish.

  Enjoy.

  P.S. You can reach me through e-mail:

  fernmichaels@fernmichaels.com and you can also drop by my web page: www.fernmichaels.com.. As always, I welcome your comments.

  Family

  The first breath of a newborn child a wonder of life to be shared Proud parents hold tight their creation blessed by heaven this day Tiny pure miracle of life from love, tenderness, passion and care Souls bond joyously as family with the humbling of life to pray

  Precious gentle and tender, a new generation miraculously formed The wonderful gift of life bestowed to a pure and innocent heart New beginnings welcomed and sweetly kissed by sacred dawn Bonds of love bind tightly ensuring kith and kin not to easily part

  Memories of childhood passing by momentarily without due cares Children enveloped snugly within the protection of family womb Together nurturing each moment thankful in unison with prayers The harsh pendulum of time threatening adolescence all too soon

  Teenage years beckon confusion presenting countless self-doubts Self-discovery and unexplained emotions clambering each to sort Young hearts impatiently seeking what the puzzle of life is about Experiencing first love and firmly in the net of passion be caught

  Loves found and loves lost each leaving incomprehensible pain Finding emotions being repeated with lessons in life ever harsh Comfort and protection from family bosom heals
again and again Until love finds a nest in the adult two lives sharing the same path

  The gift of love to and from our family is nestled deep in all of us Umbilical safe haven of sanctity, wherein secrets kept safe forever Strong bonds impregnable knowingly secure in each other’s trust Our family, learns, laughs, cries, loves and happily lives together

  Lee Minshull

  FAMILY

  Years ago

  in some century past

  one woman stepped forward

  to take up the quest!

  of creating the outlines of our family crest

  one man joined her

  in this holy deed

  thus beginning the pages

  of our family creed

  two ribbons entwined

  in this tapestry

  forming the pattern

  of our destiny

  the fabric still unfolds

  with each alteration

  its design particular

  to each generation

  our family lives on

  through struggle and strife

  a tribute to those

  who brought it

  to life

  Diane Daniels

  Lime Chili Shrimp with Coriander and Avocado

  1 pound large shrimp

  clove garlic

  3 tablespoons soy sauce

  1 teaspoon chili powder

  1 tablespoon brown sugar

  2 teaspoons fresh lime juice

  2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

  ½ teaspoon hot chili peppers or flakes

  4 to 5 teaspoons olive oil

  1 solid but ripe avocado

  2 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander leaves