Two recent college grads from Ohio take off on an ill fated trip to the Texas Panhandle. The young women enter a male dominated society and encounter dangerous men who change their lives forever.
Follow Melinda Potter and Alesandra Parker, across the country, as the friends travel from their home on the shores of Lake Erie to the drought-stricken state of Texas. After graduation from The Ohio State University, Melinda has a date with an online Romeo. Lexie, who is supposed to exert a moderating influence on her impuldive friend, winds up in a hospital where she wakes to everyone calling her Mrs. Ross. She doesn't have a clue how she got there, or who Mr Ross is.
Excerpt
Finally, Melinda was back on the phone, and in the nick of time. Lexie felt the Cadillac sinking into the softening road surface while she had been impatiently waiting for further directions.
“Lexie? David says to take the left fork. He says that you are only about a mile form the house.”
“A mile in this stuff might just as well be a hundred.”
“Quit complaining, Lexie, just put the Escalade in four-wheel drive and you will be alright. See you in a bit.
Lexie didn’t answer her. Instead, she just threw her phone on the console. Aggravated with herself for agreeing to this trip, she rolled the vehicle forward. Mud flew and the vehicle fishtailed a little, but the tires found purchase. Less than a quarter of a mile crawled by until the road suddenly disappeared into a roaring creek. With nowhere to turn around, she began backing over her tracks. Progress was slow, as the small single wiper on the rear window made it difficult to navigate through the increasing downpour. She could hear Melinda’s voice in her mind David says, David says. She gave herself a mental shake, and concentrated on reverse driving.
Back out on the dirt road, she made a decision to take the right fork. If her mind was functioning past her blinding headache, she recalled that back the way she had come the same previously dry creek that flooded the left fork also ran under a culvert on the main dirt excuse for a road. By now, it too was probably washed out. The right fork rose on a very slight incline and promised higher ground. She was thinking that higher ground might keep her from drowning, but the mud was getting deeper. Lexie was worried about getting bogged down in the middle of nowhere. Most likely, any help she could summon from her friend could not reach her in time. She had the wipers up full force, and was driving even slower to avoid sliding off the edge. The right fork split again about a mile from the last divide. Once more she picked the option with the potential for higher elevation. She proceeded at a snail’s pace with her vehicle now in low gear as she squinted through the windshield into the growing monsoon. She followed a curve in the road, and a large shadow suddenly loomed in front of her. It occupied the center of the road. Lexie swerved to avoid what looked to be a large animal, and slid smack into the muck at the right side of the road.
She felt the Escalade sink! Her temper broke the tenuous hold she had on it. She turned off the engine and barreled out the driver’s side door. So intent on venting her frustration on the huge cow that blocked the road, she forgot that she wearing her navy dress pumps. The cow was the recipient of the frustration she couldn’t vent on Melinda and her creepy Romeo. David Decker was attractive enough physically with his black wavy hair, cornflower blue eyes and an engaging smile, but there was something sinister about the man. Lexie sank in six inches of muck, and with the next step her shoes were buried in it.
“Are you in a hurry to be hamburger? I could have run you over in this blinding rain! Now, look, you’ve killed the damned Cadillac.” The beast wouldn’t move out of the road. Pushing on its rump didn’t accomplish anything, nor did smacking it on the hip. That little bout of temper left her with a stinging hand. The white face was halter-less—it’s not a horse, she reminded herself—and she didn’t have a rope or even a belt. Now nearly knee-deep in slop, she stood there, hands on her hips, glaring at the cow. While she was assessing the situation, the cow let out a bellow. A small echo bounced back from a few feet away. Lexie spotted a small calf stuck in the mud. All that was visible was the head and a small portion of its back. The little one was sinking in a run-off of muck that had flowed from the slightly higher terrain behind it. Now the no rope or belt thing was a real dilemma. Improvising, she removed her navy jacket that had matched her now trashed slacks. Lexie waded closer to the calf, hoping she didn’t sink along with it. Keeping a wary eye on its watchful mother, she slipped the jacket around the calf’s neck and gave a tug. She managed to raise its head a little higher, but it was stuck and could not get any traction to assist in its rescue attempt. Giving a little stronger tug she lost her own traction. She was sitting on her butt in the mud, propping up the small creature’s head. Lexie was in danger of sinking in the muck along with the baby cow when the ghost riders just appeared from out of the storm.
One minute, no one was around for miles, and then—poof—there they were. Maybe I am hallucinating? She was trying hard to focus, but her head was throbbing and she was beginning to shake uncontrollably. Through the veil of rain, one rider looked like a normal person as they rode closer. He sat astride a sorrel-colored cowpony with a white star, but that was about all that she could tell. From the belly down, both horses were thick with mud that had splashed higher up on the animals, and their riders’ legs were in much the same condition. Both horsemen wore black Stetsons and outback-type oilskin dusters. The dark cowboy was bigger than the other man, and was mounted on a large, coal-black stallion. It was he who brought forth the image of a ghost rider.
Professional Reviews
Romance and Humor
“I really enjoyed this cowboy novel of "Fateful Waters" and if you are in for a little romance and humor ..... will the guy get the girl?.... then this novel would be a good read for you. The novel was really fun to read because it kept you turning the pages till the end.” — Arlena Dean
Ranch Romance
“This story reminds me of those once found in Ranch Romance magazines of the forties and fifties, which were so popular. The many trials and tribulations of life on the ranches in Texas during an extreme drought brought out the best and worst of everyone. I felt the plot deserved four stars, and I recommend the novel for those who like this particular genre.” — J. Admak
Couldn't put it down
“This book surprised me, and I couldn’t put it down!
I really do love the character of Lexie! Especially when she doesn’t take any guff from any one. Her fierce independence frustrates Cutter who is used to having his orders complied with. I also like that Lexie swears; I find that so many female protagonists are so wussy, and that so many authors pretend that people are all nicey-nice, when in real life they are not!
I laughed out loud again at some of the humor." — M.L. Lazor
Love is universal and not limited to the most perfect among us. In this collection of romantic short stories and poetry, love comes to those who are decidedly imperfect, who possess very real human flaws, scars, and challenges. Awaiting us as we are.
I loved him. At age twelve he touched my heart with his music. At age twenty he captured my heart when our eyes met as he sat on a stage and sang Four months later, he fractured my heart with his refusal to allow us to stay together. At age seventy
