We had a plan. A really great plan. But, you know what they say:
humans plan, God laughs...
So, hiking is our thing, Mike and I. He has a good idea of the vistas and
sunsets he wants us to experience here in the US southwest. Neither of us are
natives but Mike seems to have taken to the Nevada wilds better than I so I tend
to let him lead the way. Most people would say the desert isn’t beautiful but it
takes my breath away. I love the stark landscape that gently gives way to
bristlecone pine trees and snow-capped mountain peaks. It’s a hundred and ten
degrees in Las Vegas and a cool 72 in the mountain.
I love our adventures together but often my challenge is dealing with my
paralyzing fear of heights. Acrophobia. I don't like being high enough that the
fall could kill me. How is that a phobia and not just a reasonable way to live?
In any case, Mike has the patience of a saint sometimes, especially when it
strikes me to the point of being immobile.
On this trip, though, there was another challenge. Let's call it the Hammock
Challenge. Here was the plan: Mike and I hike up the mountain to the perfect
vista. We find the perfect set up and layout a hammock. Then, we string up said
hammock for an amazing time spent taking in the view, basking in the the
well-deserved rest earned from gaining that view, and enjoying each other. What
could be better? I was sold.
Until I tried to buy what I was sold on. The hammock turned out to be on sale
for seventy dollars. When had they gotten that expensive? Then, the prepackaged
hooks needed to string up the hammock was an additional forty-five dollars.
Right off the bat we’re supposed to invest, with taxes, about a hundred and
twenty dollars. What nonsense? Mike and I decided to buy nylon rope, with a
tensile strength of about 400 pounds because the cost of that?...five dollars.
Perfect!
Now, for those of you who are hammock virgins, there are certain rules one must
anticipate.
Everything slips. No matter how strong your knots, no matter how firm
a grip your rope has on the supports, no matter how well secured is the canvas
to the line, until you actually commit your full body weight you do not know how
much everything will slip. What does that mean? With your weight, knots tighten,
the supports give, the rope slides down if your support is a tree, the canvas
gives… Everything slips. The result is the hammock will hang much lower than you
expect or seems apparent when it is first strung up, taut and empty.
Almost your entire body mass is in your butt. Being behind us, we
don’t really spend much time thinking about how heavy our butts really are. I
mean, sure, certain of us spend time concerned that our butts are too big but
that’s a different issue. You can be the fittest person on the planet with the
most perfectly toned glutes but that won’t change the fact that your posterior
is far and away the heaviest part of your body. In fact, I looked this up in the
book of Totally True Stuff that I Totally Made Up and found that the human butt
accounts for 86% of our entire body mass. What does this mean in a hammock? This
means that your butt will hang seven or more feet below your head and feet. You
will instantly turn into a V, the entire length of which will be at least twice
your natural standing height.
The no cousins rule. Sounds nice, sharing a hammock, right? If you
think about rules 1 and 2, though, you will soon realize that if you weren’t
previously already intimate with your hammock-mate once you share the swinging
bed you will be. There’s simply no way not to. So, in sticking to the societal
rules of familial sexual relations, do not share a hammock with cousins or
anyone else nearer to you on the family tree.
We spent a healthy part of the day climbing our mountain. Once we found that
perfect spot, strung up our hammock, it was lunch time. We had a hammock, we had
sandwiches, we had drinks. Mike strung up our hammocks between two trees and we
sat in it. Instantly, we realize our mistake…in being that Mike is five foot six
and I’m five foot four. Not enough height to reach the optimal distance needed
to make a hammock work. Instantly, the rule that everything slips kicked in. The
canvas spread open and swallowed our bodies. Humans, sandwiches and beverages
all disappeared into the cloth. Then, rule #2 kicked in and we fell directly
onto the hard, rocky ground butt-first. The tensile strength of our bargain rope
was a lie as it snapped apart and whipped me on the arm. Finally, the no cousins
rule engaged and what had once been six distinct entities became an involuntary
mass of human-beverage-sandwich sexual relations – and not in a good way like in
the movies.
After several minutes of struggling, we finally emerged from the hanging bag of
horror, bruised, scrapped and unable to look our lunches in the eye. With a big
hole now in the center of the hammock, we said good-bye to that fantasy, packed
up, and trudged back down the mountain.
Amanda, Cooper and Everett were the best of friends, and after an intimate
encounter at Cadence Falls, Amanda believed they’d be together forever. But when
Everett leaves without a word, her heart breaks and she pulls away from Cooper, too.
Years later, a dangerous felon has escaped from prison. When he disappears into
the vast Montana mountains, the US Marshalls come to town and they bring along a
Shadow Wolf tracker—Everett. For Everett, it’s the one place he really doesn’t
wish to return to since he knows the long lost love of his life, Amanda, still
lives there with his once best friend, Cooper.
For Cooper, Everett’s appearance brings up remembered love and pain, creating
more discord between the three of them. When they’re forced to work together to
help capture the criminal, will they be able to get over past hurts and
reconcile, or will they forget about their time at Cadence Falls forever?
Western | Romance [Totally Bound Publishing, On Sale: July 19, 2016, e-Book,
ISBN: 9781786510419 / eISBN: 9781786510419]
I like writing about the very ordinary girl thrust into extraordinary
circumstances, so my heroines will probably never be lawyers, doctors or
corporate highrollers. I try to write characters who aren't cookie cutters and
push myself to write complicated situations that I have no idea how to resolve,
forcing me to think outside the box. I love writing characters who are real,
complex and full of flaws, heroes and heroines who find redemption through
love.
I’ve been pretty fortunate in life to experience some amazing
things. I’ve lived in France, traveled throughout Europe, Australia and New
Zealand. I am a mom to an amazing little boy. I live in Los Angeles, surrounded
by friends and family. I hate washing dishes but I love cooking. I hate washing
clothes but I love wearing them. Writing my bio is difficult because I never
know what to say so I hope you like this one. My favorite color is red but I
look best in black (it’s slimming). I hate people who don't pick up their dog's
crap in public places, people who don’t use turn signals, and I really hate
people who are rude and condescending. I especially hate discrimination in all
and every form. And although I love holding a book in my hand, I absolutely
adore my ereader, whom I’ve named Ruby.
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