Return Engagement Beach Party 4

Please read the first beach party post for information about this day. This excerpt begins where Beach Party 3 left off. The pictures are some of the prizes I'm offering.

Richard lowered the top of his Z4 to take advantage of the balmy afternoon, luxuriating in the rush of the wind and the warmth of the sun on his skin. Why’d Scott have to bring up his father? At first the senator had contented himself with gentle hints about the merits of certain young ladies.

When that didn’t work, he had started to arrange meetings with women like Sheila Ridges. He hadn’t come out and said in words that he wanted a wedding soon, but he might as well have. Richard sighed. Dealing with his father could be ex-hausting.

A scowl marred his handsome face. He allowed the sena-tor to control his political future, but his personal life was no one’s business but his own. He’d be damned if he married some cold little witch like Sheila Ridges just to advance a political career. If that was the price he’d have to pay to be the president, it was too high. The FBI had provided a lot of satis-faction for him. If necessary he’d stay with them forever.
His father and mother loved each other passionately. Didn’t his father think he wanted to find love as well?

Resolutely, he pushed thoughts of the senator from his mind. Vacation had started; no need to agonize now. He turned into the parking lot of the building where his condo was located and parked his car in his assigned space. Then he hurried to the elevator, eager to rid himself of the coat and tie that symbolized the work week to him.

A small man already occupied the elevator. He inclined his head to Richard as the elevator doors closed.

Wonder who he is? He sure is washed out looking. The description fit. Everything about the man somehow seemed faded, even his hair and eyes which were a weak, nondescript brown as was his suit. The suit fit him well enough, but it wasn’t tailor made, maybe from a nice department store. Truthfully, he didn’t look as if he belonged here. Living in this building in this location wasn’t cheap.

The elevator doors opened before Richard could strike up a conversation with the intriguing, little man. Oh, never mind. It was such a gorgeous day, he’d decided what he wanted to do. The beach was the only place to be on such a beautiful day. If he hurried he’d have a few hours in the sun.

Beach Party

Please read the first Beach party post for information about this party. The pictures show some of the prizes offered in this beach party.

Chapter 1

Ten Years Later

Richard Lovinggood often whistled as he walked the halls of the Los Angeles field office of the FBI, but today he sounded especially cheerful. Vacation time had finally arrived, bringing with it the prospect of a whole week of glorious freedom. Fields, his boss, had worked his fingers to the bone while as usual his father had had plenty for him to do.

Senator Lovinggood constantly planned for Richard’s fu-ture presidential campaign. For one thing, he insisted his son be on a first name basis with influential politicians who might be of use to him when he finally ran for the presidency. Rich-ard grimaced. Some of the politicians were okay, but most of them bored him. Yeah, he needed a break.

He had to admit, though, that sometimes his father knew interesting people. Take that guy he and Senator Lovinggood had dined with last week. Mr. Ridges was descended from the Russian czars. Talking to him had seemed like having a page in your history book come alive, and Richard loved history.

But he didn’t care for the man’s daughter, Sheila. He made a face. If he had known she would accompany her fa-ther, he would’ve skipped dinner. Sheila, a stunning blonde beauty, thought her royal blood made her better than every-one else. She didn’t mind letting you know it either. Dad can sing her praises all he wants to, thought Richard, but I’ve got no interest in her. I don’t have time to waste on snobs like Sheila Ridges.

As he reached for the door that opened into the parking garage, he heard a voice calling, “Hey, Richard, wait up.” The voice belonged to his best friend, Scott Miller. The two of them had been fast friends ever since they met at the FBI training academy in Virginia.

“It isn’t fair for you to have a week off when I have to work,” Scott complained as he joined Richard.

“I need a break. Between Dad and Fields I’m worn out.”

Scott laughed. “I can believe that. Just thinking about your father wears me out. What are you going to do next week?”

“You mean after I wake up at ten?” Richard teased. “Nothing much. Remember I told you I bought a new horse? He needs some work, so I’ll probably spend a lot of time at the stable. His name is Too Bold, and it suits him.”

Scott shook his head in mock anguish. “Sometimes I wonder about you. Those wild horses you like are nicer un-der the hood of a car.”

Richard rolled his eyes at Scott. “That shows what you know. Come riding with me, and you’ll see why I love it.”

“Huh! If I had a week off I’d find a pretty girl to keep me company, not mess around with a horse.”

“I’ll take that under advisement.” Richard laughed, slip-ping easily into his work vocabulary. “Sometimes you do get good ideas.”

Scott grinned as he slapped Richard on the back and waved him out the door. “See you later. Call me if the horse idea doesn’t work out, and you need some company.”

“You could call my sister if you wanted to.” Richard grinned briefly when he saw the panicked expression on Scott’s face. “I’ve told you how much you guys have in com-mon. Do a big brother a favor, okay? I’d like to see Joan hang out with somebody besides the losers she usually dates. Gah! Where does she find them? You’ve got your head on straight. Maybe you could finally tame that little wildcat.” He suddenly chuckled. “If she knew what I said she’d probably blister my ears for me.”

Scott neatly turned the tables on Richard. “I’ll think about it,” he promised, “but what about you? Your dad’s been making noise about marriage and grandchildren for months now. He’ll have a fit if you don’t find a wife pretty soon.” He glanced appraisingly at Richard. “Don’t you want to fall in love and have a family?
”
“Sure, I do. I just haven’t found the right woman yet.”

Scott shrugged. “I don’t know why not. Your daddy’s a famous senator with plenty of money, and women like your looks. They always throw themselves at you.”

“Dad can let me handle the romance department,” Richard replied with a scowl. “That isn’t his call to make.”

“He doesn’t see it that way,” Scott objected. “He’s thinking about your family’s future. Have you thought about what might happen if you refuse to get married and have grandchil-dren for him? You two have a great father-son relationship. I’d hate for anything to mess it up.”

“Don’t worry. Dad and I are okay.” Richard’s brief an-swer disguised the fact that he had worried a little about that very thing.

“I guess you ought to know,” Scott agreed. “I’ll see you later. I need to hurry and clear my desk. I’ve got a pretty girl lined up for myself, and I want the whole weekend free.”

Beach Party!

Welcome to the beach party! Thank you for joining me in celebrating the release of Return Engagement. Return Engagement is the book I always wanted to write, and everything came together so well! I hope you like it as much as I do.

I’m going to make several posts throughout the day. If you’d like to be entered in a drawing for my beach themed prizes, make a comment on any one of the posts except this one. If you would like to ask me a question I’ll be glad to try to answer it. Winners will be announced on Sunday evening. If you make a comment or ask a question be sure to leave your email address so I can contact you to get your snail mail address.

Now about those prizes. I’m giving away a string of chocolate pearls (simulated), a luau for six, a kitchen package consisting of kitchen towels and a magnet, a beach towel and sun visor, a beach game called Beach Volley, a shell necklace, a lanyard that floats so you won’t lose your sunglasses in the ocean, a sports water bottle, a set of candles shaped like star fish, and a lovely picture frame decorated with shells. Why the beach theme? Because the beach is an important part of the story in Return Engagement.
In addition, everyone who leaves a comment or asks a question will receive a PDF copy of my family’s favorite dessert recipes.

I hope you enjoy the beach party.

Oh, the picture shows the chocolate pearls.