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Reesa held up a glass of tea she’d freshly poured for Theo as he trudged up the stairs to her new deck, carrying a bucket of vegetables. She kissed his lips, never tiring of the thrill it shot through her veins. He set the bucket beside the grill, kissed her intently, then released her to accept the glass and say hello to Billy Lou and Roger Tate, who sat at the new patio table. Clare played with Trooper in the yard, tossing the tennis ball as far as it would go, the poor dog never giving up and insistent upon never-ending throws. “We couldn’t get started without you,” Reesa whispered, giving a slight nod her father’s direction. “He came.” Excitement filled her voice at her dad accepting her invitation to come visit.
“I’m glad. And Clare?”
“They’ve hit it off really well. Thank God for Billy Lou, though. When conversation stills, she navigates us back to something to talk about. Have I mentioned that I love her?”
“On several occasions,” Theo reminded her, walking towards her dad. Roger stood to his feet and extended his hand. “Theodore Whitley,” Theo introduced.
“Roger Tate.” Reesa’s dad looked down at Theo’s other hand holding Reesa’s and then gave an affirmative nod. “Nice to meet you. I’ve heard much about you.”
“That so?” Theo looked down at Reesa and smiled.
“From Clare,” Roger finished and had Reesa snickering at Theo’s blunder.
“Ah. Well, that could go either way, couldn’t it?” Theo laughed.
“I said all good things!” The teenager deserved an Oscar for eavesdropping and Theo just shook his head as Reesa shrugged that it was just another thing he had to learn to love.
“Thank you for having me.” Roger sat back in his seat as Billy Lou patted the one nearest her.
“Reesa, honey, sit. Theo’s here now and can take over the cooking. Come visit.”
“Any word from Jamie?” Theo asked.
“She’s coming up the driveway.” Clare pointed as she walked towards the deck and sat on the steps. She immediately hopped to her feet. “Oh, Teddy’s here too.” She took off at a jog to meet her friends and bring them around the side of the house.
“Teddy?” Roger asked.
“A friend from school,” Reesa explained. “And Jamie owns the local coffee shop in town.”
Roger watched as their friends rounded the house with warm welcomes and everyone fell into banter and conversation. Jamie, so excited to finally meet him, walked to him and gave him a hug that almost lifted him off his feet before she did the same to little Billy Lou. Reesa watched her friend bump Theo’s hip and move him away from the food preparation and her hands went to work. Theo immediately fell into prepping the grill, everything seamlessly moving along with the slow movement of the sun as it began its descent behind the trees. Reesa reached out and tugged Clare’s ponytail, her daughter’s eyes sparkling up at her before she turned back to Teddy and looked at whatever he was showing her on his phone.
Life was good. Piney had delivered. And though she still had strides to make with her mother, her father sat on the porch and laughed with Billy Lou. Jamie and Theo bantered back and forth at the grill, and Clare and Teddy flirted with one another on the porch steps. Everyone was right where they should be. Everyone was happy. And so was she. Theo turned, his eyes narrowing in concern as he tried to gauge her temperament. His hands were covered in oil and spice as he prepared the meat to grill, but she walked over to him anyway and wrapped her arms around him. Pressing her head against his chest, she listened to the steady beat of his heart. “I’m good.”
“I didn’t ask,” he stated, trying to look down at her face without using his dirty hands to adjust.
“But you were wondering,” she whispered, finally meeting his eyes. “And I’m good.” She smiled as she lifted on her tiptoes and kissed him. “And I love you, Theo.” His brow wrinkled as he frowned at her and she giggled. “I know, you don’t like the timing of my announcement, but I needed you to know.”
Softening, he kissed her forehead. “I love you too.”
Jamie gave a soft squeal of excitement next to them, but she kept her attention on the vegetables and her chopping. Reesa grinned at her friend before looking up at Theo again.
“Now, go away.” Theo nodded towards her dad and Billy Lou. “Because I need to focus.”
“Geez!” Reesa stepped away from him, their eyes lingering upon one another for a hot simmering second before she found a seat at the freshly painted patio table. Billy Lou reached over and squeezed her knee, giving her an encouraging wink before Reesa comfortably settled in her chair and soaked in her new life in Piney.
Continue the story with...
Stitched by Memory
Book Two
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The Complete Siblings O’Rifcan Series
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Claron
Riley
Layla
Chloe
Murphy
The Brothers of Hastings Ranch Series
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All titles in The Lighthearted Collection
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Chicago’s Best
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Beautiful Fury
McCarthy Road
Blind Date
Heart’s Love
Check out the Epic Fantasy Adventure
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The Unfading Lands
Darkness Divided, Part Two in
The Unfading Lands Series
Redemption Rising, Part Three in
The Unfading Lands Series
Katharine and her five-year-old son released Captain Cornfield and Diamondy the Bad Guy in November 2021. This new books series launched with great success and has brought Katharine’s career full circle and back to children’s literature for a co-author partnership with her son. She loves working on Captain Cornfield adventures and looks forward to book two releasing in 2022.
Captain Cornfield and Diamondy the Bad Guy: The Great Diamond Heist, Book One
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Katharine started to read through her former paragraph she had written for this section and almost fell asleep. She also, upon reading about each of her book releases and their stats, had completely forgotten about two books in her repertoire. So, she put a handy list of all her titles at the beginning of this book, for the reader, but mostly for her own sake. Katharine is also writing this paragraph in the third person... which is weird, so I’ll stop.
I love writing. I’ve been writing since 2008. I’ve fallen in love with my characters and absolutely adore talking about them as if they’re real people. They are in some ways, and they’ve connected with people all over the world. I’m so grateful for that. And I appreciate everyone who takes the time to read about them.
I could write my credentials, my stats, and all that jazz again, but quite frankly, I don’t want to bore you. So, I’ll just say that I’m happy. I live on the Texas Coast, (no ranch living for now), and I have two awesome little fellas (ages six and two) who keep me running... literally. Though I also say a lot of, “Don’t touch that.” “Put that back.” “Stop pretending to bite your brother.” “Did you just lick that?”
Thankfully, I have a dreamboat cowboy of a husband who helps wrangle them with me. I still have my sassy, geriatric chihuahua, Tulip. She may be slowing down a bit, but she will still bite your finger off if you dare try to touch her... the sweetheart. And then Paws... our loveable, snuggle bug, who thinks she is the size of a chihuahua, but is definitely not.
That’s me in a nutshell.
Thank you for reading my work.
I appreciate each and every one of you.
Oh, and Claron has now sold over 100,000 copies. Booyah!
And Graham is not far behind him.... Woooooooo!
