by Pat Ballard
I spent 22 years giving that skinny woman every chance to come out that she could possibly want, but she never took full advantage of the opportunities I gave her. Then one day, after a long period of soul-searching and question-answering, I realized the woman inside of me wasn't skinny at all! She was a perfect size 22!
She was an outgoing, exuberant, happy woman. She was beautiful and healthy and warm. She was sexy, alluring, and intriguing. And after twenty years of freedom, she still surprises me with her confidence, her fearless approach to life, and her total love and excitement for each new day. She has a love of life that most people only long for.
I apologize to her for all the wasted years I kept her shut away like some hostage, starving her, making her skip meals and only allowing her one "good" meal a week, then feeding her laxatives or making her throw up to get rid of what she did eat. I'm sorry for the times I made her go to bed so hungry that her growling stomach kept her awake long into the night. I cry sometimes when I remember how I ruined her precious health, causing her to come very close to a total breakdown, both mentally and physically. And I am in horror when I think of how close I came to ending her life because of that destroyed mental and physical health.
I regret the hours, days, months, and years that I wasted her intelligent time obsessing over what to eat or not to eat, when she should have been using that time on more productive endeavors. And I promise her that I'll spend the rest of her life feeding her correctly, giving her proper exercise, and making sure she's healthy and happy.
But most of all, I promise to love her just the way she is.
An earlier version of Pat’s article
was published in the Sept. 12, 1995 issue
of Woman’s World magazine
under the title “A Diet of Acceptance.”
Other books by Pat Ballard:
Dangerous Curves Ahead
Short Stories
Ten romantic tales pack suspense and sizzle into this collection of short stories by Pat Ballard, all featuring amply curved women.
A handsome stranger comes to the aid of rancher Sarah Singley in “Dangerous Curves”—but what does he really want?
Molly learns the cost of trying to be someone—and some size—she’s not in “Freedom.”
In “Misconceptions” and “Playboy,” big beautiful women learn there may be more to their handsome new bosses than they suspected.
Dig into these and other juicy stories for a healthy serving of entertainment and a reminder that love comes in all sizes.
Dangerous Curves Ahead: Short Stories is available in ebook and trade paperback from Pearlsong Press.
Wanted: One Groom
If Hanna Rockwell isn’t married by the time she reaches her 30th birthday, she will lose her home, Rockwell Place, and her entire inheritance.
Hanna’s mother and brother, who also live at Rockwell Place, are desperately afraid they’re going to lose their home and allowance. Their constant nagging at Hanna to find someone to marry has driven her to challenge them.
“Start planning the wedding, Mother. And Will, you find the groom. And I’ll get married on my 30th birthday!”
Feeling confident that her plan will never work, Hanna is dismayed when Will announces that Matt Corbett has agreed to marry Hanna.
The Matt Corbett? The has-been rock star who was her teenage idol? No way!
Matt Corbett can’t believe the string of events that has led him to make a decision to marry a stranger. But he’s determined to get back on his feet. And he’s determined to make his former manager pay dearly for getting him in the financial ruin that he’s in.
Yes, he’ll marry Hanna Rockwell so he’ll have a place to live, just long enough to jump-start his country music career,
But he hadn’t counted on falling in love with her.
Wanted: One Groom is available in ebook format now from Pearlsong Press.
Look for the Pearlsong Press trade paperback in June 2004.
His Brother’s Child
One party. One wild night in her entire life and Faith Carr winds up pregnant! What were the odds?
And what were the odds of finding out that the handsome stranger who’d gotten her pregnant had only made love to her because of a stupid bet? And that now he didn’t want anything to do with her or hte baby growing inside her?
Edward Brenner knew as soon as he saw Faith Carr that he would love her. But he also knew he had many obstacles to overcome.
She’d been hurt. She’d been frightened and made to distrust all men. She was scared and vulnerable.
And she was pregnant with his brother’s child.
His Brother’s Child is available now in ebook format from Pearlsong Press.
The trade paperback edition is available August 2004.
A Worthy Heir
All Pamela Spencer wants is to help her brother, Tom, get his life back on track. After a job-related accident, he’s confined to a wheelchair, unable to do anything except endure excruciating pain.
When Pam discovers an ad in the newspaper advertising for “a worthy heir” to inherit Fiona Bainbridge’s millions, she jumps at the chance that will allow Tom to be back under a doctor’s care. After all, it was Fiona’s company, Bainbridge Corporation, that caused Tom’s problems in the first place.
Reese Bainbridge, Fiona’s grandson, has refused to have anything to do with Bainbridge Corporation. But he quickly returns home when he discovers his fanatical grandmother has run an ad in the newspaper for someone to replace him as her heir.
His frustation with his grandmother grows much stronger when he discovers she’s moved the beautiful, voluptuous, green-eyed blonde and her freeloading brother into the house he’s suppose to inherit.
Sparks will fly—and Pam is equal to the challenge.
A Worthy Heir is available now in ebook format from Pearlsong Press.
The Pearlsong Press trade paperback is available September 2004.
Find these books and more at
www.pearlsong.com.