RG2 - Twenty-Nine and a Half Reasons (38 page)
Read RG2 - Twenty-Nine and a Half Reasons Online
Authors: Denise Grover Swank
Tags: #A Rose Gardner Mystery
“I guess we’ll just keep doin’ what we’re doin’.”
“I guess.” I was miserable doing what we were doing.
“What are you goin’ to do about a job? You’re not going back to the DMV, are you?”
“Shoot, no. I don’t know, maybe… Violet wants us to go into business together.”
“The nursery?”
I looked down at my lap, suddenly unsure. “Yeah.
Joe lifted my chin. “Is this something
you
want to do? Not Violet.
You
?”
I nodded. “Yeah. I do.”
“Then I think it’s a great idea.”
“Really?”
“Look out, Henryetta. The Gardner sisters are about to take over.”
I grinned. “Yeah.”
He leaned over and kissed me so thoroughly I was sure Miss Mildred would turn the hose on us if she could see.
“I don’t have to go back to Little Rock until tomorrow morning.”
“Then I say we go home and finish this conversation there.”
Joe stood, pulling me up against him and kissing me again. “I think that’s the best idea I’ve heard all day. By the way. I particularly liked number sixteen on your list.”
“Which one is that?”
“He is a
very
handsome man.”
I laughed. “Obviously, I left off ‘Joe is a very
humble
man.’”
We walked to his car arm in arm, Mason’s words niggling the back of my head. If we were getting everything out in the open, I needed to know this too. “Joe?”
“Yeah, darlin’.”
“What did Mason mean when he said he didn’t to lie to me, and could you say the same?”
Joe stopped, uncertainty washing over his face.
“Joe?”
He squared his shoulders, hesitating. “I had help getting you out of jail last week. Deveraux and I had tried everything and the judge was fit to be tied, so I called in a favor. I made Deveraux promise not to tell you.”
I steeled my back. “What did you do?”
Swallowing, a hardness filled his eyes. “I called my father.”
“I don’t understand.”
“My father has a lot of influence in the state. A lot. He used his persuasion.”
“Your father used his influence to get
me
out of jail? Why would he do that? He doesn’t even know me.”
“Because I asked him to. What you don’t understand, Rose, is that asking my father for something always comes with a price.”
“And you asked for it anyway?”
“I couldn’t leave you in jail.”
“I’m sorry.” Why was I always telling him sorry?
Joe shrugged. “Water under the bridge.”
“What was the price?”
“What?” He tried to act confused but failed, instead looking like he was hiding something.
I lowered my voice. “What was the price, Joe?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know yet. Dad called it a future favor.”
My stomach tightened with fear. “I hope I was worth it.”
He tilted my head back and looked into my eyes. “I would do anything for you. Do you realize that?”
I nodded. He’d proved it multiple times.
He winked. “Now take me home and show me how much you love me.”
I tilted my head with a grin. “I don’t think one night is long enough to show you that.”
He kissed me with the promise of happiness and love. “Then we’ll just have to spend the rest of eternity workin’ on it.”
That sounded good to me.
Thirty and a Half Excuses
coming Winter 2013
Acknowledgments
Thank you to my critique partner, Trisha Leigh, who tolerates my insanity with very few eye rolls. (That I know of.) And thank you to Derek Dodson for agreeing to read my first draft, even if he didn’t realize what he was signing up for. Trisha and Derek were flooded with pages in a very short period of time after my writing marathon in a week and a half. Thank you for fitting me into your busy schedules and giving feedback in a very short period of time!
Thank you to my beta readers: Rhonda, Anne, Lori, Wendy, Brandy and Kay Bratt. I sent them
Twenty-Nine and a Half Reasons
and asked for feedback in two weeks. They all sent back their notes within two days. I love when readers can’t put my books down!
Thank you to Marcy, Marjorie, Anne, and Heidi, who won a contest a year ago and each named a character in the book. (Marcy: Neely Kate; Majorie: Marjorie Grace; Anne: Anne; Heidi: Heidi Joy) I was a little worried about making it work, but it turned out to be so much fun. In fact, I’m planning to do it again for
Thirty and a Half Excuses
.
Thank you to Mandie Metier with her invaluable help with courthouse questions as well as zoning issues. She saved me a ton of legwork. I love Facebook and I love my friends who are so will and eager to help.
Thank you to my developmental editor, Alison Dasho, who sent back her edit notes on my first draft—full of Rose love! She had minor change suggestions, but they made a huge difference, making the story even richer. I love that she can read my characters and come up with psychological insight to them that
I’ve
missed.
Thank you to my copy editor, Jim Thomsen, who takes my words and makes them even shinier. After six books together, I love that he gets me.
Thank you to my proofreader, Annette Guerriero. She’s meticulous and she loves my books. Total win for both of us.
And finally, thank you to my readers. I write for me first, because if I didn’t love what I was doing, you all would notice. But I write for you second. I love that I entertain you and make you laugh and cry. I love that you think of Rose and Joe and Violet as real people. There are a million books out there and you chose to read mine. This significance of this is not lost on me.
About the Author
Denise lives in Lee's Summit, Missouri. She has six children, three dogs, and an overactive imagination. She can be found dancing in her kitchen with her children, reading or writing her next book. You will rarely find her cleaning. After living in the South for seven years, her biggest disappointment was her lack of an acquired Southern accent.
You can find out more about Denise at www.denisegroverswank.com or email her at [email protected] Be sure to sign up for newsletter on her website to find out her newest releases.
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