Sound Advice (Sensations Collection #1) (36 page)

We did eventually move inside as Jess decided he didn’t want to share with the neighbors what he planned to do to me the rest of the afternoon. When he returned from picking up Katie at school, he called me down to the living room from my new writing space. I had cleared the last stair to find Jess sitting on one of the couches and Katie standing between his knees. She was nodding her head at him, and smiling shyly. I realized in all our passion throughout the afternoon we hadn’t discussed telling Katie about getting married and I wasn’t sure if it was acceptable to Jess to show Katie the ring that I now wore on my finger.

I didn’t have to question what to do for long as Katie slowly approached me with another square box. As I looked up at Jess in puzzlement, his expression encouraged me to follow Katie’s lead. He clenched his jaw, but in a softer way. He wasn’t concerned, or concentrating, or contemplating. He looked rather pleased with himself.

“I’d like to ask you if you will be my mama?” Katie softly inquired holding out the box to me. Inside was another ring. This one was a band of small diamonds and I could see now how it was a compliment to the ring I wore. Tears immediately spilled from my eyes.

“I would love to be your mommy, Katie girl,” I said as I instantly enveloped her into a hug, smashing the small box between us. I gently held her back from me, and with a shaky hand between us, asked Katie to place the ring on my finger to meet the one already there from her father.

I LOOKED OUT the window of my new writing space as Jess walked through the screened-in porch, holding Katie’s hand. She had just gone for a special treat of ice cream with her dad. I had been contemplating all the great things in my life as I sat at my desk. There had been many changes, besides the return of Katie’s voice. First she and her father officially moved into my house, our home, and then Jess proposed. The memory flashed in my mind as I glanced into the backyard. I looked over the freshly painted fairytale playhouse where it had all started and I took in the view of the late fall blooms in the garden that lined the wrought iron fence and led to the garage.

We had rearranged my old bedroom into a writing place for me. I had a new part-time job with a local travel magazine for Northern Michigan. Jack Dooley, my former editor, had some connections and he prided himself on giving me the push I needed to make the decision to stay Up North after seeing Jess again. True to his character of personal kindness, Jack knew that I had grown miserable in Chicago and missed something, or someone, enough to make a major change in my young life.

Jess and Katie returned to Chicago with me to retrieve my belongings. We stayed for a long weekend to show Katie the sights of the big city and shop at the famous doll store with bright red bags in celebration of her birthday. She needed to learn that Chicago was a wonderful town and Jess needed to make new memories of it as well. I wasn’t as sad as I thought I’d be to close the door on the ninth floor apartment and return to Elk Rapids, a garden and a home. Things might have seemed like they progressed quickly, but I was trying to live by Nana’s rules in a modern fashion.

Before me on my desk were neat piles of clippings. I had kept the collection of articles that Nana stored in the maple dresser drawer and I had browsed through them often, torturing myself with my longing for Jess when I first returned to Chicago. An idea had developed for my first attempt at a book about advice on manners in the tradition of my grandmother, and I wrote during the hours I wasn’t taking care of Jess and Katie. I was living my life in the
Now
, and that was sound advice.

STRANGER THAN FICTION, as the cliché goes, is how this tale started for me as the author. Everyone has a story. This one is based on a man I never met. It was looking upon a tall, longish-haired man as he picked up his sun-bleached little girl at a small town festival that I was inspired for this fictional story. It was the way he stood, looking, but not really watching, his daughter on the kiddie ride. The way he clenched his jaw in concentration then picked her up by her arms with strength and slung her on his hip. She wrapped her arms around his neck and you knew there was love between the flower-print-dressed girl and the brooding young man. It was actually my husband who called him an interesting character, and it sparked my imagination for a romance.

This story was hurriedly typed on my computer (in 2009) then put on hold. The following year when I returned to the small town, there he was in the crowd with his now older daughter. Out of hundreds, it was astonishing that I recognized him again. We still never met and the story I invented of him remained on my flash drive. Another year, another chance sighting on the midway of rides again in Elk Rapids, this time waiting for his daughter as she climbed the rock wall. I felt like a stalker and could not believe I had seen him again out of all the nights the town held activities, and out of the thousands of people who come to this small town to celebrate the harbor. But it was three years after I first saw this man, as I was standing outside the local ice cream shop, and he rode up on his bike with friends, stopping two feet away from me, when I felt the need to take my chances and publish this story. We’ve still never met. And I’m sure this is not his story.

