“I promise I will always treat you as my equal, I promise to never bad mouth you and if I do get out of line, I promise I won’t take it out on you when you sass me. I promise to support you in whatever you do, even if it’s a harebrained scheme thought up by the gray-haired knitters behind me who are not even pretending not to listen.” The group titters at that and lean closer making sure they don’t miss a word he says.
“I promise that when you finally admit you’re mine, I’ll make the most romantic proposal a man can think of, but I wanted to make this promise in front of all your friends. Because I’m also promising them that I will treat you right. And I know perfectly well what they’re capable of if I break that promise.” He shivers in mock horror. “So, what do you say? Will you put me and my knee out of my misery?”
The tears that are gathering in my eyes disappear as I laugh at Tommy’s lame attempt at humor. I reach for him and hold his hand as I respond, “I can’t promise you that I’ll be in the best wife in the world.” Tommy snorts, but I silence him with a look. “I can promise that I will try my best. I also promise to let you know when you’re being a jerk and I promise not to put up with your shit.”
“That’s good enough for me. No, that’s better than good enough.” Tommy’s smile lights the room as he pushes the ring onto my finger and reaches forward to kiss me. Cheers erupt and I quickly release Tommy’s lips and hide my face in his shoulder, which is shaking with laughter.
I hear Izzy shouting from her hospital room. “He did what? While I was in a hospital bed? Did someone record it?”
“Already uploading it to YouTube, Izzy girl.” Of course Jack is. I wouldn’t expect otherwise from my boss slash friend slash amateur detective mentor.
“I bet five months,” Betty says.
“Nah,” Grandma responds. “A year.”
“But the real bet is when she’s going to get pregnant,” Martha says and I look up to see her eyes sparkling.
Rose grabs a notebook from her purse and the gray-haired knitting detectives bow their heads and start to name their bets on the wedding date and the birth date of our first baby. An envelope appears and cash is exchanged. Tommy leans into me and whispers, “They still scare the daylights out of me.”
I lean back and burst out laughing. I don’t cover my mouth. I don’t try to keep my laughter in. I just laugh.
Thanks!
Although writing is very much an independent endeavor, it takes more than a single writer to finish a book and publish it – even for us indie writers. First and foremost, thanks to my friends and family that allow me to bounce ideas off of them at the most random and sometimes inappropriate of times and locations. I’d name everyone individually, but I’m terrified I’d forget someone and then we’d start a whole passive-aggressive thing and I’d be completely clueless. Of course the hubby deserves special mention for designing my book covers, being a beta reader, and just being all-around Mr. Supportive. Sometimes I worry he’s going to figure out that my characters feel more genuine to me than real life, but then he comes home from work wondering how Izzy, Jack, or Dee is doing and I know he doesn’t care. Then there’s my editor, Carol Allen, who not only copyedits my books but also patiently explains the difference between breathe and breath to me again and again, which I never fail to promptly forget. I also want to throw a general thank you out into the digital universe to thank all the book bloggers that have helped me promote my book and especially those who took the time to read and review it.
Of course I can’t forget to thank you, the reader, for buying the book and reading it. I would be extremely honored and thankful if you could write a review – even if it’s just a line or two. You can do that here.
Unfortunately, this book signals the end of the Gray-Haired Knitting Detectives series, but I’ve got lots of book ideas I’m working on. If you want to keep up with what I’m writing next and maybe some good deals on books too, sign up for my newsletter. Do that here. Or you can just follow me on social media where I’ll probably say lots of inappropriate things thinking I’m being hilarious.
About the Author – Me
I’m a bit disappointed that there’s nothing exciting happening in my life since the last time I updated this little author bio. I wish I could say that I was off climbing lost Mayan ruins or learning to kite surf or something, but nah, it’s just me sitting in my home office in Istanbul churning out book after book. My apologies, but here’s that bio you’ve probably already seen. I was born and raised in Wisconsin but think I’m a European. I even have the EU passport to prove it! After spending my senior year of high school in Germany, I developed a wicked case of wanderlust that is yet to be cured. My flying Dutch husband and I have lived in Ohio, Virginia, the Netherlands, Germany and now Istanbul. We still haven’t decided if we want to settle down somewhere – let alone where. I’m leaning towards somewhere I can learn to surf even though the hubby thinks that’s a less than sound way to decide where to live. Although I’ve been a military policewoman, a commercial lawyer, and a B&B owner, I think with writing I may have finally figured out what I want to be when I grow up. That’s assuming I ever grow up, of course. Between playing tennis, running much slower than I would like, trying to adopt every stray dog within a 5-mile radius, traveling to exotic new locales, singing off tune, drinking entirely too many adult beverages, addictively watching new movies and reading books like they are going out of style, I write articles for a local expat magazine and various websites, review other indie authors’ books, write a blog about whatever comes to mind and am working on my seventh book.
Other books by D.E. Haggerty:
Unforeseen Consequences
Buried Appearances / Begraven in het Verleden
Life Discarded
Murder, Mystery & Dating Mayhem
Jack Gets His Man
Love in the Time of Murder
Connect with me online:
Website & Blog
Twitter
Facebook
Goodreads
Google+
Pinterest
The Gray-Haired Knitting Detective Series: (Books 1 - 3) Page 45
