Be Mine, Valentine
Page 15
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Monday morning Dana knocked gently, then used her key to open her mother’s back door. The kitchen was clean, smelling of cinnamon buns and coffee. Normal. So very normal. Nothing to indicate that everything in that house was now a façade—an artificial sham of a loving home.
After more discussion with Mike and a wonderful weekend with him that made them both promise to make room for together time, Dana had decided not to say anything. She was happier in her own marriage than she had been in months, and could see no reason to wrench her mother’s pleasant memories away from her. She planned to sneak the items out in her purse, then take them home and burn them to cinders. She’d bury the cinders in the garden behind her own house so it couldn’t further corrupt her mother’s environment.
The problem was, when Dana reached the study, her mother was sitting on the couch with the open box beside her—wearing the the red silk tie wrapped around her neck. She was reading the Valentine. And chuckling to herself. No, not chuckling. Outright laughing.
“Mom?” Dana called softly.
No reply.
“Mama?” Dana moved closed and called louder, feeling a bit hysterical. What was her mother doing? Had she had a break with reality? “Mother!”
Margaret Stephens jumped in surprise, turning suddenly to face her daughter. She was blushing, of all things, reminding Dana of a child who has been caught doing something forbidden. As Dana watched, her mother shoved the box and card behind a pillow, her face now a lovely pink as she looked guiltily around.
“I…wasn’t expecting you. That is, not so early. There’s coffee and some cinnamon rolls in the oven. Let’s go…”
“Mama, I need to talk to you about that Valentine to Daddy.” Dana worried that her mother might be in shock. “It’s okay, I found it the other day. I think it must have been a joke, someone making fun of Daddy.”
Her mother looked confused.
“Making fun? No, dear, it wasn’t a joke. Oh, later we laughed about it, but at the time it was very serious.”
Now it was Dana’s turn to be uncertain. “Oh, Mama, do you mean you knew about her all these years and you never…you stayed with him?”
“Her? Dana, who are you talking about?”
“That woman who sent Daddy those things and that card. That ‘Nettie.’”
“Oh, sweetheart, you didn’t think…? No wonder you left here looking like a trauma survivor. You got it all wrong.” She patted the chair beside her. “You come here and sit down and I’ll tell you a story.”
Dana sat.
“We’d had such a terrible argument. It was over money, I think, but it had nothing to do with money, of course, and everything to do with the fact that we were both exhausted. The twins had been sick, there was an audit at the bank that Clark had to supervise, a water pipe broke and we had no water for days… Just one of those weeks one would rather not ever repeat.
“I said terrible things to him, and I hated the woman I was that day. I was shocked that she was here inside me. I wanted to be someone else, somewhere else. I wanted to erase that awful woman from my husband’s mind.”
She smiled and the faded blush came back.
“So I bought the tie and handkerchief, and I picked out the card and wrote on it the things I wanted to say to him.”
Dana sat looking at her very clever mother, imagining the gleam in her father’s eyes when he read the card, the same gleam she had seen in his eyes over the years when he looked at his wife.
“So you were Nettie,” she said, smiling.
“Whenever she was needed,” her mother said, then added shyly, “Or sometimes just for fun.”
Dana hugged her mother tightly, so relieved at this happy ending she felt like dancing. Like waltzing with a red silk tie draped around her neck and Mike in her in his arms. Like buying a dozen silk handkerchiefs to wear…
She pulled away from her mother, laughing at the ideas running through her mind, and grasped the older woman’s hands.
“Oh, Mama, you have to promise sometime you’ll tell me just where you wore that handkerchief.”
About the Authors
Krista Ames
Originally from Indiana, born and raised, Krista Ames has settled in Northern Michigan with the love of her life, who has the unique ability to comprehend her incoherent babblings when she’s bouncing yet another story idea off of him. They share four beautiful children, who more than keep then on their toes, two chocolate Labs and a three-legged tiger cat.
Krista says, “I love to curl up with a book and just read for hours but writing is my true passion.”
Visit Krista’s blog, www.apassionforromance.blogspot.com or her web page, www.kristaames.com. She loves to hear from her fans.
Stories by Krista Ames
“Love in an Elevator”
Believe, Christmas Anthology 2010
“Love Takes the Cake”
Be Mine, Valentine, Valentine’s Day Anthology 2011
Suzanne Barrett
Suzanne Barrett combines her love for writing with her love for creating artisan jewelry. A former facility engineer and Kensington author, Suzanne believes in sharing stories of romance and adventure spiced with a bit of mystery and intrigue. Favorite settings are England, Ireland and her own Northern California.
