Sunday, August 28, 2016

Sunday snippet...

I hope everyone's Sunday is going well. Today's post comes from the first book in the Indigo Spring series, Prince Charming Wore Spurs. We all like the Cinderella story, in this case, our heroine has to live up to Cindy's legacy.

When Gillian Malone decides her father is not finding her a mother fast enough, she enlist the help of a match maker, Celeste Tate. Lucky for Gillian, Celeste has just had something fall into her lap when a Washington socialite is left at the altar by a low-life fiance. Delaney Holmes needs the lifeline that Ava Tate and her mother Celeste can provide.

Here's a snippet from Prince Charming Wore Spurs.


He was late. Logan Malone hated not being punctual. Today of all days, when he had this
wrench thrown into the works his back rear tire decided to go flat. Reaching up, he pulled the white Stetson from his head as the automatic doors to the airport lobby opened. A flash of cool air blew the heat from his skin and ruffled the dark blonde curls he kept cut short on his head. Eyes focused on the long counter of the airlines that lined the back wall with their various logos, he stepped up to a lone clerk working on her computer.
"Pardon me, ma'am."
She glanced up. Her eyes widened and her smile grew. "How can I help you, sir?"
"I need to know if flight 625 has landed."
"Let me check."
He waited while her fingers flew over the keyboard.
"Oh, they arrived twenty-five minutes ago. You might find them over at baggage." He followed her point to the right.
"Thanks."
"Sure thing," she replied.
Of course, she'd be early. He took a deep breath and lengthened his steps, dodging the oncoming human traffic, oblivious to the admiring glances of the women, young and old, who he passed. The message his father left was cryptic. Pick up the nanny for Gillian on the eleven o'clock flight at Dallas International. To say he'd been shocked was an understatement. He hadn't known his father thought his daughter needed any nanny. There were at least a half a dozen cowboys and Mrs. Saunders, the housekeeper. They were stepping over people as it were.
However, his father assured him it was the right thing to do. The stock needed to move to the summer pastures and preparations confirmed for the drive to the rail yards. Gillian would be alone quite a bit. He just wished he knew more about this woman even though his father said she had the best references and Celeste Tate gave her word this would be an excellent match.
He really wished his father hadn't said those words. Everyone in Indigo Springs, maybe in the state of Wyoming, knew about her business. Glass Slipper, Inc, he mused. Just like his daughter, she was obsessed with that fairy tale stuff and finding true love. Well, he'd had love once and lost it on a twist of fate. He wasn't about to try again.
Mrs. Tate said she'd be wearing a ball cap. He shook his head. Shoot, this day and time, didn't everybody? He paused beside an empty carousel and scanned the waiting passengers. At least ten people were wearing ball hats. Two were under the age of twelve, the rest were men.


That left the woman standing by the exit and another sitting in the corner hunkered down beside an elderly woman looking as if she wanted to avoid the world as his likely candidates. The exit doors opened and a man swept the woman into his arms. He turned toward the one trying to shrink. Odds were this was his passenger.
Cautiously, he advanced. The closer he came, the more he could see the older woman was in control of the conversation. He paused by the luggage carousel to watch. The young woman beneath the brim of the cap hardly appeared to be over twenty, if a day. He couldn't see her face because of the way she held her head, but she looked as if she'd break in half if someone yelled boo. This is the kind of woman his father thought could run after Gillian! Evidently, neither his dad nor Mrs. Tate remembered what a handful a five-year-old going on twenty could be.
As he came closer, he could hear part of the conversation. “Yes, my daughter and her husband didn’t get along at all in the beginning. Like two bulls ready to go at one another.” He watched the older woman reach over and pat her arm. “You know that saying, about how close love and hate can be.” She chuckled at her own joke.
 The young woman looked up. He caught the miserable expression on her face as if she were begging someone to come save her. He took a deep breath and looked down at his white hat he held in one hand. Yep, every hero wears one.  He grimaced and stepped forward.
 “Sometimes, you don’t know love when it happens, or you mistake it for lust. It happens. My mother used to say, you have to kiss a lot of toads before –“
His footsteps made them both look up. The older woman stopped speaking. Her deep blue eyes raked over him and softened as she determined that he was off no danger to their virtue. Her interest peaked, she murmured, "Oh, my."
The woman with the ball cap swallowed and gazed at him from behind her sunglasses.
“Afternoon,” he nodded.
“Afternoon, young man.” The elderly woman elbowed the girl again. Her eyes twinkled merrily as she spoke. “I think this one is for you.”
Logan gave a lopsided grin and addressed the young woman. “Ma’am, are you Miss Carson?”
The young woman sat up and hesitated. “Yes, I am.”
“Mrs. Tate sent me to pick you up. She couldn't come.” 

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