Ruth Ann Nordin's Blog, page 93

The Cold Wife: Deleted Scene #7

This scene came right after the one I posted yesterday.  Today’s scene is the final deleted scene I’ll be posting for the book.  In the original version, Carrie gave Justin a much harder time to win her over, but in the end, what she really needed was a really good kiss.  I don’t know how many of you have seen the movie or read the book Gone With The Wind, but I often think of the part where Rhett tells Scarlet, “You need to be kissed often and by someone who knows how” (paraphrasing).  :D BTW, I’ve seen and read Gone With The Wind, and every time I did, I had to add my own “ending” to the story because the two should have ended up together in that book.  LOL

Without further ado, I’ll post the scene for today.  It’s longer than what I usually post, but I’d like to get to another book for next Sunday.

Justin didn’t have long to wait to find out that he had, indeed, made a mistake.  He thought that Carrie had been overdoing it with her insistence to get out of the marriage before but that night, she went all out in her quest for an annulment.  She decided to wear a red dress, which wasn’t done for dinner parties.  He grimaced.  His most important clients were going to attend the dinner party that night, and she chose this night to go out of her way to embarrass him.

He quickly took her by the elbow and led her up the stairs.  “You have to wear something else,” he told her.

She crossed her arms and put her chin up in the air.  “And if I don’t?”

“Carrie, this is a very important night for me and my uncle.  The presentation is due this Wednesday, and this dinner party is to set the tone for that night.  In light of what the Grants are doing, this isn’t a smart move on your part.”

“I don’t care.  Perhaps Lisa will, but I don’t.”

“Carrie, don’t do this.  Not tonight.”

“You’ll have to make me change.”

Even for her usual antics, this was overboard.  “I will,” he decided.  He picked her up and took her into her room.  He set her down and held onto her arm so she couldn’t run down the stairs while he went through her closet to find a suitable dress.

The doorbell rang and Geoffrey announced that the first guest had arrived.

He found a dark blue dress and took it off the hanger.

The doorbell rang again and this time two guests had arrived.

He gritted his teeth and glared at her.  “You timed this so I wouldn’t be able to change your outfit.”

She shrugged as if nothing was bothering her.

He threw the dress on the floor and took her out of the room with him.  “Don’t do anything else to embarrass me,” he ordered.

The fact that she didn’t say anything should have calmed his nerves but it only made him more tense.  He couldn’t shove aside the bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.  He forced himself to smile and kindly greeted the guests as they arrived.  Though they were too polite to say anything, they did give Carrie a strange look for wearing red.

He noticed that his uncle came alone.  When he asked him about it, Jonathan replied, “She had to help her father with a client.”

“Who are you two talking about?” Carrie wondered as his uncle went to mingle with some of the men who were in his parlor.

He ignored her and greeted Mr. and Mrs. Walker.

After they went to the entertainment room, she said, “Is your uncle interested in someone?”

He still didn’t answer her.

“Where’s Mary?” she snapped.

“Not here,” he quipped.

“I gathered that much.  Didn’t you invite her?”

“She was invited but is unable to make it.”

“So I’m going to be stuck entertaining women I don’t know?”

“You know Mrs. Walker, Mrs. Tobias, Mrs. Evans and Mrs. Edwards.”

“But they aren’t my close friends.”

“I can’t help it if you’re unpopular.”

Brad entered the house with Debra Maxwell.  When he saw his sister, he sighed.  “Why didn’t you just wear the funeral dress again?”

“Why would I?  It didn’t work before.  It certainly won’t work now,” she retorted.

“My condolences, Justin.” He rolled his eyes at Carrie and escorted his date to the entertainment room so they could dance.

“I don’t need to put up with this.” She abruptly walked off.

Justin didn’t see where she went because Mr. Tyndall arrived with his son.

“I must admit that Miss Duff is the finest billiard player I’ve ever seen,” Mr. Tyndall told Justin.  “I heard she even has good business sense.  Who thought such a thing was possible with a woman?  Anyway, I brought my son along so he can get better acquainted with her.”

“Unfortunately, she had to help her father with his own client tonight,” Justin replied.  His uncle would most likely be relieved she wasn’t able to attend after all.  His uncle didn’t mind competition when it came to business, but he wouldn’t be happy to know that Mr. Tyndall wanted her to be his future daughter-in-law.  Justin decided he would have to warn his uncle after he was done greeting the guests.

The rest of the guests did arrive, and some wondered why Carrie wasn’t there to greet them as well.

Justin glanced around him and noticed that Carrie was outside with Mrs. Walker and Mrs. Edwards.  “Mrs. Walker and Mrs. Edwards wished to speak with her, so she had to see what they wanted,” he lied.

The guests accepted it but when it was time for dinner and Carrie purposely avoided talking to him during the meal, they began to whisper among themselves.  He had little consolation in knowing that the people outside weren’t aware of what was going on in the dining room.  Couldn’t she at least feign interest in him when they were in front of other people?

“I think electricity is one of mankind’s greatest inventions,” his uncle told Brad.  “I applaud Thomas Edison for coming up with the light bulb.”

“Light bulbs are like candles that never melt,” Justin said.

Carrie laughed.

He looked at her and realized that she had been laughing at him at the other dinner parties when he discussed investing.  Only, this time she wasn’t hiding it.

“What are you going to say next?” she asked.  “That automobiles are miniature trains that don’t need tracks or motion pictures are books you watch instead of read?  Here’s one for you.  A letter is a conversation that you have without actually speaking.  Your analogies get more and more ridiculous the more I hear them.  You would do better to stop and think before you speak.”

He didn’t think.  He jumped up, picked her up and put her over his shoulder.  He had had enough of this!  He ignored the fact that his guests were struggling not to laugh as he carried her to his parlor.  He forced himself not to dump her in the chair, though it took all of his willpower to do that.  She got ready to speak but he shot her a furious look.

“Not one word, Carrie,” he demanded in a low growl.  “If you say one more thing or if you leave this room before I tell you to, I’ll tear that dress off of you and make you go outside naked.  Do you understand me?”

Her eyes were wide but she didn’t say anything.

He had never been so angry in his entire life.  How could she purposely set out to humiliate him in front of everyone?  He was going to be the laughingstock of the town.  It wasn’t bad enough that she wore a red dress and snubbed him up during the main course of the meal, but she also had to insult him in front of everyone during dessert?

“I’ll deal with you later,” he seethed before he stormed out of the parlor.  He slammed the doors shut.

When he turned around, he saw that most of the guests had already left.  He found Brad and his uncle politely ushering people out of the house.  Despite the fact that he was greatly upset, he put on a casual smile and apologized for his wife’s behavior.  Once the guests were gone, he turned to the two men.

“Do I make stupid analogies?” he asked.

Jonathan and Brad exchanged wary looks.

Finally, his uncle spoke up.  “Well, they may come off as a little silly.”

“What?” So Carrie had a point in criticizing him?

“We hardly even notice them,” Brad added.

“Why didn’t one of you tell me sooner?” How long had people been laughing at him behind his back?

“No one wanted to hurt your feelings,” his uncle explained.

“I have to go,” Brad said.  “I need to take Miss Maxwell home.  Don’t worry about it, Justin.  It’s not a big deal.”

“Mr. Monroe,” Geoffrey interrupted.  “There is a delivery for you.”

He groaned and turned his attention to the man at the front door who brought in neatly pressed suits.  “I apologize for the delay in delivering your new clothes to you,” the man stated.  “The tailor was an inch off around the waistline.”

“Just put them over on that bench.  I’ll get them later,” Justin replied.

“She bought you clothes?” his uncle wondered.  “That was thoughtful of her.”

Justin let out a low growl.

“Well, it was,” his uncle insisted.

After the delivery man left and he was alone with his uncle in the hallway, Justin was ready to confront his not-so-sweet wife.  “I trust you know the way out,” he told his uncle.

Just as he was about to go to the parlor to talk to her in private, the other man stopped him.  “Go easy on her.”

He couldn’t believe his ears.  “Are you kidding me?  She insulted me in front of our most important clients.”

“True,” he slowly admitted.  “But she’s resisting you because she’s falling in love with you.”

He couldn’t believe what he was hearing.  His uncle really didn’t understand people as well he thought he did.

“Think about it.  She wants you to get so mad at her that you’ll annul the marriage.”

“Fine.  I’ll gladly do it.”

“Wait a minute.” His uncle grabbed his arm before he could walk past him.  “It’s only been three weeks since your wedding.”

“Right.”

“And she’s getting more and more unreasonable.”

“Yes.”

Jonathan smiled.  “She wants to be with you.”

“She has a very irritating way of showing it.”

“Look, I know you don’t believe me but it’s true.  She’s afraid of her feelings for you.  My recommendation is for you to kiss her.”

The last thing Justin felt like doing was kissing her.  He wanted to hand her the annulment paperwork and send her packing.

“Trust me on this.  The harder she resists you, the more she loves you.  You have to watch her carefully and figure out what she’s really saying.  Go in there and kiss her and see what happens.  I guarantee you that you’ll like what you discover.”

“No way.”

“Do you love her or not?  Sometimes when you want something you have to fight for it.  Not all clients are easily won over.  You almost won her once.  You can do it again.  Now my recommendation is for you to take five minutes to calm down.  Then remember what it is you like about her and go in and see her.”

He sighed.  “Alright.”

His uncle patted him on the back.  “Remember how difficult Mr. Martin was to get as a client?  Well, he’s our most loyal customer now.  He was worth the effort.  She will be too.”

He watched as Jonathan left the house.  He sat down on the bench by the parlor door and closed his eyes.  He wanted to be with Carrie more than he had ever wanted another woman.  Could his uncle be right?  Was it possible that she was resisting her feelings for him?  It was true that he had handled difficult clients in the past.  Just when things looked impossible, it worked out.  Perhaps the same would happen with her.  He hated to think of her as one of his clients, but it was probably the thing he needed to do.  At least, it would keep him focused on his goal.

“Everything is cleaned up.  Is there anything else you’ll be needing?” Geoffrey inquired.

He glanced at his butler.  “No, Geoffrey.  Thanks for asking.”

The butler nodded and left the hallway before retiring to his house for the rest of the evening.

Justin let out a long sigh and rested his head against the wall.  To be sure, he had dealt with difficult clients in the past, but none were as hard to win over as his wife.  He only had one week left of their agreement.  If they didn’t consummate the marriage in that time, she would be heading on a train to live with her father or living in an apartment in the town on her own.  Now that his anger was dying, he felt sad.

Up to that point, he had struggled to be upbeat about the situation.  It was difficult to keep a happy facade going when he worried that he was going to lose her.  What am I doing wrong?  What is so offensive about me?  He shook his head.  If a client treated him the way she did that night, he would simply smile and act as if nothing was wrong.  He would proceed with his work to the best of his ability.  Clearly, it was time to do that with her.

Taking a deep breath, he stood up and straightened his tie.  Then he smoothed his suit jacket and cleared his throat.  “Alright, Mrs. Monroe.  Let’s see what you got.”

He walked to the parlor doors and opened them.  He wasn’t sure what he would find when he went in there, but he was surprised to see her standing in the room with her arms crossed.

“I wouldn’t blame you if you wanted to send me away tonight,” she said.

He raised an eyebrow before he closed the doors behind him.  He took his time in walking over to the table.  He lightly drummed his fingers on the oval table as he walked around it.  She stood at the other side of the table and watched him.  She seemed startled by the silence he greeted her with.  She must have expected me to yell at her.  When he reached the end of the table, he didn’t continue to walk around it.  Instead, he left it and went over to the fireplace.  He blew out the candles above the mantle.

“What are you doing?” she asked, sounding concerned.