Married, with grown children, Suzanne and her husband live in the Santa Cruz Mountains where they share their acreage with an elderly cat, several chickens and an assortment of wildlife that includes a trio of wild turkeys. Suzanne is an avid gardener with a penchant for digging in the dirt. She loves to cook and read, and she’s a certified water fitness instructor and teaches at area swimming pools and gyms. When she’s not devouring British mysteries, most evenings find Suzanne at her computer or jewelry bench, a cup of Earl Grey within easy reach, a sleeping cat at her feet, doing what she loves best—creating stories of warmth and passion and designing pendants, earrings and bracelets. Her motto is "Don't wait for something; make it happen."
Visit Suzanne's websites at: www.suzannebarrett.com and www.bellerustique.com
Stories by Suzanne Barrett
Late Harvest
In Love and War
“The Letter” in Be Mine, Valentine
Coming Soon
Taming Rowan
Sierra Bride
Amy’s Gift
Elizabeth Chalkley
Elizabeth Chalkley wrote her first book the summer after fourth grade, a mystery about a well known, fictional, female detective that could have been posted as fan fiction on the Internet—had there been fan fiction or an Internet or even a computer that long ago. Many years later, she is still writing mysteries and romances.
Elizabeth teaches Communication at a small college close to her home in the Kentucky Appalachians which she shares with a cat named Ghost; her first, last, and always husband; and occasionally one or more of their five children and ten grandchildren.
Visit Elizabeth at her new and continually building web site, www.elizabethchalkley.com
Stories by Elizabeth Chalkley
“Fixing Christmas” in Believe
“His Other Valentine” in Be Mine, Valentine
Marissa Dobson
Born and raised in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area, I now reside about an hour from Washington, D.C. I am a lady who likes to keep busy, and am always busy doing something. With two different college degrees, I believe you are never finished learning.
Being the first daughter to an avid reader, this gave me the advantage of learning to read at a young age. Since learning to read I have always had my nose in a book. It wasn't until I was a teenager that I started writing down the stories I came up with.
I am blessed with a wonderful supportive husband, Thomas. He is my other half and allows me to stay home and pursue my writing. My writing buddies Max (a cocker spaniel) and Dawne (a beagle mix) are always around to listen to me bounce ideas off them. They might not be able to answer, but they are helpful in their own ways.
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br /> You can find me at my review site, www.SizzlingHotBooks.blogspot.com. Since I am an avid reader I figured why not put my writing skills, and my reading habit to work?
I love to hear from readers, you can email me at Marissa@MarissaDobson.com. Or visit me at www.MarissaDobson.com.
Stories by Marissa Dobson
“The Twelve Seductive Days of Christmas”
Believe, Christmas Anthology 2010
“Secret Valentine”
Be Mine, Valentine, Valentine’s Day Anthology 2011
Janet Eaves
As is the way with writers of fantasy, Janet Eaves has always lived in other worlds. From the beginning of her memories to this day, she has taken pleasure in those moments when nothing stands between her and that flight of the imagination which rolls scene after scene, carrying her to uncharted places and introducing her to previously nonexistent people that only she hears and sees, until, blessedly, she has the privilege of harnessing the magic and sharing her visions with others through the written word.
Stories by Janet Eaves
Beauty and the Beast: A Ladies of Legend novella
Harvest Moon: A Ladies of Legend novella
Beauty and the Beast with Harvest Moon: Two Ladies of Legend novels in one.
The Christmas Gift: Ladies of Legend, A Legendary Christmas anthology 2008.
The Christmas Heart: Ladies of Legend, Three Decades of Love anthology 2009
Sins of the Father: A titillating story inspired by the tale of Sleeping Beauty
Through Her Eyes: Ladies of Legend 2010 Christmas anthology
“The Dragon Keeper” Something Spooky This Way Comes, in October 2010
“Angel on Board” in Believe, November 2010
“A Mother’s Heart” in Be Mine, Valentine, January 2011
Upcoming Books from Turquoise Morning Press:
Claiming the Legend
Only You
Margaret Ethridge
Margaret Ethridge lives in Arkansas with a sweet-talking Southern gentleman who claims to be her lawfully-wedded husband. She is the (not-so-wicked-but-she-has-her-moments) step-mother to their two children, the adoring mistress of three spoiled dogs, the food purveyor to eleven hungry goldfish, and the comic foil for one rather impertinent house rabbit who thinks he rules the roost.
When she isn’t tapping away at her keyboard, Margaret engages in an epic battle against her never-ending laundry hampers, cajoles the flowers in her yard, sings into her hairbrush, and has been known to hold entire conversations speaking only in movie quotes.
