So…I woke up this morning (early) and when I looked at my iPad, I gasped. How the hell is it Friday already? Needless to say, I was not at all prepared with a blog. Somehow, even in retirement, the days seem to blow by quickly. Believe it or not, I’ve been busy writing, editing, baking and making pesto all week and before I realized it, Friday was here. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a topic to write about, and pulling something from my ass this morning is proving quite difficult. So…I am taking the easy way out and going to share the very first part of the WIP I am working on and hope the readers out there will give me a little slack for my laziness.

Right now, the working title is Georgetown Glenn: Queermunity Living at its Finest. Special thanks to Amy Bright for her suggestion of Georgetown Glenn and Vicki Harris for Queermunity Living. Without further ado…here is the teaser.

Chapter One

Lucy Manetti bounded into her two-bedroom condo, bouncing like Tigger the Tiger from Winnie the Pooh. Pushing back her bangs on her shoulder-length mostly dark-brown hair, compliments of good genetics from her mother, the mirth in her warm brown eyes sparkled as she shared her good news. At least, it was good news for Lucy. Bea, her wife, would undoubtedly overreact at first, but then Lucy was sure she would be as enamored with the idea as Lucy was. Sometimes Bea needed to get used to change or new ideas.

“You what?”

“I bought a ghost town,” Lucy exclaimed and grabbed her partner of thirty-five years, twirling her around.

Bea scowled, disengaging herself, taking a disapproving posture. Then, with her hands on her hips, she asked, “Where did you get the money?”

Lucy grinned. “I used my forced retirement settlement. What a deal, right? I’ve always wanted to be the mayor, and now I am. Ooh, you can be the sheriff and keep out all the riffraff.”

“Are you out of your fucking mind? What the hell are we going to do with a ghost town?” Bea shook her snow-white bob and narrowed her blue-green eyes that had enamored Lucy nearly forty years ago when they’d met at a potluck.

“I always wanted to live out my golden years in a lesbian commune. Now we can. All we need is to attract a few more lesbians to join us. There isn’t much there right now, but there’s this lovely young couple who own an alpaca farm in the adjacent unincorporated areas. Cute as two little bugs, those two. Great legs and ass, too.”

Bea sat heavily on the couch. “Let me think for a minute. People have buyer’s remorse all the time. I’m sure there is some period where we can back out of the deal. We might lose a few thousand, but at least we won’t have thrown away the entire settlement. Who is the real estate agent you used?”

“Well, it was that cute alpaca farmer. She just got her real estate license. Apparently, it’s difficult making ends meet as an alpaca farmer. She needed another occupation. Real estate sounded easy enough.”

Bea’s eyes narrowed into tiny slits again. “How could you let a pair of great legs con you? Wait until I get my hands on that swindling hussy.”

“It wasn’t like that. You have to see this town. Come on, with your carpentry skills, we can bring it back to its glory. A little loving care and one of the bedrooms above the saloon will be perfect for us.” Lucy waggled her eyebrows. “I’ll bet those bedrooms used to have ladies of the night in them. Isn’t that a hoot? Not only do we own a saloon, but we also own the bordello attached to it. At least I think that’s what those bedrooms above the saloon were for.”

“We are not moving to some ghost town and into a place with rotting wood, no electricity, or plumbing.”

Lucy waved her hand in the air. “All easy fixes. We can hire a few baby dykes to install electrical and plumbing in all the structures.”

“How many buildings?”

Lucy shrugged. “Oh, I don’t know. A dozen, maybe. Besides the saloon, there’s the mercantile, several old houses, the hotel, and the church. But, of course, we don’t need the church. We can turn that into a bingo hall or dance venue. Ooh, how about a theater for both movies and live performances? That would be awesome. I’ve always wanted to own a theater.”

“I cannot talk to you when you’re in this space. Your impulsivity is going to be the death of me.” Bea leaned forward, putting her head in her hands while ruffling her hair in that adorably messy way that had Lucy panting with want over the years.

Joining Bea on the couch, Lucy rubbed her back. “It’s all gonna be okay, Bea, I promise. We need a little excitement in our golden years. Admit it, my adventurous nature is what you fell in love with all those years ago. I don’t want to settle into some boring, sedentary retirement, gaining ten pounds a year until we’re too wide to get through the door.”

Bea turned her head and, with a tiny smile, said, “You’ll never be too wide to get through the door. You better take me to this town that we now own so I can assess the damage. And, I’m still going to want to have a conversation with the real estate agent.”

Lucy clapped her hands together. “That’s the spirit. Wait until you meet Fi. She’s absolutely adorable.”

“Fi?”

“The all-around fix-it gal that Amelia and Darcy recommended. She actually has a fancy degree in restorations, so she’ll be perfect for the job.” Lucy held up her hand. “Before you get all judgy and jealous, she’s practically young enough to be my granddaughter. Her full name is Fiona Riley. We talked about all kinds of things, but mainly about how she wishes she could find someone to share her life with. I guess it’s kind of lonely living in a town in the middle of nowhere. So we should help her find someone.”

“Oh, no, no, no, no. You will not play matchmaker again. Your niece does not need any help to find available partners. She told you that the last time you tried to set her up with the firefighter that came to our place when the propane grill had a leak and flames nearly burned our house down. So promise me you’ll stay out of her business. And who the hell are Amelia and Darcy?”

“The alpaca farmers. Fi is Amelia’s best friend, and Amelia didn’t think it was a horrible idea to introduce Fi to Chelsey.”

“If Amelia is the real estate agent, I already question her ethics, selling a ghost town to an old lady.”

“But…” Lucy began to protest.

“Chelsey will never forgive me if I don’t stop you right now. Besides, you’ll be too busy helping me whip into shape the dozen dilapidated buildings we now own.”

“Fi can help us. So can Chelsey. I’m sure she’ll want to lend a hand to her great aunt.” Lucy grinned at Bea, causing Bea to shake her head.

Since I haven’t even submitted this manuscript to Affinity yet, but they are tentatively holding a spot for next May, you may want to check out my other books that are already available. You the drill, just click on the links below. And…don’t forget about the two sale books available this week on the MyLesfic.com website: Soulwalker by Erica Lawson, and South of Heaven by Ali Spooner. Both are great books.

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