Looking at her wide brown eyes, he suddenly got the image of a lion stalking its prey, and he was the lion.  It was an image he often used when trying to take control of a meeting with a competitor.  Play it cool.  Be deliberate and casual.  He turned to her, aware of how wonderful she looked as the moonlight poured in through the window and spilled onto her face and dress.  Ever since he learned of their engagement, he longed to take her in his arms and kiss and touch her in a way a man ought to kiss and touch his wife.  Tonight, he would make his move.  No more playing around.  It was time to melt her icicles.  Just don’t let my desperation show.

He smiled at her.  “Red is your color,” he softly said.  “It brings out the color in your cheeks.  But I find the way the dress fits you to be much more seductive than anything else.  And I must confess, the neckline is low enough to give me a glimpse of your beauty while hiding enough to make me curious as to what you look like under those clothes.”

“But…it’s a red dress,” she stammered.  “It’s not a good color for business dinners.”

He recognized her shock.  He had caught her off guard.  That meant her defenses were down.  It was the perfect time to make his move.  “I was wrong earlier.  It was a most lovely choice,” he replied.

She stood still as he walked over to her.  Each step was careful and calculated.  She shook her head.  “Surely, your clients aren’t impressed.”

He smiled at her.  “But I am.”

She looked away from him.  She was completely unsettled and didn’t know what to do about it.  He recognized that look.  He had seen it before.

He stood in front of her.  He lightly brushed her cheek with his fingers.

She looked up at him, appearing surprised by his action, but he noticed that she didn’t back away nor did she protest.  She simply stared at him out of curiosity and wonder.

He decided not to say anything else.  He would let his actions speak for him.  He cupped the sides of her face with his hands and gently kissed her.  She didn’t pull away, so that was a good sign.  He chose to press his luck and kissed her again, only this time he deepened the kiss.  She, in turn, surprised him when she slid her arms around him and returned his kiss.  Her response greatly encouraged him.  His feelings of awkwardness every time he kissed her in the past ebbed away as his desire for her slowly spread through him.  He pulled her close to him so there was no space between them and his erection pressed firmly against her stomach.  She had the most amazing body in the world.  He took the pins out of her hair so that it fell softly around her shoulders.  His hands slid to her breasts and cupped them.  He was hungry for her.  He desperately wanted to make love to her, to be one with her.

As much as he hated to end the moment, he knew it was necessary if he was to get her properly inspired to want more.  Part of business was knowing when to postpone negotiations.  It usually led to more successful agreements in the long-run.  Despite his shallow breathing, he backed away from her.  She was just as breathless as he was.  Her lovely brown curls framed her face and her beautiful eyes looked up at him.  Carrie, I love you so much.  What will it take for you to love me?

She frowned as he quietly walked away from her.  “What are you doing?” she asked, sounding bewildered.

He had to softly clear his throat so he sounded normal.  “I can’t interfere with the annulment.” He turned back to her before he opened the doors.  “I don’t wish for you to be stuck in a marriage you don’t want.” He quickly opened the doors and shut them.

The bright lights in the hallway brought him back to his senses.  One more minute in there and he wouldn’t have stopped.  He smoothed his clothes and straightened his tie.  He couldn’t afford for the servants to misunderstand what happened in the parlor.  If she was determined to get out of the marriage in one week, he didn’t want to compromise her virtue with rumors.

“May I help you, sir?” Constance asked him.

He turned to her.  She had just left the dining room.  He nodded.  “Yes, Constance.  I’m going to take a brief walk.  Will you draw me a cold bath?”

“Cold?” she wondered.

“Cold,” he repeated.  He left the house to go for the walk so he could regain his equilibrium.

 Chapter Seventeen

 Carrie paced back and forth in the entryway.  Justin had a lot of nerve.  He couldn’t kiss her like that and just leave!  As she paced, she thought of what she would tell him.  She had the entire lecture planned out and ready to go when he returned.  She stopped pacing, put her hands on her hips and got ready for a fight as soon as he entered the house.

            He didn’t even blink when he saw her.  He simply took his hat off and set it on the hat rack.

She cleared her throat.

He glanced over at her and said, “Good night, Carrie,” before he walked past her and up the stairs.

“Oh no you don’t!” She angrily followed him.  Since she had to lift up the lower half of her dress so she wouldn’t trip on it, she couldn’t catch up with him.  It was unfair that women couldn’t wear pants.

By the time she reached the top of the stairs, he had already shut his bedroom door.  If he thought she was going to be easily deterred, he had another thing coming.  She was ready to bang her fist on his door when he suddenly opened it.  She stepped back, startled.

He jerked back for a moment.  “Do you want something?”

She noticed the nightclothes in his hand.  She also noticed that he had taken off his suit jacket and shoes.  “I want to talk to you.”

“Alright.  Talk.” He walked over to the bathroom.

“I can’t talk to you through the door.  People will overhear what I want to say.” Since she fully intended to let him have it, she didn’t want anyone to witness the words she planned to use.

“Then come in.” He left the door open and put the clothes on the counter.

“Don’t think for a moment that I’m too timid to do it.”

“Fine.  Go ahead.  I’ll listen.” He took his shirt off.

“You think I won’t go in there and say what’s on my mind?”

“I don’t care if you do or not, but I need to take a bath and you won’t stop me just because you’re having your female hysterics.”

“Female hysterics?” she shrieked.

He gave her a ‘need I say more’ look and took off his belt.

Though she would never dream of entering the bathroom when a man was in it in the past, she was too upset to care about propriety.  She stomped into the room and crossed her arms.  “I have every right to be upset with you, Mr. Monroe.”

“Justin.”

“What?”

“My name is Justin.  It’s not Mr. Monroe.  If you’re going to see me naked, you’ll have to call me by my first name.” He walked by her and shut the door.  “I go by Mr. Monroe to the servants.  They aren’t allowed to see me without my clothes on.”

“We know that you aren’t going to get fully undressed.  So, that brings me to what I was saying before.  What right do you have to be seeking out other women while we’re still married?”

He took off his socks.  “I’m not seeking out other women.”

“Then what was all that talk this morning with Lisa and Sarah about?”

He sighed.  “If you must know, I was trying to make you jealous.  They came up with the idea and I figured it was worth a shot.  I’m not interested in either one of them or any other woman.”

“Why were you trying to make me jealous?”

He started to unbutton his pants.

She felt the heat rise in her cheeks.  He wasn’t actually going to completely undress in front of her, was he?

“Isn’t it obvious?” he asked.  He sounded as casual as if he were discussing investments as he took his pants off.  “I want you to realize that you want to stay married to me, so I thought if you saw that another woman was attracted to me, then you might find me worthwhile as well.” He took his underwear off.  Glancing at her, he said, “I told Constance to make the water cold, so you’ll notice some shrinkage.”

She could only stare in shock as he got into the tub and started bathing.  She couldn’t believe he actually got undressed in front of her.  And there he was taking a bath as if it was the most natural thing in the world for her to watch him like this.

He took the washcloth and soap and started cleaning himself.

She fought the urge to stare at him, to note the male part of him that intrigued her, and turned her attention to the wall.  “So, you don’t want an annulment?”

Though she wasn’t looking at him, she knew he was rolling his eyes.  “I’ve been saying that all along.  You’re the only one I want to be with.  I wouldn’t undress in front of anyone but you.  You’re the one who wants the annulment.” He washed his face.  “I still can’t figure out why you’re in here with me.”

She looked over at him.  “I will not be intimidated by the fact that you’re bathing.  I have some things to tell you.”

“Oh.  Then proceed.  I’m listening.” He washed his hair.

As she watched him, thinking that the masculine form was very attractive, she realized that she couldn’t remember her speech.

“Is the trip to the Davidsons still bothering you?” He rinsed his hair.

“I just don’t want to go through that again.”

“I know.  I’m sorry about leaving you alone with Mrs. Davidson.  I won’t put you through anything like that again.”

“You’re right because I’ll never allow myself to be put in that situation again.”

He frowned.  “Is that because you won’t stay with me or because you know I won’t let that happen again?”

“Sometimes I wish you didn’t have the job you do.” She shook her head.  “I know Mary can accept the demands that the job requires since her father has to deal with similar situations.  She grew up in that world.  She doesn’t mind entertaining the clients’ wives or daughters or sisters, but I’m not like her.  The dinner parties are fine because at least then I can bring my friends over too.  I’m sorry, Justin, but your work isn’t something I can handle.”

“What if I never went on another business trip like that?  I do have the ability to set down such boundaries with the clients.  If they don’t like it, then they can take their business somewhere else.”

“Is that really an option?”

“Yes.  I can make sure that I only work during regular business hours, but I will have to go to dinner parties and host dinner parties.”

She thought it over.  “I could deal with that.”

He finished his bath and asked, “Will you please hand me my towel?  It’s right behind you.” He stared at her and waved his hand to get her attention.

She blinked and concentrated on his face.  “What?”

He grinned.  “I need my towel.  It’s on the hook on the door that’s behind you.  I need you to hand it to me.  That is, unless you want me to stand up and get it myself.”

“Don’t be silly,” she quickly replied.  She turned around and got the towel for him.  She held it out.

He looked amused.  “My arms aren’t that long.  You’ll have to walk over here.”

She loudly sighed and slowly walked toward him.

“At the rate you’re going, it’ll be Christmas by the time I’m out of this tub.”

She picked up the pace.  “Here you go.” Her heart raced with a mixture of apprehension and excitement.  She wasn’t sure what was going to happen once he got out of the tub but wanted to find out.

To her surprise, he grabbed her other hand and pulled her toward him.  She lost her balance and ended up kneeling by the tub.  Her face was close to his and he gently held her hand.  Her other hand still held the towel.

“Say my name, Carrie,” he softly requested.

“Justin,” she whispered.  The very nearness of him was making her weak.

“Say it again.  I like hearing you say it.”

“Justin.”

He smiled.  “I love you, Carrie.”

“I love you too, Justin.”

“Then will you come to my bed?”

“Tonight and for the rest of our lives.”

He kissed her.  She responded to the softness of his lips, forgetting all about the cold water in the tub or her embarrassment at being with him while he was naked.  He reached up and drew her into his arms.  She parted her lips and he slid his tongue into her mouth.  The butterflies in her stomach fluttered as his tongue touched hers.

When he pulled away, he whispered, “Let’s go to bed.”

Sunday Story Sample: The Cold Wife – Deleted Scene #6

Here’s another deleted scene from The Cold Wife.  :D

The next day while he walked home from his uncle’s house to pick up the proposal his uncle worked on with Mary so she could add up some figures for them, he saw Lisa and Sarah walking toward him on the sidewalk.

“Justin, how are you doing this morning?” Lisa greeted him.

“I’m fine.  I’m on my way home,” he replied, surprised that she decided to speak to him.

“Did Carrie get jealous?”

“She did.  She wouldn’t let me near you for the rest of the evening.”

“It’s obvious that she loves you, even though she won’t admit it.  Did she finally come around last night?”

“No.”

“You’re kidding,” Sarah inserted, bewildered.  “I thought she looked furious after Lisa kissed you on the cheek.”

“Maybe I should have kissed him on the lips,” Lisa said.

“I think the kiss on the cheek was enough,” he assured them.  He really didn’t want to kiss anyone but Carrie.  “But I do think you had the right idea.  Perhaps I need to play it up as if I’m considering a courtship with you.  Would you mind walking with me to my home?”

“No.  We have nothing better to do.”

“Thank you.”

“We like Carrie,” Sarah said.  “We wouldn’t do this if we didn’t think it was for her own good.  She used to babysit us.  She would let us sneak in a cookie after dinner and spent an hour reading us stories.”

It was odd to think of Carrie babysitting them but he reasoned that she was seven years older than them so it made sense that she had been old enough to do that.

When they reached the house, he was surprised to see Carrie walking toward them.

