It was too good to be true. My daughter, who lived about three hours away, needed someone to house-sit for her for a couple of weeks. I was quasi-retired and able to do what work I did from “home” (read: anywhere I could get an internet connection). My wi...
Just a few days after Shawn and I spit-roasted Amber, I found myself at a party hosted by Andy’s mom, Allie. Allie was going through her second divorce. At forty-three, she had birthed three kids, one of them being my friend Andy. Her youngest was a seven...
“Is this a blindfold? Cooper, what the hell do you have a blindfold for in your bedroom? This ain’t some roadhouse, to play darts in, now is it?” Cooper returned to the small bedroom carrying two bottled beers. “Well, it can be a roadhouse if you want it...
Coffee and a little nourishment served us well. We reclined back in the bed for our second cup of coffee and watched a little TV. With the fan stirring, it wasn’t long before we both drifted off again. What seemed like hours later – it was actually only a...
Sunday morning, I was still in bed trying to keep as warm as humanly possible in a bloody freezing London flat. I was reading Thursday’s paper, catching up with old news. Actually, I was not looking for news — I was looking for travel ads. I’d had it with...
I was a young lawyer, eager to save the world, and very much in need of some real courtroom experience. Divorce work tended to be precisely the type of work that got young lawyers that fast-paced experience in litigation, and it was, quite honestly, diffi...
Winter on the Oregon coast is the most spectacular time for romance. The storms roll in over the dark blue waters and the surf pounds the sand, creating phosphorescence in the crashing waves. Viewing from a warm hotel room with a fire glowing in a firepla...
I have my own landscape design studio. It’s quite small since I’m the only employee, but the benefits can’t be beat. A few years ago, I was asked to do a renovation design for someone I probably wouldn’t have if I hadn’t needed the money during the Winter...
I went to Sky Harbor on Wednesday afternoon to pick up Abby at Terminal Four. She greeted me with a hug, and Abby mentioned that it was not the way home when we drove away from the airport. "No," I agreed, "but it's time for dinner, and you have no food i...
“Rick? Rick Connors? This is Tommy Bowers. Michael Bowers' son?” It took Rick a moment to place the name. Michael Bowers was Rick’s step-brother, and he remembered that he did have a couple of kids. Rick’s mother had married Michael’s father when Rick was...
Fitz lay crossways on the bed, arms extended upward with a magazine in his hands. Too tired to read, he flipped through pages of advertisements and looked at pictures of refugees. It had been a tough week. Shit, it had been a tough year, he thought. Fucki...
