Good Morning Friends!
Fellow Pelican Book Group Author, Mary Alford has been in our
spotlight,
twice, and shared some
treasures with us so please give her a great big Welcome Back this time with her novel, Heart of Texas!
Laney Winters gets the biggest shock of her life when she learns she's pregnant...on the same day she finds her husband in bed with his secretary. With her blissful life exposed as fraud, and her husband wanting nothing to do with raising a child, Laney faces divorce and her greatest fear--moving back home to live with her two eccentric old-maid aunts.
Hiding the demise of her marriage and helping to manage the family diner should be uneventful, but a new man in town has the gossips speculating. Laney's two aunts create an exciting mystery around the stranger, and Laney is sucked into an entertaining game of "Save Jake Montgomery from Aunt Thelma."
When her aunts' latest victim turns out to be the town's new family doctor, Laney must entrust him with her secrets, and along the way, discover that when your life flips upside down it's God's way of giving you a different perspective...and a fresh start.
Excerpt:
Ignorance is highly underrated.
It was the picture-perfect day, except for the
rain, the bumper-to-bumper traffic, and what was about to take place in just a
few hours that would shift the outcome of my life forever. Little did I realize
as I prepared to read aloud to the small group of fans who had braved the rain
to gather at the bookstore, that come this time tomorrow I’d be rethinking my
career.
But here, for a little while, my life seemed
perfect. Perfect husband—even if I had only been married for less than two
years. Perfect house. And my newly-released romance, Fast-Moving Train, was
getting good reviews. I had no idea my faith would be tested in a major way.
And the test would leave me bloodied, bruised, and begging God for answers that
would take a whole lot of prayer to understand.
If I could sum up what I’ve learned about life
and love, it would be this: There are good men, there are bad men, and then
there are men of the worst possible kind—the ones who steal your heart and
leave you wondering—the kind who can’t love.
But every once in a blue moon, there are men
who turn out nothing like you believed. Those are the men who amaze you the
most—the Tim Summers of the world. Tim was my miracle—a man who had never been
taught how to love, but was capable of giving so much of it.
I could almost swear as, I sat listening to my
best guy talk to my best friend about me, that at last I heard the freight
train I’d been expecting from the beginning.
When I least expected it, I looked up and
caught Tim’s gaze as he smiled back at me across the crowds gathered at church
that day—just as he had the first time we met. That crazy little lopsided grin
of his sent my heart spinning out of control. I was happy. I wasn’t afraid
anymore. For the first time in a long time, I had faith. And just like that,
just like love—bam—it hit me. That fast-moving train.
I paused a moment for effect, then whispered
quietly, “The End.”
As I closed the book lovingly, I
glanced around at the dozen or more people staring back at me in silence. A
second later, the room erupted into applause.
At the back of the gathering, I spotted my
agent, Tippy Jennings-Johnson, as she mouthed, “Brilliant.”
The manager of the bookstore had
been kind enough to set up a little table for me in the corner of the reading
room, close to the coffee shop. While Tippy worked the room, I sat at my post
and greeted the fans who stopped by. I still couldn’t believe these people had
actually come out to meet me—me. Even now, after five years in the business, I
found it hard to fathom there were people out there who would actually buy what
I wrote.
Two hours later, as the last of my fans
thanked me for signing her book, Tippy waited patiently for the room to empty.
“Good news, Lane.” Tippy loved to
shorten everyone’s name to three or four letters. “I got the word earlier
today, but I didn’t want to put any pressure on you before the reading. Your
publisher called. They want two more Lois and Tim stories this year. They feel
there’s enough material in the story for a three-book series.”
“Oh... my... goodness.”
Tippy and I jumped up and down
with our arms wrapped around each other like a couple of schoolgirls. This was
huge for both of us. Tippy and I had pretty much learned the business together.
My first thought was to share the news with my
husband, Tom, the man in whom all of my romance novels had found their
beginning. I couldn’t wait to hear his reaction to our good news.
