Swiped from Charlie! Who got the idea from Michelle Rowen who is challenging blog-landia to share their dusty bits and bytes.

Feel free to join in and post your own……This is the original beginning for a book that was supposed to be a Blaze…then wasn’t and is now lying in a dusty heap on my computer. I can’t even begin to tell you how HARD it was not to edit…and how much I cringed  :lmao:

See below the cut

It had been a long day, even with early dismissal.  The kids were excited about getting out for Spring Break.  Not that he blamed them.  Any more than he could blame Mitzi for leaving him.  How cliché.  A dear John letter.  Except, of course his name wasn’t John.

    Dear Dane,

    I know you’ll understand when I say I’ve met someone.  Someone I feel I can be happy with.  Someone who wants a family—a real family.  By the time you get this, I’ll be on my way to Denver and Kenny.  I’m only taking my clothes, 5000.00 from savings and the computer—since you gave it to me.

    Please sign these as fast as possible and return to Mr. Bentley.  He’s waiting for them and will finalize the divorce so Kenny and I can be married as soon as possible.  He has my new address to send the papers to.  Don’t try to contact me.  It won’t do any good.

    Kisses—

    Mitzi

Dane slumped at the kitchen table, letter and divorce papers in hand, and ran shaking fingers through his thick blonde hair.

At sixty, old Wilt Bentley was a bigger gossip than most of the women Dane knew.  If Wilt knew what’s going on with Dane’s wife, then the whole town did.  And probably knew more about it than he did to boot.  Sighing, Dane picked up the phone and dialed Wilt’s number.

“Bentley & Bentley,” the older man said.  There was only one Bentley.  Wilt’s son, Jerome, was doing drag in Vegas, much to his father’s chagrin.

“Wilt.  Dane Keller, here.”

“Afternoon Dane.  I suppose you got Mitzi’s papers.”  Dane swore the old man sounded like he was chuckling.  “Not much of a treat to come home to for Spring Break, hu?”

“No, it’s not.  Listen,” he began, determined to get this mess over with as fast as possible, “what do I do with these papers?”

Wilt might be a gossip but he knew his job.  Quickly, he explained the process to Dane.

“So, in six weeks, it’s over,” he mumbled.

“Yup, just sign them and bring them down.  I’ll take care of the rest and by Summer Vacation you’ll be a free man.”  This time there was no hiding the chuckle on the other end of the telephone.    

“I’ll see you in an hour.”

Dane hung up, grabbed a pen from a nearby kitchen drawer and quickly scanned the papers.  There were no hidden surprises.  Other than the one he’d discovered when he hit the door.  Mitzi and her trusty computer were gone.

She’d begged for a computer for months, stating she was bored and needed something to do during the day.  His suggestions about job hunting had been ignored.