as she adjusts "the girls" so they'll stop trying to pop out of the top of the plaid western shirt she's wearing tucked into curve-hugging jeans. "They're always a hit with our guests."
Lyn raises a brow. "You might as well hang it up, Mary. In that fitted shirt, you're going to show cleavage. Just don't let "the girls" pop out. This is a family-style barbecue and pig roast."
Lilly scrunches her face. "In eastern North Caroline, barbecue means pig -- as in a pig-picking with a vinegar based sauce. So, saying pig roast and barbecue is a bit redundant, isn't it?"
"I heard the BBQ sauce they're using today is a tangy, savory tomato paste kind of thing," LaVerne says as she brushes her hands over her western style denim skirt. "It sounded delicious
Mac looks up from admiring a new pair of snakeskin cowgirl boots. "Lilly, you're not in Kansas anymore...or North Carolina. This is Texas, and BBQ or bar-b-que is any kind of party where the food is cooked outside. The pig is on the cooker, roasting over hot coals and waiting to be brushed with a thick, red sauce that's hot, sweet, and oh so tasty. There's also a huge side of beef being slow cooked over an open pit."
Lilly pushes her newly acquired lady stetson back off her forehead and smiles. "Ah, now you're talking. That sounds like an earthen roast to me. And from the music coming from the barn, it sounds like the country western band knows some good ole' Southern rock, which is fine by me. I've only recently acquired a taste for country music."
LaVerne smirks. "Lilly, Southern rock is country music."
"Not back in my day, it wasn't! My grandparents listened to country music."
"I listened to country music," Mary says with a huff. "And I am NOT old enough to be your grandmother. Now move that big booty out of the way so we can catch up with Andi and her guests."
"Oh, look!" Lyn brushes past the other hostesses and heads for the barn. "Carrie and Ray are already here, but Paige looks like she's still waiting for someone to show up."
"She's probably waiting for Jake," Mac says. "I think she has a thing for him."
LaVerne claps her hands together and smiles. "This is going to be so much fun.
Andi's book has two couples falling in love. It's like twice the fun and twice the romance."
"That's why there's twice the food." Mac nods toward the long tables set up on either side of the barn door. Plywood propped on cinder-blocks and covered with red and white checkered table cloths are over-flowing with food. The aromas waft toward the hostesses, and Mac's stomach rumbles. "Oliver really out-did himself this time. There are potatoes made every way imaginable, pinto beans, chili, corn on the cob! I'm getting hungry just smelling it."
Lilly nudges Mary. "That's what her stomach said, quite loudly I might add."
"My stomach's growling too." Lyn rubs her belly. "I hope I don't eat too much."
"Well, if we do," Mary adds, "we can dance it off with some of those hot guys standing by the barn."
"I don't think they're waiting for us." Mac casts an appreciative gaze toward the cowboys hanging around the open barn doors drinking from red Solo cups. "But I'm sure hoping they'll dance with us."
Mary giggles. "They better be ready for some all night dancing because I got my boogie shoes on."
"Those are boots," LaVern says on a laugh.
Mary lifts her chin. "Boogie boots."
"Then what are we waiting for, ladies? Let's get this party started!" Lyn herds the hostesses forward like a shepherd tending a straying flock. And the hostess do like to stray.
Mac and Lilly spy a handsome cowboy by the keg and start to wander over. Mac stops before they reach it and grabs Lilly's arm. "Um, maybe we better stay with the group and welcome our guests first. I'm sure Oliver won't let the keg run dry before we get there."
"If he does, we can always have a margarita." Lilly looks and Mac and winks. "And I hear Oliver bought the expensive tequila."
I am so having a margarita!"
Lilly and Mac rush to catch up with the other hostess. LaVerne gives them a knowing look. "Don't worry. Oliver is on his way with an assortment of drinks now."
"And Andi is right behind him," Mac adds. "Let's go welcome our guests."
LaVerne smiles. "And then we'll have a margarita."
(This weeks introductory skit was written by: Lilly Gayle )
BLURB
Successful, workaholic author Carrie Bennett lives through her writing, but can’t succeed at writing a man into her life. Furthermore, her equally successful but cynical daughter, Paige, proves
inconsolable after the death of her fiancé.
Hard-drinking rancher Ray Ryder can find humor in just about anything—except the loss of his oldest son. His younger s
on, Jake, recently returned from Iraq, now keeps a secret that could shatter his deceased brother’s good name.
On one sultry night in Texas, relationships blossom when the four meet, starting a series of events that move from the dancehalls of Hill Country to the beach parties of East Hampton, and from the penthouses of New York to the backstreets of a Mexican border town. But the hurts of the past are hard to leave behind, especially when old adversaries threaten the fragile ties that bind family to family…and lover to lover.
EXCERPT
“You know how to Texas Two-Step?” he asked.
“No,” she said, laughter just
below the surface.
“Well, sweetheart, you have
come to the right place. Or at least got yourself the right man. By the time I
finish with you, you’ll be the best dang stepper on the floor.”
Carrie looked around. “There isn’t anyone else on the floor at the moment, Ray.”
“Well, heck, I know that.
That’s perfect for learning.”
As soon as his hand closed
around hers, the leather of his palm a strange glove over her own fingers, a sudden
frisson of connection ran through her she hadn’t known in a very long while. He
moved her to face him squarely on, a small smile tipping the edges of his
mouth, the dark, impenetrable eyes shining with his captured prize.
“Just follow me,” he said as
his right hand went to her back. A cover of a Vince Gill ballad started, the
mournful tune setting a moderate tempo. “Perfect.” He held her right hand high
and applied slight pressure to move her backwards. “Fast fast slow slow, fast
fast slow slow.”
Carrie felt a light bulb go on. She got it. It was good. It was fun.
And she relaxed in his embrace. He was an excellent teacher, a fabulous leader
on the dance floor. Would wonders never cease?
“You’re doing well. You’re doing fine,” he assured her. “We’re gonna try a little promenade now, and then a twirl, so get ready.”
“You’re doing well. You’re doing fine,” he assured her. “We’re gonna try a little promenade now, and then a twirl, so get ready.”
Carrie couldn’t stop herself from smiling, anticipation bubbling for
just a second. And then out of the corner of her eye she caught Ty watching
them, beer half-raised in salute and a smirk plastered on his face. A moment’s
hesitation and she missed the step.
“What happened there?” asked
Ray, oblivious to the effect the on-looker had on her.
Other couples were finally joining them on the dance floor, but
despite the company, Carrie’s discomfort increased. “That boy, that Ty,” she
told him. “He was watching us. It made me feel…uneasy.”
Ray scanned the sidelines, but Ty had gone, nowhere to be seen. “Oh,
don’t pay him any mind. He’s harmless enough.”
BIO
Born in New York, Andrea Downing returned
in 2008 from the UK where she lived for most of her life. Having traveled
extensively throughout Europe, Africa and Latin America, she now divides her
time between NYC and the east end of Long Is., punctuated by frequent journeys
out west---the area of the USA she loves best. Her first book, Loveland,
was a finalist for the 2012 RONE Award for Best American Historical. Her 2013
short story, Lawless Love, was also a finalist for the RONE Award as
well as the International Digital Awards. A novella, Dearest Darling,
part of The Wild Rose Press Love Letters series, came out Oct., 2014.
Dances of the Heart, a women's fiction novel came out Feb. 2015. All are published by The Wild Rose Press..
Dances of the Heart, a women's fiction novel came out Feb. 2015. All are published by The Wild Rose Press..
***GIVEAWAY***
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