Walter and Sam and Stirling and Loren agreed to join him in the endeavor. It seemed like they understood, although none of them spoke of it. Tommy Lee called Stephen to see if the young man wanted to join them, and Stephen thought the idea was stupid, but he didn’t want to be left out, so he would send a check to help with expenses. Sam, talking to Rennie, came up with plans as close as possible to the original structure.
Over the following weeks, the men oversaw the construction and the cottage went up. The women were happy, and Tommy Lee had a sense that he had done a very good thing. Especially when he looked into Molly’s eyes.
Author’s Note
I’m asked repeatedly where my stories come from. I have to admit that they come from my own life, from the lives of family and friends and their friends, and from the lives heard about while waiting in grocery store checkout lanes.
The story of Molly and Tommy Lee is the universal story of love and marriage and family. In this way it is my story and that of at least 85 percent of the married couples in the world, in one way or another.
With that in mind, let me put in here, lest there be mistaken supposition: I have no sisters, and I adore my lovely mother-in-law, who has a lot of color in her life, not to mention all of us making a mess of her life at numerous holidays. My own dear mother can be wonderfully eccentric, but she drives a Toyota and never goes out for breakfast.
This book is for those two grand ladies, who have taught me much of what I know about loving, and for dear friends Karen, Dixie, Machelle, Carolyn, and Mary, and to all of you out there who have walked the valleys and the hilltops of the familiar road and continue to walk on.
Most of all I dedicate this story to James David Matlock, my husband, the bravest man I know.
—Curtiss Ann Matlock
* * * *
If you are a fan of country music, you probably realized the chapter titles are actually song titles. Many thanks to the singers of these songs that bring pleasure, comfort, and inspiration. I couldn’t write without your music.
—CAM
Copyright © 1997 by Curtiss Ann Matlock
Originally published by Avon Books
Electronically published in 2003 by Belgrave House
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
No portion of this ebook may be reprinted in whole or in part, by printing, faxing, E-mail, copying electronically or by any other means without permission of the publisher. For more information, contact Belgrave House, 190 Belgrave Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94117-4228
http://www.belgravehouse.com
Electronic sales: [email protected]
This is a work of fiction. All names in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to any person living or dead is coincidental.
Table of Contents
LOVE IN A SMALL TOWN
Curtiss Ann Matlock
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Fallin’ Apart
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Time Passes By
Chapter 5
Hold Me
Chapter 6
Get Real
Chapter 7
Whole Lotta Holes
Chapter 8
Life Gets Away From Us All
Chapter 9
What Are We Fighting For?
Chapter 10
I Know Better Now
Chapter 11
Halfway Down
Chapter 12
That’s As Close As I’ll Ever Get To Loving You
Chapter 13
Going Out Tonight
Chapter 14
A Woman’s Got A Right
Chapter 15
The Woman in Me
Chapter 16
Keep Walkin’ On
Chapter 17
It Matters to Me
Chapter 18
What I Meant to Say
Chapter 19
Early Summer Rain
Chapter 20
Wild Angels
Chapter 21
Life’s A Dance
Chapter 22
If I Needed You
Chapter 23
Deep Down
Chapter 24
Then Again
Chapter 25
Diamonds To Dust
Chapter 26
Can’t Keep A Good Man Down
Chapter 27
Once Upon A Lifetime
Chapter 28
Heaven in My Woman's Eyes
Chapter 29
Here We Are
Chapter 30
Time Marches On
Author’s Note
Love in a Small Town Page 34
