Six Months in Montana (Montana Sweet Western Romance Series)
Page 15
Their dinners arrived and Traci tried to make small talk while they ate and focused the conversation on happier things like the the high school football team’s recent win. That put Billy in a better mood, and once the waitress cleared their plates and brought them each a cup of coffee, Traci cleared her throat. It was time.
“Billy, we need to talk,” she said gently.
“We do?” He was busy pouring sugar into his coffee and didn’t seem to be paying much attention.
“I think you’re really great, and I’ve enjoyed our time together, but I’ve been thinking a lot lately and I’m not ready to get married, not to you, not to anyone. So, I think it’s probably for the best that we end things, so we can both move on.” She wiggled her diamond engagement ring off her finger and set it down on the table between them. That got his attention.
“What are you talking about?” Billy wasn’t mad yet, just seriously confused and Traci felt awful as she watched him try to process what had just happened. “You’re breaking up with me?”
“I’m really sorry, but I think it’s for the best.”
“The best for who? Who are you seeing then? There has to be someone else.”
“There’s no one else,” she assured him. “It’s not about another guy, it’s just about me and what I want.”
“And you don’t want me anymore.” He was angry now and Traci couldn’t really blame him. He didn’t see this coming.
“I really think it’s for the best,” she repeated.
“You don’t mean it. We can work this out. Let’s just take a break, some time apart. Then see how it goes?” His tone had shifted from angry to pleading to oddly calm and determined. He smiled at the waitress as she dropped off the check.“I got this.”
“I don’t want to take a break,” Traci said. But Billy didn’t seem to be listening.
“We’ll touch base in a few weeks. I’ll call you.” Traci took a final sip of her coffee and then stood up. This hadn’t gone down quite the way she’d expected. She’d anticipated more of a melt-down of sorts, but also an ending, not a ‘to-be-continued.’ She really didn’t want to have this conversation again.
Here’s the blurb below for my mystery, TRUST, which is available now, http://amzn.to/1bJ84re
How well do you really know your significant other? If they were accused of a crime would you trust in their innocence unconditionally? That’s the premise of TRUST, where 30 somethings Lauren and David are about to get married, until one of Lauren’s students goes missing and she becomes a person of interest.
Acknowledgements
Thank you to all of my friends and family who have supported this dream. Fellow writer friends, Marley Gibson, Janet Campbell Cardoso and Dana Finnegan who have been so supportive and encouraging, special thanks to Dana for making sure I got the Bozeman details right.
About the author
Pamela Kelley lives and works in Plymouth, MA and has always been a huge book worm. She worked as a journalist many years ago and in recent years as a food writer for local papers. She is very excited to finally be following her passion to write the kinds of books she loves to read.
Recipe
Here’s the lobster dish that Molly served at the wine dinner. I’m lucky in that I live near the beach and local fresh lobsters are almost always available. The key to this dish is the freshest, sweetest lobster meat. In a pinch, you could use fresh frozen, but only if you're dying for lobster and simply cannot get a hold of the fresh stuff. You could boil your own whole lobsters, but it's so much work, and messy. Easiest way to go is just buy a pound or two of fresh shucked meat. If they’re hard to get or too expensive where you live, you can easily substitute your favorite seafood, shrimp, scallops, or any mild white fish also works well. Sometimes I like to mix all three, for a seafood medley!
Lazy Lobster Casserole
1 pound fresh lobster meat, chopped into roughly 1 inch pieces
1 stick of butter
1 sleeve of Ritz crackers
2 tablespoons sherry (optional)
2 tablespoons chopped, fresh, flat parsley
Melt 3/4 stick of butter in a small bowl. In a medium casserole dish, place lobster, and pour half the melted butter over and stir to coat. Add Ritz cracker crumbs and parsley to the remaining melted butter. Mix well, and then pat over top of lobster meat, until evenly coated. Cut remaining butter into small pieces and dot over top of stuffing. Drizzle sherry evenly over the top, and bake for about 25 minutes at 300 degrees.
Serves 3-4
This also makes an excellent side for Surf and Turf. We served it up recently with grilled tenderloins, and had a simple tossed salad with balsamic vinaigrette, toasted walnuts and goat cheese.
Enjoy!
~Pam
As a new author, reviews are so helpful for us to get the word out. Please consider taking a moment to leave a quick review with your thoughts. Thank you so much! ~Pam
http://amzn.to/1hjxzHq