Mary J. McCoy-Dressel ~ Contemporary Romance

Sensual western romance. Heartwarming stories. Strong family ties.
Mary J. McCoy-Dressel ~ Contemporary Romance
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  • Tag: dogs

    • Snippet: Finding Kimber: An Unexpected Encounter

      Posted at 1:10 pm by Mary J. McCoy-Dressel, on February 25, 2018

      For this excerpt, Kimber meets her dog for the first time. It doesn’t sound like an interesting excerpt to read about Kimber meeting her dog, but there’s more going on here, especially after what happened earlier in this scene. Now, after this second revelation, she’ll have some explaining to do in the near future. It isn’t an explanation she ever wanted to give to anyone. Picture Kimber leaving the barn after turning out the horses this early morning. She hadn’t expected to see Zach standing there, and especially hadn’t expected to meet his brother for the first time. She’s standing in a knee-length cotton robe with a thin gown underneath. Introductions happened earlier in the scene. The guys are getting ready to leave.


      She’s wary of her future. He’s burdened by his past.

      Canyon Junction: Hearts in Love Series

      A Double Dutch Ranch Spin Off Series.

      Mary J McCoy-Dressel, western romance, cowboys

      At that moment, a dog whined. Kimber widened her eyes. “I didn’t know you had a dog, Zach. Tyler?”

      “We don’t here in Arizona.” Zach headed to his truck. He opened the door and brought out a mid-size, long-haired dog. “You do.” He plopped the dog into her arms.

      Tyler chuckled. “I found her on the road between here and Boulder City. The poor girl has no tags, and she looks like she’s been neglected. My mama would whoop my behind if I left her there. I took a picture and left my phone number at the nearest rest stop.”

      “But—”

      Zach cut in, “You said you were lonely at night. Now you don’t have to be. I can’t keep her in the loft all day while I’m working, and she didn’t take kindly to Jake’s dog, Kasha.”

      “You’re giving her to me?” Kimber’s gaze followed Tyler out the back door and down toward the fence where she took the horses.

      “Maybe. You’re not allergic to dogs, are you? If it isn’t a problem, can you keep her here for me? It’s better for her here than locked up in the loft.”

      Kimber put her down before dropping her. She tickled the dog under her white chin. “She’s so cute, but she needs a bath and a good brushing. Have you named her?” She kept one hand on her in case she bolted. “You could bring her here daily with you, but I’ll keep her here. I hope she likes horses.”

      “She acted like they were no big deal over at Jake’s. I haven’t named her.” He called Tyler to leave. “Naming is your job, Red.”

      The dog rolled over, and Kimber patted her gray belly. “I can’t tell what she is. Part border collie? But the gray—”

      The pooch got up and shook sand from her stormy gray and white coat. “Looks a little like one. We have a couple on the ranch. She’s mixed though.”

      “I’ll have a name for her by time I see you for dinner tonight. Do either you or Tyler have any food allergies?” She got a dumbfounded look from Zach.

      “The reason I ask is because I’m allergic to turmeric. Weird, I know. I don’t know anyone else allergic to it. It can be a problem, but I carry an auto-injector with me.”

      Zach blinked. His Adams apple got stuck trying to swallow, it seemed. He chewed at a corner of his bottom lip, snapped his fingers and pointed at her. Then he closed his hand, bringing it to his chest.

      She repeated, “Do you or Tyler have food allergies?”

      He cleared his throat, came closer then lowered his gaze to her lips. His eyes flicked back to hers. Usually, his dreamy orbs sparkled in the sunlight, but not now. They darkened like grass in an oil spill. Tyler headed toward them.

      “Zach?” She asked again, nervous now due to his menacing glare, and she wished to be somewhere else. On the other side of the planet would work. Had he figured it out?

      “Uh uh.” Zach crouched and lifted the dog, squeezing her in a gentle hug.

      She looked small in Zach’s strong arms. Kimber stroked her fur, but Zach fell back a step. “Thank you for this. I’ll take good care of her for you.”

      His voice changed to a somber tone. “There might be something in the tack room to tie around her neck and a rope to keep her from running off until she gets to know you.”

      “I hope she’s housebroken.”

      “I’m positive she is.” Zach carried the dog with him. He glanced back at her with a frown, then he and Tyler entered the tack room.

      Kimber trembled as he walked away. She folded her arms, squeezing them. Something happened. A wrinkle interrupted their… Their what? Their working relationship that finally worked for a short time? The fact he was kind to the dog said something about him, but his instant melancholy veneer said the opposite.

      She rushed to her bedroom to dress for the day. She’d love to have a new dress to wear tonight, but now dinner was the last thing she wanted. Tonight, she wanted to be alone, but dammit, she’d blurted out the invitation. She couldn’t back out. This business meeting was her future. Hurriedly, she put in her contacts so he didn’t have to stare at her blue eyes any longer when he brought the dog up to the house.

      My dog Kasha is on the cover of Whispers of Forever. I suppose the other books in this series will have to have a dog, too.  🙂  ❤

      If you made it this far, thanks for reading.

