Out of The Box Awakening (43 page)

When our song ends, Todd comes up and asks to talk to me. He takes me aside and we talk privately. He cups my face in his hands and looks me dead in the eye

“See babe, I told you things would work out. I told you that when I first met you, remember? Remember that night in the kitchen at Thanksgiving?”

I nod my head, indicating he’s right.

“He’s friggin head over heels for you and has been for a long time. The Ashster! He proposed. Can you fuckin’believe it? And on your birthday! Fuckin awesome!” He gives me a hug. “Oh, and by the way, I still want to hear your story about losing it. I haven’t forgotten, you know and you said I’d be your first…remember?”

I have to laugh at him as I put my arm around him. “Believe me, that story is another chapter in another book, but yes, of course I’ll tell you about it sometime—I haven’t forgotten and yes, you’ll be the first!” He smiles and gives me his thumbs up.

Kyra comes looking for him. Seeing her walk up to us, he’s beaming. “Isn’t she fuckin’ beautiful Olivia?”

Kyra rolls her eyes at him and I grab his arm. “Todd, I’d say she’s absolutely beautiful minus the f-bomb.” Kyra and I both laugh and she takes my left hand

“Let me see this huge ring! Wow! Congrats Olivia, it’s beautiful. He did so good don’t you think?” I wink at Todd “Yeah, something like that.” He winks back at me then kisses Kyra and they start to dance.

Lainey comes and pulls me out to dance with her. Someone has put on our favorite Judd’s song and I suspect that would have been Ellen. I, of course immediately start bawling. Lainey hugs me and wipes my tears. “Mom, I’m so happy for you. Stop crying already! Oh.My.God! Do you realize?”

“Realize what?” I ask. “Mom! We’ve got a wedding to plan!” After Lainey and I dance ‘our song’, another song comes on and Wesley quickly cuts in taking my hand. “Come on Olivia, dance with me.” He smiles, gives me a hug and says “What a night huh? Olivia, look I know we got off on the wrong foot, but I hope that like me, you’ve moved past that and realize how happy I am for you and dad.”

“Wesley, I moved past that as soon as I opened the door and we reintroduced ourselves. No worries!” He hugs me and gives me a kiss. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Ash at the table smiling, so proud of his son and it makes me tear up. I realize that Wesley has taken a huge step out of his comfort zone and is making the commitment to what is about to be our blended family and I’m so touched by his gesture! The next thing I know, all of the men left in the club come out to the dance floor forming a circle around me and nudge me into the middle. Boy I’m in
trouble now! “Girl on Fire” by Alicia Keys is playing, and Todd laughs. “Okay, Olivia gotta dance for us! Show us whatcha got!”

All the band guys, Wesley, Hayden, Dalton, Bradley, Kellan, Ross and even David are dancing around me; which makes me laugh. Todd pushes Lainey and Ellen out into the circle and we all start acting goofy and dancing. Tommy lifts me on top of his shoulders dancing around the circle and I think to myself that I sure hope he doesn’t drop me! The fact that I’ve just consumed an absurd amount of champagne tonight makes me have the courage to sit still on his shoulders. Things are moving fast and before I know it Brian lifts me from Tommy’s shoulders without effort and puts me on his shoulders dancing in the circle. How they’ve made this transition without dropping me bewilders me! I lean down and tell him to be careful; Brian looks up at me and says, “Don’t worry! Just hang on Olivia! I’ve got you. I won’t drop you I promise!” Ash is now standing at the edge of the dance floor with his arms crossed watching in awe of this moment. To say the very least, it is priceless!

Toward the end of the song, Ash invades the circle and takes me into his arms. He whispers in my ear. “Liv, this is the perfect song for you tonight….you are truly on fire. You’re the fire that fuels me and you never cease to amaze me! Let’s make a promise to keep the fire going forever!” I just melt into his arms and it is then that I realize my life has absolutely come full circle. If you would have told me last year on my birthday that today, exactly one year later I would move out of state, become a grandmother, have major surgery, get a divorce, fall in love with a beautiful man, and get proposed to by same beautiful man, I would swear you were on some sort of hallucinogenic drug. I am without a doubt blessed beyond words. I’m ready to go into this next phase of my life and I’ve finally come to realize that I’m a person who has needs and feelings. I’m now comfortable in my own skin and I’m no longer afraid to step out of the box, my box that for most of my life has been my comfort zone.

Awakening is the word that immediately comes to mind. I looked it up in the dictionary and find it pretty much sums up the turn my life has taken. As a noun, it means to become aware of something. That something for me would be feelings. I do have them. Physical and emotional. As an adjective, it is a sense of coming into existence. Throughout this journey, I’ve come into those feelings. They are an awakening to me. I’ve woken up revived and determined to live my life from this point on with feeling and not just merely exist…I am, without a doubt the luckiest woman in the world!

Jennifer Theriot hails from the Great State of Texas. She is a career woman, working as CFO of a Texas based real estate investment firm. Working in her capacity as CFO, she felt something was missing and discovered her passion for writing novels – mostly at night and on weekends.

In her limited spare time Jennifer enjoys being outdoors; preferably somewhere on a beach curled up with a good book.
  Spending time with family and friends, watching a baseball game and enjoying a good bottle of wine are usually on her to-do lists.  Jennifer is also ‘MiMi’ to two beautiful grandchildren and a mom to three grown children, all of whom she adores.  Theriot is an admitted music junkie, loving every type of music, which takes up most of the memory on her iPhone. She listens to music from sun up to sun down and her love of music is reflected a great deal in her books.

