A Sweet Memory – Maria Michaels (1)

“Even Benny was tight-lipped about all his fostering work. These guys are in a service industry that doesn’t want to be acknowledged. But I have hopes. I’m meeting Julie for coffee. She’ll talk.” “That’s not the writing I’m talking about and you know it.” Mandy was about to bring up spicy romance again. “I’m not going to do that anymore.” “What? Why? This is your best chance.” “I’m terrible at it, that’s why. I made myself laugh. Pretty sure you’re not supposed to laugh during romance.”

“Not if you do it right.” “Look, if I have to write spicy romance to be successful, I guess I just won’t write fiction.” Mandy gave her a wide-eyed look. “Give up?” “No! Not give up.” She sighed. “I just need to write what I like to read and see what happens.” “That’s one way to go.” “Don’t mention it again. Okay?” “All right. Whatever you say. Just trying to be supportive here.” “You want to be supportive, go back and tell Mom about our progress.

I’ve boxed up all the old magazines lining the hallways. Everything in the house that needs fixing is getting fixed. Gran is getting out of the house again. And she has the right to live in her home, surrounded by people who love and care for her.” “You don’t have to convince me. But Mom will be out in August. Save the speeches for her. Speaking of which, when are you going to tell her that you’re done working at the boutique?” “When I come back.”

She owed Mom that much. Working at the bridal shop between all the rest of her dead-end jobs had provided the little savings that she had. Mom had been generous because, Diana believed, Mom had hoped either one of her daughters would take on what she’d worked so hard to build. Diana couldn’t blame it all on Tiffany and Bradley, though they were a big part of it.

Having seen behind the smoke and mirrors of one special day had amounted to the death of romance for Diana. One dress, worn once, shouldn’t cost as much as it did and yet brides were willing to pay and pay dearly. Not to mention other unethical things brides like Tiffany were willing to do in order to snag a groom. But knowing that she was done working for Mom and telling her face to face were two different things. Try as she had, Diana still hadn’t found her courage.

The search would continue. “You’re a writer?”

Thank you for inviting me to your wedding. I would attend, but here’s the thing: I’d rather be hung over a crocodile-infested swamp and used as bait. Diana Mulvaney highlighted the second sentence of her email and hit “delete.” Those words didn’t quite get across the message that she wanted. I would rather have a root canal without the benefit of Novocain.

There. Better, because Bradley understood how she hated the dentist. She begged for the laughing gas every time. Paid extra for it. But still not quite right. I would rather sit on an uncovered gas station toilet seat. Much, much better. Bradley knew how she felt about public restrooms.

But it might be a little crude, plus the last thing she wanted was for Bradley or his new bride to picture Diana on any toilet seat. She’d just have to keep working on it. Rome wasn’t built in a day and all that. Diana closed her laptop and picked up the “Save the Date” invitation she’d received last week from Bradley.

Beautifully engraved, it announced the marriage of Mr. Bradley Ballard to Miss Tiffany Smythe. How kind of Bradley to think of Diana. Another man might not invite his former college girlfriend of six years to his wedding, but not her Bradley. He was a special kind of stupid. Diana dug in her suitcase, found the silky pink lingerie she’d bought a year ago, and slipped it on. It was just one of many hopeful items in the honeymoon trousseau she wouldn’t need any longer.

Dating Bradley for six years meant that she had quite a collection of lingerie now collecting dust, but this one was by far her favorite. The tight pink bodice hugged her, trailing to a flowing white skirt with slits that showcased a lot of leg. This would at least serve some purpose now, even if it wouldn’t be to entice Bradley away from his software programs. Diana took a long look at herself in the full-length mirror then pulled her bathrobe on because, let’s be honest, she was nothing if not a prude.

She walked over to the sliding glass door facing the back of her motel room and took in a deep, cleansing breath. Truly, there was nowhere else in the world quite like Napa Valley. Outside in the twilight of the day, the courtyard garden seemed to glow with purple bougainvillea, pink azaleas, and yellow and white daisy shrubs. Everything about Napa Valley, and Starlight Hill in particular, cried out, “We do wine and we do it better than you.” How she’d missed this place. Missed Gran.

Her cell phone rang with the theme from Cops. Mandy, her sister. Diana answered. “What’s up?” “Did you do it yet?” “I’m about to if you’ll give me a chance.” Truthfully, this whole thing was Mandy’s idea, and Diana still didn’t think she could do it.

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.

Book Information

• Unique ID: 14072cf50213c866
• File Extension: .pdf
• File Size: 1,244,362 bytes (1.187 MB)
• Title: –
• Author: Unknown
• Pages: 227
• Language: English (en)

Reading & Word Statistics

• Estimated Reading Time: 392.43 minutes
• Total Words: 78,486
• Total Characters: 425,472
• Average Words per Page: 345.75
• Average Characters per Page: 1874.33

Most Frequent Words

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