Shannon here: Ann Lee Miller shares how she met her husband, plus a chance for three winners to receive copies of two of her contemporary romances, Avra’s God and Tattered Innocence. Three winners get both books. Comment or answer the question at the end of any post dated March 13 – 16 to enter the drawing. Deadline: March 21st, 11:59 pm central time. Here’s Ann:
Today’s post is a How-I-Met-Your-Father—minus a litany of ex-boyfriends that would jettison my kids into therapy.
At twenty-one I was an Ashland (OH) University creative writing major chasing a dream—hermit writer on the North Carolina coast. The only non-negotiable was the hermit part—I would never marry. To say I had daddy issues is saying cystic acne is just a few zits.
I gritted my Florida-grown teeth against the frigid February First night. My fists jammed into the pockets of my coat as I trudged the ribbon of shoveled cement toward my dorm.
I peeked at Jim, tall—I’ve always liked tall—sharp-elbow thin, and hat-less. “You make nine degrees look like a minor inconvenience.”
His chuckle whited the air and dissipated. “Thanks to all those Pennsylvania mornings when my hair froze on the way to school.”
I eyed him, marking off another who-knew? like discovering Christmas card snow turned your fingers to stiff, white corpses.
It wasn’t a bad first date—we’d sat shoulder to shoulder watching Good-bye Girl in the basement of Founders’ Hall. But no guy was going to take my mind off my brother pulling an overnighter in juvie two thousand miles south.
I should warn Jim, I’m the girl who says good-bye. But I’m a sucker for brainy guys, natural leaders, ones with integrity. I stole another glance at him. Check, check, and check. And that’s why he deserved to know.
The wind pistol-whipped my cheeks and I yanked my hood tighter.
Jim peered at me in the yellow light from the library. “Did you see Emery spin and do a double-take at our hands?”
“Yep. Saw it.” My laugh squeaked out. Actually, not holding my hand might have earned Jim a second date. I could do friends.
I pushed through the glass door into Amstutz Hall’s lobby. Nirvana. Heat and light engulfed everything but my heartache. I turned, good-bye balancing on the fulcrum of my tongue.
But Jim parked himself on an orange vinyl chair.
I slipped off my gloves. Crying would keep.
Jim centered his blue denim gaze on me. “Tell me about your family.”
My eyes widened. The guy had read my mail. So, I told him—every last detail. Forty-five minutes later I felt… better.
Jim stood, shrugged into his coat. He smiled at me, the kind of smile that made me hope he’d read my mail again—soon. A tighter bond roped between us than we’d formed in a semester working together and a month of flirting.
The next Friday I smashed up against the passenger door in his heater-less 1974 Dodge Dart the twenty miles to dinner in Mansfield and back—because keeping my distance is what I did. But he’d already read my mail, and there was no undoing that.
Valentine’s Day crept up on me, and I’d never gotten around to telling Jim I was the girl who said good-bye.
Jim knocked on my door holding red roses and a Bible he inscribed, whether we spend our lives together or apart….
I stared at his winter-pinked cheeks, mussed hair the color of pennies. I liked what I saw. I liked the caffeinated feel of his presence. I liked him. But we were only fourteen days in, and apart was where we were headed.
Jim closed his fingers around my hand.
Warmth skittered across my knuckles.
He bent his head.
I heard his voice praying for me. My eyes drifted shut. I smelled the flowers, and I floated to a place where I wanted to curl up and stay forever. For a girl who’d come-to-Jesus Catholic and been spit out Protestant, there was nothing sexier than a spiritual man.
When the prayer ended, he didn’t let go.
I basked in the next couple weeks of hand-holding, his arm around my shoulders that made my skin feel alive under all those layers of clothes. But I still carried good-bye in my pocket.
February is a short month, but it stretched out long as a cat on a register. Five official dates and dozens of hours of non-dates… and Jim hadn’t kissed me. I was intrigued. Curious. Maybe a little eager.
I’d spent the last eight years slipping behind the screen door before a guy could pucker up, reading aloud the definition of prude, living by Mom’s golden rule—never kiss a guy you don’t want to kiss.
But I wanted to kiss this one.
I turned the key in my door, stomping my Dingos and two pairs of socks to let in some warmth.
Jim hovered at my elbow, smelling like soap and snow.
Catholic guys kissed. Maybe Protestants had different rules.
Jim followed me into my room, and the door swung nearly shut.
I turned around to say good-night. Definitely not good-bye. At least not until I got my kiss.
Jim stepped into my personal space. His warm gaze, zeroed in on me as though he could see all my issues and didn’t care. Bring ‘em on, his eyes seemed to say, as he cupped my face in his hands, and leaned in for the Goldilocks of kisses—not too short or long, tentative or firm. Perfect.
