Author: Jane Ashford
Publication Date: March 3rd, 2015
ISBN: 9781492601906
Time and distance have changed them both...
Quiet and obliging, Mary Fleming and John Bexley marry to please their families and John immediately leaves on a two-year diplomatic mission. Now John is back, and everything they thought they knew about each other was wrong...
It's disconcerting, irritating - and somehow all very exciting...
Complete this sentence: It must be true that opposites attract because my spouse and I are total opposites when it comes to_____________.
John: Artistic talent. I can barely draw a stick figure.
Mary: Dancing. John hates to dance.
John: People laugh and point when you tread on your partner's toes.
Mary: Your brothers have much to answer for.
John's knock was answered by an aged butler. He gave his name, stepped in, and inhaled the familiar scents of beeswax polish and potpourri. The place reminded him of his own home farther north. golden light pooled on the wooden floor and gleamed on the stair rail. In the rooms on either side of the entry, the furnishings were classic and inviting. Mary had certainly had a beautiful and serene spot in which to wait for him. "Mary's husband," he added when it seemed as if the old man didn't know what to do with him. "I believe I am expected."
"Yes, si..."
A filthy, hysterical chicken shot through the rear door of the dining parlor on his left, skidded in a turn around the table, and raced past him, neck extended, screeching, flapping its mottled wings. A little boy slathered with mud came racing after it, careened off the doorjamb, and staggered across the entryway, leaving streaks and globs of dirt in his wake. the old butler stiffened in horror.
The bird hopped across a flowered sofa in the front parlor, stitching it with muddy tracks, circled the delicate carpet, and looped back toward John. The boy in pursuit slipped, fell, jumped up, and turned to follow. He flapped muddy hands at the fowl in an inept attempt to trap it.
What seemed like a herd of adults jostled into the dining parlor, then surged forward. "Arthur!" snapped a young woman, her voice crackling with authority.
"It isn't my fault," the boy shouted over the wild squawking. "I pulled her from the mire. Fox was after her. I never show her or nothing."
As the crazed chicken surged past him, John bent, reached, and snatched hold of its legs. When he straightened, he helf the muddy bird upside down, at arm's length, well away from his clothing. It flapped and protested; flakes of dirt dropped to the floor.
"Good!" said the managing female, striding from the dining room into the hall. "Take it from him, Alice, and put it outside at once."
The middle-aged maid jumped to obey like a subaltern responding to a commanding general. The butler relaxed. The boy stood to attention. "It wasn't me, I swear," he repeated. "I resuced 'er. I killed three rats as well. Would have been four, but I..."
"Very well, Arthur," the woman replied. "Go now and get cleaned up."
The boy finally noticed the mud sliding from his clothes to the polished floor. His face shifted from defensive to horrified, and he slunk out. In the same moment, John realized that the woman witha voice like a sergeant major was his meek little sparrow of a wife.
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3 comments:
Married to a Perfect Stranger sounds like a fun read. Thank you for the giveaway. :)
Wesley and Buttercup from The Princess Bride are my favorite fictional married couple.
Castle and Beckett are my fsves for now.
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