A holiday romance set in 1854 Columbia, California.
Too Old for Christmas, by Zina Abbott.
About the Book:
Irishman Sean Flood
survived the potato famine, crossing the Atlantic, the Mexican-American War,
and wandering the Western wilderness with his mules and freight wagon. But, due
to poor diet and deprivation, his teeth did not fare well. It’s November of
1854 in Columbia, California, Queen of the Southern Mines, a city Sean is
helping to rebuild after the disastrous fire the previous summer. Intense
stabbing tooth pain drives him to see Doc Massey, the local dentist. He first stops
by the mercantile to pick up a bottle of whiskey—for medicinal purposes—and food
he’ll be able to eat when it’s all over. If only the beautiful but aggravating
woman ahead of him who keeps her face half hidden and insists she won’t accept
charity would finish up with her purchase so he can get his supplies, his tooth
pulled and return home to his mules and half-built cabin….
That night, Sean
meets the woman’s two sons, Jesse and Benjy McNair, and learns her secret. He
decides with only three teeth left in his head, he needs widow Ona McNair’s
charity—and he’s willing to pay for it. Sean won’t accept nine year-old Jesse’s
declaration his family’s poverty means the boy is too old for Christmas that
year. Sean is a full-grown man and he’s not too old for Christmas. He not only
plans to come bearing gifts to Christmas Eve dinner with the McNairs, but he
knows exactly what gift he wants for himself.
*Sweet Romance
Excerpt
#2:
When Sean had walked up the hill
towards home, he had decided his
rotten luck that day couldn’t get any worse.
It had started with blinding tooth pain, made worse by his need to work through
the pain, expanded by the encounter with the beautiful but aggravating woman in
the mercantile and had been topped off by the bone-wrenching visit to Doc
Massey to have his tooth pulled. But, he’d been wrong. It had gotten worse. Instead
of being able to come home and fix something soft to eat before he drowned his
pain into oblivion that night with the rest of the whiskey, the woman’s boy
stood before him trying to hand back to him a chunk of dried beef he had stolen
because he was hungry. How was a man well on his way to being blind drunk with
a swollen cheek dripping bitter-tasting blood and pus into a flannel pad, one
whose head hadn’t waited for the hangover before it started throbbing, supposed
to deal with this latest complication?
 |
| Columbia State Park's collection of turn keys for extracting teeth |
“Nay, I’ll not be offering you charity
and I’ll not be telling your ma. But, you’ll get what’s left of the meat after I
get my share. And, you’ll be working for it, boy. ‘Twill not be feeling like doing
ought but crawl in a hole ‘til I get better or die, but ‘tis time I build a
fire and put my coffee and a pudding on to boil. And, you’ll be helping me. When
I’m done boiling my beef, you can have them both plus some of t’other.”
“Both? You’re going to boil two pieces
of meat tonight?”
“Aye, if you shan’t be taking all day
giving me that work you promised. See if there be a dry spot under yon cover,”
Sean pointed to the section of canvas still covering his roof trusses. “Gather
some stones from that pile,” Sean pointed to the rocks he had collected for his
fireplace, “and build a fire ring inside where ‘tis dry, but not too close to
the walls, mind you. I’ll be starting a fire with the dry I have under the
oilcloth,” Sean pointed to the pile of small twigs and branches he had gathered
and kept as dry as possible. “You can be gathering the driest deadfall you can
find to feed the fire whilst I start our supper. If need be, you can drag it
here and use my hatchet to chop it in smaller pieces…” Sean stopped and eyed
the boy critically before he continued. “Well, sore head or no, I may be needing
to do the chopping. ‘Tis likely you’re not old enough to use a hatchet, now are
you?”
Jesse pulled himself to his full
height. “Ma says I’m too old for Christmas this year. If I’m too old for
Christmas, then it must mean I’m old enough to use a hatchet.”
Too Old for Christmas is now available on pre-order at Amazon. You may purchase it by clicking HERE. It will be available on Nook soon.
About the Author:
Zina Abbott is the pen name used by Robyn Echols for her historical novels.
The author currently lives with her husband in California near the “Gateway to Yosemite.” She is a member of Women Writing the West, American Night Writers Association, and Modesto Writers Meet Up. She currently lives with her husband in California near the “Gateway to Yosemite.” She enjoys any kind of history including family history. When she is not piecing together novel plots, she pieces together quilt blocks.
Zina Abbott Links:
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