Bronwyn Green

I’m supposed to be doing laundry and packing so we can leave to go on a short vacation tomorrow, but I’m procrastinating. Big time. I’m sure no one is surprised by this. 😉 To further my procrastination, I thought I’d post an excerpt of Handcuffs and Lies which comes out Tuesday, August 4th from Resplendence Publishing!

Michael could barely tear his eyes from Tori’s lips. They were glossy and parted and it was all he could do to keep from pushing her against the door and tasting her again.

She opened her mouth, but he shook his head. He needed to get the hell out of her house and away from the press of memories. He might not remember much of the night he’d spent with her, but he remembered enough.

“Don’t. Say. Anything.” He pushed off the door, picked up the backpack and slung it over his shoulder. Grabbing her hand, he pulled her out of the house. “Let’s go.”

What should have been a fifteen minute drive took over an hour. He was exhausted, but he wanted to make sure they hadn’t been followed. The last thing he needed was for Lucky’s guys to find out where he really lived. He’d promised Alex he’d keep Tori safe, and he couldn’t do that if they knew where to find her.

He sighed. He could have paid for a hotel for her. He could have slapped her into protective custody whether she wanted it or not. He could have done a lot of things, but instead, he’d chosen the stupidest one of them all. He’d chosen to bring her home where she could be a constant threat to his common sense and sanity. Good thinking, Mike. Real good thinking.

Pulling into his garage, he shut off the engine and closed the door behind them. He didn’t miss how quickly she scrambled off the bike—away from him. Unbuckling her helmet, she handed it to him and retrieved her knapsack from the saddlebag he’d stowed it in.

“All right, you’re in charge. What’s next?”

He unlocked the door to the kitchen and went inside. What was next was that he was going to lie awake all night with a hard-on that refused to go away while the source of that hard-on pouted in his guest room. He was pretty sure that’s what was happening next.

Today is the day that I always forget – ’cause I’m a bad big sister. Usually, I’m on some sort of trip every year on this day and always forget to tell my brother happy birthday and then guiltily remember it several days later. Well, not this year!

Happy 29th Birthday, Martin! I love you!!! (He’s the biggest pirate – the other pirates are my brother Andrew and my sister Caitlin)

And this is a picture of them from my wedding. Weren’t they darling?

I feel like I’ve been running constantly since I last posted – here’s a quick sum-up, ’cause I’ve got to get back to work!!!

My sister-in-law’s belly dancing tribe was fantastic. I love watching them dance. Before the show, we wandered around a carnival and let the kids ride all the fair rides – they had a blast and I had a near-nervous breakdown watching them on some of those rides. Eek! And despite copious use of sun screen, I still got burned. Even SPF Vampire isn’t high enough for me. Afterward, there was a giant belly dancing party at her house.

The next three days were all work all the time – trying to catch up on the day job and pick up the house since it looked a lot like I’d spent all of the previous month writing a book. Funny how that works!

On July 1st, I went with my mom to watch my sister audition for West Michigan Idol. The winner of which gets a guaranteed audition with American Idol. My sister wasn’t exactly hoping to win, but she did make a promise several years ago to my kids and my daycare kids that she’d try out for AI. She really didn’t want to break that promise to them (they hound her about it ever year) so she went and sang.

She was awesome!!! She sang Son of a Preacher Man and nailed it. However, there was a TON of talented people there and she didn’t make it, but she’s cool with it since she’s got school in the fall and most important to her, she kept her promise.

On Thursday some friends from out of town came in and we’ve been hanging out with them since then. I’m a sad kid – they have to leave today.

We went to my Dad and Stepmom’s on Saturday and had a blast! They live on a lake, so pretty much all 15(!) kids that were there, spent the entire day in the lake, coming out only to eat and watch fireworks. They shoot the fireworks off over the lake and it’s really lovely. It was a nice, relaxing day with family and friends…and another sunburn.

More hanging with friends last night (more sunburn) and today. Okay…so it doesn’t look like that much craziness now that I’ve typed it out, but I’m so far behind on work, I guess it just feels that way – lol! Good thing I got that manuscript turned in last weekend!! I’ve had an awesome time with the out of town friends though and miss them already.

Last month, I got strong armed into doing something I really hate – public speaking. However, my Step-mother insisted, and I gave in. We were having a retirement party for my Dad, and since I’m the “writer in the family” it was my job to write a tribute and read it to the 200+ guests. Did I mention the part where I hate public speaking?

Anyway, in honor of Father’s Day, I thought I’d share it.

Over the years I’ve learned a lot of things from my dad – for instance, if you want to get a malfunctioning boat motor to work better, you swear at it. A lot. For the record, this also works for computers and sewing machines. I can’t tell you how often I’ve cursed out a piece of machinery while fondly remembering childhood fishing trips.

In addition to a really colorful vocabulary, I’ve learned some others things from him along the way. Like most important things in life, those bits of wisdom didn’t come with flashing neon arrows pointing to them and signs that said, “Hey dumbass, this is important. Pay attention.” These bits of wisdom arrived in everyday conversion, and in true to cliché fashion, I didn’t realize I was learning anything until much later.

Every summer, Dad would take me, Tim and Grandma on a week-long fishing trip to Boot Lake in the UP. Inevitably, Tim would cast his line over Grandma’s, trying to fish where she was because she was catching them and he wasn’t. Dad always said the same thing. “Fish can swim.”

At the time, I remember thinking, “Well yeah…they’re fish. That’s kinda what they do,” and completely missing the point. Fishing requires work and patience. A lot of patience, but the end result is usually worth it – much like anything else worth doing. If you give up before you’re finished with something, you never know the satisfaction of having completed it. If you take too many shortcuts, you’re likely to miss out on something important. So yeah – fish can swim – be patient and enjoy the journey while you’re waiting for them to bite. Your time will come.

I was once asked about the most memorable piece of advice I’d ever gotten from my Dad. I didn’t have to think hard or long – it just popped into my head. “You can always use a good piece of rope.” The person looked at me like I was insane – in fact, she said, “what the hell kind of advice is that.”

I can’t tell you how often I heard that phrase growing up – probably because there was always something that needed tying down or fixing. I’m positive that there were plenty of times he would have liked to tie down us kids.

This past winter the lock on my trunk froze and I couldn’t close the stupid thing. I couldn’t drive with it unlatched, because it kept flying up and obscuring my vision. I wished I’d had a good piece of rope. Instead, the only thing I could find was a lousy piece of lavender embroidery floss and let me tell you, even quadrupled, it doesn’t come close to a good piece of rope.

As I stood there in the freezing sleet, I realized several things. A.) Dad was right – you really always can use a good piece of rope. B.) The good piece of rope is just about the perfect metaphor – with the right tools for the job, you can pretty much accomplish anything.

My dad has almost always had the right tools for the job and if he didn’t, he knew who he could barrow them from. Most importantly he always got the job done. Now Dad, it’s your job is to relax and let the fish swim. However, it’s probably a good idea to keep a good piece of rope handy.