“What perfect timing,” Sarah whispered to Lisa.  She slipped her arm through Justin’s and laughed.  In a loud voice, she cooed, “Why Justin, you are absolutely brilliant.”

“I couldn’t agree more,” Lisa added as she lightly touched his other arm.  “And you’re a marvelous dancer.  I can’t believe that you ever stepped on women’s feet.  You’re much too graceful for that.”

“Carrie is so lucky to have you.”

“Didn’t you hear?”

“Hear what?”

“They’re getting an annulment next week.”

“Oh, then you’ll be free to court me.”

“Not if he doesn’t court me first.”

The two women giggled, and Justin’s face grew bright red.  He never had women flirt with him and wasn’t sure how to act.  He was aware that Carrie was standing right in front of them, so he pretended he was enjoying their attention.

He looked at Carrie as if just noticing that she was there.  “Good morning, Miss Allen.  Do you remember Miss MacIntyre and Miss Williams?”

She seemed as if she had to struggle to remain pleasant.  “Yes.  Aren’t you two too young to be courting?”

Sarah shrugged.  “I don’t think so.  We’re seventeen.”

Carrie’s eyes grew wide.  “You’re already seventeen?”

Lisa nodded.  “We’re excited about the courting process.” She gave Justin a sly grin.  “There are certainly some interesting prospects.”

Justin considered that for seventeen year olds, Lisa and Sarah did a good job at acting as if they were experienced at courting.

“We ran into Justin and he offered to walk us to the pet shop,” Sarah said.  “Wasn’t that thoughtful of him?  I’m thinking of buying a puppy.”

“I think a puppy brightens up a house,” Justin agreed.

“You’ve never mentioned wanting a puppy,” Carrie told him.

“Well, I didn’t think about it until Sarah mentioned it.”

“Sarah, would you look at the time?” Lisa gasped.  “We really must be going.  We have some shopping to do to make ourselves beautiful.” She glanced at Justin and batted her eyelashes at him.

“You two don’t need to add anything to the way you look,” he played along.  “You couldn’t possibly get more beautiful than you already are.”

They giggled.

“Justin, you do have a way with words.” Lisa kissed him on one cheek.

“We do hope you’ll stop by to see us sometime.” Sarah kissed him on the other cheek.

Carrie didn’t say anything as they walked by her and said hello.  She waited until they were out of earshot before she turned her attention to Justin.  “Enjoyed that, did you?”

He had never seen Carrie jealous but found that he liked it.  “Of course, I did,” he responded.  He walked to the house.

She followed him.  “You have no right to be enjoying that,” she sharply insisted.

“What do you care?  You’ll be out of here in six days.” He didn’t bother to hold the door open for her.  Instead, he set his hat on the hat rack.

“There’s no need to be rude.  I am still a woman.”

“Really?  I hadn’t noticed.”

She gasped and then slammed the door.

This action prompted Geoffrey and Constance to run to the entryway.

“Is something wrong?” Geoffrey asked.

“Is someone hurt?” Constance demanded.

“Everything’s fine,” Carrie quickly assured them.

“Actually, they’re more than fine,” Justin said.  “They’re wonderful.” He was flattered that Sarah and Lisa succeeded in upsetting her.  They had done what he had been unable to accomplish in the past week.

Geoffrey and Constance looked relieved.

“The bedroom furniture, sheets and curtains came today,” Constance informed Carrie as Geoffrey went back to the kitchen.  “Would you like me to help you make up the beds and hang the curtains?”

“That’s a good idea,” Justin told Carrie.  “I want my next wife to be happy with the rooms upstairs.”

“Your next wife?” She nearly shouted the question.

“Yes.  I do plan to get married after our annulment.  The single life may suit you just fine but it doesn’t work for me.  After having you around, I’ve grown to enjoy having a woman’s presence in my home.  Don’t worry about whether or not Sarah or Lisa don’t like the new bedroom themes.  I asked them what they thought about them, and they expressed their enthusiasm over your redecorating tastes.  They told me to thank you personally for going through all this trouble so they won’t have to do it in the future.”

“You have your next wife lined out already?”

“Sure.  You said I could choose whether or not to move on and find someone else after you leave.  I decided I don’t want to end up alone, so I’m checking out what’s out there.  I’m leaning toward Lisa.  She did teach me how to dance and I’ve always been partial to redheads.”

“Should we take care of the bedrooms later?” Constance uneasily asked.

“No,” Justin answered.  “I have to spend the afternoon working on the investment proposal.  Then I have to get ready for the dinner party we’re having tonight.  I don’t have time to discuss this with you, Carrie.  I’m too busy.”

Carrie narrowed her eyes at him.  “I can’t wait until I’m free from this place.” She angrily walked up the steps.

As he watched a bewildered Constance follow her, he had the nagging suspicion that he inadvertently made a huge mistake.

Dave Larson Makes A Plea (And Mark Tanner and Perry Ambrose Show Up)

Dave Larson: Hey, Ruth.  I know you’re busy and all with your move, but I thought I’d give a friendly reminder that you made this cover for Forever Yours.  Personally, I think the story is worth writing.  You can’t go wrong with a cowboy on the cover, and of course, any book featuring Mary is going to be a good one, especially since you’re such a great writer and all.

Ruth: Wow, Dave.  Last time we talked, you and I were engaged in a lawsuit.  

Dave: LOL  Those were such good times.  We had so many great memories.

Ruth:  I can’t help but think it’s funny that you’re buttering me up to write another book featuring you after all this time.

Dave:  I’m not buttering you up.  I care deeply about you.  You’re my author.

Ruth: You tried to organize a boycott on all of my books.

Dave: All of it was done out of fun.  We both knew no one was going to boycott your books.  Your books are awesome.

Mark Tanner: I have a call for you, Larson.  It’s from Reality.  Ruth doesn’t have time to work on  your book.  She is working on Runaway Bride and His Abducted Bride.

Dave: That title makes no sense.  Shouldn’t it be His Abducted Runaway Bride?

Mark: You’re an idiot.  Those are two separate books.

Dave: Maybe if you took the time to put the titles in italics, it wouldn’t have been confusing.  I put Forever Yours in italics because it’s the title of a book.  Now who’s the idiot?

Mark: Look, I heard about you.  You think the world revolves around you.  Well, I can tell you from experience that you’re just one tiny character on Earth.  There are many characters, and some of them are from another planet.  Whether or not another book is written about you doesn’t matter because in the whole scheme of things, these books will all fade away into oblivion.  That means in a hundred years, no one will know or care that you were ever in a book.

Dave: *rolls his eyes* You wish.  Ruth is writing timeless romantic tales.  Ruth, why are you even wasting time writing about Mark?  He doesn’t even think your books will pass the test of time.

Mark: Unlike you, I don’t care if I’m immortal on the pages of a book.  I just want to be with Lexie.  If you came from a world without women, you’d understand.

Dave: I don’t need to go to a planet without women to understand how much better my life is with Mary.  But this whole thing is bigger than me or you.  It’s about immortalizing Ruth’s books.  Don’t worry, Ruth.  I’m on your side.

Perry Ambrose (Lord Clement): What Ruth should do is pay attention to who is getting the most requests.  A lot of people have been asking if I’ll ever get my own book, and quite frankly after losing my potential wife to another gentleman in The Earl’s Inconvenient Wife and A Most Unsuitable Earl, I think it’s time I finally got married.  Do you know how frustrating it is to be so close to getting paired up with a lady only to find out she is going to another gentleman instead?

Mark: You think that’s rough?  I was introduced in another guy’s book, and he ended up happily married.  Me?  I was ready to be dropped because Ruth decided not to write the book.  Because people wanted to see me with Lexie, Ruth decided to write my book, and now that she’s finally doing it, I won’t let anyone stop her.

Dave: Oh please.  It’s not how many requests you get for your story to be written.  It’s how much fan mail you get for the books you’ve done, and I have the most fan mail of any character Ruth’s ever written.  It’s because of me people even know who Ruth is.  Eye of the Beholder was the book that launched her career.

Perry: Actually, An Inconvenient Marriage has done way better, and it still does.  So if there’s a book that launched her career, it’d be that one, not yours.

Dave: And yet, Jake Mitchell rarely receives a fan letter.  I get them all the time.

Mark: All the time?

Dave: Yes.  I’m popular.

Perry: Somehow I doubt you’re that popular.  I bet if your brothers were here, they’d set the record straight.

Dave: If they deny how popular I am, it’s because they’re jealous.  I can’t help it if I happened to be at the train station when Mary arrived in Omaha.  Had it been any of them, they could have been the most popular Larson ever written.

Mark: Yeah.  Lucky for you, you run out of food and have to make a mad dash into town to the mercantile.

Perry: *snickers* So Dave’s saying it pays to procrastinate.

Dave: Haha.  I guess if procrastination yields such great results, you both will do just fine with getting a wife since it’s taking you so long to get one.

Ruth: Alright, guys.  Break it up.  Right now I’m working on Runaway Bride and His Abducted Bride.  I have no idea when I’ll get to Forever Yours or Perry’s book.   I guess you all will have to give me ideas.  The sooner I get inspired, the sooner books get written.  :D

*Pictures were bought off of http://www.dreamstime.com.  First picture © Yuri Arcurs  (I used GIMP to add the book cover I made).  Second picture © Gabriel Blaj.  Third picture © Serrnovik.

Deleted Scene #5: The Cold Wife

Well, this is the weekend my family is moving up to Minnesota for good, so instead of writing a post to explain the scene from yesterday, I’m going to post another deleted scene.

In advance, I’d like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas!  My next post will be on Wednesday, and Dave Larson has asked to speak with me (after ignoring me for months), so I decided to humor him.  That will be in Wednesday’s post.  :D

The dance wasn’t as bad as Justin feared it would be.  He hadn’t attended one before.  All the dancing he had done had been limited to dinner parties and the wedding.  He was surprised when Carrie apologized to him as soon as he came home from work.  She admitted that she had to take into account that he did have a responsibility to his clients but simply asked him if he would be able to take time off for her in case an emergency did come up.  He assured her that he could.  “And if I’m not in the office when you call, ask Mr. Drummond where I am.  He’ll tell you where to reach me,” he concluded.  Mr. Drummond was the receptionist.  It was his job to notify Justin or Jonathan if anyone needed them.  Carrie seemed content with this answer and was actually amiable toward him during dinner.

Now as he stood to the side of the room while Carrie walked around and talked to the women who were close to Harrison Sr., he had to admit that no one would suspect that she was keeping an eye on the man.  She’s just as good at this as my uncle is.  He knew that if it had been him, the elder Grant would have called him on it half an hour ago.

“You look bored,” Brad told him as he came up to him.

He smiled.  “Good evening, Brad.”

“Is my sister still giving you problems?”

“I’m fine.”

“Well, she’s been avoiding me like the plague.  I can’t get within five feet of her without her running away from me.” He sighed.  “I really thought she would want to be with you once she got to know you.”

“I think she likes me.  She just doesn’t like my work.”

“Just because of what happened with the Davidsons?”

“That and the fact that I missed my surprise party and cancelled plans with her to be with a client.”

“She was willing to marry Harrison and he’s more dedicated to his job than you are.  You actually took time out to be with her.  From what I hear, he doesn’t spend nearly as much time with his wife as you do with yours.”

Justin really didn’t care to be reminded of the fact that Carrie had been willing to marry Harrison.  Though she no longer wanted to be with him, it wasn’t a nice reminder.  Changing topics, he said, “Mr. Mitchell hired her to keep an eye on Grant Sr.  That’s why we’re here.”

“Is this because of what happened on Monday?”

He nodded.  “Apparently, she has a good eye for details.” He looked at Brad.  “So, do you wish to invest in Hershey’s candy and Dr. Pepper?  My uncle has decided to take a closer look at those things.”

A blond and a redhead, who were seventeen, walked over to them.

