Speak From The Heart: a small town romance
Page 24
Home. What a great word. I grew up in an amazing house, filled with love and laughter, fights and folly. As the youngest of four, I can admit I was a bit spoiled. I fondly look back on my upbringing in a warm home with devoted parents and teasing siblings. My ten-year marriage was quite the opposite, though, and the house we shared was anything but a home. It was hardly even a house. We didn’t have any privacy from his family or his friends. It was a bachelor pad before we married, and most of his hunting buddies continued to treat the place as if it was still a hangout when we were newlyweds. Over time, I grew complacent.
It no longer matters, I remind myself.
“Need help moving in this weekend?” Jess asks me, and I smile.
“Actually, I think I’m good.” I didn’t have much to move, having left most things with Trent. None of it was mine anyway. Just a few decorative pillows, some wall art, and a plant or two. I’d left everything behind, wanting a fresh start. I’d been slowly moving items back to my mother’s house, like my grandmother’s quilt and boxes of books. On the day I’d officially left, I filled my car with my clothes and didn’t look back.
“If you need anything, you call me,” Jess states, emphasizing in his glare that I better call him. Would it be so bad to lean on my family a little bit more? I’ve been holding too much inside for too long and accepting his help is such a simple act. Still, I want to do this on my own.
A beer is placed before me even though I hadn’t ordered yet. I pick up the bottle from the local brewing company and clink mine with Jess’s.
“Here’s to new beginnings.”
Continue reading Read With Your Heart.
Playlist
Music is a universal language as Nana says, so here is the 2020 playlist for Emily and Jess.
“All Summer Long” – Kid Rock
“Hard to Love” – Lee Brice
“Don’t You Wanna Stay” – Jason Aldean and Kelly Clarkson
“Halo” - Beyonce
“Take your time” – Sam Hunt
“Kinfolk” – Sam Hunt
Original Playlist of 2013
“All Summer Long”—Kid Rock
“Battlefield”—Jordan Sparks
“If I Were A Boy”—Beyonce
“Breathe In, Breathe Out”—Mat Kearney
“Beautiful Child”—Eurythmics
“Fly Me to the Moon”—Joshua Radin
“Young and Beautiful”—Lana Del Rey
“Halo”—Beyonce
“Chasing Cars”—Snow Patrol
“Use Somebody”—Kings of Leon
“Photograph”—Nickelback
“Say”—John Mayer
“Counting Stars”—OneRepublic
“Let Me”—Pat Green
“Summertime”—Kenny Chesney
“Come On Get Higher”—Matt Nathanson
“I Will Wait”—Mumford & Sons
“My Love (Single Version)”—Justin Timberlake featuring T.I.
“Brave”—Sara Bareilles
“Slow Me Down”—Sara Evans
“From Where You Are”—Lifehouse
“Wanted”—Hunter Hayes
(L)ittle (B)its of Gratitude
My gratitude changes over the years, but first I want to thank a stranger and his interaction with his daughter. They were the inspiration for the original story. I felt certain the romance written around Jess and Emily needed a second chance to be told. Thank you for indulging me. Speak From The Heart was originally published as Sound Advice in 2014.
Here is its origin tale:
Everyone has a story. This one is based on a man I never met. I was observing a tall, longish-haired man as he picked up his sun-bleached little girl during a small-town festival when I was inspired to write this fictional story. The way he stood, looking but not really watching his daughter on the kiddie ride. The way he clenched his jaw in concentration then picked her up by her arms and slung her on his hip. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and love flowed between the child and the brooding man. It was actually my husband who called him an interesting character, and it sparked my imagination for a romance about a single father.
A story was hurriedly typed on my computer (in 2009) then put on hold. The following year when I returned to the small town, there he was in the crowd with his year older daughter. Out of thousands, it was astonishing that I recognized him again. We had still never met and the story I invented of him remained on my flash drive. Another year, another chance sighting on the midway of rides, this time waiting for his daughter as she climbed the rock wall. I felt like a stalker and could not believe I had seen him again out of all the nights the town held activities, and out of the thousands of people who come to this small town to celebrate summer. It was the third year after I first saw this man, as I was standing outside the local ice cream shop, and he rode up on his bike with a friend, stopping two feet away from me, when I felt the need to take my chances and publish this romance.
There are real inspirations in here for Nana – my husband’s two grandmothers in combination. One grandmother was prim and proper, and sadly, eventually suffered from Alzheimer’s. Several of the situations that occurred to Nana were taken from her experiences. His other grandmother fell and never recovered from the fall, dying shortly thereafter. She was the spunky one, as Nana could be about relationships. Either way, the inspiration for Emily spending time with her grandmother and their close relationship came from the example of my husband and his relationship with these two women. Alzheimer’s is a sad diagnosis, and as Emily finds in the story, no one can be prepared for it in their loved ones.
When I hit publish on that first book, I had no idea what I was doing or where this ‘writing thing’ would lead, but I’m so grateful for those who have taken the journey with me and stuck by me in the six years since this work first released. If this is your first read, I hope you enjoyed Emily and Jess who will always be dear to me. If this is a re-read, I hope I’ve done them justice while improving their romance.
Thank you to the wonderful lovelies in Loving L.B. for being my ever-constant cheerleaders.
And for my family: Mr. Dunbar, MD, MK, JR, and A, who I originally ignored on occasion to write the first work, and who sometimes find me distracted some thirty books later. You are still my best life.
About the Author
Love Notes
www.lbdunbar.com
L.B. Dunbar has an over-active imagination. To her benefit, such creativity has led to over thirty romance novels, including those offering a second chance at love over 40. Her signature works include the #sexysilverfoxes collection of mature males and feisty vixens ready for romance in their prime years. She’s also written stories of small-town romance (Heart Collection), rock star mayhem (The Legendary Rock Stars Series), and a twist on intrigue and redemption (Redemption Island Duet). She’s had several alter egos including elda lore, a writer of romantic magical realism through mythological retellings (Modern Descendants). In another life, she wanted to be an anthropologist and journalist. Instead, she was a middle school language arts teacher. The greatest story in her life is with the one and only, and their four grown children. Learn more about L.B. Dunbar by joining her reader group on Facebook (Loving L.B.) or subscribing to her newsletter (Love Notes).
Table of Contents
Other Books by L.B. Dunbar
Dedication
Rule 1
Rule 2
Rule 3
Rule 4
Rule 5
Rule 6
Rule 7
Rule 8
Rule 9
Rule 10
Rule 11
Rule 12
Rule 13
Rule 14
Rule 15
Rule 16
Rule 17
Rule 18
Rule 19
Rule 20
Rule 21
Rule 22
Rule 23
Rule 24
Epilogue
More by L.B. Dunbar
Keep in touch with L.B. Dunbar
Excerpt of Read With Your Heart
Playlist
(L)ittle (B)lessings of Gratitude
About the Author