Jennifer took a chance that there could be an interest in romance with middle aged couples who are finding themselves at a crossroads and wrote her debut novel Out of the Box Awakening, which centers on the hope of finding happiness and passion through unexpected heartache.
  It emphasizes the need for family and friends as Jennifer has learned in her own life.  The book has been described as "Mature Sexy" by one reviewer.

She is currently working on her second book in the series, Out of the Box Regifted, and she has book 3 planned as well with a book 4 from another character’s POV. Jennifer also has plans to co-write a new series, with a good friend, who shares her same passion for a good romance novel in the near future.

For more information or to contact Jennifer, please visit:

www.jennifertheriot.com

Wow! Where to start. How do I even begin to thank everyone?

First off, having the love and support of family and friends has made this journey amazing! Never in my wildest dreams would I have ever thought I’d end up writing a book! I do accounting for God’s sake!

To my teddy bear hearted husband—without sounding too corny and emotional…thanks for putting up with my neglect for these past few months. You were pretty much on your own every night, since I totally ignored you while doing my writing! I know that there were more than a few loads of laundry that didn’t get folded on the first (or second, or third for that matter) dryer run and I thank God you are the wonderful cook you are. Since I am not, nor do I profess to be a culinary diva, I salute you! I probably would have starved, as you would, had you not taken bull by the horns and made us dinner every night. And even though I did not take your suggestion on the book title, I do appreciate your throwing it my way. It just came a few days too late…sorry honey!

Thanks for the wonderful anniversary gift—my MacBook Air, which made writing a breeze! And the romantically over the top way you gave it to me (private inside joke) is priceless.

To my amazing kids. I couldn’t have done this without your constant support and encouragement. Lauren, thanks for your talents in document formatting and for letting me constantly bounce ideas off your head—you are a lifesaver—my Lainey!

Ben, thanks for encouraging me to keep on writing—our late night texts I will treasure forever. Each night I gave you a word and page count, you encouraged me to keep at it.

And Dale thanks so much for creating my phenomenal website and all of your help in formatting and uploading my book. Your patience with me is golden!

You have all grown into the most wonderful adults and I love you oh oh too much!

To my friend girls, Lorrie and Kelly—you are the BEST! From the very start, when I told you that I was thinking of writing a book, you didn’t laugh, but continually encouraged me to do it! You’ve been there for me every step of the way. Thanks for putting up with countless edits and re-reading for me in a word document on your IPhones….not the easiest, I realize now without page numbers…hehe! Our OOBA wine nights on the patio brainstorming and listening to music are the some of my best memories! I am so lucky to have your friendship and will never take it for granted I promise! For the record Lorrie, you and I are some pretty fantastic dancers!

To Travis Drake Creative Design…..Travis—you are—without a doubt the BEST graphics design artist I could have asked for! I am partial, because I’ve known you since the day you were born, but the fact remains…you are so very talented! Your mom is up in heaven proud as hell of you, as we all are. Thanks for putting up with my constant changes and plethora of annoying emails requesting changes and edits. I appreciate it more than you know and you have given me just what I asked for….an amazing cover!

My new found friend and author Mary Reason Theriot – you’ve been such a huge help and inspiration to me and I owe you big time!  You take time out of your busy schedule to answer my many questions and always lend an encouraging word. Much appreciated! Though we aren’t related, I feel we are kindred spirits.

Those who did beta reading, thank you all for your honest words. I took every comment; good, bad and indifferent and digested them with sincere appreciation.

I set out to write an age appropriate romance novel, addressing issues facing women in their late fifties—emotions and life changing events. To all the over fifty moms out there, who like me are regressing, still love to listen to music and bust a move dancing, I salute you! While we are aging, we are by no means dead and are forces to be reckoned with. We just happen to be women who are young at heart, living in older bodies enjoying life as it is thrown our way.

Chicago … Frank Sinatra

Green Eyes …. Coldplay

Life Is Just a Bowl of Cherries … Rudy Valee

The Way You Look Tonight … Frank Sinatra

Let’s Stay Together … Al Green

Ballade in C Minor … Chopin

I Wanna Dance With Somebody … Whitney Houston

The Heart of Life … John Mayer

Come In From the Cold … Marc Broussard

I’m On Fire … Bruce Springsteen

Stairway to Heaven … Led Zeppelin

I’m Yours … Straight No Chaser

Something to Talk About … Bonnie Raitt

Copperhead Road … Steve Earle

Got to Give It Up … Marvin Gaye

Chasing Cars … Snow Patrol

I Can’t Lie … Maroon 5

Everybody Plays the Fool … Aaron Neville

Fix You … Coldplay

All I Want for Christmas Is You … Mariah Carey

One More Night … Maroon 5

Emily … Marc Broussard

Till Kingdom Come … Coldplay

Fairytale Man … Jennifer Theriot

Mama He’s Crazy … The Judds

Everything … Michael Buble

Cherry Bomb … John Mellencamp

Wildflowers … Tom Petty

Free Bird … Lynyrd Skynard

Forever Young …  Stoney Larue

Something Like Olivia …  John Mayer

Home … Phillip Phillips

Girl on Fire … Alicia Keys