During those few seconds my world tilted. Good-bye spilled from my pocket. And it kept on falling—till May chased all the cold away—and I said, yes, I’d curl up in his forever.
About Ann:
Ann Lee Miller earned a BA in creative writing from Ashland (OH) University and writes full-time in Phoenix, but left her heart in New Smyrna Beach, Florida, where she grew up. She loves speaking to young adults and guest lectures on writing at several Arizona colleges. When she isn’t writing or muddling through some crisis-real or imagined-you’ll find her hiking in the Superstition Mountains with her husband or meddling in her kids’ lives. Over 100,000 copies of her debut novel, Kicking Eternity, have been downloaded from Amazon. Ann blogs memoir on Fridays at AnnLeeMiller.com.
About the books:
Avra’s God: In the tradition of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, four friends navigate college and the drama churned up by their Florida beach band to cement friendship and more. Avra wants love, but drummer Cisco—self-medicating from his parents’ divorce with sex and intoxicants—is a poor choice. Cisco hungers for fresh-baked cookies and the scent of family he finds at Avra’s.
Kallie shares her classically trained voice only with lead vocalist Jesse and fights to keep her heart safe. Jesse feeds on fame and hides more than insecurity beneath his guitar.
The friends surf ego, betrayal, and ambition and head for wipeout. But somehow, when they’re not looking, Avra’s God changes them all.
Tattered Innocence: A tale of passions indulged, denied, and ultimately forgiven:
On the verge of bagging the two things he wants most—a sailing charter business and marrying old money—Jake Murray’s fiancée/sole crew member dumps him. Salvation comes in the form of dyslexic, basketball toting Rachel Martin, the only one to apply for the first mate position he slapped on craigslist.
On a dead run from an affair with a married man, Rachel’s salvation is shoving ocean between her and temptation.
Rapid fire dialogue and romantic tension sail Jake’s biker-chick of a boat through hurricanes, real and figurative. A cast of wannabe sailors, Rachel’s ex, Jake’s, a baby—go along for the ride.
The many-layered story weaves together disparate strands into a seamless cord. Mother and daughter look eerily alike—down to their lusts. Their symbiotic bond, forged in the blood of childbirth on the kitchen floor and cemented by their secrets, must be cracked open. A son must go home. Sin must be expunged.
Tattered Innocence is for anyone who’s ever woken up sealed in a fifty-gallon drum of their guilt.
Question: Winter–love it or hate it? Why?
Come back March 16th to tour Ann’s office!
Thanks for having me today, Shannon! So tickled to tell my story. 🙂
great story Ann!
Ann & Jim are such a dear couple! Thanks for sharing her post.
Winter? I hate it. Mud Month now & 50′ F is such an improvement. I prefer 85′ + and sunny. 🙂
Ann, how fun to get a glimpse into your courtship. I see Jim in a whole new light. 🙂 You have such a way with words. Blessings! ~ Jodi (And I love winter long enough to give me a white Christmas and snow days from school, but then I’m ready for spring once we’ve used up our allotment.)
Hi Jules,
I’m sending you a care package of Arizona sunshine! Hang in there, kiddo!
Hi Jodi,
Thanks for leaving a comment! This story happened right before we met you when you were a teenager. 🙂
Thanks for sharing your great story. Winter doesn’t bother me one bit!
melback at cebridge dot com
Melanie, you’re a stronger woman than I! I’m glad SOMEBODY likes winter!
I love Ann and love her books. Deep, real, and beautiful.
Aww, Pamela, you are too sweet! You made my day!
Sweet story on he you met your husband, your courtship and romance. Even though I gave you my home address ,an i ‘ve you can personally send me mail, but please do my publish that address on Facebook,. Aso I prefer that I only get Facebook notifications from you instead of emails a I get so many emails you will probably get list in them.I would love to win your 2 books,Avra’s God”, and “Tattered Innocence.”
Please let this reply serve as my entry !!!
Thank you and keep on writing such wonderful rom0antic books!
From: Colleen Myers
You got it, Colleen!
Ann I hope you get this, I don’t know how to put in website, I don’t have one. I love your story. Its is perfect. It was like that for me the first time I kissed Ed. I felt like I had fell off the planet into something wonderful. I am so proud to say I know someone as talented a writer as you are. You inspire me to keep at it. God bless you.
Thank you, Bonnie! I’m so glad you found your other half. I wish that for everyone!
I have winners! Ann Lee Miller has graciously decided to give each commentor a copy of each e-book. Congrats to everyone. I appreciate Ann for being my guest and everyone else for stopping by.