Ok, I’ve tortured you enough.

Without further ado, the winner of the giveaway is…Ingrid from Baseball, Baking and Books!  Ingrid has won a personalized children’s book written by yours truly!  So Ingrid, e-mail me and we’ll get to talking about what kind of book you want!  Thank you to all who participated!

And now, Ingrid’s favorite story here at the Pond–the newest edition of Twirl!

For my new Invisible Friends, Twirl is the story of a feisty, sassy ballerina named Vivi and her handsome cowboy named Wade. After falling in love swaying on the dance floor to the sound of a fiddle and steel guitar, the couple have stumbled onto a old Texas legend that might possibly lead to riches! On top of everything, Vivi is fighting her controlling father and over involved dance teacher, who are trying to trap her into a life she may not want. Add in a mysterious secret with her mother, a scheming evil boy in her dance class and regular teen angst and you’ve got DRAMA!

To catch up in the archives, go to the Neverending stories tab at the top!

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The cool spring air drifted through the cracked windows of Wade’s rickety old truck as they barreled down the dirt road back to the city.  After dinner with Red and the discovery of the information in the box, Wade had wasted no time in packing up the truck with Vivi’s share of the materials.  And now she had to go home.  She hadn’t been home in three days.  Just the thought of seeing her father turned her hands and feet cold.  Shivering in her sundress, Vivi started in surprise when Wade pulled over to the side of the road.

Without a word, Wade pulled off his denim jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders, his calloused thumbs brushing over her soft skin.  Tracing his finger along her jawline, he grinned and pulled back onto the road.  Butterflies and unescaped giggles fluttered around Vivi’s chest.  Smiling, she leaned against Wade’s shoulder and sighed.

“Feeling better?” Wade asked.

“Oh yes,” Vivi murmured, her cheeks blushing a bit.  She peeled herself off his shoulder and looked at him in the faint light from the headlights.  Even in the dark, his blue eyes twinkled.  “I get cold easily.”

Wade shook his head.  “That’s not what I meant.  You’ve been wound pretty tight for the past couple days.  You all right?”

Vivi bit her lip and turned her head, staring at the fields of twisted mesquite and cactus-dotted brush flashing by.  “You noticed?  How could you tell?”

Wade shrugged and pulled onto the main road into the city.  “I just can.  Do you want to talk about it?”

Vivi swallowed as she watched her dance studio and the dancehall she and Wade had met at fly by the window.  Her house was only a few miles away.  The faster the truck rolled down the road, the tighter her chest felt.  How could she tell Wade that she didn’t want to go home?  That she hated her father and didn’t know what she wanted out of life?  How could she tell him–

“Darlin’?”  Wade prompted.  He looked over at her, his eyebrows furrowed.

Twisting the edge of his jacket in her hands, Vivi sighed.  “I just feel all mixed up,” she said in a voice so quiet Wade could hardly hear it over the noise of the street.  “And I don’t feel like I have a right to complain.”

“Why not?” Wade asked.  “Complaining is just another way of talking about something.  Everyone complains once and awhile.”

“Well…” Vivi drawled.  Her thoughts swirled in her brain, the pressure in her chest drawing tighter and tighter.  Finally, she whirled around.

“Your grandfather told me I was petty for thinking this way but I’m just so tired of being told of what to do all the time! Every moment of my day has been scheduled since I was two.  My career was decided for me and now I’ve got my dance teacher trying to blackmail me into doing something but I don’t know what she wants and Damien wanted me to do the Lover’s Dance and now he wants in on the Bullet Bill thing and the only time I ever feel good is when I’m with you.  And I was so excited when we found the letter and now the box and Damien just spoiled it all.  Because if we don’t let him go with us, he’ll tell my dance teacher and then she’ll have more information against me and she’ll tell my Dad and then he’ll lock me up in the basement and let me go out only to dance.   I don’t even know if I like dancing anymore.”

Sucking in a deep breath, she flopped against her seat. Tears sprang to her eyes and she rubbed the cuff of Wade’s jacket against her cheeks furiously.  “I don’t want to go home,” she spat, glaring at her neighborhood as the truck rolled through it.  “I hate it there.  And I feel terrible about saying that after all your grandfather said you’ve been through”–

Wade pulled the truck over to the entrance of Vivi’s street and turned off the engine.  Turning around, he took her hands in his.

“Vivi, listen to me,” he said, his voice quiet but firm.  “You have every right to be upset.  My grandfather is old, crotchety and disappointed in how he raised my dad.  Don’t listen to him.  He’s got his own demons to fight.”  Vivi sniffed as tears pooled in her eyes.  Squeezing her hands, Wade continued.

“How do you know your teacher is blackmailing you?”

“She told me she wouldn’t tell my dad about us if I did what she wanted,” Vivi replied, her voice tight with emotion.  “But she’s never told me what she wants.”

“And what is this Lover’s Dance thing Damien wants?”  Wade asked.  With her cheeks blazing, Vivi described the dance to him.  His jaw tightened and his fingers laced through hers.

“Listen to me, Vivi,” he said.  “I know we haven’t known each other a long time.  And I know I’m just some guy you met at a dancehall.  But I promise you, you’re not alone in this.  I’ll support you in whatever you want to do.  If you want to do the Lover’s Dance with Damien, that’s fine.  If you want him to search for the treasure with us, that’s fine.  If you want to go to Europe and go dance for millions of people, that’s fine too.  I’ve got a passport, and it needs to be used.”  As tears spilled down her cheeks, Wade cupped her face in his hands.  Brushing away her tears with his thumbs, he said softly, “I’m with you.  However you want me or need me, I’m here.  That’s all I care about.  I just want to make you happy.”

“And I just want to dance with you,” Vivi replied, her voice cracking as her hands shook.  “I just want to drive to all these dancehalls and dance and find the treasure.  I want to put the legend of Bullet Bill and Addy to rest.  They deserve it, you know?”

“I think I can arrange that,” Wade responded with a smile.

Pressing his lips to hers, Vivi felt all the worry and anxiety she had wrapped up tight in her heart flow out of her. For a brief moment, in the truck cab with Wade under the spring sky, everything seemed like it was all right again.  And when he flipped on the headlights and turned up the radio, pulling her out of the front seat and twirling her across the asphalt, it was nothing short of heaven.  Every cell in her body tingled and her skin buzzed every time it touched his.  And when he kissed her, she could have sworn the world spun.  In one song, Wade had managed to make her feel as giddy as the first night they danced.

As she floated up the sidewalk and twirled through the front door with her dance bag, she felt nothing but pure joy.

And then she saw her father.

To be continued….

Stay tuned, Invisible Friends!  Tomorrow we have some whimsical fun and Sunday, our featured creative blogger–Francesca from Three Bay Chicks!  Stay tuned!

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