InSight
Page 33
His thoughts roamed back to Dana Minette without conscious effort. He couldn’t decide whether she was cute, pretty, or beautiful, though his skill judging women was twenty-one-years rusty. He didn’t score the trifecta in honky-tonk bars, but he wasn’t after looks in those places.
Dana Minette possessed something quite different. Determination, humor, and warmth, all wrapped up in an attractive package about sixty-three inches in height. Better still, she didn’t appear the type to genuflect for money or position. So how did a creep like Robert Minette get a woman like her to stay with him for twenty years?
He remembered the first time he saw Minette, with his white-collared, pin-striped shirt, suspenders, and shiny suit. The man had done everything to rally the townspeople against the murderer who wanted to live among them. Reece had run too far and too long to run again. He fought Minette and won. So where did the lawyer find the nerve to drive into his yard, say he had no hard feelings, and act like Reece should fall at his feet and say Yassuh, Masser.
“No one refuses Robert Minette,” he said, slicked-back hair glistening in the morning sun. “Robert Minette gets what he wants.”
Reece laughed and ordered him off his property. The attorney stormed away in his Escalade, a spray of gravel spitting from its tires.
Not this time, bub, and good riddance to you.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
To my good friend and critique partner, Ellis Vidler, for her constant support, encouragement, and generosity. She’s forgotten more about writing than I’ll know in my lifetime. To Maggie Toussaint, a writing partner I’ve yet to meet, whose excellent critiques throughout this book kept me honest, to Linda Lovely, Lynda Fitzgerald, Linda Cambier, and Helen Turnage, whose critiques added so much to the final manuscript. To Barbara Plott, who accompanied me up the Saluda Grade to find the perfect location for the cabin in the story. To the owner of Hyman’s Seafood in Charleston, SC, who gave me permission to mention his wonderful restaurant. And to the South Carolina School for the Deaf and Blind, their track coach, Jack Todd, and the amazing blind computer experts who helped create a more realistic picture of my blind heroine. To my family who cheered me on, and to my friends who rooted for my success, my heartfelt appreciation. I hope I haven’t let you down.
Thank you all.