by Verna Clay
Carl said, "I agree. It would increase living space and enhance the room's ambiance, especially with muted lighting inside the shelving."
The next photo was of a bank of windows with the bear head and trout above them. Monica's throat felt so parched she couldn't swallow, and when the next one displayed the kitchen, she made a little sound that turned everyone's eyes in her direction. Dirk ignored the sound. "The kitchen is very outdated. Of course, it's up to Monica, but perhaps she would recommend granite countertops, new appliances, and enlarging the window over the sink to take advantage of the view."
Carl jumped in with a comment. "Oh, yes, I can easily see that—even a center island with a breakfast bar."
Dirk punched the next slide and a tear slid down Monica's cheek. It was Dirk's bedroom, the place she had spent countless hours in his arms.
He said, "This will be the most difficult room. As you can see, it has no personality. It's simply a place to flop. The reason for that is because my wife died three years ago, and to cope with my sorrow, I removed everything that reminded me of her."
Tristan, Carl, and Sondra instantly murmured consolations. When Monica didn't say anything, her coworkers glanced in her direction.
Dirk responded, "Thank you. However, I recently met someone I want to spend the rest of my life with and I want her to redesign the room however she wants."
"Well, that shouldn't be a problem, Dirk. We'd be happy to meet with her anytime."
Dirk punched the remote and a picture of Tessa's room lit the screen. By now, Monica was swiping tears and her coworkers were turning their heads back and forth between her and Dirk.
Dirk said, "This is my daughter Tessa's room. I don't think anything needs to be done. She's very gifted and creative and recently finished her room with the help of a wonderful woman. In fact, she's the woman I want to marry."
Tristan, Carl, and Sondra didn't say anything; probably because they had finally figured out who that woman was.
"This is the last photo." Onscreen, a completely empty room appeared. "It will be our baby's room."
At his words, Monica covered her face and burst into tears.
*
Dirk glanced pointedly at the other people in the room. "Could I be left alone with Monica for awhile."
Tristan was the first to respond. "Ah, yes. Of course." He jumped up and motioned his coworkers toward the door. "Please take all the time you need."
Dirk nodded and didn't move until they had left the room. Monica's weeping broke his heart. He knelt in front of her and wanted to pull her into his arms, but he kept his hands at his sides.
Softly, he said, "Honey, I'm sorry to put you through this, but I didn't know how else to get my point across." He placed a hand on her knee. "I love you and I want us to have a life together. We're as different as night and day, yet we're perfect for each other. I need you. Tessa needs you. And we can give her a brother or sister, maybe both. But I have to have closure. I took a chance in coming here because it's all I knew to do. Darlin', if you tell me to leave, I will." He lifted his other hand and stroked his fingers down her arm. "Will you marry me, Monica? Will you let me give you the loving family you've always longed for? Will you let me give us a child?"
A huge sob erupted from Monica and she wept behind her hands, "I've missed you so much!" In an abrupt movement, she threw her arms around his neck and cried, "I love your cabin just the way it is. I even love the dead animals on the walls and…and…the Formica countertops. Yes! I'll marry you!"
Neither one of them heard the creak of the door as it slid open or saw three heads peeking around it. They were too busy making up for lost time.
Epilogue
Monica hurried into the living room. Momentarily her gaze was captured by the specially mounted gold buckle Dirk had won at the NFR competition in Las Vegas two months previous. She smiled and lifted her gaze from the award on the mantel to the family portrait above it.
Beside her, Dirk said, "Darlin' you'd best get going."
She was running late for her first real outing since Candi's birth, but she was reluctant to leave her three week old and started to make an excuse to stay home. Dirk, holding their baby, laughed. "Honey, I've got all the bases covered, and besides that, Tessa is here. We'll manage for a couple of hours. Please go meet your girlfriends at Dixie's Cuppa Joe and enjoy yourself.
Grinning sheepishly, she replied, "I'm sorry for being such a worry wart."
"No, sweetheart, you're just being a new mother."
Monica gazed lovingly at Candi.
Tessa entered the room. "Mom, you'd better hurry."
Dirk handed Candi to Tessa. "Sweetie, why don't you hold your sister while I walk Monica to the truck."
Tessa cuddled her baby sister and sat in the rocking chair in front of the hearth that Monica often used to comfort Candi, feed her, or just stare at her in wonder.
Monica said, "Okay. Okay. I'm outta here. Just let me give my Candi some kisses and my Tessa some kisses. I love my girls."
Dirk waited in the kitchen and when she stepped inside he pulled her into an embrace waving a chocolate morsel. "I'll trade a kiss for the last ChocoDrop."
Monica grinned. "Who would have thought Alligator's latest flavor would be so tasty?"
Dirk teased, "First my kiss, then you can have your Rhubarb ChocoDrop!"
Author's Note
I absolutely adore the characters in Candy Kisses. I hope they also touched your heart.
Writing this latest "Kisses" story has made me want to continue the series. As for the next hero and heroine, I haven't a clue…well, maybe I have an inkling, but it's too soon to reveal anything.
For now, the second book in the Finding Home Series must be written. Set during the late 1800s, the first book, Cry of the West: Hallie, is the story of a widow woman and her eight year old son traveling the Oregon Trail from Missouri to Oregon. And, of course, it's a romance!
As for the second book, I have already decided on the title: Rescue on the Rio: Lilah. Since I like following family members, Lilah is Hallie's sister.
Another story I have been writing off and on is The Ordinaries and it's a sci-fi futuristic romance between a clone and an "Ordinary." That's about all I can say at this time because it's still coming into focus in my mind.
Lastly, I want to thank all my readers and say, "Don't be shy. I'd love to hear from you!"
Now here's an excerpt from Cry of the West: Hallie.
