As February's #blogabookscene theme is "All You Need is Love", I am sharing a falling in love moment from my contemporary vampire/cowboy romance Give Me Tomorrow. This story is set in northeastern Colorado in 1990. The hero, Jax, is on the road with his thoroughbred racehorse transport service. The heroine, Lissa, has called his mobile phone with birthday wishes...
EXCERPT (PG)
Each mile was an eternity traveled in checking and re-checking his phone for the reassurance of service. His anticipation for Lissa’s call waned as the hours passed without hearing from her. While still a long way from Omaha, he pulled into a truck stop just as his phone rang. His hopes rose in the same instant he cursed the phone’s display for only showing Incoming Call and not an identifying number.
“This is Jax. Speak your business.”
“I hear you’re thirty‐seven today.” Lissa.
“Are you there? Jax?”
Clearing his throat, he said, “Yeah. Yeah, I’m here. That’s right. Thirty‐seven. I’m getting to be an old man.”
She laughed. “You don’t know what old is. Where are you?”
“I’m at a truck stop between Chicago and Omaha to refuel and grab a bite to eat.” He rolled to a stop at a diesel pump and set the brakes. “Are you on call?”
“As a matter of fact, I am. I’m on my way to the clinic now. I’ll likely be here the rest of the night.”
“Well, if you get a chance, give me a call. I’ll be on the road.”
“All right. If I can, I will, but don’t count on it. Anyway, I hope you’ve had a nice birthday.”
“Thanks. Not much opportunity to celebrate when you’re hauling horses from town to town.” He didn’t want her to hang up, so he grasped for anything to keep her talking.
“Mandy says you’re coming to supper on Saturday.”
“Yes.”
“Good. You’ll get to meet my dad.” “Mandy mentioned that.”
“You know, calling and wishing me happy birthday makes me think you called on your personal phone instead of your work phone.”
Silence. He waited.
“You’re right. I did.”
She could have lied. He took it as a good sign that she didn’t. Jax grabbed a pen from the glove box and poised the tip over his palm. “So, what’s your number?”
More silence.
“Are you still—”
She recited the numbers.
“Got it. Thanks.”
“Don’t abuse it.”
“You don’t want me to call you?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“Lissa?”
“Yes?”
Say it. Just say it. “I wish you were with me. I’ve missed you.”
Again, nothing from her end. He checked the service. Still connected. “Are you there?”
“Yes, I’m here.” Hesitation, then, “I’ve missed you, too, Jax.”
“How much?”
“More than is good for me. Don’t push your luck.”
The light lilting tone in her voice made him smile. He didn’t know what giddiness felt like, but he was pretty sure it must be close to how he felt right then.
“Jax, I’ve reached the clinic. I have to go.”
“Yeah, sure. It was good talking to you. See you Saturday.”
Leaning back in his seat, he sat there staring at the center of the steering wheel as he worked her words around in his head. She admitted it. She misses me. And it sounded like she wasn’t just saying the words. She meant it. His slow grin turned to a full-blown smile.
A full thermos of coffee, an extra sandwich and chips for the road, and the tanks full of diesel, Jax hit the highway. Light‐hearted and counting off the miles, he turned up the volume on the classic country music radio station and sang his way homeward on Interstate 80. It was somewhere west of Grand Island when he realized he was in love.
I’ll be a son of a bitch.
GIVE ME TOMORROW
Available on Amazon.com
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Until next time,
Kaye Spencer
Writing through history one romance upon a time