Visit Margaret at www.margaretethridge.com
Stories by Margaret Ethridge
“Concourse Christmas” in Believe, December 2010
“Be Mine” in Be Mine, Valentine, January 2010
Paramour
A paranormal romance novel
January 2011
Upcoming Releases
Contentment
May 2011
Jennifer Johnson
I have aspirations to be Wonder Woman, but find high heeled boots uncomfortable. However, I appreciate that she values truth and that she doesn’t know a bad hair day. I have the heart of a writer and am blessed to be able to write both professionally and recreationally. I reside in the southern United States with my awesome family. They’re okay with me not being Wonder Woman, as long as I take a break from the fictitious worlds I create and join them for supper.
Visit my web site at http://booksbyjenniferjohnson.com
Stories by Jennifer Johnson
The Jinx
The Clergy Affair
Holding Out for a Hero
Rescue Me
“Valentina: The Untold Legend” Be Mine, Valentine, January 2011
Coming in June, 2011
Double Dog Dare
Amy LeBlanc
A longtime resident of the wild woods of Maine, Amy le Blanc penned her first intergalactic romance at the age of twelve to the horror of her friends and family. Not content to rest on her creative laurels she perused a degree in Creative Writing and Library Studies at the University of Maine at Augusta and quickly settled into the exciting world of the small town librarian. Quickly realizing that she enjoyed writing books much more than cataloguing them she decided to pursue her lifelong dream of actually publishing what she wrote. So now with two children, five cats, one very understanding husband and twelve terribly written manuscripts hanging around her farmhouse she divides her time between writing her heart out and ignoring housework.
Stories by Amy LeBlanc
“Secondhand Horses” Believe, December 2010
“The Red Dress” Be Mine, Valentine, January 2011
Upcoming releases from Turquoise Morning Press
Eating Cake
Dinner for Two
Tell Me What You Want
A Perfect Stranger
From LazyDay Publishing
Dark Rogue, December 1, 2010
Tamed in Texas: Deep in the Heat of Texas Anthology, February 14, 2011
Tracy March
Tracy March is a recovering pharmaceutical sales executive and award-winning writer. Her novels draw from her experiences and encounters in the medical field and her love/hate relationship with politics. They feature characters facing ethical dilemmas in unethical times, and powerful elitists willing to kill to keep their secrets.
Tracy is a member of International Thriller Writers and is a contributing editor to The Big Thrill webzine. She is also a member of Romance Writers of America and their Mystery/Romantic Suspense Chapter.
Tracy lives in Yorktown, Virginia, with her husband who works for NASA. They recently experienced two years living in Washington, D.C. where they discovered enough drama to inspire a lifetime of stories.
Visit Tracy at www.tracymarch.com
Stories by Tracy March
“Bittersweet” in Be Mine, Valentine, January 2011
Coming in June 2011
Girl Three
Nancy Naigle
Nancy Naigle writes love stories from the crossroad of small town and suspense. A native of Virginia, she and her husband are living out their own love story on an 80-acre working goat farm with their two labs and dozens of kids (the four legged kind).
Learn more about Nancy at her web site, www.nancynaigle.com
Stories by Nancy Naigle
“Forever in my Heart” in Be Mine, Valentine, January 2011
Coming in November 2011
Out of Focus
Cat Shaffer
Cat Shaffer is a native Buckeye who saw the light and moved to Kentucky over 20 years ago. Able to say “Louisville” like a native, she adores living in the land of beautiful horses and fast women…no, wait, it goes the other way around! Away from the keyboard, she's a mother and grandmother, a Red Cross volunteer, and leads her church choir. She lives with a big Sheltie and a gray tabby who keep her humble by reminding her of her place as their servant.
Visit Cat at www.catshaffer.com
Cat Shaffer Books
Kentucky Blues, August, 2010
No Safe Place, December, 2010
Bittersweet, June, 2011
Short Stories by Cat Shaffer
“Mall Magic” Believe, December 2010
“One Perfect Moment” Be Mine, Valentine, January 2011
Bobbye Terry
A native Virginian, Bobbye Terry now resides in the cotton fields of West Texas with a Chocolate Lab that has a sock fetish. Bobbye is a multi-published author of romantic comedy, fantasy and suspense. Now, writing solo, except for a possible collaboration on special projects, she continues to write with extensive humor, even in suspense, where southern charm meets macabre reality.
Learn more about Bobbye's books by visiting her web sites:
www.BobbyeTerry.Blogspot.com
www.DarynCross-fantasy.Blogspot.com
www.DarynCross.com
www.TerryCampbell.com