Today, I’m sharing another of my favorite scenes. This one is from Turnaround Farm. I chose the beginning of the book because I think it helps us to understand Holly. First a blurb, then an excerpt.
Blurb:
Dedicated career girl Holly Grant has no time for romance. She doesn’t need a man to complete her, thank you very much. Building Grant Realty takes all of her time and attention. If she can close a deal for Turnaround Farm, her business will take off like a rocket. Her first problem is that Jeb Wakefield doesn’t want to sell his farm, and her second problem is Jeb’s grandson Dan, the finest looking man Holly’s ever seen.
Excerpt:
Chapter One
“You’ve lost your mind,” Loretta Patterson moaned as she doggedly trudged down the rough, graveled road behind Holly. “It’s twenty degrees out here and getting colder by the minute. We have no business coming out in weather like this.”
“The roads are icy, and our car slid into a ditch too,” her employer Holly Grant said with a grin. She bent her head against the bitter driving wind that almost took her breath away. “It isn’t like you to forget something like that, Loretta.”
“As if I could,” Loretta retorted, teeth chattering. “Why couldn’t you have waited for the weather to improve to see the Wakefields?”
Holly glanced at the forbidding gray landscape. The clouds looked low enough to touch and thick enough to choke you. “Loretta, I’ve told you a million times. If you want to be a success in the real estate business, you have to work at it. Stop worrying so much. This is important to Grant Realty.”
“The Wakefields refuse to even discuss selling their property. Why do you think they’ve changed their minds?”
Holly grinned. “I did a little research. They’re broke, and Turnaround Farm is nothing but a white elephant. They work like dogs, but they never get ahead. I want them to think about what selling the farm would mean to them. And don’t forget that my buyer upped his offer.”
“Don’t you ever think about anything but business?” Loretta asked, her voice almost snatched away by the wind. “There’s a world of exciting things to think about besides business.”
Holly rolled her eyes at her exasperating assistant. “No, I don’t, and you should get your mind off Michael Stuart and think a little more about business yourself.”
“I’m engaged to Michael! Why shouldn’t I think about him? This time next year we’ll be married, for goodness sake.”
Holly scowled. “Marriage is a trap. Most men expect their wives to help them earn a living, but do they help out around the house in return? No, they don’t. They’re so egotistical they want to reproduce themselves, so their wives have to take care of the kids on top of everything else they do. Well, if you want to fall into that trap, go ahead. I’m not that dumb.”
Loretta sighed and bent her head against the wind while Holly hid a smile. Her assistant had learned not to argue with her when she jumped on her soapbox. The leaden sky smelled of snow. How were they going to get their car out of that ditch? Call a wrecker maybe.
Presently, Loretta voiced the same concern. “Dan Wakefield is one of the most unpleasant men I’ve ever met. You’re lucky you weren’t in the office when he dropped by to ream us out about pestering his grandfather. I hope you don’t think he’ll be willing to get the car out of the ditch.”
“Maybe not, but his grandfather Jeb is a true gentleman. At the very least, he’ll let us take shelter from the weather until a tow truck comes.”
Loretta sighed as she tucked her scarf more firmly around her throat. “Okay. I hope you can close this deal. You’re sure working hard enough for it.”
Another gust of wind buffeted the women who picked up their pace in an effort to reach Turnaround Farm before dark.
Available at Amazon in either print or ebook.
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