“Good evening, gentlemen,” the blond greeted.

Brad naturally caught the attention of available women, so Justin wasn’t surprised they came over to talk to him.

His friend smiled at them.  “How are you doing this fine evening?”

“We are doing well,” she prettily blushed.

“Justin, do you know Sarah MacIntyre and Lisa Williams?”

“No, but I am familiar with their fathers.” Justin politely smiled at them.  “They are good men to do business with.”

“My father said that you made him a good profit for the past five years,” the redhead replied.

“I’m pleased to hear that he approves of my choices.”

“As long as you get in on the candy and soda market, you’ll do even better with your clients,” Brad added.  “I’m sure such talk would bore you ladies.  Sarah designed that dress she’s wearing herself.  She has such good fashion sense that Mrs. Parker is thinking of hiring her.  Lisa has a green thumb.  She can grow any flower known to man.”

Sarah blushed.  “Why, Brad, you flatter us.”

“You know, it might be nice to dance,” Brad told him.

He shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other.  He didn’t wish to dance with anyone but Carrie.

“What a lovely idea,” Lisa eagerly agreed.

Justin noticed that they were both looking at Brad with hope in their eyes.  He knew that they would rather dance with Brad than with him, which used to bother him in the past but tonight, he was relieved.  It meant that whoever ended up dancing with him wouldn’t want anything but a dance with him.

“We could take turns,” Brad told Justin.

Justin considered saying no but he saw that Carrie was on the other side of the room and didn’t appear to be willing to return to him anytime soon.  He felt awkward enough standing by himself, so he agreed to dance.  It would help the evening go faster.  “I would be honored,” he finally replied.  “I must warn you two that I don’t dance very well.”

“Oh, I teach people how to dance in my spare time,” Lisa said.  “I don’t mind giving you a lesson.”

“I could use one,” he admitted.

“Then it’s settled,” Brad said.  “I’ll dance with Sarah.”

Sarah widely smiled and took his arm.

“All I know is the waltz, and I can mess that up,” Justin warned Lisa.

“The waltz is a good dance to start with.  Don’t worry about messing up.  Just take your time and start slow,” Lisa instructed.  She held out her arms and got ready to dance.

He accepted her offer and took a deep breath to steady his nerves.  He wasn’t graceful but the fact that she was willing to bear with him eased his anxiety.  He mentally counted the steps in his mind as they began to dance.

“Try to relax,” she told him.  “Your entire body is stiff.  Think of dancing as a flowing movement.  Pretend that you’re in water and can easily move around.”

He recalled his last time swimming in the ocean and he felt his muscles slightly relax.

She smiled.  “That’s it.  You’re doing great.  Now, instead of staring at your feet, look me in the eye.”

He frowned.  “That doesn’t sound like it’ll work.”

“Trust me.  When someone juggles balls, they don’t stare down at their hands.  You will actually dance better if you turn your attention to something else.”

Since Lisa was a better dancer than him, which was displayed in the fact that he stepped on her feet but she didn’t step on his, he obeyed her.  He looked in her eyes.

“Don’t count either.  You may think of a square if you want but visualize yourself gracefully making the square.”

He did as instructed and was excited when the method worked.

When the dance ended, she asked, “Do you want to dance one more time to practice your new skill?”

“That’s a good idea.” If he was able to dance one more time with her, he would easily recall the process next time he had to dance.

“You’re doing very well.”

“I do have a good teacher.  You must do this a lot.”

“It helps that I’ve had several brothers to practice with.”

“I think I met a couple of them at the bi-monthly convention.”

“Yes, they do periodically go there to build up the customer base for our father’s business.”

“Your father makes excellent furniture.  In fact, my wife just made some purchases from his store.”

“I heard.  She’s one of his favorite customers.”

He laughed with her.  Considering the size of the bill Lisa’s brother handed him, he wasn’t surprised to hear that Carrie made her father very happy.  “When she decides she’s going to buy something, she goes all out.”

“Is it true that she wants an annulment?”

“I suppose everyone knows about it.” It irritated him to no end that the entire town knew that she didn’t want to be with him.

“I’m not your wife but I do know a woman’s heart.  I think I’ll do you a favor.” She loudly giggled and gave him a flirtatious smile.  “Why, Mr. Monroe, you are very charming,” she sweetly said.  The dance ended so she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.  “If it doesn’t work with Carrie, I’d be interested in getting to know you better.”

He dumbly stared after her as she walked off the dance floor, making sure she swung her hips back and forth as if she was inviting him to watch her.  He was definitely uncomfortable now.  He turned around to quickly retreat off the floor so people could stare at someone else when he bumped into Carrie.

She glared at him and crossed her arms.  “What was that about?” she demanded.

He glanced back at Lisa and saw her give him a wink.  He smiled.  That’s what she was doing.  He turned back to Carrie.  “Do you want to dance?”

“No,” she angrily retorted.  “I’m here to work.  I’m finding some useful information from the women here.”

“Then why are you standing in front of me on the dance floor?” Would she admit that she was jealous?

“I think you need to do some talking to the men and find out what you can.”

“Why?  I’m not the one who’s getting paid.”

“You can have half of what I make.”

He didn’t expect her offer.  “I already make more than that with my job.” A couple bumped into him.  “If you don’t want to dance, we should get off the floor so we can talk.”

“Fine.  Let’s dance, but we have to make our way over to Mr. Grant.  Can you lead me over there?”

“Which one?”

“The father.  I don’t believe the son knows what’s really going on.”

He took her in his arms, enjoying how wonderful she felt in them.  Didn’t it occur to her that she belonged in them?  Forcing aside the question, he asked, “Why do you think the son is innocent?”

“I’ve been talking to the women and partially listening in to what the father and son are saying to people and I’ve been watching what they’re doing.  I notice that when the father talks to someone and then talks to his son, he tells his son a different version of the conversation he had with that person.  But the son is straight forward and honest in what he tells his father.  I may not like the son, but I believe that he doesn’t realize that the reason he and his father are as successful as they have been is because his father is using unethical measures in order to get his way.  It makes sense with what I saw at the convention.  Harrison Jr. was talking to Mr. Parker.  His father was the one who took the wallet.  Harrison couldn’t see what his father was doing from where he was standing.”

“Then why did Harrison court you?”

“His father told him to.  I never saw Harrison enter my father’s parlor, but Harrison did ask me a lot of questions about where my father kept his work in the house.  He said that he wanted to get an idea of how he should organize his office at home.  I suspect that his father told him to ask certain questions so his father would know where to break into the house.  His father did come over once to talk to my father.  He must have been checking the layout of the house.” She stopped talking for a moment when she stepped on his foot.

“Don’t worry about it,” he whispered.

She frowned.  “I notice that you’re not dancing poorly anymore.”

“Lisa taught me how to dance better.”

“So you know her name?”

He hid his smile.  “Yes.  She was very helpful.”

“I bet she was,” she snapped.  She glanced over at Harrison Sr. and nudged him to move further to the left.

He gracefully obeyed.

“Will you hold me closer and pretend you’re whispering in my ear?  I need to listen to what he’s saying.”

Like he needed an excuse to hold her closer.  He did as she requested and kissed her ear.

She stepped on his foot.  “I need to concentrate,” she whispered.

He sighed and simply held her close.

When the dance ended, Harrison Sr. walked off the dance floor so Carrie said she had to stop dancing.  “You should talk to the men and find out what you can about the father,” she told Justin.

“Why?  Are you afraid Lisa will return?”

She refused to answer him, but he decided to humor her and did as she wished.

Deleted Scene #4: The Cold Wife

In this scene, Carrie makes another attempt to get Justin to insist on an annulment by spending a lot of his money.  Along the way, she runs into Mr. Mitchell (Jake Mitchell who is the hero in An Inconvenient Marriage–before he meets Sue Lewis).  The scene ends with Justin walking in on Helen giving Carrie and Mary a very private conversation.

Also, the Clarks I refer to does involve Joanna Clark who was engaged to Jake Mitchell.  At this point in time, Joanna Clark was still married to the man she loved instead of Jake.  That marriage, of course, didn’t last (as you find out in An Inconvenient Marriage).  The Clarks were planning to adopt Ryan until he had the accident and became slightly crippled.  In An Inconvenient Marriage, you see Ryan in the Christmas play that Jake Mitchell attended (and he sat next to Justin and Carrie who had adopted Ryan).

This scene also takes place after the book club discussion, so you get a slight reference to that.

(And yes, I’m aware of the errors in this passage, but since it’s the original version, I’m keeping it in.  If nothing else, it shows how far I’ve come as I strive to keep improving.)  :D

On the way to the library, a thought occurred to Carrie.  One of the things her father and brother praised her on was her ability to be wise with money.  Well, Justin probably liked that too since being rich was important to him because it impressed his clients.  What man wanted a wife who would foolishly spend a large chunk of his money at one time?  Her decision made, she went to the bank.

When she went up to the teller, the young man looked at her as if she was crazy when she requested the amount she wanted to withdraw.  “Mrs. Monroe, I can’t give you that much money without your husband’s permission.”

“Why not?” she demanded.  If they were married, then that money was as much hers as it was Justin’s.

“Because we have to make sure Mr. Monroe is alright with you taking that money out.  Now, if you wish to withdraw a lesser amount, then we can do that for you without asking him about it first.”

She crossed her arms.  “What good is being married to him if I can’t take out the amount I want?”

“We are bound by rules and regulations.”

“I don’t care much for your rules and regulations.  If I was Mr. Monroe, you would hand me the money without any questions but since I am a woman, you forbid me my rights.”

He sighed and closed his eyes for a moment.  “You have to understand that your husband is the primary account holder.  If anyone but him withdraws more than a certain amount at one time, we have to have his permission, even if your name is listed on his account.”

“What if I was the primary account holder?  What if I opened my own account and had this same amount of money in it?  Would I be able to withdraw the amount I want to?”

“Yes but we need your husband’s signature to open an account for you.”

“What?” She couldn’t believe her ears.  “What if I wasn’t married?”

“Then we would have your father or brother sign up for the account on your behalf.”

She was getting angrier by the second.  “I don’t care very much for that rule.”

He shrugged.  “I didn’t make it up.  I’m just following it.”

“Fine.” Now she was more determined to spend Justin’s money than she was before.  She turned on her heel to leave the bank when Mr. Mitchell stopped her.

“May I have a word with you in my office?” he asked.

“Did I do something wrong?” She wondered why the vice president wished to speak with her.  It wasn’t like she created a scene.  She merely had a conversation with the teller.  Fine.  So it was an argument, but she had kept her voice low so no one else noticed.

“No.  What I have to discuss with you isn’t related to the teller.”

She debated whether or not she wanted to find out what Mr. Mitchell wanted but decided that she would hear him out since he was one of the few people who actually believed her about Harrison Grant Sr. taking Mr. Parker’s wallet out of his pocket.  She nodded and followed him to his office.  She sat in the chair across from his.

He left the door open and sat in his seat.  “I looked into the situation with Mr. Parker and discovered that Mr. Grant took the wallet as you said.  I was wondering if you would be willing to go to the Friday night dance this week?  Mr. Grant and his son go there, and I’d like you to keep an eye on both Grants for me.  I will be watching them as well but since I missed the pickpocket incident on Monday, I realize I can’t catch everything that they do.  I will pay you this amount for your assistance.  Of course, Mr. Monroe will be your escort since he’s your husband.”

She looked at the amount that he wrote down.  It was a considerable amount in light of the fact that the dance would only be three hours.

“All I need you to do is tell me what you see the Grants doing,” he continued.  “I will take care of things as discretely as possible.”

“So you suspect that the Grants are trying to create a monopoly in this town?”

“Yes.  Mr. Leroy gave me the job of proving it.”