“Tippy, would you mind terribly
if I took a rain check on dinner tonight? I’m so excited I can’t wait to tell
Tom the news.”
“Of course not,” she offered with a
magnanimous wave of one well-manicured, bejeweled hand. “I’ll just go back to
the office and bang out the details for your new deal. We’ll chat more about
that in a few days. Call me tomorrow, and tell me all about Tom’s reaction,
OK?”
Tippy made a grand exit, and I
felt the first pang of guilt. Tippy didn’t know the whole truth. I hadn’t told
anyone the other good news I’d learned that day. I was pregnant. I couldn’t
wait to share my happiness with my husband, Tom.
Unfortunately, Tom had not reachable earlier.
It wasn’t unusual for him to be difficult to get hold of. My husband was one of
the foremost attorneys in Dallas and his client list was made up of elite
members of Dallas society. Tom worked terrible hours, sometimes not coming home
for days at a time. A few years before we were married Tom took a small
apartment close to the office for just such occasions. He kept it after we were
married for when he had to work late. Over the past weeks, I could count on one
hand the number of times we’d actually shared a meal together. But even though
we’d go stretches at a time without seeing each other, I could always reach him
on the phone. Not today, though.
I tried his cell phone and his office several
times with no success. There was no answer at either the house or the
apartment. I decided to rush back home, where I’d pack an overnight bag, then
head over to the apartment to prepare the perfect candlelight celebratory
dinner before sharing my good news.
But throughout the long, congested, rush-hour
drive home, an unfamiliar uneasiness in the pit of my stomach continued to
grow. I remembered all those times recently when Tom worked late.
As I pulled into our driveway off Strait Lane,
I noticed Tom’s prized black luxury sedan sitting there as well. Not in the
garage or even in the driveway, but next to the curb, as if he’d arrived in a
hurry. Oddly enough, it didn’t occur to me until much later that there was
another car parked behind Tom’s. I slipped the key into the door, hoping to
surprise him.
The house was unbelievably quiet, but strange
and confusing signs of life littered the foyer and the hallway leading to the
living room. A purse. A jacket. Red stiletto heels. I grew more suspicious with
each step.
I quickly opened the door only to see my
forty-year-old perfect husband embracing his secretary.
His secretary? How cliché.
“What are you doing here, Miss
Manning?” No doubt this was the most ridiculous question ever asked, since it
was painfully obvious what she was doing here.
The next few minutes passed in a blur.
Miss Manning promptly rushed into my
recently-remodeled, Italian marble guest bathroom, leaving Tom alone to face
his angry wife.
“Laney, I wasn’t expecting you
home so soon. Didn’t you have dinner plans with Tippy?”
“You weren’t expecting me home so soon? That’s
all you can say? How long has this been going on, and why is she hiding in my
bathroom?” This part I yelled so Miss Manning could hear me clearly.
“Laney, I’m sorry you had to find
out like this, but you’re not really surprised, are you? We’ve been drifting
apart for a long time.”
Drifting apart? We were still
newlyweds in my book.
I thought we were the perfect couple. All our
friends said so. Perfect marriage. Perfect house. Perfect life. So what if our
romantic life had been experiencing some dry spells over the course of the past
few weeks. There was more to life—right? Besides, how dry could it be? I was
standing here, pregnant!
“What are you saying?” I asked in
shock as I followed Tom to the foyer of said perfect house. I heard the sound
of Miss Manning moving around in my bathroom, and with super-human strength, I
managed to resist the urge to drag her bodily out of my perfect house.
“Laney, I’m sorry. I know how
hard this must be for you. Believe me, I didn’t mean for it to happen. But
Suzanne and I love each other. I’ve never felt so alive before. She makes me
want to do crazy things--”
“Like bringing your girlfriend into our
house?” I blurted out, dumbfounded. “You couldn’t just keep her at your apartment?”
Tom at least had the good grace
to look embarrassed. “Laney, we’ve had a good run, but things have not been
good between us for a while now. You know that.”
