キャミー・タング著「戌年」連載小説 プロのドッグトレーナーであるマリ・ムトウは、厄年を迎えている。 犬小屋と訓練所の改築をしながら、いつも不服そうにしている家族と同居することになった。母と姉に言わせれば、犬の毛とよだれかけにまみれる仕事は、家族にとって恥ずべきものだという。彼女は元カレを説得し、数ヶ月間犬を預かってもらうことにした。しかし、彼の兄は、数週間前に彼女が誤って車に追突した、怒り狂ったセキュリティ専門家であることが判明する。 アシュウィン・ケイトウは十分な問題を抱えている。叔母が玄関先に現れ、同居を希望している。彼は彼女にすべてを借りているので、断ることができません。母親が家を出て行った後、ネルおばさんはアシュウィンと弟を引き取り、愛のあるキリスト教の家庭で育てた。しかも、弟のダスティもアパートを追い出され、居場所を求めている。しかし、彼は犬を飼っている。そして、その犬の飼い主は誰だと思いますか? しかし、旧友でオアフ島のノースショアでデイスパを経営する私立探偵のエディサ・ゲレロから依頼を受ける。マリの施設で奇妙な破壊行為があり、3年前に失踪したエディサの妹の財布を発見する。エディサはマリが危険な目に遭っているのではと心配する。警備の専門家であるアシュウィンがすでにマリを知っていることを知ったエディサは、忙しい若い女性を密かに監視することを彼に依頼する。 アシュウィンは、活発でのんびりとしたドッグトレーナーに不本意ながら惹かれていく。彼女は、幸せそうな母親を思い出させる。その母親の裏切りによって、彼は人と距離を置くようになったのだ。マリは、アシュウィンの冷たい外見を見抜き、彼が家族に忠実な男であることを認める。彼は、彼女のキャリア選択を批判するだけの母親や姉とは違う。 マリのバラバラな家庭とアシュウィンのバラバラな家庭の中で、過去を隠そうとする人たちから、彼らの周りに危険が迫ってくるようになる。彼らは、影で動く秘密に光を当てることができるのか? 過去に発表されたパートへのリンクはこちら。 *** 第8章 - 恐ろしくも真っ白な不動産書類 『みんな仲良くできないのかな?』 マリは無用に力を込めて箱に本を投げ入れた。最近、なぜ彼女は人生の中で全員と言い争いをしているのだろう?もしかすると、これは本当に悪いアイデア
Captain’s Log, Stardate 02.14.2007
Blog book giveaway:
To enter, go to the blog links below and post a comment there.
Renovating Becky Miller by Sharon Hinck
Along Came Jones by Linda Windsor
Bah, humbug.
No, I’m not really a Valentine’s Day Scrooge, but I do object to my husband spending money on flowers that will die in a week. I’m also not a huge diamond or jewelry kind of girl, so the Kay’s commercials are starting to annoy me.
I’ve actually had very few Valentine’s Day gifts ever given to me. The ones I’ve gotten have been rather nice, actually. However, I’ve heard some horror stories that would make your hair curl.
(And the picture above is NOT a candidate for a bad V-day gift. It’s a DeBrand truffle heart box and I wouldn’t mind some money thrown away for something luscious like that...)
Then I thought it might be fun to mention some of the worst Valentine’s Day presents you’ve ever received, whether from Current Significant Other or Past Romantic Mistake.
Oh, okay, and you can mention some good presents, too, if you want.
Christa and me: My friend Christa interviewed me on her blog! Check it out!
Blog book giveaway:
To enter, go to the blog links below and post a comment there.
Renovating Becky Miller by Sharon Hinck
Along Came Jones by Linda Windsor
Bah, humbug.
No, I’m not really a Valentine’s Day Scrooge, but I do object to my husband spending money on flowers that will die in a week. I’m also not a huge diamond or jewelry kind of girl, so the Kay’s commercials are starting to annoy me.
I’ve actually had very few Valentine’s Day gifts ever given to me. The ones I’ve gotten have been rather nice, actually. However, I’ve heard some horror stories that would make your hair curl.
(And the picture above is NOT a candidate for a bad V-day gift. It’s a DeBrand truffle heart box and I wouldn’t mind some money thrown away for something luscious like that...)
Then I thought it might be fun to mention some of the worst Valentine’s Day presents you’ve ever received, whether from Current Significant Other or Past Romantic Mistake.
Oh, okay, and you can mention some good presents, too, if you want.
Christa and me: My friend Christa interviewed me on her blog! Check it out!
Comments
Blessings,
Angie
http://mywritechoice.blogspot.com/
Got a great present for Valentine's Day. Hubby came home home last night with POTTED tulips. So I can enjoy the lovely pink flowers until they fade, then in the fall I can plant the bulbs in the garden and enjoy them again next spring. My hubby is not the gift-buying type, even on Valentine's Day, so it was an especially nice surprise.
Hubby took me out to lunch today (guess where, LOL) and gave me chocolates and a card. Very yummy.
I got him a "manly" box of chocolates and a card.
That's about the norm for us. LOL!
I just wanted to pick up on a remark several have made about jewelry. My sister got some nice gold pieces as her wedding present from her husband and that's all she ever wears. And the sisters-in-law, especially one of them, won't look at anything that hasn't got diamonds and platinum, etc. written all over it. In fact, she picked out the wedding present that her son gave to his wife last November, which did not please his wife.
Today I was unpacking a few of my things and came across some fossils, a polished piece of amber, stuff like that. And that got me thinking about valuable jewelry. I again thought: I really don't have any. In fact, when I was in the Dom.Rep. last year, I specifically bought one of the jewelstones in the rough. Jewelry really does nothing for me. My mother had her gold wedding ring and about 15 years ago my jewelry-loving sister-in-law gave her a diamond ring since she'd never had one. She wasn't particularly keen on it but she did wear it until she had trouble keeping her rings on and that included my father's wedding ring. We buried her with those two wedding-rings but my sister-in-law got hers back and gave it to my niece, which was fine with all of us.
If I had valuable jewelry, I'd always be afraid of losing it. Instead, I have some jewelry only valuable in memories: some of my grandmother's that my grandfather had made for her by someone who owed him money. And others that he picked up on his trips in the navy. The only piece that may be of value is a supposed ruby pendant that my aunt got from her fiancé before he died. It came on a very good gold chain--which has disappeared--and I've never had the stone evaluated. I treasure it for the fact that my aunt gave it to me and I must admit that I don't even like diamonds. Had I got married, I would have done what a friend of mine did: she designed a ring herself to hold some semi-precious stones she had acquired. So much more personal than a diamond "off the rack" so to speak.
And I guess especially for us Christians of what value are silver and gold. We've got much more precious things waiting for us in heaven.
I've always wondered, and somebody may be able to clear this point up for me: Since diamonds, if I remember correctly, are just made of carbon, do they burn to nothing in a fire? Probably a silly thing to ask but that's how much jewelry interests me.