She would like to see justice done for what happened to her father and the other men who had recently gone bankrupt because of the Grants, so she agreed.  “Do I need my husband’s permission to receive the payment?” She motioned to the paper in her hand.

“No.  I’m not hiring your husband.  I’m hiring you,” he replied with a grin.

At least there was one person on this planet who was treating her as an equal in all of this mess.  “Then I will be glad to help.”

When she left the bank, she felt better, but she was still determined to spend Justin’s money, so she went to the furniture store and asked to speak with the manager.

“How may I help you, Mrs. Monroe?” Mr. Evans asked.

“May I purchase some new furniture?  I tried to take cash out of my husband’s account at the bank, but I wasn’t able to do that, and I’m tired of looking at my husband’s old furniture.” There was very little appeal in the stuff he had collected and the house would look brighter and warmer if she had her choice in how to decorate it.

“I can put the amount due on his account and bill him,” the man replied.

She sighed with relief.  Finally, she was getting somewhere.  “Great!  I’m ready to redecorate my home.” And she picked out everything that caught her fancy with little regard to the price tag.  She even bought a new rocker for Helen since her old one was ready to break, and she bought a bedroom set and high chair for the Clarks on Ryan’s behalf.

Her next stop was to buy sheets for the new beds she had purchased.  She also ordered new sheets, blankets, and pillows for the orphanage and the nursing home.  Her purchases there, too, were put on Justin’s account.  When she was done there, she went to the tailor shop and presented the man there with Justin’s measurements and ordered a complete new wardrobe for him.  She knew he preferred dark gray, dark blue and black suits, so she stuck with those colors.  Justin obviously didn’t take the time to shop for himself.  As an afterthought, she added undergarments to that list.  She went to the toy store and bought toys for the orphans.  She bought new pots, pans and dishes for Justin’s kitchen since Jim had broken several things when Louis made him nervous.  She bought two new horses for Franklin, her stagecoach driver, since the two he had were getting too old to be comfortable pulling stagecoaches anymore.  She went to the handyman in town and ordered some minor repairs and improvements to the house to be done.  All of the running around she did took up her afternoon, so she wasn’t able to get to the library.  She decided she would have to go by and check out the books on Oregon the next day.

Satisfied that she made a good dent in Justin’s bank account from her day of spontaneous spending, she walked back to her home.  To her surprise, she saw Mary and Helen walking down the sidewalk.

“Are you feeling better than you did this morning?” Mary asked her once they caught up with her.

“That depends.  Is my reputation further tarnished?” she replied.

“Oh, don’t pay people any mind,” Helen told her.  “Life’s too short to worry about what others are thinking.  It’s what you and Justin think that’s important.”

“Don’t worry about Amy, Amelia and Patricia,” Mary said.  “They are going to be too concerned with their own love lives to worry about this morning.”

Carrie sighed.  “I suppose you’re right.” She could only hope the talk of her being The Cold Wife would start to die down.  If people would get their own lives, it would happen that much sooner.

“We were just on our way to see you since you haven’t been by the nursing home lately,” Helen commented.  “You’ve been avoiding me.”

“I’m sorry, Helen.” She was right, so Carrie didn’t deny it.

“I understand why.  I’ve been embarrassing you.  I won’t do that anymore.”

“I know you didn’t mean any harm in it.” The woman had been a great source of strength for her and Mary after they lost their mothers.  Unlike Carrie, Mary had lost her mother when she was sixteen.  Carrie considered the fact that she was fortunate to have had the extra years with her parent.  “Do you want to come to my house?  Neither one of you has seen what I did with the parlor.”

“You fixed up the parlor?” Mary asked, not hiding her surprise.

“It was horrible before.  I don’t know why Justin bothered entertaining in there.  The whole house needs redecorating.”

“Are you going to do that?” Helen wondered.

“I thought I’d do him a favor,” Carrie softly admitted.

The old woman smiled.  “Of course.”

It was obvious that Helen didn’t buy it, but Carrie wasn’t going to argue with her.  Let the woman think whatever she wanted to.  She couldn’t change people’s minds.  They would discover the truth in a week and a half when she was on the train going to Oregon to be with her father.

“I’d like to see what you’ve done with the parlor,” Helen said.

Carrie walked with them to her house and let them in.  She suddenly remembered her plan to fix Mary up with Jim.  “You know, I believe Jim has finished making one of his pizzas.  He usually makes them at this time in the day, and Mary, you missed out on tasting one of his creations at the dinner party on Friday.”

“Jim did make a tasty pizza,” Helen agreed.  “You won’t be sorry if you try it.”

Mary nodded.  “As long as he has already made it, I’ll be happy to do so.  I don’t want him to go out of his way for me.”

“Oh, he loves any excuse to cook, but I can smell that he’s made one of his pizzas already,” Carrie remarked.  “It smells like the pineapple and ham one.”

“Good afternoon, Mrs. Monroe,” Geoffrey greeted as he left the kitchen to welcome them.  “I was just sampling another pizza.  Jim’s quite the sensation around here.  Even Louis is helping him today.”

“You’re kidding.” Carrie was shocked to hear this.

“No.  Ever since two Fridays ago, they’ve been getting along beautifully.  It’s no longer a war zone in the kitchen at dinner time.”

She laughed.  “Imagine that.  I never thought I’d see the day when they got along.  You should have been here on Friday,” she told Mary as they walked to the kitchen.  “Louis was ready to kill him.”

“I’m sure it was a sight to see,” Mary replied.

“It’s too bad that awful Mr. Tyndall forced you to go to his dinner party instead.”

“I didn’t mind.  I had fun playing billiards.”

“Mary, would you like to get married?” Carrie asked before she opened the kitchen door.

“Yes.  I said I did this morning.”

Helen grinned at Mary.  “I thought there was more to that Friday than playing the game at Mr. Tyndall’s.”

Mary blushed.

Carrie didn’t understand what was going on but decided to ignore the exchange.  She opened the kitchen door and led them into the room.  “You won’t be sorry you came by to sample Jim’s cooking.” She turned to Constance, Louis, and Jim who were laughing as they ate some pizza at the breakfast bar.  “Is there enough pizza for us?”

“There is always room for more,” Jim cheerfully said.  “I also made a cherry pizza for dessert.”

“He has a wide variety of menu options,” Carrie told Mary.  “He’s extremely creative and smart.  He’s twenty-four and single too.  He’s also fun to be with.  He would make a wonderful husband.”

Constance and Louis gave her a startled look.

Jim glanced uneasily at her.

Carrie turned to Jim.  “Are those plates for us?” She motioned to the three new plates on the breakfast bar.

“Yes, they are, Mrs. Monroe.” He slowly said her name, emphasizing the Mrs. part of it.

She thought it was odd that he did that but decided to ignore it.  As she sat next to her two friends, she told Mary about Jim’s plan to open his own restaurant.  “He’s going to be a big success.  Once everyone tastes how good his pizzas are, they’ll be coming from all over the state to eat them.  Of course, I do what I can to help.”

Jim cleared his throat.  “I believe I need to go to the grocery store.  Louis, do you have that list of ingredients we’ll need for tonight’s dinner?”

Louis closed his jaw and nodded.  “It’s over here.”

Jim eagerly followed the older man to the other side of the kitchen.

“He’s modest,” Carrie told Mary.

Constance took a good look at Carrie.  “If you don’t mind my saying so, Mrs. Monroe, you are taking an unusual interest in the cook.”

Carrie blinked in surprise.  “Really?  I thought everyone knew what I thought of his cooking.”

“Well, they know what you think of his cooking.  They just weren’t aware of what you thought of him on a personal level.”

“I wonder why.  I never hid the fact that I admire his talents, and he is a good man.”

“But what about Mr. Monroe?” Mary asked.

“What about him?” Carrie asked in return.

“Don’t you think well of him?”

She shrugged.  “He’s nice too but I don’t see what that has to do with Jim.”

Jim quickly left the kitchen while Louis and Constance started cleaning the dishes.

“Why did he leave in such a hurry?” Carrie wondered.

“I want those groceries as soon as possible,” Louis explained.

Carrie sighed.  She had hoped to tell Jim something about Mary or get a dialogue going between them.  She decided she would have to wait for another day to do so.  “Alright.  I suppose I could show you two the parlor now,” she told Mary and Helen.

The two women nodded and walked with her to the room.

“Carrie, you did a splendid job!” Mary gushed.  She turned to Helen.  “I see she started her crystal figurine collection.”

“Yes,” Carrie replied.  “Aren’t they wonderful?  Justin gave me most of them.”

“He did?  Wasn’t that thoughtful?” Helen commented.

“It was,” she admitted.

They remained silent for a moment.

Carrie spoke up.  “You know, Mary, you might want to seriously consider marriage.  If you find a man to your liking, you would make a wonderful wife.”

Mary’s face turned bright red.  “I do have someone in mind.”

“I knew it!” Helen snapped her fingers.  “I think he’s just as taken with you as you are with him.”

Carrie figured that they had to be talking about Jim.  Maybe that was why Jim bolted out of the kitchen.  He’s very shy around women he likes.  It made perfect sense.  It probably didn’t help that they were in a room full of people.  Carrie was going to have to arrange it so that she would have Mary over when it was just Jim in the kitchen.  Then they could get a chance to talk to each other.

“Do you want to have a seat?” Carrie offered.

They nodded.  She sat on the couch.  Mary sat next to her and Helen sat in the chair across from them.

“Helen, I’ve been meaning to ask you about a particular topic but didn’t want to discuss it at the nursing home,” Mary slowly began.  “It’s a personal issue.  Considering the fact that my mother and Carrie’s mother died before they could tell us about it, I thought Carrie might like to discuss it too.”

Carrie glanced at Mary out of curiosity.  What was her friend talking about?

“Is it lovemaking?” Helen asked.

The way the old woman just went and blurted it out made Carrie want to jump out of the couch and flee from the room.  She felt her cheeks grow hot.  What was Mary thinking?

As if to answer her question, Mary turned to her and said, “I thought that if you knew about it, you wouldn’t be afraid to consummate your marriage.”

“That’s why you think I haven’t done it yet?” Carrie asked, bewildered and horrified.

“It’s an unknown.  I know I’m nervous about it.”

“But you aren’t married.”

“No, but I hope to be someday, and I’d like to get an idea of what to expect.  Wouldn’t you like to know more about it from an experienced woman’s point of view?”

“I don’t know if this is appropriate talk.”

Helen leaned back in her chair.  “I don’t consider any topic to be inappropriate.  When you get to be my age, you don’t have time for useless small talk.  I don’t know how much longer God will grant me so I just come right out and speak my mind.  You’ll learn to do the same when you are older.  I’d be happy to tell you what I know.”

Carrie wanted the floor to open up and swallow her.  Justin could come home at any moment and he’d find them talking about making love.  Worse, one of the servants could walk by and overhear them.  As Helen gave her answer, Carrie rushed to shut the parlor doors.

“You need to hear this too, Carrie,” Helen said.  “This might be the thing you need to finally take that handsome husband of yours to bed with you.  So, sit on down and let’s have a real heart to heart.  This is interesting.”

Realizing the two women would just stare at her until she did as Helen said, she mutely obeyed the older woman and prayed that she would be done before Justin came home.

“You know, my first time wasn’t all that great,” Helen admitted.  “People have a tendency to talk about it as if it’s a life altering event, but the truth is, it’s a natural part of life.  It is what you make of it.”

This caught Carrie’s attention.  “Well, Judy said that her husband enjoys it a lot more than she does.”

The woman smiled.  “I think it’s easier for men to receive the immediate benefit of sexual relations.  They’re built that way.”

“Why would God build men to enjoy it more than women?  That’s not fair.” Was God on this whole ‘men being more important than women’ thing too?

