The Excerpt
“When you come back through again, I want to leave with you.”
Harmon hooked his thumb beneath the boy’s chin to angle it up. “You want to spell that out a little plainer?”
Jack looked him straight on, his features determined as he claimed, “I don’t want to be a rancher. I don’t belong here. You’re my family, Uncle Harm . . . I want to be like you.”
Harmon drew a breath, then he laughed softly, making Jack stiffen, afraid his ambitions weren’t being taken seriously by this man he idolized.
“Son,” Harm corrected quietly, “you don’t want to be like me. You got everything here a man could want: Family, belonging, ties to the soul and the land. You can’t just tear up those roots and blow off on a wind.”
“But Uncle Harm—”
“Listen! I know you look around and see nothing but hard work and long hours, and you feel like a dog staked out on a short rope just wanting to break loose and run free . . . but once you start running, son, you got no place to go.
. . . and a bit more . . .
“I’d give anything to have what you have—a future so clean and bright it’s like tomorrow’s sunrise, with a chance to grow to be a man like Will, a good man. Don’t you ever sell that off cheap or I won’t even want to know you.”
“But you said I did good, that I could ride with you anytime. Didn’t you mean that?”
Harm cupped the somber face with his palm. “Oh, yeah, I meant it. But you’re not mine to take. This is where you belong. If you want to look up to someone, don’t look to me. I’m nothing. You look to Will, and you’ll learn everything there is to know about being a man. And someday when you’re looking out over your own place, and you got your own house full of a wife and kids, I’ll come by now and again to sit at your table, and you’ll look at me and then at them and you’ll thank God you decided to stay put.”
Harm sounds like a great character and I love his name! I hope you're feeling better. It's great to have the opportunity to work on previous books. I'm doing that now, as well. Looking forward to your upcoming releases!
ReplyDeleteIt's like a family reunion with the hunky side of the family! I'm sure enjoying it. Hope you're having as much fun with yours.
DeleteHarmon Bass is a fabulous character. I don't blame you for writing more vehicles for him! And I too am getting ready to revise and re-envision my sweet Handful of Hearts series into a steamy version. Got to clear the decks and finish my Welwyn Marriage Wager series first, though. At a writer's retreat this week with the goal of finishing book 4. Hope you feel better, Nancy! Tweeted.
ReplyDeleteLove the excerpt. Wise words to the young man. Often staying put is the dream we seek and never know it. Hope by now you are feeling better. Sorry for the delay in commenting. Been a long week.
ReplyDelete