      Posted in #AmWriting, Canyon Junction: Hearts in Love Series | 4 Comments | Tagged #Cowboy series, #WhatToRead, Canyon Junction: Hearts in Love Series, dogs, Dogs in books, Finding Kimber, full-length novel, mary j mccoy dressel, Romance, series romance, Snippet, Snippet: Finding Kimber: An Unexpected Encounter, western romance
    • #AmWriting “Meet My Furry Family Members” #MFRWauthor

      Posted at 8:52 am by Mary J. McCoy-Dressel, on October 27, 2017

      Now that we’re counting down weeks in the #MFRW 52-Week Blog Challenge, it seems the weeks are speeding by. Christmas decorations are in the stores. I bought some yesterday Oh, my! Again, here we are with another Friday post for the Blog Hop.

       

      Week 43: Meet My Pets (Furry Family Members)

      This week’s topic messed with my heart. I had to make the decision whether to skip this week or go for it. It’s too soon to write much about my fur baby girl, Kasha. I’ll briefly mention her, but after that, I’ll mention my three grand-kitties. Clancy, Zuko, and Sokka.

      Kasha was an Australian shepherd mixed with chow. She weighed about sixty-five pounds in her good days. My son got her from a shelter. Her age was around ten months old. Jim knew they were a match from the moment he saw her. Me too. When he’d go visit her the few times before taking her home, they told him she’d jumped or climbed over one of their six-foot-high fences. She hated being cooped up in a room or kennel. We didn’t know her history, so we understood it had something to do with her past.

      Every time I’d visit them my heart melted a little more, but then it broke when I’d have to return to my home across the state. Eventually, I moved in with her and my son. Kasha and I moved into an apartment a little over two years ago, but we were together almost 24/7 for the past seven years, and on and off for seven before that.

      When she could still take walks, we had a nice area on the grounds here. The place where she’d been cremated, had made a ceramic plaque with her name and a paw print. The vet also sent us a sympathy card and included a poem that I won’t be able to look at again for many years to come. It’s called Rainbow Bridge. She was fourteen. Between the two of us, we gave this sweet dog a good life, and she sure gave us one, too. It was meant to be.

      Well, now look at this. I managed to write more than I thought I could. The image right above is the same one on my book cover for Whispers of Forever. Click on the cover in the gallery in the sidebar to enlarge. I’m so happy that I wrote her into one of my books where she will live on in the story.


       

      Meet My Grand-cat Clancy:

      I guess he wanted to go outside.

      Clancy is fourteen years old and my oldest son’s cat. They live in California. He and I both searched our old computers for the pictures above. I couldn’t find mine. He did!  ❤  I love the picture of him in the cereal box. His ex-wife brought the cat home one night. They already had another very old cat named Boots. The wife left. Clancy remained. The only experience I’ve had with owning a cat took place briefly when I was a teenager. A black cat came to our house one Halloween, stayed a week, and disappeared as quickly as he had appeared.

      Clancy is in camo in the above picture.  🙂   He has free rein of the neighborhood since he has a cat door to come and go as he pleases.

      Clancy is a typical cat, and from my experience, he doesn’t take to strangers. He’s crazy about Chris, you know, in a cat way. I don’t know how Clancy is with my son’s girlfriend. When I visit, it takes forever for Clancy to get close to me. It’s my fault because I don’t visit often enough. He’s true to his owner, though, and often brings him lizards and birds. Isn’t that sweet of him? When my son goes away, Clancy enjoys bringing gifts to cat-sitters, too. I guess he’s in and out all night, so he curls up in blankets on my son’s bed and sleeps there on and off during the day. Meow.

      On the prowl for lizards?

      Okay, you can tickle my belly.


      Meet My Grand-kitties Zuko and Sokka.

      Huh, wait, where are they? Well, their mom and dad are still on their honeymoon, and haven’t sent me pictures yet. (By the way, son and DIL experienced TWO hurricanes while in Ireland. Now they’re in Washington, D.C.) Zuko and Sokka started out as my daughter-in-law’s kitties. She had Zuko first, but she got Sokka for Zuko so he’d have a buddy. Maybe it’s the other way around. They became attached to my son in no time. It was like they knew that if Mama loves him, then he can stay. They are males and they’re both black.

      I can barely tell them apart. Zuko is a lot longer than Sokka. Zuko is kind of social with strangers, more than Sokka. In fact, Sokka hides and rarely comes out if anyone besides my son and DIL are in the house. I cat-sat for a week once… I didn’t see Sokka for the first few days.

      They survived their move to Virginia, but I don’t think I’d want to be in the car with them for a long ride. I’ve been told the boys can be a noisy bunch when in their carriers.

      THIS IS A BLOG HOP:

      I’m excited to see what kind of pets (furry family members) the participating authors have. Join me in visiting their sites.

      Thanks for reading today. Have a terrific weekend.

      Posted in #AmWriting, #MFRWauthor, 52-week blog challenge | 19 Comments | Tagged #MFRWauthor, #WritersLife, blog hop, cats, dogs, fur-baby dog, Furry Family Members, kitties, Marketing for Romance Writers 52-Week Blog Challenge, Mary J McCoy-Dressel, Romance authors, western romance, Whispers of Forever: Mending Christmas
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