“No, men don’t enjoy it more than women do.  I think men and women enjoy it equally, but for different reasons.  Lovemaking isn’t simply the physical act.  It’s also an emotional bonding between the husband and wife.  It brings two people closer together.”

“Judy said that he got more physical pleasure from it.”

“Well, then she needs to tell him what he can do to make her feel good.”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

The woman’s eyebrows furrowed.  “Haven’t you ever explored your body to know what you like and don’t like?”

Mary shook her head.

Carrie blushed.  “No.  It’s wrong.”

“Says who?” Helen wondered.

“The church.  We are supposed to be pure.” Carrie replied.

“Hmm…I do recall the church doctrine clearly stating that missionary, that’s man on top, is the only appropriate position.”

“Oh.  I didn’t realize that,” Mary commented.

The woman rolled her eyes.  “My goodness girls, let’s be reasonable here.  All that stuff about not being able to figure out what makes you feel good and the position you do it isn’t based on the Bible at all.  Those are man-made rules.  God has given us a world of variety and five senses to discover different pleasures.  Think about it.  When you look at a flowerbed, you see a wide range of colors and smell different aromas.  There’s not a single ugly or bad smelling flower out there.  They are all beautiful and pleasing but for different reasons.  Lovemaking is the same way.  I was married for fifty-eight years and can assure you that there are many positions a husband and wife can do and each position feels good for different reasons.  As for experiencing an orgasm, I had to discover on my own what to do to make that happen, and then I showed my husband what to do.  Men don’t have the same parts that women do, so they don’t know what will make us feel good.  You’ll be doing this for yourself as much as for him.  He doesn’t know what to do.  You have to instruct him.  I had to overcome my own feelings of awkwardness in that task but it was well worth it.  Why go through years of ‘that was alright’ loving when you can have ‘that was amazing’ loving instead?”

“So you had an orgasm every time?” Carrie asked.

“No, I didn’t.  But I did often.  You remember what I said about variety.  There are different kinds of sex.  You can have sex for an orgasm, but some other reasons you can have it are for connecting emotionally, for comfort, for conceiving children, and so on.” She paused as she considered her next statement.  “If you want to get more pleasure out of it, then you will have to open your heart to him.  You have to allow yourself to be vulnerable.  Until you offer yourself completely to him, your pleasure will be limited, physically and emotionally.”

“That makes me feel a lot better,” Mary remarked.  “I don’t feel so nervous anymore.”

Helen nodded.  “Good.  That was my goal.  I think you two have terrific men.  Mary, I can tell that your love interest cares for you as well.”

Mary smiled.

“And Carrie,” Helen began, turning to her, “you really don’t give Justin enough credit.  He’s very considerate of you.  Since he treats you as well as he does outside the bedroom, he’ll treat you just as well in bed too.”

At that moment, Carrie saw the parlor doors open.

“And there’s no reason why you won’t enjoy having loving with him.  It can be a lot of fun.  You just need to do it,” Helen finished.

Carrie nearly fainted when she saw Justin standing at the door.

“Apparently, I missed a good discussion,” he said.

“Well, I think it’s time for me to take Helen back to the nursing home,” Mary said as she stood up.  “It’s nice to see you, Mr. Monroe.”

“Good afternoon, Miss Duff, Mrs. Ritter,” he replied.

She wanted to leave with them but knew she couldn’t since she lived there.  She quickly stood up and went to the window and pretended to be interested in straightening the curtain.  She shouldn’t have taken her eyes off the window.  If she hadn’t, then she would have seen Justin coming and could have avoided the embarrassing situation she was currently in.

He walked over to her.  “While I was at work, I got a surprise visit from several store employees who handed me bills for items you purchased earlier today.”

She was so relieved that he decided to ignore the conversation that Helen, she and Mary were having when he arrived that she didn’t mind having to explain the exorbitant amount of money she spent that day.

“Do you realize you spent six months of my salary in a couple of hours?” he asked her.

She was hoping it would be a year’s worth.  It didn’t occur to her how much money he made.  Wow, he really is rich.  Dismissing her observation, she shrugged.  “Now you know what a big spender I am.  I’m sure you would like to annul this marriage as soon as possible.”

“I did take note of what you spent the money on and you didn’t spend any of it on yourself.”

“Does that matter?”

“Yes, it does because I can claim the orphanage and nursing home gifts on my taxes next year.  You just gave me a good-sized deduction.”

She had no idea what he was talking about.

“When you donate items to non-profit organizations, you end up having to pay less in taxes,” he explained.  “You actually did me a favor without realizing it.”

She frowned.  How was she supposed to upset him when he insisted on looking at the bright side of everything she did?  She tried another tactic.  “Well, next time I may spend all that money on myself.”

“I’d like to see you try,” he said.  “It would take a lot of dresses and jewelry to equal that amount.”

He got her there.  She had all the dresses and jewelry that she needed.

“So,” he continued, “to say thank you, I’m taking you out to eat at any place you choose.”

The last thing she needed was a reward.  “Isn’t there anything that annoys you?” she finally asked.

“Of course there is but I’m not going to tell you what it is because you’ll do it.  I know you’re only doing these things so I’ll force you out of here.” He put his arm around her and glanced out the window.  “It is a nice day for a walk.  We could even go see Ryan and take him to the park.  I bet if I kissed you, he would laugh again.”

She was tempted to take him up on his offer.  She knew that Ryan was better off in a home with adopted parents, but she was going to miss him when he left the orphanage.  She shook her head.  “You’ll use anyone or anything to try to convince me to stay with you, won’t you?”

“I love you, Carrie, and if you think I’m just going to run off to a corner and watch you leave me at the end of the month, you’ve got another thing coming.”

“You can’t be serious.”

“Deadly.” He kissed the top of her head.  “You smell good.”

She groaned so he wouldn’t know she was enjoying being this close to him.  “Fine.  I’ll go to dinner with you.” She stepped away from him before she did something she’d regret, like kiss him.  “Oh, before I forget, Mr. Mitchell wants me to watch the Grants at the dance this Friday night, so clear your calendar for it.”

“Is this because of the Parker incident?”

“You know about that?”

“I knew you were right about it.”

“Anyway, he’s paying me to do it, so as you can see, I can make my own way in this world if I wanted to.”

“I know you can.  I just hope you choose to stay with me instead.”

“I suppose you’ll want me to give you the money I’ll make to pay you back for all the purchases I made today?”

He shrugged.  “No.  You can use it for whatever you want.”

She didn’t hide her surprise.  “Really?”

“I also noticed your purchases today included things for me and this house.  Which reminds me…Why did you order new bedroom furniture sets?”

“I decided the time period themes weren’t suitable for a woman.  Each room looks like a museum instead of an actual bedroom.  I figure that fall, winter, spring and summer themes will work much better.  I hope you don’t mind all the frilly curtains and bed sheets.”

“Then explain the Christmas and Easter bedroom sets you bought.”

“There are only four seasons and you have six bedrooms, so I had to choose two popular holidays to go with.  Children will like Christmas and Easter the most.”

He grinned.  “Children?  Whose children are going to be in those rooms?”

She stopped herself from saying theirs.  She didn’t realize that she was subconsciously thinking such a thing when she made her purchases.

“I caught you, Mrs. Monroe.  You do want to be in this marriage, even if you can’t admit it yet,” he noted.

“I do not.” She couldn’t.  “Perhaps I am thinking of your next wife and what she’ll want.”

“Uh huh.” He clearly didn’t believe her.  “And what if she would rather have the time period themes instead?”

“Then that will be her problem.  She can go out and do her own shopping to change it back, but I won’t do it for her.” She didn’t know why the thought of him with another woman bothered her as much as it did.  She refused to dwell on it.  “Are we going to eat or what?”

“Sure thing, Mrs. Monroe.  Oops.  I mean, Miss Allen.  Who knows?  Maybe I’ll find the next Mrs. Monroe at the restaurant.”

She almost tripped him with her foot as he walked past her.  How dare he even think of looking for someone else?  She shook her head.  What was she doing?

“Are you coming?” He waited for her at the parlor doors.

“Yes, I’m coming.” She reluctantly followed him out of the room.

Inspiration For the Book: The Cold Wife (and the value of men)

I still like the book club scene where the characters debate, but given the revised version of The Cold Wife, there was nowhere I could keep the scene and make it work with the rest of the plot.  I had to toss it out with the 40,000 words I deleted.

This is why I wrote the book club scene:

This probably doesn’t come as a surprise based on my other books, but I think the United States culture doesn’t value men enough.  (I haven’t lived outside the US, so I can’t compare countries.) I think it’s a shame that men are mocked on TV or movies.  Usually, they’re shown as lazy idiots who need their wives to organize their lives for them.  The husband who needs his wife to figure things out for him is becoming the norm in comedy.  Well, it’s not funny to me.   Then there’s the super-strong woman who is the one who protects the man–and she can even beat him up.  So men are also “weak” and unable to protect women.  If it weren’t for women, such men wouldn’t be able to survive in this world.

I know I’m old-fashioned.  I know I’m not “with it” and that I’m a “square”.  That’s fine with me.  But I like being married, and I feel better when my husband is here.  When he was in South Korea, I had to manage the whole house (writing, my kids, the schools, any repairs, etc) all by myself.  I felt vulnerable.  While I had a couple of friends to help, it wasn’t the same as having him here.  There is a level of protection and support that my husband can give me that no one else can.

I think men are not valued enough.  I think their strengths are often overlooked.  Men and women are inherently different (physically and emotionally).  I know there are exceptions, but overall, the differences exist.  And those differences work to their advantage in marriage.  The man and woman works as a team.  Together, they form a complete unit.

I love the fact that my husband is stronger than me because he can lift all the heavy stuff.  I like that while I am emotional about a situation, he’s able to come at it with a cool head.   He’s able to discipline the kids better than me because I tend to get all soft (it’s the nurturing part of me that kicks in).  He lets the kids do more than I do.  I still tend to baby them by making their meals, but he’ll have them make their own meals now that they’re old enough.  He goes out and cleans the gutters and does other jobs I’d rather not do because (quite frankly) I’d rather clean up the house instead of climbing on the roof or tending to the yard.

I don’t want to be like a man.  I want to be a woman.  I don’t want to take over the man’s job.  I want my husband to do it.  Men are smart.  Men might not be all mushy when it comes to love, but when I was sick and couldn’t take care of the kids, he did the work for me.  Men have their way of showing love.  Some are more verbal about it than others, but they can and do love deeply.  They are great protectors and great role models for their children.  They should be appreciated for their strengths instead of being ridiculed.  A man who works to provide for his wife and children is often overlooked and highly unappreciated.  He’s faithful, he’s steady, he’s dependable.  Maybe not “exciting” according to the culture’s standards, but he’s a hero in all of my romance novels and in real life.

Deleted Scene #3: The Cold Wife

Here’s another scene from the original version of  The Cold Wife.  I’ll discuss this one in tomorrow’s post.

This actually comes in two parts:

Part 1:

Justin decided to try something else.  “Carrie, you’re right about me putting work before you.  That’s going to change.”

She didn’t respond.

He realized she needed proof in order to believe him, so he would offer something tangible she could hold onto.  “Give me a place to be and a time to be there and I’ll show up.”

Her eyebrows furrowed.

“I can’t show you that you are first in my life unless you let me.”

“It won’t change my mind.  I’m not going to go through yesterday again.”

“You won’t.  I promise.”

She looked like she was ready to protest when she suddenly smiled.  It wasn’t a happy smile.  It was a smile of someone who was up to something sneaky.  “Alright.  I’m going to my book club meeting Wednesday at ten o’clock.  Care to join me?”

“Yes.  I will.”

“Maybe you should ask me what the book we’ll be discussing is called before you commit yourself to it.”

He shrugged.  “It doesn’t matter.  The important thing is that I’ll be with you.”

