Wade

by Jennifer Blake

  After the pros and cons were hashed out, however, a decision was made to continue with Wade but remove any reference to actual persons and relocate the setting to a fictional “mirror” country. These changes would allow for mental distance and relieve the need to align the plot with daily news reports from the Middle East. Accordingly, Hazaristan was created as a substitute for Afghanistan, and I was able to complete the book only two weeks behind schedule.

  The version of Wade that you hold in your hands, then, is not the same story I started out to write. Regardless, the points I intended to make are still there, still valid. Severe restrictions continue to be imposed on women by Islamic fundamentalist governments other than that of Afghanistan. The need to fight to preserve our right to live without fear is even more imperative now than prior to September 11. The power of love to strengthen and to heal is just as certain, no matter where or how it begins. It’s my hope that readers will take these grains of truth from the story, as well as some small insight into what it means to live as a woman in certain portions of the world.

  I’d like to take this opportunity to thank my editor, Laura Shin, MIRA Books editorial director Dianne Moggy, and my agent Richard Curtis for their faith and support. Special thanks are also due Mehmooda, Web mistress of the Internet site of the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (rawa@rawa.org) for answers to pertinent research questions. The RAWA organization as a whole deserves the utmost praise for their courage in shining the bright light of public opinion on the atrocities committed against women by Islamic fundamentalists. Without them, this book would have been impossible, and might have been another story altogether.

  Jennifer Blake

  Chatham, LA

  December, 2001

  P.S. It would not be fitting to end the Louisiana Gentlemen’s series without including a recipe. Here is the unusual bread pudding baked by Wade’s mother in the story.

  Pirate’s Bread Pudding

  1 loaf French bread

  2 cups milk

  2 cups half-and-half

  4 eggs

  2 cups sugar

  ½ tsp. salt

  1 tsp. cinnamon

  ½ tsp. nutmeg

  2 tbsp. vanilla

  3 tbsp. butter, melted

  1 cup chopped pineapple

  1 cup pecans

  1 cup raisins

  1 jigger rum

  Pour rum over raisins and set aside to soak. Break bread into bite-size pieces and place in large bowl. Pour milk and half-and-half over bread and set aside for an hour. When well softened, stir until mixed. Whisk eggs, then add sugar, salt, spices and vanilla. Add to bread and milk and mix well. Fold in raisins. Melt butter in the bottom of a heavy 9x12 cake pan, then slowly pour pudding mixture into the pan. Top may be dotted with more butter if desired. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 to 50 minutes or until set.

  Whiskey Sauce

  1 stick butter

  ¾ cup sugar

  1 egg

  1 jigger whiskey (usually bourbon)

  Whisk egg, add sugar and beat thoroughly. Melt butter in a saucepan over low flame. Add egg and sugar mixture and stir constantly over low heat until steaming hot, but not boiling. Add whiskey and stir to a creamy smooth texture. Drizzle over warm bread pudding.

  If you liked this novel, look for these other titles by Jennifer Blake always available in eBook format:

  The Louisiana Gentlemen:

  Kane

  Luke

  Roan

  Clay

  Wade

  Masters at Arms:

  Challenge to Honor

  Dawn Encounter

  Rogue’s Salute

  Guarded Heart

  Gallant Match

  Garden of Scandal

  ISBN: 978-1-4603-0507-2

  Wade

  Copyright © 2002 by Patricia Maxwell

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  All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.

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