Dear Reader,
Ideas for books come from everywhere. The idea for this book actually came from personal experience. Anyone who knows me knows I have no sense of direction. I can get turned around in a huge discount store and have to stop and ask someone how to find the exit! I have taken many a detour in my travels, some of which have led to meeting interesting people and discovering beautiful faces. (Of course, some of them also lead to lots of frustration.)
My husband, a man who was born with an internal compass, is amazed at how easily I get lost, but hes learned to live with it. Ive long wanted to write about a directionally challenged woman and an always-knows-where-hes-headed man who learn to love each other. So here it is. I hope you enjoy Marlee and Craigs story.
And if you ever see me driving aimlessly down a street near you, take pity and offer to give me directions!
Cindi Myers
P.S. I love to hear from readers. Write me at P.O. Box 991, Bailey, CO 80421 or e-mail Cindi@CindiMyers.com. Visit me on the Web at www.CindiMyers.com.
Take deep breaths. Theres no need to panic.
Except that she didnt have a clue where she was, or even if she was headed in the right direction. She glanced over at Craig, still sleeping, snoring softly. Thank God he wasnt awake to witness this.
Shed done fine for the first hour or so driving. Then one of those nasty orange signs had popped up on the side of the road. Detour.
Shed told herself she could handle it, she just had to follow the signs. No problem.
Except she must have missed one of the signs, or maybe theyd forgotten to put one out. By that point shed made two or three turns and had been completely confused.
So shed guessed. A dangerous proposition, but the only other alternative was to wake Craig. And admit that shed gotten lost. In the middle of nowhere. Not anywhere close to his precious planned route.
And what self-respecting woman wanted to do that?
Detour Ahead Cindi Myers
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Books by Cindi Myers
10LIFE ACCORDING TO LUCY
20WHAT PHOEBE WANTS
HARLEQUIN TEMPTATION
902ITS A GUY THING!
935SAY YOU WANT ME
HARLEQUIN BLAZE
82JUST 4 PLAY
118RUMOR
HAS IT
149TAKING IT ALL OFF
168GOOD, BADBETTER
Contents
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Epilogue
1
But my latest attempt to find my way in unfamiliar surroundings has landed me in hot water. Im almost embarrassed to admit it here, but then, when have I ever held anything back from you, my faithful readers?
I lost my license.
I dont mean Ive misplaced the thing and cant find it. I mean it was taken away from me. Pulled. Im no longer a legal driver.
I was driving the wrong way down a one-way street andAnd the traffic court judge took one look at the points on my driving record and confiscated my license. It wouldnt have been so bad if I hadnt racked up all those speeding tickets, too. And if I hadnt been cited two other times for carelessness behind the wheel. Can I help it if I make a few wrong turns sometimes?
Maybe its like my friend Susan says. I need to carry a compass. Of course, then Id have to learn to actually read a compass. A Girl Scout I was not.
Just thought Id share that update. Now, real life beckons.
Real life in the form of two projects that needed to be finished by Friday, four phone calls to return and a handful of mail to open. Not to mention Susans wedding to deal with. Marlee Jones sighed and signed off from her Travels with Marlee Web site. What had begun as a way to teach herself HTML code had turned into a guilty pleasure. Her Web log, or blog, pulled in several hundred hits a day and she actually got fan mail. Most of it from nice ordinary people. Of course there was Dave, who wrote to her from Cellblock Sixteen at the state pen, but he at least was polite, and safely locked away for life, or so her contact in the criminal justice department had assured her.
She shook her head and picked up the heavy cream-colored envelope she kept propped against her monitor.
Mr. and Mrs. Anthony St. John request that you join them in celebrating the marriage of their daughter, Susan Elisabeth, to Bryan Fredericks, son of Mr. and Mrs. Wayne Fredericks and Alison Reynolds.
Susan would have a fit when Marlee told her the latest. She ought to be calling any second now.
The phone rang and Marlee picked it up on the second ring. Hello, Susan.
How did you know it was me?
Im psychic.
No, really, how did you know? Did your cheap-ass boss finally spring for caller ID?
Gary isnt cheap, hes frugal. After all, we are a nonprofit organization.
Thats his excuse for everything. But I notice that he isnt doing without the finer things in life, while you labor away in that little closet of an office.
Marlee glanced around her office, which had, in fact, been a storage closet in another life. Yeah, it was small and dingy and out of the way, but that had its advantages. Nobody ever bothered her back here and she was pretty much free to do what she liked.