“The book is called An End to Male Oppression by Natalie Greenwood.  I chose the book when I learned of our engagement.”

“Sounds interesting.”

“You’ll have to read the book if you plan to attend.”

“Can I read your copy?”

“No.  You’ll have to either go to the library or go to the bookstore for your own book.  I made some unflattering comments in the margins of the book that reflect my current predicament.”

“Are you sure you won’t let me read your copy?  I’m sure it’ll be more entertaining than a clean copy.”

“Believe me.  You wouldn’t like to read what I wrote.”

“Why spare me the misery?  It might get me to agree to the annulment if I knew just how terrible you think I am.”

“I want you to pick it up so the salesman or librarian knows you’re going to read it.”

“Alright.  I’ll even tell the salesman why I’m picking it up.”

She appeared apprehensive.

“Is that a problem?” he innocently wondered.  He knew the rumors that were going on around her.  People referred to her as The Cold Wife, and this would only add fuel to the fire.

She took a deep breath.  “No.  There’s no problem at all.”

He could tell that she was lying.  She didn’t like the gossip anymore than he did.  “Great.  I’ll pick up a copy bright and early tomorrow morning.”

***

Here’s Part 2

Justin arrived at Mary’s house for the book club meeting.  After the butler showed him to the parlor which was decorated to her father’s liking, he sat on one of the couches.  He hoped that Carrie would sit next to him.

Mary walked into the parlor with the book in her hands.  She laughed.  “Carrie said you were coming but I didn’t believe it.  This is a horrible book.”

He grinned as he stood up.  “At least I know someone will agree with me today.”

“I am surprised you came.  You certainly have a lot of courage.  Carrie made sure to invite a couple of women who don’t think very well of men.  You’re going to need to remember that when they give you a hard time.”

“I expected that to be the case.” He appreciated Mary’s warning.  He could understand why his uncle found her appealing.  “It was nice of you to bring my uncle lunch on Sunday.  Sometimes he gets so caught up in work, he doesn’t remember to eat.”

“It was nothing.  I know that you and your uncle are under a lot of pressure with the Grants doing everything they can to wipe out their competitors.  You’ll have to forgive Carrie for not understanding how things are in your line of work.  She grew up with a father who had a nine to five job and stayed home every night.  He attended dinner parties, but clients didn’t dictate how he did things.  I explained to her that your work is a lot like my father’s.  I’ve gone to a couple of meetings with him and I saw how demanding some of the men were.  It’s hard to please everyone.”

The doorbell chimed.

“Are you ready for a rough hour?” she asked.

“I’ve been to worse things than this.”

She nodded and went to greet the women as they arrived.  He didn’t recognize Amelia and Patricia Crawford or Amy Rose.  Carrie was the last to arrive and he welcomed her with a big hug and a smile.

“I can’t believe you came,” she said.

“Of course, I came,” he replied.  He sat down and patted the seat next to him.  “I saved a place for you.”

“Trying to butter her up so she won’t tell us how you men really are?” Amelia folded her arms and glared at him from her chair.

“Now, let’s be civil,” Mary stated as she sat in her own chair.  “It certainly is commendable for him to come here in the middle of a work day.”

Patricia and Amy sat on the other couch.

“Did you actually read the book?” Patricia asked him.

“I did,” he replied.  “The author condemns women for staying home, having children and loving their husbands.”

Amy frowned.

Carrie spoke up.  “I guess that’s one way of looking at it, but what I got out of it is that she’s telling women that they have the freedom to choose what course of action they should take in life.”

Amelia nodded.  “Exactly.  That was well said, Carrie.”

“I suppose you think it’s wrong for a woman to actually have a choice,” Amy huffed at him.

The maid brought in two trays of food.  Mary looked relieved by the distraction.  “I had the chef prepare shrimp cocktail, a fruit pastry and finger sandwiches for this occasion.  Please help yourself to some cider too.”

“Wow,” Justin began, “I had no idea a book club meeting would involve food.  This is nice.  Thank you, Mary.”

“Hmm…” Amy seemed to consider her words before she spoke.  “Is that why you came?  To eat the goodies?”

He already didn’t like the atmosphere in the room, but considering the book they were discussing, he realized it was par for the course.  “No.  I came here because my wife asked me to be here.”

Mary smiled.  “Well, it’s nice that you did.”  Turning to the other women, she asked, “You’re familiar with Mr. Monroe of the Monroe Investing Firm?”

“Yes,” Amy responded.  “We’re also aware of how he conspired with Mr. Allen and the other Mr. Monroe to force Carrie into a marriage she desperately wished to avoid.”

Carrie cleared her throat.  “To be fair, Justin wasn’t a part of that arrangement.  He was told I wished for the marriage.  It wasn’t until after we were married that he learned the truth.  But anyway, we’re not here to discuss that.  We’re here to discuss this book.  So, what did everyone think of it?”

Justin wondered why she felt the need to clarify how they got married to the other women.  He assumed that she wanted them to believe the worst about him.  Whatever her reason was, he thought it was nice of her to do that.

When no one said anything, she continued, “I confess that I haven’t read this type of book before, so I can’t compare it to similar literature.  I think it was well written.  The author certainly took the time to provide examples from her life to back up her claim that women should be given more choices.”

“Well, it’s only reinforced what I’ve been thinking all along,” Amelia said as she helped herself to the fruit pastry.  “The author, Natalie Greenwood, did an excellent job of explaining why men feel the need to force women to stay home.  Lord forbid they should actually let women into the workplace.  A woman can do a job as well as a man can.”

“God gave us intelligence too,” Amy agreed.  “It seems that society is opposed to a woman displaying that intelligence.”

“Don’t Mrs. Parker, Mrs. Henderson and Mrs. Wilcox have their own businesses?” Justin asked.

“Dress making and catering,” Patricia responded.  “Those are chores a woman is already familiar with.  What about the more challenging jobs?”

“Like jobs that require mental acuity,” Amy added.

“Well, my father lets me do his bookkeeping and paperwork when the demand gets to be too much,” Mary replied.

“But do you get paid?”

“Why should I?  He’s already been generous with what he’s given me.  He does provide for me though I am an adult.”

“If you were to do those tasks for someone else, you would be paid.  You deserve to be compensated for your work.”

“I am.  My father takes good care of me.”

“Wouldn’t you be happier on your own?”

“No.  I would be lonely.”

“You’re almost twenty-five.  Do you plan to live with your father forever?” Patricia wondered.

“Of course not,” Mary answered.  “I hope to get married.”

“And spend your life chained to yet another man?” Amy pressed.

Mary looked as if she wanted to bolt from the room.

“I believe the book is about the freedom for a woman to choose her own path in life,” Carrie quickly spoke up.  “If a woman wants to marry, then that’s her right.  If she chooses to stay single, that’s her right too.  Natalie was trying to express how important that fundamental right to choose is for a woman.”

“Exactly,” Amelia agreed.  “That is an excellent point, Carrie.  We can all respect your desire to get an annulment when the month is up.  At least then, you’ll get to make your own choices again.”

Patricia looked at him.  “If you were a real gentleman, you would let her out of the marriage now instead of making her suffer for the next week and a half.”

“Well, I’m not suffering,” Carrie softly remarked.  In a louder voice, she said, “Anyway, we are here to talk about the book.  What did everyone think?”

“I liked it,” Amelia said.

“Me too,” Patricia and Amy agreed.

“Well, I didn’t like it,” Mary stated.  “I mean, I do feel sorry for Natalie, but she does men a disservice by saying they’re all bad.”

Amelia turned to him.  “Let’s get a male viewpoint of this book.  What do you think of it?”

He shifted uncomfortably in his seat, aware that Carrie was sitting next to him.  What was he thinking when he agreed to come here?  “I admit that I don’t think the author was fair, but since it was geared to turn other women against men, then she certainly did a good job of convincing women why they need to remain single.  If I was a woman, I’d probably swear off men altogether, but in light of the fact that I’m a man, it’s a little difficult for me to do that.”

“Granted, that would be the case,” Patricia consented.  “But do you understand why it’s difficult to be a woman?”

“Not really,” he honestly replied.  “It’s stressful to be a man too.”

“But you get the freedom to work and make something of yourself.  Meanwhile, Carrie has to fade into the background and suffer a life of monotony.  She isn’t allowed to expand her horizons and pursue her goals.”

He was beginning to get upset.  Fade into the background?  Suffer a life of monotony?  Is that what women thought of marriage?  “So, none of you are married?” he asked, looking at the three women he hadn’t known until that morning.

“Goodness no,” Amelia said.  “I wouldn’t want to be trapped in such a prison.”

“We want the freedom to work,” Patricia agreed.  “As soon as I turn nineteen, I’m moving out of my parents’ home and finding my own place and my own job.  Then I’ll know real liberation.”

“How old are you?” He examined them, realizing that their makeup made them appear older than they were.  When he discovered that they were eighteen, nineteen and twenty-one, he asked, “Have any of you had a chance to work?”

“No,” Amy answered.  “Our fathers want to marry us off, though we have stood our ground and refused any offers at courtship.”

“That’s a shame.”

“What do you mean?”

“Speaking as a man, it’s hard enough to find a good woman to marry.  The last thing men need is a book encouraging wonderful women to stay single.”

“That’s easy for you to say since you enjoy a life outside the home.  You have your independence.  I notice that Carrie doesn’t have a job outside the home.”

“She hasn’t mentioned that she’s wanted one.  As far as I can tell, she’s happiest when she’s visiting friends and going to the nursing home and orphanage.”

“Where are you going with this?” Carrie asked him.

He was too upset to answer her, so he continued talking to the other women instead.  “I believe the author referred to work as ‘that liberating place where men are free to pursue their dreams while their wives are forced into bondage at home, degraded to caring for his noisy, messy and snotty kids because men think women can do nothing of importance.’ Not that I believe that kind of thing but I’m just quoting the author, so you can be assured that I actually did read the book.  Yes, I think it’s a shame that Natalie endured cruel treatment from her husband who beat her, but most men aren’t like that.  How many of you had fathers who beat your mothers?”

No one said anything, which only proved his point.

He continued, “You think that taking care of the elderly or orphans aren’t important because it doesn’t require book smarts?  Granted, Carrie doesn’t get paid for doing those things, but I’ve seen her in action, and she does a better job than some men do at work they are paid for.  As for thinking that men experience total freedom in the workplace, I’ll let you in on a secret.  My life is dictated for me by clients who can make unreasonable demands, and I can lose money if I fail to go along with them or lose the love of my life because I do go along with them.  Most of the time, it’s stressful, but the hope of being with Carrie at the end of the day is what gets me through the rough times.  Do you realize that one of the reasons I work as hard as I do is to provide a good home for my wife?  Men work to support their families because they love their wife and children.  Work isn’t simply a place for men to be ‘kings of their own world,’ as the author puts it.  It’s a way of providing for others.”

“Then work isn’t fun?” Amy wondered.

“Parts of my job are fun.  I do enjoy dinner parties and working with investments, but none of it means anything unless there is someone to share my life with.”

Amelia studied him.  “So what is your view on having children?”

“I want them.  I don’t think the author is correct when she says that children trap a woman to the home.  I understand she said that because she stayed in the abusive relationship with her husband because she couldn’t take her children with her if she left him.  But she can’t apply that same reasoning to a woman who’s with a man who takes good care of her and their children.  My parents died when I was two and my uncle wasn’t married, so I didn’t have a mother figure around when I was growing up.  My uncle did an excellent job of raising me, but there are fundamental differences between men and women and one of those differences is that women are more caring and nurturing than men are.  When a child is sick or hurting, he wants a mother to take care of him.  Men can’t do everything.  They need women.”

“Is that why you are forcing Carrie into staying with you for a month until she can get the annulment?”

“Or is it because you’re being selfish?” Amelia inserted.

