Hello. Well, it’s been a
really sad time over here in the UK with the recent passing of our queen, Her
Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Getting my head into writing has been particularly
difficult, but I’ve finally managed to finish the first draft of Heart Strings which is Book 1 in The Johnsons of Junova, the second sub
series from The Billionaires of
Brightside Ranch Series.
This series follows the
cousins of the Devereux brothers as they tackle the pressure of their failing
ranch with their dream to make it big as a country band, amid varying
personalities, egos and, of course, life’s curveballs.
I’ve chosen a light-hearted
excerpt which I hope introduces the Johnson brothers’ differing characters. I
hope you enjoy it, and look out for the book, Heart Strings, which will be released in a few weeks’ time.
“Devon’s already had his
breakfast and gone out to check on the pigs,” Mom told them, coming over to the
table with the coffee jug.
Tyler raised his eyebrows.
“That’s good.”
“I think I made the right
decision giving him responsibility for them.” Kurt gave a smug grin.
Tyler rolled his eyes as he
tucked into his breakfast. “You’re gonna need a bigger hat for that head of
yours if you carry on like that.”
“I’ll bet Dad was pleased to
see you, Mom.” Sam always was the tactful one, as he smiled at her when she sat
down.
She offered him a grateful
smile. “He was. He couldn’t speak much, but he knew we were there.”
Tyler recalled how she held
their old man’s hand at the hospital, and he’d smiled weakly. He’d only stayed
in the unit long enough to see that Dad was okay, before leaving Mom to talk to
him alone. She’d been quite teary on the way home, but it was good tears. Tears
of relief and joy.
“Devon’s offered to take me to
see him tonight,” she went on.
“I’d have taken you, Mom.”
Tyler looked up in surprise.
“You need to spend some time
with that girl of yours before she forgets what you look like,” she told him
with a knowing look.
Tyler nodded. She was right,
of course. He and Sasha hadn’t been together since the night when she told him
what she thought, although they’d phoned each other and left messages quite a
lot recently. It wasn’t the same as holding her in his arms though, and looking
into those deep green eyes of hers. “I’ll do that, Mom.”
After helping with the dishes,
Tyler went back into the office and looked around with a sigh. He’d got used to
coming in here and working every day, although he still helped out with his
brothers when he could. It was hard to think that this routine of his might be
about to change. Dad was likely to want to take back the reins as soon as he
could, leaving Tyler to go back to tending the horses.
He didn’t relish the idea of
having Kurt giving him orders, and suddenly wondered if he’d been a little
hasty in his decision to make his brother the foreman On reflection, though, he
realized that he was being selfish, and he’d never forget the look of joy and
relief in his brother’s eyes last night when he’d announced his promotion. Mom
had seemed pleased, too. He hoped it would solidify Kurt’s place here at the
family ranch where he belonged. Hopefully Dad would have forgotten his angry
words and be happy that Kurt was home, too.
When he’d finished his usual
daily routine of sorting through the mail, making payments and recording them
in a spreadsheet, Tyler took a stroll around the ranch. The sun was bright, the
air was really warm, and he took some time to appreciate the birds singing as
he wandered around. It had been a while since he’d done that, he realized.
He was surprised to see Sam in
the training paddock, putting a beautiful black stallion through its paces
under the watchful eye of Ron Atkins, the trainer.
“That’s right, son, you’ve got
it,” Ron called over as Sam coaxed the horse into a canter. “You’re doing a
great job.”
Sam beamed, not taking his eye
off the horse as it loped around the training area. Tyler grinned. Sam was
always quite sensitive, so why hadn’t it occurred to him that he’d make an
excellent horse trainer? Ron was in his late sixties, and had already hinted
that he’d like to retire soon. Sam could be his perfect replacement.
He made his way over to the
pigsty where Devon was busy singing to the hogs as he fed them. Tyler laughed
at his brother’s choice of words.
“The roses all in bloom, the sweet scent of your perfume…” Devon’s
voice rang out in perfect pitch, as usual.
“You sure are getting a little
close to these guys,” Tyler called over to his brother, grinning.
Devon looked up with a laugh.
“Hey, it takes a lot of imagination to write a song, you know, bro?” He
finished with the feed and went to join Tyler who was leaning over the fence of
the pen.
“I see that.” Tyler nodded,
still chuckling. “How’s it going?”
“Great. I got the whole place
cleaned out this morning and put in fresh straw and water. It took a while, I
can tell you – not that these guys seem to appreciate it one bit.” He rolled
his eyes. “It made it a bit easier for me to work around here though, so I’m
not complaining. You should’ve smelled the stench before I started! I had to
take a shower and change my clothes after all that, I can tell you. I was
thinking about mixing in some pine shavings in future. They don’t stick to the
fellas as much as straw and they smell good, too. And, of course, they’re
cheaper than straw so we can cut the cost at the same time.” Devon’s face shone
as he spoke, and Tyler could see how proud he was of his efforts and ideas. It
was a good plan, too. His youngest brother had clearly been doing some
research.