I do? Funny, wasn’t I the one who
just a few hours ago couldn’t wait to share my good news with my husband?
“How would I know this? Is there
some time limit on marriage in your book? One year, you’re fine. Pushing
two—oops, time’s up. How would I know this, Tom?”
Wait. Did he just say he loved
Miss Manning?
“You love her? How can you love
her, she’s only worked for you for a month? Besides you love me, remember?
Isn’t that what you told me on my birthday? You can’t love two women at the
same time.”
At this point, Miss Manning
rushed past us on her way out the door, and Tom went after her like a puppy
dog.
I followed them out the door just in time to
see Miss Manning speed away in her bright red compact car, presumably to go
wreck someone else’s life.
Tom spotted me and hurried to start the car,
but I managed to catch up before he could get away.
I stepped in front of his vehicle with my arms
crossed.
Reluctantly Tom cracked the window. He didn’t
get out. “Laney, what are you doing?” He did a quick sweep of the area, no
doubt to be sure none of our neighbors were watching.
“You are not just walking out on
me without hearing what I have to say.”
“Laney, I wanted us to do this like two
civilized human beings, but I see there’s no reasoning with you. I want a
divorce. I’m engaged to Suzanne now. It’s time to move on.”
“You’re engaged? Tom, you’re still married to
me.”
“Not for long. I’ve had the divorce papers
drawn up for several weeks now. I was waiting for the right moment, and I guess
this is it. How soon can you be out of the house? Suzanne has some decorating
ideas she’d like to get started on.”
Dear Lord, please give me
strength...
“Suzanne has decorating ideas for
my house?”
“The house is mine to do with what I want.”
Suddenly, I remembered Aunt
Selma’s warning the day I’d married Tom.
“Laney, any man who wants you to sign
a prenuptial agreement isn’t a Christian, and he’s clearly planning on divorce.
You mark my words. You’ll live to regret marrying that man.”
“Well, I don’t want a divorce and I’m not
moving anywhere. I’m pregnant.” I announced it to Tom and the rest of the
neighborhood, and then watched as he slumped back against the car seat in
shock.
“If this is a ploy to keep me
with you, Laney, I have to tell you it won’t work. I won’t stay. I’m not the
fatherly type.”
“What do you mean you’re not the fatherly
type? You’d make a wonderful father.” OK, given the present circumstances, this
probably didn’t come anywhere near the truth, but still, I had to try. This was
the man I loved. The father of my child. I couldn’t just let him go, could I?
“Laney, I don’t want children. I
thought I made that perfectly clear to you. I’ve never wanted them. We
discussed this in the beginning, remember?”
I racked my brain, trying to
remember that discussion, but I came up blank. “We never talked about children,
Tom. Not at all.”
“That’s it, then. Didn’t you get the message?
Laney, I can’t be anyone’s father. You’ll have to do whatever you think is
best. I won’t be part of it.”
Well, there you have it. Couldn’t
be any clearer than that.
I grew up in a small Texas town famous for, well not much of anything really. Being the baby of the family and quite a bit younger than my two brothers and sister, I had plenty of time to entertain myself. Making up stories seemed to come natural to me.
As a teen, I discovered Phyllis Whitney and Victoria Holt and knew instinctively that was what I wanted to do with my over-active imagination.
I wrote my first novel as a teen, (it’s tucked away somewhere never to see the light of day), but never really pursued a writing career seriously until a few years later, when I wrote my first inspirational romantic suspense and was hooked.
Today, I still live in Texas, and still create people facing dangerous situations. In fact, I can’t think of anything else I’d rather do.
Learn more about me at www.MaryAlford.net, or send me an email at maryjalfordauthor@gmail.com. You can also find/follow me on Facebook, Twitter (@maryalford13, Google+, Pinterest, YouTube and GoodReads.
Hope you enjoyed today's guest and that you'll join me each week for Tuesday Treasures, Thursday Thoughts and Saturday Spotlight.
Until next time, take care and God Bless!
PamT