Cry of the West: Hallie
Prologue
March, 1866
Hallie Wells rested one arm around her eight year old son and swiped her eyes with the handkerchief clenched in her other hand, trying to remain stoic. When men from her church began lowering her husband's coffin into his freshly dug grave, she had to bite her lip until she tasted blood to keep from sobbing, and when the first pitch of dirt sounded on the simple wooden box, she wanted to wail.
Timmy, who had been so brave the past two days, turned into her side and buried his face against her bosom, his thin body shaking with gut wrenching sorrow. Hallie's heart broke for her child who had loved his father dearly.
Mrs. Murdock, the pastor's wife, placed a hand on Hallie's shoulder and Pastor Murdock said kindly, "Hallie and Timmy, it's time to leave."
Slowly, clutching her son, Hallie turned from the grave, but at the last minute she paused, staring at her husband's coffin as if peering into its depths, and whispered, "I'll fulfill our dream, Thomas, I promise." After that, she released the sob she had been trying so valiantly to keep inside.
Chapter One: Finding Courage
The crackling fire, usually so comforting on a cold night in mid March did little to dispel Hallie's anxiety. Staring into the flames, she took deep breaths and closed her eyes, but her mind refused any semblance of peace.
Thomas, why did you have to be in the wrong place at the wrong time? Why did fate send you to St. Louis on the same day as a tornado?
In the week since her husband's burial, H
allie and Timmy had mourned his loss, each in their own way. Timmy, usually outgoing and rambunctious, became reserved and quiet, while Hallie, hoping to still her fears for awhile, weeded flower beds and scrubbed and cleaned the cabin that had been her home for the past seven years with her husband and childhood sweetheart.
Now, with Timmy in bed and her head drooping from exhaustion, sorrow, laced with fear of the future for her son and herself, could no longer be held at bay, and her tears coursed unhindered. That awful day when Pastor Murdock had galloped to her farm with the sad news of her husband's demise replayed itself in her mind. The kindly pastor had tried to offer some consolation by explaining that Thomas, shielding a little girl from debris thrown by the tornado and saving her life, had been struck himself, and, according to the deputy sent to locate Thomas's family, most likely not suffered since he'd never regained consciousness. But the thought of her sweet husband suffering brought a fresh wave of tears and, for a few minutes, Hallie allowed herself the unreasonable feeling of anger toward Thomas for dying and leaving her and Timmy alone. Her anger was soon replaced by self-pity because now they had nothing; all their worldly belongings having been sold a month earlier to a family soon to take possession of their home.
Finally, with her anger and pity-party spent, Hallie inhaled a shuddering breath, stared into the orange flames, and resolved to find a solution to her dilemma. Methodically, she inventoried her predicament—she had no home, no employment, and practically no belongings. What she did have, however, was the reason for Thomas's trip to St. Louis. In his pocket had been three tickets for passage from St. Louis to Westport Landing aboard the steamboat Mirabella leaving in mid April. She also had enough money to purchase a wagon, oxen, and supplies necessary for travel with the train headed west on the Oregon Trail a week after her arrival in Westport.
You have more than that; you have the dream Thomas inspired.
For the first time in days, Hallie smiled.
Tom, your dream of adventure and new beginnings was infectious.
For a few minutes, she envisioned the land her husband had diligently researched—the Willamette Valley in Oregon. Even now, his enthusiastic voice rang in her ears. "It's the next best thing to heaven, honey. So beautiful it steals your breath away. We'll start a new farm with crops that fairly burst from the ground they're so happy at being sown. We'll build a home to last through generations. We'll have the adventure of a lifetime. Can't you hear the Cry of the West? Come on, Hallie, say you'll consider it."
A log popped, hissed and crumbled, the sound bringing Hallie back to the present and crumbling her memory of that magic moment—but not her reply. It was the same today as it had been on that glorious day—"Yes, I'll go!"
Shoring up her resolve to continue onward to Oregon, Hallie determined that her next step was to hire a man to drive the wagon she'd purchase in Westport. She would have to budget carefully in order to pay him and the expenses of their journey, as well as the beginnings of her new life in Oregon, but it was all doable.
While considering her options of finding an upstanding man to escort her and Timmy westward, she dozed in her rocking chair dreaming of beautiful Oregon, a new state full of opportunity in this vast United States.
Novels and Novellas by Verna Clay:
Western Romance
Contemporary:
Romance on the Ranch Series
Dream Kisses
Honey Kisses
Baby Kisses
Candy Kisses
Historic:
Unconventional Series
Abby: Mail Order Bride
Broken Angel
Ryder's Salvation
Finding Home Series
Cry of the West: Hallie
Rescue on the Rio: Lilah (coming soon!)
Fantasy Romance
Shapeling Trilogy
Roth: Book One: Protector
Fawn: Book Two: Master
Davide: Book Three: Prince
11:11: Countdown to 2012
The Theory of Everything
Far Into Yesterday (Novella)
Jazmine (Novella)
Sci-Fi Fantasy Romance
The Ordinaries (coming someday!)
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Speak of the Devil
Chapter 2: Compassion
Chapter 3: Dislike at first Sight
Chapter 4: Tessa
Chapter 5: Mac and Cheese
Chapter 6: ChocoDrops
Chapter 7: Chocolate Surprise
Chapter 8: Tubby Tessa
Chapter 9: Doc Jones
Chapter 10: Coffee Clique
Chapter 11: Woman-to-Woman
Chapter 12: Parade Princess
Chapter 13: Concrete Memories
Chapter 14: Party Down Hoedown
Chapter 15: Bustin' a Boot
Chapter 16: Whispers
Chapter 17: No Popcorn Tonight
Chapter 18: Coming to Grips
Chapter 19: No!
Chapter 20: Recollections
Chapter 21: Personally Recommended
Epilogue
Author's Note