“You’re doing a great job. Is
no one helping you over here?” Tyler asked.
Devon shook his head. “I can
manage. Besides, I can sing as loud as I want out here without anyone bothering
me.”
“You sounded great, too, bro.”
Tyler was keen to give credit where it was due. “Is that a new number you’re
working on?”
“Yeah. It’s early days but I
think it’s going to be a good one. Bit of a ballad, I think. Mix it up a
little, you know?”
“We’ll certainly need to do
that if we’re headlining. My guess is we’ll be performing on and off all
weekend. We’ll need to give folks something a little different to keep ‘em
interested.”
“We’re definitely doing this,
aren’t we?” Devon frowned, swiping a hand through his hair before replacing his
hat.
Tyler sighed. “I sure hope so,
buddy. I think Mom’s coming around to the idea, but it all depends on Dad.
She’s keen not to run roughshod over his feelings, and I get it. I just hope
she can convince him it’s a good idea.”
“D’you think he’ll be home by
then?” Devon asked.
“It’s hard to say. I mean,
he’s definitely improving. And I really think he’s going to be okay. The doctor
said it’s still early days, so that could mean anything. I doubt Dad’ll want to
stick around in that place once he’s on his feet though. You know how impatient he gets.”
“I do that,” Devon agreed with
a nod. “Well, Sam and I are still working on new numbers, and Kurt was talking
about us co-ordinating our shirt or something. He says he knows we can’t afford
to splash out on new clothes, but it’ll be good to at least look like a band.”
Tyler raised his eyebrows. He hadn’t
thought of that. They usually all wore jeans and clean shirt, but it was
important to look good for such a huge gig.
“Urgh. And talking of
splashing out…” Devon looked down as a huge black hog had just plunked itself
in a freshly-made pile of dirt, which splattered up the young guy’s jeans. “I
love my job,” he sighed, rolling his eyes.
Tyler had managed to avoid the
mess, so he just laughed as he moved away. “I’ll leave you to it, then, buddy.
Keep up the good work. You’re doing great.”
“Thanks, bro.” Devon turned
back to the hog. “Now look what you’ve done! These were clean on, too. Admit
it, you did that one purpose, didn’t you?”
Tyler couldn’t help grinning
as he made a swift exit. Devon had never minded getting dirty, and it seemed
this job was made for him. He sure was good at it, too. And if his singing was
anything to go by, they’d have a good few numbers to impress the crowds at
Countryfest. He only prayed that their dad would have had a change of heart
about them doing the gig. He’d have to speak to Mom about it later. It had been
good to see her looking so much more relaxed this morning, and he just hoped it
continued.
Kurt was speaking with one of
the hands from Brightside when Tyler found him.
“You’ve got a good point
there, Kurt,” the guy was saying, clearly impressed. “I guess I hadn’t looked
at it that way.”
Tyler grinned at his brother’s
glowing face. Kurt sure was clued up on the running of the place, and was good
at giving instruction. It was good to see he wasn’t too confident not to talk
things through, and was probably gaining some insight into his new position
from the more experience hand.
“Hey bro, who let you out?”
Kurt turned to him with a cheeky quip.
“I escaped,” Tyler joked.
“Just fancied some fresh air and wanted to see how you guys were all coping out
here without me.”
“Ha!” Kurt laughed. “If you
were hoping the place’d fall apart out here then I’ve got some bad news for
you.”
Tyler gave a look of mock
shock, putting his hand to his heart. “What? You mean… you guys can manage
without me?”
“Hey, I didn’t say we couldn’t
do with an extra pair of hands around the place,” Kurt assured him. “But, as
you can see, it’s all humming along nicely.”
Tyler glanced around. With the
stables and outbuildings repaired, and new fencing put up, the place looked
like it was definitely thriving. Everyone seemed to be getting on with their
jobs quite happily, and he was relieved that the guys all seemed happy in their
work. “Looks like you’ve got it all under control, bro.”
Kurt puffed out his chest and
rubbed the knuckles of his right hand over it. “Well, what can I say?” He
feigned a look of smug importance, which made his brother and the other guy
laugh.
Tyler rolled his eyes. “I
think I was right about that hat.”
I hope you’ll look out for the
new release, and continue to enjoy the series.
Take care,
Raine
Don’t forget that The Billionaires of Brightside Ranch
series is currently FREE in Kindle Unlimited. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08NCHVJGQ?ref_=dbs_p_mng_rwt_ser_shvlr&storeType=ebooks
.png)
