Small towns occupy much of Texas. Del Rey, population 8,000, is one such place, one-hundred miles southwest of Dallas, surrounded by small farms, family ranches, and even smaller communities. The highway by-passed the town years ago, but Del Rey still thrives with older residents and younger families moving in to escape city life in Fort Worth and Dallas.
One main street holds most of the businesses, with a few other stores and shops on side streets. A new Super Foods sits two blocks from the center of town, the old café turned into a soup, salad, and sandwich shop, the old Kress Variety store is now converted to a Pizza Parlor, complete with a room full of video games, and another with old cartoons showing, one after the other.
Del Rey, Texas is a figment of my imagination for my first women’s fiction novel titled MAKING THE TURN. Thirty-nine-year-old Sara Daniels loses her fortune and all her possessions overnight when her philandering husband dies on the Riviera in the home he shares with his mistress. Sara has no choice but to trade her BMW convertible for a used minivan, load it with the few possessions she salvages from her home, and move back to the farming community where she was born.
Welcome to Del Rey, Texas.
Starting over at age thirty-nine is no picnic under any circumstances, but the task is daunting for Sara Daniels. Living an affluent lifestyle her entire adulthood in Dallas does not prepare her for instant bankruptcy, especially if a philandering husband dies suddenly, leaving her penniless, debt-ridden, and homeless.
Planning on moving in temporarily with her cantankerous mother in the small town of Del Rey, Sara faces more problems than she can handle. During the long, hot summer, she and her daughter, her mother, and a handsome distraught widower and his charming young son learn they can have second chances.
EXCERPT:
After a moment of hesitation, he said very softly, “Sara. I apologize. That should never have happened.”
Shaken by the kiss, Sara turned and gripped the door handle without replying. Instead of opening it, she turned back around, holding the cake platter against her chest with crossed arms. Managing to keep her voice under control, she said, “Well, it won’t happen again, that’s for sure. You won’t be seeing me anymore anyway, probably, unless we just happen to run into each other. I start work tomorrow, and besides, I won’t be staying in Del Rey very long.”
“You’re not moving here?” he asked with some surprise.
“No, I told you from the beginning I was visiting.”
“But you have employment.”
“Yes, but, well…that’s just to help Jeff out temporarily while I’m here.”
“Jeff?”
“The golf pro. So, you see, you really don’t need to worry about my coming around anymore.”
At this juncture, Sara stood as stiffly and silently as Rick.
At last, Rick spoke softly. “It’s mainly about Aaron, Sara. Don’t you see? He needs a lot of things, but right now in his life, I’m the one to supply everything for him—physically and emotionally.”
“Oh, I understand,” she began in a low voice and leaned toward him. “Having your life change drastically is traumatic on anyone, especially a child. But we adults can just suck it up, can’t we, Rick? We carry on, no matter whom we lose, or how much the loss endangers our well-being, or how the circumstances destroy our self-concept.” She paused and looked toward the house and bit her bottom lip. “I need to go.”
Sara drove away. She looked in her rear-view mirror and could barely make out Rick through the near darkness, still standing in the driveway with his hands shoved deeply into his pockets, watching after her as she turned onto the highway.
“Damn,” she whispered to herself. “I can’t please anybody. First kiss in over ten years, and the man apologizes.”
************
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Celia Yeary-Romance...and a little bit 'o Texas
http://www.celiayeary.blogspot.com/
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NOTE: PHOTO is Lockhart, Texas