What is real is the inspiration for Nana – my husband’s two grandmothers in combination. One grandmother was prim and proper, and sadly, eventually suffered from Alzheimer’s. Several of the situations that occurred to Nana were taken from experiences of hers. On the other hand, the other grandmother fell and never recovered from the fall, dying shortly thereafter. She was the spunky one, as Nana could be about relationships. Either way, the inspiration for Emily spending time with her grandmother and their close relationship came from the memories of my husband and his relationship with these two women. Alzheimer’s is a sad diagnosis, and as Emily feels in the story, no one can be prepared for it in their loved ones.

I REALLY DIDN’T know what I was doing other than I had a story to tell, and I didn’t share this story with anyone in the beginning. First and foremost I want to thank the generosity of Susan Hawes who loaned me her mother, Deborah Hawes, as my first official reader and initial editor.

I’d like to thank Jaimie Rivale, my first editor, who was patient and helpful beyond belief as I edited this book in one week from third person to first person. I appreciate Leslie Fear from The Indie Bookshelf offering Jaimie as a suggestion, and Tabetha Thompson for giving me the reference for Jaimie as well.

Big thanks to Kari Ayasha at CovertoCover Designs for the gorgeous cover and her patience with all my questions. While
Sound Advice
was originally formatted by another company, I’ve found the wonderful skills of Brenda Wright for this beautifully updated version (who has now formatted three books for me).

To the numerous other self-publishing authors on Facebook who generously answered my questions through messages and showed their support by sharing my posts, I thank you for taking the time to offer me kindness. To the multitude of bloggers out there who have helped me promote the Sensations Collection, through posts, takeovers, giveaways and reviews, thank you from the bottom and top of my heart for all you do.

I’d also like to thank all the amazing authors I’ve read and who have inspired me through their personal stories that this was a risk well worth taking, especially Jay Crownover, who was kind enough to personally answer some questions.

To anyone who has read any of my books, but especially this one as my first, thank you. It means the world to me to share my stories with readers, and I value your reviews, and responses to the fictional families of Elk Rapids.

Finally, to my children, who I have more than occasionally ignored to write, and rewrite scenes, and my husband, for keeping it all a secret until I was ready: I love you all more than anything.

***

I’d love to hear what you think of this story. Feel free to comment or follow me on:

Facebook (
https://www.facebook.com/lb.dunbar
),

Twitter (
https://twitter.com/lbdunbarwrites
),

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http://www.pinterest.com/lbdunbar/
) and

Goodreads

(
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8195738.L_B_Dunbar
)

I have to admit I’m a bit rubbish at Twitter, but I’m working on it. Feel free to use old fashion email to contact me as well at
[email protected]
.

I love when books have a soundtrack. Whenever I hear the playlists I’ve collected for books I’ve read, I can envision the story in my mind. So here’s my suggested soundtrack for
Sound Advice
. Happy listening!

Playlist of Emily and Jess’ story

“All Summer Long”—Kid Rock

“Battlefield”—Jordan Sparks

“If I Were A Boy”—Beyonce

“Breathe In, Breathe Out”—Mat Kearney

“Beautiful Child”—Eurythmics

“Fly Me to the Moon”—Joshua Radin

“Young and Beautiful”—Lana Del Rey

“Halo”—Beyonce

“Chasing Cars”—Snow Patrol

“Use Somebody”—Kings of Leon

“Photograph”—Nickelback

“Say”—John Mayer

“Counting Stars”—OneRepublic

“Let Me”—Pat Green

“Summertime”—Kenny Chesney

“Come On Get Higher”—Matt Nathanson

“I Will Wait”—Mumford & Sons

“My Love (Single Version)”—Justin Timberlake featuring T.I.

“Brave”—Sara Bareilles

“Slow Me Down”—Sara Evans

“From Where You Are”—Lifehouse

“Wanted”—Hunter Hayes

Enjoy Jess Carter and Emily Post’s story?

Come back to Elk Rapids and meet Ethan Scott.

What happens if the beast turns out to be a woman?

Ethan Scott’s about to find out when he takes a mysterious job in a hidden home on the shores of Lake Michigan.

Isabella Vincentia might be the biggest challenge Ethan’s ever faced.