He sighed.  “Fine.  I’m being selfish.  I love her.  I’ve been in love with her since I first saw her.  She was pretty back then and as the years have gone by, she’s gotten more beautiful.  I’m friends with her brother and I learned about her from him.  I was too shy to act on my feelings, and my lack of experience with women didn’t help.  I assumed that she would marry someone who had the courage to speak to her.  I thought I was going to end up like my uncle.  So when I found out that the marriage had been arranged between us, I jumped at the chance to marry her.  I mean, look at her.  What man wouldn’t be thrilled to marry her?”

Carrie’s face turned bright red.

He thought over his next words.  “She did tell me that she wanted out of the marriage after the wedding.” He shrugged.  “I thought if she got a chance to know me that she might want to stay with me.  I couldn’t just give her up without trying to win her love.”

To his surprise, Amelia put her hand to her heart and smiled at him.  “I have misjudged you, Mr. Monroe.  You do honestly love Carrie.”

“Why do you want an annulment?” Amy asked her.  “You have the real thing.”

“Hold onto him,” Patricia agreed.  “Mr. Monroe, I apologize for my harsh words.  You’re right.  This is a horrible book.  Shame on you, Carrie, for making him and us read it.”

Carrie looked startled.

“Helen Ritter is right.  You need to consummate your marriage,” Amelia agreed.  “The poor man has been very patient with you.” She looked at Patricia and Amy.  “I don’t know about you, but I’m going to find my beloved Samuel and tell him I’ll marry him!”

“We should find John and Kenneth and make things right with them,” Amy told Patricia.

“Thank you for showing us that men can be good,” Amy told Justin.

Patricia shook her head at Carrie before she followed her two friends out of the house.

Carrie frowned at Justin.  “You just turned them against me.”

He didn’t understand what the problem was.  “I just told them what I thought about the book.”’

“No.  You humiliated me!”

“How?”

“Now they’re going to tell everyone that I’m being unreasonable.  Everyone is going to feel sorry for you.”

“Carrie, I think you’re blowing this out of proportion,” Mary cautiously inserted.  “All he did was profess his love for you.”

“And you don’t see how that makes me look?” Carrie asked her.

“It makes you look like you’re lucky to have him.”

“My whole life has been falling apart ever since my father went bankrupt and this just adds insult to injury.”

“I don’t understand you at all.  Anyone else would have been touched by what he said.”

“You know what?  I’m in the room,” he interrupted them.  “I believe this meeting is over.  I have to get back to work where I can experience great freedom and pursue all my dreams.” He angrily walked out of the house.

Books and TV Shows (a random post on stuff I’ve been reading and watching and thinking of writing)

Today’s post is a bunch of randomness.   My thoughts are all jumbled up, and I don’t even know where to start.

I’ll start with some stuff I’ve been reading and plan to read in the very near future…

1. Book I Recently Finished

The Remnant: The Legend of the Seer: a fantasy for young adults and adults

If you go to Amazon or Barnes and Noble, the ebook is around $3.49.  The paperback is $23.

I met M.J. Chrisman (the author) at the writer’s conference I went to last month and was so impressed with him as a person that I bought his book.  He’s 23 and just starting out with his writing.  He’s a really nice guy, and his story was very enjoyable.  The only problem is that this book is the first one in a trilogy, and he hasn’t finished books 2 and 3 yet.  So while the hero’s decision to continue on the quest to defeat the evil invading the world, we are not given the final battle of good vs. evil.  And while the hero has expressed his feelings for his love interest, the fact that she’s a queen and he’s not royalty poses a possible problem for their sweet romance which started in this book.  (When I say sweet, I mean the characters didn’t have sex.)

Disclaimer: For those of you who like to finish the complete series at once, this might not be the kind of thing you want to read right now.  In the meantime, he’s considering finding a publisher for the books.  So this might or might not remain a self-published series, which could push back the time period for when you could finish the series.  At this point in time, he isn’t ready to release books 2 or 3.  I wanted to mention the disclaimer ahead of time in case you’d rather wait for the whole thing to be out before checking it out.  If reading book 1 and waiting is okay with you and if you’re a fantasy lover, I highly recommend his book.

2.  A children’s series that my son discovered and I found myself enjoying…

The Diary of a Wimpy Kid Series by Jeff Kinney

On Amazon and Barnes and Noble

They made three movies so far off the books, and while I see parts of the books in the movies, the books are not just like the movies, which makes it fun because the movies don’t spoil the books or vice versa.  The reason why I read the books at all was because I wanted to know what my kid was reading.  There are some stuff in children’s books I don’t want my kids reading, so I wanted to make sure it was something I could fully approve of.  And I ended up getting hooked on the series myself.  :D  I am reading the books out of order, but I only have two more books to go and I’m done.

3.  I plan to read a Regency when I finish the Diary of a Wimpy kid series.

This is going to be Christmas Angel by Jo Beverley.

Here’s the link on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

Before anyone thinks I picked it up because I like the author, that’s not the case.  I have no idea what Jo Beverley writes like, though I’ve seen her name.  The reason I am reading this is because while I was out with a friend yesterday, we came across the book and I thought, “I might be able to write a Regency book that takes place around Christmas.” Since I have no idea how they celebrated Christmas (decorations, games, etc), I figure this book will be research.  I’d rather do research from reading something fun than a dry “how it was done back then” blog post or book.  Most of my research stems from stuff I do find online, but I like to mix it up a bit from time to time.

I Hope to Write Romances that Take Place During the Christmas Season

Now when I say Christmas season, it could start in October and span through the New Year.  For example, I still like the idea for the contemporary Just Good Friends book that starts early November and should take me through New Year’s.  The heroine is in her mid-thirties and her mom is bugging her about not having a boyfriend, so her best friend (the hero) offers to go with her to her younger sister’s wedding.  The hero and heroine agree to act as if they’re dating.  While at the Thanksgiving dinner, the hero gets so annoyed with the mother and sister bugging the heroine about not being engaged that he takes the lie further and says he and the heroine are engaged.  The plan is then to break up, but then after they return to Omaha, her parents come for a surprise visit, making them carry on the lie a bit longer, and the more they continue the lie, the harder it is to be “just friends”.  I want to make a new cover for it since now I can merge two or three pictures onto a cover.

I’d also like to have a Regency take place during the Christmas season, but I haven’t figured out a suitable plot yet.

There is one TV Show I Discovered Recently that I Really Enjoy

While I’m discussing things I enjoy, I thought I’d pass along a creative TV show I recently discovered while browsing Netflix.  Okay.  My husband found it.

The show is called Once Upon a Time.  If  you haven’t heard of it, it’s about fairytale characters who are trapped into our world.  It goes back and forth between their past fairy tale lives and their lives as they are today.  The show features Snow White, Prince Charming, the evil queen, Rumplestiltskin, and Snow White and Prince Charming’s adult daughter Emma.  The queen who was upset when Snow White took the kingdom back from her and married the prince has set a curse on all the fairy tale  characters where they forgot their past lives and live in our world.  Right before the curse took effect, Snow White gave birth to Emma, and the prince put her in a magic wardrobe that took her to our world.  During the curse, time froze for the characters except for Emma who grew up without parents.  On her 28th birthday, she comes to Storybrooke (the town where the characters are trapped).

The show is in its second season, and I like season 2 more than 1, which I didn’t think was possible since I enjoyed season 1 a lot.  What I like about the show is how original it is.  Like I said, it goes back and forth between their past lives and their current lives.  In season 2, it goes into Sleeping Beauty, Mulan, and Captain Hook’s realm, which is in our current time period.  So there are many characters we’re introduced to that stem from the classic fairy tales.  It’s fun to see how their pasts lead to how they are in their current state.  When you understand the background, you get a better picture of their motivation for what they do.  Anyway, it’s something that I haven’t seen done before, and the twists and turns are a lot of fun.

***

Anyone got any good books or TV Shows or movies they’ve read or seen recently?

Things Not Accurate at Barnes and Noble (at the moment)

Please note: I will only email the people who subscribed to be notified when a new release is out after the new book is live on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, AND Smashwords.  It has to be on those three sites before I email you (if you signed up to be on the list).  I don’t like it when authors email over and over with a different link to each site.  So I’m keeping it to one email.  

That all being said, if you notice a new release is somewhere else and wonder why I haven’t emailed you (if you’re on my list), that is why.

And this brings me to today’s post.

I checked Barnes and Noble this morning to see if A Most Unsuitable Earl is up there yet. (It’s not.)  In fact, I noticed a couple of things are wrong on Barnes and Noble while I was there.  Suddenly a Bride and Loving Eliza are no longer free there, but they should be.  I have put them down as free over at Smashwords, and they are free everywhere else that I checked (Amazon, Kobo, Sony, Apple, Diesel).

I also noticed that The Earl’s Inconvenient Wife isn’t even at Barnes and Noble, and it was there two days ago when I checked.

So I have two books at the wrong price and one no longer there and one that has yet to show up.

I think this is a glitch in Barnes and Noble’s system because my books aren’t affected anywhere else, and I read a thread over at the Kindleboards where some other authors are having some issues over there as well.

All I can do on my end is email Smashwords (since those books are distributed through Smashwords) to alert them to the problem.  Since this is happening to other authors as well, I expect this problem will take time to get resolved.

This is the life of a self-published author.  :D  Little things pop up that need your attention, and you can’t guarantee that your book is going to up on a certain site at a certain time because glitches do happen.  But even with the hassles that pop up, I love publishing my own books because I love having full control over the story.  I love making my own covers, too.  I even enjoy the business side to the whole thing.  :D

Hopefully, everything with Barnes and Noble will be resolved soon.

When A Most Unsuitable Earl is live on Barnes and Noble, I’ll send out an email to everyone on my email list to let them know the links where they can buy it.

Inspiration for the Book: The Ending to the Cold Wife

Warning: Do not read this post if you haven’t read The Cold Wife yet and plan to.  This is a huge spoiler.

There was only one ending I could have for this book.  Justin, the hero, needed to know that Carrie loved him, even if he didn’t have any money.  This was especially important since she had to marry him because her father lost his money and wanted to see her financially secure.  While she came around to accepting Justin before she learned he went bankrupt, I wanted to her accept him even though he was poor.

I’m not sure how many people liked the ending, but it was the best possible ending for the book.  Justin would never have been as assured of her love without it, and it paved the way for him to work at the bank by the time An Inconvenient Marriage started.  An Inconvenient Marriage was the first book I wrote in the Virginia trilogy.  I wrote An Unlikely Place for Love second (because I was curious about Mrs. Walker, Sue Lewis’ employer in An Inconvenient Marriage).  After I wrote An Unlikely Place for Love, I decided to write The Cold Wife because Justin Monroe was one of my favorite characters in An Inconvenient Marriage.  While writing it, I incorporated Mr. and Mrs. Walker (Chad and Kate were the hero and heroine in An Unlikely Place for Love), and I was able to line up how Jake Mitchell got his position as the vice president of the bank (which is where he begins in An Inconvenient Marriage).

As a side note, I did show Jake Mitchell’s heartbreak in An Unlikely Place for Love.  Jake Mitchell is one of my all-time favorite characters (because I thought he was extremely complex–which I should talk about in a future post).  Even with the complaints I’ve received on An Inconvenient Marriage, it is one of my personal favorites, and it was the book that showed me I could pull off a comedy.  Anyway, I wanted to see a part of Jake’s past where he was young and just starting out as a teller in the bank (and also how he handled the situation with Joanna and his mother’s death).

Back to The Cold Wife…

Justin would never have been sympathetic toward Sue Lewis and her family’s financial hardships had he not been bankrupt.  He needed to face it first so he could be a good source of support to Jake.  And I gave Justin his money back.  He wasn’t rich by the time An Inconvenient Marriage occurred, but years later, he was.