“Thank you so much for the ride, Mr. Wheeler,” Barbara said politely as he pulled his boat onto the shore in Franklin.
“Yes, thank you. We will let you know what we decide,” Marion told him as they both got out of the boat.
He nodded cordially but was thinking to himself that he had wasted his entire afternoon on two women. What in the world could they have been thinking? He tied off his boat and made his way into the small town, moving away from them and not saying a word.
“Well, are you hungry again, or should we return to the hotel and discuss what we saw?” Marion asked, wondering how Barbara’s stomach was feeling. She knew her own had recovered sufficiently that she was starving.
“I could eat,” she began slowly, already lost in thought over the island. She was burgeoning with ideas and wondered if they could afford to act on them all.
They didn’t talk about the island as they ate at the diner again. The locals were listening in avidly. It was so obvious it was almost amusing. They understood and smiled in a friendly manner at the eavesdroppers as they ate their meals.
“What do you think?” Marion asked as soon as they were in the safety of their hotel room.
“I liked it,” Barbara began cautiously, her eyes sparkling with the excitement she was feeling. She had felt so alive on that island, and she hadn’t felt like that in what seemed like forever. Then she rethought that. She felt alive in Marion’s arms, but it was so different from what this idea and concept felt like.
“We could build a cabin…or ten and rent them out,” Marion put in, her own enthusiasm trickling out. She wasn’t fooled by Barbara’s quiet demeanor. She saw the sparkle in her eyes, and it was exciting.
“Do you think we should?” she asked, again sounding cautious.
“I think God puts things in your path for a reason. We both hate our lives in the mill and are slowly dying inside. I felt as though my soul got aired out on that island today. I’d like to go back and poke around. Do you think Mr. Wheeler would lend us his boat?”
Barbara immediately shook her head. “I bet we can rent one somewhere.”
“You think they would rent to two women?” Merion mused.
She had to admit the blonde had a point. It was frustrating that two competent women were not allowed to do things simply because of their sex. Things had changed since before the war. Still, they had to conform a bit for society. “I want to go back,” Barbara admitted.
“You think two people could make a living on an island like that?”
“I wondered that too. There’s that one meadow, and we could plant an orchard and a garden, but that wouldn’t really bring in that much money,” she mused, thinking practically. “What about the initial price of the island?”
“No bank is going to lend a woman money without a man to co-sign,” Marion pointed out, reminding her what had happened before and paraphrasing what they had been told.
Barbara nodded. They’d already known that. Even when Marion was selling her house, they had come up against the condescension that a woman alone couldn’t possibly understand the intricacies involved in such a complicated financial transaction. “There’s the money from the sale of my house,” she mentioned, as though they both hadn’t already thought of that.
“And my house as well as the life insurance policies.”
“Shouldn’t we save something in case something goes wrong?”
“We could always go back and work at the mill,” Marion pointed out, although the thought of failure depressed them both, much less the thought of working at the mill for the rest of their lives. “Brian always said, ‘Nothing ventured, nothing gained.’”
Barbara nodded, a little jealous of the man in her girlfriend’s past life. Still, he was gone, killed in the war like her own husband, and nothing was going to bring them back. “Bob had the same kind of saying, but it was me that managed to get us that house,” she said nostalgically, missing the house that had been their home but not the man. She didn’t regret getting rid of the house to take up housekeeping with this woman she had come to love so much. Their love had surprised both women with its intensity and even the fact that two women could be in love with each other. After selling their homes, they ended up living in an apartment. They hadn’t realized they couldn’t get another mortgage without a man signing the financial paperwork with them. Neither one would think of bothering their male relatives with such a matter. Most of their extended family felt they were a little too independent raising their three children together. What they should have done was sold one of the houses and moved in together, but they had thought they could buy another house together…until the banks had told them no.
“So, we buy the island outright and build from the ground up?”
Barbara nodded slowly, worrying about the money and their finances. They had enough between them to buy the island and build a small house on it, but the thought of what else they would need scared her. It meant giving up a safety net that they just might need later.
“We’ll need a boat, some sort of dock, as well as a million other things we haven’t even thought of.” Marion started ticking off things on her fingers.
“The children will have to start correspondence school.”
“The children are going to love this adventure,” the petite blonde pointed out, knowing their children hadn’t been happy to give up their homes and their yards to live in a much smaller apartment.
They discussed a lot of things, agreeing on almost everything before they headed to bed. They were tired from the trip on the ferry, exploring the island, and the fresh air. Their initial attempts to make love proved that the bed had squeaky springs, and not wishing to be discovered, they decided to hold off until they had more privacy.
TO BE CONTINUED…
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Pirated Heart (Book 2)
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The Journey Home
In the midst of the Great Depression, Cassandra (Cass) Scheimer is trying to keep the family farm afloat in the Big Woods of Wisconsin...alone. As a local midwife and struggling backwoods doctor, she certainly doesn't need more mouths to feed.
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Vetted (Book 1 in the Vetted Series of books)
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Videos:
Biography of Books Video: http://youtu.be/lXFhJd3nUos
Couples Video: http://youtu.be/otC-sRVa8IA
Doctored Video: https://youtu.be/d2pCL34d6d0
First Video about book covers: http://youtu.be/PDavhcwQ4PE
Germanic Video: http://youtu.be/2lNcDhYG7yE
Ghostly Love Video: http://youtu.be/zyC5CNIfNvg
Long Distance Romance Video: http://youtu.be/hcHq56MYe-A
Kiss Me: http://youtu.be/M1_6qLi0eoo
Malice: http://youtu.be/ZPrpOT4J6Vw
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Sapphic Cowgirl Video: http://youtu.be/HAv8aJeGkQ4
Sapphic Surfer Video: http://youtu.be/jHj0LJzFlRU
Sensual Sapphic Video: http://youtu.be/oxDIKNNRNC0
Ships Video: http://youtu.be/OXRE-958kY8
Timed Romance Video: http://youtu.be/Hc3P_a14NYg
Veil of Silence Video: https://youtu.be/UrppB1bzC_8
When you lie next to me video: http://youtu.be/TN1Q8dfYuMY
Interview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKQnH4kQQP4
Readings: Ships: http://youtu.be/q8Ksvd-Apow
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