Shannon here: Becky Sue Harwood shares how she met husband, how her characters meet in her Women’s Fiction Novel, One Last Summer, plus a romantic excerpt. Comment or answer the question in any post dated Sept 16th – 30th to enter the drawing for a copy along with Patricial Lee’s The Sister Plight and 34 other titles in my Sept Book Bundle #2. Deadline: Oct 11th, 11:59 pm central time. Here’s Becky Sue:
My husband and I met on a road construction site. Darrell was the supervisor of a large project on a busy thoroughfare. Between the very long hours and the demands of the complicated street reconstruction, he’d been struggling to get his daily paperwork turned in. I was hired to complete the timecards and reports he started and then hand-deliver them to the main office.
When we were introduced, I was nervous. Would he be annoyed with my presence? His smile put me at ease. There was something about him, maybe not love-at-first-sight, but something magnetic. It drew me in. I looked forward to our conversations when he came to do his paperwork. I missed our chats when I left for my university classes in the fall, but the following summer I returned to more chats, sweet notes, and a first date. We married two years later and celebrated our thirty-seven-year marriage this past June.
As for my characters, I think it was the worms.
Excerpt from One Last Summer by Becky Sue Harwood:
The first spark between Ruth and Jim, the main characters in my novel One Last Summer, occurred when they met as teens at the edge of a pond on a hot summer day.
Jim Lancaster, taking a break from the farm work in the heat of the Oregon summer day, baited his hook with a fresh worm, tossed the line in the water, and rested under the shade of an oak tree. Before long, the soothing rustle of the leaves in the trees and the fatigue of the day’s work weigh down his eyelids.
A snapping branch jolted him awake sometime later. He sat upright and scanned the shoreline. What was out there?
In the distance, the underbrush rustled, and out came a girl in overalls, ponytail swishing and a fishing pole over her shoulder. He watched as she made her way to the bank and tossed a line into the water. She caught and released two little crappie in only a few minutes. Impressive.
He stood as tall as he could and thrust out his chest. “You know this is private property, right?” No reaction from her. Okay. She doesn’t scare easily. “This is my pond.”
The girl chortled. “Your pond?” She turned and rolled her eyes. “You’re a kid. You don’t own anything.”
Their eyes locked.
Sweat popped on his brow. She’s tough as nails.
She dropped her gaze and sighed. After reeling in her line, she stabbed the hook into the cork handle of her pole and fixed her fiery gaze on him again. “But you’re right. I should have permission to be on private property. I guess you should take me to your folks, and I’ll ask them if they mind if I fish their pond.” She pushed past him and marched a few steps up the bank and through the dense brush. “Let’s go.”
This moment at the waterside resonated with possibility, and he didn’t want it to end. Certainly not with his folks lecturing him about his lack of hospitality in front of her. “Naw, we don’t have to. I don’t care if you fish.” He didn’t let on he’d been watching her. “You catching anything?”
Her defiant posture relaxed a bit. “Yeah, but none big enough to keep. Usually the fatback from a hunk of bacon will catch me pan fryers, but not today.” From the left pocket of her coveralls, she pulled a small wad of newspaper, opened it, and revealed a smoky brown rind with a creamy white plug of fat. “I cut hunks off for bait and catch all the fish I want. But not today.” She stuffed the greasy wad back in her pocket and shrugged.
“To catch the bigger crappie in this pond, you need to use worms and a bobber.” He grinned, thankful for the chance to show off his fishing skills. “Let the worm hang around not too far under the water, a foot or two, and you’ll catch pan sized.” He raised his hands and held them about eight inches apart. “Good eating. You fished here before?”
“I found this pond on a walk the other day. Thanks for the tip. I’ll try the worms next time.” She smiled. “My name’s Ruth. We just moved here from the coast a few weeks ago. What’s your name?”
“I’m Jim Lancaster. My family farms this place, well, not the pond, but you know, the fields on the other side of the timber. Where did you move to? The old Larson place? I heard it was for sale.”
“I don’t know who lived there before.” She shrugged.
“We live on the other side of the woods.”
“Yup. The Larson place. I guess it’s yours now.” He gestured with his fishing pole back toward the water. “So you want to drop our lines back in the water? I’ve got a bunch of worms. Dug ’em today. The best ones come from the manure pile.
Becky Sue again: Worms and timecards. Isn’t it funny what can spark a romantic flame?
Reader Question: Do you believe in love-at-first sight? Do you have a personal love-at-first-sight story or a family member or friend’s experience? I’d love to hear it!
Sept Book Bundle Giveaway #2
Ed’s Hopeful Journey by Pearl Ada Pridham, Women’s Fiction, PDF document
The Descendant’s Daughter by Patricia Lee, Dual-Time Novel, US only, print,
The Sister’s Plight by Patricia Lee, Dual-Time Novel, US only, print
One Last Summer by Becky Sue Harwood, Women’s Fiction, print
Gone to Texas by Caryl McAdoo, Historical Romance, eBook
About Becky Sue: Becky Sue Harwood calls Oregon’s beautiful Willamette Valley her home. She lives
in a hundred-year-old farmhouse with her husband and their anxious Chihuahua, Reggie. She is a grandma to eight, ages two to twenty-six.
A former pastor, hospice, and eldercare worker, she enjoys time with her husband and family. She can also be found chasing her chickens around the yard, gardening in the greenhouse, or trying to bring order to her fabric collection. Learn more & connect:
Becky Sue’s Website Becky Sue’s Instagram
About the book – One Last Summer:
Why is Ruth gardening in her nightgown and slippers on a frigid December dawn? Three months behind on the farm store bill? These questions plant fear in Jim Lancaster. Something is terribly wrong with his wife. God feels distant and unknowable to him as he watches her slip further away with each new struggle. Where will he find the strength to face each day?
Her faith the only refuge, Ruth grieves the changes in her life. She’s always been the sociable person who took care of everyone, but now she wrestles with loneliness and being unable to care for herself. What legacy will she leave for her family and friends?
A story of faith and relationships, One Last Summer shows how Ruth’s family faces an Alzheimer’s diagnosis with hope, strength, and love.
Releases Oct 18th. Can’t wait for the drawing? Worried you won’t win? Preorder your copy now!
About the book – The Sister’s Plight
Will a pair of long lost treasures recovered a continent apart pave the way for two eager hearts to find each other?
Realtor Blake Bergstrom stumbles upon an ancient barn while checking fences along a deserted property. A cursory inspection reveals a prairie schooner stored at the building’s back. He climbs into the wagon and discovers a rusted lockbox. Secreted within is a water color portrait of a young man. Whose picture could this be, and why is it here?
When her mother needs her to check an abandoned cabin before the plantation where it sits is sold, Emberly Chastain uncovers her great-great-great Uncle Fred’s Bible and takes it with her. Tucked inside is a watercolor portrait of a young woman Emberly can’t place. Her uncle never married. Who can she be?
Curiosity sets Emberly on a quest to solve the mystery, a journey that will take her across the continent following a long ago wagon train. Will what she finds help her own heart mend and open the door to a new love?
Can’t wait for the drawing? Worried you won’t win? Interested in Patricia’s other titles?
Get your copy/copies now!
The Sister’s Plight Patricia’s Books
Come back Oct 2nd for Lana Christian!
Do you believe in love-at-first sight? It’s a loaded question lol (I believe in a strong attraction at-first sight) but I think love grows later…
Natalya, I agree with you, but there was something, an electric something right from the very start between us. We were meant to be together!